United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1997
Honey Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends the Honey Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information Act with respect to: (1) Honey Board membership; (2) producer and importer assessments; (3) research set-asides; (4) honey purity, including a voluntary quality assurance program; (5) importer and producer-packer assessment collections; (6) referendum requirements; and (7) suspension or termination of marketing orders.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Marketing Quotas for Peanuts Title II: Market Transition Programs for Peanuts Title III: Implementation Peanut Program Improvement Act of 1997 - Title I: Marketing Quotas for Peanuts - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to extend peanut marketing quotas through crop year 2001. Eliminates: (1) minimum poundage quotas; and (2) the special Texas allocation. Authorizes additional (nonquota) peanuts to be sold for seed or Government use. Terminates peanut marketing quotas beginning with crop year 2002. Title II: Market Transition Programs for Peanuts - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend quota peanut (on a sliding scale) and additional peanut price supports through nonrecourse loans through crop year 2001. Makes nonrecourse loans available to all peanut producers beginning with crop year 2002. Title III: Implementation - Sets forth regulation and application provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1997
Public Safety Officers Educational Assistance Act of 1998 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide financial assistance for higher education to the dependents of Federal, State, and local public safety officers (currently, only the dependents of Federal public safety officers) who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1997
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require anyone who, in interstate or foreign commerce in or through the World Wide Web, is engaged in the commercial distribution of material that is harmful to minors to restrict access to such materials by persons under 17 years of age. Provides criminal and civil penalties for violations of such requirement, as well as an affirmative defense. Directs the Attorney General, for the Internet web site of the Department of Justice, and the Federal Communications Commission for its web site, to each make available on such web sites a definition of material that is harmful to minors.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1997
Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Act Amendments of 1997 - Amends the Delaware and Lehigh Navigation Canal National Heritage Corridor Act of 1988 (the Act) to change the name of the Delaware and Lehigh Navigation Canal National Heritage Corridor to the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. Includes among the Act's purposes enhancing economic development within the context of preservation. Modifies provisions regarding: (1) membership of, terms of office for, and confirmation of appointment to the Delaware and Lehigh National Corridor Commission; and (2) powers of the Commission to authorize the conveyance of real property acquired by the Commission to an appropriate nonprofit organization, to authorize the Commission to enter into cooperative agreements with a nonprofit organization, and to require any cooperative agreement to establish procedures for providing notice to the Commission of any action proposed by a nonprofit organization which may affect implementation of the Cultural Heritage and Corridor Management Plan. Authorizes the Commission to administer any grant or loan from amounts appropriated, donated, or otherwise made available to the Commission for the purpose of providing a grant or loan. Directs the Commission to implement the Plan by taking appropriate steps to preserve and interpret the cultural, natural, recreational, and scenic (currently, limited to historic) resources of the Canal and its surrounding area. Terminates the Commission ten years after the date of this Act's enactment. Requires specified actions by any Federal entity conducting or supporting activities directly affecting the historic, cultural, natural, recreational, or scenic resources of the Corridor (currently, the flow of the Canal or the natural resources of the Corridor). Reauthorizes and increases appropriations under the Act. Authorizes specified funds to implement the management action plan created by the Commission. Prohibits the Commission from interfering with private property rights or any local zoning ordinance or land use plan of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any political subdivision.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a deduction for any amount paid to the Federal Government or State or local government pursuant to any tobacco judgment or settlement. Establishes the National Institutes of Health Trust Fund for Health Research into which shall be deposited the net increase in revenues received attributable to the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1997
Border Improvement and Immigration Act of 1997 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 with respect to the automated entry-exit control system to exempt from required recordkeeping: (1) land border crossings; and (2) permanent resident and certain other aliens. Requires the Attorney General to report on the feasibility of implementing an automated entry-exit control system that would include land border arrivals and departures. Provides for increased numbers of full-time Immigration and Naturalization and Customs inspectors at U.S. land borders, with at least half of such inspectors to be assigned to the northern border.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1997
Technology Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 - Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Commerce for the: (1) Scientific and Technical Research and Services laboratory activities of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; (2) construction and maintenance of Institute facilities; (3) activities of Under Secretary for Technology, the Office of Technology Policy, and the Office of Air and Space Commercialization; and (4) industrial technology services activities of the Institute. (Sec. 6) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act respecting the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) to, among other things: (1) require each applicant for a contract or award to certify that the applicant has made an effort to secure private market funding for the research project involved; (2) permit a large business to participate in a research project that is the subject of a contract or award only as a member of a joint venture that includes one or more small businesses as members; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Commerce to vest title to tangible personal property in any recipient of financial assistance under specified conditions. (Sec. 7) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to revise requirements for the extension of Federal financial assistance to Regional Centers for the Transfer of Manufacturing Technology under the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. (Sec. 8) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 respecting the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to expand the list of categories for awards. (Sec. 9) Prohibits funds authorized by this Act or any other Act enacted before the date of enactment of this Act from being used for the Next Generation Internet, with the exception of funds that may be used for the continuation of the programs and activities related to Next Generation Internet that were funded and carried out during FY 1997. (Sec. 11) Expresses the sense of the Congress on the Year 2000 problem. (Sec. 12) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Director should donate educationally useful Federal equipment to schools to enhance the science and mathematic programs of those schools. Mandates annual reports to the President. (Sec. 13) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to establish within the Institute a teacher science and technology enhancement program to provide for the professional development of mathematics and science school teachers. (Sec. 14) Requires a joint study by the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering to review the effectiveness of the ATP. (Sec. 15) Establishes within the Department an Office of Air and Space Commercialization to be the principal unit for the coordination of space-related issues, programs, and initiatives within the Department. (Sec. 16) Establishes the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) to strengthen the technological competitiveness of States that have historically received less Federal research and development funds than those received by a majority of the States. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, to: (1) enter into arrangements for the coordination of EPSCoT through the State committees established under the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) of the National Science Foundation; and (2) cooperate with any State science and technology council established under EPSCoR and representatives of small business firms and other technology-based businesses. Requires: (1) a specified report; and (2) an evaluation of the EPSCoT program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1997
Marriage Tax Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a husband and wife to file a combined income tax return on which each spouse is taxed separately at the unmarried return rate.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1997
Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997 - Directs the President to report periodically to specified congressional committees on foreign persons (except those previously identified or sanctioned or subject to waiver) who, on or after August 8, 1995, have transferred, or attempted to transfer, controlled goods or technology, or provided, or attempted to provide, technical assistance or facilities that contributed, or would have contributed, to Iran's efforts to acquire, develop, or produce ballistic missiles. Requires imposition on such persons of minimum two-year sanctions prohibiting: (1) sales to such persons of items on the United States Munitions List (and terminating sales of any controlled U.S. arms); (2) the export to such persons of dual use goods and technology; and (3) the provision of U.S. financial assistance. Authorizes the President to waive such sanctions on the basis of additional information demonstrating that the sanctioned person did not commit the acts alleged.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Disapproves the President's cancellations (line item veto) of appropriations for 36 military construction projects in the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to use amounts in the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund (established under this Act) to provide financial assistance for projects for the conservation of Asian elephants for which final project proposals are approved by the Secretary. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) requirements for project proposals; (2) project review and approval; (3) reporting requirements for recipients of assistance provided by this Act; and (4) priority for projects for which there exists some measure of matching funds. Establishes the Asian Elephant Conservation Fund. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1997
Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1997 - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to proscribe bringing a private class action based upon State or municipal law in State or Federal court by any private party alleging: (1) an untrue statement or omission in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security; or (2) that the defendant used any manipulative or deceptive device in connection with such a transaction. Declares that any class action brought in any State court involving a covered security shall be removable to the Federal district court for the district in which the action is pending.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the low-income State housing credit ceiling amount; and (2) provide for a cost-of-living adjustment for such amount.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the post-1987 reduction in the State ceiling on private activity bonds. Provides, beginning in 1999, for cost-of-living adjustments in the State ceiling on such bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1997
Voter Empowerment and Campaign Disclosure Act of 1997 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that because legal permanent residents of the United States are protected by the Constitution, such residents have the right under the First Amendment to legally express themselves through expenditures and contributions that affect the political and electoral process. (Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to revise the requirement concerning the limit on contributions made by individuals to candidates to establish separate limits on individual contributions to: (1) local candidates; and (2) non-local candidates. Increases: (1) the separate limits on contributions made by individuals to political committees of national political parties and any other political committees; and (2) the annual aggregate limit on individual contributions. Removes a certain limitation on individual contributions. Decreases the limit on multicandidate political committee contributions to candidates. Revises requirements for indexing certain limits to include indexing of: (1) the individual contribution limit; (2) the multicandidate political committee contribution limit; and (3) the annual aggregate individual contribution limit. (Sec. 4) Repeals limitations regarding expenditures by national committees, State committees, or subordinate committees of State committees in connection with general election campaigns of Federal candidates. Prohibits treating expenditures as contributions to or expenditures made by the candidate. Increases the separate limits on multicandidate political committee contributions to: (1) political committees of national political parties; and (2) any other political committees. Defines the term "express advocacy." (Sec. 5) Revises requirements for the filing of FECA reports in any calendar year during which there is regularly scheduled election for which a House or Senate candidate is seeking election, or nomination for election, to require the filing of monthly reports by: (1) the principal campaign committee of a House or Senate candidate; and (2) the political committees of national parties. (Sec. 6) Increases the penalty for knowing and willful violations of: (1) FECA; or (2) Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account. Allows reasonable attorney's fees and other costs of a civil action, in any proceeding concerning a violation in which the defendant substantially prevails on substantive grounds, in addition to any judgment awarded to the defendant. (Sec. 7) Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to limit the scope of allowable union security agreements to requiring employee payment of union dues or fees related only to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation. Requires, under NLRA, employee consent in an annual signed written agreement before a union may accept that employee's payment of dues or fees for purposes beyond the scope of the union security agreement as limited by this Act. Requires such an agreement to include a ratio of the dues or fees related to the limited purposes and those related to other purposes. Amends the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 to prohibit payroll deduction for union dues unrelated to the limited scope purposes, unless a written agreement authorizes such deduction. Requires, under NLRA, employers to post notice of worker rights to organize and collectively bargain, as well as of the limited scope of any union security agreement. Directs the National Labor Relations Board to prescribe the size and form of such notice. Provides, under NLRA, that employees subject to union security agreements who pay dues and fees for the required limited purposes shall have the same right as any union member to participate in union affairs related to such purposes (collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment). Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to require every labor union to attribute and report expenses by function classification in detail necessary to allow its members to determine whether such expenses were related to collective bargaining, contract administration, or grievance adjustment necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation or were related to other purposes. Requires disclosure under such Act to employees required to pay any union dues or fees (under a union security agreement) as well as to union members. Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate a regulation. (Sec. 8) Amends Federal law to revise the prohibition regarding the solicitation and receipt of Federal election campaign contributions by any person on Federal property from certain persons to include under the prohibition a monetary donation or anything else of value made by any person on Federal property to a national committee of a political party. (Sec. 9) Revises the requirement prohibiting Senators from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail to prohibit a Senator from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail during a year in which there will be an election for the seat held by the Senator, unless the Senator has made a public announcement that he or she will not be a candidate for reelection to the Senate in that year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1997
50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act - Amends Federal law to mandate redesign of quarter-dollar coins issued during the ten-year period beginning 1999, with the reverse side emblematic of five of the 50 States each year during such period, selected in the order of their ratification of the U.S. Constitution or their admission to the Union.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1997
Medicare Beneficiary Freedom To Contract Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions added by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 regarding the use of private contracts by Medicare beneficiaries for professional services. Outlines specific requirements for private contracts between Medicare beneficiaries and physicians or health care practitioners for services for which no Medicare claims may be submitted.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1997
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to continue operation of the Food Animal Residue Avoidance Database program through contracts with appropriate colleges or universities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Parent and Student Savings Account PLUS Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to education individual retirement accounts to: (1) include qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (including home schooling); and (2) increase annual contribution limits to $2,000.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Calls for: (1) the President to demand that the Government of Russia take actions to stop governmental and nongovernmental entities in the Russian Federation from providing missile technology and technical advice to Iran in violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime; (2) the United States, if Russia's response is inadequate, to impose sanctions on the responsible Russian entities in accordance with Executive Order 12938 on the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and to reassess cooperative activities with Russia; (3) raising the threshold under current law allowing for the waiver of the prohibition on the release of foreign assistance to Russia; and (4) encouragement of our European allies to take steps to stop such proliferation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1997
Aircraft Repair Station Safety Act of 1997 - Terminates the effectiveness of certain November 22, 1988, amendments to the foreign repair station rules of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Declares that certain standards issued by the FAA for domestic repair stations shall apply in the same manner to foreign repair stations. Amends Federal aviation safety law to require the FAA Administrator to issue an order revoking an air agency certificate for a repair station if the Administrator finds that that any station owner or personnel knowingly used an uncertified or substandard airframe, engine, propeller, appliance, or any other part in the repair or overhaul of an aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1997
Extends congressional gratitude to Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope for his accomplishments and service on behalf of U.S. military service members. Confers upon Mr. Hope the status of an honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1997
Authorizes the President to present a gold medal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to religious understanding and peace. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike duplicate medals in bronze. Authorizes appropriations from the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund, where sales proceeds shall be deposited.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1997
Declares that: (1) President Jiang Zemin's statements constitute a welcome reaffirmation of the obligations of the People's Republic of China under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law to ensure that Hong Kong remains autonomous, the human rights of its people remain protected, and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is elected democratically; and (2) China's fulfillment of these obligations under the terms of the Joint Declaration of the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law constitute a crucial test of Beijing's ability to play a responsible global role.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1997
Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act - Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to conduct a comprehensive review of the treatment by the Federal Government of Italian Americans during World War II (between September 1, 1939, and December 31, 1945) and to report to the Congress on the findings of such review. Requires the findings to include information regarding: (1) Italian Americans who were interned, taken into custody, ordered to move out of designated areas, or arrested for curfew, contraband, or other violations; (2) Federal Bureau of Investigations raids on Italian Americans homes; (3) restrictions on Italian American fishermen and railroad workers; and (4) civil liberties infringements suffered by Italian Americans during World War II. Requires the President, on behalf of the Government, to formally acknowledge that these events during World War II represented a fundamental injustice against Italian Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1997
Amends Federal aviation law to declare that nothing in such law or in the Death on the High Seas Act shall affect any remedy existing at common law or under State law with respect to any injury or death arising out of any aviation incident occurring on or after January 1, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1997
Recognizes the importance of African-American music to global culture. Calls on the people of the United States to study, reflect on, and celebrate African-American music.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1997
Adolescent Family Life and Abstinence Education Act of 1997 - Amends Public Health Service Act provisions relating to adolescent family life demonstration projects to include the provision of abstinence information in the definition of "necessary services." Mandates, in approving demonstration project grants, adequate representation of both urban and rural areas. Requires a simplified and expedited application process for applicants seeking less than $15,000. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the demonstration project provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1997
Adoption Promotion Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the adoption credit and the exclusion for employer-provided adoption assistance with respect to children with special needs. Allows up to $2000 to be withdrawn penalty-free from an individual retirement account to pay for qualified adoption expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Area Health Education Center Program Extension Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace provisions on area health education center programs with provisions mandating grants and contracts for the planning, development, and operation of area health education center programs that carry out specified functions, including recruiting and preparing individuals to provide health services in underserved rural and urban areas and populations. Allows financial assistance for entities that previously received funding, are operating such a program, and are no longer receiving assistance (model programs), requiring 50 percent matching non-Federal funding. Sets forth requirements for health education training centers, including that they address persistent and severe unmet health care needs. Makes 50 percent of the amounts appropriated under this Act available for the establishment or operation of health education training centers through projects in States along the border between the United States and Mexico and in the State of Florida. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) every State have an active area health education center program; and (2) the ratio of Federal funding for model programs should increase over time so that the national program will become entirely comprised of programs funded at least 50 percent by State and local partners.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Women's Business Centers Act of 1997- Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to private organizations to conduct five-year (currently, three-year) demonstration projects to benefit small businesses owned and controlled by women; (2) adjust the level of cash contributions required from Federal and non-Federal sources for each of the five years of the projects; (3) require each assistance applicant to submit a five-year (currently, three year) plan on proposed fund raising and training activities under a project; (4) allow each recipient to receive such assistance for five years (in lieu of three); (5) establish within the SBA the Office Of Women's Business Ownership to administer SBA's women's business enterprise programs; (6) require the SBA to report biennially to the small business committees on the effectiveness of projects conducted under this Act; and (7) increase the annual authorization of appropriations for such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Declares that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations in Kyoto in December 1997 or thereafter which would: (1) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex 1 Parties, unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties within the same compliance period; or (2) result in serious harm to the U.S. economy. Calls for any such protocol or other agreement which would require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification to be accompanied by: (1) a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement it; and (2) an analysis of the detailed financial costs which would be incurred by, and other impacts on, the U.S. economy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Requests the President to issue a proclamation commending the American airmen held as political prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II for their service, bravery, and fortitude.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1997
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1997 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish in the National Park Service (NPS) a program to be known as the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom under which the Secretary shall: (1) produce and disseminate educational materials about the Railroad; (2) provide technical assistance to other government agencies, private entities, or the Governments of Canada, Mexico, or any appropriate Caribbean country to ensure coordination of Federal and non-Federal elements of the Network; and (3) regulate use of an official symbol for the Network. Includes within the Network: (1) NPS units or programs pertaining to the Underground Railroad; (2) Federal, State, local, or privately-owned properties pertaining to the Railroad that have a verifiable connection to it and that are included or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places; and (3) governmental or nongovernmental facilities or programs of educational, research, or interpretive natures that are directly related to such Railroad. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs Title II: Women's Retirement Security Title III: Expansion of Pension Coverage for Small Business Title IV: Portability Title V: Pension Security Subtitle A: Economically Targeted Investments Subtitle B: Other Provisions Title VI: Simplification of Plan Requirements Title VII: Date for Adoption of Plan Amendments Retirement Income, Security, and Savings Act of 1997 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase individual retirement account (IRA) income limits applicable to active participants. Repeals active participation restrictions. (Sec. 102) Provides for IRA contribution inflation adjustments. Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Amends the Code to establish a nondeductible tax-free IRA Plus account. Sets forth related provisions. Title II: Women's Retirement Security - Amends the Code to make an individual's eligibility for deductible IRA contributions independent of spousal pension plan participation. (Sec. 202) Authorizes pension plan contributions with respect to periods of: (1) maternity and paternity leave; and (2) child-raising periods. Title III: Expansion of Pension Coverage for Small Business - Amends the Code to allow an eligible employer to establish an employer-funded SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan). Sets forth related provisions. Makes related amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). (Sec. 302) Treats as not an elective deferral certain retirement and SIMPLE account matching contributions made on behalf of a self-employed individual. (Sec. 304) Provides for payroll deduction contributions to IRAs. Title IV: Portability - Amends the Code to allow specified pension plan rollovers, and related nondisqualification of receiving plans. (Sec. 405) Provides a hardship exception with respect to the 60-day exempt trust rollover provision. (Sec. 406) Amends the Code and ERISA to set forth the circumstances in which a defined contribution plan will not be treated as failing to meet requirements merely because the transferee plan does not provide some or all the forms of distribution previously available under another defined contribution plan. Title V: Pension Security - Subtitle A: Economically Targeted Investments - Expresses the sense of the Congress that economically targeted investments violate ERISA intent. (Sec. 502) Sets forth specified prohibitions on Department of Labor interpretations and activities with respect to employee benefit plan investment. (Sec. 503) Amends ERISA to prohibit any Federal agency or instrumentality from establishing or maintaining a clearinghouse or database relating to economically targeted investments. (Sec. 504) Requires termination of any Federal contracts that are in violation of this title. Subtitle B: Other Provisions - Amends the Code to provide for a phased-in increase to full employer funding of pension liabilities. Title VI: Simplification of Plan Requirements - Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor to issue guidance with respect to the use of new technologies and paperless transactions. (Sec. 602) Makes certain nondiscrimination and participation requirements inapplicable to a government plan. (Sec. 603) Amends ERISA to eliminate specified plan description and related requirements. Title VII: Date for Adoption of Plan Amendments - Sets forth plan adoption dates.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1997
National Motor Vehicle Safety, Anti-theft, Title Reform, and Consumer Protection Act of 1997 - Amends Federal transportation law to require States, in licensing a passenger motor vehicle whose ownership has been transferred, to disclose on the certificate of title whenever records indicate that such vehicle was previously issued a title that contained a term or symbol signifying that it was "salvage," "unrebuildable," "parts only," "scrap," "junk," "nonrepairable," "reconstructed," "rebuilt," or that it has been damaged by flood. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring each State in licensing such vehicles to apply specified uniform standards, procedures, and methods for the issuance and control of motor vehicle titles and for information to be contained on such titles. Directs the Secretary to prescribe requirements (similar to those of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act) that a label containing certain information be affixed to the windshield or window of a rebuilt or remanufactured salvage vehicle before its first sale. Prohibits a person from willfully removing, altering, or rendering illegible such label before the vehicle is delivered to the ultimate purchaser. Makes it unlawful for any person knowingly and willfully to: (1) make false statements on an application for a motor vehicle title; (2) fail to apply for a salvage title when such application is required; (3) alter, forge, or counterfeit a certificate of title, a nonrepairable vehicle certificate, a certificate verifying an anti-theft inspection or an anti-theft and safety inspection, or a required decal affixed to a passenger motor vehicle; (4) falsify the results of an inspection; (5) offer to sell any salvage vehicle or nonrepairable vehicle as a rebuilt salvage vehicle; or (6) conspire to commit any of these acts. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to transfer authority to conduct the census of agriculture from the Secretary of Commerce to the Secretary (Secretary) of Agriculture. Requires the Secretary to take a census every five years beginning in 1998. Sets forth enforcement and confidentiality provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
Small Business Lawsuit Abuse Protection Act of 1997 - Provides that, in any civil action against a small business (fewer than 25 full-time employees), punitive damages may be awarded against such business only if the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that conduct carried out by the defendant through willful misconduct or with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others was the proximate cause of the harm that is the subject of the action. Prohibits, in any action against a small business, punitive damages from exceeding the lesser of: (1) twice the amount awarded for economic and noneconomic losses; or (2) $250,000. Provides that, in such an action, the liability of each defendant small business shall be limited to the amount of noneconomic loss allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to its percentage of responsibility for the harm that is the subject of the action. Requires the court to render a separate judgment against each such defendant. Provides as exceptions to the small business liability limitations under this Act any misconduct: (1) that constitutes a crime of violence, international terrorism, or a hate crime; (2) that involves a sexual offense or a violation of a Federal or State civil rights law; or (3) if the defendant was under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or a drug at the time of the misconduct and that fact causes any of the harm alleged.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
DES Research and Education Amendments of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and permanently extend the following programs regarding the drug diethylstilbestrol (commonly known as DES): (1) the research and training program; and (2) the new national program of education. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the heads of the appropriate agencies of the Public Health Service, to carry out a national program for the education of health professionals and the public with respect to DES, from amounts appropriated for carrying out the research and training program. Requires such national program to use methodologies developed through the education demonstration program carried out under the Act. Directs the Secretary to consult closely with representatives of nonprofit private entities that represent individuals who have been exposed to DES and that have expertise in community-based information campaigns for the public and for health care providers. Requires the implementation of the national program to begin during FY 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1997
Expresses the sense of the Senate that it should be U.S. policy to support the admission of Taiwan to membership in the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and all appropriate regional multilateral economic institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1997
Freedom From Religious Persecution Act of 1997 - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, whose Director, appointed by the President, with Senate consent, shall: (1) consider the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom presented in certain annual reports on human rights by the Department of State and by independent human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations; (2) make policy recommendations to the President regarding U.S. policies toward governments engaged in religious persecution; and (3) maintain lists of religious persecution facilitating goods and services and the responsible entities within countries engaged in religious persecution. (Sec. 3) Distinguishes between category 1 religious persecution (conducted by government officials or agents) and category 2 religious persecution (conducted by non-government entities or persons, but which the government fails to undertake serious and sustained efforts to eliminate). (Sec. 5) Requires the Director to report to specified congressional committees on countries and entities engaged in religious persecution, identifying the category of persecution and listing persecution facilitating products, goods, and services. (Sec. 7) Prohibits: (1) Federal agencies and U.S. persons from exporting goods, including religious persecution facilitating goods and services, to countries and responsible entities engaged in religious persecution; and (2) U.S. and multilateral assistance to such countries. Directs the President, in casting any vote concerning the membership of a country in the World Trade Organization (WTO), to consider as a significant factor that the country is engaged in religious persecution. Directs the Secretary of State to deny the issuance of a visa to, and the Attorney General shall exclude from the United States, any alien responsible for carrying out acts of religious persecution. (Sec. 8) Provides for the waiver of such sanctions. (Sec. 9) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996), with respect to eligibility for asylum in the United States, to include under the term "credible fear of persecution" aliens who can claim membership in a community found to be subject to religious persecution. Directs the Attorney General to establish a program to provide training on religious persecution to immigration officers who inspect aliens for admission into the United States. Sets forth procedures for the denial of admission based on religious persecution claims. (Sec. 10) Sets forth requirements with respect to certain State Department human rights reports. Directs the Secretary of State to provide training on the right to religious freedom to chiefs of missions as well as certain Department officials. (Sec. 11) Provides for the termination of sanctions. (Sec. 12) Extends certain existing trade and economic sanctions against Sudan for supporting acts of international terrorism until the Director determines that Sudan has substantially eliminated religious persecution, or no longer supports acts of international terrorism, whichever occurs later. Imposes additional trade, economic, and cultural sanctions against Sudan. Sets forth penalties for violations of certain sanctions. Declares it is the sense of the Congress that the President, or, at his discretion, the Secretary of State should convene an international conference of the other industrialized democracies to reach an international agreement to bring about an end to religious persecution in Sudan. Prescribes congressional procedures for implementing such an agreement. Declares it is the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations (UN) to propose that the UN Security Council impose measures against Sudan. Makes it U.S. policy to impose additional measures against Sudan if its policy of religious persecution has not ended on or before December 25, 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1997
Mass Transit Amendments Act of 1997 - Amends Federal transportation law to add to the general purposes of mass transportation programs: (1) providing financial assistance to State and local governments to help carry out national goals related to mobility for individuals seeking employment or job training in order to end their reliance on public assistance programs; and (2) achieving demonstrable reductions in energy consumption and air pollution through increased reliance on mass transportation. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to States, local governments, and private nonprofit organizations to provide access, through the use of vans, buses, or train routes, to suburban employment and job training opportunities to residents of distressed urban and rural areas. Defines "distressed urban area" as any urban area with a population over 50,000 that meets certain Housing and Urban Development criteria. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 5) Requires metropolitan planning organizations in developing transportation plans and programs to consider, among other things, the transportation requirements of a strategy to revitalize the Nation's inner cities by creating new employment, job training, housing, mobility, and other economic opportunities in urban areas. (Sec. 6) Makes mass transportation block grants for capital projects and related equipment and facilities available for maintaining capital assets. (Sec. 7) Authorizes urbanized areas with a population of less than 200,000 and rural areas to use capital project block grants for either operating or capital needs. (Sec. 8) Extends for an additional four-year period discretionary grants and loans: (1) for fixed guideway modernization and capital projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing systems; and (2) to replace, rehabilitate, and buy buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities. (Sec. 9) Declares that the Secretary may authorize a recipient who no longer needs an asset acquired with mass transportation block grant assistance to sell (currently, transfer) such asset and retain the proceeds of the sale if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2002 for: (1) certain apportionments to urbanized areas for fixed guideway modernization (nondiscretionary); (2) specified mass transportation programs; (3) the national mass transportation institute; (4) university research institutes; and (5) transportation centers (including set-asides). (Sec. 11) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary, for apportionment adjustment purposes, to estimate quarterly the net highway receipts of the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the 24-month period (currently, 12-month period) beginning at the close of the next fiscal year. (Sec. 12) Establishes in the HTF the Intercity Passenger Rail Account. Transfers to the Account certain portions of the amounts attributable to taxes for gasoline, diesel fuel, special motor fuels, compressed natural gas, methanol and ethanol fuel, and nongasoline noncommercial aviation fuels. Makes amounts in the Account available to finance qualified expenses of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and each non-Amtrak State. (Redistributes to the Intercity Passenger Rail Account and the Mass Transit Account the 4.3 cents per gallon gasoline tax which is currently going to deficit reduction.) Increases the rate of transfer to the Mass Transit Account. Extends until October 1, 2002, the availability of Mass Transit Account funds for authorized expenditures. Increases the HTF financing rate for gasoline, special motor fuels, and diesel fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Breast-Cancer Research Stamp Act - Requires the U.S. Postal Service to establish a special rate of postage for first-class mail that is one cent higher than the regular rate as an alternative that patrons may use voluntarily to contribute to funding for breast-cancer research. Authorizes the Service to design and sell special stamps. Requires the Service to pay amounts attributable (additional revenues minus costs) to the one-cent differential to the Department of Health and Human Services at least twice a year.
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