Defence

Eleanor Hill, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, Department of Defense, vice Susan J. Crawford.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

Gil Coronado, of Texas, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Peter B. Bowman, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

Joseph E. Stiglitz, of California, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Robert D. Stuart, Jr., term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

John M. Deutch, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Beverly Butcher Byron, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

John A. Koskinen, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Hansford T. Johnson, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

Bob J. Nash, of Arkansas, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Arthur Levitt, Jr., term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

Thomas P. Glynn, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Rebecca Gernhardt Cox, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

Cassandra M. Pulley, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice Harry C. McPherson, Jr., term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 1 December 1994

A bill for the relief of land grantors in Henderson, Union, and Webster Counties, Kentucky, and their heirs.

United States · United States Congress · 30 November 1994

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a sum to be specified in full satisfaction of all claims by certain individuals (or their heirs) who were the former owners of properties in Henderson, Union, and Webster Counties, Kentucky, which were condemned or otherwise procured by the Government to provide for a military training camp.

To amend the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to extend the deadline for the submission of nominations for the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

United States · United States Congress · 29 November 1994

Amends the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to extend the deadline for the submission of nominations for the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

World War II Home Front Commemorative Act

United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1994

World War II Home Front Commemorative Act - Authorizes the World War II Home Front Council to reissue the World War II "E" Award for Excellence in Industrial Production to individuals, firms, and businesses to which they were originally awarded in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II. Directs the Council to: (1) establish the "Excellence in Production Award Account" to receive all proceeds derived from its activities to commemorate Home Front efforts; (2) implement Home Front education and commemoration programs; (3) establish a volunteer advisory committee; and (4) submit semi-annual status reports to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.

Jobs and Investment Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Physical Capital Investment Subtitle A: Highways and Mass Transit Subtitle B: Airports Subtitle C: Railroads Subtitle D: Water and Sewage Treatment Facilities Subtitle E: Environmental Restoration Subtitle F: Community Development Assistance Subtitle G: Education Infrastructure Subtitle H: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Title II: Human Capital Investment Subtitle A: Job Training Subtitle B: Education Subtitle C: Head Start Subtitle D: Programs Under Public Health Service Act Title III: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Subtitle A: Reduction in Employee Payroll Taxes; Credit for First-Time Homebuyers Subtitle B: Revenue Increases Title IV: Appropriations Title I: Physical Capital Investment - Subtitle A: Highways and Mass Transit - Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to authorize additional appropriations from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for interstate maintenance, surface transportation, and bridges. (Sec. 1002) Amends the Federal Transit Act to authorize additional appropriations and make available additional funding from the Mass Transit Account for certain formula grants and discretionary grants transit programs. Subtitle B: Airports - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to make available additional amounts for airport improvement program grants (including grants for airport noise compatibility planning). Subtitle C: Railroads - Amends the Department of Transportation Act to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for local rail freight assistance. Subtitle D: Water and Sewage Treatment Facilities - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds. Subtitle E: Environmental Restoration - Provides funds for environmental restoration at facilities of the Departments of Defense and of Energy. Sets forth various authorizations of appropriations and makes appropriations for such purposes. Subtitle F: Community Development Assistance - Chapter 1: Community Development Block Grants - Authorizes additional appropriations for community development block grants under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Chapter 2: Community Banking and Economic Empowerment Act - Community Banking and Economic Empowerment Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide capital, operating, and technical assistance to community development lenders and certain eligible entities in order to: (1) make credit-related services available to low-income persons inadequately served by traditional lending institutions; and (2) promote development and revitalization of low-income neighborhoods. Delineates the purposes for which the Secretary of HUD may provide assistance to community development lenders and to the eligible entities establishing those lenders. Prescribes guidelines for assisted community development lenders, including assistance agreements and auditing procedures. (Sec. 1520) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act to preclude a regulated financial institution from receiving either an "outstanding" or a "satisfactory" rating for meeting community credit needs solely on the basis of its loans or investments in community development lenders. (Sec. 1521) Requires annual reports to the Congress. (Sec. 1524) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) capital and operating assistance for community development lenders; and (2) technical assistance for organizing and operating community development lenders. Subtitle G: Education Infrastructure - Education Infrastructure Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible local educational agencies to meet the National Education Goals through repair, renovation, alteration, and construction of public elementary or secondary school libraries, media centers, or facilities, used for academic or vocational instruction, including certain authorized activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1606) Sets forth requirements for: (1) priorities in selection of applications; (2) maintenance of effort, supplementation of non-Federal funds, and general limitations; (3) minority small business participation as project contractors or subcontractors, and payment of wages in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act; and (4) Federal evaluation. (Sec. 1610) Authorizes the comprehensive regional centers to provide technical assistance to such projects. Subtitle H: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency - Authorizes additional appropriations to the Secretary of Energy for renewable energy research, development, and demonstration programs described in specified provisions of the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989. (Sec. 1702) Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for the Federal Energy Efficiency Fund and the new technology demonstration program. Title II: Human Capital Investment - Subtitle A: Job Training - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish an allied health professional job training program. Directs the Secretary of Labor to make grants to institutions of higher education to establish job training assistance programs for at-risk youths and long-term welfare recipients to become allied health professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Increases the authorization of appropriations for the following youth job training programs: (1) Youth Fair Chance under JTPA; and (2) Youthbuild under the Homeownership and Opportunity Through HOPE Act. Subtitle B: Education - Extends and increases the authorizations of appropriations for certain programs for educational personnel under the Adult Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Subtitle C: Head Start - Amends the Head Start Act to extend and increase the authorization of appropriations for Head Start programs. Subtitle D: Programs Under Public Health Service Act - Chapter 1: Funding Initiative for Programs Providing Health Services - Authorizes additional appropriations for the following programs under the Public Health Service Act: (1) community health centers; (2) migrant health centers; (3) health care for the homeless; (4) preventive services regarding tuberculosis, breast and cervical cancer, lead exposure, HIV disease, and prostate cancer; (5) immunization; (6) cancer registries; (7) comprehensive school health education; (8) prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, and injuries; (9) child day care health and safety; (10) asthma; (11) environmental health, including response to urgent environmental threats to public health and environmental services regarding the health of individuals in the United States in the vicinity of the Mexican border; (12) block grants for community mental health services, prevention and treatment of substance abuse, and preventive health services; and (13) scholarship and loan repayment programs of the National Health Service Corps. Authorizes additional appropriations for the maternal and child health block grant program under the Social Security Act. Chapter 2: Community Health Advisor Program - National Community Health Advisor Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each State or State-designated entity that submits an appropriate application, to award formula grants for the development and operation of community health advisor (CHA) programs. Requires such States to: (1) operate a clearinghouse to maintain and disseminate information on CHA programs; (2) provide technical assistance for training CHAs; and (3) coordinate all CHA activities carried out by the State under the award. Limits administrative costs to 15 percent of the total award. (Sec. 2314) Provides CHA program objectives and goals. Requires funding agreements for such awards to give priority to developing and operating CHA programs for medically underserved communities (poor rural and inner city areas). (Sec. 2315) Requires a State to provide matching funds of 25 percent of award amounts toward such programs. Requires a CHA program in a State to be carried out in at least one urban area and one rural area. Requires ongoing supervision of CHAs involved in the program. Allows for expenditures under the award for training and continuing education programs. Requires reports from State applicants to the Secretary assessing the effectiveness of CHA programs. (Sec. 2317) Provides for the determination of the amount allotted to each chosen applicant, taking into account the population and poverty level of the area involved. (Sec. 2318) Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of the CHA programs. (Sec. 2319) Requires evaluations of each such program. (Sec. 2320) Prohibits this chapter from being construed to require the Secretary to modify or terminate the Community Health Representative Program of the Indian Health Service. (Sec. 2322) Authorizes appropriations for the CHA program. Title III: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Subtitle A: Reduction in Employee Payroll Taxes; Credit for First-Time Homebuyers - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide a refundable credit for a portion of social security taxes for taxable years 1995 and 1996, equal to 20 percent of the taxpayer's social security taxes for that year, up to a maximum credit of $200, or $400 for a joint return. (Sec. 3002) Allows a nonrefundable personal credit for purchase of a principal residence by a first-time homebuyer. Sets such maximum overall credit at no more than $6,000. Subtitle B: Revenue Increases - Amends the IRC to establish a stock transfer excise tax. (Sec. 3102) Repeals a preferential rate of tax on capital gains. (Sec. 3103) Provides for a carryover basis for certain property acquired from a decedent. Provides for nonrecognition of gain where certain appreciated carryover basis property is used in satisfaction of a pecuniary bequest. Sets forth a procedure for binding determination of initial basis of carryover basis property. Sets forth requirements for information regarding carryover basis property acquired from a decedent. Sets penalties for negligent or fraudulent overstatement of initial basis and for failure to furnish such required information. Makes a $125,000 exclusion available to the spouse of a decedent in certain cases. (Sec. 3104) Allows unused capital loss carryovers to be transferred to an estate. Provides capital gain treatment for inherited art or similar property. Title IV: Appropriations - Appropriates amounts authorized under this Act. (Sec. 4002) Designates the entire amount appropriated under this Act as an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

International Narcotics Control Corrections Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: International Narcotics Control Title II: NATO Participation Act of 1994 International Narcotics Control Corrections Act of 1994 - Title I: International Narcotics Control - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to redefine a "major illicit drug producing country" as a country in which 1,000 hectares or more of illicit opium poppy or coca is cultivated or harvested annually or 5,000 hectares or more of illicit cannabis is cultivated or harvested annually unless the President determines that such cannabis production does not significantly affect the United States. Provides for advance notification to the appropriate congressional committees of any transfer by the Government to a foreign country, for narcotics control purposes, of property or funds seized or forfeited in connection with narcotics-related activities. Reallocates foreign assistance (currently, security assistance) withheld from countries that fail to take adequate steps to halt illicit drug production or trafficking. Extends certain international narcotics control strategy reporting requirements and annual certification procedures for FY 1993 and 1994 through FY 1995. Makes such requirements and procedures currently applicable after September 30, 1994, effective after September 30, 1995 (the beginning of FY 1996). Repeals specified international narcotics control Acts. Exempts specified narcotics control-related transfers of excess defense articles, foreign military financing, and international military education and training from a prohibition on assistance to foreign law enforcement agencies. Waives all restrictions on assistance (except for countries that are "decertified" under narcotics control certification provisions) with respect to narcotics-related assistance provided during FY 1995 if the President notifies the appropriate congressional committees in advance. Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to any country or international organization during FY 1995 for the prevention and suppression of international criminal activities. Exempts such assistance from the prohibition on assistance to foreign law enforcement agencies. Requires the President to take steps to ensure that the immediate relatives of any individual involved in drug trafficking are not permitted entry into the United States consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act. Title II: NATO Participation Act of 1994 - NATO Participation Act of 1994 - Authorizes the President to establish a program to assist the transition to full North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other designated Partnership for Peace countries. Permits the President, in carrying out such program, to provide excess defense articles, international military education and training, and foreign military financing assistance to such countries.

Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Persian Gulf War Veterans Title II: Board of Veterans' Appeals Administration Title III: Adjudication Improvements Title IV: Veterans' Claims Adjudication Commission Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions Title VI: Education and Training Programs Title VII: Employment Programs Title VIII: Cemeteries and Memorial Affairs Title IX: Housing Programs Title X: Homeless Veterans Programs Title XI: Reductions in Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel Title XII: Technical and Clerical Amendments Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994 - Title I: Persian Gulf War Veterans - Persian Gulf War Veterans' Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement a uniform and comprehensive medical evaluation protocol that will ensure appropriate medical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of Persian Gulf War (War) veterans who are suffering from illnesses the origin of which are unknown but may be attributable to service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the War. Requires the protocol to include an evaluation of complaints relating to illnesses involving the reproductive system. Requires a report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (veterans' committees) if the protocol has not been developed within 120 days after enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary to ensure that information collected through the protocol is collected and maintained in a manner that permits the effective and efficient cross-reference of such information with information collected and maintained through the comprehensive clinical protocols of the Department of Defense (DOD) for War veterans. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform War veterans and their families of the medical care and other benefits that may be provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and DOD arising from service in the War. Requires such outreach program to include: (1) a semiannual newsletter distributed to veterans listed on the Persian Gulf War Veterans Health Registry; and (2) the establishment of a toll-free telephone number to provide War veterans and their families information on the Registry and health care and other benefits provided by the VA. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the Secretary to pay compensation to any War veteran suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that: (1) became manifest during service on active duty during the War; or (2) became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within a presumptive period (such period to be prescribed by the Secretary) after such service . Requires a report and appropriate regulations. (Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the health status of spouses and children of War veterans, including diagnostic testing and appropriate medical examinations. Requires the Secretary to develop standard protocols and guidelines for such testing and examinations in order to ensure the uniform development of the medical data. Requires study results to be entered into the Registry. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct appropriate outreach activities in connection with the study; (2) make the protocols and guidelines developed under such study available outside the VA; and (3) provide study reports to the Congress. (Sec. 108) Amends the Persian Gulf War Veterans' Health Status Act to include diagnostic tests within the allowable scope of health examinations provided under such Act for veterans eligible for inclusion in health-related registries. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a survey of the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in War veterans and their families. (Sec 110) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out an epidemiological study on the health consequences of service in the War if the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) includes in a required report a finding that a sound basis exists for such a study. Requires certain oversight. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 111) Allows surviving spouses eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation to elect to instead receive a death pension. Limits the FY 1995 cost-of-living increases for various veterans' compensation to the percentage increase under title II (Old age, survivors and disability insurance) of the Social Security Act beginning on December 1, 1994. Title II: Board of Veterans' Appeals Administration - Requires members of the Board of Veterans' Appeals other than the Chairman to be appointed by the Secretary, with the President's approval, based upon recommendations of the Chairman. Directs the Chairman to establish a panel of Board members to review the performance of each member at least every three years. Provides for the granting of a conditional recertification or recommendation for noncertification of a Board member not meeting the required performance standards. (Sec. 202) Requires Board member performance standards to be established within 90 days after enactment of this Act. Requires a report. (Sec. 203) Allows a Board Chairman to continue in such office until either reappointment or the appointment of a successor. Title III: Adjudication Improvements - Authorizes the Secretary to accept the written statement of a claimant as proof of the existence of a marriage or its dissolution, the birth of a child, or the death of a family member. Authorizes the acceptance of reports of private physician medical examinations in support of a claim for benefits. (Sec. 302) Directs the Secretary to take any necessary action to provide for the expeditious treatment of benefit claims that have been remanded from either the Board or the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals (Court). (Sec. 303) Allows for the screening of appeals to: (1) determine the adequacy of the record for decisional purposes; or (2) develop a record found to be inadequate for decisional purposes. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of the reorganization of the adjudication divisions located within the regional offices of the Veterans Benefits Administration. Title IV: Veterans' Claims Adjudication Commission - Establishes the Veterans' Claims Adjudication Commission to study and report to the Congress on the VA system for the disposition of claims for veterans' benefits. Provides Commission funding for FY 1995. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Presumes a service connection (and, therefore, eligibility for veterans' disability compensation) between radiation exposure during the detonation of a nuclear device and radiation-related illness in a veteran, whether or not the nation conducting the nuclear test was the United States. (Sec. 502) Extends through December 31, 1999, the authority to maintain VA regional offices in the Republic of the Philippines. (Sec. 503) Allows for reapplication (without penalty) for veterans' pension benefits or parents' dependency and indemnity compensation within one year after renouncement of such rights. (Sec. 505) Adds to the list of herbicide-exposure related diseases and illnesses presumed to be service-connected and therefore compensable through veterans' disability compensation if they become manifest to a disability degree of ten percent or more: (1) Hodgkin's disease; (2) porphyria cutanea tarda; (3) respiratory cancers; and (4) multiple myeloma. (Sec. 506) Excludes from consideration as income, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits, any cash, stock, land, or other interests received by an individual from a Native Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Sec. 507) Eliminates the requirement for payment in Philippine pesos of certain veterans' compensation for service in the Philippine Scouts. (Sec. 508) Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement for the Medical Follow-Up Agency of the Institute of Medicine of the NAS to convene a panel to evaluate the feasibility of carrying out a study of the relationship of exposure to certain ionizing radiation while participating in military service and the presence of certain birth- related defects and illnesses. (Sec. 509) Establishes in the VA a Center for Minority Veterans and a Center for Women Veterans. Requires the Secretary to include in annual budget documents detailed information on each Center's budget and a report on each Center's activities and accomplishments. (Sec. 510) Directs the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans with respect to the administration of VA benefits for veterans who are minority group members. Requires an annual report from the Advisory Committee on its programs and activities. Defines "minority group members" as Asian Americans, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific-Islander Americans. Terminates the Advisory Committee on December 31, 1997. (Sec. 511) Provides that a notice of appeal of a final Board decision shall be deemed to be received by the Court on the date of its receipt or the date of the U.S. postal service postmark stamped on the envelope. Title VI: Education and Training Programs - Repeals the requirement that a course of flight training must commence before October 1, 1994, in order to be approved as a course of education under the veterans' basic educational assistance program for active-duty, reserve, and post-Vietnam era veterans. (Sec. 602) Authorizes the Secretary to use the facilities of any federally recognized Indian tribe in order to provide training and rehabilitative services for veterans with service-connected disabilities. Allows veterans to pursue on-job training or work experience on such facilities. (Sec. 603) Allows veterans to use basic educational assistance benefits for attending alternative teacher certification programs at educational institutions that provide State-approved programs. (Sec. 604) Prohibits a veteran, in using educational assistance benefits, from enrolling in a course outside the United States unless the institution is an approved institution of higher learning and the course is approved by the Secretary. (Sec. 605) Provides that approved programs of education under veterans' educational assistance benefits shall include certain correspondence programs from approved educational institutions. (Sec. 606) Increases from $12 to $13 million the annual amount authorized to be reimbursed by the VA to State educational approving agencies for travel and administrative expenses incurred in determining the qualifications of educational institutions under the veterans' educational assistance program. Eliminates the requirement of a quarterly report by such agencies relating to such expenses. Eliminates the requirement that the Secretary supervise the provision of course approval services by such agencies. (Sec. 608) Extends through December 31, 2003, the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education. (Sec. 609) Increases from $5 to $6 million the annual fiscal year funding for VA contracting for veterans' educational and vocational counseling services. (Sec. 610) Amends the Service Members Occupational Conversion and Training Act of 1992 to: (1) eliminate the current 18-month limit on training for former military personnel for employment in stable and permanent positions; (2) revise the amount of payments made to employers under the program; and (3) allow entry into a job training program with the employer on the day that notice is transmitted to the implementing official. Title VII: Employment Programs - Designates within the Department of Labor a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, to perform duties as prescribed by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training. Requires disabled veterans' outreach program specialists to be paid at rates comparable to those paid other professionals performing essentially similar duties. Adds certain veterans to a list of those to be subjects of a biennial study concerning unemployment among categories of veterans. Requires a report to the Congress on the study's results. (Sec. 702) Allows contractors of contracts of $10,000 or more for the procurement of personal property and non-personal services to exclude certain positions from a requirement that such contractors first offer positions under such contract to disabled and Vietnam veterans. Excludes any amounts received under the All-Volunteer Force educational assistance program from the needs or qualification requirements of the veterans' employment and training programs. (Sec. 703) Makes certain conforming and clarifying amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 as necessitated by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994. Title VIII: Cemeteries and Memorial Affairs - Provides eligibility for burial in national cemeteries for: (1) spouses who predecease veterans; and (2) unremarried surviving spouses who had a subsequent remarriage which was terminated by death or divorce. (Sec. 803) Extends through FY 1999 the authorization of appropriations for grants to States for establishing, expanding, or improving veterans' cemeteries. (Sec. 804) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for flat grave markers at the Willamette National Cemetery, Oregon. Title IX: Housing Programs - Makes eligible under the veterans' home loan program: (1) former members of the Selected Reserve who were discharged or released before completing six years of service because of a service-connected disability; and (2) surviving spouses of reserve personnel who died while on active duty. Revises provisions regarding the determination of the aggregate home loan guaranty amount. (Sec. 903) Prohibits the use of veterans' home loan funds for the purchase or construction of new residential housing that is not served by a public or community water and sewage system. (Sec. 904) Authorizes the use of veterans' guaranteed home loan funds to refinance existing guaranteed loans to make home energy efficiency improvements and to refinance adjustable rate mortgages as fixed rate mortgages. (Sec. 906) Provides that, with regard to the veterans' home loan program, any manufactured housing unit properly displaying a certification of conformity with Federal home construction and safety standards pursuant to the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 shall be deemed to meet standards required by the VA. Authorizes the Secretary to deny guaranteed or direct loan financing in the case of other types of manufactured homes. Repeals a provision requiring housing inspection results to be reported annually to the Congress. (Sec. 907) Permits the VA to acquire property from the lender at the price provided for under applicable State law, whether or not the lender's bid at foreclosure exceeds such price. (Sec. 908) Includes, as an exception to the minimum two-year active duty service requirement for entitlement to certain veterans' benefits, military personnel discharged before such period due to a reduction in force. Title X: Homeless Veterans Programs - Directs the Secretary to report annually to the veterans' committees on VA activities during the preceding year to assist homeless veterans. (Sec. 1002) Amends the Veterans' Medical Programs Amendments of 1992 to: (1) require updates during FY 1995 through 1997 of assessments of VA programs for assisting the homeless; and (2) require the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees with regard to such assessments as well as progress made in developing a homeless veterans assistance plan. (Sec. 1003) Amends the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Service Programs Act of 1992 to: (1) raise from four to eight the authorized number of demonstration centers for the provision of comprehensive services to homeless veterans; and (2) repeal a prohibition on the use of funds to carry out certain provisions of such Act unless expressly provided for in an appropriations Act. (Sec. 1005) Expresses the sense of the Congress calling for a more proportionate share of Federal homeless assistance funds to be appropriated to the Secretary to assist homeless veterans. Requests the Secretary to encourage Federal agencies that provide assistance to the homeless to be aware of and make referrals to the VA for homeless assistance benefits. Title XI: Reductions in Department of Veterans Affairs Personnel - Requires a minimum number of 224, 377 full-time equivalent positions in the VA during a fiscal year from the date of enactment of this Act until September 30, 1999. Excludes certain full-time personnel from those to be considered full-time for purposes of the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1994, including personnel paid with funds other than appropriated funds. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing the number of full-time VA personnel unless: (1) necessary due to a reduction in available funds; or (2) required under a law enacted after enactment of this provision which specifically refers to this provision. Requires a report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees annually through 2000 on any such reductions. (Sec. 1103) Precludes from application during FY 1995 through 1999 certain Federal provisions prohibiting the VA from contracting to have VA direct patient care or activities incident to such care from being converted to activities performed by non-VA providers. Requires that, whenever any activity at a VA health-care facility is so converted, the Secretary must: (1) require in the contract an employment priority for VA employees displaced due to the contract; and (2) provide to such former employees all possible assistance in obtaining other Federal employment or job training or retraining. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on all contracting-out authority exercised. (Sec. 1104) Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a non-federal entity under which such entity carries out a study of the feasibility and advisability of alternative organizational structures for the provision of health care services to veterans. Requires the Secretary to submit such report to the veterans' committees. Authorizes appropriations. Title XII: Technical and Clerical Amendments - Makes technical and clerical amendments to Federal veterans' benefits provisions.

Gun Victim Compensation Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

Gun Victim Compensation Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to make any person who sells, delivers, or otherwise transfers a firearm to a juvenile, felon, or other disqualified individual, or a handgun to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile liable for damages caused by a discharge of the transferred firearm by the transferee. Makes exceptions, including for certain temporary transfers to a juvenile who uses a handgun in the course of employment relating to ranching or farming with the prior written consent of a parent or guardian and for the issuance of a handgun to a juvenile who is a member of the armed forces or National Guard. Authorizes an action for damages to be brought in a U.S. district court by, or on behalf of, any person who suffers damages resulting from bodily injury or death caused by a discharge of the transferred firearm by the transferee. Specifies that there shall be no liability under this Act if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the damages were suffered by an individual who was engaged in a criminal act against the person or property of another at the time of the injury; or (2) the injury was self-inflicted unless the plaintiff establishes that, at the time of the transfer, the transferor knew or had reasonable cause to believe that the transferee had not attained age 18 or had been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution. Limits actions to those brought within five years after the date of the transfer of the firearm. Requires that a prevailing plaintiff be awarded attorney's fees. Permits the award of punitive damages.

To amend section 9147 of Public Law 102-396.

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1993, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to transfer to North Bonneville, Washington, all rights and interest to certain municipal facilities, utilities, fixtures, equipment, and any remaining lands designated as open spaces or municipal lots not previously conveyed to the city, along with a school lot and related parcels and easements. Declares that such conveyances are intended to resolve all outstanding issues between the United States and the city. Requires the city to execute a release of all claims against the United States upon such transfer. Requires the Attorney General to dismiss any pending litigation in such regard upon execution of such release.

Health Fraud and Abuse Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

Health Fraud and Abuse Act of 1994 - Directs the Inspector General (IG) of each of the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, Labor, and Veterans Affairs and the Office of Personnel Management to conduct audits, civil and criminal investigations, inspections, and evaluations relating to the prevention, detection, and control of health care fraud and abuse in violation of any Federal law, with exceptions. Sets forth provisions regarding the powers of IGs. Directs the IGs to: (1) jointly establish a program to prevent, detect, and control health care fraud and abuse which considers the activities of Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs), Federal and State agencies responsible for the licensing and certification of health care providers, and State agencies designated under this Act; (2) develop an annual investigative plan; and (3) regularly consult with each other, such LEAs, Federal and State agencies responsible for the licensing and certification of health care providers, and Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Units. Requires the Governor of each State to designate State agencies which conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits, civil and criminal investigations, inspections, and evaluations relating to such prevention, detection, and control. Authorizes each Governor to establish and maintain a State agency to act as a Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Unit. Requires that each Unit be a single identifiable entity of State government which is separate and distinct from any State agency with principal responsibility for the administration of health care programs and which meets specified requirements, such as being a unit of the State Attorney General or other State department that possesses statewide authority to prosecute individuals for criminal violations. Authorizes each Unit to submit each year to the IG a plan for preventing, detecting, and controlling health care fraud and abuse. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) IG approval of annual plans; (2) reporting requirements; (3) payments to States; and (4) data sharing. Establishes: (1) within the Treasury the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account; and (2) the Account Payments Advisory Board, which shall make recommendations to the IGs regarding the equitable allocation of payments from the Account.

To request the Secretary of the Navy to name an appropriate ship of the United States Navy the U.S.S. Joseph Vittori.

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Navy should name an appropriate naval ship the U.S.S. Joseph Vittori, in honor of the Marine corporal who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for actions against the enemy in Korea during the Korean conflict.

Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1994

Economic Development Reauthorization Act of 1994 - Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for grants to public works facilities through FY 1997. Repeals a limitation on financial assistance for sewer and other waste disposal facilities. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) conduct projects to demonstrate methods of assisting isolated small businesses to access small business services provided by Federal, State, and local governments; and (2) establish three business outreach centers. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) an Office of Strategic Economic Development Planning and Policy within the Economic Development Administration; and (2) within such Office an Office of Economic Development Information. Establishes a Federal Coordinating Council for Economic Development to develop a Government-wide strategic plan for economic development. Authorizes appropriations. Requires applicants for economic development assistance to certify that a redevelopment area meets at least one criterion regarding per capita income, unemployment rates, job losses, population growth, employment declines, concentrations of low-income individuals, or outmigration. Voids designations of redevelopment areas made before this Act's enactment. Revises annual review provisions to permit assistance to a project only if the applicant has submitted an overall economic development plan or investment strategy to the Secretary for approval. Provides for approval of existing economic development plans and programs to the maximum extent practicable. Directs the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development to publish guidelines to expedite the processing of applications for assistance under this Act. Requires the Secretary to: (1) issue and implement regulations containing criteria and procedures to prioritize allocations of Federal assistance made under this Act so that the level of economic distress in an area is the primary factor in determining whether the area receives an allocation; (2) develop a general, simplified application form for grant assistance under this Act that may be used by all Federal agencies that provide such assistance; and (3) conduct biennial evaluations of university centers and economic development districts receiving grant assistance to assess performance and contribution toward job creation. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to establish a competitive communities pilot program for the purpose of investing in identified business transactions that will create opportunities for long-term employment in economically distressed communities; and (2) assistance to be available for projects on military installations to be closed or realigned or for communities adversely affected by such closure or realignment. Authorizes appropriations. Requires funds expended pursuant to this Act to be in compliance with the Buy American Act.

Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act of 1994 - Amends the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to direct the Secretary of Defense (Secretary), with respect to the use or transferability of any portion of a military installation closed or to be closed under such Act, to: (1) identify the buildings and property for which the Department of Defense (DOD) or another Federal department or agency has a use or will accept a transfer; (2) identify any property as surplus; (3) submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to the redevelopment authority for such installation information on any property identified as surplus; and (4) publish in the Federal Register and the appropriate local newspaper information on the surplus property. Requires State and local governments, representatives of the homeless, and other parties interested in the surplus property to submit to the redevelopment authority (RA) a notice of interest in such property, with certain time limits. Requires the representative of the homeless to submit with such notice specific information with respect to the proposed homeless assistance program for such property, as well as certain assessments and descriptions. Directs the RA for each installation to prepare a redevelopment plan for such installation which includes legally binding agreements concerning the use of such property to assist the homeless. Requires redevelopment plan approval by the HUD Secretary. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the HUD Secretary, in completing a review of a plan, should take into consideration and be receptive to the predominant views on the plan of the communities in the vicinity of the installation covered by the plan. Requires an RA, upon completion of a redevelopment plan, to submit to the Secretary and the HUD Secretary an application containing such plan. Requires the Secretaries to complete a review of the plan within 60 days after receipt, including a determination as to whether such plan meets certain requirements with respect to the homeless population in the area, the availability of existing services to meet the needs of the homeless, and the suitability of the surplus property to meet such needs. Allows for the negotiation of plan deficiencies between the RA and the HUD Secretary during such review . Requires appropriate action by the parties concerned if the HUD Secretary determines a redevelopment plan to be inappropriate, including plan revision and resubmission by the RA. Provides for transfer to the representative of the homeless or the RA of surplus property for disposal, without consideration, under an approved redevelopment plan. Authorizes either Secretary to postpone any deadline related to plan consideration and approval in the interest of the communities affected. Provides transition provisions applicable to installations approved for closure before the enactment of this Act.

Economic Equity Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Workplace Fairness Subtitle A: Equal Remedies Act Subtitle B: Federal Employees Fairness Act Subtitle C: Congressional Employees Fairness Act Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment Subtitle E: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act Subtitle F: Unemployment Insurance Reform Subtitle G: Federal Temporary Workers Protection Act Subtitle H: Legislative Pay Equity Study Title II: Economic Opportunity Subtitle A: Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act Subtitle B: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion Act Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act Subtitle D: Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Work Force Act Subtitle E: Job Training Self-Sufficiency Act Title III: Work and Family Subtitle A: Child Care Public-Private Partnership Act Subtitle B: After-School Child Care Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability Subtitle D: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education Activities Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency Subtitle A: Child Support Subtitle B: Pension Reform Subtitle C: Social Security Reform Subtitle D: Former Military Spouses Protection Subtitle E: Unremunerated Work Act Economic Equity Act - Title I: Workplace Fairness - Subtitle A: Equal Remedies Act - Equal Remedies Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to remove limitations on the amount of compensatory and punitive damages that may be awarded in cases of intentional discrimination in employment. Subtitle B: Federal Employees Fairness Act - Federal Employee Fairness Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to permit a Federal employee filing a discrimination complaint to file it with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Makes it an unlawful employment practice if the employee demonstrates that the filing of a complaint contributed to an adverse personnel action against such employee. Requires that any such complaint filed with an agency other than the EEOC be transmitted to the EEOC. Sets forth procedures for filing and processing such complaints. Permits a Federal employee to file a complaint up to 180 days following an alleged discrimination. (Sec. 113) Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to permit the filing of a complaint with the EEOC in accordance with the amendments made to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by this Act. Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to apply its remedies and attorney fee provisions to complaints by individuals with disabilities with respect to employment in the Library of Congress. (Sec. 114) Amends title V of the United States Code, concerning government organization and employees, to permit an employee, under a negotiated grievance procedure, to raise matters dealing with actions involving discrimination. Subtitle C: Congressional Employees Fairness Act - Congressional Employees Fairness Act - Makes applicable to the Congress: (1) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; (2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) specified provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and (4) the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. (Sec. 122) Makes applicable to the Congress any provision of Federal law to the extent that it relates to: (1) the terms and conditions of employment (including hiring, promotion, or demotion, salary and wages, overtime compensation, benefits, work assignments or reassignments, and termination) of employees; (2) protection from discrimination in personnel actions; (3) the health and safety of employees; (4) the availability of information to the public; or (5) other areas deemed appropriate by the Independent Office of Compliance (Office). (Sec. 123) Establishes the Office in the legislative branch to study and report to the Congress on the application of such laws. (Sec. 124) Sets forth provisions relating to congressional procedures for approval of the Board of Directors' recommendations relating to the application of future Federal laws to the Congress. Directs the Office to carry out an education program for Members of Congress and other employing authorities of the Congress respecting the laws applicable to them and a program to inform individuals of their rights under laws applicable to the Congress and under this Act. (Sec. 125) Requires the procedure for consideration of alleged violations of such laws to consist of the following steps: (1) counseling; (2) mediation; (3) formal complaint and hearing by a hearing board; and (4) judicial review of a hearing board's decision. (Sec. 129A) Authorizes a congressional employee or any Member of the Congress to petition the Personnel Appeals Board of the General Accounting Office to review a final decision if it is held to be unconstitutional. (Sec. 129D) Declares that any intimidation of, or reprisal against, any employee because of the exercise of a right under this Act constitutes an unlawful employment practice that may be remedied in the same manner under this Act as is a violation of a law made applicable to the Congress. (Sec. 129E) Requires the records and decisions of hearing boards to be made public if required for judicial review. (Sec. 129H) Limits a congressional employee to the judicial proceeding provided by this Act to redress prohibited practices. Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment - Sexual Harassment Prevention Act - Directs employers (including Federal and congressional agencies) to keep posted in conspicuous places a notice prepared or approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that sets forth: (1) the definition of sexual harassment found in the Code of Federal Regulations; (2) the fact that sexual harassment is a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (3) information describing how to file a complaint with the Commission alleging such harassment; (4) an address and toll-free number to be used to contact the Commission; and (5) other information required by the Commission. (Sec. 133) Provides for annual notices by employers to individual employees which provide such information and a description of the procedures used by the employers to resolve allegations of sexual harassment. Requires employers to provide to each supervisory employee information specifying the responsibility of, and the methods to be used by, such employee to ensure that immediate and corrective action is taken to address allegations of sexual harassment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Commission to make model notices and voluntary guidelines for procedures dealing with allegations of sexual harassment available to employers at no cost as well as a toll-free number for information regarding this Act. (Sec. 135) Prescribes civil penalties for willful violations of this Act. Subtitle E: Part-time and Temporary Workers Protection Act - Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the eligibility for unemployment compensation of certain individuals seeking part-time employment. (Sec. 143) Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to conduct an annual survey relating to temporary workers. (Sec. 144) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth special participation, vesting, and accrual rules applicable to part-time and temporary employees. Allows limited reductions in employer-provided group health plan premiums for part-time employees. Modifies, with respect to employee benefit rights, the definition of "employee" to include persons who have performed at least 500 hours of service per year. Subtitle F: Unemployment Insurance Reform - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for unemployment compensation eligibility for certain individuals who leave work or fail to return to work for certain qualified family-related reasons (for which they would be entitled to unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, or would be so entitled if the employer were subject to such Act). Subtitle G: Federal Temporary Workers Protection Act - Amends Federal civil service law to extend Federal Employees Health Benefits Program coverage to temporary employees with the equivalent of one year of service within the preceding two years. Subtitle H: Legislative Pay Equity Study - Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch to: (1) employ a nongovernmental consultant with expertise in job evaluation to study and compare the compensation paid within and between job classifications in the Library of Congress and to analyze its personnel policies and practices; (2) evaluate the Library's personnel policies and practices for compliance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and to make specific recommendations (other than any that would result in a pay reduction for any position) to the Congress for action necessary to achieve compliance; (3) develop a comprehensive plan for application of title VII principles throughout the legislative branch; and (4) make specific recommendations (other than any recommendation that, if implemented, would result in a reduction in the rate of pay payable for any position) to the Congress for improvement of personnel policies and practices in the legislative branch necessary to eliminate all forms of discrimination that adversely affect pay or working conditions of any employee. Title II: Economic Opportunity - Subtitle A: Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act - Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act - Amends the Small Business Act to require the President and the head of each Federal agency to include small business concerns owned and controlled by women within the Federal procurement contract process. (Sec. 205) Requires the Director of the Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization section in each Federal agency to designate a "women-in-business" specialist responsible for the execution of programs designed to assist small business concerns owned and controlled by women. (Sec. 207) Establishes in the Small Business Administration the Office of Women's Business Ownership. (Sec. 208) Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the number of small businesses owned and controlled by women procuring Federal contracts. Expresses the sense of the Congress that if the number of such businesses procuring such contracts does not rise significantly, then further legislative steps should be taken. Subtitle B: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion Act - Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion Act - Amends the Social Security Act to exclude certain small enterprise (microenterprise) business assets from accounting for public assistance purposes. (Sec. 213) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize unemployment compensation for individuals starting microenterprises. (Sec. 214) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to treat microenterprise loans and grants as investments in a financial institution's community. (Sec. 215) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to treat microenterprise loans made by savings associations as qualified thrift investments. (Sec. 216) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to permit the use of assistance provided under the Act for the administrative and operating costs of entities assisting microenterprises. (Sec. 217) Requires each Federal banking agency to establish a Microenterprise Technical and Operations Office to offer technical assistance, training, and support for microenterprise start-ups, or institutions providing microenterprise financial services. (Sec. 218) Directs the Financial Institutions Examination Council to study and report to the Congress on the best means to make credit available for small businesses unable to obtain microenterprise loans and in need of credit in smaller amounts than is generally available from financial institutions or the Small Business Administration. Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Cites activities constituting illegal discrimination with respect to surety bond issuance transactions. Mandates that a surety bond applicant be notified in writing of the reasons for denial of a surety bond. Subjects a surety to civil liability to the aggrieved applicant for violations of this Act. (Sec. 224) Proscribes Federal approval of a surety company that is not in compliance with this Act. Subtitle D: Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Work Force Act - Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Work Force Act - Establishes the Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces. Terminates the Commission one year following submission of its required report. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Job Training Self-Sufficiency Act - Self-Sufficiency Standard Act - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish economic self-sufficiency standards for disadvantaged adult training programs, according to a formula to be developed by the Secretary of Labor and local economic self-sufficiency tables to be developed by service delivery areas. (Sec. 245) Prohibits incentive grants to service delivery areas that do not have in effect, after two years, an approved local economic self-sufficiency standards table. (Sec. 246) Requires inclusion of such a table and related reports in the job training plan and in the Governor's coordination and special services plan. (Sec. 248) Directs the Secretary to make up to six grants in each of three fiscal years to States for demonstration and exemplary programs to increase the number of participants in disadvantaged adult training programs who are trained and placed in jobs that yield long-term economic self-sufficiency in accordance with the local economic self-sufficiency tables. Title III: Work and Family - Subtitle A: Child Care Public-Private Partnership Act - Child Care Public-Private Partnership Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a business-incentive grant program to provide child care through public-private partnerships. (Sec. 302) Provides program grants for: (1) businesses or consortia (including nonprofit private organizations) to start up, or provide additional, employee child care services; and (2) nonprofit business organizations to provide technical information and assistance to enable businesses to provide employee child care services. (Sec. 305) Gives priority in grant selection to businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees and to business and consortia applications. Requires equitable geographic distribution. (Sec. 307) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: After-School Child Care Act - After-School Child Care Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to State and local educational agencies for programs to provide affordable and quality after school care for students enrolled in kindergarten through grade six. Limits participation to public elementary school students who are: (1) children of a single working parent or guardian, or two working parents or guardians, or of those who work in the after-school program, or of those who attend school or job training for career development; or (2) recommended by the school on the basis of educational need, subject to available resources. Limits the Federal share to 75 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability - Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 13 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Subtitle D: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces - Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces Act - Allows eligible small businesses a small business family and medical leave credit equal to 50 percent (up to $2,000) of family and medical leave costs paid or incurred in connection with complying with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. (Sec. 333) Allows a business credit for wages paid to an employee who is permitted to shift hours of employment or work at home in order to reduce dependent care needs. Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education Activities - Amends Federal law relating to Federal employees to provide for parental leave for certain educational activities. Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Child Support - Child Support Economic Security Act - Part A: Child Support Enforcement Amendments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the organizational unit for administering a State plan for child and spousal support to reside at the State level and administer such plan under rules that apply uniformly throughout the State. (Secs. 412 through 415, and 418) Requires: (1) State procedures to ensure that the administering agency has on-line access to all data base information maintained by the State or local government; (2) child support payments to continue until certain events occur; (3) all income (as well as lottery winnings, insurance payments, and cash settlements) to be subject to withholding to meet child support obligations; (4) property transaction recordings to be conditioned upon the party's payment of any overdue child support; (5) occupational and professional licenses to be denied to parents with overdue child support obligations in excess of $1,000; and (6) social security numbers to appear on marriage licenses and child support orders. (Sec. 416) Revises procedures for the reporting of overdue child support obligations to consumer credit reporting agencies. (Secs. 417 and 419) Requires State procedures providing for separate treatment of cases alleging nonsupport and cases alleging denial of visitation rights. Eliminates statutes of limitations in child support cases. (Sec. 420) Provides for timely response to interstate locate requests. (Sec. 421) Requires the Secretary to issue regulations establishing standards and procedures governing the processing of interstate child support cases. (Sec. 422) Amends SSA title IV part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) to subject child support enforcement funds instead of AFDC funds to reduction in cases of substantial noncompliance with part D requirements. Amends SSA title IV part D to increase payments to States for the operation of their part D plans. Repeals incentive payments to States under part D. (Sec. 423) Requires States to adopt a specified form of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in order to have their part D plans approved. (Sec. 424) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to make recommendations to the Congress for national guidelines for child support award amounts. Part B: Interstate Child Support Act of 1993 - Declares the necessity of establishing national standards for child support orders and determinations of percentage and the effect each State shall give to those of other States' courts. Part C: Bankruptcy Amendments Relating to Child Support, Alimony, and Property Settlement Agreements - Amends Federal bankruptcy law to declare that the filing of a petition in bankruptcy does not operate as an automatic stay of actions for establishment of paternity or concerning certain debts for child and spousal support and maintenance. Includes among priority claims and expenses those for certain child and spousal support and maintenance. (Sec. 445) Precludes a trustee in bankruptcy from avoiding a transfer if it was a bona fide payment of a debt for child or spousal support, maintenance, or alimony. (Sec. 446) Amends the guidelines for what constitutes the property of the bankrupt estate of either a family farmer or an individual with regular annual income. Conditions the confirmation of a plan, for such debtors, upon payment of all allowable claims arising after the order for relief for debts for child and spousal support, maintenance, or alimony. (Sec. 448) Permits representatives of child support creditors to appear in court without charge and without meeting any special local court rule requirement for attorney appearances in any judicial bankruptcy proceeding if such representatives file information detailing the child support debt, status, and other characteristics. Part D: Locate and Case Tracking - Amends SSA title IV part D to allow use of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) along with appropriate safeguards for parentage establishment and child support and visitation enforcement. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) denial of visitation rights under a child support order should be treated as irrelevant in any action to enforce its support provisions; and (2) failure to pay child support pursuant to such an order should be treated likewise in any action to enforce visitation rights. (Sec. 452) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to provide the Secretary (Secretary) of Health and Human Services (HHS) with access to quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Requires that: (1) State agencies charged with child support enforcement maintain child support order registries and be allowed access to medical, financial, employment, and other specified data base information on absent parents; and (2) registry information from each State be sent to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) within HHS for a national registry of all State child support orders. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should investigate accessing certain Federal data banks not linked with FPLS. (Sec. 453) Requires the Secretary to expand FPLS to provide State agencies and courts with a national locate and case tracking network. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the network should be used to access State records only through the agency administering the State's part D plan. (Sec. 454) Requires that private attorneys and pro se obligees be given access, in accordance with appropriate safeguards, to State locate resources and enforcement techniques with respect to child support, visitation, and parentage orders. (Sec. 455) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require employers to withhold from employee wages amounts owed for child support. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the W-4 form completed by new employees in order to enable employers to obtain employee child support and other information for the appropriate State employment security agency. (Sec. 456) Requires the heads of national and regional individual tracking systems to allow child support enforcement agencies access to their information for paternity or child support purposes. (Sec. 457 and 459) Requires that States: (1) broadcast warrants issued in child support proceedings over their crime information systems; (2) remit, in a criminal case, to any individual owed child support any security posted by or on behalf of the individual owing the support and then forfeited, to the extent of any arrearage in support owed; and (3) establish procedures to obtain access to financial records for purposes of child support establishment and enforcement. Part E: Establishment - Amends the Federal judicial code to establish the jurisdictional basis for State court recognition, enforcement, and modification of parentage and child support orders of other States. (Sec. 462) Amends SSA title IV part D to provide for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed forces in connection with parentage and child support proceedings. (Sec. 463) Requires that: (1) parents' identification and locate information be filed with the appropriate adjudicating entity in parentage and child support actions; (2) there be appropriate safeguards on such information where a court has ordered that the custodial parent or child receive physical protection against the noncustodial parent; (3) appropriate administrative agencies make reasonable attempts to timely notify any individual owed child support of any proceeding to establish, modify, or enforce the support obligation; (4) States allow parties seeking both parentage and child support establishment in a judicial proceeding to bring a joint action in a single cause of action; (5) States provide for continuation of parental child support obligations until they terminate as described; (6) States allow parties to participate in interstate parentage and child support proceedings by telephonic means; (7) marriage licenses, birth certificates, and divorce and parentage decrees contain social security numbers; and (8) appropriate State agencies be allowed subpoena power in connection with child support hearings. (Sec. 464) Requires certain notices to custodial parents. (Sec. 465) Sets forth guidelines for uniform State procedures regarding jurisdiction and venue in parentage and child support cases. (Sec. 466) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to allow appropriate State agencies to obtain from credit reporting agencies information for establishing and modifying child support awards. (Sec. 467) Creates a National Child Support Guidelines Commission to study and report to the President and the Congress on national child support guidelines, and to develop such guidelines for congressional consideration should it be advisable. (Sec. 468) Amends SSA title IV part D to specify certain principles to be used in accordance with the application of State child support guidelines. (Sec. 469) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, if children receive child support while obtaining postsecondary education, they will attain higher levels of education affording them a greater chance to break the welfare cycle. (Sec. 470) Requires the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to develop: (1) a national subpoena duces tecum for distribution to child support agencies and others to use to reach income information; and (2) a uniform abstract of a child support order for State court use. (Sec. 475) Requires the Legal Services Corporation to ensure the use of a specified amount of funding for child support cases. (Sec. 476) Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to Indian child support and support orders outreach and demonstrations. Amends the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to require Indian tribes to give full faith and credit to child support orders of other Indian tribes, to the extent such entities already give full faith and credit to the acts, records, and proceedings of the other entity. (Sec. 477) Amends SSA title IV part D to set forth specific measures designed to secure child support services in underserved areas and combat domestic violence. Part F: Parentage - Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to provide for hospital-based paternity outreach programs and adopt various specified procedures for voluntary paternity acknowledgment; and (2) provide for 90 percent Federal matching for such programs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in a proceeding to establish paternity, once paternity is alleged, the burden of proof should shift to the alleged father. Part G: Enforcement - Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to mandate that any individual or entity engaged in commerce, as a condition of doing business in the State, comply with wage withholding orders issued by any State court or administrative agency, and keep records of wages withheld for child support; (2) specify the priority for applying amounts withheld from income for child support and child health insurance; (3) subject to withholding for child support any income from workers' compensation and other specified Federal sources; (4) prohibit State court application of the election of remedies doctrine to prevent collection of child support; (5) deny State occupational, professional, and business licenses, and driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to delinquent noncustodial parents; (6) authorize liens on vehicle titles, seizure of bank accounts, and holds on lottery winnings, settlements, payouts, bequests, and proceeds from the sale of forefeited property to satisfy child support arrearages; (7) require States to make a rebuttable presumption that any transfer of property by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage; (8) revise the mechanism for collection of past-due child support from Federal tax refunds to cover interests without a separate court order to satisfy child support arrearages; (9) mandate reporting monthly child support obligations to credit bureaus; (10) permit enforcement of any child support order until the child is at least 30; (11) require interest on all child support judgments; (12) require States to adopt the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws in August 1992; (13) allow State courts to order the assignment of life insurance benefits and interests in jointly held property to satisfy child support arrearages; and (14) require States to treat international child support cases in the same manner as interstate child support cases. (Sec. 494) Amends CCPA with respect to State laws and garnishments for securing child support. Gives Federal debts a lower priority than child support debts when the obligor's disposable income cannot satisfy both debts through withholding. Prohibits employers from discharging any employee whose earnings are subject to garnishment for additional indebtedness arising from a child support order. (Sec. 496) Denies Federal occupational, professional, and business licenses of delinquent individuals until the license hold is released. (Sec. 499C) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the IRS Commissioner should instruct IRS field officers to give a high priority to requests for the use of full collection in delinquent child support cases. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to simplify the full collection process and reduce the amount of child support arrearage needed before an individual may apply for full collections. (Sec. 499I) Amends the Federal bankruptcy code to: (1) allow parentage and child support case establishment, modification, and enforcement to proceed uninterrupted after a bankruptcy petition is filed; (2) treat as outside chapter 11, 12, or 13 plans any debt owed to child support creditors, except as specified; and (3) allow a claim for payment of a debt for child support to be asserted in court. (Sec. 499J) Sets forth requirements pertaining to parentage establishment and child support payments in the armed forces. (Sec. 499L) Directs the Comptroller General and Secretary of the Treasury to study an annual reconciliation process for paying child support arrearages as part of the Federal income tax process. (Sec. 499M) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, or restrict passports in cases where the applicant or holder is a noncustodial parent subject to a State arrest warrant for nonpayment of a substantial child support arrearage. (Sec. 499N) Prohibits Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment for individuals owing certain child support arrearages. (Sec. 499Q) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Part H: Collection and Distribution - (Sec. 499R) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) set priorities for State distribution of child support collections; (2) require States to limit claims against noncustodial parents for reimbursement of a child's portion of AFDC to the amount in the child support order; (3) revise part D plan provisions concerning fees; and (4) require States to provide for collection and disbursement points for child support cases. Part I: Federal Role - Requires Comptroller General studies and pilot projects with respect to requiring State systems to pay the child support collected under a State plan to the individuals to whom the support is owed before making any payment to reimburse any State for AFDC provided with respect to the child in question. Amends IRC to revise the Federal income tax refund offset mechanism. (Sec. 499V) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should encourage parents to use the State child support agency to process and distribute child support payments. (Sec. 499W) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) designate the separate organizational unit currently charged with various parentage and child support responsibilities as the OCSE; (2) change OCSE's organizational structure. (Sec. 499X and Y) Requires: (1) the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to provide training assistance to the States; (2) States to provide training of child support personnel; and (3) the Secretary to study staffing at State child support enforcement programs and reduce payments to States that have not implemented recommended staffing levels. (Sec. 499Z) Requires the Secretary to: (1) authorize demonstration projects to test alternative approaches to incentive funding for State child support programs; and (2) reduce payments to States which have not reinvested incentive payments in their child support programs. Includes as "support" under SSA title IV part D with respect to incentive payments to States any premiums paid for health insurance coverage pursuant to a support order. Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should not use amounts paid to them pursuant to SSA title IV part D, which are reinvested in child support activities, to supplant State funding of such activities. (Sec. 499BB) Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of OCSE's audit process to develop criteria and methodology for auditing activities of State child support enforcement agencies; and (2) provide for State demonstration projects for the purpose of ensuring that custodial parents owned child support have a consistent source of income for the support of their children. (Sec. 499CC) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children should have a consistent source of income to meet their education and medical needs; (2) the provision of public assistance to a custodial parent for the support of a child with respect to whom the noncustodial parent owes child support does not absolve the latter of the obligation to provide such support; (3) the States must continue to vigorously pursue efforts to establish parentage and establish and enforce child support obligations; and (4) OCSE should develop a mechanism to publicize the best State practices in child support. Directs the Secretary to: (1) consider applications from eligible States to conduct child support assurance demonstration projects; and (2) submit an evaluation report on such projects to the Congress. (Sec. 499DD) Amends the IRC to establish in the Treasury a Children's Trust Fund to hold the contributions designated by individuals on their tax returns for funding child support programs. (Sec. 499EE, FF, GG, and HH) Requires: (1) the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on delinquent child support payments and the effectiveness of administrative versus judicial adjudication of parentage and child support cases; and (2) OCSE to produce and update a certain compendium of State child support laws published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and establish a permanent child support advisory committee. Part J: State Role - Amends Amends SSA title IV D to require States to: (1) promote the greatest economic security possible for children, within the obligor's ability to pay; (2) provide custodial parents with certain information on child support cases and the services available under their part D plans; and (3) require any changes in child support payees to be made only through administrative procedures. (Sec. 499KK, MM, and NN) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) work closely with parents to improve the quality of child support services; (2) have offices in areas accessible to public transportation with convenient hours that allow parents to meet privately with attorneys and caseworkers; and (3) establish administrative procedures to process child support cases and a child support council to recommend improvements in State paternity and child support programs. Part K: Jobs for Unemployed Noncustodial Parents - Expresses the sense of the Congress that any Federal program to provide jobs for noncustodial parents should be administered so as not to adversely affect any Federal program for custodial parents. Requires the Secretary to transmit evaluations of certain projects under the JOBS program under SSA title IV part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) to the Secretary of Labor for study and possible action, including authorizing States to provide services of greater scope and duration to unemployed noncustodial parents under such program. Part L: Effective Date - Sets forth an effective date. Part M: Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1993 - Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act - Absolves of liability under State or Federal law any person who discloses any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of that individual. Requires such an agency to disclose such records only for child support purposes. Authorizes civil damages for unauthorized disclosures. (Sec. 499SS) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to access to and use of consumer reports by State child support enforcement agencies in child support cases. (Sec. 499TT through WW) Amends SSA title IV part D with regard to: (1) health care support; (2) reporting of State compliance with time limits for providing certain child support assistance; (3) employer wage withholding for child support obligations; and (4) the national parents locator network. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on incentives to encourage States to enforce health care support obligations of noncustodial parents. Part N: Reporting Delinquent Parents to Consumer Credit Agencies - Amends SSA to require provision to consumer reporting agencies of information on overdue child support obligations. Subtitle B: Pension Reform - Pension Reform Act - Amends ERISA and the IRC with respect to pension integration, participation, and vesting requirements. (Sec. 502) Extends applicability of new integration rules under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to all existing accrued benefits. Amends the IRC to disallow integration for simplified employee pensions, by repealing provisions relating to permitted disparity under rules limiting discrimination under simplified employee pensions. Repeals for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2002, IRC provisions relating to: (1) pension integration exceptions under nondiscrimination requirements for qualification; and (2) nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance. (Sec. 503) Revises IRC minimum coverage requirements with respect to separate lines of business. Sets forth a special rule where the employer operates a single line of business. Limits a line of business exception. (Sec. 504) Eliminates a special vesting rule for multiemployer plans under IRC and ERISA. (Sec. 505) Provides for division of pension benefits upon divorce unless otherwise provided in qualified domestic relations orders. (Sec. 507 and 508) Provides for studies and reports by the Comptroller General relating to cost-of-living adjustments and pension portability. (Sec. 509) Provides for the continued availability of remedies relating to rights of spouses to accrued benefits under pension plans under divorce case domestic relations orders entered before 1985. Subtitle C: Social Security Reform - Social Security Caregiver Act - Amends SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) to: (1) provide for an increase of up to five in the number of years of either zero or low earnings disregarded in determining average annual earnings on which benefits are based provided such year were used to provide care to a child under the age of 12 or to a chronically dependent spouse or relative; (2) repeal the seven-year restriction on eligibility for widow's and widower's insurance benefits based on disability; and (3) provide full widow's or widower's insurance benefits to disabled widows or widowers without regard to age and without certain reductions. Subtitle D: Former Military Spouses Protection - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to make certain amendments regarding military retired pay to former spouses applicable to divorces, dissolutions of marriage, annulments, and legal separations that became effective before such Act's enactment. (Currently, such amendments apply only to those events that become effective 90 days after such Act's enactment). Permits any change in payments of military retired or retainer pay due to such amendment to apply only to payments for months beginning 90 days after this Act's enactment. Subtitle E: Unremunerated Work Act - Unremunerated Work Act - Directs the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to: (1) conduct time use surveys of unremunerated work performed in the United States (including household, agricultural, and volunteer work and work related to child care and other care services, food production, and family businesses); and (2) calculate the monetary value of such unremunerated work, separately for men and women, and include such value in statistics used to determine the gross national product.

Child Support Responsibility Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Locate and Case Tracking Title II: Establishment Title III: Parentage Title IV: Enforcement Title V: Collection and Distribution Title VI: Federal Role Title VII: State Role Child Support Responsibility Act of 1994 - Title I: Locate and Case Tracking - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to establish a Federal registry of child support orders and or modifications issued by any State court or administrative order. Provides for State access to such registry. (Sec. 102)Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include among the functions of the Federal Parent Locator System: (1) establishing parentage; and (2) establishing, modifying, enforcing child support obligations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide prompt access to the Secretary of all Federal income tax returns filed by individuals. Instructs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems to expand State access to the national parent locator network. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a national reporting system on employees and their child support obligations through the mandatory inclusion of certain child support information on W-4 forms (including the availability of health care insurance). (Sec. 104) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to have in effect statutory mechanisms which: (1) establish a child support order registry to transmit abstracts of State child support orders to the Federal Registry and distribute child support proceeds withheld from a delinquent parent's wages; and (2) allow an individual to bring an action against an employer or State official for noncompliance with this Act. Prescribes parameters for direct wage withholding, State agency access to various data bases, and expanded interaction with the National Parent Locator Network. (Sec. 105) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to integrate child support obligations and payments within the structure of income tax returns, including: (1) assessment and collection of child support arrearages; and (2) payment to State registries of child support amounts collected by the Secretary of the Treasury. Title II: Establishment - Amends part D of SSA title IV (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to set forth procedural guidelines for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed services in connection with proceedings relating to child support and parentage obligations. (Sec. 204) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to: (1) study and report to the Congress on the advisability of a national child support guideline; (2) develop such a guideline, if advisable. (Sec. 205) Includes among the requisite components of approved State plans: (1) a specified duration of child support; (2) electronic transmittal of State documents; (3) telephonic appearance in interstate cases; (4) uniform terms in child support orders; (5) social security numbers on marriage licenses, divorce decrees, parentage decrees, and birth certificates; (6) administrative subpoena powers; (7) State-conducted surveys and outreach programs for underserved populations; and (8) State guidelines for child health care insurance. (Sec. 213) Amends the Federal judicial code to set forth rules governing modification of sister State child support orders. Title III: Parentage - Requires approved State plans to include prescribed procedures for paternity acknowledgment. Title IV: Enforcement - Requires approved State plans to include prescribed procedures for garnishment of wages for parents in arrears for child support, including: (1) Federal death benefits; (2) black lung benefits; (3) veterans benefits, and (4) workers' compensation. (Sec. 404) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide that: (1) its garnishment restrictions neither pre-empt State law, nor exempt any person from complying with State or Federal laws permitting garnishment for the purpose of securing child support; and (2) a garnishment intended to satisfy a child support debt takes priority over competing debts owed to the Federal government. (Sec. 405) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures to satisfy child support arrearages which: (1) prohibit a State court from applying the doctrine of election of remedies to prevent a custodial parent from collecting child support from the noncustodial parent; (2) prohibit State and Federal occupational licensing or regulating agencies from issuing or renewing occupational, professional or business licenses to individuals who fail to appear or are delinquent in child support cases; (3) prohibit State motor vehicle departments from issuing or renewing a driver's license or vehicle registration to such individuals; (4) require placement of child support liens on certificates of vehicle title; (5) permit attachment of bank accounts; (6) impose liens upon lottery winnings, insurance, court and other settlements; (7) presume fraudulent intent in any property transfer; (8) permit attachment of public and private retirement plans; (9) eliminate statutes of limitations in child support cases; and (10) require child support enforcement agencies to assess and collect interest on child support judgments. (Sec. 418) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to: (1) except from its automatic stay provisions proceedings establishing parentage and debts for child support; (2) require a bankruptcy plan to provide for full payment when due of debts for child support; (3) declare that a debt for child support includes State public debts and assigned child support based on provision of expenditures with respect to aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) and foster care and adoption assistance; (4) include among prioritized claims allowed unsecured claims for child support; (5) preclude a debtor from avoiding the fixing of judicial liens for child support; (6) except from discharge a debt pursuant to divorce or separation; and (7) prohibit trustee avoidance of a transfer that was a bona fide payment of a debt for child support. (Sec. 419) Prescribes procedural mandates for the Secretary of Defense to cooperate with the States in the enforcement of child support obligations of members and former members of the Armed Forces. (Sec. 420) Requires each State to have in effect laws which adopt the officially approved version of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 421) Authorizes the Secretary of State to deny or restrict passport privileges to child support debtors subject to State arrest warrants. Denies Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment to debtors with child support arrearages exceeding specified amounts. (Sec. 423) Amends part D of SSA title IV (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to mandate that approved State plans include procedures to satisfy child support arrearages by permitting State courts to order: (1) assignments of life insurance benefits; and (2) assignment of an interest in jointly held property. (Sec. 425) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Mandates that the States treat international child support cases in the same manner as interstate child support cases. (Sec. 426) Prescribes guidelines for shielding depository institutions from liability for providing financial records to State enforcement agencies in child support cases. (Sec. 427) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures to ensure: (1) cost-of-living adjustments in child support orders; (2) annual exchange of financial information by parties to a child support order; and (3) criminal penalties for failure to pay child support and the granting of use immunity may be granted to compel testimony in specified civil child support proceedings. Title V: Collection and Distribution - Prescribes priorities in the distribution of collected child support pursuant to an approved State plan. Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on studies and pilot projects of systems under which States would be required to pay child support to the individuals to whom it is owed before making reimbursements to any State for AFDC provided with respect to such child. (Sec. 502) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures which limit State claims against the noncustodial parent to the assistance provided to the child. (Sec. 503) Revises the fee guidelines for State child support collection and paternity determination services. Title VI: Federal Role - Directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Child Support Enforcement under the direction of an Assistant Secretary. Expands the training programs for State child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary to develop the methodology for determining each State child support and paternity establishment program's staffing requirements. (Sec. 605) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to revise the definition of "medical child support order". (Sec. 606) Instructs the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of the audit process of the Office of Child Support Enforcement; and (2) make grants to the States for demonstration projects implementing a system of assured minimum child support payments. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 608) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create the Children's Trust Fund for making expenditures to implement this Act. (Sec. 609) Instructs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the causes for nonpayment of child support; and (2) the efficacy of processing child support and parentage cases in States that use administrative processes as compared to those that use judicial or quasi-judicial processes. (Sec. 611) Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement to: (1) produce and update a certain compendium entitled "A Guide to State Child Support and Paternity Laws" and (2) establish a permanent advisory committee on child support matters. Title VII: State Role - Mandates that State plans for child and spousal support include: (1) agency advocacy promoting the greatest economic security possible for children; (2) certain information on plan services for dissemination to each custodial parent; (3) an administrative procedure as the sole procedure for change of payee; and (4) conflict-of-interest restrictions upon State modification of a child support order. (Sec. 705) Provides for increased payments to States under the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity program, repealing provisions for State incentive payments.

A joint resolution regarding United States policy toward Haiti.

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Commends the men and women of the U.S. armed forces in Haiti. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should have sought congressional approval before deploying such forces; (2) the departure from power of the de facto authorities in Haiti and Haitian efforts to achieve national reconciliation, democracy, and the rule of law are in the best interests of the Haitian people; and (3) the President's lifting of the unilateral economic sanctions on Haiti and his efforts to bring about the lifting of economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations are appropriate. Supports a prompt and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. armed forces from Haiti as soon as possible. Requires the President to submit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives: (1) a statement of the national security objectives to be achieved by Operation Uphold Democracy and a detailed description of U.S. policy, the military mission and general rules of engagement under which operations of U.S. armed forces are conducted in and around Haiti, including the role of such forces regarding Haitian on Haitian violence, and efforts to disarm Haitian military or police forces or civilians; and (2) changes or modifications to such objectives, policy, mission, or rules of engagement. Directs the President to report to the Congress on the situation in Haiti by November 1, 1994, including a listing of units of the U.S. armed forces participating in, and the estimated duration and costs of, Operation Uphold Democracy. Requires the Secretary of State to report to the Congress on: (1) the participation or involvement of any member of the Haitian Government in violations of internationally recognized human rights from December 15, 1990, to December 15, 1994; and (2) all agreements the United States has entered into with other nations, including any assistance pledged or provided, in connection with U.S. efforts in Haiti.

Living Wage, Jobs For All Act

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

A Living Wage, Jobs for All Act - Declares that the Congress affirms the basic economic rights and responsibilities under the 1944 "Economic Bill of Rights", while updating and extending it to include that: (1) every adult American able and willing to earn a living through paid work has the right to a free choice among opportunities for useful and productive part- or full-time paid employment at decent real wages or for self-employment; and (2) every adult American unable to work for pay or find employment has the right to an adequate standard of living that rises with increases in the wealth and productivity of the society. (Sec. 2) Makes it the responsibility of each Federal agency and commission, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to perform so as to help establish and maintain conditions under which all adult Americans may freely exercise the economic rights specified in 1944 and in this Act. Prohibits Federal agencies or commissions from directly or indirectly promoting recession, stagnation, or unemployment as a means of reducing wages and salaries or inflation. (Sec. 3) Directs the President to establish a program to implement such basic economic rights and responsibilities. Sets forth policies and projects to be included under such program. Includes such program in the annual submission of budget. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to provide grants and other incentives to States and local governments to encourage short- and long-term public works and public services planning in urban, suburban, and rural areas, in order to implement such basic economic rights and responsibilities. Requires applications for such assistance to include strategic and tactical plans. (Sec. 5) Makes it the policy of the Federal government to cooperate with other nations' governments and the United Nations to help develop an international community based on rising living standards, particularly for those people with the lowest levels of income, wealth, access to public facilities, free trade union organization, and political power. Directs the President, through appropriate Federal agencies, to review all Federal law and regulations that interfere with implementation of such policy, taking specified factors into consideration. Makes U.S. contributions to the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development contingent upon development and implementation of policies and procedures that will: (1) raise the standard of living in countries receiving assistance from such Fund or Bank, rather than impose austerity; and (2) contribute to such countries' economic viability, credit worthiness, and ability to import goods and services from the United States. Directs the President to: (1) instruct the U.S. representative to the United Nations to propose a series of international and regional conferences on alternative methods of planning for the reduction of involuntary unemployment; and (2) promote, through the Secretary of Labor, the convening in the United States or elsewhere of international and regional conferences on coping with unemployment and underemployment and moving toward fuller employment in the world. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in promoting such conferences, to provide financial and technical assistance to organized labor and cooperative, community, nonprofit, and voluntary organizations, giving priority to widespread communication on controlling facility closings and capital flight by large businesses and on facilitating transnational labor organizations and collective bargaining. (Sec. 6) Directs the President, in the next annual message to the Congress, to propose establishment of a Conversion Planning Fund. Requires such Fund to promote and activate short- and long-term plans for coping with declines in civilian or military activities by developing policies, programs, and projects to expand economic activities in sectors where additional or improved goods or services are needed. Directs the Secretary of Defense to transfer one percent of amounts appropriated for military activities of the Department of Defense to the Fund. Authorizes appropriations, in addition to such transferred funds, as necessary for the Fund. (Sec. 7) Directs the President to establish an annual schedule for implementing this Act, including specified recommendations for restructuring Federal budget priorities and promoting educational activities within each State on locally-based overall planning. Amends the Employment Act of 1946 to: (1) include such implementation schedule in the annual Presidential economic report; and (2) provide for Joint Economic Committee oversight of actions taken or proposed to be taken under this Act. Sets forth requirements that specified types of impact analyses and other information be contained in: (1) all budgetary data for specific programs, whether in budget messages and resolutions or in legislative authorizations and appropriations; and (2) all Presidential budget messages to the Congress. (Sec. 8) Authorizes appropriations.

Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 1994 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify the definition of "religion" to include all aspects of religious observance, practice, and belief unless an employer demonstrates that it is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business (as under current law) after initiating and engaging in an affirmative and bona fide effort. Provides that an accommodation by the employer shall not be deemed to be reasonable if: (1) such accommodation does not remove the conflict between employment requirements and the employee's religious observance or practice; or (2) the employee demonstrates to the employer the availability of an alternative accommodation less onerous to the employee that may be made by the employer without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business and the employer refuses to make such accommodation. Specifies that it shall not be a defense to a claim of unlawful employment practice for failure to provide a reasonable accommodation that such accommodation would be in violation of a bona fide seniority system if, in order for the employer to reasonably accommodate such observance or practice: (1) an adjustment is made in the employee's work hours (including an adjustment that requires the employee to work overtime to avoid working at a time that abstention from work is necessary to satisfy religious requirements), shift, or job assignment that would not be available to any employee but for such accommodation; or (2) the employee and any other employee voluntarily exchange shifts or job assignments or make some other arrangement. Defines "undue hardship" as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense (taking into account the identifiable cost of the accommodation in relation to the size and operating cost of the employer and the number of individuals who will need a particular accommodation to a religious observance or practice). Specifies that an employer shall not be required to pay premium wages for work performed during hours to which such premium wages would ordinarily be applicable if work is performed during such hours only to accommodate religious requirements of an employee.

Firearms Licensing Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Firearms Licensing Act of 1994 - Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to reduce by 25 percent the annual allocation to a State for a fiscal year under title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 unless the State has in effect laws and procedures which provide for: (1) a records check before issuance of a driver's license and identification documents, and the use of magnetic strips to identify prohibited persons; (2) the seizure and voiding of the driver's license of a person convicted of a felony or adjudicated mentally incompetent, and the use of a magnetic strip identifying the licensee as a prohibited person to be attached to future licenses; (3) the funding of records checks by increasing fines imposed upon convicted felons; and (4) a requirement that the State maintain and update a computerized list of prohibited persons. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) create a national, computerized list of prohibited persons; (2) incorporate State criminal history records into the Federal criminal records system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (3) develop hardware and software systems to link State lists of prohibited persons with the national list; and (4) provide any responsible State agency with access to the national list upon request. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) procedures for correcting erroneous records; and (2) judicial review. Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit a person from possessing a firearm unless the person is carrying an identification document that is issued to the person by the State transportation agency where the person resides and affixed with a magnetic strip on which is encoded information that identifies the licensee as a person who is not a prohibited person. Makes it unlawful for any licensed dealer to: (l) knowingly transfer a firearm to an unlicensed individual unless the dealer has used an electronic device to read such strip; or (2) fail to notify local law enforcement authorities within 72 hours of any attempt to purchase a firearm by a person who is identified as a prohibited person through the use of such a device. Sets penalties for violations. Directs the court, upon conviction of such illegal possession of a firearm, to offer the defendant the opportunity to seek enlistment or appointment in the armed forces (and if the defendant immediately accepts, to impose a probationary sentence on the defendant, conditioned on the defendant becoming enlisted or appointed within 60 days after imposition of such sentence and completing the minimum period of obligated active service required under the enlistment or appointment).

Providing for further consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 416) providing limited authorization for the participation of United States Armed Forces in the multinational force in Haiti and providing for the prompt withdrawal of United States Forces from Haiti.

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Sets forth the rule for the further consideration of H.J. Res. 416 (U.S. armed forces' participation in the multinational force in Haiti).

To honor the United States military astronauts who flew to the Moon while on duty with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Promotes seven former astronauts who flew Apollo missions to the moon while serving on active military duty to the rank of Major General in the Air Force. Promotes eight such astronauts to the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy.

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the percentage of United States Armed Forces participating in the United Nations-led peacekeeping force in Haiti should not exceed the annual percentage assessed the United States by the United Nations for contributions to finance the peacekeeping activities of the United Nations.

United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1994

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the percentage of U.S. armed forces participating in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force in Haiti should be no higher than the percentage assessed the United States for contributions to finance UN peacekeeping activities for the year in which such force becomes operational.

Contingent Workforce Equity Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Worker Protections Title II: Employee Benefits Title III: Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors Title IV: Federal Temporary Employees Contingent Workforce Equity Act - Title I: Worker Protections - Provides protections for part-time, temporary, or other contingent workers. (Sec. 101) Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for specified annual increases in the minimum wage. (Sec. 102) Requires that contingent (part-time or temporary) workers receive the same wages as full-time workers for the same work (with exceptions for differential payments pursuant to seniority, merit, or production quantity-or-quality systems or based on factors other than employment status). (Sec. 103) Amends specified Federal law relating to civil rights to protect all persons (including independent contractors) in their right to make and enforce contracts, sue, be parties, give evidence, and be subject to certain requirements free from discrimination based on religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability (race and color discrimination are already prohibited). (Sec. 104) Amends the National Labor Relations Act to include in the collective bargaining units part-time or temporary workers with reasonable expectations of continued employment. Revises joint employer status rules to consider individuals employed by a contractor of an employer as that employer's employees if they are assigned on a regular basis to perform work on the employer's premises and their tasks are functionally integrated with the employer's operations. (Sec. 105) Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to require employers to protect all workers (not only their own employees) from hazards within the employers' control. (Sec. 106) Amends the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to extend to part-time employees the right to advance notice of layoffs and plant closings and other rights under such Act. (Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to carry out an annual survey identifying the characteristics of temporary workers and their relationships with the establishments at which they are temporarily employed and, where appropriate, with their permanent employers. (Sec. 108) Amends the Service Contract Act of 1965 to require Federal service contract successors to offer a right of first refusal of employment to employees employed under the predecessor contract. Exempts cases where the successor contractor: (1) reasonably believes, based on past performance, the employee is unable to perform the work suitably; or (2) would have to layoff or discharge its own employee. Provides, where a lesser number of jobs are available under the successor contract, that the right of first refusal be offered on a seniority basis. Provides for remedial orders. Exempts contracts under the Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (relating to blind-made products) and under which services are provided on an intermittent basis. Title II: Employee Benefits - Extends certain employee benefits to contingent workers. (Sec. 201) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to lower the threshold for employee coverage to 125 hours of service with an employer during the previous three-month period. (Sec. 202) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1970 (ERISA) to provide for: (1) treatment of employees working at less than full-time (500 or more hours but less than 1,000 hours service per year) under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans; (2) treatment of part-time workers (less than 30 hours service per week) under group health plans; and (3) inclusion of certain individuals whose services are leased or contracted for under the definition of employee. (Sec. 203) Amends ERISA to require portable pension accounts for defined contribution plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor to set standards for reciprocity agreements between industry and labor funds for portable pension accounts and employee transfer of accrued benefits and vesting rights from one plan to another. Provides for inflation adjustment for deferred vested benefits. (Sec. 204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require States to provide unemployment compensation to part-time workers unavailable for full-time work. Title III: Misclassification of Employees as Independent Contractors - Deals with certain misclassifications of employees as independent contractors. (Sec. 301) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to waive employment tax liability for such a misclassification based on a reasonable good faith misapplication of common law rules, where the employer did not treat individuals in substantially similar positions differently and agrees to treat all such individuals as employees in the future. Modifies provisions on safe harbor for classifications of individuals as nonemployees and provisions for authority for regulations and rulings on employment status. (Sec. 302) Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to make ineligible for Federal contracts employers who willfully misclassify employees as independent contractors. Requires certification that a bid or proposal for a Federal contract is adequate to pay all related employment taxes. Requires Federal contractors to notify independent contractors of their rights and responsibilities. Gives Federal contract bidders a right of action against bidders who misclassify employees as independent contractors. (Sec. 303) Amends Federal law relating to the armed forces to apply to Federal defense contractors provisions, similar to those for other Federal contractors, relating to: (1) ineligibility for contracts for willful misclassification of employees as independent contractors; (2) certification of bid adequacy to pay employment taxes; (3) notification of rights of independent contractors; and (4) right of action against bidders who misclassify employees as independent contractors. Title IV: Federal Temporary Employees - Sets forth provisions relating to Federal temporary employees. (Sec. 401) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal Government should limit the temporary designation to only those positions lasting no more than one year. (Sec. 402) Amends Federal civil service law to direct the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations to provide for offering health benefits plans to temporary Federal employees. (Sec. 403) Allows Federal employees in temporary assignments to participate in the Federal Employees' Retirement System after five years of service. (Sec. 404) Allows temporary Federal employees to receive life insurance benefits after completing six months of continuous employment.

A concurrent resolution concerning the removal of military forces of the Russian Federation from the independent nation of Moldova.

United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1994

Urges: (1) the Government of the Russian Federation to adhere to the provisions of the agreement initialed on August 10, 1994, to provide for the withdrawal of its military forces from Moldova; and (2) the Administration to continue to use every appropriate opportunity, including multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, to secure removal of such forces.

To amend the charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1994

Amends the charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to add as authorized members those U.S. military personnel who served honorably on the Korean peninsula or in its territorial waters for not less than 30 consecutive days, or a total of 60 days, after June 30, 1949.

Concerning the removal of Russian troops from the independent nation of Moldova.

United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1994

Urges: (1) the Government of the Russian Federation to adhere to the provisions of the agreement for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Moldova initialed on August 10, 1994; and (2) the Administration to continue to use every appropriate opportunity, including multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, to secure removal of Russian military forces from Moldova.

Alan J. Dixon, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission for a term expiring at the end of the first session of the 104th Congress, vice James A. Courter, term expired.

United States · United States Senate · 4 October 1994

Alan J. Dixon, of Illinois, to be Chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, vice James A. Courter.

United States · United States Senate · 4 October 1994

To authorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide financing for the export of nonlethal defense articles and defense services the primary end use of which will be for civilian purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1994

Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to allow, provided certain congressional reporting and funding conditions are met, the Export-Import Bank to finance export sales of nonlethal defense articles or services whose primary end use will be for civilian purposes. Requires the Bank to encourage the use of its programs to support the export of products and services used: (1) to aid in the monitoring, control, or prevention of air, water, and ground contaminants or pollution, or which provide protection in the handling of toxic substances; and (2) for foreign environmental projects dedicated to the prevention, control, or cleanup of air, water, or ground pollution, including facilities to provide for control or cleanup, and used in retrofitting of facility equipment for the sole purpose of mitigating, controlling, or preventing adverse environmental effects. Authorizes appropriations.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the prospects for peace in Northern Ireland.

United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1994

Commends the British and Irish Governments for their steps to encourage and facilitate all-party talks leading to a lasting political settlement acceptable to, and ratified by, the people of Ireland, north and south. Urges the two governments to include in such talks all parties that renounce violence. Hails the cessation of Irish Republican Army military operations as an essential step to such a settlement. Calls upon all other paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland to cease the employment of violence. Expresses strong support for U.S. economic development programs such as the International Fund for Ireland and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Urges the President to take appropriate steps to support the peace process in Northern Ireland through such programs.

Expressing the sense of Congress that the total amount appropriated for fiscal year 1996 for defense programs should not exceed the amount appropriated for those programs for fiscal year 1995 reduced by 10 percent.

United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1994

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the total amount appropriated for FY 1996 for national defense programs should not exceed $236.43 billion (such amount representing a ten percent reduction from the FY 1995 amount).

Base Closure Community Redevelopment Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1994

Base Closure Community Redevelopment Act of 1994 - Amends the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to direct the Secretary of Defense (Secretary), with respect to the use or transferability of any portion of a military installation closed or to be closed under such Act, to: (1) identify the buildings and property for which the Department of Defense (DOD) or another Federal department or agency has a use or will accept a transfer; (2) identify any property as surplus; (3) submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and to the redevelopment authority for such installation information on any property identified as surplus; and (4) publish in the Federal Register and the appropriate local newspaper information on the surplus property. Requires State and local governments, representatives of the homeless, and other parties interested in the surplus property to submit to the redevelopment authority (RA) a notice of interest in such property, with certain time limits. Requires the representative of the homeless to submit with such notice specific information with respect to the proposed homeless assistance program for such property, as well as certain assessments and descriptions. Directs the RA for each installation to prepare a redevelopment plan for such installation which includes legally binding agreements concerning the use of such property to assist the homeless. Requires redevelopment plan approval by the HUD Secretary. Requires an RA, upon completion of a redevelopment plan, to submit to the Secretary and the HUD Secretary an application containing such plan. Requires the Secretaries to complete a review of the plan within 60 days after receipt, including a determination as to whether such plan meets certain requirements with respect to the homeless population in the area, the availability of existing services to meet the needs of the homeless, and the suitability of the surplus property to meet such needs. Allows for the negotiation of plan deficiencies between the RA and the HUD Secretary during such review. Requires appropriate action by the parties concerned if the HUD Secretary determines a redevelopment plan to be inappropriate, including plan revision and resubmission by the RA. Provides for transfer to the representative of the homeless or the RA of surplus property for disposal under an approved redevelopment plan. Authorizes either Secretary to postpone any deadline related to plan consideration and approval in the interest of the communities affected. Provides transition provisions applicable to installations approved for closure before the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary, in every year in which activities are undertaken relating to the closure or realignment of a military installation under a base closure law, to submit to the President, the Congress, and the chief executive officer of the appropriate State a report on the costs of environmental remediation and compliance activities at such installation. (Sec. 4) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow for the designation of 20 nominated areas as enterprise communities if such areas are affected by the closure or realignment of a military installation under a base closure law. (Sec. 5) Amends the Defense Authorization Amendments and Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act to direct the Secretary, before determining the fair market value of any real property to be transferred, to: (1) notify the RA concerned of the appraisal guidelines and procedures to be used by the Secretary; and (2) incorporate into such guidelines and procedures any recommendations of the RA that the Secretary considers appropriate. Requires determination of the fair market value by a third party chosen jointly by the Secretary and the RA when the estimated difference between the two parties exceeds the greater of 25 percent of the property's value as determined by the RA, or $500,000. Makes identical changes under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. (Sec. 6) Amends the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act to direct the Secretary to determine the amount of reduction in pollution emissions that will result from the cessation of activities at a military installation approved for closure. Allows the Secretary to use such reduction (or allow another person or entity to use such reduction) as a credit for purposes of compliance with air quality requirements under the Clean Air Act. Makes identical changes under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990. (Sec. 7) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should consider carrying out through a single entity all environmental restoration, waste management, and environmental compliance activities at a military installation approved for closure or realignment. Authorizes the Secretary to do so if feasible and appropriate. (Sec. 8) Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse in full any person or entity for any economic loss suffered as a result of the release or threatened release of any hazardous substance, pollutant, contaminant, petroleum or petroleum derivative as a result of DOD activities at any military installation closed pursuant to a base closure law. Makes such provision inapplicable to the extent that the person or entity contributed to such release or threatened release. Provides reimbursement conditions. (Sec. 9) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to require the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency to assess a financial institution's record of meeting the credit needs of the community when the institution serves a community affected by the closure or realignment of a military installation under a base closure law.

A bill to authorize the award of the Purple Heart to persons who were prisoners of war on or before April 25, 1962.

United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1994

Authorizes the awarding of the Purple Heart to persons serving with the armed forces who were wounded while being taken prisoner or held captive before April 25, 1962. Prohibits such award to a person convicted by a competent court of rendering assistance to any U.S. enemy.

To provide for improved procedures for the enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed Forces.

United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1994

Directs the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) to establish a centralized personnel locator service that includes the addresses of each member of the armed forces. Requires addresses of members of the Coast Guard to be included upon request of the Secretary of Transportation. Requires the Secretary to update the locator service within 30 days after a listed member establishes a new address. Directs the Secretary to make such information available, upon request, to the Federal Parent Locator Service. Directs the Secretary of each military department (and the Secretary of Transportation with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) to prescribe regulations to facilitate the granting of leave for purposes of attending court hearings to determine either parentage or an obligation to provide child support. States that it is not necessary that the date of a certification of the authenticity or completeness of a copy of a court order for child support received by the Secretary concerned (such support to be paid through the retired pay of the member involved) be recent. Allows the Secretary concerned to make required child support payments to a State when a spouse or former spouse assigns to a State the right to receive support. Empowers the Secretary concerned to pay child support arrearages through the disposable retired pay of the responsible member.

African Conflict Resolution Act

United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1994

African Conflict Resolution Act - Authorizes the President to provide assistance to: (1) strengthen the conflict resolution capabilities of the Organization of African Unity and subregional organizations established by countries in Subsaharan Africa; (2) nongovernmental organizations engaged in mediation and reconciliation efforts in Africa; and (3) provide for demobilizations of armed forces in Subsaharan African countries and for the reintegration of demobilized military personnel into civilian society. Earmarks funds for such purposes from foreign assistance funds allocated for Subsaharan Africa. Permits the President to establish a program to provide education and training in conflict resolution and peacekeeping for civilian and military personnel of countries in Subsaharan Africa. Earmarks funding for such program. Declares that the President should develop an integrated, long-term plan to provide support for the enhancement of conflict resolution capabilities and demobilization activities in Subsaharan Africa.

To provide for a reduction in the number of members of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed in Europe unless the European member nations of NATO assume an increased share of the nonpersonnel costs of United States military installations in those nations.

United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1994

Directs the Secretary of Defense, for each of FY 1996 through 1999, to reduce the European end strength level of U.S. armed forces in accordance with a reduction formula based on the allied contribution level achieved (the level of contributions toward nonpersonnel costs made to the United States by allied nations benefiting from the presence of such troops). Directs the Secretary to cease such reductions if the allied level achieved is equal to or above a specified goal. Urges the President to seek to have European member nations of NATO assume an increased share of nonpersonnel costs of U.S. military installations in such countries in accordance with a specified timetable. Allows the Secretary to continually maintain a European end strength level of 25,000 members. Authorizes the President or the Secretary to waive such reductions in the event of a significant threat to national security. Provides for the allocation of such force reductions among military personnel.

A resolution to express the sense of the Senate concerning U.S. relations with Taiwan.

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1994

Expresses the sense of the Senate that U.S. policy toward Taiwan should: (1) welcome the President of the Republic of China on Taiwan and other high-level Government officials to the United States; (2) allow unrestricted office calls by all representatives of Taiwan in the United States to all U.S. departments and agencies; (3) send cabinet-level officials to Taiwan on a regular basis; (4) support a proposal in the United Nations for formal observer status for Taiwan, a proposal for its full admission into a wide range of international organizations, and participation of the President of the Republic of China on Taiwan in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum; (5) change the name of Taiwan's representative office in the United States to the "Taipei Representative Office"; (6) approve defensive arms sales to Taiwan based solely on Taiwan's self-defense needs; (7) require advice and consent of the Senate for the highest level U.S. representative in Taiwan; (8) upgrade the status of the existing American Institute in Taiwan; (9) include a report by the Secretary of State to specified congressional committees on U.S. relations with Taiwan; and (10) raise U.S. concerns about the People's Republic of China's threat to forcefully reunify with Taiwan.

Defense Industrial Conversion Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1994

Defense Industrial Conversion Act of 1994 - Establishes within the Department of Commerce the Office of Economic Conversion Information to serve as a central clearinghouse on matters relating to economic adjustment and defense conversion programs and activities of the Federal, State, and local governments and to help applicants in locating and applying for economic adjustment and defense conversion assistance. Provides for: (1) the establishment of an Office Director and staff; (2) the development in the Office of information databases with an appropriate range of programs; (3) a survey of all Federal departments and agencies to identify assistance and resources available to assist defense-dependent communities, businesses, and workers; and (4) the establishment of a defense cutback early warning database, a database of defense conversion efforts and their successes, a database of reference lists and bibliographies related to all facets of defense economic adjustment and conversion, and a databank of potentially commercializable technologies and products matched to the capabilities of defense-dependent industries and firms. Directs the Office to establish several mechanisms to assure easy access by the public and others to such databases, including a toll-free number, online access through existing computer networks, printed manuals and orientation materials and workshops, and on-call information specialists to address special problems. Directs the Office to conduct a regular review of the various agencies and programs in the Federal sector involving economic adjustment and defense conversion and to conduct community roundtables on such subject on an annual basis. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a defense conversion employment credit of ten percent of the qualified wages paid or incurred by a qualified employer during such year. Provides a defense conversion investment credit of five percent of the qualified conversion investments made by a qualified business for taxable years ending after December 31, 1994, and on or before December 31, 1999. Defines qualifying wages, employers, employees, investments, and businesses for purposes of the credits. Allows for accelerated depreciation of qualified excess defense conversion property (property formerly used by the taxpayer in a defense-related business). Requests the President to endeavor to enter into an agreement with appropriate NATO allies, Japan, and the Republic of Korea to provide for the payment by such nation of at least one-half of the cost of maintaining U.S. armed forces in such nation, including military pay costs. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to accept the payment of money or other property made under such an agreement. Requires such payments to be used to provide additional funds for defense conversion, reinvestment, and transition assistance programs of the Department of Defense.

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for improved treatment of future actuarial gains and losses to the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund.

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1994

Amends provisions relating to the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund to require the Secretary of Defense to pay into the Fund at the beginning of each fiscal year amounts under the most recent amortization schedule for the amortization of cumulative unfunded liabilities or gains or cumulative actuarial gains or losses to the Fund attributable to military service performed on or after October 1, 1984. Makes such provision effective for payments into the Fund for FY 1996.

Limited Authorization for the United States-led Force in Haiti Resolution

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1994

Limited Authorization for the United States-led Force in Haiti Resolution - Authorizes the U.S. armed forces to participate in the U.S.-led forces in Haiti only to protect U.S. citizens, to stabilize the security situation in Haiti so that orderly progress may be made in transferring the functions of government in that country to the democratically-elected Government of Haiti, and to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people. Terminates such authorization on March 1, 1995. Requires that such force remain under the command and control of officers of the U.S. armed forces at all times. Requires the President to report to the Congress on: (1) the participation of U.S. armed forces in the U.S.-led force and the United Nations (UN)-led force in Haiti; and (2) the efforts to withdraw U.S. armed forces from Haiti. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the speaker of the House of Represenatives and the majority leader of the Senate should monitor events in Haiti closely in considering whether to exercise any authority that may be granted to reassemble the Congress after the adjournment of the Congress sine die if the public interest warrants it. Requires the President to remove U.S. armed forces from Haiti if a joint resolution is enacted, pursuant to this Act, whereby the Congress directs the President to remove such forces within 30 days after enactment of such resolution, except for a limited number of members of the armed forces sufficient to protect U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel. Sets forth priority procedures with respect to the introduction and consideration of such resolution.

Waiving points of order against the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 4650) making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1995, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1994

Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on H.R. 4650 (making appropriations for the Department of Defense for FY 1995).

Uruguay Round Agreements Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Approval of, and General Provisions Relating to, the Uruguay Round Agreements Subtitle A: Approval of Agreements and Related Provisions Subtitle B: Tariff Modifications Subtitle C: Uruguay Round Implementation and Dispute Settlement Subtitle D: Related Provisions Title II: Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Provisions Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Subsidies Provisions Subtitle C: Effective Date Title III: Additional Implementation of Agreements Subtitle A: Safeguards Subtitle B: Foreign Trade Barriers and Unfair Trade Practices Subtitle C: Unfair Practices in Import Trade Subtitle D: Textiles Subtitle E: Government Procurement Subtitle F: Technical Barriers to Trade Title IV: Agriculture-Related Provisions Subtitle A: Agriculture Subtitle B: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Subtitle C: Standards Subtitle D: General Effective Date Title V: Intellectual Property Subtitle A: Copyright Provisions Subtitle B: Trademark Provisions Subtitle C: Patent Provisions Title VI: Related Provisions Subtitle A: Expiring Provisions Subtitle B: Certain Customs Provisions Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments Title VII: Revenue Provisions Subtitle A: Withholding Tax Provisions Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Estimated Taxes and Payments and Deposits of Taxes Subtitle C: Earned Income Tax Credit Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Retirement Benefits Subtitle E: Other Provisions Subtitle F: Pension Plan Funding and Premiums Title VIII: Pioneer Preferences Uruguay Round Agreements Act - Title I: Approval of, and General Provisions Relating to, the Uruguay Round Agreements - Subtitle A: Approval of Agreements and Related Provisions - Declares that the Congress approves: (1) the Uruguay Round Agreements entered into on April 15, 1994, pursuant to the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); and (2) a statement of administrative action proposed to implement such agreements that was submitted to the Congress on September 27, 1994. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 102) Prohibits any provision of the Uruguay Round Agreements that is inconsistent with any U.S. law from having any effect. Sets forth provisions governing the Agreements and their effect on State laws and private remedies. Subtitle B: Tariff Modifications - Grants the President, in addition to his other powers to enter into trade agreements regarding trade barriers, the authority to proclaim other modifications of any duty, staged rate reduction, or additional duties as may be necessary to carry out Schedule XX (United States annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to GATT). (Sec. 112) Amends the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to declare that the duty on foreign repairs made to U.S.-flag vessels shall not apply to the cost of equipment or spare parts for repairs made to certain U.S.-flag LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) barges or cargo vessels that enter the United States on or after the date the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement enters into force. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that such duty shall not apply to the cost of spare parts necessarily installed on such vessels before they first enter the United States, but only if a duty is paid under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States upon first entry into the United States on each spare part purchased in, or imported from, a foreign country. (Sec. 113) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to liquidate or reliquidate and refund any duties that were paid on: (1) certain agglomerated stone tiles entered into the United States on or after January 1, 1989, and before October 1, 1990; and (2) clomiphene citrate entered into the United States after December 31, 1988, and before January 1, 1993. (Sec. 114) Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to grant duty-free treatment to: (1) unimproved wool and other wool not finer than 46s; (2) octadecyl isocyanate; and (3) 5-chloro-2-(2,4- dichlorophenoxy)phenol. (Sec. 115) Sets forth consultation and layover requirements for actions proclaimed by the President. Subtitle C: Uruguay Round Implementation and Dispute Settlement - Sets forth provisions governing: (1) implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements; (2) WTO dispute settlement panels; (3) review of WTO operations; (4) increased transparency of the costs and benefits of trade policy actions; and (5) access to the WTO dispute settlement process. (Sec. 128) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the composition of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations to include representatives from nongovernmental environmental and conservation organizations. Subtitle D: Related Provisions - Directs the President to seek the establishment in the GATT 1947 (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, dated October 30, 1947) and in the WTO of a working party to examine internationally recognized worker rights as they relate to the articles, objectives, and related instruments of such agreement and organization. (Sec. 133) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) should oppose the admission for membership into the WTO of any country that supports the boycotting of another country. (Sec. 134) Urges the President to develop a comprehensive trade and development policy for African countries. (Sec. 135) Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objective in the extended negotiations on financial services to be conducted under the auspices of the WTO is to seek to secure commitments from developed and developing countries to reduce or eliminate barriers to the supply of financial services as the condition for the United States: (1) offering commitments to provide national treatment and market access in each of the financial services subsectors; and (2) making such commitments on a most-favored-nation basis. Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objective in the extended negotiations on basic telecommunications services is to obtain the opening on a nondiscriminatory basis of foreign markets for basic telecommunications services through facilities-based competition or through the resale of services on existing networks. Declares the principal U.S. negotiating objectives in the extended negotiations on trade in civil aircraft are, among other things, to obtain: (1) competitive opportunities for U.S. exports in foreign markets equivalent to those afforded to foreign products in the United States; (2) the reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers, including through expanded membership in the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft and in the US-EC bilateral agreement for large civil aircraft; and (3) increased transparency with respect to foreign subsidy programs in the civil aircraft sector, maintaining vigorous and effective disciplines on subsidies practices under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (Subsidies Agreement). (Sec. 136) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the tax on imported perfumes that contain distilled spirits. Grants a drawback (refund) of tax paid on distilled spirits used in the manufacture of imported perfumes. (Sec. 137) Requires unliquidated imported nonrubber footwear from Brazil which is subject to Treasury Decision 74-233, dated September 9, 1974, and which was entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or before October 28, 1981, to be assessed countervailing duties at rates equal to the amount of the cash deposit of the estimated countervailing duties required on such footwear at the time of entry or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption. Title II: Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Provisions - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the administering authority, upon receipt of a petition filed requesting a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding, to: (1) notify the exporting country named in the petition by delivering a public version of the petition; and (2) with respect to a countervailing duty proceeding, provide any exporting country named in the petition that is a Subsidies Agreement country an opportunity for consultations. (Sec. 212) Revises provisions regarding countervailing duty and antidumping duty petition determinations with respect to: (1) whether the petition has been filed by or on behalf of an industry; (2) extension of time for filing a petition; (3) polling to determine industry support; (4) comments by interested parties; and (5) termination of a petition where imports of the subject merchandise have been determined negligible. Reduces from 85 days to 65 days after a countervailing duty investigation is initiated the deadline by which the administering authority must determine, based on available information, whether a subsidy is being provided with respect to merchandise which is the subject of such investigation. Reduces the time period on other countervailing duty and antidumping duty determinations. (Sec. 213) Requires the administering authority, whenever making a preliminary or final antidumping duty determination with respect to imported merchandise, to disregard any weighted average dumping margin that is de minimis (less than two percent ad valorem or the equivalent specific rate for such merchandise). (Sec. 214) Requires the International Trade Commission (ITC), whenever there is an affirmative countervailing or antidumping duty finding, to include in its final determination a finding as to whether the subject imports are likely to seriously undermine the remedial affect of the countervailing or antidumping duty order. Revises provisions regarding critical circumstances determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings to require the administering authority to base its determinations on: (1) available information; and (2) in antidumping duty cases, whether there is a history of dumping and material injury by reason of dumped imports in the United States and elsewhere of the subject merchandise. (Sec. 216) Requires the administering authority with respect to countervailing and antidumping duty cases to provide exporters who would have been subject to agreements to eliminate the injurious effect of, or subsidies provided on, their exports, the reasons for not accepting such agreements and an opportunity for them to submit comments. (Sec. 217) Authorizes the administering authority and the ITC to use records compiled in a previously filed and withdrawn countervailing or antidumping duty petition in any subsequent investigation initiated pursuant to any new petitions filed within three months after such withdrawal. (Sec. 218) Sets forth special rules for: (1) countervailing and antidumping duty investigations with respect to agreements to eliminate the injurious effect of, or subsidies provided on, exports that are sold in a regional industry (domestic producers within a region who are treated as a separate industry); and (2) assessment of countervailing or antidumping duties on specific exporters in affirmative regional industry determinations. (Sec. 219) Requires the administering authority, whenever an affirmative antidumping determination is made, to make a preliminary and final determination of: (1) the estimated weighted average dumping margin for each exporter individually investigated; and (2) the estimated all-others rate for all exporters not individually investigated. Requires the administering authority to order the posting of bond for the subject merchandise based on the estimates above. (Sec. 220) Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the periodic review of countervailing or antidumping duty orders or notice of suspension of a countervailing or antidumping duty investigation; (2) determinations of antidumping or countervailing duties; (3) revocation of countervailing or antidumping duty orders; (4) termination of suspended countervailing or antidumping duty investigations; (5) administering authority determinations of whether revocation of an order, or termination of a suspended investigation, would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry, or a countervailable subsidy, or of dumping; (6) revised factors to be considered in threat of injury determinations; (7) negligible imports; (8) cumulation for determining material injury and threat of material injury to an industry; (9) consideration of post-petition information in countervailing or antidumping duty investigations; (10) determination of the normal value of subject merchandise; (11) opportunity for industrial users and consumers of subject merchandise to comment; (12) publication of countervailing or antidumping duty determinations; (13) conduct of countervailing or antidumping duty investigations and the administrative review of such investigations; and (14) antidumping duty petitions by WTO member countries. Subtitle B: Subsidies Provisions - Part 1: Countervailable Subsidies - Defines the term "countervailable subsidy" as a financial contribution, any form of income or price support, or any direct or indirect payment by the government of a country or any public entity within a country's territory to a person or a funding mechanism to provide a financial contribution to a person, thereby conferring a benefit. Part 2: Repeal of Section 303 and Conforming Amendments - Repeals a provision of the Tariff Act of 1930 concerning countervailing duties. (Sec. 262) Authorizes the imposition of a countervailing duty (equal to the amount of the net countervailable subsidy) on subject imported merchandise if: (1) the administering authority determines that a foreign country provides a countervailable subsidy with respect to such merchandise; and (2) in the case of merchandise imported from a Subsidies Agreement country, the ITC determines that a U.S. industry is materially injured or is threatened with material injury, or the establishment of a U.S. industry is materially retarded by reasons of such imported merchandise. (Sec. 263) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) de minimis countervailable subsidies; (2) determination of countervailable, all-others, and country-wide subsidy rates; and (3) the definition of "developing and least-developed countries". Part 3: Section 303 Injury Investigations - Requires the ITC, upon a request from an interested party for an injury investigation with respect to a countervailing duty order which applies to merchandise that is a product of a Subsidies Agreement country, to initiate an investigation to determine whether a U.S. industry is likely to be materially injured by such merchandise if such order is revoked. Part 4: Enforcement of United States Rights Under the Subsidies Agreement - Requires the administering authority to provide information to the public upon request, and, to the extent feasible, assistance and advice to interested parties concerning remedies and procedures under the Subsidies Agreement. Requires the administering authority to notify the USTR with respect to its determination that a class or kind of merchandise is benefiting from a subsidy prohibited under the Agreement. Sets forth provisions requiring the withdrawal of such subsidy or the imposition of countermeasures. Subtitle C: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates. Title III: Additional Implementation of Agreements - Subtitle A: Safeguards - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 regarding: (1) confidentiality of business information furnished to the ITC with respect to petitions requesting import relief from injury caused by import competition; (2) disclosure of such information under protective order; (3) time limits with respect to ITC import injury determinations in critical circumstances cases and import relief provided by the President; (4) productivity as a factor in ITC import relief determinations; and (5) limits with respect to the duration of import relief actions. Subtitle B: Foreign Trade Barriers and Unfair Trade Practices - Requires a certain USTR report on foreign trade barriers to include a section on foreign anticompetitive practices that adversely affect the export of U.S. goods or services. (Sec. 313) Requires the USTR to take into account the history of intellectual property practices of a foreign country and the history of U.S. efforts to achieve adequate intellectual property protection in identifying priority foreign countries. (Sec. 314) Revises the definition of an unreasonable foreign act, policy, or practice to include the denial of nondiscriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons that rely upon intellectual property protection. Requires the USTR to include in a certain report identifying U.S. trade liberalization priorities a review of U.S. trade expansion priorities. Revises factors to be included in such report. Requires the USTR to negotiate an agreement with foreign priority countries that eliminates the unreasonable trade practice or, if elimination is not feasible, that provides compensatory benefits. Sets forth U.S. objectives with respect to the protection of intellectual property rights. Subtitle C: Unfair Practices in Import Trade - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to set forth provisions with respect to: (1) the conclusion of ITC unfair trade practices determinations; (2) entry under bond of merchandise suspected of being manufactured as a result of an unfair trade practice; (3) cease and desist orders with respect to such merchandise; (4) access to confidential information submitted to the ITC in its investigation; (5) stays of actions pending before the ITC; and (6) jurisdiction of counterclaims filed in unfair trade practices cases. Subtitle D: Textiles - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a list of products to be integrated as set out in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. (Sec. 333) Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of manufacturers or exporters located outside the United States who fraudulently imported textile or apparel merchandise into the United States in violation of U.S. customs laws. Requires the President to publish a list of countries who have transshipped textile or apparel products or have engaged in activities designed to evade U.S. quotas on such products. (Sec. 334) Requires the Secretary to prescribe rules implementing specified principles for determining the origin of textiles and apparel products. Subtitle E: Government Procurement - Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to extend from one year to 18 months following the initiation of dispute settlement procedures with respect to the Agreement on Government Procurement the period of time during which the President shall not take action to limit Government procurement for a participant if specified conditions are met. Extends the time period of dispute resolution procedures before certain sanctions are imposed on a signatory country for not complying with such procedures. (Sec. 342) Repeals the mandate for a study of the economic effects of the waiver of Buy American requirements in the procurement of products in labor surplus areas prior to certain trade renegotiations. (Sec. 343) Revises such Act with respect to reciprocal competitive procurement practices and the authority to bar the procurement of U.S. products from non-designated countries. Subtitle F: Technical Barriers to Trade - Declares that nothing under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 regarding customs duties and technical barriers to trade may be construed to: (1) prohibit a Federal agency from engaging in standards-related activities, including activities related to safety, the protection of human, animal, or plant life or health, the environment, or consumers; or (2) limit a Federal agency's authority to determine the level of safety it considers appropriate in such areas. Title IV: Agriculture-Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Agriculture - Part 1: Market Access - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to prohibit any quantitative limitation or fee from being imposed under such Act with respect to any product of a WTO member. (Sec. 402) Repeals specified sections of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 regarding import restrictions on cheese and chocolate crumbs. Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to eliminate provisions authorizing the President to prohibit the entry of quota cheese. (Sec. 403) Repeals the Meat Import Act of 1979. (Sec. 404) Requires the President, in implementing the tariff-rate quotas set out in Schedule XX, to take necessary action to ensure that agricultural imports do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities in the United States. Sets forth provisions with respect to the application of tariff-rate quotas to imported agricultural products. (Sec. 405) Requires the President to publish in the Federal Register: (1) a list of special safeguard agricultural goods; and (2) a trigger level and price for such goods. Requires a duty to be imposed on such imports of such goods. Part II: Exports - Export Enhancement Program Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to require the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to carry out an export enhancement program to encourage the commercial sale of U.S. agricultural commodities in world markets at competitive prices. Extends funding levels for such program through FY 2001. (Sec. 411) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the authority of the dairy export incentive program through FY 2001. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell dairy products for export consistent with U.S. obligations under the Uruguay Round Agreements, if their sale will not interfere with the usual marketings of the United States nor disrupt world prices of agricultural commodities and patterns of commercial trade. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should consult other donor nations to consider appropriate levels of food aid commitments to meet the legitimate needs of developing countries; and (2) the United States should increase its contribution of bone fide food assistance to developing countries consistent with the Agreement on Agriculture. Part III: Other Provisions - Increases the maximum tariff rate the President may impose on imported tobacco. (Sec. 422) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to require producers, purchasers, and exporters of 1994 through 1998 price supported crops of tobacco to remit to the CCC a certain nonrefundable marketing assessment. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide a drawback (refund) on any tobacco that is subject to the over-quota rate of duty established under a tariff-rate quota. (Sec. 423) Authorizes the President to proclaim a reduction or elimination of any duty with respect to cigar binder and filler tobacco, wrapper tobacco, or oriental tobacco. (Sec. 424) Requires the President to report to the Congress on the extent to which Canada is complying with the Uruguay Round Agreements with respect to dairy and poultry products and with its related obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 425) Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the Congress on the effects of the Uruguay Round Agreements on the Federal milk marketing order system. (Sec. 426) Requires the CCC to use certain funds for export promotion. foreign market development, export credit financing, and promotion of the development, commercialization, and marketing of products resulting from alternative uses of agricultural commodities. Subtitle B: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to require the standards information center of the Department of Commerce, among other things, to make available to the public documents and information regarding: (1) general application of sanitary or phytosanitary measures by Federal and State agencies; and (2) participation of Federal and State governments and nongovernmental bodies in international and regional standardizing bodies and conformity assessment systems, and in bilateral and multilateral arrangements regarding standards-related measures. (Sec. 431) Amends Federal law to exclude Mexico from certain requirements requiring pest inspection of Mexican railroad cars that enter the United States. Amends the Federal Plant Pest Act and the Plant Quarantine Act to repeal the current requirement of permits for the importation or interstate movement of plant pests and nursery stock. Allows such importation or movement (in the mails or otherwise) only in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture to prevent the dissemination into the United States, or interstate, of such pests, plant diseases, or insect pests. Amends the Honeybee Act to repeal the statutory prohibition but authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit the importation of honeybees and honeybee semen into or through the United States in order to prevent the spread of diseases and parasites harmful to honeybees, the introduction of genetically undesirable honeybee germ plasm, or the introduction and spread of undesirable honeybee species or subspecies and honeybee semen. Amends the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 to revise the prohibition on the importation or interstate movement of noxious weeds. Amends Federal law to repeal the statutory prohibition but authorize the Secretary of Agriculture by regulation to prohibit or restrict the importation of cattle, sheep, or other ruminants, or swine that are diseased or infected with any disease, or that have been exposed to an infection, into or through the United States in order to prevent the dissemination of disease into the United States. Changes from mandatory to discretionary the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to: (1) cause the inspection of imported animals for contagious diseases or infection; and (2) establish an international animal quarantine station. Revises the Federal Meat Inspection Act with respect to a certification by the Secretary of Agriculture that foreign plants that export meat carcasses or meat products have complied with inspection requirements. (Sec. 432) Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to require the President to designate an agency to be responsible for informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of each international standard-setting organization. Prohibits an agency from making a determination that a foreign sanitary or phytosanitary measure is equivalent to a U.S. sanitary or phytosanitary measure unless it determines that such foreign measure provides at least the same level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection as the U.S. measure. Subtitle C: Standards - Amends the Federal Seed Act to repeal certain seed staining requirements. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to publish, with the reasons for it, any determination that foreign seed of alfalfa or red clover is not adapted for general agricultural use in the United States. Subtitle D: General Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this title. Title V: Intellectual Property - Subtitle A: Copyright Provisions - Amends the Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990 to repeal the termination date of a prohibition on unauthorized commercial rental or leasing of computer programs. (Sec. 512) Amends Federal copyright law to apply existing remedies for copyright infringement where a person, without the consent of a performer: (1) fixes the sound or images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord or reproduces phonorecords or copies of such a performance from an unauthorized fixation; (2) communicates to the public the sounds or images of such a performance; or (3) distributes, sells, rents, or traffics (or offers to engage in such activities) any copy or phonorecord fixed without such consent. (Sec. 513) Amends the Federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties for activities described in Section 512 that are pursued for commercial advantage or private financial gain. (Sec. 514) Replaces provisions regarding copyright in certain motion pictures with those concerning copyright in restored works. Declares that copyright subsists in restored works and vests automatically on the date of restoration. Provides that any work in which copyright is restored shall subsist for the remainder of the term of copyright that the work would have otherwise been granted in the United States if the work never entered the public domain in the United States. Provides that any work in which the copyright was ever owned or administered by the Alien Property Custodian and in which the restored copyright would be owned by a government or instrumentality thereof is not a restored work. Declares that a restored work vests initially in the author or initial rightholder of the work as determined by the law of the source country of the work. Authorizes any person owning copyright or an exclusive right in a restored work to file a notice of intent with the Copyright Office to enforce that copyright or right against reliance parties or serve such notice directly. Defines a "reliance party" as any person who: (1) engages in acts, before the source country becomes an eligible country (a country that is a World Trade Organization (WTO) member country, adheres to the Bern Convention, or is subject to a presidential proclamation of protection), which would have violated exclusive rights in copyrighted works if the restored work had been subject to copyright protection and continues to engage in such acts after the source country becomes an eligible country; (2) makes or acquires copies or phonorecords of the work before the source country becomes an eligible country; or (3) as the result of the sale or other disposition of a derivative work or significant assets of a person described in (1) or (2), is a successor, assignee, or licensee of such a person. Sets forth remedies for infringement of copyrights in restored works. Permits the President, whenever a foreign nation extends to U.S. authors restored copyright protection on substantially the same basis as provided under this Act, to extend restored protection by proclamation to any work: (1) of which one or more of the authors is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of such nation; or (2) which was first published in such nation. Subtitle B: Trademark Provisions - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to consider nonuse of a mark for three (currently, two) consecutive years to be prima facie evidence of abandonment. (Sec. 522) Makes trademarks regarding geographic indications, when first used in connection with wines or spirits one year after the WTO Agreement's enactment date, nonregistrable if the geographic indication is a place other than the origin of the goods. Subtitle C: Patent Provisions - Amends Federal patent law to extend U.S. intellectual property protections to inventions that are made in other countries by persons who are domiciled in a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) country or WTO member country and who are serving in any other country in connection with operations by or on behalf of the United States, a NAFTA country, or a WTO member country. (Sec. 532) Revises Federal patent law to establish a 20-year patent term from the date of filing. Provides that, if the issuance of an original patent is delayed because of a proceeding regarding situations where a patent application would interfere with a pending application or with an unexpired patent, the term of the patent shall be extended for the period of delay up to five years. Provides the same extension for delays due to appellate review by the Board of Patent Appeals or a Federal court. Requires the term of a patent that is in force or results from an application filed within six months after this Act's enactment date to be the greater of the 20-year term or 17 years from grant, subject to any terminal disclaimers. Sets forth provisions with respect to the filing of a provisional application for a patent. Specifies that a provisional application shall not be entitled to the right of priority of any other application or the benefit of an earlier filing date in the United States. Directs the Commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office to charge a $150 filing fee on each provisional application for an original patent. (Sec. 533) Deems offering to sell or import a patented invention into the United States to be patent infringement. Title VI: Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Expiring Provisions - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend, through July 31, 1995, duty-free treatment of the products of beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences. (Sec. 601) Requires certain articles that enter the United States after September 30, 1994, and before the enactment of this Act, to be liquidated or reliquidated as free of duty and a refund to be paid with respect to such entries. (Sec. 602) Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend, through January 1, 2007, the requirement that the Secretaries of Commerce and of the Interior: (1) verify the wages paid by each producer to permanent residents of the U.S. insular possessions during the preceding year; and (2) issue to each producer a production incentive certificate for the applicable amount. Extends the authority of the production incentive certificate, number PIC-EV-89. Subtitle B: Certain Customs Provisions - Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to revise provisions concerning the reimbursement of certain customs user fees. (Sec. 612) Increases the customs user fees for certain imported merchandise. Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments - Amends Federal trade laws to make conforming amendments. Title VII: Revenue Provisions - Subtitle A: Withholding Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require tax withholding on payments made to a member of an Indian tribe from profits from gaming activity. (Sec. 702) Provides for voluntary withholding on specified Federal payments and on unemployment compensation. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Estimated Taxes and Payments and Deposits of Taxes - Requires amounts included in gross income for foreign shareholders and controlled foreign corporations to be taken into account in computing annualized income installments. (Sec. 712) Specifies time requirements for the deposit of certain excise taxes. (Sec. 713) Reduces the rate of interest to be paid on certain corporate overpayments. Subtitle C: Earned Income Tax Credit - Makes military personnel stationed outside the United States eligible for the earned income credit. (Sec. 722) Makes certain nonresident aliens ineligible for such tax credit. (Sec. 723) Disregards the income of inmates at penal institutions in determining such tax credit. Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Retirement Benefits - Extends the authority to transfer excess pension assets to retiree health benefit accounts. (Sec. 733) Increases the percentage of social security benefits paid to nonresidents that must be included in gross income. Subtitle E: Other Provisions - Provides for partnership distributions of marketable securities. (Sec. 742) Requires taxpayer identification numbers at birth. (Sec. 743) Extends the authority of the Internal Revenue Service to impose certain user fees. (Sec. 744) Removes the reduction of the understatement penalty for corporations for items attributable to tax shelters. Subtitle F: Pension Plan Funding and Premiums - Retirement Protection Act of 1994 - Amends requirements for pension plan funding, including: (1) minimum funding, revising additional funding requirements for single-employer plans; (2) limitation on changes in current liability assumptions; (3) anticipation of bargained benefit increases; (4) modification of the quarterly contribution requirement; and (5) exceptions to the excise tax on nondeductible contributions. (Sec. 761) Makes similar amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for pension plan funding. (Sec. 766) Prohibits benefit increases or other changes which increase plan liabilities where a plan sponsor is in bankruptcy. (Sec. 767) Amends IRC and ERISA with respect to: (1) single sum distributions; and (2) adjustments to the lien for missed minimum funding contributions. (Sec. 771) Amends title IV (Plan Termination Insurance) of ERISA to revise requirements relating to reportable events. (Sec. 772) Requires that specified additional information be furnished to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 773) Revises provisions for enforcement of minimum funding requirements. (Sec. 774) Phases out the variable rate premium cap. (Sec. 775) Requires the plan administrator of a plan subject to a specified additional premium to notify plan participants and beneficiaries of the plan's funding status and the limits on the PBGC's guaranty should the plan terminate while underfunded. (Sec. 776) Adds provisions relating to missing participants. (Sec. 777) Revises provisions relating to modification of the maximum guarantee for disability benefits. (Sec. 781) Sets forth effective dates for this Act. Title VIII: Pioneer Preferences - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from awarding licenses pursuant to preferential treatment accorded by the FCC to persons who make significant contributions to the development of a new telecommunications service or technology, except in accordance with this title. (Sec. 801) Requires the FCC to recover for the public a portion of the value of the public spectrum resource made available to such persons by requiring them, as a condition for receipt of licenses, to agree to pay a specified sum. Provides for such payments to be made in a lump sum or in guaranteed installment payments, with or without royalty payments, over a period of up to five years. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations specifying the procedures and criteria by which it will evaluate applications for such preferential treatment in licensing. Requires such regulations to: (1) specify the procedures and criteria by which the significance of such contributions will be determined; (2) include procedures to prevent unjust enrichment by ensuring that the value of the contribution justifies any reduction in amounts paid for licenses; and (3) be inapplicable to applications that have been accepted for filing before September 1, 1994. Sets forth requirements with respect to treatment of broadband licenses awarded pursuant to preferential treatment accorded in the Third Report and Order in General Docket 90-314, including that the FCC: (1) not reconsider the award of such specified preferences and not delay the granting of licenses based on such awards; (2) not alter the bandwidth or service areas designated for such licenses in such Report and Order; (3) use the broadband licenses in the personal communications services for blocks A and B for the 20 largest markets (ranked by population) in which no applicant has obtained preferential treatment; (4) permit installment payments over a period of five years subject to specified conditions; and (5) recover an amount equal to $400 million for such licenses. Terminates the FCC's authority to provide preferential treatment as described by this title on September 30, 1998. Applies this title to any licenses issued on or after August 1, 1994, pursuant to preferential treatment procedures.

Advisory Committee Termination Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1994

Advisory Committee Termination Act of 1994 - Amends specified Federal law to repeal authority for specified advisory committees in the Departments of: (1) Agriculture; (2) Defense; (3) Education; (4) Energy; (5) Health and Human Services; (6) the Interior; (7) Justice; and (8) Transportation.