United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1999
Expresses: (1) condolences to the family of King Hussein and to all the people of Jordan; (2) admiration for King Hussein's enlightened leadership and gratitude for his support for peace throughout the Middle East; and (3) support and best wishes for the new government of Jordan under King Abdullah. Reaffirms the U.S. commitment to strengthening the vital relationship between our two governments and peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Declares that: (1) the final political status of the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority can only be determined through negotiations and agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; (2) any attempt to establish Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will invoke the strongest congressional opposition; and (3) the President should unequivocally assert U.S. opposition to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Amends the Animal Welfare Act to eliminate the provision permitting interstate movement of live fighting birds if the fighting venture is to take place in a State allowing such fights.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Taxpayer Oversight of Surplus Property Act - Requires that nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense be made available to a State or a local government upon request before such supplies are made available for humanitarian relief purposes. Permits the President to make such supplies available for humanitarian purposes before they are made available to a State or local government in response to a natural disaster emergency. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, with respect to the transfer of property for environmental protection in foreign countries, to prohibit such transfers unless the Administrator of General Services (GSA Administrator) determines that there are no Federal or State use requirements for the property under any other provision of law. Requires the GSA Administrator to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of surplus personal property donation and disposal programs (except for any program that grants access to personal property by local communities affected by the closure of a military base), along with recommendations for consolidating such programs under a single Federal authority.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Hope for Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the amount allowable for qualified adoption expenses; (2) permanently extend the credit for adoption expenses; and (3) adjust the limitations on such credit for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit any Medicaid-related funds recovered or paid to a State as part of a settlement or judgment reached in litigation the State initiated or pursued against one or more tobacco companies from being treated as an overpayment. Permits a State to use amounts recovered or paid to it as part of such a settlement or judgment for any appropriate expenditures, except with respect to any expenditure for administrative expenses incurred in initiating or pursuing tobacco litigation.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies Title IV: Technical Amendments Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for expanding State options under Medicaid for workers with disabilities, namely by creating State options to eliminate income, assets, and resource limitations for workers with disabilities who buy into Medicaid and to expand opportunities for such workers to make such a buy. Provides that Federal funds paid to a State for medical assistance provided to certain working disabled individuals must be used to supplement but not supplant the level of State funds expended as of FY 1999 for programs to enable working disabled individuals to work. (Sec. 102) Provides for certain continuation of Medicare coverage for working individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible States to support establishment of State infrastructures to support the working disabled as well as to enable State outreach campaigns on infrastructure existence; and (2) submit a recommendation to specified congressional committees on whether such grant program should be continued after FY 2010. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 104) Authorizes State demonstration projects for certain Medicaid coverage of up to a specified maximum number of workers with a potentially severe disability, coverage equal to that afforded under the State option provided for above for eliminating income, assets, and resource limitations for disabled workers buying into Medicaid. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to direct the Commissioner to establish a Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (TWSSP) under which a disabled beneficiary may use a TWSSP ticket issued by the Commissioner under a described system, designed to ensure quality assurance, to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services, pursuant to an appropriate individual beneficiary work plan that meets specified requirements, at the Commission's expense, from a participating employment network, public or private, which: (1) meets specified qualifications and is under an agreement with the Commissioner who must select a program manager to assist in administering TWSSP; (2) is chosen by the beneficiary, and (3) is willing to accept assignment of the beneficiary's TWSSP ticket. Allows State agencies administering or supervising the administration of the State plan under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to elect to participate as an employment network. Sets forth special requirements applicable to cross-referral to certain State agencies and requirements relating to provision of services. Describes employment network payment systems. Provides that during any period for which an individual is using a TWSSP ticket, the Commissioner and any applicable State agency may not initiate a continuing disability or similar review with regards to whether the individual is or is not disabled. Requires payments to employment networks to be made out of the social security trust funds in the case of ticketed SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) disability beneficiaries who return to work, or from the appropriation made available for making Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments under SSA title XVI, in the case of SSI disability beneficiaries who return to work. Provides for allocation of other costs. (Sec. 202) Establishes within the Social Security Administration the Work Incentives Advisory Panel to advise the Commissioner with respect to TWSSP, and other Federal officials on related issues. Provides that the costs for carrying out this paragraph shall be paid from amounts available for the administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among those amounts as appropriate. Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives - Amends SSA title II to set forth a number of measures designed to eliminate work disincentives, namely prohibiting work activity as a basis for review of an individual's disability status and providing for expedited eligibility determinations for applications for disability benefits of former certain long-term disability beneficiaries that engaged in substantial gainful activity during a certain extended period following the end of a rehabilitation services trial work period. Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach - Amends SSA title XI part A (General Provisions) to direct the Commissioner to establish a community-based work incentives outreach program for disabled beneficiaries that includes the provision of technical assistance to organizations and entities that are designed to encourage disabled beneficiaries to return to work. Provides that the costs of carrying out this subtitle shall be paid from amounts made available for administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among such amounts as appropriate. (Sec. 222) Amends SSA title XI to authorize the Commissioner to make certain minimum payments in each State to the protection and advocacy system established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act for the purpose of providing services to disabled beneficiaries, services which may include advocacy or other services that such a beneficiary may need to secure or regain gainful employment. Provides for funding similar to that in he paragraph above. Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies - Amends the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 to provide for an extension of disability insurance program demonstration project authority to include any group of applicants for benefits under such program with impairments that may reasonably be presumed to be disabling for purposes of such demonstration project. (Sec. 302) Directs the Commissioner to conduct certain demonstration projects designed to provide for specified reductions in disability insurance benefits based on earnings. Requires expenditures for such demonstration projects to come out of the social security and Medicare trust funds to the extent provided in advance in appropriation acts. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should establish additional demonstration projects to assist individuals with disabilities to engage in work. (Sec. 304) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report to the Congress on various described studies concerning existing disability-related employment incentives and coordination of the OASDI disability insurance program and the SSI program as they relate to individuals entering or leaving concurrent entitlement under such programs, as well as on a study concerning the impact of the substantial gainful activity limit on return to work. Title IV: Technical Amendments - Amends the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 with respect to: (1) final adjudication of denied claims by drug addicts and alcoholics for SSA title II disability benefits; and (2) the effective dates of certain requirements concerning representative payees and treatment referrals for such individuals. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title II to: (1) provide for payments to State and local prisons for monthly reports on the identities of inmates whose OASDI benefits are determined by the Commissioner not to be payable as a result of such reports; (2) provide for a 50 percent reduction in such payments under SSA titles II and XVI in cases involving a comparable payment under the other title with respect to the same prisoner; (3) exempt from the Privacy Act of 1974 any agreements with State and local prisons to supply such information; (4) transfer from the OASDI trust funds any sums necessary to enable the Commissioner to make such payments; (5) eliminate the requirement that confinement stem only from a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year (thus denying OASDI benefits to individuals confined for any criminal offense); and (6) provide for continued denial of benefits to sex offenders remaining confined to public institutions upon completion of prison term. (Sec. 403) Provides for a two-year open season for members of the clergy who wish to revoke their exemption from social security coverage. (Sec. 404) Amends SSA title XI to make a miscellaneous technical amendment relating to cooperative research or development projects under SSA titles II and XVI. (Sec. 405) Amends SSA title XI to make miscellaneous technical amendments to provisions concerning the requirements of State income and eligibility verification systems, among other changes allowing a State to permit certain employers that make returns with respect to domestic service employment taxes on a calendar year basis to instead make such reports on an annual basis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
Makes veterans who have been awarded the Purple Heart eligible for veterans' hospital care and medical services. Provides such veterans with a priority in the veterans' system of annual patient enrollment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a member of a uniformed service shall be treated as using property as a principal residence, for purposes of the exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence, while serving on qualified official extended duty.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1999
Federal Research Investment Act - Calls for Federal funding levels for fundamental, scientific, and pre-competitive engineering research to be increased to equal approximately 2.6 percent of the total annual Federal budget. Authorizes appropriations for civilian research and development (R&D) within specified agencies for FY 2000 through 2010. Directs the President to include with the annual budget request a report concerning Federal R&D program funding, future R&D strategies and targets, an analysis of funding levels across Federal agencies by funding methodology, and specific proposals for infrastructure development and R&D capacity building in States with less concentrated R&D resources. Requires the Director of the Office of Science Technology Policy to enter in an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study to develop methods for evaluating federally-funded R&D programs. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), based on study results, to promulgate one or more alternative forms for Federal R&D performance goals. Permits an agency head to apply such an alternative form without further authorization by OMB. Requires agency heads carrying out R&D activities, upon updating a strategic plan, to describe the current and future use of methods for determining an acceptable level of R&D success as recommended by the study. Authorizes appropriations for the study. Requires the OMB Director, based upon program performance reports, to identify the civilian R&D program activities or components which do not meet an acceptable level of success as defined under current law. Directs the head of an agency, for each program activity or component identified as being below the acceptable level of success for two consecutive fiscal years, to: (1) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a concise statement of the steps necessary to bring such program into compliance with performance goals; or (2) terminate such program should compliance efforts fail. Requires the inclusion of any legislative changes needed to effectuate the steps contained in such statement.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1999
Patients' Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Patients' Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Right to Advice and Care - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require a group health plan covering emergency medical care to provide coverage, without requiring preauthorization, for appropriate emergency medical screening examinations to the extent that a prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of health and medicine, would determine such examinations to be necessary to determine whether emergency medical care is necessary. (Sec. 101) Requires a plan to cover additional emergency medical services to stabilize an emergency medical condition following such an examination to the extent that a prudent emergency medical professional would determine such services to be necessary to avoid specified serious consequences. Requires a plan (other than a fully insured group health plan) providing benefit coverage only through a defined set of participating health care professionals to offer the option of point-of-service coverage (of the same benefits provided by a nonparticipating health care professional), unless the plan offers multiple issuer or coverage options. Exempts from this requirement any group health plan (other than a fully insured plan) of a small employer. Requires any plan offering gynecological, obstetric, or pediatric care not to require prior authorization from a participant's primary care provider if such provider is not a gynecologist, obstetrician, or pediatrician. Requires a plan to permit a participant or beneficiary undergoing a course of treatment to continue such treatment for a period of time even though the contract between the plan (other than a fully insured plan) and a health care provider is terminated, or the schedule of benefits or coverage is terminated by a change in the terms of the provider's participation in the plan. Specifies a 90-day continuation of coverage generally, and other transitional periods for institutionalization (until discharge), pregnancy (through post-partum care), and terminal illness (remainder of life). Declares that a plan shall not prohibit a health care professional from advising a patient about the patient's health status, medical care, or treatment for the patient's condition or disease, regardless of whether coverage for such care or treatment is provided under the contract, if the professional is acting within the lawful scope of the practice. Defines "fully insured group health plan" as a plan where benefits are provided pursuant to the terms of an arrangement between a group health plan and a health insurance issuer and are guaranteed by the health insurance issuer under a contract or policy of insurance. Subtitle B: Right to Information about Plans and Providers - Amends ERISA, as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, to require plans and group health insurance issuers to disclose specified plan information to enrollees and (upon request) potential enrollees. (Sec. 112) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to contract with the Institute of Medicine for a study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) health care professionals information currently available to patients, consumers, States, and professional societies, nationally and on a State-by-State basis; (2) the legal and other barriers to the sharing of information about health care professionals; and (3) recommendations for disclosure of such information on health care professionals, including their competencies and professional qualifications, to better facilitate patient choice, quality improvement, and market competition. Subtitle C: Right to Hold Health Plans Accountable - Revises requirements for plan provision of a procedure for appealing denied claims. (Sec. 121) Requires a plan or health insurance issuer conducting utilization review to have: (1) specified procedures in place for coverage determinations, including expedited determinations; (2) written procedures for addressing grievances between a plan and enrollees; (3) an internal procedure for coverage determination appeals; and (4) an external review procedure for enrollee appeals, involving specified entities and independent medical experts, whose determination shall be binding. Prescribes external review standards. Directs the General Accounting Office to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on a statistically appropriate sample of completed external reviews. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deem the requirements of subtitle B of this Act to be incorporated into the Code. Title II: Individual Rights with Respect to Personal Medical Information - Personal Medical Information Access Act - Subtitle A: Access to Medical Records - Requires any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university, except in specified circumstances, to: (1) permit an individual who is the subject of protected health information (or the individual's designee) to inspect and copy protected health information concerning the individual; (2) amend such information upon the individual's request; and (3) make reasonable efforts to inform any person to whom the unamended portion of the information was previously disclosed of any nontechnical amendment that has been made. (Sec. 212) Prescribes procedures for: (1) an entity's denial of a request to amend such information; and (2) an individual's filing of a statement of disagreement with such denial, which shall accompany any subsequent disclosure of the disputed portion of the information. (Sec. 213) Requires any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university to post notice of the entity's confidentiality practices, including specified information. Requires the Secretary to develop and disseminate model notices of confidentiality practices. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university to establish and maintain appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, security, accuracy, and integrity of protected health information the entity creates, receives, obtains, maintains, uses, transmits, or disposes of. Subtitle C: Enforcement; Definitions - Prescribes civil money penalties for substantial and material failure to comply with this Act. (Sec. 232) Sets forth definitions. Title III: Genetic Information and Services - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1999 - Amends ERISA, the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999), and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a health care plan or health insurance issuer from restricting enrollment or adjusting premium or contribution amounts for a group on the basis of predictive genetic information concerning an individual in the group or a family member of the individual (including information about a request for or receipt of genetic services). (Sec. 302) Prohibits a plan or issuer from requesting or requiring predictive genetic information concerning an individual or a family member of the individual (including information about a request for or receipt of genetic services). Permits a plan or issuer to request, but not require, such information for diagnosis, treatment, or payment purposes only. Title IV: Healthcare Research and Quality - Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999 - Amends PHSA to establish within the Public Health Service (PHS) an Agency for Healthcare Quality Research to replace the current Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. (Sec. 402) Directs the Agency to identify and disseminate methods or systems used to assess healthcare research results, particularly to rate the strength of the scientific evidence behind healthcare practice and technology recommendations in the research. Requires the Agency to employ research strategies and mechanisms that will link research directly with clinical practice in geographically diverse locations throughout the United States, including: (1) Healthcare Improvement Research Centers that combine demonstrated multidisciplinary expertise in outcomes or quality improvement research with linkages to relevant sites of care; (2) Provider-based Research Networks, including plan, facility, or delivery system sites of care (especially primary care), that can evaluate and promote quality improvement; and (3) other innovative mechanisms or strategies. Directs the Agency to: (1) award grants to enable eligible entities at geographically diverse locations throughout the United States to carry out research training programs dedicated to health services research training at the doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty levels; and (2) provide specified scientific and technical support for private and public efforts to improve healthcare quality, including accrediting organizations. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Agency Director, to establish a program of grants for one or more centers to conduct: (1) state-of-the-art clinical research on drugs, biological products, and devices; (2) research on the comparative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and safety of drugs, biological products, and devices; and (3) other appropriate activities (excluding the review of new drugs). Requires the Agency Director to: (1) collect certain data on the cost and quality of healthcare; (2) support research on and initiatives to advance the use of information systems for the study of healthcare quality; and (3) provide ongoing administrative, research, and technical support for the Preventive Services Task Force, which shall review scientific evidence on the effectiveness, appropriateness, and cost-effectiveness of clinical preventive services regarding their usefulness in daily clinical practice. Establishes within the Agency a Center for Primary Care Delivery Research to serve as the principal funding source for HHS primary care delivery research and demonstrations with respect to the first contact when illness or health concerns arise, the diagnosis, treatment or referral to specialty care, preventive care, and the relationship between the clinician and the patient in the context of the family and community. Requires the Agency Director by specified activities to promote innovation in evidence-based clinical practice and healthcare technologies. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to coordinate all research, evaluations, and demonstrations related to health services research and quality measurement and improvement activities undertaken and supported by the Federal Government. Requires the Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine to: (1) describe and evaluate current quality improvement research and monitoring processes; and (2) recommend options to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of such processes, and optimize public-private sector accreditation bodies. Establishes an Advisory Council for Healthcare Quality Research to replace the current Advisory Council for Health Care Policy, Research, and Evaluation. Requires the Agency Director to establish technical and scientific peer review groups to review each application for a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract under this title. Repeals the mandates for: (1) a demonstration program regarding centers for education and research on therapeutics; and (2) the Office of the Forum for Quality and Effectiveness in Health Care. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 404) Requires the Secretary, within 30 days after enactment of any Act providing for a qualifying health care benefit, to evaluate scientifically and report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) the safety, efficacy, cost, benefits and value of such benefit; (2) alternative approaches in improving care compared with such benefit; and (3) the benefit's overall impact on health care as measured through research. Title V: Enhanced Access to Health Insurance Coverage - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a full deduction from gross income of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. (Sec. 502) Repeals the limitation of the availability of medical savings accounts (MSAs) to employees of small employers and the self-employed. Reduces from $1,500 to $1,000 (self-only coverage) and from $3,000 to $2,000 (family coverage) the minimum annual deductible of a high deductible health plan. Revises the formula for the monthly limitation on the allowable deduction for MSAs to increase the contribution limit to 100 percent of the annual deductible under a high deductible health plan. Waives the additional tax on MSA distributions not used for qualified medical expenses to the extent any payment or distribution does not reduce the fair market value of the MSA assets to an amount less than the annual deductible for the account holder's high deductible health plan. (Sec. 503) Allows the annual carryover of up to $500 of unused benefits from cafeteria plans, flexible spending arrangements, and health flexible spending accounts. (Sec. 504) Authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to contract for or approve catastrophic FEHBP plans, whose covered expenses exceed $500. Amends Federal civil service law, with respect to Government contributions under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), to require an additional Government contribution, according to a certain formula, to an individual's MSA with respect to a catastrophic plan. Deems subscription charges for MSAs to be the amount of Government contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to allow all States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership (Ed-Flex Partnership) program. (Sec. 4) Requires Ed-Flex Partnership States to: (1) have approved challenging content standards, challenging performance measures, and aligned assessments in place or have made substantial progress towards having an approved plan under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); (2) hold local educational agencies (LEAs) accountable for meeting the educational goals submitted in their local applications for waivers, and for taking corrective actions if they have not met such goals; and (3) waive State educational requirements while holding LEAs or schools affected by such waivers accountable for student performance. Sets forth requirements for: (1) State educational agency (SEA) applications and approval by the Secretary; and (2) local applications and approval and monitoring by SEAs. Limits Federal waivers to five years, unless the Secretary extends such period upon determining that such waiver authority has been effective in enabling such SEAs or affected LEAs or schools to carry out local reform plans. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out the Ed-Flex Partnership program for FY 2000 through 2004. Includes as statutory or regulatory requirements that may be waived under this Act those of programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, and of the following programs under ESEA: (1) title I Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards; (2) part A Federal Activities under the title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program; (3) subpart 2 State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources (with specified exceptions), under part A Technology Education for All Students, of title III Technology for Education; (4) title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities; (5) title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (6) the part C Emergency Immigrant Education Program under title VII Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs. Prohibits waivers for specified types of requirements. Provides that this Act shall not affect the authority of any SEA under the Ed-Flex Demonstration program of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Sets forth accountability requirements. Requires the Secretary, in deciding whether to extend the authority of an SEA to issue waivers, to review the progress of the SEA, LEA, or school affected by the waiver or authority toward the desired results described in its application.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to allow all States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership (Ed-Flex Partnership) program. (Sec. 4) Requires Ed-Flex Partnership States to: (1) have approved challenging content standards, challenging performance measures, and aligned assessments in place or have made substantial progress towards having an approved plan under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); (2) hold local educational agencies (LEAs) accountable for meeting the educational goals submitted in their local applications for waivers, and for taking corrective actions if they have not met such goals; and (3) waive State educational requirements while holding LEAs or schools affected by such waivers accountable for student performance. Sets forth requirements for: (1) State educational agency (SEA) applications and approval by the Secretary; and (2) local applications and approval and monitoring by SEAs. Limits Federal waivers to five years, unless the Secretary extends such period upon determining that such waiver authority has been effective in enabling such SEAs or affected LEAs or schools to carry out local reform plans. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out the Ed-Flex Partnership program for FY 2000 through 2004. Includes as statutory or regulatory requirements that may be waived under this Act those of programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, and of the following programs under ESEA: (1) title I Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards; (2) part A Federal Activities under the title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program; (3) subpart 2 State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources (with specified exceptions), under part A Technology Education for All Students, of title III Technology for Education; (4) title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities; (5) title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (6) the part C Emergency Immigrant Education Program under title VII Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs. Prohibits waivers for specified types of requirements. Provides that this Act shall not affect the authority of any SEA under the Ed-Flex Demonstration program of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Sets forth accountability requirements. Requires the Secretary, in deciding whether to extend the authority of an SEA to issue waivers, to review the progress of the SEA, LEA, or school affected by the waiver or authority toward the desired results described in its application.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Pay and Allowances Title II: Retirement Benefits Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's, and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 - Title I: Pay and Allowances - Waives during FY 2000 any required adjustment in the rates of monthly military basic pay in conformance with the General Schedule of the Federal Government. Increases such pay by 4.8 percent, effective on January 1, 2000. Provides: (1) an increase in such pay as of July 1, 2000, for officer and enlisted personnel within specified pay grades; and (2) a pay increase for fiscal years after 2000 of one percent over the percentage increase as calculated under the Employment Cost Index. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay a special subsistence allowance of $180 for each month in which a member is eligible to receive food stamp assistance. Terminates or reestablishes such entitlement under certain conditions. Title II: Retirement Benefits - Authorizes the payment of a lump-sum bonus of $30,000 to a member who: (1) first became a member on or after August 1, 1986; (2) has completed 15 years of active duty; and (3) executes a written agreement to remain on active duty until the completion of 20 years of such service. Requires notification of those eligible for such bonus. Requires a pro rata repayment of such bonus when the full additional period is not completed. Authorizes a waiver of the repayment requirement when against equity or good conscience or contrary to the best interests of the United States. (Sec. 202) Authorizes a member serving on active duty for more than 30 days to participate in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, with a maximum annual contribution of five percent of basic pay and any special or incentive pay. Prohibits matching Federal agency contributions. Adds a representative of such members to the Employee Thrift Advisory Council. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to enter into an agreement to make contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund for the benefit of a member who: (1) is in a specialty designated as critical; and (2) agrees to continue to serve on active duty in such specialty for a period of six years.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 - States as U.S. policy to deploy as soon as technologically possible a National Missile Defense system capable of defending U.S. territory against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate).
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Blind Persons Earnings Equity Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1999
National Missile Defense Act of 1999 - States as U.S. policy to deploy as soon as technologically possible a National Missile Defense system capable of defending U.S. territory against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, unauthorized, or deliberate).
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1999
Trade Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to repeal the requirement that the cause of serious injury (or threat) be substantial to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an article that is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities with respect to the President taking action to facilitate efforts by such industry to make a positive adjustment to the import competition. Revises certain factors the International Trade Commission must consider when investigating to determine whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury (or threat) to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Repeals, similarly, the requirement that such injury be substantial. Declares that imports shall be considered to be a "cause of serious injury, or threat thereof," if a causal link is established between imports and injury to the domestic industry. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish and implement a steel import permit and monitoring program. Requires: (1) a person to have a steel import permit before he or she can import certain steel products into the United States; and (2) the Secretary to issue such permit to any person who files an application that meets specified requirements. Requires the Secretary to compile and publish certain information with respect to such imported steel.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Marriage Tax Penalty Elimination Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise standard deduction amounts and individual income tax rate bracket amounts, including providing that amounts for married filing jointly categories shall be twice that of amounts for single filers.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Pay and Allowances Title II: Retirement Benefits Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's, and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 - Title I: Pay and Allowances - Waives during FY 2000 any required adjustment in the rates of monthly military basic pay in conformance with the General Schedule of the Federal Government. Increases such pay by 4.8 percent, effective on January 1, 2000. Provides: (1) an increase in such pay as of July 1, 2000, for officer and enlisted personnel within specified pay grades; and (2) a pay increase for fiscal years after 2000 of one percent over the percentage increase as calculated under the Employment Cost Index. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay a special subsistence allowance of $180 for each month in which a member is eligible to receive food stamp assistance. Terminates or reestablishes such entitlement under certain conditions. Title II: Retirement Benefits - Authorizes the payment of a lump-sum bonus of $30,000 to a member who: (1) first became a member on or after August 1, 1986; (2) has completed 15 years of active duty; and (3) executes a written agreement to remain on active duty until the completion of 20 years of such service. Requires notification of those eligible for such bonus. Requires a pro rata repayment of such bonus when the full additional period is not completed. Authorizes a waiver of the repayment requirement when against equity or good conscience or contrary to the best interests of the United States. (Sec. 202) Authorizes a member serving on active duty for more than 30 days to participate in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, with a maximum annual contribution of five percent of basic pay and any special or incentive pay. Prohibits matching Federal agency contributions. Adds a representative of such members to the Employee Thrift Advisory Council. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to enter into an agreement to make contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund for the benefit of a member who: (1) is in a specialty designated as critical; and (2) agrees to continue to serve on active duty in such specialty for a period of six years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to: (1) provide a duty, through December 31, 2004, on fabrics, of carded or combed wool, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 70's" or "Super 80's" intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers; and (2) grant duty-free treatment, through December 31, 2004, of fabrics, of carded or combed wool, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 90's" or higher grade intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers. Treats (for tariff purposes) such suits similarly to certain other suits under the Schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Sets forth a special timetable for any first session that begins in any year immediately following a leap year and during which the term of a President begins (except one who starts a second successive term). (Sec. 2) Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. (Sec. 4) Sets forth revised pay-as-you-go provisions for the Senate to conform with the biennial framework. (Sec. 5) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. (Sec. 6) Requires all Acts making regular appropriations for the support of the Government to be enacted for a biennium and to specify the amount of appropriations provided for each fiscal year in that period. (Sec. 7) Amends CBA to provide that it shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider: (1) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that authorizes appropriations for a period of less than two fiscal years, unless the program, project, or activity for which the appropriations are authorized will require no further appropriations and will be completed or terminated after the appropriations have been expended; and (2) in any odd-numbered year, any authorization or revenue bill or joint resolution until Congress completes action on the biennial budget resolution, all regular biennial appropriations bills, and all reconciliation bills. Provides that, in the Senate, such point of order shall not apply to: (1) any measure that is privileged for consideration pursuant to a rule or statute; (2) any matter considered in Executive Session; or (3) an appropriations measure or reconciliation bill. (Sec. 8) Changes to a biennial basis specified requirements for certain Government strategic and performance plans, performance reports in budget submissions, and program performance reports. Requires congressional committee reviews of such plans and reports. (Sec. 9) Provides that it shall not be in order in the House or the Senate in any odd-numbered year to consider any regular bill providing new budget authority or a limitation on obligations under the jurisdiction of any Appropriations subcommittee for only the first fiscal year of a biennium unless the program, project, or activity for which such authority or limitation is provided will require no additional authority beyond one year and will be completed or terminated after the amount provided has been expended. (Sec. 10) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to the Budget Committees on the impact and feasibility of changing the definition of a fiscal year and the budget process based on that definition to a two-year fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on the two-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 1999 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that any duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order, an antidumping duty order, or a finding under the Antidumping Act of 1921 shall be distributed on an annual basis as continued dumping or subsidy offsets to the affected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures. Limits qualifying expenditures to expenditures incurred since the issuance of the antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing duty order in any or all of the categories of plant, equipment, research and development (R&D), personnel training, acquisition of technology, employer-paid employee health care and pension benefits, environmental equipment, training or technology, acquisition of raw materials and other inputs, and borrowed working capital or other funds needed to maintain production. Directs the Commissioner of the U.S. Customs Service to prescribe offset disbursement procedures. Sets forth general procedures for notification of eligible parties. Requires the Commissioner to establish a special account in the Treasury to receive all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, for distribution according to this Act, within 14 days after an antidumping or countervailing duty order takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: International Supply Reduction Subtitle A: International Crime Subtitle B: International Drug Control Subtitle C: Foreign Military Counter-Drug Support Subtitle D: Money Laundering Deterrence Subtitle E: Additional Funding For Source and Interdiction Zone Countries Title II: Domestic Law Enforcement Subtitle A: Criminal Offenders Subtitle B: Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup Subtitle C: Powder Cocaine Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Subtitle D: Drug-Free Borders Title III: Domestic Demand Reduction Subtitle A: Education, Prevention, and Treatment Subtitle B: Drug-Free Families Title IV: Funding For United States Counter-Drug Enforcement Agencies Subtitle B(sic): United States Coast Guard Subtitle C: Drug Enforcement Administration Subtitle D: Department of the Treasury Subtitle E: Department of Defense Drug-Free Century Act - Title I: International Supply Reduction - Subtitle A: International Crime - Chapter 1: International Crime Control - International Crime Control Act of 1999 - Prohibits, and sets felony penalties for, violence committed while eluding inspection or during violation of arrival, reporting, entry, or clearance requirements, including conspiracy and reckless endangerment. Chapter 2: Strengthening Maritime Law Enforcement Along United States Borders - Prohibits, and sets penalties for: (1) failing to obey an order to heave to (on being so ordered by an authorized Federal law enforcement officer); and (2) failing to comply with an order of such officer in connection with the boarding of the vessel, impeding or obstructing a boarding, arrest, or other law enforcement action authorized by Federal law, or providing false information to such an officer during a boarding regarding the destination, origin, ownership, registration, nationality, cargo, or crew of the vessel. Authorizes: (1) a foreign country to consent or waive objection to the enforcement of U.S. law by the United States under this subtitle by international agreement or, on a case-by-case basis, by radio, telephone, or similar oral or electronic means; (2) the Secretary of State or his or her designee to prove a consent or waiver by certification; and (3) the seizure and forfeiture of a vessel used in violation of this chapter. (Sec. 1004) Sets a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for failure to comply with a lawful boarding, obstruction of boarding, or provision of false information. Provides for in rem liability. (Sec. 1005) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to define an "authorized place" to board vessels to include a location in a foreign country at which U.S. customs officers are permitted to conduct inspections, examinations, or searches. Chapter 3: Smuggling of Contraband and Other Illegal Products - Prohibits, and sets penalties for, smuggling contraband and other goods from the United States and for facilitating the transportation of such goods prior to exportation. Makes such smuggling, and smuggling goods into foreign countries, a predicate offense under the money laundering statute. Amends the Tariff Act to provide for the forfeiture of merchandise illegally exported or attempted to be exported from the United States. (Sec. 1007) Increases the penalty for entry of goods by means of false statements. Prohibits, and applies such penalty to, embezzling, stealing, or wrongfully converting to personal use funds, assets, securities, or other property entrusted to a person's care or to the care of another for the purpose of paying any lawful customs duties. (Sec. 1008) Prohibits, and sets penalties for, false certifications relating to exports. Chapter 4: Denying Safe Havens to International Criminals - Authorizes the Attorney General, if a foreign government makes a request for the extradition of a person who is charged with or has been convicted of an offense within that government's jurisdiction, and if an extradition treaty between that government and the United States is in force but does not provide for extradition for the offense for which the person has been charged or convicted, or if no treaty is in force, to authorize the filing of a complaint for extradition, subject to specified conditions. (Sec. 1012) Grants the Attorney General the authority, if a person is being held in pretrial detention or is otherwise in custody in a foreign county based upon a violation of the law in that country and the person is found extraditable to the United States by the competent authorities of that country while still in pretrial detention or custody, to: (1) request the temporary transfer of that person to the United States to face prosecution in a Federal or State criminal proceeding; (2) maintain the custody of that person while he or she is in the United States; and (3) return that person to the foreign country at the conclusion of the criminal prosecution, including any imposition of sentence. Sets forth similar provisions regarding the Attorney General's authority with respect to the temporary transfer of persons in pretrial detention or custody in the United States to foreign governments seeking their extradition. (Sec. 1013) Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit a person from using the resources of the U.S. courts in furtherance of a claim in any related civil forfeiture action, or a claim in third party proceedings in any related criminal forfeiture action, if that person: (1) purposely leaves U.S. jurisdiction; (2) declines to enter or reenter the United States to submit to its jurisdiction; or (3) otherwise evades the jurisdiction of the court in which a criminal case against that person is pending. (Sec. 1014) Removes restrictions on the transfer of foreign prisoners to serve sentences in their country of origin where provided by treaty. (Sec. 1015) Authorizes the Attorney General to permit the temporary transit through the United States of a person wanted for prosecution or imposition of sentence in a foreign country. Chapter 5: Seizing and Forfeiting Assets of International Criminals - Prohibits, and sets penalties for, violations of anti-money laundering orders. (Sec. 1017) Provides that, for purposes of proving a violation of the prohibition against owning or operating an illegal money transmitting business, it shall be sufficient for the Government to prove that the defendant knew that the business lacked a license required by State law, and it shall not be necessary to show that the defendant knew that operation of the business without the required license was an offense punishable as a felony or misdemeanor under State law. (Sec. 1018) Grants the district courts jurisdiction over any foreign person, including any financial institution registered in a foreign country, that commits a money laundering offense involving a financial transaction that occurs in whole or in part in the United States, if service of process is made as specified. Authorizes the court to take action necessary to ensure that any bank account or other property held by the defendant in the United States is available to satisfy a judgement under this section. (Sec.1019) Amends the money laundering statute to include foreign banks within the definition of "financial institution." (Sec. 1021) Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to authorize the court: (1) in the case of property that has been placed beyond the court's jurisdiction, to order the defendant to return the property to the court's jurisdiction so it may be seized and forfeited; and (2) to order the defendant to repatriate any property subject to forfeiture pending trial and to deposit that property in the registry of the court, or with the United States Marshals Service or the Secretary, in an interest-bearing account (and sets penalties for failure to comply). (Sec. 1022) Expands the Secretary's administrative summons authority under the Bank Secrecy Act. (Sec. 1023) Amends the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading With the Enemy Act of 1917 (TWEA) to provide that information obtained under such Acts may be withheld only to the extent permitted by statute, except that information submitted, obtained, or considered in connection with any transaction prohibited under such Acts, including license applications, licenses or other authorizations, information or evidence obtained in the course of any investigation, and information obtained or furnished in connection with international agreements, treaties, or obligations shall be withheld from public disclosure, unless the release of the information is determined by the President to be in the national interest. (Sec. 1024) Increases the civil penalty and the criminal fine for violations of IEEPA. (Sec. 1025) Amends TWEA to cover attempted violations of the Act. (Sec. 1026) Specifies circumstances under which a person who commits an offense outside the United States that would constitute fraud or another prohibited related activity in connection with an access device shall be subject to the penalties for such offense as if it were committed in the United States. Chapter 6: Promoting Global Cooperation in the Fight Against International Crime - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize the Attorney General to present a request made by a foreign government for assistance with respect to a foreign investigation, prosecution, or proceeding regarding a criminal matter the execution of which requires the use of compulsory measures in more than one judicial district, to a judge or judge magistrate of any one of such districts or of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Grants such judge or magistrate the authority to issue orders to execute the request. (Sec. 1028) Grants the Attorney General authority to temporarily transfer a person who is serving a sentence, is in pretrial detention, or is otherwise being held in U.S. custody, whose testimony is needed in a foreign criminal proceeding, subject to specified requirements, if such transfer is consistent with the international obligations of the United States. (Sec. 1029) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to make an exception to the prohibition against training of foreign law enforcement agencies with respect to assistance and training provided for antiterrorism purposes. (Sec. 1030) Authorizes the Attorney General to make payments from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to return forfeited property repatriated to the United States by a foreign government or others acting at the direction of a foreign government, and interest earned on the property under specified conditions. Subtitle B: International Drug Control - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the President, by November 1 of each year, to submit to the Congress a separate plan for the activities to be undertaken by the United States in order to address drug-trafficking and other drug-related matters in each country that is determined by the President to be a major drug-transit country or a major illicit drug producing country, with which the United States is maintaining diplomatic relations. (Sec. 1202) Prohibits any funds appropriated for any fiscal year after FY 1999 for U.S. counter-drug or counter-narcotics activities from being obligated or expended for such activities between November 1 of such fiscal year and the later of the notification date required in such fiscal year under provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 regarding authority to transfer excess defense articles or the date of the submittal of the plans required by this subtitle. (Sec. 1203) Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding Colombia (regarding counter-narcotics assistance and human rights), Mexico (regarding a maritime agreement to improve cooperation in interdicting seaborne drug smuggling), and Iran and Syria (regarding narcotics). (Sec. 1207) Authorizes the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to purchase a King Air aircraft for DEA activities, and station the aircraft, in Brazil. Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding narcotics trafficking in Brazil, Jamaica, and North Korea. Subtitle C: Foreign Military Counter-Drug Support - Directs: (1) the Departments of State and Defense to report monthly to specified congressional committees on the current status of any formal letter of request for foreign military sales of counter-narcotics-related assistance from the head of any police, military, or other appropriate security agency official in an Andean country; and (2) the Department of State to review and forward to the Congress an analysis of the current foreign military sales program within 180 days of this Act's enactment. Subtitle D: Money Laundering Deterrence - Money Laundering Deterrence Act of 1999 - Revises Federal law to expand the scope of immunity from civil liability for disclosures of suspicious monetary transactions made by: (1) a financial institution and any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents to an appropriate governmental agency; or (2) an independent accountant who audits a financial institution. Extends such immunity to any failure to notify either the subject of such disclosure, or any other person identified in it. Prohibits notification of such disclosures or their contents: (1) to any person involved in the suspect transaction; or (2) by any government staff to other government agencies. Exempts from such prohibition any use of related information by government officers in the conduct of either official duties or law enforcement, regulatory, or investigative proceedings. States that written employment references submitted by a financial institution to another upon request may disclose information concerning possible involvement in suspicious transactions relevant to possible illegalities. Shields from civil liability any financial institution and its directors, officers, employees, and agents for any such disclosures. Authorizes the Secretary to disseminate information contained in such reports to certain self-regulatory organizations subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, if the Securities and Exchange Commission determines it is necessary or appropriate for such organizations' statutory functions. (Sec. 1404) Authorizes the Secretary to summon financial institution records in connection with examinations to determine compliance with designated statutory requirements. (Sec. 1405) Provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of orders the Secretary of the Treasury may issue to a financial institution or group of financial institutions in a geographic area (geographic targeting orders). Increases civil and criminal penalties for violations of specified record keeping requirements. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and specified monetary law to increase civil and criminal penalties for violation of record keeping requirements. (Sec.1406) Amends the Money Laundering Suppression Act of 1994 to repeal the requirement for a periodic status report by the Secretary to the Congress on progress by the States in enacting a model statute to implement uniform State licensing and regulation of check cashing, currency exchange, and money transmitting businesses. (Sec.1408) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary, in conjunction with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, should expedite promulgation of "know your customer" regulations for financial institutions. Subtitle E: Additional Funding For Source and Interdiction Zone Countries - Authorizes appropriations, beyond sums appropriated for Colombia and Peru for counter-narcotics operations for a fiscal year, for: (1) Peru and Colombia to support additional surveillance, pursuit of drug aircraft, and general support for counter-narcotics operations; and (2) Bolivian counter-narcotics programs for FY 2000. (Sec. 1502) Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 2000 for enhanced efforts in counter-narcotics matters by the United States Coast Guard, Customs Service, and other law enforcement agencies. Title II: Domestic Law Enforcement - Subtitle A: Criminal Offenders - Directs the Attorney General to require the United States Attorney to: (1) establish an armed violent criminal apprehension task force; and (2) report to the Attorney General, at least monthly, on the number of defendants charged with, or convicted of, violating specified provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Sets forth reporting requirements. Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code (the code) to revise the definition of "crime of violence" to include an offense that is a violation of provisions relating to possession of explosives or firearms by convicted felons; and (2) the Brady Act to set penalties for transferring a firearm, having reasonable cause to believe (currently, knowing) that it will be used to commit a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime, and to prohibit the court from granting a probationary sentence to a person who has more than one previous conviction for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, committed under different circumstances. (Sec. 2002) Amends the code to provide that whoever, acting with the state of mind otherwise required for the commission of a Federal criminal offense, intentionally engages in conduct that constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the offense, is guilty of an attempt and is subject to the same penalties (except the death penalty) as those prescribed for the offense the commission of which was the object of the attempt. Specifies that inability to commit or to complete the offense shall not be a defense to such a prosecution, with exceptions. Makes it an affirmative defense that the defendant prevented the commission of the offense under circumstances manifesting a voluntary and complete renunciation of criminal intent. Repeals a limitation on punishment for conspiracy where an offense, the commission of which is the object of the conspiracy, is a misdemeanor. Provides that if two or more persons conspire to commit any offense against the United States, and one or more of them do any act to effect the object of the conspiracy, each shall be subject to the same penalties (except the death penalty) as those prescribed for the most serious offense the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy. (Sec. 2003) Specifies that, for purposes of this Act, an offense is committed in the presence of a child if: (1) it takes place in the line of sight of an individual who has not attained age 18; or (2) an individual who has not attained age 18 habitually resides in the place where the violation occurs. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to provide for specified sentencing enhancements with respect to a CSA offense that is committed in the presence of a child. (Sec. 2004) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should take immediate and effective action at and near the U.S.-Mexican border to control violence and other illegal acts; and (2) the Attorney General should report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on what steps are being taken to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens at and near the border, and to prevent the illegal acquisition of sites and facilities in such areas by drug traffickers, and what steps need to be taken to ensure the safety and well being of the people of the United States along that border. (Sec. 2005) Amends the code to authorize the use of a clone pager (defined as a numeric display device that receives communications intended for another numeric display paging device). Prohibits the installation or use of a pen register, trap and trace device, or clone pager without first obtaining a court order under the code or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, except as provided in this section. Amends provisions regarding the use of pen registers and trap and trace devices to cover the use of clone pagers. Authorizes a provider of electronic communication service, upon the request of an attorney for the Government or an officer of a law enforcement agency authorized touse a clone pager, to furnish to such investigative or law enforcement officer all information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the programming and use of such pager unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the paging services provided. Sets forth provisions regarding application for an order for use of a clone pager and issuance of such an order. Subtitle B: Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup - Requires the Sentencing Commission to promulgate, or amend existing, Federal sentencing guidelines for any offense relating to the manufacture, attempt to manufacture, or conspiracy to manufacture amphetamine or methamphetamine in violation of the CSA, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. Directs the Commission, with respect to each such offense, to increase the base level for the offense as specified, with an even greater increase if the offense created a substantial risk of danger to the health and safety of another person. Grants the Commission certain emergency authority to promulgate guidelines or amendments. (Sec. 2102) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration should develop a comprehensive plan for addressing the need for the speedy and safe clean up of methamphetamine laboratory sites; and (2) the Federal Government should allocate sufficient funding to pay for a comprehensive effort to clean up such sites. Subtitle C: Powder Cocaine Mandatory Minimum Sentencing - Amends CSA and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to decrease (from five kilograms to 500 grams, and from 500 to 50 grams) the amounts of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of coca leaves, cocaine, ecgonine, or compounds thereof (cocaine powder) the manufacture, distribution, or possession of which is punishable by specified penalties under such Acts. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend guidelines to reflect the amendment made by this subtitle. Subtitle D: Drug-Free Borders - Increases from two to five years the penalty for entry of goods by means of false statements. (Sec. 2302) Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Attorney General, in each of FY 2000 through 2004, to increase by not less than 1,500 the number of positions for full-time, active-duty border patrol agents within the Immigration and Naturalization Service above the number of such positions for which funds were allotted for the preceding fiscal year, to achieve a level of 15,000 positions by FY 2004. (Sec. 2303) Prohibits a border patrol agent from ceasing pursuit of an alien suspected of unlawfully entering, or of an individual unlawfully importing a narcotic into, the United States, until State or local law enforcement authorities are in pursuit and have the alien or individual in their visual range. Title III: Demand Reduction - Subtitle A: Education, Prevention, and Treatment - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Congress and the President should: (1) make the reauthorization of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994 a high priority for the 106th Congress, and that such reauthorization should maintain substance abuse prevention as a major focus; and (2) make the reauthorization of Federal substance abuse prevention and treatment programs a high priority for the 106th Congress, and provide more flexibility to States in the use of Federal funds for provision of drug abuse prevention and treatment services while holding States accountable for their performance. (Sec. 3003) Directs the National Institute on Standards and Technology to: (1) conduct a study of drug-testing technologies in order to identify and assess the efficacy, accuracy, and usefulness for purposes of the national effort to detect the use of illicit drugs of any drug-testing technologies that may be used as alternatives or complements to urinalysis as a means of detecting the use of such drugs; and (2) report on the results to the Congress. (Sec. 3004) Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require: (1) the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to ensure that the results of all current alcohol research that is set aside for services is widely disseminated to treatment practitioners in an easily understandable format, and in a manner that provides easily understandable steps for the implementation of best practices based on the research, and make technical assistance available to the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to assist alcohol and drug treatment practitioners to make permanent changes in treatment activities through the use of successful treatment models; and (2) the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to take analogous steps with respect to drug abuse research and treatment. (Sec. 3005) Amends PHSA to prohibit the expenditure of Federal funds made available to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes to individuals for the injection of any illegal drug. (Sec. 3006) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish an incentive grant program to assist the States in improving their laws relating to controlled substances and driving. Sets forth grant requirements, including regarding the use of grant funds. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004. (Sec. 3008) Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to authorize an eligible crime victim compensation program to expend appropriated funds to offer compensation to elementary and secondary school students or teachers who are victims of school violence. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make a grant for a demonstration project or for training and technical assistance services to a program that: (1) assists State and local educational agencies in developing, establishing, and operating programs to protect victims of and witnesses to incidents of elementary and secondary school violence; or (2) supports a student safety toll-free hotline that provides students and teachers in such schools with confidential assistance relating to the issues of school crime, violence, drug dealing, and threats to personal safety. (Sec. 3009) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to States, and State and local educational agencies, to develop, establish, or conduct innovative programs to improve unsafe elementary or secondary schools. Provides priorities for programs that: (1) provide prompt parent and teacher notification of certain school incidents; (2) provide annual reports to parents and teachers regarding such incidents; and (3) enhance school security measures. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994 to authorize innovative voluntary random drug testing programs. Subtitle B: Drug-Free Families - Drug-Free Families Act of 1999 - Directs the DEA Administrator to make a grant to the Parent Collaboration, a legal entity established by specified organizations, to conduct a national campaign to build a new parent and family movement to help parents and families prevent drug abuse among their children. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Funding for United States Counter-Drug Enforcement Agencies - Amends the Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations for drug enforcement and other noncommercial operations, commercial operations, and air and marine interdiction for FY 2000 through 2001. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to submit to specified congressional committees the projected amount of funds for the succeeding fiscal year that will be necessary for Customs Service operations. (Sec. 4002) Makes specified FY 2000 funds available until expended for acquisition and other expenses associated with implementation and deployment of specified narcotics detection equipment along the United States-Mexico border, the United States-Canada border, and Florida and the Gulf Coast seaports. Earmarks specified FY 2001 funds for the maintenance and support of, and training of personnel to maintain and support, such equipment. (Sec. 4003) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) peak hours and investigative resource enhancement; (2) air and marine operation and maintenance funding; (3) compliance with performance plan requirements; (4) a change of salary for the Commissioner of Customs from level III to level IV of the executive pay schedule; and (5) passenger preclearance services. Subtitle B(sic): United States Coast Guard - Authorizes additional funding for the United States Coast Guard for FY 2000 and 2001 for operation and maintenance. Subtitle C: Drug Enforcement Administration - Authorizes additional funding for the DEA for FY 2000 for counter-narcotics and information support operations. Subtitle D: Department of the Treasury - Authorizes additional funding for the Department of the Treasury for FY 2000 and 2001 for counter-narcotics, information support, and money laundering efforts. Subtitle E: Department of Defense - Authorizes additional funding for the Department of Defense for FY 2000 and 2001 to expand activities to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. (Sec. 4402) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects to establish an air base or bases for use in support of counter-narcotics operations in the southern Caribbean Sea, northern South America, and eastern Pacific Ocean, located in Latin America or the Caribbean Sea, or both. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4403) Authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense for FY 2000 for the procurement of a Relocatable Over the Horizon Radar, located in South America. (Sec. 4404) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should allocate funds appropriated for FY 1999 pursuant to the authorizations of appropriations for that fiscal year in the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act to fully carry out the purposes of that Act during that fiscal year, and should include with the budgets for FY 2000 and 2001 that are submitted to the Congress a request for funds for such fiscal years in accordance with the authorizations of appropriations for such fiscal years in that Act; and (2) the Secretary of Defense should revise the Global Military Force Policy of the Department of Defense to treat the international drug interdiction and counter-drug activities of the Department as a military operation other than war (thereby elevating the priority given such activities to that given to peacekeeping operations), and allocate Department assets to such activities in accordance with the priority given such activities under the revised Policy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Agricultural Trade Act of 1999 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the principal agricultural trade negotiating objectives of the United States for future multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), shall be to achieve, on an expedited basis and to the maximum extent feasible, more open and fair conditions for trade in agricultural commodities by: (1) developing, strengthening, and clarifying rules for agricultural trade, including disciplines on restrictive or trade-distorting import and export practices; (2) increasing U.S. agricultural exports by eliminating barriers to trade (including transparent and nontransparent barriers) and other constraints to fair and more open markets access in foreign markets, such as export subsidies, quotas, and other non-tariff import barriers; (3) developing, strengthening, and clarifying rules that address practices that unfairly limit U.S. market access opportunities or distort agricultural markets to the detriment of the United States; (4) ensuring that there are reliable suppliers of agricultural commodities international commerce by encouraging countries to treat foreign buyers no less favorably than domestic buyers of the commodity involved; and (5) eliminating barriers for meeting the food needs of the world through the use of biotechnology by ensuring access to U.S. commodities derived from biotechnology that is scientifically defensible, opposing the establishment of protectionist trade measures disguised as health standards, and protesting continual delays by other countries in their approval processes which constitute non-tariff trade barriers. (Sec. 4) Directs the President to review all unilateral economic sanctions imposed against foreign countries for reasons of foreign policy or national security.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 1999 - Authorizes appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board for FY 1999 through 2002. Requires Senate confirmation of the Chairman of the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to exempt disabled individuals from required enrollment with a managed care entity under the Medicaid program. Makes this Act effective as if included in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Direct Check for Education Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make direct awards to local educational agencies (LEAs) to support programs or activities, that the LEA deems appropriate, for students in kindergarten through grade 12. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to use funds under this Act to continue to make payments to eligible recipients pursuant to, and for the duration of, any multiyear award made prior to enactment of this Act. Repeals the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Repeals certain provisions of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1999 which vested in the National Assessment Governing Board exclusive authority for developing voluntary national tests pursuant to a specified contract. Repeals the following programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965: (1) the Technology for Education program, including national programs, State and local programs for school technology resources, Star Schools, Ready-to-Learn Television, telecommunications demonstration project for mathematics, elementary mathematics and science equipment, and elementary and secondary school library media resources; (2) the State programs component of Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (3) the Fund for the Improvement of Education. Repeals the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994. Directs the Secretary to determine a per-child amount to be awarded to each LEA. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct audits of LEA expenditures under this Act and to enforce certain sanctions and penalties if such funds are not used in accordance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Biomedical Revitalization Resolution of 1998 - Expresses the sense of the Senate that funding for the National Institutes of Health should be increased by $2 billion in FY 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1998
Medicare Home Health Fair Payment Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the computation formula of the interim system of limited payments for services provided by home health agencies, as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, in order to: (1) create a new formula for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998 with the agency-specific per beneficiary annual limitation calculated on a different basis which still makes use of the agency's census division; (2) revise the rules for new providers for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1998; (3) provide for a five percent increase in per visit cost limits for such cost reporting periods; (4) provide for a one year delay in establishment of a prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services and in implementation of the mandatory 15 percent reduction in cost and per beneficiary limits under such interim system; and (5) adjust the home health market basket update for home health services under PPS and such interim system, reducing it by a specified percentage for any cost reporting period beginning in FY 2000 or 2001, and increasing it by another specified percentage for any cost reporting period beginning in FY 2004. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat: (1) a taxpayer as having omitted a correct taxpayer identification number (TIN) for purposes of mathematical error assessment if information provided by the taxpayer on the return with respect to the individual whose TIN was provided differs from the information the Secretary of the Treasury obtains from the person issuing the TIN; and (2) as a mathematical error the inclusion on a return of a TIN if it is of an individual whose age affects the amount of the tax credit involved and the computation of such credit reflects the treatment of such individual as being of an age different from the individual's age based on such TIN. Adds the vaccine against rotavirus gastroenteritis to the list of taxable vaccines for Federal sales tax purposes. Limits specified liability losses for purposes of the net operating loss deduction to those attributable to a liability under a Federal or State law requiring the reclamation of land, decommissioning of a nuclear power plant (or any unit thereof), dismantlement of an offshore drilling platform, remediation of environmental contamination, or payment of workmen's compensation. Limits the rule waiving the accrual method requirement for any portion of payment amounts which will not be collected to persons performing services in the fields of health, law, engineering, architecture, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, or consulting. Applies to any organization a significant trade or business of which is the lending of money the requirement of filing a return relating to the cancellation of indebtedness.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1998
Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1992 to authorize the payment of aviator continuation pay for military aviation officers who died as a result of flight operations on or after August 2, 1990 (currently January 17, 1991) in specified areas of the Arabian Peninsula, regardless of the date of the commencement of combatant activities there as specified by executive order.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1998
Trade Fairness Act of 1998 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise certain factors the International Trade Commission (ITC) must consider when investigating to determine whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Repeals the requirement that such injury be substantial. Prohibits the ITC, when making such determinations, from attributing to imports injury caused by other factors.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1998
Valley Forge Museum of the American Revolution Act of 1998 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in administering the Valley Forge National Historical Park, to enter into an agreement with the Valley Forge Historical Society to facilitate the planning, construction, and operation of the Valley Forge Museum of the American Revolution on Federal land within the boundary of the Park.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1998
Calls upon the President to: (1) pursue enhanced enforcement of U.S. trade laws with respect to the increase in steel imports into the United States, including imposition of offsetting duties, quantitative restrictions, and other appropriate remedial measures; (2) pursue with all methods at the President's disposal to achieve a more equitable sharing of the burden of accepting imports of finished steel products from Asia and the independent states of the former Soviet Union; (3) establish a task force that has responsibility for closely monitoring U.S. imports of steel; and (4) report to the Congress by January 5, 1999, with a comprehensive plan for responding to the increase in steel imports, including ways of limiting the deleterious effects on employment, prices, and investment in the U.S. steel industry.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries Title III: Enhanced Alternative Crop Development Support in Source Zone Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws Title VII: Criminal Background Checks on Port Employees Title VIII: Drug Currency Forfeitures Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reduce the supply of drugs and drug use through an enhanced drug interdiction effort in the major drug transit countries and support a comprehensive supply country eradication and crop substitution program, because a commitment of increased resources in international drug interdiction efforts will create a balanced national drug control strategy among demand reduction, law enforcement, and international drug interdiction efforts; and (2) develop and establish comprehensive drug interdiction and drug eradication strategies, and dedicate the resources necessary to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by 80 percent by December 31, 2001. Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of the Treasury for the enhancement of radar coverage in drug source and transit countries. (Sec. 101) Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and report to specified congressional committees on the options available to the United States for improving Relocatable Over the Horizon (ROTHR) capability to provide enhanced radar coverage of narcotics source zone countries in South America and transit zones in the Eastern Pacific. (Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 to the Secretary of Transportation for operating expenses of the Coast Guard (including acquisition, construction, and improvement of facilities and equipment) associated with expansion of drug interdiction activities around Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other transit zone areas of operation. Directs the Secretary to accept seven patrol craft for use by the Coast Guard for expanded drug interdiction activities. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of the Treasury for the enhancement of air coverage and operation for drug source and transit countries. Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and report to specified congressional committees on the available options in the source and transit zones to replace Howard Air Force Base in Panama, specifying U.S. requirements to establish an airbase or airbases for use in support of counternarcotics operations to optimize operational effectiveness in the source and transit zones. Directs the Secretary of the Navy to transfer to the U.S. Customs Service 20 currently retired and previously identified heavyweight P- 3B aircraft for modification, half into P-3 AEW&C aircraft and half into P-3 Slick aircraft. q04q Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts in Colombia. (Sec. 201) Prohibits U.S. counternarcotics assistance to the Government of Colombia if it negotiates or permits the establishment of any demilitarized zone in which the eradication of drug production by Colombian security forces (including the Colombian National Police antinarcotics unit) is prohibited. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the establishment of a third drug interdiction site in Peru to support air bridge and riverine missions for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to study and report to the Congress on Peruvian counternarcotics air interdiction requirements. (Sec. 203) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts in Bolivia. (Sec. 204) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for enhanced precursor chemical control projects. (Sec. 205) Expresses the sense of the Congress that any individual serving as an assistant secretary of any Federal agency or department who has primary responsibility for international narcotics control and law enforcement (including the principal deputy of any such assistant) shall have substantial professional qualifications in the fields of management and Federal law enforcement or intelligence. Declares that the Department of Defense (DOD) shall be the principle agency responsible for implementation and processing of counternarcotics foreign military sales requests (with the Department of State having a consultative role in such requests). Expresses the sense of the Congress that the responsiveness and effectiveness of Department of State international narcotics assistance activities have been hampered due, in part, to the lack of law enforcement expertise by responsible Department of State personnel. Title III: Enhanced Alternative Crop Development Support in Source Zone - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) for certain alternative crop development programs in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. (Sec. 302) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 to the Secretary of Agriculture to support the counternarcotics research efforts of the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. (Sec. 303) Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop, and report to the Congress on, a ten-year master plan for the use of mycoherbicides to control narcotic crops (including coca, poppy, and cannabis) in the United States and internationally. Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for the establishment and operation of international law enforcement academies to carry out law enforcement training activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, Thailand, and South Africa. (Sec. 401) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of the Treasury for the joint establishment, operation, and maintenance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of a center for training law enforcement personnel of countries located in Latin America and the Caribbean in matters relating to maritime law enforcement (including customs-related ports management matters). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of maritime training vessels. (Sec. 402) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for: (1) substantial exchanges for Mexican judges, prosecutors, and police; and (2) enhanced support for the Brazilian Federal Police Training Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT for operation and maintenance for locating and operating Coast Guard assets so as to strengthen the capability of the Coast Guard of Panama to patrol the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for drug enforcement and interdiction activities. Makes members of the national police of Panama eligible to receive training through the International Military Education Training (IMET) program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for support for the Venezuelan Judicial Technical Police Counterdrug Intelligence Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT and the Department of the Treasury for the buildup of local coast guard and port control in: (1) Guayaquil and Esmeraldas, Ecuador; (2) Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Central America). (Sec. 403) Authorizes the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to transfer or lease a specified amount of nonlethal equipment each year to foreign law enforcement organizations for the purpose of establishing and carrying out cooperative illicit narcotics control activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all U.S. law enforcement personnel serving in Mexico should be accorded the same status as diplomatic and consular personnel serving at U.S. posts in Mexico; and (2) all Mexican narcotics law enforcement personnel serving in the United States should be accorded the same diplomatic and consular status as DEA personnel serving in Mexico. Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DEA and the U.S. Customs Service of Department of the Treasury for enhancement of counternarcotics operations in drug transit and source countries. (Sec. 501) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the deployment of commercial unclassified intelligence and imaging data and a Passive Coherent Location System for counternarcotics and interdiction purposes in the Western Hemisphere. Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and propose to specified congressional committees recommendations regarding any organizational changes to optimize counterdrug activities, including certain alternative cost-sharing arrangements. (Sec. 502) Authorizes appropriations for the development and purchase of computer software and hardware to facilitate direct communication between agencies that perform drug interdiction activities at U.S. borders, including the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the DEA, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). (Sec. 503) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Defense should revise DOD's Global Military Force Policy in order to: (1) treat DOD international drug interdiction and counter-drug activities as a military operation other than war (thus elevating its priority to just below that for war); and (2) allocate DOD assets to drug interdiction and counter-drug activities in accordance with such priority. Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws - Declares that funds authorized to be appropriated for any Federal department or agency for FY 1999 through 2001 are in addition to funds authorized to be appropriated for that department or agency for those fiscal years by any other provision of law. Title VII: Criminal Background Checks on Port Employees - Directs the Attorney General, upon request, to grant access to identification records to any State, county, port authority, or other local jurisdiction to allow it to conduct criminal background checks on employees, or applicants for employment, at any port under its jurisdiction. Title VIII: Drug Currency Forfeitures - Drug Currency Forfeitures Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to cite four alternative circumstances that create a rebuttable presumption that property is subject to forfeiture if the Government offers a reasonable basis to believe that there is a substantial connection between the property and a drug trafficking offense. Requires the property at issue to be currency in excess of $10,000 that, at the time of the seizure, was being transported through an airport, on a highway, or at a port-of-entry, and meeting one of several other criteria. Subjects to such presumption, also, any property: (1) acquired during a time period when the person who acquired it was engaged in a drug trafficking offense or within a reasonable time afterwards, and there is no other likely source for such property; (2) that was, or was intended to be, transported, transmitted, or transferred to or from a major drug-transit country, illicit drug producing country, or money laundering country; or (3) involved in a transaction including any person who has been convicted in any Federal, State, or foreign jurisdiction of a drug trafficking offense or a felony involving money laundering, or is a fugitive from prosecution for such an offense. Amends the Federal criminal code to create a rebuttable presumption that property involved in drug money laundering subject to civil forfeiture is the proceeds of an offense involving the felonious manufacture, importation, or other dealing in a controlled substance, thus constituting the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if any of the circumstances set forth in this title apply.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1998
Library of Congress Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the Library of Congress. Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum in lieu of the gold coins. Requires payment of coin sale surcharges to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board to support Library activities.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1998
Declares that the Congress supports the existing Federal legal process for determining the safety and efficacy of drugs and opposes efforts to circumvent this process by legalizing marijuana, and other Schedule I drugs, for medicinal use without valid scientific evidence and Food and Drug Administration approval. Directs the Attorney General to report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, regarding specified years, on: (1) the total quantity of marijuana eradicated in the United States; and (2) the annual number of arrests and prosecutions for Federal marijuana offenses. Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to report to specified congressional committees on the specific efforts underway to enforce specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regarding marijuana and other Schedule I drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the tax rate on beer. Allows a credit or refund (the difference between the two tax rates) for previously taxed dealer stock held for sale for the person who paid such tax.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Health Care Entity Protection Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Federal Government, and any State or local government that receives Federal financial assistance, from discriminating against any health care entity because (in addition to current prohibited reasons) the entity refuses to provide coverage of, or pay for, induced abortions. Expands the definition of "health care entity" to include (in addition to physicians) other health professionals, health insurance plans, and any other kind of health care facility, organization, or plan.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1998
Economic Development Administration Reform Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (the Act) to replace titles I through VI of such Act with the provisions of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to cooperate with States and other entities to ensure that Federal economic development programs are compatible with and further the objectives of State, regional, and local economic development plans and comprehensive economic development strategies. Authorizes the Secretary to provide appropriate technical assistance to such entities in order to alleviate economic distress, encourage partnerships for economic development strategies, and promote investment in infrastructure and technological capacity to keep pace with the changing global economy. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for intergovernmental review of proposed economic development projects. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into economic development cooperation agreements with two or more adjoining States. Defines an "eligible recipient," for purposes of this Act, as: (1) an area with a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average or an unemployment rate at least one percent greater than the national average or one which has experienced or is about to experience actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment problems; (2) an economic development district; (3) an Indian tribe; (4) a State; (5) a political subdivision; (6) an institution of higher education; or (7) a nonprofit organization acting in cooperation with local officials. Sets forth provisions similar to existing provisions of law authorizing grants to eligible recipients for acquisition or development of public works and development facilities. Retains a limitation that prohibits more than 15 percent of the amounts made available for such assistance from being expended in any one State. Authorizes assistance for public works and economic development to be available for a project to be carried out on a military or Department of Energy installation that is closed or scheduled for closure or realignment without requiring an eligible recipient to have title to the property or a leasehold interest for any specified term. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law authorizing grants for economic planning. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for related administrative expenses as well. Provides a Federal cost-share limit of 50 percent of project costs. Authorizes the Secretary to make supplementary grants for a project for which the recipient is eligible but for which the recipient cannot provide the required non-Federal share. Provides supplementary grant conditions and requirements, authorizing the Secretary to reduce or waive the required non-Federal share in certain cases. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law that authorize technical assistance useful in alleviating or preventing conditions of excessive unemployment or underemployment. Authorizes grants for training and research for such purposes as well. Permits the Secretary to reduce or waive the non-Federal share of a project so assisted if the project is not feasible without, and merits, such a reduction or waiver. Retains an existing provision of law regarding the prevention of unfair competition. Sets forth provisions similar to those under existing law which authorize grants for economic adjustment to alleviate long-term economic deterioration and sudden economic dislocation. Revises criteria for such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) approve the use of grant funds for projects the scope or purpose for which has been modified after the grant has been made; and (2) use funds for projects constructed for less than the projected costs to improve such projects. Bars assistance for public works and economic development from being used for attorney's or consultants' fees incurred in connection with obtaining grants and contracts. Requires areas to have per capita incomes of 80 percent or less of the national average or unemployment rates at least one percent greater than the national average or to have experienced or be about to experience actual or threatened severe unemployment or economic adjustment problems in order to be eligible for grants for public works and economic development or economic adjustment. Requires from such applicants: (1) documentation of meeting such criteria; and (2) evidence of a comprehensive economic development strategy which identifies the economic problems to be addressed through such assistance, as well as related information. Revises conditions under which areas may be designated as economic development districts by the Secretary. Retains: (1) existing incentives for increasing grant assistance in districts where participants are actively participating in economic development activities and the project is consistent with the district's comprehensive economic development strategy; and (2) provisions authorizing assistance to parts of districts not in eligible areas. Directs the Secretary to carry out this Act through an Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development who shall serve as the Administrator of the Economic Development Administration. Directs the Secretary to maintain an information clearinghouse on all matters relating to economic development and adjustment, disaster recovery, defense conversion, and trade adjustment programs and activities of Federal and State governments and to assist applicants for such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to furnish procurement divisions of the Federal Government with a list of business firms located in distressed areas that desire Federal contracts. Requires the Secretary to conduct reviews of university centers that receive grant assistance under this Act to assess their performance and contribution toward retention and creation of employment. Provides for penalty, administrative, and recordkeeping provisions similar to those under existing law. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003. Authorizes additional appropriations for defense conversion activities and disaster economic recovery activities. Repeals provisions of the Act regarding economic recovery for disaster areas, special economic development and adjustment assistance, and the job opportunities program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Declares that the Congress honors the memory of Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police for the selfless acts of heroism they displayed on July 24, 1998, in sacrificing their lives in the line of duty so that others might live. Provides that, when the Senate and the House of Representatives adjourn on this date, they shall do so out of respect for the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Authorizes the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a memorial service for Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police. Directs the Architect of the Capitol to place a plaque in honor of the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut at an appropriate site in the U.S. Capitol, with the approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Directs the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives to make arrangements for funeral services for Officers Gibson and Chestnut, including payments for travel expenses of immediate family members, and for expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives in attending such services. Directs the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to pay survivor's gratuities to the widows of Officers Gibson and Chestnut. Expresses the sense of the Congress that there should be established under law a U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund for the surviving spouses and children of members of the U.S. Capitol Police who are slain in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1998
Patient Privacy Rights Act of 1998 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) the mandate for standards for unique health identifiers for each individual, employer, health plan, and health care provider for use in the health care system; and (2) the offense of wrongful disclosure of such identifiers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a database system of U.S. agricultural worker registries to provide temporary and seasonal agricultural job opportunity and referral information. Bases registry coverage on job opportunities in a State or group of contiguous States with a common pool of workers. Sets forth individual registrant requirements, including validation of employment status. (Sec. 4) Requires an employer (including employer associations) prior to hiring a temporary agricultural worker to apply to the Secretary for a U.S. worker referral from the appropriate registry. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) employer application and labor- related assurance requirements; and (2) registry search and worker referral by the Secretary, including alien worker visa issuances in cases of insufficient registered workers. (Sec. 7) Sets forth employer requirements regarding: (1) wages; (2) housing, including an allowance in lieu of housing; and (3) transportation reimbursement, including establishment of a pilot program to provide certain registered workers with vouchers to purchase employment location transportation. (Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to establish an enforcement process with respect to employer application violations, including: (1) written notice of finding and opportunity for administrative appeal; (2) payment of back wages; (3) civil monetary penalties; and (4) temporary and permanent program disqualification. (Sec. 9) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to replace the existing H-2A temporary agricultural worker admissions program with an alternative admissions program. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) admissibility criteria; (2) length of stay; (3) abandonment of employment; (4) issuance of identification and employment documents; and (5) extension of stay for aliens in the United States. Establishes a trust fund in the Treasury to administer such program, and to provide monetary incentives for alien workers to return to their country of origin upon a finding by the Attorney General that such financial inducements are necessary to assure departures. Prohibits admission of H-2A alien family members. (Sec. 10) Includes certain H-2A workers who have complied with applicable visa conditions in the employment-based immigration preference allocation. (Sec. 11) Amends the Head Start Act to make certain seasonal agricultural worker families eligible for the migrant and seasonal (as added by this section) Head Start program. Increases the set-aside for specified Head Start programs. (Sec. 13) States that additional funds for the registry program, if necessary, shall come from amounts available to Federal and State entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to: (1) provide a duty, through December 31, 2004, on fabrics, of carded or combed wool or fine animal hair, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 70's" or "Super 80's" intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers; and (2) grant duty-free treatment, through December 31, 2004, to fabrics, of carded or combed wool or fine animal hair, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 90's" or higher grade intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers. Treats (for tariff purposes) such suits similarly to certain other suits under the Schedule.
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