United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for travel, meals, lodging, transportation, and uniform expenses paid or incurred in connection with the taxpayer's performance of services as a member of the armed forces reserves or the National Guard. Excludes the taxpayer's meal and entertainment expenses from deductibility limitations in this context.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Provides for an appropriate POW/MIA flag to be displayed on Federal buildings until there is a satisfactory accounting of POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia and Iraq. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Airline Bankruptcy Passenger Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue an order authorizing a covered air carrier to develop an air transportation plan which protects airline ticket holders in the event it becomes a debtor in bankruptcy proceedings after the ticket purchase date. Provides that if satisfactory plans have not been submitted by a specified deadline, the Secretary must promulgate regulations requiring all covered air carriers to provide air transportation for such ticket holders.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Presumes the following diseases to be service-connected and resulting from exposure to dioxins and other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma (with certain exceptions), and chloracne or other consistent acneform diseases becoming manifest to a degree of disability of ten percent or more; and (2) those additional diseases that the Secretary determines warrant such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with a herbicide agent, if they become manifest within the appropriate period. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted whenever it is determined by the Secretary that a positive association exists between the exposure of humans to a herbicide agent and the occurrence of a disease in humans. Requires the Secretary to take into account reports received from the National Academy of Sciences, as well as other sound medical and scientific information. Outlines procedures to be followed by the Secretary in weighing evidence, reporting information, and making conclusions for or against the positive association and, therefore, the service-connection presumption. Provides for the issuance of final regulations listing the diseases for which positive associations have been found or removing the presumption for a disease. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) under which NAS shall review and summarize the scientific evidence (and its strength) concerning the association between exposure to a herbicide agent during service in Vietnam and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure. Provides for NAS: (1) scientific determinations concerning diseases; (2) recommendations for additional studies to resolve areas of uncertainty relating to herbicide exposure; (3) subsequent reviews; and (4) reports, at least biennially, to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (the veterans' committees). Terminates the agreement ten years after the fiscal year of the first report from NAS. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with another body if the Secretary cannot reach an agreement with NAS within two months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to direct the Secretary to annually furnish updated information on health risks associated with exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Extends through 1993 the eligibility for hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care and medical treatment of individuals who served in Vietnam and who have been determined to have been exposed to dioxin or a toxic substance in a herbicide as the result of such service and of veterans exposed to ionizing radiation while serving between September 11, 1945 and July 1, 1946. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze, on a continuing basis, all clinical data obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with examinations and treatment furnished to veterans by the Department after November 3, 1981, for exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam and which is likely to be useful in determining the exposure to such agents and the disabilities suffered. Requires an annual report on such compilations and provides funding. Directs the Secretary, for facilitating research on the effects of exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam, to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed blood and tissue samples of veterans who served there. Provides for: (1) specimen security; (2) authorized uses; (3) limitations on acceptance of samples; and (4) authority based on specific funding. Directs the Secretary to establish a scientific research feasibility studies program for conducting research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in Vietnam; and (3) active military service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines program and report requirements. Directs the Secretary to consult with NAS. Directs the Secretary, upon the request of a Vietnam veteran who has applied for Department medical care and filed a claim for, or is in receipt of, disability compensation, to obtain a blood sample to conduct a test for the presence of a specified dioxin. Provides for notification to the veteran of test results and significance and requires such blood sample to be maintained as part of the collection of blood and tissue samples required under this Act. Makes conforming amendments and provides for alternative effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Commends and supports the efforts and leadership of the President as Commander in Chief in the Persian Gulf hostilities. Expresses unequivocal support for the men and women of our armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Declares that the Congress: (1) recognizes and commends the "Bill of Responsibilities" of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; and (2) urges citizens to embrace such principles as a model of responsible American citizenship.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Telecommunications Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a Bell Telephone Company (BTC), through an affiliate, to manufacture and provide telecommunications equipment, except that no BTC may engage in such manufacturing with an unaffiliated BTC or affiliates thereof. Allows such manufacturing or provision to be conducted only through an affiliate that is separate from any BTC. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to ensure that: (1) such manufacturing affiliate maintains separate accounts and records from its affiliated BTC which identify all transactions with the BTC; (2) neither a BTC nor any of its non-manufacturing affiliates carry out sales, advertising, installation, production, or maintenance operations for a manufacturing affiliate; (3) such manufacturing affiliate conducts all of its manufacturing activity within the United States and uses component parts manufactured in the United States unless specified requirements regarding good faith efforts to obtain such component parts in the United States and domestic content are met; (4) no more than 90 percent of the equity of the manufacturing affiliate is owned by the parent BTC; (5) such affiliate incurs debt entirely separate from and without recourse against the affiliated BTC; (6) such affiliate shall not be required to operate separately from any other affiliates of its BTC; (7) if an affiliate of a BTC becomes affiliated with a manufacturing entity, it shall be treated as a manufacturing affiliate of the BTC; and (8) such affiliate shall make available any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such affiliates to any purchasing carrier, so long as each such purchaser does not manufacture such equipment or agrees to make available to the BTC or any of its affiliates any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such purchasing carrier or any of its affiliates. Directs the FCC to require that each BTC maintain and file with the FCC complete information with respect to the protocols and technical requirements for connections with and use of its telephone exchange service facilities. Prohibits a BTC from disclosing any such information to its affiliates unless such information is immediately so filed. Requires any two or more carriers providing regulated telephone exchange service in the same area to notify each other of the deployment of telecommunications equipment. Requires the FCC to ensure that manufacturers in competition with a BTC's manufacturing affiliate have ready and equal access to information required for such competition that such BTC makes available to its affiliate. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations to require any BTC which has a manufacturing affiliate to: (1) provide to other manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment opportunities to sell such equipment to such BTC which are comparable to opportunities the BTC provides to its affiliates; (2) not subsidize its manufacturing affiliate with revenues from its regulated telecommunications service; and (3) only purchase equipment from its manufacturing affiliate at the open market price. Allows a BTC and its affiliates to engage in close collaboration with any manufacturer of customer premises or telecommunications equipment during the design and development of hardware and software relating to such equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income compensation received for active service as a member in the armed forces for any month served in a dangerous foreign area. (Current provisions exclude such income for any month served in a combat zone.) Increases from $500 to $2,000 the compensation excluded from the gross income of commissioned officers.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by individuals (and their spouses) ordered to active duty in connection with Operation Desert Shield.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Resident Physician Student Loan Deferment Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow resident physicians to defer repayment of certain student loans while serving in a medical internship or resident training program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the Accrediting Committee of the American Osteopathic Association.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Spark M. Matsunaga Concurrent Payment of Retired Pay and Compensation Benefits Act - Permits retired members of the armed forces to be paid retirement pay concurrently with compensation for any service-connected disability if the person's entitlement to such retirement pay is based solely on: (1) age; (2) length of service; or (3) both. Reduces the amount of retirement pay, in the case of individuals receiving both types of pay, by a specified percentage of the disability compensation which decreases as the disability rating increases. Prohibits any reduction in the retirement pay of a disabled person when the disability rating is total.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Federal armed forces provisions relating to the provision of health benefits for certain current military personnel and their dependents under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to repeal a provision which disallows such benefits to persons entitled to hospital insurance benefits under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes the payment through CHAMPUS insurance coverage of items and services for which payment is also made under Medicare, with a reduction in the amount payable through CHAMPUS by the amount already covered for such items and services through Medicare. Requires a person claiming a benefit through CHAMPUS for covered items and services to certify the cost charged for such items and services, as well as the amount of such costs already covered under applicable Medicare provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989, with regard to closing, consolidating, automating, or relocating any Weather Service Office or Weather Service Forecast Office, to: (1) prohibit such action until one year after certification, required by current law, to specified congressional committees that the action will not degrade weather services; (2) require the certification to be based on an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences; and (3) modify the matters included in the certification.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Drug Kingpin Death Penalty Act - Provides for imposition of the death penalty for those: (1) subject to mandatory life imprisonment for committing a Federal drug felony as part of a continuing criminal enterprise; (2) convicted of committing such a felony as part of a continuing criminal enterprise where the defendant is a principal administrator, organizer, or leader of such an enterprise and, in order to obstruct the investigation or prosecution of the enterprise, attempts or conspires to kill any public officer, juror, witness, or family or household member of such a person; and (3) who, intending to cause death or acting with reckless disregard for human life, engage in a Federal drug felony resulting in the death of another person. Sets forth mitigating factors (such as whether the defendant's mental capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his or her conduct or to conform such conduct to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired, the defendant was under unusual or substantial duress, or the defendant was an accomplice whose participation in the offense was relatively minor) and aggravating factors (such as prior convictions of offenses for which a death sentence or life imprisonment was authorized, prior convictions of two or more violent or drug offenses, certain weapons offenses, the use of minors in trafficking, and lethal adulteration of a controlled substance) in determining whether a sentence of death is justified. Sets forth procedures for a special hearing to determine whether a sentence of death is justified. Requires the court to instruct the jury that, in considering whether a sentence of death is justified, it shall not consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim. Requires the court to impose a sentence of death if the jury (or if there is no jury, the court) returns a recommendation of the death penalty. Sets forth procedures for review and implementation of a sentence of death. Specifies that: (1) a sentence of death may not be carried out upon a person who lacks the mental capacity to understand the death penalty and why it was imposed or upon a pregnant woman; and (2) no employee of any State department of corrections or the Federal Bureau of Prisons and no employee providing services to that department or bureau under contract shall be required to participate in any execution if contrary to such employee's moral or religious convictions. Provides for appointment of counsel in Federal capital cases for indigent defendants. Sets standards for competence of counsel. Specifies that Federal law does not create appointment of counsel requirements in State capital cases other than those imposed by the Constitution. Specifies that appointment of counsel in the Federal habeas corpus review of State capital cases is discretionary.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Strengthening Education for American Families Act - Title I: National Goals - Sets forth national goals for education, to be achieved by the year 2000, in the following categories: (1) family literacy and lifelong learning; (2) disadvantaged children's readiness for school; (3) school completion; (4) student achievement; (5) mathematics and science; (6) safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools; (7) teacher recruitment and retention; and (8) equal opportunity for postsecondary education. Title II: National Council on Educational Goals - National Academic Report Card Act of 1991 - Establishes a National Council on Educational Goals (the Council). Directs the Council, after the conclusion of its first meeting, to submit: (1) an interim report within one year; and (2) a National Report Card, within two years and annually thereafter for the duration of its existence. Requires the interim report to: (1) establish a timetable for reporting progress toward achieving the national educational goals by the year 2000; and (2) include a series of reasonable steps for measuring implementation and success of each recommendation of the Council. Requires the National Report Card to set forth an analysis of U.S. progress toward achieving the national education goals, presented in a form understandable to parents and the general public. Provides that the National Report Card may, if the Council deems necessary, also: (1) describe modifications to existing goals; (2) identify continuing gaps in existing educational data; and (3) make recommendations to improve methods and procedures of assessing educational attainment and to strengthen the national educational assessment and information system. Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to the States to: (1) conduct State summits on education; (2) evaluate progress toward implementing national goals; and (3) evaluate the implementation process. Requires States receiving such grants to report on State goals and plans. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 2001 for: (1) the Council and its National Report Card; and (2) State summits on education. Title III: Literacy - National Literacy Act of 1991 - Provides for comprehensive activities to ensure that all Americans can become literate by the year 2000. Part A: Literacy: Strategic Planning, Research, and Coordination -Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Literacy. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education to coordinate literacy-related programs. Establishes the National Institute for Literacy and the National Institute Board. Authorizes the Institute to award Literacy Leader Fellowships. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to establish a network of State or regional adult literacy resource centers. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Workforce Literacy - Establishes in the Department of Labor a National Workforce Literacy Assistance Collaborative. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to revise provisions for national workforce literacy strategies grants business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy. Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), in awarding grants for exemplary demonstration partnerships for workplace literacy, to: (1) give priority to partnerships which include small businesses; and (2) limit such grant awards to not more than three years. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount, whenever appropriations for workforce literacy partnership grants exceed a certain level, to establish a program of grants for large-scale national workforce literacy strategies. Authorizes appropriations for AEA workforce literacy programs. Part C: Investment in Literacy - Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for programs under the Adult Education Act (AEA). Revises the use of funds under the AEA basic State grants program. Requires that basic grants to States also be used for competitive two-year Gateway Grants to public housing authorities for literacy programs and related activities. Requires biennial evaluations and reports on such Gateway Grants. Revises AEA to give State advisory councils, plans, and evaluations literacy-related responsibilities. Requires States to report biennially to the Interagency Task Force on meeting literacy goals, coordinating workplace literacy services, and building a high quality delivery system for adult literacy programs. Provides for training educators to recognize and serve illiterate individuals more effectively. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise targeted assistance programs under ESEA to include training programs to enhance the ability of teachers and school counselors to identify, particularly in the early grades, students with reading and related problems which place them at risk for adult illiteracy. Renames the Even Start program under ESEA the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Revises the program to expand eligibility to include community-based organizations or other nonprofit organizations of demonstrated quality applying in collaboration with a local educational agency (LEA) (as well as LEAs and LEA consortia). Sets minimum grant amounts. Makes individual children eligible from birth through age seven (currently from age one through age seven). Provides for continuation of eligibility for certain participants until the parents become ineligible due to educational achievement, or until all children in the family attain age eight. Gives priority to applicants demonstrating that the area to be served has a high percentage or a large number of children and adults in need of program services. Authorizes appropriations for the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Establishes a Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, subject to availability of appropriations, to contract with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for production and dissemination of family literacy programming and accompanying materials to assist parents in improving family literacy skills and languages development. Requires CPB to: (1) cooperate with local public broadcasting stations; (2) arrange for distribution of audio and video instructional media materials for use, and distribution on loan, to families at sites chosen from among State and local libraries with literacy programs and nonprofit entities serving hard-to-serve populations; and (3) report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for the Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Part D: Business Leadership for Employment Skills - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to provide for education programs for commercial drivers. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants for adult education programs which increase the literacy skills of eligible commercial drivers so that they may successfully complete the knowledge test requirements under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. Requires grantees to refer individuals identified as having literacy skill problems to appropriate adult education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Part E: Books for Families - Revises the ESEA inexpensive book distribution program to require that priority be given in selection of additional local programs to those which serve children and students with special needs. Requires the program contractor (Reading is Fundamental) to report to the Secretary of Education annually on such additional programs. Amends the Library Services and Construction Act to direct the Secretary of Education, in awarding grants for library literacy programs and services, to give priority to those that: (1) will be delivered in areas of greatest need with highest concentrations of adults without secondary education or its equivalent, and which either have few community or financial resources or have low per capita income, unemployment, or underemployment; and (2) coordinate with literacy organizations and community-based organizations providing literacy services. Part F: Volunteers for Literacy - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish a Literacy Challenge Grants program. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to award such grants to eligible public and private entities to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing, operating, or expanding community or employee literacy programs that include the use of full- or part-time volunteers. Authorizes appropriations for Literacy Challenge Grants, but only if there are specified levels of funding for the VISTA Program and the VISTA Literacy Corps. Part G: Literacy for Incarcerated Individuals - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to establish requirements for mandatory functional literacy programs for incarcerated adults in State correctional systems and local jails or detention centers. Requires such a program to be in effect in at least one major correctional facility, for each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with an inmate population, within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires, if adequate funds are available, each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with over 150 inmates to have such a program in effect within five years after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required components of such programs, including inmate mandatory participation (except for any individual who is serving a life sentence without parole, or terminally ill, or under a sentence of death). Requires annual reports. Encourages: (1) parole agencies to make educational recommendations for those being released who do not have a marketable job skill or a high school diploma; and (2) jails with less than 150 inmates to develop such mandatory functional literacy programs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Freedom of Choice Act of 1991 - Provides that a State may not restrict the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy: (1) before fetal viability; or (2) at any time, if such termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Allows a State to impose requirements medically necessary to protect the life or health of such women.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Child Welfare and Preventive Services Act - Title I: Provisions Relating to Child Welfare and Family Support - Amends part B (Child-Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide Federal funds to enable States to plan, develop, or expand innovative programs of child welfare services and family support services in order to preserve and strengthen families and prevent the need for placement in foster care. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to authorize demonstration projects to improve the coordination of welfare services for families and children. Directs the Secretaries of HHS, Agriculture, and Education, and the Attorney General to: (1) review department policies to determine whether changes can be made without statutory changes to improve the funding and delivery of such services; and (2) issue a report to the Congress that includes recommendations for both legislative and nonlegislative changes to improve the coordination of the funding and delivery of such services. Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to set forth provisions to facilitate adoption, including provisions allowing States to disregard adoption assistance payments in determining a family's eligibility for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under part A. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and make recommendations regarding the current requirement that States make reasonable efforts to prevent the need for removal of a child from home, and to make it possible for the child to return home, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance. Requires that a child who is placed in foster care be placed in a setting that is most appropriate for that child. Authorizes demonstration projects to facilitate the reunification of children eligible for AFDC services with their families. Allows States to claim 90 percent Federal matching for the costs of planning, designing, developing, or installing a statewide data collection and information retrieval system for purposes of administering the Child-Welfare Services program and the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Allows States to claim 50 percent Federal matching for the costs of operating a data collection and information system for purposes of administering the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Allows youths in independent living programs to accumulate assets sufficient to enable them to establish their own households. Requires States to submit all claims for Federal reimbursement under the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program within one year after the calendar quarter in which the expenditure is made (currently, within two years). Outlines the criteria for the Secretary of HHS to use for approving applications by colleges for grants to provide child welfare traineeships. Permits the Secretary of HHS to authorize up to ten States to establish and evaluate specified types of child welfare demonstration projects. Grants such States more flexible spending authority for such purposes. Directs the Secretary, in order to improve the capacity of State and local child welfare agencies to administer Child-Welfare Services and Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs and to provide services to families and children, to develop and publish a model staff training program for use by such agencies. Requires the health and education records of foster children to include: (1) the telephone numbers of their health and education providers; and (2) a record indicating that their foster care provider was advised of their eligibility for services under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act). Title II: Provisions Relating to Comprehensive Substance Abuse Programs for Pregnant Women and Caretaker Parents with Children - Amends the Child-Welfare Services program to provide Federal funds to enable States to establish comprehensive substance abuse programs for certain low-income pregnant women and caretaker parents with children. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Provisions Relating to Child Health - Amends the Medicaid program to allow States to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage for children of families with income below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Allows States to extend Medicaid coverage to children born before October 1, 1983, who have attained six years of age but have not attained 19 years of age or a lesser age as selected by the State. Provides for optional State Medicaid coverage for foster children. Provides for optional State Medicaid coverage of: (1) home visitor services for medically fragile infants; and (2) home or community-based services to children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or children who are ventilator-dependent. Removes restrictions on the ownership of certain assets, such as automobiles and household goods, by pregnant women for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility. Provides for greater continuous Medicaid eligibility for certain children. Requires States to provide medical assistance under the Medicaid program to any individual who is eligible for and receiving benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act). Revises the requirement that States with prospective payment systems must provide for outlier payment adjustments for certain expensive services provided to children under age six during their stay in disproportionate share hospitals to make such requirement applicable to children under age 19. Requires the Federal Government to use the most recent data in calculating its matching share for Medicaid. Provides for the extension of certain waivers for services related to pregnancy. Increases the limit on the number of individuals allowed to participate in home and community-based programs under waivers. Outlines various congressional reporting requirements imposed by this Act on the Secretary of HHS, including requirements with respect to the Maternal and Child Health Services program (title V of the Social Security Act). Directs the Secretary of HHS to appoint a Commission on the Evaluation of Disability in Children. Directs the Commission to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the meaning of the term "disability" under the SSI program as it applies to determining whether a child under the age of 18 is eligible to receive benefits under such program. Terminates the Commission on September 30, 1993. Title IV: Provisions Relating to Adoption Expense Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for the expenses incurred to adopt a child with special needs, up to an annual limit of $3,000.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Federal law to increase the Federal payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government for entitlement land. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust such payments by the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Violence Against Women Act of 1991 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Federal Penalties for Sex Crimes - Amends Federal law to require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to create or amend guidelines to provide for: (1) up to twice the term of imprisonment or fine for violation, after the first conviction, of Federal laws relating to sexual abuse or similar laws of any State or foreign country; and (2) minimum or increased maximum sentences for rape, aggravated rape, or statutory rape. Requires that a court order restitution for violations of such Federal sexual abuse laws. Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crime Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Requires that the grants be used for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States, for use by States and their subdivisions, to be used for the same purposes as the high intensity area grants and to reduce the the rate of violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country. Authorizes the Director, in addition to the grants under this subtitle, to direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources in support of State and local assistance efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Directs the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Sets the Federal share of each project at 90 percent of the net cost. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. Amends the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System (NPS). Provides for compilation of a list of areas within the NPS with the highest rates of violent crime. Allows funds to be used, around public parks and recreation areas, for increasing lighting, providing emergency phone lines, increasing security or law enforcement personnel, and any other project to increase security and safety. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in public parks and recreation areas. Subtitle D: National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission after submission of its final report, subject to extension by the President for up to one more year. Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in criminal cases other than a sex offense case, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, inadmissable in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Defines actionable sexual misconduct to include sex harassment or discrimination claims under title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gender bias claims under title III of this Act. Makes evidentiary rulings made under specified Federal Rules of Evidence relating to sex offense cases and the relevance of a victim's past behavior subject to interlocutory appeal by the Government or by the alleged victim. Allows the alleged victim to waive those rules if the prosecution seeks to offer evidence of prior sexual history. Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissable to show the victim incited or invited the offense. Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. Authorizes appropriations. Removes a requirement that a minimum amount from the block grants under the PHSA be allotted to States on the basis of population. Removes provisions allowing a State to use amounts paid to the State under block grant provisions and amounts transferred by the State to provide services to rape victims and for rape prevention. Requires grant recipients under this title to incur the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault. Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act of 1990 - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Provides for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who travels or causes another (including the intended victim) to travel across State lines or in interstate commerce with intent to injure a spouse or intimate partner and who, during the travel or thereafter, injures his or her spouse or intimate partner in violation of a criminal law of the State where the injury occurs, or in violation of a State protection order. Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act. Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Makes a protection order issued against a person who filed a written pleading for protection not entitled to full faith and credit if no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order or, if a cross or counter petition was filed, the court did not specifically find each party entitled to such an order. Subtitle B: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; and (3) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Directs the Secretary to delegate to the Attorney General responsibility to carry out these provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act, earmarking at least 85 percent of funds appropriated for State demonstration grants to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance. Limits the percentage which may be used to carry out public information campaigns under provisions of subtitle D of this title. Subtitle D: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Allows demonstration grants to be used to increase public awareness about, as well as to prevent, family violence. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Requires each State, in order to be eligible for the grants, to establish a Commission on Domestic Violence to examine matters such as arrest, prosecution, sentencing, restitution, and reporting. Directs (currently, authorizes) the Secretary to make a specified percentage (currently, no specified percentage) available for demonstration grants to Indian tribes. Removes the limit on the aggregate amount of grants to any single entity. Revises requirements regarding the local share of program costs for grants to entities other than States or Indian tribes. Increases the percentage of funds required to be used for shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents. Allows law enforcement training grants to be made under existing provisions only to private nonprofit organizations with experience in providing training and technical assistance to law enforcement personnel on a national or regional basis. Directs the Secretary to make grants to at least ten States to assist in becoming model demonstration States and in improving State leadership concerning: (1) increasing prosecutions for domestic crimes; (2) encouraging reporting of domestic violence; and (3) facilitating arrests and aggressive prosecution policies. Sets forth requirements for being designated a model State. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to delegate responsibilities under these provisions to the Attorney General. Directs the Secretary to make grants or contracts for the establishment and maintenance of six national resource centers to provide training and technical assistance to State, Indian tribal, and local domestic violence programs and to other professionals who provide services to domestic violence victims. Subtitle E: Youth Education and Domestic Violence - Directs the Secretary of Education to develop three separate model programs for education of young people about domestic violence and violence among intimate partners, with one program for each of primary and middle schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Title III: Civil Rights - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities in every State as are enjoyed by all other persons to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender (defined as any crime of violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, or any other crime of violence committed because of or on the basis of gender). Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws as enumerated by this Act liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate. Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 to allow the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title. Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Safe Campuses for Women Act of 1990 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make, on a competitive basis, grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education for rape education and prevention programs. Requires that the grants be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of rape or sexual assault, with 25 percent of the funds available for model demonstration programs for rape prevention and education curricula and for local programs to provide services to student rape victims. Authorizes appropriations to carry out title X (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) of the Act. Amends the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 to add sexual assault to the list of criminal offenses about which statistics must be disclosed by institutions participating in certain programs. Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1990 - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the State Justice Institute to expend at least: (1) 40 percent of appropriated funds on programs regarding domestic violence; and (2) 40 percent on programs regarding rape and assault. Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Directs the Federal Judicial Center to study and report on the nature and extent of gender bias in the Federal courts. Requires the Center to develop and disseminate model programs to be used in training Federal judges and court personnel in the laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires between 25 and 40 percent of such funds to be used for the study required by this subtitle.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans Benefits and Health Care Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Compensation - Part A: Generally - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase the rates of, and limitations on, Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation to coincide with benefit increases under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Requires such rate increases to be published in the Federal Register. Part B: Radiogenic Disabilities - Extends the presumption of service-connection, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, to cover members of the reserves who participated in a radiation-risk activity while serving on active duty for training or inactive duty for training. Amends Federal provisions relating to the payment of disability compensation due to certain diseases and disabilities presumed to be service-connected to remove the current limitation on the required manifestation period (either 40 or 30 years from the date on which a veteran last participated in a radiation-risk activity). Adds cancer of the salivary gland and cancer of the urinary tract to the list of diseases that will be presumed to be service-connected for purposes of such disability compensation. Requires the Secretary, within 210 days after enactment of this Act, to identify at least three military activities which likely would have exposed individuals to levels of ionizing radiation above background levels. Requires the Secretary to identify at least three additional activities by October 1 of FY 1991 through 1993. Requires the Secretary, immediately after identifying each additional activity, to direct the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards to evaluate, make findings, and report on whether participation in such activities resulted in exposure comparable to that resulting from a radiation-risk activity as defined under current law. Requires the Secretary to list each such activity unless the Advisory Committee's report and all other evidence indicate that such activity did not result in comparable exposure to that of veterans participating in radiation-risk activities. Requires the Secretary to make certain reports. Part C: Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service - Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1991 - Establishes a presumption of service connection, for the purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, for each of the following diseases incurred by individuals who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam era, if such diseases become manifest to a disability degree of ten percent or more: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma; (2) each soft-tissue sarcoma; and (3) chloracne. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary to update such list continually. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to a herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effect. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to lung cancer and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organization to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (veterans' committees) regarding its determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the event of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when no such reasonable basis is found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the list of diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides interim regulations and special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) are obtained by the VA in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) are likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of OTA to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of OTA if no agreement is made with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with NAS before undertaking such studies and requires NAS to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information to individuals listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs Agent Orange Registry on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for psychological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 1993, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam. Title II: Health Care - Part A: Mental Health - Authorizes the provision of health care and services for veterans of World War I or II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, or any other area during a period in which hostilities occurred who have been diagnosed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to such services even though such disorder has not been determined to be service-connected. Requires the VA to accomplish an evaluation of a veteran within seven days after referral of such veteran to a Department health-care facility from a Vet Center (a center for treatment of veterans with mental illness disabilities). Expands eligibility for readjustment counseling at Vet Centers to include veterans of wars prior to Vietnam and veterans of service in any areas in which U.S. personnel were subjected to danger from armed conflict comparable to that occurring in battle with an enemy during a period of war. Directs the Secretary to establish and operate up to five VA health-care facilities as centers of mental illness research, education, and clinical activities, taking into account appropriate geographic distribution of such facilities. Precludes the Secretary from designating any health-care facility as a center unless the facility has (or may reasonably be anticipated to develop): (1) an arrangement with an accredited medical school or graduate school of psychology which provides education and training in psychiatry and psychology through regular rotation through such center so as to provide training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness; (2) an arrangement under which nurses, social workers, or other allied health personnel receive education and training in mental health care through regular rotation through such facility; (3) the ability to attract the participation of scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity in research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of mental illness and into models for furnishing care and treatment to veterans suffering from mental illness; (4) a policymaking advisory committee to advise the directors of such facility and center on policy matters pertaining to the activities of such center; and (5) the capability to conduct effectively evaluations of the activities of such center. Authorizes appropriations. Declares that activities of clinical and scientific investigation at each center shall be eligible to compete for the award of funding from funds appropriated for the Department's medical and prosthetics research account and shall receive priority insofar as funds are awarded to projects for mental illness. Requires the Chief Medical Director (CMD) to ensure that: (1) research activities carried out through such centers include an appropriate emphasis on the psychosocial dimension of mental illness and on models for furnishing care and treatment to veterans suffering from mental illness; and (2) useful information produced by the centers is disseminated throughout the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration (HSRA). Requires the Secretary to submit to the veterans' committees an annual report on activities and effectiveness of the centers. Directs the Special Committee on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to submit to the Secretary and veterans' committees no later than February 15 of each of the years 1991 through 1993 a report on the Committee's evaluation of the results of a study required under the Veteran's Health Care Amendments of 1983 relating to the diagnosis and treatment of veterans suffering from PTSD. Directs the Secretary to comment to the veterans' committees concerning such report. Requires the Committee to update certain reports required of the Committee under the Veterans' Health Care Act of 1984 and requires the Secretary to comment to the veterans' committees concerning such updates. Directs the Secretary, in certain papers required to be submitted to the President annually, to identify the amounts in the appropriations requests for the VA that are estimated to be obligated for payments and treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD, and for education, training, research, and the operation of the National Center on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Requires the Secretary to ensure to the extent practicable that there are Department PTSD treatment units in locations readily accessible to veterans residing in rural areas of the United States. Part B: General Health - Authorizes the VA to furnish wheelchairs, prosthetic devices, and other medically necessary supplies and services as part of veterans' outpatient care when necessary either to obviate the need for hospital admission or in preparation for hospital admission. Provides outpatient dental care when medically necessary in preparation for hospital admission or for a veteran otherwise receiving other outpatient care or services. Increases the maximum cost limitation for the provision of certain home health care services to disabled veterans. Makes permanent the program of community-based contract veterans' alcohol and drug treatment program (currently expires September 30, 1991). Extends through FY 1995 the authority to provide contract care to U.S. veterans in the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the upgrading and replacement of equipment and facilities for such Center through FY 1995. Decreases such annual authorization amount from $1,000,000 to $500,000. Earmarks the first $50,000 of grants appropriated to the Center for educating and training hospital personnel. Expands the current authority of the Secretary to acquire and provide housing for homeless veterans in order to allow entities to provide transitional housing for veterans recovering from substance abuse or mental illness disabilities. Extends such program through 1993. Establishes in the Treasury the Transitional Housing Fund for the provision of housing and loans to assist veterans in recovering from alcohol or drug dependence or abuse disabilities. Outlines loan conditions and conditions for veterans residing in housing provided. Requires the Secretary to issue guidelines for the operation of such residences. Requires the director of either each medical center or each regional office of the VA to make an assessment of the needs of homeless veterans living within the area served, including needs for health care, education and training, employment, shelter, counseling, and outreach services. Requires the director of each medical center to develop a plan for each of FY 1991 through 1993 for the provision of outreach and other services to meet the needs identified. Requires actions taken under such plans to be coordinated with other programs of the VA and Federal, State, or local governments. Requires the director to disseminate information regarding services provided to homeless veterans by the medical center or other facilities of the VA. Directs the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of providing, through community-based organizations, domiciliary care (including medical services) to homeless veterans. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts with community-based organizations for the provision of such care. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993. Authorizes the Secretary to reprogram certain previously-appropriated funds to such program if it is found to be effective. Authorizes the Secretary to accept donations of funds or services in order to expand the medical services provided to homeless veterans through the Department. Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 to extend through FY 1993: (1) the authorization of appropriations for medical programs of the Department; (2) earmarked amounts for the conversion of unused space in urban VA facilities into domiciliary care beds for homeless veterans; and (3) earmarked amounts for the furnishing of care and services to homeless veterans who have chronic mental illness disabilities. Amends the Veterans' Benefits and Services Act of 1988 to extend its program for mentally ill homeless veterans. Extends through FY 1991 a pilot program under the Veterans' Benefits and Services Act of 1988 for the provision of mobile health-care clinics for the treatment of veterans residing at least 100 miles from a VA treatment facility. Requires the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Prosthetics and Special-Disabilities Programs to advise the Secretary and the CMD on the coordination of VA and non-VA programs, and the adequacy of funding, for prosthetics and special disabilities programs administered by the Secretary. Requires a report. Includes within the definition of "medical services" for coverage under Federal veterans' benefits provisions services to achieve pregnancy in a veteran or a veteran's spouse when such services are necessary to overcome a service-connected disability impairing the veteran's procreative ability. Directs the CMD to appoint an advisory committee to advise the CMD on the exercise of authority to furnish such services. Authorizes use of the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund of the VA for the payment of travel and related expenses necessary for the training of employees in the administration of therapeutic and rehabilitative services. Directs the Secretary, during FY 1991-1995, to conduct a compensated work therapy and therapeutic residence pilot program (CWTTR). Directs the Secretary to establish nonprofit corporations for the making of contracts for conducting work therapy programs under the CWTTR program at no less than ten or more than 15 VA medical centers operating such programs. Requires the Secretary to be assured from a nonprofit corporation that it will operate a therapeutic residence for eligible veterans in conjunction with an existing compensated work therapy program at a medical center. Allows for the provision of in-kind services from the Secretary to the corporation, including technical and clinical advice, supervision of activities, and minor maintenance and repairs to a therapeutic residence. Authorizes the Secretary to lend amounts to a corporation in order to assist such corporations to lease or purchase property for use as therapeutic residential treatment centers. Provides loan limits and other administrative provisions concerning such loans. Directs the Secretary to transfer to the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration no less than ten residences acquired by the VA for use for such centers. Requires each such property to be leased to a nonprofit corporation for operation as a therapeutic residence under the pilot program. Outlines lease conditions and other administrative provisions concerning the establishment of nonprofit corporations for therapeutic residences. Requires each such corporation to submit to the Secretary annual reports providing a detailed statement of its operations, activities, and accomplishments during the preceding year. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning each such corporation and its participation under the pilot program. Requires the Secretary, under the pilot program, to operate residences as therapeutic residences for the furnishing of transitional housing solely for veterans who are furnished compensated work therapy under applicable Federal law. Authorizes the Secretary to purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire residential housing for the purpose of furnishing such transitional housing for veterans being furnished compensated work therapy. Outlines the following conditions for the operation of such transitional housing: (1) that only qualified veterans and a house manager live in such residence; (2) that each resident (other than the house manager) pay the VA rent for the period of residence in such housing; (3) that, in the establishment and operation of such housing, the Secretary must comply with all local zoning, building, and other similar requirements; and (4) that the residence meet the State and community fire and safety requirements applicable to property used for similar purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for free room and subsistence for a house manager. Requires the CMD to be responsible for the management, maintenance, and disposition of property acquired for such transitional housing. Authorizes the Secretary to dispose of such property when no longer used for such purpose. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the experience under the pilot program. Allows the Secretary to authorize the establishment of one or more nonprofit corporations to provide a flexible funding mechanism for the conduct of VA compensated work therapy programs for veterans (including homeless veterans) in such community or communities as the Secretary may designate. Requires such corporations to be established solely for such programs. Requires funds received by such a corporation for the conduct of such programs to be transferred to the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund. Outlines administrative provisions concerning the establishment and operation of each such nonprofit corporation, including provisions concerning: (1) the board of directors and executive officers; (2) general powers; (3) applicable State law; and (4) accountability and oversight. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress no later than February 1, 1993, on the experience under the program. Prohibits the establishment of any nonprofit corporation for such purposes after September 30, 1993. Authorizes the use of the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund for the purchase of property to be used for transitional housing under this Act. Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees the Secretary's evaluation, findings, and conclusions regarding the provision of such alternative noninstitutional care. Extends through FY 1995 the pilot program for the furnishing of preventive health-care services for veterans by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to implement annually at each VA facility a major preventive health-care and health-promotion initiative for any veteran receiving other care and services administered through the Secretary. Limits expenditures for such programs and initiatives through FY 1995. Directs the CMD to designate an official in such Administration as the Director of Preventive Health-Care and Health-Promotion Programs. Requires such Director to prepare guidance regarding, to be responsible for coordinating and evaluating, and to advise the CMD on, all activities carried out under such programs and initiatives. Requires the Secretary to submit to the veterans' committees an interim and final report on experiences under the pilot program. Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) service dogs trained to assist quadriplegic individuals in the performance of daily living tasks to quadriplegic veterans who have a service-connected disability; and (2) signal dogs trained to provide hearing assistance to deaf persons to veterans having a service-connected hearing impairment and in need of such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to pay travel to and from their homes incurred in becoming adjusted to such dogs. Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning a backlog that has occurred in the procurement of prosthetic appliances in FY 1989, for the failure to furnish certain other prosthetic appliances, and the actions planned by the Secretary to prevent a recurrence of such problem. Increases from $500 to $1,000 the total amount that may be expended on any veteran in a 12-month period for such services and treatment. Repeals the authority of the Secretary to furnish tobacco to veterans receiving hospital or domiciliary care. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force to recommend policies and legislation for the elimination of inconsistencies among provisions of law relating to veterans' eligibility for certain health-care benefits. Directs the Secretary to review the report submitted by the task force and either approve the recommendations for legislation contained therein or prepare alternative legislative proposals appropriate for the elimination of the inconsistencies identified by the task force. Requires a report to the veterans' committees concerning the recommendation of such legislative proposals. Directs the Secretary to provide Department-furnished outpatient medical services to any former prisoner of war for any disability. Part C: Health-Care Personnel - Veterans Health-Care Personnel Act of 1991 - Authorizes the payment of special pay on the same basis as that given to registered nurses to those health-care professionals who are furnishing direct care to patients or services incident to direct patient care. Increases the limitation on the amount authorized to be paid as special pay to certain individuals in the HSRA of the VA. Requires increases in such pay of a specified amount or more to be reported by the Secretary to the veterans' committees. Includes coverage of HSRA personnel under Federal employees' collective bargaining rights and procedures. Revises provisions concerning disciplinary actions and grievances within the HSRA. Directs the Secretary to establish and conduct a dependent care assistance program, which meets certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the care of dependents of employees of the HSRA. Requires such program to be implemented no later than June 1, 1991. Requires current representatives of the field of paramedics to assist in the establishment of cooperative arrangements to provide for the training of health and paramedical personnel in order to improve the manpower utilization of such personnel. Requires such arrangements to be implemented no later than February 1, 1991. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1994 for making grants for such cooperative programs. Directs the CMD of the VA to conduct a pilot program at no less than five VA medical facilities during FY 1991 through 1993 in order to determine the effect on employees of VA pay and personnel management practices. Requires the CMD to establish certain alternative pay and personnel management practices, such as increasing certain pay differentials for day versus evening duty, utilizing registered nurses in new ways for the furnishing of direct patient care, and establishing a collaborative practice committee involving physicians, nurses, and other direct health-care personnel. Requires various reports between the CMD, the Secretary, and the veterans' committees relating to the results of such pilot program. Directs the Secretary to pay special incentive pay to psychologists employed within the HSRA. Requires psychologists receiving such special pay to hold diplomas in psychology from a recognized institution unless the Secretary determines that such psychologists are not needed to furnish appropriate psychological services for veterans. Outlines the educational and licensure requirements for social workers employed in the HSRA of the Department. Exempts individuals already employed by the Department of such capacity before the enactment of this Act from such requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to convert donated space in Department facilities for use as a child care center without reimbursement. Directs the Secretary to require each director of a Department medical center to: (1) assess the need of employees at such center for child-care services; and (2) submit an annual report to the Secretary containing the director's findings concerning such needs and a proposal of how such needs could be met. Requires the directors to consult with appropriate employee representatives in making such assessment. Part D: Special Pay for Physicians and Dentists - Department of Veterans Affairs Physicians' and Dentists' Compensation Act of 1991 - Revises provisions of Federal law relating to special pay for VA physicians and dentists. Authorizes the Secretary of VA, in order to recruit and retain highly qualified physicians and dentists, to provide special pay to such individuals under regulations prescribed by the Secretary after the Secretary has received the recommendations of the CMD. Conditions such special pay on the execution of a written agreement by the physician or dentist to perform a period of obligated service within the HSRA. Provides that such individual is not entitled to such special pay during the first three years of such service, except at the discretion of the CMD for full-time services. Prohibits special pay for those physician and dentist positions for which there is no significant recruitment and retention problem. Sets forth requirements of a written agreement, including provisions providing for: (1) a covered period of one to four years; (2) refunding of special pay for unfulfilled services; (3) the waiver of such refund requirement due to circumstances beyond the control of the physician or dentist; and (4) terms under which the Secretary and the physician or dentist may terminate the agreement. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to eligible full-time physicians based upon specified factors, including: (1) tenure within the HSRA; (2) service in a medical specialty for which it is extremely difficult to recruit and retain qualified professionals; (3) service in certain executive positions; (4) specialty or board certifications; (5) service in a geographic location for which there are extraordinary difficulties in the recruitment or retention of qualified personnel; and (6) service by a physician with exceptional qualifications within a specialty. Requires all special pay for such full-time physicians to be personally approved by the CMD on a case-by-case basis. Sets forth conditions and limitations to the payment of such special pay. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to part-time eligible physicians based upon similar factors. Requires the Secretary to pay each such physician an amount of special pay equal to the proportion of full-time service that physician performs. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to eligible full-time and part-time dentists based upon similar factors. Prohibits a physician from receiving such special pay while also receiving special pay for serving in certain executive positions. Allows scarce specialty pay (another form of special pay that rewards scarce specialty areas of practice) for a physician or dentist serving as a chief of staff only if it is necessary to recruit or retain qualified physicians or dentists for such position and only if the CMD personally approves such specialty pay. Requires, with regard to the payment of special pay, determinations: (1) that there are extraordinary difficulties in recruitment or retention; and (2) of whether there are extraordinary difficulties in a specific geographic location in the recruitment or retention of qualified physicians or dentists. Sets forth considerations for determinations with respect to extraordinary recruitment and retention difficulties and the payment of special pay for individual medical facilities of the VA. Requires the director of an individual facility, in such a case, to recommend the payment of such special pay to the CMD and wait 45 days after which such pay would become effective unless disapproved by the CMD. Provides for delegation of the approval power of the CMD. Prohibits special pay from being paid to a physician or dentist who: (1) is employed on a less than half-time basis or on an intermittent basis unless the CMD determines it is the most cost-effective way of providing needed medical or dental services at a VA facility; (2) occupies an internship or residency training position; or (3) is a reemployed annuitant. Reinstates the payment of special pay under this Act for full-time physicians or dentists of the HSRA who had been receiving special pay under primary, full-time, and tenure categories before the authority for the payment of that special pay was repealed. Reinstates similarly the payment of special pay under the primary and tenure categories for part-time physicians and dentists of the HSRA. Outlines the manner in which special pay is to be considered for purposes of other benefits laws for Federal employees. States that it is the policy of the Congress to assure that total pay for HSRA physicians and dentists is comparable to total pay of other Government physicians and dentists and to the income of non-Federal physicians and dentists. Directs the Secretary: (1) in order to assist in implementing such policy, to obtain measures of income of such non-VA physicians and dentists and to define the bases for pay distinctions; (2) to report to the President quadrennially on appropriate amounts of special pay to HSRA physicians and dentists to carry out such policy; and (3) to report to specified congressional committees annually on the use of authorities under this title. Directs the Secretary to reimburse any full-time board-certified physician or dentist appointed in the HSRA for expenses incurred, up to $1,000 per year, for continuing professional education. Allows a physician or dentist within the HSRA who had previously received special pay under the full-time, primary, or tenure categories (repealed by this Act) and had elected not to have such pay treated as basic pay for purposes of retirement and annuity amounts to elect to treat the special pay provided under this Act as basic pay for such purposes. Title III: Education and Employment - Extends through 1993 the period in which a Vietnam era veteran will be considered as such for purposes of eligibility for job training, counseling, and placement services. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to expand an employment and training program implemented under the Veterans' Benefits Amendments of 1989 in order to furnish employment and training information and services under such program in more than ten geographically dispersed areas of the United States. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations with regard to the success of such program before undertaking such expansion. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on such expansion. Requires the Secretary to utilize disabled veterans' outreach program specialists or local veterans' employment representatives and other resources in implementing such expansion. Makes persons receiving outpatient medical care or services pending discharge from active military service eligible for veterans' vocational rehabilitation if such persons are being treated at a hospital under contract or agreement with the Secretary of Defense. Extends by one year the period of automatic disenrollment for veterans' educational assistance benefits to allow for the filing of a claim for such benefits. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with an individual whereby the individual agrees to perform work-study service and the Secretary deducts the allowance otherwise payable to such individual from indebtedness resulting from any overpayment received by such individual under VA-administered education, rehabilitation, or training benefits. Authorizes the Secretary, in order to reduce or eliminate such individual's indebtedness, to waive certain work-study program eligibility requirements and limitations, as well as certain debt collection requirements. Prohibits such an agreement from continuing in force after the individual's debt has been liquidated. Requires the Secretary to compensate such an individual for work-study services performed after such debt has been liquidated. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the pursuit of flight training for an individual entitled to post-Vietnam era veterans' educational assistance if: (1) such training is necessary for the attainment of the individual's vocational objective; (2) the individual possesses a valid pilot's license and meets all medical requirements necessary for a commercial pilot's license; and (3) the flight school courses are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and the State. Sets forth the amount of assistance and other conditions for such flight training, including receipt by the Secretary of a certificate from the individual and institution involved of the flight training completed and the tuition and other fees. Establishes within the Department of Labor the Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment and Training to: (1) assess the employment and training needs of veterans; (2) determine the extent to which programs and activities of the Department of Labor are meeting such needs; and (3) carry out necessary activities to make certain reports and recommendations required in this section. Directs the Secretary of Labor to consult with and seek the advice of the advisory committee with respect to the employment and training needs of veterans. Requires the advisory committee to report annually to the Secretary of Labor on the employment and training needs of veterans, including recommendations for legislation or administrative or other appropriate action. Requires the Secretary to transmit such annual reports to the Congress together with comments. Requires advisory committee appointments to be made within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Title IV: Housing - Makes permanent (currently ends September 30, 1990) the requirement for the VA to notify and counsel veterans about the impact of, and alternatives to, foreclosure when the veterans default on a VA-guaranteed home loan. Allows the VA to sell vendee loan assets (collateral) either: (1) with recourse; or (2) without recourse only if the amount received by the Department is at least equal to the unpaid balance of the loan. Extends through FY 1992 the authority for certain home loan lenders to review appraisals. Makes permanent certain current Federal provisions concerning default procedures and property management with regard to home loans guaranteed by the VA. Exempts individuals obtaining VA-guaranteed home loans from the requirement that individuals obtaining federally guaranteed loans of over $150,000 disclose their lobbying activities. Directs the VA, at the request of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to issue certificates of veteran status to veterans seeking certain benefits under laws administered by HUD. Authorizes the VA to issue such certificates without reimbursement. Limits the time during which a veteran may apply for waiver of a home-loan debt to the one-year period following the date on which the VA notified the debtor of the indebtedness. Requires that debt notices for home-loan and non-home-loan debts inform the recipient of his or her right to apply for a waiver and the procedures for such application. Title V: Insurance - Increases from $10,000 to $20,000 the maximum amount of Service Disabled Veterans' Insurance available to those veterans who are eligible for a waiver of premiums due to total and permanent disability. Increases from $40,000 to $90,000 the maximum amount of Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance available to veterans who have received a specially-adapted housing grant. Title VI: Minority Affairs - Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to assign as one of the functions of the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs the review and assessment of the effects of policies, programs, and activities of the VA on minority veterans and the monitoring of access of such veterans to services and benefits under laws administered by the VA. Defines "minority veterans" as veterans who are black, Native-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Pacific Islander-American, or women. Reestablishes, as of October 1, 1990, the Advisory Committee on Native Americans. Requires reports from such Committee concerning the plight of Native Americans and their access to services and benefits of the VA. Terminates such Committee 90 days after their second report is transferred to the veterans' committees. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Defines "minor child" for purposes of eligibility for burial in national cemeteries as a child under 21 years of age or under 23 if the person is pursuing a course of instruction at an educational institution. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for flat grave markers in a section of the Florida National Cemetery that had installed preplaced grave liners as of a specified date. States that the prohibition on the payment of attorneys' fees in connection with VA benefits proceedings applies only where the individual is applying for such benefits, and not when the Government is proceeding against a person to collect an indebtedness or in cases in which other attorneys' fees statutes apply. Modifies certain administrative reorganization requirements within the VA. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into enhanced use agreements (a written agreement for the use of a VA facility consistent with the Department's mission in return for the payment of consideration to the VA) with respect to designated property and to direct the disposal of such property. Provides lease terms and other conditions with respect to such agreements. Requires the Secretary, before designating a property for an enhanced-use lease, to conduct local hearings to consider the proposed lease and its possible effects on the local community. Requires the veterans' committees to be notified of any such designation. Requires a specified notice to be published in the Federal Register. Allows the Secretary to initiate action for the disposal of leased property no longer needed by the VA to the lessee by requesting the Administrator of General Services to carry out a special disposition of such property. Requires notice of a special disposition to be provided to the veterans' committees and published in the Federal Register. Requires funds received by the VA under an enhanced-use agreement to be deposited into the nursing home revolving fund and administered as part of that fund. Outlines provisions concerning construction standards, exemption from State and local taxes, and limitations on the number of enhanced-use agreements. Terminates the authority to enter into such leases as of September 30, 1994. Makes standards relating to disqualification of Federal judges applicable to judges serving on the Court of Veterans Appeals. Makes all funds in the Department's Medical Care account exempt from sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Extends from three to 12 months the period during which a veteran with no spouse or dependent children may be furnished domiciliary or nursing home care by the VA before such veteran's pension is reduced. Provides that, when a veteran's pension payments are so reduced, up to $10,000 of the benefits withheld shall be repaid to the veteran upon discharge. Increases from $1,500 to $6,000 the value of the estate allowed a hospitalized incompetent veteran without dependents before the VA suspends the veteran's compensation or benefits. Increases from $500 to $2,000 the amount to which an estate must be reduced before such benefits may be resumed. Prohibits the Secretary from delegating the functional and technical supervision of the performance of security and law enforcement functions within the VA to any official outside the Office of the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning security and law enforcement matters with the VA. Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to increase the number of people authorized to be appointed by the Secretary to a commission formed for the purpose of selecting individuals for the position of the CMD whenever a vacancy in such position occurs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that any individual who performed Desert Shield services (and the individual's spouse) shall be entitled to an extension of time for performing certain tax-related acts by reason of service in a combat zone. Allows the payment of interest on any overpayments due such individuals starting April 15. (Generally, interest will be paid only on refunds made more than 45 days after a return is filed.) Applies the time extension granted by this Act to individuals during any period of continuous hospitalization.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 1991 - Increases the rates of compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, and the clothing allowance payable to veterans with service-connected disabilities and their survivors. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Private Property Rights Act of 1991 - Gives the force and effect of statute to certain procedures under Executive Order 12630 providing for the protection of private property against Federal regulations which result in a taking of such property for which compensation is required. Makes such procedures applicable to regulations promulgated, after this Act is enacted, by Federal executive agencies which engage in an activity with the potential for taking private property. Provides for a limited judicial review of actions taken pursuant to this Act applicable to whether the Attorney General has certified the issuing agency as in compliance with the Executive Order or similar procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans Compensation Rates Adjustment Act of 1991 - Increases the rates of compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, and the clothing allowance payable to veterans with service-connected disabilities and their survivors. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans Compensation Rates Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 1991 - Increases the rates of compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, and the clothing allowance payable to veterans with service-connected disabilities and their survivors. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Authorizes the appointment of chiropractors as commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, or Air Force Medical Service Corps. Provides special pay to chiropractic officers on active duty for not less than one year. Increases such special pay with service. Authorizes the payment of additional special pay for any 12-month period during which such an officer is not undergoing chiropractic internship training, with appropriate increases for years of service. Requires such an officer, to receive such additional special pay, to execute a written agreement to remain on duty for no less than one year. Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to terminate the payment of such additional special pay at any time, with an appropriate refund required from the officer concerned for any period paid but unserved. Requires an officer who voluntarily terminates service for a period for which a special payment was made to refund the proper amount to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Increase and Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Title I: Compensation Rate Increases - Increases the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Title II: Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service - States that the following diseases will be presumed to be service-connected for purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, if they become manifest to a degree of disability of ten-percent or more in a veteran who served on active duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam era: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma; (2) each soft-tissue sarcoma, with specified exceptions; and (3) chloracne, if it becomes manifest to such degree within one year after the last date the veteran performed active duty in Vietnam. Provides that, in the case of a Vietnam veteran exposed to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam, specified diseases listed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and identified as having a positive association with the biological effects of exposure to such herbicide agent shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, even though there is no record of such disease having occurred during such service. Presumes that Vietnam veterans having such disease were exposed to such dioxin or herbicide during their Vietnam service, unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary. Authorizes the Secretary to extend the applicability of this section to those exposed to the same type of dioxins or herbicides outside of Vietnam while on active duty. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to a herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effect. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to lung cancer and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organizations to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees regarding their determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the event of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when there is no such reasonable basis found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the regulations listing diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides interim regulations and special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) are obtained by the Department in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) are likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of OTA to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with the NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of OTA in the event of no agreement with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for the conduct of studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with the NAS before undertaking such studies and requires the NAS to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees, to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and the NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs Agent Orange Registry on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for physiological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 1993, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress has the power to set reasonable limits on campaign expenditures by, in support of, or in opposition to any candidate in any primary or other election for Federal office. Declares that the States have such power with respect to State or local elections.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits fiscal year Federal outlays (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding receipts (except those derived from borrowing), unless three-fifths of both Houses of Congress (by roll call vote) provide for a specific excess. Directs the President, prior to each fiscal year, to transmit to the Congress a proposed budget in which outlays do not exceed receipts. Declares that any bill to increase revenue shall become law only if approved by a majority of each House by a roll call vote, unless such bill is approved by unanimous consent. Authorizes a waiver of these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Declares that the Department of Commerce, in considering the population discrepancies in the 1990 census, should utilize the statistical correction methodology to achieve a fair and accurate census.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 1991
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution - Authorizes the President to use U.S. armed forces against Iraq pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 678 to implement Resolutions 660, 661, 662, 664, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 674, and 677 (summarized below) after making available to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that: (1) the United States has used all appropriate diplomatic and other peaceful means to obtain compliance by Iraq with such resolutions; and (2) those means have not been and would not be successful. Declares that this Act constitutes specific statutory authorization for the use of U.S. armed forces required under the War Powers Resolution. Requires the President to report to the Congress every 60 days on the status of efforts to obtain compliance by Iraq with the U.N. resolutions. RESOLUTION 660-AUGUST 2, 1990: Condemns Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and demands immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces. RESOLUTION 661-AUGUST 6, 1990: Imposes trade embargo and financial sanctions against Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. (Medical supplies and humanitarian foodstuffs are exempt from the trade embargo.) RESOLUTION 662-AUGUST 9, 1990: Declares Iraq's annexation of Kuwait null and void and demands that Iraq rescind the annexation. RESOLUTION 664-AUGUST 18, 1990: Demands that Iraq permit immediate safe departure of foreign nationals from Iraq and Kuwait. Demands rescindment of Iraq's orders to withdraw diplomatic immunity and close diplomatic missions in Kuwait. RESOLUTION 665-AUGUST 25, 1990: Calls upon states to enforce the trade embargo against Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait. RESOLUTION 666-SEPTEMBER 14, 1990: Provides for humanitarian provision of any necessary food and medical supplies to Iraq and Kuwait. RESOLUTION 667-SEPTEMBER 16, 1990: Demands that Iraq protect diplomatic personnel and premises and take no action that hinders the performance of their duties. RESOLUTION 669-SEPTEMBER 24, 1990: Authorizes Sanctions Committee to examine requests for assistance from states confronted with special economic problems related to the sanctions. RESOLUTION 670-SEPTEMBER 25, 1990: Requires states to cooperate with air embargo and to detain any ships that are being used to violate the sanctions. (Food and medical supplies being shipped for humanitarian reasons are exempt, but subject to authorization.) RESOLUTION 674-OCTOBER 29, 1990: Reminds Iraq that it is liable under international law for any loss, damage, or injury arising in regard to Kuwait and third states and their nationals as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait. RESOLUTION 677-NOVEMBER 28, 1990: Condemns Iraqi attempts to alter Kuwait's demographic composition and destroy Kuwaiti civil records. Mandates steps to be taken by the U.N. to safeguard the demographic composition of Kuwait. RESOLUTION 678-NOVEMBER 29, 1990: Authorizes member states to use all means necessary to uphold the above resolutions and restore international peace and security in the region, unless Iraq fully complies with the above resolutions on or before January 15, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to revise its application. Revises minimum wage and maximum hours provisions (as well as provisions for special industry committees for American Samoa) to apply such requirements specifically to employers of employees who in any workweek are engaged in industrial homework and who are either engaged in commerce or in the production of goods in commerce. Revises the scope of the application of requirements relating to wage rate orders for employers in American Samoa, prohibition of sex discrimination in wage rates, and handicapped workers.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1990
Recognizes the important part the Alaska Highway played in the defense of our Nation and the settling of Alaska and the ever-important role it will inevitably play in our future. States that this highway should be maintained in a condition that encourages people throughout the Nation to travel it.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1990
Declares that the fast track procedure under the Trade Act of 1974 shall not apply to the Senate's consideration of an implementing bill for the Uruguay Round on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should declare November 2, 1990, a national day of prayer for: (1) members of American military forces and American citizens stationed or held hostage in the Middle East, and for their families; and (2) American and Iraqi authorities to bring about a just resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Department of Commerce, in considering the population discrepancies in the 1990 census, should utilize the statistical correction methodology to achieve a fair and accurate census. States that the Secretary of Commerce should release adjusted data by April 1, 1991, to avoid undue complications in various jurisdictions with respect to formulating redistricting plans.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1990
Language of Government Act of 1990 - Declares English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that the Government has an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language. Prohibits anyone from being denied Government services because they communicate in English. Prohibits a Government entity from making or enforcing an official act requiring the use of a language other than English. Deems anyone discriminated against for communicating in English to have been discriminated against on the basis of national origin. Makes available to a person so discriminated against all lawful remedies available under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1990
Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for the export, or the licensing for export, to South Korea of technology for the coproduction of F/A-18 aircraft until at least 30 days after the Congress has received a specified memorandum of understanding. Provides for an extension of the congressional review period until the President transmits such memorandum to the Congress.
![Official portrait of Sen. Shelby, Richard C. [R-AL]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000320_200.jpg)