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United States · Official source
2,830 records where Sen. Wirth, Timothy [D-CO] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1992
Commends the New York Stock Exchange on the occasion of its bicentennial.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1992
Designates April 19 through 25, 1992, as National Credit Education Week.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1992
Healthy Students-Healthy Schools Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate, within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a Healthy Students-Healthy Schools Office (HSHS Office). Requires the HSHS Office to assist State and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) to: (1) develop and maintain comprehensive sequential school health education programs and curricula (based on a model framework) in all elementary and secondary schools in their jurisdiction; (2) train teachers in such health education; (3) integrate school, community-based, and public-private health promotion efforts; (4) provide nutritious school food services; and (5) encourage healthy, tobacco-free school environments. Requires the Office also to: (1) provide technical support to SEAs and LEAs concerning health education programs and curricula; (2) administer the Healthy American Schools grant program; (3) establish and maintain a national clearinghouse to disseminate school health education information; (4) assist States in coordinating school-based programs to progress toward relevant Healthy People 2000 (HP 2000) Objectives and Healthy Students-Healthy Schools Goals (Goals); (5) assist States in evaluating competency-based health education skills and physical fitness, and collecting and maintaining data on health behavior indicators (including absenteeism due to pregnancy and ill-health), to measure progress toward such Objectives and Goals; (6) assist the Secretary in preparing an annual report on the status of school health education in the United States; and (7) coordinate with other Federal school health education efforts. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to transfer the Office of Comprehensive School Health Education (CSHE Office) from the Office of the Secretary (of Education) to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (also within the Department of Education). Directs the Secretary of Education to facilitate such transfer. Requires the CSHE Office to: (1) act as a liaison office for coordination of its own activities with related activities of the Department of HHS; and (2) expand its own school health education research grant programs. Establishes the Healthy Students-Healthy Schools Advisory Council. Requires the Advisory Council to: (1) establish the national Goals based on existing data and research (including the HP 2000 Objectives), identifying the activities required to meet them as well as the Federal agencies or individuals responsible for each goal; (2) review existing comprehensive school health education standards, programs, and curricula, evaluating federally-supported programs currently being implemented in schools; (3) develop a model framework for sequential comprehensive school health education program and curricula; (4) develop and incorporate model guidelines and evaluation mechanisms, including baseline data gathering, in the model framework; (5) provide scientific and technical advice developing and implementing all components of such programs; (6) recommend uniform methods to link Federal research findings with State and local implementation; and (7) advise the Secretary of HHS and other Federal agencies. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a Healthy Students-Healthy Schools Interagency Task Force, to be staffed by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and composed of representatives of that Office and specified agencies. Requires the Assistant Secretary for Health, Public Health Service, and the Assistant Secretary of Education (Elementary and Secondary Education) to serve as co-chairpersons of the task force. Requires the task force to: (1) review and coordinate all Federal school health education efforts (including drug and alcohol abuse prevention education, HIV prevention education, physical fitness, school services, and nutrition); (2) provide scientific and technical advice on developing and implementing the model framework; (3) develop a consolidated grant application form and procedures for use with respect to all school health-related programs; and (4) advise and assist the HSHS Office and other Federal agencies. Directs the Secretary of HHS, with Advisory Council assistance, to: (1) foster the interaction and coordination needed among Federal, State, and local agencies, schools, the private sector, scientific communities, health professionals, parents, and students in order to create Healthy Americans Schools; (2) update progress toward the Objectives and the Goals by establishing in the schools a national monitoring system, to be SEA-and LEA- administered; (3) ensure timely implementation of activities and mechanisms to monitor and achieve such objectives and goals; and (4) report annually to appropriate congressional committees and the States. Provides for recognition of exemplary schools and evaluation of States that incorporate the Goals. Directs the Secretary of HHS, through the HSHS Office, to award grants to States and LEAs to assist schools in becoming Healthy American Schools that teach comprehensive sequential school health education programs using advanced technologies such as computer-based learning and innovative communication channels. Requires that every public elementary and secondary school be eligible to receive such assistance. Requires such grants to be used to establish and implement programs that meet the goals of the HSHS program, including programs of: (1) teacher training in sequential school health education and related in-service training; (2) healthy school environment standards; (3) personal health and fitness; (4) nutrition education and nutritious food services; (5) mental health wellness; (6) chronic disease prevention; (7) substance abuse prevention; (8) accident prevention and safety education; (9) community and environmental health; (10) family life education; (11) communicable disease prevention and control; (12) effective use of health service delivery systems; (13) development and aging; and (14) worksite health promotion. Sets forth grant application requirements including 25 percent matching funds by the State (or Indian tribe). Directs the Secretary of HHS to recognize annually with plaques and cash awards those schools that epitomize the HSHS Goals established under this Act. Sets forth requirements for data collection, program evaluation, and annual reports by the Secretary of HHS to the appropriate congressional committees and the States. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and in cooperation with the Secretary of HHS, to develop and implement a program providing sequential comprehensive health education and physical education to students enrolled in elementary and secondary schools operated by or on behalf of the BIA. Sets forth program requirements for: (1) courses of instruction; (2) student participation; and (3) consultation with representatives of the Indian tribes, local educational and health personnel, and the Advisory Council. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit a program progress report to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Requires that fiscal year appropriations for the Healthy American Schools grant program attain a specified minimum level before the Secretary of HHS may carry out any of this Act. Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to allow appropriations under it to be used in conjunction with the HSHS program of any State, Indian tribe, LEA, or school, so long as substance abuse prevention is a major component.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1992
Fair Market Standards Act - Prohibits a Member or employee of the Congress from receiving from any office, officer, employee, or other entity in the Congress or in a U.S. department or agency any service or other benefit, at Government expense, that is not equally available to all other persons, with specified exceptions. Requires the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate and the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives to survey and report to specified congressional committees on all the services and benefits available to Members and employees that are not equally available to all other persons, and the manner in which each service or benefit contributes to the performance of their duties. Requires each Committee to introduce a resolution that describes: (1) each service and benefit that may properly be made available to Members and employees for specified reasons; and (2) each service and benefit that may not properly be made available to them but may be made available in or near the Senate or House buildings, at the expense of Members and employees, and provided by employees of the Government or by private contractors. Directs the appropriate officers of the Senate and House to make arrangements for the necessary services and other benefits at fair market value. Mandates that all payments received from Members and employees of the Congress for unnecessary services and benefits provided by Government employees, all rent, or other payments received from private contractors that provide such services and benefits be deposited into the deficit reduction account of the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) play a strong and active role in cooperating with other governments to prepare for a successful United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (set to convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992); (2) seek to develop specific and effective international agreements to enhance global environmental protection and encourage the use of sustainable development practices for signature at the Conference; and (3) support specified global environmental conservation efforts, including an international convention to reduce the threat of global climatic change, acceleration of international efforts to reduce (and ultimately phase out) the emission of chemicals that deplete the ozone layer, and development of a schedule for the adoption of a reform system of national accounting that reflects full environmental costs.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1992
Recognizes and commemorates the centennial of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Requests the President to issue a proclamation observing the centennial from January 1 through December 31, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1992
Third World Development and Threat Reduction Act of 1992 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to declare that it is U.S. policy to promote policies within the international financial institutions to encourage developing countries to: (1) reduce military expenditures and dedicate greater resources to health, education, and productive enterprises; and (2) dedicate an equitable allocation of health and education resources to meet the needs of their populations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the international financial institutions to oppose loans, credits, or guarantees to any developing country whose military expenditures as a percentage of its gross national product are greater than its expenditures on health and education. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the President reports to the Congress that such prohibition would: (1) result in harm to U.S. national security; or (2) endanger a democratically elected government facing armed aggression from a hostile neighboring country or from a local insurgency that presents an immediate danger to the government's survivability or is guilty of human rights violations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1992
Expresses the sense of the Senate: (1) acknowledging the cooperation of the Soviet and now Russian authorities in providing records and personal effects of Raoul Wallenberg to his family; (2) requesting that the President, through diplomatic discussions with the Government of the Russian Federation, pursue an investigation into the whereabouts and fate of Raoul Wallenberg; and (3) requesting that the results of such investigation be made public.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Social Security Service Preservation Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), and the Budget Enforcement Act of 1991 to exclude social security administrative expenses from the budget. Exempts such expenses from sequester. Sets forth baseline amounts for FY 1992 through 1996 for such expenses. Provides for decreasing the discretionary spending limit for the domestic category for FY 1992 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act - Prohibits any funds made available under any law from being used to conduct any explosive nuclear weapons test during the one-year period following the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union or a successor state has conducted such a test during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Comprehensive Child Health Immunization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish in the Federal Register a designation of those Standards for Immunization Practices, developed and published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under the auspices of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (standards), that the Secretary determines can be implemented without cost. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations that require: (1) all individuals or entities receiving assistance from the Secretary for public sector immunization and social service programs, or for private sector immunization services provided through reimbursements made under the Social Security Act (SSA) or with vaccines made available by the CDC, to comply with the standards; and (2) States receiving Federal funds that are used to provide vaccines to ensure that recipients of such vaccines adhere to the standards. Requires the Secretary to utilize and expand existing audit procedures to monitor compliance. Authorizes the Secretary to provide assistance to enable entities that receive Federal immunization grant funds to implement those standards that the Secretary determines will necessitate the commitment of additional financial resources and increase the access of children to immunizations. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop, for use by States in enrolling and recertifying individuals with respect to programs under the PHSA, SSA, special food program of the Child Nutrition Act, and other programs designated by the Secretary, model questions concerning immunization status and medical history and model packets of information concerning the risks and benefits associated with vaccines, locations of immunization providers with respect to each State, and other material determined appropriate by the Secretary; and (2) require States to incorporate the model questions into the forms and procedures utilized for such programs and to provide the appropriate information so developed to recipients of benefits provided under such programs. Requires: (1) such model questions and informational packets to be administered and provided to recipients of benefits under other federally administered health programs; and (2) the Secretary to develop and apply, and require States to apply, procedures relating to the referral of individuals for immunization services, including a plan for the provision of transportation assistance for children eligible to receive assistance under the SSA. Amends the SSA to require a State, to be eligible to receive payments for Aid to Families with Dependent Children and family support services and for social services block grants, to provide assurances to the Secretary that child care providers within the State that receive assistance will utilize the questions concerning immunization status with respect to the children served and provide such information as developed pursuant to this Act to their parents or guardians. Amends the National School Lunch Act to bar participation by institutions unless they provide such assurances. Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require States to provide such assurances to qualify for grants under such Act. Amends the PHSA to direct the Secretary to award demonstration grants to enable eligible State and local entities to fully implement plans for the Infant Immunization Initiative. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) eligible entities; (2) maintenance of support; (3) grant amounts (based on the size and demonstrated need of the entity); (4) use of grants (such as for the establishment of express vaccination facilities in health clinics, the provision of vaccinations in hospital emergency rooms, through in-home visits and in day or child care centers, Head Start institutions, and in schools, the establishment of mobile vaccination teams, and other activities determined appropriate by the Secretary); (5) grants to local communities for innovative programs designed to increase access to immunizations; and (6) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to provide assistance to specified State and local entities to support the additional operational activities of immunization sites necessary to maintain compliance with the standards relating to infrastructure changes and to support innovative approaches designed to increase the access of children to immunization services. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to provide for the development and distribution of consumer educational materials concerning childhood immunizations. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to modify regulations with respect to the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program under the SSA to require States to undertake aggressive outreach efforts in contacting parents concerning the immunization of their children and in tracking the immunization status of children through information submitted to the State from immunization providers seeking reimbursement under such Act. Authorizes appropriations to the CDC to pay the costs associated with the utilization of the National Health Interview Survey compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics. Amends the PHSA to direct the Secretary to establish a research and demonstration grant program to award to States or other entities determined appropriate by the Secretary grants for the development of computerized immunization registries. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application requirements; (2) the use of grant funds (to develop and implement a computerized system for the identification and tracking of children for immunization purposes, to identify appropriate mechanisms for collecting, updating, maintaining, and accessing data concerning the immunization of children, to implement procedures under which vaccine providers will have access to the current immunization records of their patients, and to carry out any other activities determined appropriate by the Secretary); (3) reporting requirements; (4) development of a nationwide, computerized registry containing immunization information concerning children throughout the United States and procedures to collect information, to give health care providers access to information, and to track the immunization status of children; and (5) coordination with other programs. Authorizes appropriations for grants and for the purchase of computer equipment. Amends the PHSA and the SSA to require the Secretary to establish demonstration programs under which grants will be awarded to enable eligible States to purchase vaccines for distribution to, and use by, private health care providers. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) eligibility of States for grants; (2) maintenance of support; (3) use of grant funds; and (4) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the PHSA to direct the Secretary to establish and administer a National Fund for Disease Outbreak Control. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, upon the determination by the Secretary that an unanticipated disease outbreak requiring additional vaccine purchases occurs, to utilize the Fund to provide the CDC with the resources necessary to control the spread of such disease through the implementation of necessary preventive measures, including the reimmunization of children in disease-affected areas who have not yet received the recommended second-dose immunization against the disease. Requires the Director of the National Vaccine Program to make appropriations available to appropriate Federal agencies to enable such agencies to carry out special research with respect to the development of: (1) vaccines that are safe and effective in younger infants and newborns; (2) vaccine combinations to decrease the number of injections and required vaccine provider visits; and (3) new vaccines, including vaccines for chicken pox and rotovirus strains common throughout the United States. Directs the CDC to develop program guidance for all entities receiving a grant under this Act or any other childhood immunization grant under the PHSA requiring grantees to: (1) describe in detail their objectives, plans, and specific activities to reach out to high-risk populations for immunization purposes; and (2) submit end-of-year reports to the Director of the CDC. Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning the immunization status of pre-school and school-aged children nationwide.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Equal Remedies Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law relating to damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination to remove provisions limiting the dollar amount of damages awarded for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses and punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Physician Assistant Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide increased Medicare reimbursement for physician assistants at 97 percent of the physician fee schedule amount for services performed without regard to location or practice setting. Provides for bonus payments for services provided by physician assistants in health professional shortage areas.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 1991 - Title I: Renewable Energy Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Generation of Electricity From Renewable Sources - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy investment tax credit until December 31, 2001 (currently, such credit expires December 31, 1991). Increases such credit from ten percent to 20 percent. Makes public utility property eligible for such credit. Allows the energy credit against all regular and minimum taxes. Allows a tax credit for the production of electricity with qualified technologies property. Describes such property to include the use of solar thermal, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, biomass, and other renewable energy technologies. Subtitle B: Alternative Transportation Fuels Tax Incentives - Allows a tax deduction for the costs of qualified clean-burning (natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, or alcohol) motor vehicle fuel property or refueling property. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make equivalent payments to States and local governments in connection with qualified property. Allows a deduction for 25 percent of the costs incurred in purchasing a qualified electric-powered automobile. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend the duty on fuel-use methanols until October 1, 2000. Title II: Energy Conservation Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Alternatives to Single-Passenger Automobiles - Excludes from gross income parking provided to an employee at a qualified parking facility and qualified employer-provided commuter services between an employee's residence and workplace. Includes as qualified services: (1) transportation furnished in a commuter highway vehicle (such as a van); and (2) transportation on public buses, trains, or subways that is paid for or reimbursed by the employer. Limits the exclusion from gross income for parking to parking on (not "on or near," as under current law) the employer's premises, with further specified qualifications. Subtitle B: Other Conservation Incentives - Excludes from gross income the amount or value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer in connection with the purchase, installation, use, or maintenance of any energy or water conservation measure or for energy savings delivered by such measures. Denies the use of any tax credit or deduction to the extent such subsidy is excluded from gross income. Subtitle C: Fuel Efficient and Safe Automobiles - Safe and Efficient Vehicles Incentives Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to establish: (1) taxes on the sale of any new motor vehicle (light- and medium-duty vehicles and trucks) whose fuel economy is less than the sales-weighted average fuel economy or whose composite safety factor is greater (sic) than the sales-weighted average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class; and (2) rebates for the purchase of any new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is greater than the sales-weighted average fuel economy or whose composite safety factor is greater than the sales-weighted average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class. Sets forth formulae for determining the fuel economy tax (or rebate) and the safety tax (or rebate). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish in the Federal Register and send to each manufacturer or importer of motor vehicles the applicable formulae for each class of vehicle in the next model year. Requires each manufacturer or importer of new light- or medium-duty motor vehicles to calculate according to the applicable formulae the fuel economy and safety taxes and rebates for each vehicle. Requires them to include such information on labels affixed to such vehicles. Provides for the collection of such taxes and the disbursement of such rebates. Authorizes appropriations. Requires, not later than July 1, 1992, and each July 1, thereafter, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to calculate the sales-weighted average fuel consumption and the Secretary of Transportation to calculate the composite safety factor and the sales-weighted average composite safety factor for all light- and medium-duty vehicles and trucks with respect to the determination of fuel economy and safety taxes and rebates. Requires each manufacturer or importer of such vehicles to conduct crash tests necessary to determine the composite safety factor of such vehicle whenever such crash test data does not result from the Secretary of Transportation's crash tests.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Primary Care Health Practitioner Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide increased Medicare reimbursement for nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives (practitioners) at 97 percent of the physician fee schedule amount for services performed without regard to location or practice setting. Provides for bonus payments for services provided by such practitioners in health professional shortage areas. Defines "clinical nurse specialist" as an individual who is a registered nurse and is licensed to practice nursing in the State in which the clinical nurse specialist services are performed and holds a master's degree in a defined clinical area of nursing from an accredited educational institution.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Urges the President to rescind a Department of Defense directive which bans gays, lesbians, and bisexual Americans from military service.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Establishes a Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States' Democratic Party to coordinate ceremonial events and related activities during 1992. Requires the Commission to submit periodic reports and a final one to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro tempore of the Senate on its activities. Terminates the Commission on February 13, 1993, unless otherwise provided by law.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
New Columbia Admission Act - Declares the State of New Columbia (presently, the District of Columbia) to be a State of the United States of America. Admits New Columbia into the Union on an equal footing with the other States in all respects. Reserves Federal title to certain lands and property, the National Capital Service Area. Directs the Governor to submit the Governor's request regarding the amount of an annual Federal payment to the Congress not less than seven months before the beginning of a fiscal year for which a request is made. Requires the request to contain a report on services rendered to the Federal Government, potential revenues lost because of the presence of the Federal Government, and potential revenues gained because of the presence of the Federal Government. Sets forth election protocol for popular ratification of statehood. Provides for election of one member of the House of Representatives as well as two Senators. Maintains the laws that were territorially in effect. Continues any law suits already pending in District of Columbia courts. Establishes a Statehood Transition Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
National Child Protection Act of 1991 - Establishes a national criminal background check system to which a designated agency in each State is required to report child abuse crime information, for purposes of background checks of child care providers. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) guidelines for the reporting of such information; and (2) timetables for each State to report such information to such system (with a three-year deadline for all States to be reporting at a specified level of currency). Requires State agencies to maintain close liason for information exchange and technical assistance in cases of child abuse with the National Centers: (1) on Child Abuse and Neglect; (2) for Missing and Exploited Children; and (3) for the Prosecution of Child Abuse. Directs the Attorney General to publish annually: (1) a Statistical summary of the child abuse crime information reported under this Act; and (2) a summary of each State's progress in reporting child abuse crime information to the national criminal background check system. Requires the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to conduct a study to determine various factors relating to potential child abuse crimes and offenders, based on a statistically significant sample of convicted child abuse offenders and other relevant information. Requires a report on such study to be submitted to specified congressional committee officials. Provides for background check procedures. Allows entities that provide child care or child care placement services (including business or organizations that license or certify others to provide such services) to request State agencies to review State and Federal records through the national system, and other criminal justice recordkeeping systems, to determine if a child care provider is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a background check crime. (Defines "provider" as one who is now or seeks to be: (1) employed by, or a volunteer with, a qualified entity; (2) an owner or operator of a qualified entity; or (3) having unsupervised access to any child to whom the qualified entity provides child care.) Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for such State background check procedures, permitting equivalent procedures under specified conditions. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) exchange Federal Bureau of Investigation identification records with authorized agencies for purposes of such background checks; and (2) authorize by regulation further dissemination of such records by authorized agencies for such purposes. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) prescribe by regulation any other measures necessary to carry out this Act; and (2) encourage use of the best technology available in conducting background checks. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide for use of certain formula grants to improve State record systems and the sharing of records of child abuse crime information to implement this Act. Directs the Attorney General to make additional grants to States to improve specified aspects of the child abuse crime information system, subject to appropriations and with preference to States having the lowest percent currency of case dispositions in computerized criminal history files. Authorizes appropriations for such additional grants. Authorizes the Attorney General, beginning one year after enactment of this Act, to reduce by up to ten percent the allocation to a State for a fiscal year under title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 if the State is not in compliance with the child abuse crime information timetable established for it under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Enterprise Capital Formation Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for gain on investments in new small business stock (seed capital) held for at least five years. Establishes special rules for such investments. Provides for determining the maximum capital gains rate for small business net capital gain or seed capital gain. Treats capital gains on the sale of such stock as a preference item for purposes of the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Resolution Trust Corporation Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Reform of the RTC - Abolishes the Oversight Board of the Resolution Trust Corporation (the Corporation). Vests management of the Corporation in its Board of Directors. Directs the Board of Directors to establish a National Housing Advisory Board to advise it on issues related to low-income housing. Requires the Corporation to provide the Secretary of the Treasury with quarterly financing reports. Sets forth the rights of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation employees assigned to the Corporation. Title II: Disposition of Property by Resolution Trust Corporation - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to: (1) require the Corporation to record the reasons for selling any property in a distressed area for less than the minimum disposition price; (2) set forth condominium disposition and anti-speculation guidelines; (3) require the Corporation to make available for acquisition by any minority or women's depository institution those savings association branches located in predominatly minority neighborhoods for which it has been appointed conservator or receiver; (4) require the Corporation to review its seller financing procedures and endeavor to arrange appropriate financing to State and local governments seeking to acquire real property assets of institutions subject to the Corporation's jurisdiction; (5) require the Corporation to use competitive bidding methods; (6) set forth guidelines for the identification, disposition, and protection of Corporation properties with natural, cultural, recreational, or scientific value of special significance; and (7) require the Corporation to establish an Office of Dispute Resolution. Title III: Miscellaneous - Suspends Corporation funding if it does not provide the Congress with independently audited financial statements within specified deadlines. Precludes insurance coverage for uninsured depositors. Mandates disclosure of certain Corporation salaried executives whose compensation exceeds a specified level. Provides employee protections and remedies for Corporation employees and the employees of a Corporation contractor with respect to whistle-blowing activities. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress regarding a feasibility study on the privatization of Corporation functions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
States that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should: (1) accelerate the phaseout schedules and final phaseout dates of chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, methyl chloroform, and halons required pursuant to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990; (2) accelerate the phaseout schedules and final phaseout date of hydrochlorofluorocarbons that have relatively long atmospheric lifetimes, high ozone depletion potentials, or high global warming potentials; and (3) prioritize efforts to issue regulations providing for the recapture and recycling of ozone-destroying substances as used in appliances and motor vehicle air conditioners and the elimination of such substances as used in non-essential consumer products. Declares that the President should urge the contracting parties to the Montreal Protocol to: (1) accelerate the phaseout schedules and final phaseout date of ozone-destroying chemicals covered by the Protocol; (2) include hydrochlorofluorocarbons within the Protocol and provide for the most rapid phaseout of hydrochlorofluorocarbons with relatively long atmospheric lifetimes, high ozone depletion potentials, or high global warming potentials; (3) amend the Protocol to include recapture and recycling provisions and to prohibit the venting or releasing of ozone-destroying chemicals from refrigeration and air conditioning units by a certain date; and (4) accelerate the compliance of developing countries with the terms of the Protocol.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Designates February 3 through 9, 1992, as National Police Officer and Firefighter Recognition Week.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia (a.k.a. Belarus), Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (a.k.a. Kirghizia), Moldavia (a.k.a. Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan should accept and implement all commitments on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and humanitarian cooperation contained in the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, or any other document of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (2) the President should convey to the leaders of these republics that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a vital element in achieving genuine security and cooperation in Europe and should keep the Congress informed of the status of human rights and fundamental freedoms in each of these republics.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Senate that, unless the authorities and military forces conducting military operations against the Republic of Croatia immediately comply with the terms of the ceasefires previously negotiated by the European Community, United States policy should be to: (1) recognize the Republics of Slovenia and Croatia as independent states; (2) freeze all assets in the United States in which the Republic of Serbia has any interest and break off all commerce or any form of assistance or cooperation between the United States and Serbia; (3) offer humanitarian assistance to Croatia; (4) place Serbia on notice that continued military action will cause the United States to place this issue on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council as an international act of aggression and call for sanctions; and (5) require of Croatian authorities a clear commitment to protect the rights of Serbs living within Croatia and demand a formal commitment on their part to accept international inspection and, if necessary, arbitration to protect those rights.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Research Freedom Act of 1991 - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services: (1) from approving any application for financial assistance to conduct research subject to review by an Institutional Review Board unless the application has undergone review and has been recommended for approval by an Institutional Review Board; and (2) from authorizing research that is subject to review under procedures established by the Secretary for the protection of human subjects in clinical research by the National Institutes of Health unless the research has been recommended for approval. Permits the Secretary to conduct or support research concerning the transplantation of human fetal tissue for therapeutic purposes. Permits the use of such tissue in such research regardless of whether the tissue is obtained subsequent to a spontaneous or induced abortion or subsequent to a stillbirth. Requires consent of the woman involved, the researcher, and the donee.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
National Community Economic Partnership Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to establish a National Commission on Community Economic Development (the Commission), as an independent agency, to: (1) administer the community development programs established under this Act; and (2) serve as a focal point for Federal promotion of community-based economic development. Directs the Commission to develop and promulgate, in consultation with the heads of other Federal agencies, regulations to permit appropriate operation of joint programs coordinating activities supported with assistance under this Act with activities supported with assistance under programs administered by such agency heads. Authorizes the Commission to enter into contracts and other appropriate arrangements with nonprofit organizations for operation and management of any projects undertaken under such a joint program. Requires the Commission to coordinate such joint programs with other related Federal, State, local, and private activities. Establishes a program of community economic partnership investment funds. Authorizes the Commission to provide nonrefundable lines of credit to community development corporations (CDCs) to establish, maintain, or expand revolving loan funds to finance projects to: (1) provide business and employment opportunities for low-income and unemployed individuals; and (2) improve the quality of life in urban and rural areas. Sets forth requirements relating to such revolving loan funds, including: (1) competitive assessment of applications from eligible entities for capitalization of such funds; (2) applications including strategic investment plans and demonstrations of experience and achievement; (3) matching local funds (with exceptions); (4) application approval criteria, including priority for target areas with low incomes and high unemployment; and (5) availability of lines of credit; (6) authorized uses of lines of credit and of revolving loan funds; (7) limitations on use of funds; (8) local contributions; and (9) use of proceeds from investments. Requires the Commission to give priority in providing lines of credit under this Act to CDCs that propose to undertake economic development activities in distressed communities that target women, Native Americans, at-risk youth, farmworkers, very low-income communities, single mother or refugees and programs providing loans in limited amounts to very small business enterprises. Allows not more than five percent of program appropriations to be reserved for such priority activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such community economic partnership investment funds program. Establishes a program for emerging community development corporations (CDCs). Directs the Commission to award: (1) grants to community development corporations to attain or enhance the business management and development skills of the individuals that manage such CDCs, in order to enable such CDCs, to seek the public and private resources necessary to develop community economic projects; and (2) operating grants to community development corporations to enable them to support an administrative capacity for planning, developing, and management of low-income community development projects. Sets forth authorized uses and maximum amounts of, and application requirements for, such grants. Authorizes the Commission to award grants to emerging CDCs to enable them to establish, maintain, or expand revolving loan funds, to make or gurantee loans, or to make capital investments in new or expanding local businesses. Sets forth eligibility requirements, authorized uses of such revolving loan funds and of proceeds from investments, and maximum grant amount. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such program for emerging CDCs. Establishes a community economic development research and demonstration program. Directs the Commission to award grants to enable eligible organizations to undertake programs involving research, testing, studies, or demonstrations related to community economic development. Makes eligible for such grants, if they submit appropriate applications, the following entities: CDCs, universities, fiscal intermediaries, or nonprofit organizations involved in community-based economic development. Sets forth authorized uses and maximum amount of such grants. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such grants program. Prohibits funds authorized under this Act from being used to finance the construction of housing.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicaid coverage of services furnished by all certified nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists which are authorized under State law to be performed by such a nurse, regardless of whether or not such services are performed under the supervision of a physician or other health care provider. Defines "clinical nurse specialist" as an individual who: (1) is a registered nurse and is licensed to practice nursing in the State in which the clinical nurse specialist services are performed; and (2) holds a master's degree in a defined clinical area of nursing from an accredited institution.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Management Corps Act of 1991 - Requires the President to designate a private nonprofit organization which has demonstrated expertise in providing assistance to business enterprises in the republics of the Soviet Union and the Baltic States through United States citizens with expertise in the management of business enterprises who voluntarily donate their time and services to such enterprises in those countries. Designates such organization as the Management Corps. Sets forth administrative provisions for such Corps. Provides for grants to the Corps to be made by the Secretary of State through the Agency for International Development. Requires the Corps to publish an annual report which shall be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should continue to support the full protection of the African elephant through an unqualified listing of all populations of the African elephant on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1991
Directs all Members of Congress to pay full market value for all medical services, medical tests, and medications provided by the Office of the Attending Physician. Establishes the Office of Attending Physician Revolving Fund in the Treasury (within the contingent fund of the Senate) for deposit of such payments and monies received from any other source.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
White House Commemorative Coin Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue up to 500,000 silver one-dollar coins to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the White House; and (2) obtain silver for such coins from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Mineral Stock Piling Act. Specifies that: (1) all amounts received from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be deposited in the coinage profit fund; and (2) the Secretary shall pay amounts from a ten-dollar surcharge per coin into the White House Endowment Fund. Directs the Secretary to take such actions as necessary to ensure that the minting and issuance of such coins do not result in any net cost to the Government. Bars the issuance of such coins unless the Secretary has received full payment or adequate security for payment. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Condemns Syria's denial of Syrian Jews' right to travel freely and calls upon the Syrian Government to: (1) immediately grant Syrian Jews the right to travel freely without imposing a fee; and (2) release all Jewish prisoners who were charged or suspected of traveling illegally. Urges the President to encourage U.S. allies and trading partners to make similar pleas to the Syrian Government. Calls upon the United Nations to send an official delegation to Syria to investigate the present condition of Syrian Jews.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
San Luis Valley Water Resources Protection Act of 1991 - Prohibits any agency or instrumentality of the United States from issuing any license, permit, right-of-way, grant, loan, or other assistance for any project or feature to withdraw water from the San Luis Valley, Colorado, for export to another basin or State unless the Secretary of the Interior finds that the project will not: (1) increase the costs or negatively affect operation of the Closed Basin Project; (2) increase the costs or impede water delivery by the State of Colorado pursuant to the Rio Grande Compact; (3) adversely affect surface or groundwater quality or quantity or any other element of the environment of any national wildlife refuge or wildlife habitat area within the Valley; or (4) adversely affect any elements of the environment of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado. States that nothing in this Act shall affect any current water withdrawal or delivery agreements or contracts related to the Valley. States that the Secretary's findings under this Act shall be subject to judicial review. Requires costs of the required findings to be paid in advance by the project proponent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Reclamation Land Resources Management Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Project Recreation Act to: (1) provide that non-Federal public bodies shall bear at least one-half (currently, all) of the costs of operation, management, and replacement of a Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) project for recreation or fish and wildlife enhancement; (2) remove the requirement that a non-Federal public body must execute an agreement for administering a reclamation project within ten years after initial operation of the project; (3) allow such non-Federal bodies administering such projects to lease Bureau facilities and lands after agreeing to bear at least one-half (currently, all) of the costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement of such facilities; (4) authorize the expansion of any recreation facility constructed under such Act if the facility is currently inadequate to meet such recreational needs and the non-Federal public body executes an agreement to administer such facilities pursuant to a plan under which the non-Federal public body bears at least one-half of the costs of expansion, operation, maintenance, and replacement attributable to such expansion; and (5) remove a current $100,000 limitation on the amount that the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to expend at any one reservoir in order to increase the public recreational use of such reservoir. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to establish certain filing fees, user charges, and other charges and commissions for entry upon and various uses of reclamation lands and to promulgate necessary regulations in connection with such land use and the protection of the public and resource values during such use. Authorizes the Secretary to prepare and continually maintain an inventory of reclamation land resources and uses, to be made available to the public, and to ascertain the boundaries of reclamation lands. Authorizes the Secretary to develop, maintain, and revise resource management plans for reclamation lands. Provides that funds expended by the Secretary in carrying out the provisions of this Act shall be nonreimbursable under the Federal reclamation laws. Authorizes the Secretary, in carrying out this Act, to acquire and dispose of property and to accept gifts of real or personal property. Authorizes the Secretary, in accordance with authorized reclamation project purposes and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations relating to such project, to manage the recreational, natural, cultural, historic, environmental, and fish and wildlife resources on reclamation lands. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter into agreements for managing such lands; (2) approve the use of reclamation lands and resources by easements, licenses, and permits; and (3) seek adequate compensation for the use of resources associated with reclamation lands. States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) change, modify, or expand authorized reclamation project purposes; (2) authorize any activity that results in reduction of water supplies for any entity under contract to receive water from a project; and (3) with a specified exception, result in any increase in the cost of operation, maintenance, and repair of any reclamation project to any contracting entity. Requires the Secretary, prior to any expenditure for the expansion of a recreational facility under this Act, to determine that such expansion will not result in a delay, postponement, or lack of funding for, the repair, replacement, or rehabilitation of the water storage or delivery features of any reclamation project.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurance oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State or locality with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Authorizes grants to enhance the capacity of health personnel in the area of breast cancer mortality prevention. Allows grant funds to be used to establish a breast cancer mortality prevention regional training center and develop a training curriculum. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
National Air and Space Museum Expansion Site Selection Act of 1991 - Establishes the National Air and Space Museum Expansion Site Advisory Panel to conduct a national competition for the evaluation of possible expansion sites for the National Air and Space Museum. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to select the site after considering the recommendation of the Panel. Terminates the Panel 30 days after such selection. Requires the General Accounting Office to review and evaluate the selection by the Board of Regents and report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Employer Sanctions Repeal Act of 1991 - Repeals specified provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), and the United States Code relating to the unlawful employment of aliens. Repeals specified provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA relating to unfair immigration-related employment practices. Continues the duties of the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices regarding unfair immigration-related employment practices for one year after enactment of this Act, such duties thereafter to be assumed by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Increases FY 1992 Border Patrol funding and personnel levels. Provides Border Patrol personnel training with respect to the rights and varied cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens. Requires the Attorney General, in developing such training, to consult with organizations familiar with the varied cultural backgrounds of, or which have experience providing services to, such aliens and citizens. Authorizes appropriations. Increases FY 1992 personnel levels for: (1) the Wage and Hour Division within the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor; (2) the Assistant United States Attorneys employed by the Department of Justice; and (3) the anti-smuggling program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties for bringing in or harboring certain aliens. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Attorney General should initiate discussions with Mexico and Canada with regard to the smuggling of aliens into the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Declares it is U.S. policy that the European Community's Third Country Meat Directive is an unfair nontariff trade barrier and that it is in the public interest to remove barriers to exports of U.S. meat products. Directs the President to prohibit the importation of all European Community meat products.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1991
Government Securities Offering Enforcement Act of 1991 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit a government securities dealer, broker, bidder, or purchaser from knowingly or willingly making false or misleading written statements with respect to any bid or purchase of such securities (including the omission of necessary facts which results in such a statement).
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) with respect to occupational safety and health programs, committees, employee representatives, coverage, standards, enforcement, antidiscrimination, training and education, hazard and illness evaluation, State plans, and victims' rights. Title I: Safety and Health Programs - Amends OSHA to establish requirements for each employer to set up and carry out a written occupational safety and health program that includes methods and procedures for: (1) identifying, evaluating, and documenting hazards; (2) correcting them; (3) investigating work-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths; (4) providing occupational safety and health services, including emergency response and first aid procedures; (5) employee participation in implementing such program, including, where applicable, a safety and health committee; (6) responding to such committee's recommendations; (7) providing safety and health training and education to employees and committee members; (8) designating an employer representative qualified to and responsible for identifying hazards and initiating corrective action; and (9) at a worksite where employees of two or more employers work, protecting employees from hazards under the other employers' control. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to modify the application of such requirements to classes of employers where, in light of the risks faced by the employer's employees, such a modification would not reduce their safety and health protection. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations on the required employer occupational safety and health programs, covering employee training and education as well, including annual refresher courses. Title II: Safety and Health Committees and Employee Safety and Health Representatives - Amends OSHA to require each employer of 11 or more employees to provide for: (1) safety and health committees; and (2) employee safety and health representatives. Requires, in general, such employers to establish such a committee at each worksite, but authorizes the Secretary to modify application of this requirement to: (1) an employer whose employees do not primarily report to or work at a fixed location; (2) covered employers at worksites where less than 11 of their employees are employed; and (3) worksites where employees of more than one employer are employed. Requires committee membership to consist of elected or appointed employee representatives and up to an equal number of employer representatives. Requires the committee to be cochaired by an employer representative and an employee representative. Grants each committee the reasonable right to: (1) review occupational safety and health related employer programs, incidents of death, injury, or illness, complaints of hazards, the employer's work injury and illness records (other than personally identifiable medical information), and other related reports and documents; (2) conduct worksite inspections (and related employee interviews) at least once every three months and in response to complaints; (3) conduct meetings at least once every three months; (4) observe the measurement of employee exposure to toxic materials and harmful physical agents; (5) establish procedures for exercising committee rights; (6) make advisory recommendations for improvements and corrections; and (7) accompany the Secretary's representative during certain physical inspections of the worksite. Requires the employer to permit committee members to take such time from work as is reasonably necessary to exercise committee rights, without any loss of pay or benefits for such time. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations for the establishment and functioning of such committees. Sets forth procedures for selection of employee representatives by and from nonmanagerial employees. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations on safety and health representatives, including specified numbers and selection procedures. Title III: Coverage - Revises the OSHA definition of employer to include the Federal Government (except certain congressional employees) and State and local governments, thus extending OSHA coverage to public employees. (Includes under such OSHA coverage the executive and judicial branches and the following agencies of the legislative branch: the Botanic Garden, the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Copyright Royalty Tribunal.) Authorizes the Secretary to cede OSHA jurisdiction to a Federal agency with respect to specified standards or regulations affecting occupational safety and health of some or all employees within that agency's regulatory jurisdiction, if the agency has promulgated and is enforcing standards and regulations so that its employees are being protected at least as effectively as they would be by the Secretary. Declares that nothing in OSHA shall apply to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Applies OSHA to employment performed in the Federal nuclear facilities under the control or jurisdiction of the Department of Energy. Extends an employer's duties under OSHA to all employees working at the place of employment (even if they are not the employer's employees). Title IV: Occupational Safety and Health Standards - Revises provisions for OSHA standards. Requires specified timeframes for setting such standards after the Secretary has received: (1) a recommendation of an advisory committee, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; or (2) a petition from an interested person setting forth with reasonable particularity the facts claimed to establish that a standard should be promulgated, modified, or revoked. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days after such receipt, to publish a response stating whether the Secretary intends to publish a proposed rule with respect to such standard, or if not, the reasons for the decision not to publish such a rule. Directs the Secretary, if such rule is intended to be published, to do so within 12 months after the receipt of the recommendation or petition. Directs the Secretary to: (1) afford interested persons a period of at least 30 days to submit written data or comments after publication of a proposed rule promulgating, modifying, or revoking an OSHA standard; and (2) issue a final rule within 180 days after the public comment period (or within 180 days after a required public hearing on objections to such rule). Allows any adversely affected person to petition for judicial review, in the U.S. court of appeals for the appropriate circuit, of the Secretary's refusal or failure to issue such rules or standards. Requires that such petition be filed within 60 days after publication of such determination. Requires set-aside of the Secretary's determination if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Allows a petition to appeal the Secretary's failure to publish a proposed rule within the required 12-month time frame to be filed at any time after such time period has elapsed. Directs the reviewing court to compel the Secretary to take any such action that is found to have been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. Provides that the withholding or delaying of action shall not be justified by the Secretary's desire to consult with, or receive approval from any other Federal agency or executive official, except where required by applicable law and pursued in timely fashion. Revises the definition of "occupational safety and health standard" to mean a standard which addresses a significant risk to the safety or health of employees by requiring conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes that most adequately assure, to the extent feasible, safe and healthful employment and places of employment. Requires each OSHA standard also to prescribe requirements for recording or reporting a work-related illness determined as a result of a medical examination or test conducted under the standard. Directs the Secretary to place in the public record all written comments and communications and a summary of all verbal communications with parties outside the Department of Labor (DOL) (including communications with executive branch officials) regarding promulgation, modification, or revocation of an OSHA standard. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of HHS and in addition to other OSHA standards, to modify and establish exposure limits for toxic materials and harmful physical agents on a regular basis in a specified manner. Directs the Secretary of HHS, acting through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to: (1) regularly evaluate available scientific evidence, data, and information to determine if such exposure limits should be modified or established to protect exposed employees from material impairment of health or functional capacity; and (2) at least every three years, on the basis of such evaluation, develop and transmit to the Secretary recommendations identifying materials and agents for which exposure limits should be modified or established to protect employees from such impairment. Directs the Secretary: (1) within 30 days of receipt of such recommendations, to publish them and provide a 30-day public comment period; (2) within six months of their receipt, evaluate them and the public comments and publish a proposed rule for the exposure limits of each material and agent for which the Secretary of HHS has made a recommendation (explaining why any proposed limit is not the same as a recommended limit); (3) within one year of publication of the proposed limits, issue a final standard (explaining why any final limit is not the same as the recommended limit); and (4) establish or modify such limits whenever warranted, in addition to a periodic review. Directs the Secretary, within two years after the effective date of this Act, to promulgate final standards on exposure monitoring and medical surveillance programs, including specified requirements. Directs the Secretary to issue a final standard on ergonomic hazards to protect employees from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, including specified requirements. Sets forth timetables for the Secretary to issue various OSHA final standards. Title V: Enforcement - Revises OSHA enforcement provisions. Provides that time spent by an employee in accompanying the Secretary's representative on an OSHA inspection shall be deemed to be hours worked, with no loss of pay, benefits, or seniority. Requires the Secretary to notify employees or their representative within 30 days after receipt of their request for inspection that there are no reasonable grounds to believe a violation or danger exists. Directs the Secretary also to make a special inspection after determining that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an imminent danger or serious violation exists in a place of employment, upon notification from any other source (as well as upon notification by an employee or employee representative as in current law). Directs the Secretary to establish and carry out a special emphasis inspection program for conducting inspections of industries or operations where existing hazards or newly recognized or new hazards introduced into work sites warrant more intensive inspections. Requires annual designation of the industries and operations for such program and the number of inspections planned and enforcement personnel required. Requires that special emphasis inspections be in addition to other programmed and complaint inspections conducted under OSHA before the effective date of this Act. Requires a report on such program in the Secretary's annual OSHA report to the Congress. Requires the Secretary to investigate any work-related death or serious incident (i.e. one resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees). Requires the employer to: (1) notify the Secretary of any death or serious incident occurring in a place of employment covered by OSHA; and (2) prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence that would assist in investigating such death or incident. Requires OSHA citations to state if the Secretary or the Secretary's representative believes that an alleged violation is serious and presents such a substantial risk to the safety or health of employees that initiation of review proceedings should not suspend the running of the period for correction of the violation. Revises the correction period to make it begin to run from the date of receipt of the citation, with specified exceptions. Requires employers to verify the abatement of a serious, willful, or repeated violation in writing to the Secretary within 30 days after the correction period has expired. Requires employers, within ten days after verification of abatement, to prominently post notice of such abatement at or near each place the violation occurred and to make a copy of the verification available to employers and employee representatives. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations implementing such abatement verification and notice requirements. Grants employees the right to contest: (1) citations' designations of the character of the violation or of the OSHA provision, standard, rule, regulation, or order violated (in addition to contesting the abatement period, as in current law); and (2) proposed penalties as inadequate. Grants employee representatives the right to participate in other proceedings (as well as hearings) conducted under specified OSHA enforcement procedures. Requires, if the Secretary intends to withdraw or modify a citation as a result of any agreement with the employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (Commission) rules of procedure to provide for prompt notice to affected employees or their representatives. Grants employees or their representative, regardless of whether they have previously elected to participate in the proceedings, the right to file a notice alleging that the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA within 15 days after receipt of notice of the agreement. Directs the Secretary to consider the matter and, upon determination to proceed with the agreement, respond with particularity to the objections. Grants employees or their representative, within 15 days after the Secretary's response, the right to a hearing upon request to the Commission. Provides that if the Commission determines the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA, the proposed agreement shall not be entered as a Commission order and the citation shall not be withdrawn or modified in accordance with the proposed agreement. Revises OSHA provisions for restraining imminent dangers. Directs the Secretary to inform the employer and the affected employees and request that a condition or practice that poses an imminent danger be corrected immediately or that employees be immediately removed from exposure to such danger. Requires such actions if the Secretary determines, on the basis of an inspection or investigation, that a condition or practice in the place of employment is such that an imminent danger to safety or health exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death, serious physical harm, or permanent impairment of health or functional capacity of employees if not corrected immediately. Directs the Secretary to determine whether to post a notice in the workplace if the employer refuses to comply with the Secretary's request. Requires that such notice identify the source of the imminent danger. Grants employees the right to refuse to perform a duty that has been identified as the source of an imminent danger by such a notice, and prohibits discrimination against them for such refusal. Subjects an employer to a civil penalty of from $10,000 to $50,000 for each day during which an employee continues to be exposed if the employer does not immediately correct the hazard referred to in the posted notice or remove all employees from exposure to it, unless the Commission determines that the condition or practice is not covered by such imminent danger provisions. Revises OSHA criminal penalties to increase the maximum amount of fines and the length of prison terms for specified violations, including those for a willful violation causing death, an improper advance notice of an inspection, or a false statement. Establishes criminal penalties for a willful violation that causes serious bodily injury. Prohibits a penalty or fine which is imposed on a director, officer, or agent of an employer from being paid out of the employer's assets on behalf of that individual. Provides that nothing in OSHA shall preclude State and local law enforcement agencies from conducting criminal prosecutions in accordance with State or local laws. Title VI: Protection of Employees from Discrimination - Revises OSHA antidiscrimination provisions to extend coverage to an employee's: (1) reporting any injury, illness, or unsafe condition to the employer, employer's agent, safety and health committee, or employee safety and health representative; and (2) refusing to perform duties when reasonably apprehensive that doing so would result in serious injury to himself/herself or other employees, after having sought and been unable to obtain from the employer corrections of the circumstances causing such refusal. Revises procedures for consideration of complaints of discrimination. Increases the period for filing such complaints from 30 to 180 days after the alleged discrimination. Requires the Secretary, within 60 days after receipt of the complaint, to investigate and notify the complainant and the alleged violator of the findings. Requires such findings to be accompanied by a preliminary order providing relief, if the Secretary has concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred. Allows the alleged violator or the complainant to file, within 30 days, objections to the findings and/or the preliminary order, and to request a hearing on the record. Provides that such filing of objections shall not operate to stay any reinstatement remedy in the preliminary order. Requires such hearings to be conducted expeditiously. Deems the preliminary order a final order not subject to judicial review if a hearing is not timely requested. Directs the Secretary to issue a final order within 120 days after the conclusion of such hearing. Allows such proceedings to be terminated at any time in the interim on the basis of a settlement agreement by the Secretary, the complainant, and the alleged violator. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that a violation of antidiscrimination provisions has occurred, to order: (1) correction of the violation; (2) reinstatement to the former position with all compensation (including back pay), terms, conditions, and privileges of such employment; and (3) compensatory damages. Authorizes the Secretary, upon request of the complainant, to assess against the person against whom such order is issued all costs and expenses (including attorney's fees) incurred by the complainant in connection with bringing the complaint. Allows adversely affected or aggrieved persons to petition within 60 days to obtain review of such orders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit. Directs the Secretary to file a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to enforce such orders against persons who fail to comply. Authorizes such court to grant appropriate relief. Provides that the legal burdens of proof that prevail under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 shall govern adjudication of protected activities under OSHA antidiscrimination provisions. Title VII: OSHA and NIOSH Training and Education - Revises OSHA provisions for training and education. Includes education programs for employees and members of safety and health committees, as appropriate, among those programs which the Secretary of HHS is to conduct through NIOSH. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to develop training materials, model curricula, and programs to assist employers in: (1) providing the training and education required under the new provisions for employer occupational safety and health programs; and (2) complying with OSHA standards. Title VIII: Recordkeeping and Reporting - Revises OSHA provisions relating to statistics to require the Secretary to collect information and conduct analyses that identify: (1) industries, employers, processes, operations, and occupations that have a high rate of injury or illness; (2) factors that cause or contribute to injuries and illnesses; and (3) workers' compensation costs associated with the injuries and illnesses. Requires such data to be publicly available in a form suitable for further statistical analysis, and to be used in setting safety and health standards, targeting inspections of individual establishments, and evaluating standard setting and enforcement programs. Directs the Secretary to require each employer covered by OSHA to report: (1) each work-related death of an employee immediately upon knowledge; and (2) each serious incident resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees within 24 hours of the incident. Revises OSHA requirements for employer records and reports to include (in addition to work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses) suspected work-related illnesses, including a work-related illness reported by an employee or an employee's physician, unless the employer makes a reasonable determination that the illness is not work-related. Provides that all such employer records and reports shall be made available to the Secretary, the Secretary of HHS, employees, and employee representatives. Title IX: NIOSH - Revises OSHA provisions relating to duties of the Secretary of HHS acting through NIOSH. Includes under hazard evaluation reports an evaluation of whether any hazardous condition or harmful physical agent found in the place of employment poses a risk to exposed employees. Directs the Secretary of HHS, if a final determination of hazard is not made within six months of a request, to provide to the employer and employees an interim report on the known or suspected hazards, a recommendation for control, and an estimate of the time in which a final determination will be made. Directs the Secretary of HHS to identify major factors contributing to occupational injuries and deaths through accident investigations and epidemiological research. Directs the Secretary of HHS to carry out a program to identify and notify employees at increased risk of occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths, including public information and education programs, and recommendations for appropriate medical surveillance. Requires notification, if they are found to be at increased risk, of subjects of studies funded or conducted by the Secretary of HHS under such program. Specifies that the authority of the Secretary of HHS, and of NIOSH, to inspect records extends to the Secretary's designees and contractors. Directs the Secretary of HHS, through NIOSH (and in cooperation with other HHS agencies and the Secretary of Labor), to establish a national surveillance program to identify cases of occupational illnesses, deaths, and serious injuries. Requires coordination with State health agencies and Federal and State workers' compensation agencies under such program. Directs the Secretary of HHS to collect data each year on the number and characteristics of all occupational deaths and selected occupational illnesses and injuries. Requires, in making such selections, consideration of known frequency and severity of the disorder and of the size of the population at risk. Directs the Secretary of HHS to report on and analyze the occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries collected under such program, and transmit such information to the Secretary of Labor, State health agencies, employers, employees, and other interested parties. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to require an employer, through a physician or health professional employed by or under contract to the employer, to report information on occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries. Establishes NIOSH as a separate agency within the U.S. Public Health Service in the Department of HHS. Title X: State Plans - Revises OSHA requirements for State plans to provide for: (1) development of safety and health programs and safety and health committees and training programs that are at least as effective as those under the new OSHA requirements; and (2) reporting requirements, protection of employee rights, and access to information that are at least as effective as those under OSHA or other Federal laws governing access to information related to OSHA. Requires the State to enforce the Federal standard until a State standard at least as effective is in effect, if a State fails to adopt or promulgate such a standard within six months after the Federal standard is promulgated. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to: (1) promptly investigate complaints against a State plan if there are reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists; (2) investigate complaints alleging a deficiency in a State enforcement action within 30 days of receipt; and (3) within 30 days of completion of the investigation, transmit findings and recommendations for correction to the State and complainant (or notify the complainant if there are no reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists). Requires a State to respond as to what action it has taken on the Secretary's findings and recommendations within 30 days of their receipt. Directs the Secretary to issue a citation with reasonable promptness if, after receipt of the State's response, the Secretary believes a serious violation of OSHA exists for which the State has failed to issue a citation. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that there are reasonable grounds to conclude there is a failure to comply substantially with any provision or assurance of the State plan, to: (1) notify the State and allow six months for correction of deficiencies; (2) institute proceedings for withdrawal of approval of the State plan, if the State has not corrected the deficiencies within six months (unless there are exceptional circumstances); and (3) during the pendency of such proceedings, exercise concurrent jurisdiction with the State over the safety and health issues that are subject to the State plan. Requires States operating State safety and health plans to modify them to conform to this Act. Title XI: Victim's Rights - Sets forth provisions for victims' rights under OSHA. Defines a victim as: (1) an employee who has sustained a work-related injury or illness which is the subject of an OSHA inspection or investigation; or (2) the family member of an employee who either is killed or cannot reasonably exercise victim's rights as a result of such an injury or illness. Grants victims the right, on request, to: (1) meet with the Secretary or a representative respecting the inspection or investigation before the Secretary's decision to issue a citation or to take no action; (2) receive a free copy of any citation or report issued as a result of the inspection or investigation; (3) be informed of any notice of contest filed; (4) be provided an explanation of the rights of employees and employee representatives to participate in OSHA enforcement proceedings; and (5) be provided an opportunity to appear and make a statement before the parties conducting any settlement negotiations before the Secretary agrees to withdraw or modify the citation. Provides that a victim shall have the same rights as an employee under OSHA enforcement procedures. Entitles a victim, if such victims' rights are violated, to declaratory relief, injunctive relief, recovery of costs of securing specified documents, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Directs the Secretary to take reasonable actions to inform victims of these rights. Title XII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Audio Home Recording Act of 1991 - Amends Federal copyright law to: (1) set forth definitions relating to digital audio recording devices and media; and (2) prohibit certain copyright infringement actions based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital or analog audio recording device or medium, or the use of such device or medium for making phonorecords, except when done for commercial advantage. Sets forth a mandatory recordation and filing procedure for the importation, manufacture, or distribution in the United States of digital audio recording devices or media. Requires importers and manufacturers to file quarterly and annual statements of account with the Register of Copyrights (the Register). Mandates Register verification of such statements. Sets forth verification guidelines. States that verification audit costs shall be borne by interested copyright parties. Sets forth confidentiality guidelines with respect to such mandatory statements of accounts. Prescribes royalty payment guidelines for digital audio recording devices and media imported, manufactured, or distributed in the United States. Requires that royalty payments be deposited into the Treasury. Identifies interested copyright parties entitled to royalty payments. Prescribes royalty payment allocation and distribution procedures. Permits alternative royalty collection and distribution arrangements to be negotiated among interested copyright and manufacturing parties. Maintains the Copyright Tribunal jurisdiction over such negotiated arrangements insofar as nonparticipant interests are affected. Prohibits: (1) the importation, manufacture, and distribution of any digital audio recording device or audio interface device that does not conform to certain standards and specifications to implement the Serial Copy Management System; and (2) the circumvention of such System. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a certain Technical Reference Document which sets forth the standards and specifications pertinent to the Serial Copy Management System. Authorizes the Secretary to implement such System according to the prescribed guidelines. Sets forth civil remedies for violations of this Act, including impoundment, remedial modification and destruction of non-complying devices, and binding arbitration.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to restrict the export of nuclear weapon items to a non-nuclear weapon state, unless: (1) such state maintains International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on all its peaceful nuclear activities; and (2) the export, retransfer, or activity is under the terms of an agreement for cooperation. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing any license for the export of highly enriched uranium. Directs the President to undertake negotiations with foreign nations which participate in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to establish specified multilateral nuclear non-proliferation controls. Sets forth sanctions for violations of this Act. Amends the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 to require the United States to enter into negotiations with other nations and groups of nations to improve the effectiveness of the safeguards of the IAEA.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Extends nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania upon conclusion of the Agreement on Trade Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union granting it most-favored-nation status.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Establishes a Joint Committee on the Organization of the Congress to: (1) make a full and complete study of the organization and operation of the Congress; and (2) recommend improvements in such organization and operation with a view toward strengthening its effectiveness, simplifying its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the Government, and improving the orderly consideration of legislation. Requires a report to the Senate and the House of Representatives not later than the adjournment sine die of the 102d Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Recognizes and grants a Federal charter to the Military Order of the World Wars, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1991
Global Nuclear Weapons Material Control Act - Urges the President to: (1) negotiate an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperative mutual inspection measures assuring the end of production of nuclear weapons materials; (2) extend such an agreement to all nations; and (3) pursue discussions with the Soviet Union on the technical requirements needed for the dismantling of nuclear warheads and the reuse or permanent disposal of nuclear weapons materials. Directs the Secretary of Energy to use funds available for national security programs of the Department of Energy to develop and demonstrate by October 1, 1995, technical capabilities for the verifiable dismantling of nuclear warheads at existing facilities and for the disposal of nuclear weapons materials. Outlines techniques and procedures to be included in such technical capabilities development. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for FY 1992 through 1994 for such program. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress the program's plan, budget, and schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1991
Toxic Cleanup Equity and Acceleration Act of 1991 - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to absolve municipalities or other persons from liability to any person other than the United States for claims of contribution or other response costs or damages related to the generation or transportation, or arrangement for the transportation, treatment, or disposal of municipal solid waste or sewage sludge unless there is a basis for liability under provisions governing owners or operators. Prohibits the President from initiating or maintaining an action against any person (other than owners or operators) in the absence of exceptional circumstances. Provides that exceptional circumstances exist where the President obtains evidence that: (1) the release of hazardous substances on which liability is based is not that ordinarily found in municipal solid waste or sewage sludge and the hazardous substances were derived from a commercial, institutional, or industrial process or activity; (2) the total contribution to the site of hazardous substances from such activities is insignificant in terms of volume and toxicity when compared to the volume and toxicity of the municipal solid waste and sewage sludge; or (3) absent the contribution of such substances, the contribution of hazardous substances from the municipal solid waste and sewage sludge would be a significant cause of the release that will result in the response action. Authorizes the President, when the release involves trash from commercial, institutional, or industrial sources, to require persons handling such materials to provide evidence that the general composition and toxicity of the trash are similar to those of waste generated by households. Authorizes a municipality, whenever an administrative or judicial action is brought against the municipality for acts or omissions concerning the handling of municipal solid waste or sewage sludge, to request the President to settle the municipality's potential liability for response costs or damages to natural resources. Prohibits an action from being commenced or pursued during the period the President is considering the settlement request. Limits permissible reasons to fail to reach a settlement to one or more of the following: (1) the settlement offer from the municipality does not meet the cost allocation criteria; (2) the municipality refuses to agree to settlement terms required in consent decrees; or (3) insufficient information exists to permit a cost allocation. Provides that if the President completes a settlement with a party other than the municipality requesting a settlement, such settlement creates a rebuttable presumption that the President cannot invoke insufficient information as a reason for failing to settle with the municipality concerning matters addressed in the other party's settlement. Provides that settlements shall: (1) require the municipality to pay for costs based on the quantity of hazardous constituents in municipal solid waste and sewage sludge, subject to a certain condition; (2) limit a municipality's payments if such payments would force a municipality to dissolve, declare bankruptcy, or default on debt obligations; and (3) be reached even in the event that a municipality may be liable for response costs or damages in other actions. Requires the President to provide a covenant not to sue with respect to the facility concerned to any municipality which has entered into a settlement. Directs the President to prepare a nonbinding preliminary allocation of responsibility (based on the quantity of hazardous constituents in municipal solid waste and sewage sludge) upon the request of a municipality. Applies this Act to all administrative or judicial actions commenced before this Act's effective date, unless a final court judgement has been rendered or a court-approved settlement agreement has been reached.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1991
Securities Investor Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide that private rights of action may be brought either: (1) five years from the date on which violations of this Act occurred; or (2) two years from the date on which such violation was discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence.