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Resolution· HRESH.Res. 284 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) there is a need for the development of a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to encourage investment in human and material resources, to harness our inventive genius to the marketplace, to secure the education and training of a competitive citizenry and workforce, and to stimulate cooperative efforts between the private and public sectors at all levels of business, education, and government; and (2) such a strategy will help the United States achieve its goal of being the strongest Nation on Earth economically and militarily, so that it remains the greatest Nation in support of human dignity, freedom, and democratic ideals.
Bill· SS. 1975 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1991
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Eligible Dislocated Workers Educational Training Demonstration Program. Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to States to pay the Federal share (50 percent) of the cost of establishing and operating eligible dislocated workers educational training demonstration programs. Requires that such programs: (1) be designed to provide such workers with new skills through a variety of educational opportunities offered by institutions of higher education which are suited to such workers' goals, educational background, aptitude, and skills; (2) lead to entry level job skills that assist such workers to return to the work force; (3) only pay program participation costs not paid by other Federal, State, or local grant programs; and (4) provide educational opportunities in programs that either do not provide academic credit and which include academic skills improvement, job skills, and career and personal development or provide academic credit in one-year certificate or two-year associate degree granting programs. Makes eligible dislocated workers (as defined under the Job Training Partnership Act) eligible to participate in such a program if they: (1) have applied for all Federal, State, and local grant assistance available to such workers; and (2) are eligible for unemployment compensation payments under Federal or State law. Makes individuals ineligible for such program participation if they: (1) complete their education goal; or (2) return to employment of at least 20 hours per week. Provides that the amount of such workers' unemployment insurance payments under Federal or State law shall not be increased or decreased as a result of assistance received under this Act. Sets forth State application requirements. Requires the Secretary to evaluate such program annually. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 to carry out this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3777 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Gulf of Mexico Protection and Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a comprehensive plan for improving and protecting the water quality of the Gulf of Mexico. Requires the Administrator to award grants for research to develop baseline scientific data regarding the environmental quality of the Gulf for use in preparing and evaluating the plan. Makes State agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and universities eligible for grants. Directs the Administrator, at the request of the Governor of a Gulf State affected by the plan, to make a grant for implementing the plan to the State if the State commits to implement the plan and has an approved proposal. Sets forth State proposal requirements. Limits: (1) the Federal share of State grants to 50 percent of the total cost of implementing the proposal; and (2) administrative costs supported by a grant to ten percent of the portion of the grant expended per fiscal year. Defines a "Gulf State" as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Authorizes and allocates appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3791 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Provides for assistance to Plentywood School District #20 in Plentywood, Montana, in replacing its high school which was destroyed by fire, under specified Federal law providing for school construction assistance in cases of certain disasters.
Bill· HRH.R. 3757 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor to elect to trigger off an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law, if the State is in a 20-week period or a 13-week period as defined under this Act. Begins such periods three weeks after the first week in which specified triggering requirements are met (and ends them three weeks after the first week in which such requirements are not met). Triggers the 20-week period for any week if: (1) the adjusted rate of insured unemployment (IUR) for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent; or (2) the average rate of total unemployment (TUR) in such State for the most recent six-calendar month period for which data are published before the close of such week is at least nine percent. Triggers the 13-week period for any week if: (1) the State IUR for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least four percent; or (2) the State IUR for such period is at least 2.5 percent and the benefit exhaustion rate in the State for the most recent month for which data are available before the close of such week is at least 29 percent. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 weeks for a 20-week period, determined as described above; (2) 13 weeks for a 13-week period, determined as described above; and (3) six weeks of benefits for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of November 17, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the Armed Forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Title II: Demonstration Program to Provide Job Search Assistance - Directs the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program to determine the feasibility of implementing job search assistance programs. Requires selection of three States to participate in such program, based on specified criteria. Requires that at least one of these States will replicate a prior successful demonstration project for job search assistance. Sets forth requirements for the program agreement with these States. Requires a job search assistance program, for purposes of this title, to: (1) require certain unemployment compensation recipients to participate in a qualified intensive job search program (the program) after receiving such compensation for at least six but not more than ten weeks during any benefit year; (2) entitle such individuals to an intensive job search program voucher; and (3) disqualify those who do not satisfactorily participate in such program from receiving such compensation for a specified period of not more than ten weeks. Makes such program requirements applicable to such recipients if, during a specified three-year period, they had at least 126 weeks of employment at wages of $30 or more a week with their last employer (or an equivalent amount computed under prescribed regulations). Sets forth exceptions to such program requirements and program qualifications. Provides that such vouchers entitle the organization (including the State employment service) providing the program to a payment from the State agency equal to the lesser of: (1) the reasonable costs of providing the program; or (2) the average weekly benefit amount in the State. Requires Federal payments from the extended unemployment compensation account to each participating State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund in an amount equal to the payments made by the State agency for such program vouchers. Provides for payments on a calendar month basis, and for certification by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to submit two interim reports and a final report to the Congress on the demonstration program under this title. Title III: Other Provisions - Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment. Amends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to allow optional unemployment benefits for certain school employees, by making denial of such benefits discretionary rather than mandatory. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by February 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Requires the first Council report to include findings and recommendations on determining eligibility for extended unemployment benefits on the basis of unemployment statistics for regions, States, or subdivisions of States. Directs the Secretary, within 12 months, to report to the Congress a proposal for revising the method of allocating grants among the States for administration of the unemployment insurance program. Prohibits the Secretary from revising such method until 12 months after such report is submitted to the Congress. Title IV: Financing Provisions - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Amends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to extend the surtax imposed on employers through 1996. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the use of the preceding year's tax for purposes of determining individual estimated tax payments. Title V: Railroad Unemployment Insurance - Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to provide temporary extended railroad unemployment insurance benefits, to railroad employees who have less than ten years of service, for certain periods of high national unemployment. Provides for such extended benefits for up to 13 weeks (65 days of unemployment), through July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions. Title VI: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes.
Bill· SS. 1941 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Refugee Resettlement Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Secretary of State to make refugee determinations in instances where the Attorney General can not expeditiously do so. Changes the deadline for annual refugee admission determinations. Replaces the current Office of Refugee Resettlement with an Administration on Refugee and Migration Affairs. Requires the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consult with appropriate State, local, and private entities concerned with refugee resettlement. Revises State refugee resettlement administrative and case management provisions. Provides for earlier Federal reimbursement of State cash and medical assistance expenses. Provides flexibility for State use of social services funds. Obligates specified refugee resettlement assistance for schools, hospitals, and employment services in heavily impacted localities. Authorizes a refugee loan program through FY 1994 for social services leading to employment. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1998. Amends the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980 to authorize appropriations through FY 1998.
Bill· SS. 1927 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Wood Products Export Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to establish international forest products trade development centers at universities offering graduate training in forestry. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1944 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Assistance - Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Assistance Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for block grants. Modifies requirements regarding: (1) State reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (2) health status indicators and reports; (3) application requirements; and (4) health promotion and disease prevention related to women's health. Amends the Year 2000 Health Objectives Planning Act to authorize appropriations to carry out the Act and to establish and operate State Health Objectives Advisory Committees under specified provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for centers for research and demonstration of health promotion and disease prevention. Subtitle B: National Health Objectives Project Grants to States - Requires appropriations exceeding a certain amount under general block grant authorizations to be used to carry out this subtitle. Provides for the amount of the allotment to each State and each Indian tribe or tribal organization. Provides for the uses of the funds, including assessing public health needs and health status and providing other types of assistance. Requires a State to: (1) develop a State health objectives plan containing at least five objectives from the national objectives list described by the Secretary; and (2) establish a State Health Objectives Advisory Committee. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) the National Health Objectives Advisory Committee; (2) national health priorities, including three core priorities which must be included in each State plan; and (3) an estimate of the personnel and training needed to accomplish the national priorities. Subtitle C: Categorical Programs - Mandates grants for: (1) demonstration projects for preventing conditions or diseases affecting women; (2) demonstration projects for the promotion of women's health; and (3) development and dissemination of information on health promotion and disease prevention related to women's health. Authorizes establishment of a national information clearinghouse to disseminate information concerning prevention of injuries in locations not covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Authorizes grants and contracts to help public schools implement programs to prevent injuries. Mandates grants for the establishment of ten demonstration projects for the prevention of injuries in locations not covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Authorizes appropriations to carry out injury research and control provisions. Establishes the Office of Adolescent Health. Sets forth Office activities, including: (1) establishing a national clearinghouse; (2) establishing the National Advisory Committee on Adolescent Health; and (3) developing a national strategic plan to access adolescent health issues. Mandates grants and contracts for multidisciplinary projects to: (1) use innovative methods to train health care practitioners to serve adolescents; and (2) demonstrate and evaluate innovative models to prevent adolescent violence. Authorizes appropriations. Requires grantees under provisions relating to community programs on childhood lead poisoning: (1) to provide screening, referral for both treatment and environmental intervention (currently, for treatment), and education; and (2) with regard to services provided under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, to be or work with a qualified Medicaid provider. Revises other requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes setting aside a specified percentage of amounts appropriated for related programs in addition to the grants. Establishes: (1) a national program to educate health professionals and paraprofessionals and the general public on lead poisoning; (2) a concerted technology assessment and epidemiology program on lead poisoning; and (3) the Interagency Task Force on the Prevention of Lead Poisoning. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases. Authorizes grants to determine: (1) the prevalence, mortality rates, and stage at diagnosis of prostate cancer; and (2) current prostate cancer screening and diagnosis practices and their effectiveness. Mandates grants for demonstration projects for the prevention of diseases that disproportionately affect minorities. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Coordination of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Activities - Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Coordination Act of 1991 - Modifies the duties of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Authorizes appropriations to carry out specified provisions relating to health information and health promotion. Establishes an interdepartmental group for coordination and cooperation regarding multidimensional school health programs. Removes references to health information from provisions authorizing the Secretary to conduct and to support through grants and contracts research on health information and health promotion, preventive health services, and education in the appropriate use of health care. Mandates an annual report to the President and appropriate congressional committees (currently, the President and the Congress) on the status of the nation's health (currently, on the status of health information and health promotion, preventive health services, and education in the appropriate use of health care). Modifies the report contents. Mandates, with respect to the health concerns of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities, the development of model curricula and programs for health information and education for use in community and work place settings. Authorizes grants for improving the health status in minority communities through the operation of State offices of minority health established to monitor and facilitate the achievement of the Health Objectives for the Year 2000. Requires certain activities under the grants, including establishment within a State of a clearinghouse for certain information relating to minorities and health care. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the program after aggregate appropriations reach a specified level. Title III: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation Act of 1991 - Establishes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation as a nonprofit corporation to support efforts to prevent disease, injury, and disability, and to promote health. Requires the Foundation to establish a fund to provide endowments for positions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (endowment fund). Allows those positions to be held by individuals without regard to whether the individuals are Federal Government employees. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits providing appropriated funds to the endowment fund. Authorizes the Secretary to make limited additional amounts available to carry out this title. Title IV: Preventable Cases of Infertility - Authorizes grants for carrying out certain activities, with regard to any treatable sexually transmitted disease that can cause infertility in women if treatment is not received for the disease, including counseling, screening, treatment, referrals, public information and education, training health care providers, and data collection. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants for research on the manner in which service delivery under this title may be improved. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Miscellaneous - Establishes the Secretary's Advisory Council on Health Promotion. Authorizes the transfer of a limited percentage of any appropriation under the Public Health Service Act to provide for the operation of the Council. Limits the total amount transferred in a fiscal year. Requires that the Surgeon General: (1) notify active members of the Commissioned Corps concerning guidelines for clinical practice developed or issued by the Public Health Service; and (2) ensure that the members are using the guidelines. Directs the Secretary to inform the Surgeon Generals of the uniformed services, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Administrator of the Office of Personnel Management concerning any guidelines for clinical practice developed by the Public Health Service. Amends the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act, the Education Amendments of 1978, the Veterans' Benefits and Services Act of 1988, the Public Health Service Act, the Health Omnibus Programs Extension of 1988, the Health Research Extension Act of 1985, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, and other Federal law to change certain references to the Centers for Disease Control to references to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mandates a study and report to specified congressional committees regarding bloodborne disease transmission in the health care setting.
Bill· SS. 1933 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Health Professions Training and Nurse Education Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Title I: Provisions Relating to Title VII - Health Professions Training Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends title VII (Health Research and Teaching Facilities and Training of Professional Health Personnel) of the Public Health Service Act to change the composition of the National Advisory Council on Health Professions Education and establish the Subcommittee on Allied Health. Prohibits making a grant, loan guarantee, or interest subsidy payment to specified types of educational institutions and programs which discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or educational affiliation (currently, on the basis of sex). Adds graduate programs in clinical social work to the list of institutions and programs covered. Modifies requirements and authorizations concerning the collection and reporting of certain data about specified types of health professionals. Requires all grant or contract applicants under title VII to instruct all trainees regarding precautions to prevent transmission of bloodborne diseases. Sets forth priorities in the awarding of competitive grants under titles VII or title VIII (Nurse Education) of the Act. Subtitle B: Student Assistance - Sets forth limits on the total principal amount of new loans made and installments paid for specified fiscal years under the Federal program of insured loans to health professions graduate students. Extends the date after which insurance may not be granted for loans or installments. Sets forth additional circumstances under which principal repayment may be deferred. Modifies loan consolidation requirements, including removing provisions prohibiting, in certain circumstances, the inclusion of such an insured loan in a consolidated loan under the authority of the Student Loan Marketing Association. Prohibits interest on such loans from being compounded more frequently than annually (currently, semiannually). Sets a maximum rate of interest. Provides for a quarterly special allowance to eligible loan holders based on a percentage of the unpaid principal of all eligible loans held by that holder. Requires an increase in the allowance if not promptly paid. Allows the educational institution or program attended by the borrower to assist in the collection of a delinquent loan by providing information on the borrower to lenders and holders. Mandates performance standards and fees to be paid by lenders and holders for the servicing of loans and for the processing of loan default claims. Requires (currently, allows) reduction in Federal payments to borrowers who are practicing their professions and have defaulted on their loans. Modifies the circumstances under which a lender or holder is not required to prosecute an action for default. Requires assessment of a risk-based premium on an eligible borrower and, if required, an eligible institution that is based on the default rate of the eligible institution involved. Allows an institution to pay off the outstanding principal and interest owed by defaulters to reduce the risk category of the institution. Removes provisions regulating premiums for insurance on the loans. Bars Federal or State time limits on enforcement of repayment of the loans. Allows the student loan insurance fund to be used for making payments in connection with the administration as well as for the collection or default of insured loans. Authorizes the use of a specified amount for the Office for Health Education Assistance Loans. Requires that borrowers under the loan insurance program who enter and remain in specified primary care fields receive preference for participation in the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Increases the maximum amount which may be repaid per year in return for the borrower serving in a health professional shortage area. Cancels the borrower's repayment obligation on death or total permanent disability (currently, on death). Limits discharge through bankruptcy. Mandates a report to specified congressional committees regarding the default rates for each institution, lender, and loan holder. Modifies the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue regulations regarding specified aspects of the loan insurance program. Requires each participating institution to have an annual workshop on the requirements of the program and require all student borrowers to attend. Establishes, in the Bureau of Health Professions, the Office for Health Education Assistance Loans to achieve a reduction in the number and amounts of defaults on loans made or guaranteed under specified provisions. Authorizes appropriations for Federal capital contributions to student loan funds under specified provisions. Subtitle C: Direct Student Loan Health Demonstration Program - Establishes a direct student loan health demonstration program to make assistance available to certain institutions for those institutions to use to make direct loans to health professions students. Directs the Secretary to borrow up to a specified amount from the Secretary of the Treasury each year to provide the assistance to the institutions. Authorizes selection of up to 20 eligible institutions for the program. Sets forth institutional eligibility and other requirements. Makes student borrowers under this program ineligible for loans under other specified provisions. Requires certain collection efforts. Terminates the authority to make loans under these provisions five years after enactment. Modifies the loan repayment program for allied health personnel to allow repayment in exchange for service in a medically underserved or rural community that can demonstrate a shortage of allied health professionals in a recognized discipline. (Current law allows repayment in exchange for service in one of a list of types of facilities and agencies.) Authorizes appropriations for scholarships for students in specified health fields schools who are of exceptional financial need. Repeals provisions mandating grants for medical school scholarships for individuals agreeing to enter family practice (known as Lister Hill scholars). Authorizes appropriations for scholarships for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Modifies eligibility requirements for individuals to participate in a loan repayment program regarding service on the faculties of certain health professions schools. Limits payments to 20 percent of the principal and interest due on a loan (currently, 50 percent) of the principal and interest due on a loan for a given repayment year). Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Grants and Contracts for Programs and Projects - Modifies application requirements and priorities regarding grants to establish, maintain, or improve departments of family medicine. Authorizes appropriations. Requires that agreements for developing and operating area health education center programs remain in effect for six years. Sets forth priorities. Mandates contracts to health education and training centers to improve services along the U.S.-Mexico border and in other high-impact urban or rural areas (currently, along the U.S.-Mexico border). Sets forth priorities. Authorizes agreements with eligible schools of medicine and osteopathic medicine for the planning, development, and operation of State supported area health education center programs meeting specified requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Requires matching non-Federal contributions. Adds a school of osteopathic medicine, a school of public health, and a graduate program in clinical psychology to the definition of "health professions school" for provisions mandating grants or contracts (currently, mandating grants) for programs of excellence in health professions education for minority individuals. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Allows grants and contracts under existing provisions to be used to: (1) plan, develop, and operate, or participate in (currently, to plan, develop, and operate) a professional training program, including a residency or internship program (currently a residency program) in internal medicine or pediatrics for allopathic and osteopathic students, interns, residents, or practicing physicians (currently, for residents); and (2) provide financial assistance to allopathic and osteopathic students, interns, residents, practicing physicians, or other medical personnel (currently, to residents) who plan to work in general internal medicine and general pediatrics. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies eligibility requirements. Allows grants and contracts for educational assistance to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to be used for graduate programs in clinical social work. Modifies preferences (currently, priorities) in making the grants and contracts. Authorizes appropriations. Removes provisions setting aside certain funds for specified purposes. Authorizes limited payment of stipends. Authorizes appropriations for grants for retention programs for health professions schools with individuals with disadvantaged backgrounds. Authorizes grants and contracts to increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty at certain types of health professions schools. Authorizes appropriations. Replaces provisions authorizing grants for two-year schools of medicine or osteopathy with provisions authorizing grants and contracts for studies and demonstration projects regarding health professions education, licensing, credentialing, continuing competency, and discipline. Replaces provisions authorizing grants and contracts for model projects on faculty and curriculum development and development of new clinical training sites with provisions authorizing grants and contracts regarding chiropractic health care. Repeals provisions authorizing grants and contracts for training in preventive medicine. Transfers and authorizes appropriations for remaining similar provisions. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts for training physician assistants. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts for: (1) studies and demonstration projects regarding health professions education, licensing, credentialing, continuing competency, and discipline; (2) chiropractic health care; and (3) certain projects with respect to hospitals and schools of podiatric medicine. Amends provisions relating to training with respect to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) to modify eligibility for grants and contracts and allow such awards to be used with regard to: (1) faculty, students, and health professions practitioners (currently, faculty and students); (2) individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and individuals at high risk for such infection (currently, individuals with AIDS); and (3) developing curricula for care, treatment, and prevention (currently, care and treatment). Modifies preferences in making grants. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the grants; and (2) grants to assist dental schools and certain programs with respect to oral health care to patients with AIDS. Modifies eligibility requirements regarding grants and contracts relating to geriatric education. Allows certain grants and contracts to be used to train physicians and dentists to teach geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry, or geriatric dentistry (currently, to teach geriatric medicine or geriatric dentistry). Modifies the associated training options. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Personnel in Public Health, Health Administration and Allied Health - Adds references to Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives to provisions authorizing grants and contracts for certain special projects involving schools of public health. Sets forth purposes of such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants for: (1) graduate programs in health administration; and (2) traineeships for students in other graduate programs. Requires that public health traineeships under existing provisions be used to increase the number of graduate students preparing to serve the Healthy People 2000 objectives. Sets forth priorities and preferences and modifies program requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Replaces provisions authorizing grants and contracts relating to the training of allied health professionals with provisions authorizing grants and contracts for: (1) increasing program enrollments or establishing programs to increase the number of individuals in allied health professions with demonstrated personnel shortages to provide individuals to serve in medically underserved or rural communities; (2) planning, developing, establishing, and operating certain allied health training programs; and (3) training centers for allied health professions for student traineeships. Authorizes appropriations. Allows grants and contracts for training of allied health professions to be used with regard to postbaccalaureate (currently, doctoral or postdoctoral) training. Sets forth preferences. Authorizes appropriations. Replaces provisions authorizing grants and contracts for educational assistance to disadvantaged individuals in allied health training with provisions establishing the Division of Allied Health in the Bureau of Health Professions. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Programs - Modifies the functions and composition of and authorizes appropriations for the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Modifies the uses of grants and contracts under provisions relating to rural health training (currently, to health care for rural areas). Changes eligibility requirements. Removes provisions mandating a study of manpower training needs in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes the Council on Medical Licensure to take specified actions, including giving advice regarding the establishment and operation of a system of verifying and maintaining information on the qualifications of individuals to practice medicine. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether the system is operating efficiently and without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or educational affiliation and, if the system fails either test, to make recommendations regarding establishment of an alternative system. Mandates an annual study of at least ten States regarding licensure of domestic and foreign medical graduates. Subtitle G: Repealers and Technical and Conforming Amendments - Repeals provisions relating to grants and loan guarantees and interest subsidies for construction of teaching facilities for medical, dental, and other health personnel. Modifies testing requirements for admission to the United States of aliens who are graduates of unaccredited medical schools. Title II: Provisions Relating to Title VIII - Nurse Education Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Amends title VIII (Nurse Education) of the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants and contracts for special projects to: (1) provide education for nurses serving in medically underserved or rural communities (currently, provide continuing education for nurses); and (2) provide nursing education courses to rural areas (currently, to rural areas through telecommunications via satellite). Removes provisions authorizing grants and contracts for: (1) facilitating agreements between health facilities and nursing students regarding repayment of educational loans by the facilities in return for service by the students in the facilities; and (2) geriatrics health education centers. Allows grants for innovative hospital nursing practice models to also be used for models in primary care and long-term care settings. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts relating to advanced nurse education. Removes provisions requiring certain special considerations in making grants and contracts for the education of nurse practitioners and nurse midwives. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants and contracts for support, including traineeships and fellowships, to develop resources or strengthen programs or faculty to address the National Health Objectives for the Year 2000. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Makes non-nurses as well as nurses eligible for traineeships for masters and doctoral degree nursing programs, requiring non-nurses to first complete basic nursing preparation. Removes provisions authorizing grants for postbaccalaureate fellowships for faculty for certain studies. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts for advanced nurse education. Authorizes appropriations for grants for: (1) traineeships for licensed registered nurses to become nurse anesthetists and for developing and operating programs for the education of nurse anesthetists; and (2) improvement of existing programs for the education of nurse anesthetists. Authorizes appropriations for loan repayments, under existing provisions, in exchange for service in certain health facilities. Repeals provisions authorizing appropriations for allotments to schools of nursing for Federal capital contributions to their student loan funds. Amends remaining provisions relating to Federal capital contributions to allow allotted funds which have been returned to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be available until expended (currently, to be available in the fiscal year of return and the subsequent fiscal year). Modifies requirements regarding the capital distribution of the balance of the loan fund. Requires certain scholarship recipients to serve as a nurse for a period equal to the number of years of the scholarship (currently, for a period of not less than two years). Authorizes appropriations. Repeals provisions authorizing loans to nursing students who enter into agreements with health facilities to engage in employment as nurses during a period of time not more than the period during which the students receive loan assistance. Prohibits making grants, loan guarantees, or interest subsidy payments under title VIII (Nurse Education) of the Public Health Service Act to any school of nursing which discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or educational affiliation (currently, on the basis of sex). Requires a report to specified congressional committees to be submitted every two years (currently, biannually). Authorizes grants for fellowships to licensed vocational or practical nurses, nursing assistants, and other paraprofessional nursing personnel to assist in obtaining professional nursing education to attain the level of registered nurse. Requires a fellowship recipient to contract with a long-term care facility certified under titles XVIII (Medicare) or XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to engage in full-time employment at the registered nurse level for a period not less than the period of assistance to the fellowship recipient. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to nursing schools for the establishment or expansion of clinical training sites or training affiliations to provide training and experience in primary care. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for the continuation of any grant or contract in effect on enactment of this Act for that grant or contract's full duration, notwithstanding termination by any provision of this Act.
Bill· SS. 1945 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor, in a period of a seven or eight percent total unemployment rate in that State (as defined under this Act), to elect to trigger an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent six calendar months with available data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; and (3) seven for a six-percent period or for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period of at least 13 weeks. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of November 17, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after August 1, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligible period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Title II: Demonstration Program to Provide Job Search Assistance - Directs the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program to determine the feasibility of implementing job search assistance programs. Requires selection of three States to participate in such program, based on specified criteria. Requires that at least one of these States will replicate a prior successful demonstration project for job search assistance. Sets forth requirements for the program agreement with these States. Requires a job search assistance program, for purposes of this title, to: (1) require certain unemployment compensation recipients to participate in a qualified intensive job search program (the program) after receiving such compensation for at least six but not more than ten weeks during any benefit year; (2) entitle such individuals to an intensive job search program voucher; and (3) disqualify those who do not satisfactorily participate in such program from receiving such compensation for a specified period of not more than ten weeks. Makes such program requirements applicable to such recipients if, during a specified three-year period, they had at least 126 weeks of employment at wages of $30 or more a week with their last employer (or an equivalent amount computed under prescribed regulations). Sets forth exceptions to such program requirements and program qualifications. Provides that such vouchers entitle the organization (including the State employment service) providing the program to a payment from the State agency equal to the lesser of: (1) the reasonable costs of providing the program; or (2) the average weekly benefit amount in the State. Requires Federal payments from the extended unemployment compensation account to each participating State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund in an amount equal to the payments made by the State agency for such program vouchers. Provides for payments on a calendar month basis, and for certification by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to submit two interim reports and a final report to the Congress on the demonstration program under this title. Title III: Other Provisions - Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes of such payment. Amends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to allow optional unemployment benefits for certain school employees, by making denial of such benefits discretionary rather than mandatory. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to provide temporary extended railroad unemployment insurance benefits, to railroad employees who have less than ten years of service, for certain periods of high national unemployment. Provides for such extended benefits for up to 13 weeks (65 days of unemployment), through July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by February 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Requires the first Council report to include findings and recommendations on determining eligibility for extended unemployment benefits on the basis of unemployment statistics for regions, States, or subdivisions of States. Directs the Secretary, within 12 months, to report to the Congress a proposal for revising the method of allocating grants among the States for administration of the unemployment insurance program. Prohibits the Secretary from revising such method until 12 months after such report is submitted to the Congress. Directs the Secretary to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the Washington and Oregon timber industries in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Title IV: Budgetary Provisions - Subtitle A: Emergency Treatment - Provides that the following emergency designation provisions shall take effect only if, on or before the enactment date of this Act, the President: (1) has not submitted to the Congress either of the two written declarations described under specified effectiveness provisions of subtitles B and C; or (2) has submitted to the Congress both of such declarations. Provides that all direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized, by this Act shall be treated as emergency requirements designated by the President and the Congress under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Subtitle B: Reductions in Foreign Aid and Other Spending - Provides that this subtitle shall take effect only if the President: (1) submits to the Congress, not later than the enactment date of this Act, a written declaration of need for reductions in foreign aid and other spending; and (2) has not submitted, on or before such date, the written declaration described in subtitle C. Part I: Foreign Aid Reductions - Provides for reductions in foreign aid. Decreases certain discretionary spending limits in new budget authority, and outlays (under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985) for specified international categories and discretionary categories. Prohibits any such reductions from being achieved through reduction of: (1) domestic discretionary spending; or (2) assistance to the Camp David countries. Part II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act to 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Part III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Amends the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991 (P.L. 102-26) to revise provisions relating to limitation of actions for collection of student loan repayments and grant overpayments. Subtitle C: Alternative Financing Provisions - Provides that this subtitle and parts II and III of subtitle B shall take effect only if the President: (1) submits to the Congress, not later than the enactment date of this Act, a written declaration of the need for the financing provisions under this subtitle; and (2) has not submitted, on or before such date, the written declaration described in subtitle B. Amends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to extend the surtax imposed on employers through 1996. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the use of the preceding year's tax for purposes of determining individual estimated tax payments. Subtitle D: General Budgetary Provisions - Exempts payments (including budget authority and outlays for administrative expenses incurred in connection with this Act) relating to emergency unemployment compensation under titles I, II, and III of this Act from any order issued under specified sequestration provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Provides that all receipts and direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized, by this Act shall be counted as zero for all purposes under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 and for purposes of all points of order under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, with specified exceptions for considering such amounts for: (1) construction of the baseline for the President's budget and the congressional budget; and (2) adjustment of the maximum deficit amount to reflect up-to-date reestimates of the effects of this Act on the deficit.
Bill· SS. 1936 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Health Equity and Access Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Tax Incentives for Health Care Access - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax credit of up to $600 for an individual ($1,200 for a family) for qualified health expenses. Provides that in the case of a taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $10,000 ($20,000 for a family) the credit shall be reduced by an amount equal to ten percent of the excess. Permits a tax deduction, for both itemizers and nonitemizers, for the cost of health insurance premiums for which no other compensation is received. Provides an employer health insurance credit for small businesses equal to 25 percent of the qualified health care costs of the employer in the first year the employer offers health coverage to employees and which is then reduced five percentage points annually. Raises from 25 percent to 100 percent the deduction allowed to self-employed individuals for health insurance premiums and makes the deduction permanent. Provides a credit for a qualified primary health services provider who practices in a rural health professional shortage area. Sets forth a formula for determining such credit. Excludes from gross income any payment made on behalf of a taxpayer by the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Permits a physician in a rural health professional shortage area to expense up to $25,000 worth of rural health care property. Provides that interest on student loan payments by medical professionals practicing in rural areas shall not be treated as personal interest and will therefore qualify as a tax deduction. Title II: Health Care Reform Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to develop a model health care insurance benefits plan that shall contain standards that entities offering health care insurance policies should meet with respect to the benefits and coverage provided under such policies and report on such standards to the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to develop such a plan if the NAIC fails to develop such a plan or if the NAIC plan does not meet specified requirements. Sets forth such requirements. Requires the Secretary, taking into account recommendations of the Managed Care Advisory Committee, to develop recommended standards that insurers offering managed care plans should meet with respect to the benefits, coverage, and delivery systems provided under such plans. Establishes the Managed Care Advisory Committee. Provides that, in the case of a managed care plan meeting recommended standards, specified provision of State law will be preempted and will not be enforced against the managed care plan with respect to an insurer offering such plan. Permits a qualified small employer purchasing group, upon application to and approval by the Secretary, to enter into contracts with carriers to provide health insurance coverage to eligible employees. Establishes standards which health care insurers must meet in a contract with a small business. Requires such insurers, among other things, to: (1) provide coverage and benefits consistent with the model health care insurance benefits plan; (2) meet specified registration and disclosure requirements; (3) not exclude from coverage any eligible employee; (4) not extend beyond six months any limitation on any preexisting condition and, with respect to such limitation, apply it only to preexisting conditions which manifested themselves or for which medical care was sought during the three months preceding coverage; (5) guarantee renewability of the contract at the employer's election, unless the contract is terminated for cause; and (6) establish premiums that meet specified standards. Title III: Medical Liability Reform - Sets forth provisions concerning settlement offers in medical malpractice cases. Establishes an Alternative Dispute Resolution Board of Advisers to make recommendations to the Secretary concerning the establishment of a model voluntary alternative dispute resolution program for medical malpractice cases. Sets caps on the payment of future losses, non-economic damages, and attorneys' fees. Prohibits joint liability in a civil action for non-economic damages. Establishes a statute of limitations for a medical malpractice civil action. Requires each State to: (1) allocate its medical licensing fees to the State agency responsible for licensing and disciplinary actions; (2) require that at least 25 percent of a disciplinary board's membership shall be from the general public; (3) have in effect a Statewide risk management program; and (4) establish a health care disciplinary trust fund consisting of all punitive damage awards resulting from medical malpractice and medical product civil actions. Protects a health care producer of a drug or device from punitive damages if the drug or device was subject to approval or premarket approval under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make a grant to an entity representing recipients of assistance at migrant and community health centers to develop a business plan and establish a nationwide risk retention group as provided for in the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Public Health Provisions - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title, Title XXI: BASICARE. Authorizes appropriations under title XXI for the purpose of providing basic health care benefits to low-income uninsured individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) coverage. Requires a State, in order to receive funding under title XXI, to submit and have approved by the Secretary a BasiCare assistance plan. Sets forth plan requirements. Requires, for BasiCare eligibility, that: (1) family income be below 200 percent of the poverty line; (2) an individual not be eligible for Medicaid; and (3) an individual not be otherwise covered under a health plan by the individual's employer. Permits the imposition of deductibles, copayments, and premiums if income is between 100 to 200 percent of the poverty line. Establishes the Federal Medical Waiver Demonstration Board to review applications submitted by States to conduct health care-related demonstration projects. Requires the Board to develop at least three different model health care delivery plans. Permits the Board, upon approval of a State's demonstration project, to waive the following provisions of Federal law: (1) the Public Health Service Act; (2) title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; (3) titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (BASICARE) of the Social Security Act; (4) all health care programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and (5) the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Title V: Medically Underserved Areas - Authorizes appropriations for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Directs the Secretary to establish and administer a program to provide allotments to States to enable such States to provide grants for the creation or enhancement of community based primary health care entities that provide services to pregnant women and children up to age three. Requires grant recipients to substantially target populations of pregnant women and children who: (1) lack health care coverage or ability to pay for health care services; or (2) reside in medically underserved or health professional shortage areas. Directs the Secretary to award grants to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and other entities submitting applications for the purpose of providing access to services for medically underserved populations or in high impact areas not currently served by a FQHC. Limits the expenditure of funds awarded an FQHC to the provision of those services provided under the Medicaid program and any unreimbursed costs of providing services under the community based primary health care grant program. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to develop and implement a plan for mental health outreach programs in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, in awarding grants under the Public Health Service Act relating to the research, teaching, and training activities of health personnel educational entities, to give priority to those entities that have a high permanent rate for placing graduates in settings serving residents of medically underserved communities and that otherwise demonstrate a commitment to serving such communities. Directs the Secretary to award grants to health professions institutions to expand training programs that are targeted at those individuals desiring to practice in or serve the needs of medically underserved communities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to award grants to eligible regional consortia to enhance and expand coordination among various health professions programs, particularly in medically underserved rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants, under the area health education center provisions of the Act, to rural communities to enable such communities to provide stipends to physicians, nurses, or other health professional trainees to encourage such individuals to continue to provide health care services in such rural communities. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to facilitate the development of networks among rural and urban health care providers to preserve and share health care resources and enhance the quality and availability of health care in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible entities to enable such entities to develop and administer cooperatives in rural areas that will establish an effective case management and reimbursement system designed to support the economic viability of essential public or private health services, facilities, health care systems, and health care resources in such rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the: (1) Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to authorize appropriations for the Rural Health Care Transition Grant Program; and (2) Medicare program to authorize appropriations for the Essential Access Community Hospital Program. Title VI: Incentives to Encourage Preventive Services - Provides a tax credit for qualified preventive services of up to $250. Includes on a list of preventive services: (1) cancer screening tests; (2) childhood immunizations; (3) mammograms; (4) pap tests for uterine cancer; and (5) other specified examinations and tests. Authorizes appropriations, under the Public Health Service Act, for grants for preventive health service programs for the provision, without charge, of immunizations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3742 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Pesticide Safety Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Pesticide Safety - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to revise specified definitions of such Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, at any time he has information with respect to the dietary risk of an active ingredient, to: (1) reassess associated tolerances and exemptions from tolerances issued under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); (2) determine whether such tolerances or exemptions meet the requirements of such Act and whether additional tolerances or exemptions should be issued; and (3) take specified administrative actions. Authorizes (currently, requires) the Administrator to cancel pesticide registrations after five years unless the registrant requests a continuance. Permits the continued sale and use of pesticides with suspended registrations if they will not have unreasonable adverse environmental effects. Authorizes the Administrator to issue a final order to ensure that: (1) a pesticide or other materials required to be submitted to the Administrator comply with FIFRA requirements; and (2) the pesticide will not generally cause unreasonable adverse environmental effects. Permits final orders to: (1) cancel the registration of a pesticide (or the registrations of a group of pesticides containing a common active or inert ingredient) and prohibit the future registration of such pesticide; (2) prescribe composition, packaging, labeling, and registration requirements for pesticides and provide for the cancellation or modification of pesticides not meeting requirements; and (3) classify a pesticide for restricted use or change the classification of a pesticide. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate a proceeding with respect to the cancellation or modification of a pesticide registration if there are concerns that such pesticide may cause unreasonable adverse effects on man or the environment. Directs the Administrator, before issuing a proposed order to cancel or change the classification of a pesticide, to consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and, if the order is based upon potential adverse effects to human health, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires the Administrator to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretaries with respect to consultation on orders to cancel, suspend, or modify a registration. Exempts specified proceedings and proposed orders from a requirement that the Administrator first determine that there are concerns that a pesticide causes adverse health or environmental effects. Directs the Administrator to establish an administrative record for each cancellation or modification proceeding. Sets forth provisions concerning proposed order requirements, public notice and comment on orders, review by the Secretaries and the Scientific Advisory Panel, informal hearings, and final orders. Permits the Administrator to issue an order to allow the continued sale or use of existing stocks of canceled pesticides. Permits affected registrants to: (1) apply for amendments to a registration to make it comply with an order; or (2) request voluntary cancellation of the registration. Authorizes interested persons to petition for the issuance, modification, or revocation of final orders. Sets forth judicial and public administrative review procedures. Authorizes the Administrator, if determined that the use of a pesticide may result in an imminent hazard, to issue an order suspending registration of the pesticide. Makes such order effective upon publication in the Federal Register or upon receipt by the registrant, whichever occurs first. Provides for the expiration of such order 180 days after the effective date, unless the Administrator publishes a proposed cancellation order for the pesticide. Requires the Administrator to notify the Secretaries prior to issuing a suspension order. Authorizes the continued sale or use of existing stocks of suspended pesticides. Sets forth provisions concerning the duration of the suspension and petitions for reconsiderations of suspensions. Makes orders and denials of reconsiderations subject to judicial review. Sets forth information to be considered by the Administrator in determining whether a risk is imminent. Requires registrants of pesticide products registered before November 1, 1984, to submit updated registration information to the Administrator by the later of: (1) 20 years after the first pesticide product was registered; or (2) 10 years after the date on which the Administrator determines that such products are eligible for reregistration. Directs registrants of pesticide products registered after October 31, 1984, to submit such information 10 years after the first product was registered and every ten years thereafter. Provides for extensions of such deadlines under specified conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to issue suspension orders for failures to comply with submission deadlines. Permits cancellations of registrations remaining suspended for more than three years. Authorizes the Administrator to assess fees from registrants for the periodic review of such registrations. Permits the Administrator to cancel registrations for failures to pay fees. Authorizes the Administrator to require pesticide importers, exporters, commercial applicators, and dealers, applicants or holders of experimental use permits, owners and operators of pesticide testing facilities, and any other pesticide holders subject to FIFRA requirements to maintain and make available specified records. Requires pesticide dealers to maintain records for at least three years after the distribution or sale of a pesticide. Exempts the following records from such requirement: (1) financial, pricing, or sales data other than shipment data; (2) personnel data, except for data concerning pesticide exposure effects; or (3) specified research or test data. Revises provisions concerning inspections and warrants to conduct such inspections. Requires the Administrator, upon the request of a State, to disclose any information acquired under FIFRA to the State if the State assures that: (1) the submitter of confidential business information will receive no less protection with respect to the disclosure or use of the information by the State than is provided by FIFRA; and (2) the State's law allows the submitter to recover just compensation against the State for losses resulting from the disclosure or use of such information by the State. Deletes provisions exempting private pesticide applicators from recordkeeping and reporting requirements and from taking examinations to establish competency in the use of pesticides. Makes it a violation of FIFRA for any person to use a pesticide as a commercial applicator unless such person is a certified commercial applicator or a registered commercial applicator under the supervision of a certified applicator. Sets forth requirements for certified and commercial applicators. Requires a restricted use pesticide to be considered to have been applied by, or under the direct supervision of, a certified private applicator only if the pesticide is applied by a person who is a certified private applicator or a private applicator under the supervision of a certified applicator. Sets forth requirements for certified and supervised applicators. Requires certified and registered commercial applicators to undergo refresher training and to be recertified or reregistered at least every five years. Sets forth minimum recertification and reregistration requirements. Directs the Administrator to develop training material for the application of pesticides, including material concerning the detection of pesticide poisoning, emergency medical treatment, hazards posed by pesticides to public health and the environment, and the requirements of laws, regulations, and labeling. Provides for periodic updates of such material. Requires the Administrator to establish minimum standards for trainers and training programs with respect to commercial and private applicators. Directs the Administrator to prescribe programs for States whose programs fail to comply with such standards. Provides that privately-administered programs shall be at least as stringent as Federal or State programs. Requires Federal and State field personnel responsible for on-site inspections of pesticide use to have training which, at a minimum, includes the required training material subjects issued by the Administrator. Revises provisions concerning unlawful acts. Increases and expands the scope of civil and criminal penalties for FIFRA violations. Prescribes penalties for violations involving knowing endangerment. Revises provisions concerning State authority to regulate pesticides to authorize a State to regulate the sale or use of any federally registered pesticide or device in the State if the Administrator approves the State plan for regulation and if such regulation does not permit any sale or use prohibited by FIFRA. Sets forth requirements for State plans, as well as for plans for regulation by political subdivisions of States. Directs the Administrator to identify crop-pest combinations that appear vulnerable to excessive losses because of pest resistance or because of the potential loss of existing pest control options and the chemical, biological, and alternative control measures available to control such pests. Directs the Secretary to furnish to the Administrator on an ongoing basis information on: (1) the food consumption patterns of consumers and major identifiable subgroups of food consumers in the United States; and (2) the use of pesticides in commercial-scale agricultural production and in the storage, transportation, and processing of food. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to furnish to the Administrator on an ongoing basis information on the representative actual levels of pesticide residues on food items. Provides that such information shall ensure that information on the approximate actual level of human dietary exposure to pesticides is readily available to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to establish a program for the storage, management, retrieval, and utilization of such information and to use such information in making decisions under FIFRA and FDCA. Requires the Administrator to assume, if information regarding actual use and residue levels has not been made available, that a pesticide results in dietary residues on food at the highest level permitted under a FDCA tolerance or reasonably feasible under a FDCA exemption. Authorizes appropriations. Revises provisions concerning voluntary cancellations of registrations by registrants. Directs the Administrator, prior to publication of a cancellation request in the Federal Register, to notify the Secretary of Agriculture of: (1) the chemicals and pesticide uses that may be affected; (2) the available biological, cultural, integrated pest management, and alternative chemical control options; and (3) the extent of the acreage and geographic distribution of the acreage of the crop affected by the target pest controlled by the pesticide use subject to cancellation and regions where the crop is currently grown without significant problems for such pest. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator to delay cancellation of a minor agricultural use registration for up to three years. Sets forth petition requirements and approval procedures. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, for each minor use registration for which a delay in cancellation has been granted, to require the Assistant Secretary for Science and Education to research alternative pest control methods. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on alternative pest control methods. Directs the Administrator to report annually to such committees on efforts to expedite the registration of biological alternatives to conventional pesticides. Directs the Secretary to establish a minor use registration support program within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Science and Education. Requires the Assistant Secretary to seek registrations for agricultural minor uses, gather data to support existing registrations for minor uses, seek tolerances and tolerance exemptions, and gather data to support new tolerances and the maintenance of existing tolerances for minor uses. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the Administrator to waive fees for minor use registrations or reregistrations, except for fees required by persons petitioning for delays in cancellations. Directs the Administrator to require residue data to support tolerances only for those geographical areas where the registration of any product allows the use. Authorizes the Administrator to require additional residue data if the registrant wishes to expand the geographical area where the product may be used. Makes technical amendments to administrative provisions concerning registrations and judicial review. Title II: Tolerances and Exemptions for Pesticide Chemical Residues - Amends the FDCA to provide that pesticide residues in or on a raw agricultural commodity or processed food do not make the food adulterated. Revises provisions concerning adulterated food. Deems pesticide chemical residues in or on a food to be unsafe unless a tolerance, or exemption to a tolerance, is in effect with respect to the chemical residue and the concentration of the residue is in the limits of the tolerance. Provides that: (1) pesticide chemical residues in or on processed foods without separate tolerances shall not be considered unsafe so long as the residue level is within the tolerance limit for the raw agricultural commodity from which the food was made; and (2) residues in or on processed foods made from raw agricultural commodities for which a residue exemption is in effect shall not be considered unsafe. Provides that residues of degradation products of precursor substances that are pesticide chemicals shall not be considered unsafe if: (1) the combined residues of the precursor substance and the degradation products are within the level of the tolerance for the precursor substance; or (2) an exemption is in effect for the precursor substance and the tolerance or exemption does not state that it applies solely to the precursor chemical. Authorizes the Administrator to establish, modify, or revoke a tolerance or exemption from a tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue. Prohibits a tolerance from being established at a level higher than a level that the Administrator determines will protect public health. Requires the Administrator to modify or revoke such higher tolerances. Provides that a tolerance will protect the public health if the dietary risk posed to food consumers is not greater than negligible. Establishes thresholds for negligible risks with respect to adverse health risks. Authorizes the Administrator to establish a tolerance for a residue that results in a greater than negligible risk if: (1) use of the pesticide producing the residue protects humans or the environment from adverse effects that would result in greater risks than the dietary risk from the chemical; (2) use of the chemical avoids risks to humans or the environment that would result from the use of an alternative pesticide chemical on the same food and the Administrator has taken action to remove the alternative pesticide chemical under FIFRA and has initiated a tolerance revocation action for the chemical; or (3) the unavailability of the chemical would reduce the availability to food consumers of an adequate and economical domestic supply of the food and the adverse economic or health effects to consumers would outweigh the dietary risk from the residue. Prohibits such tolerances from being issued, or revocations of such tolerances from being denied, unless: (1) the Administrator has assessed the extent to which efforts are being made to develop alternative methods of pest control or alternative pesticide chemicals for use on the food or commodity that would meet risk exposure requirements; (2) the tolerance is limited to a period of five years; and (3) the Administrator has proposed the issuance or denial in accordance with specified administrative requirements. Prohibits a tolerance from being established unless there is a practical method for detecting and measuring the levels of the pesticide residue in or on the food. Permits exemptions to tolerances to be made only if the Administrator determines that a tolerance is not needed to protect the public health. Permits persons to petition for the establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or exemption. Sets forth petitioning procedures and judicial review provisions. Entitles tolerance or exemption information submitted to the Administrator under FDCA and registration information submitted under FIFRA to confidential treatment, with specified exceptions. Requires the Administrator to revoke or suspend tolerances consistent with, and following, the cancellation or suspension of a pesticide's registration under FIFRA. Permits delays of the effective dates of a modification or revocation of a tolerance, subject to certain conditions. Requires the Administrator to collect fees for functions regarding the establishment, modification, or revocation of tolerances and exemptions. Prohibits States or political subdivisions from enforcing any limit on a pesticide residue unless the limit is identical to the Federal tolerance or exemption for the residue. Authorizes the Administrator to grant States the authority to establish more stringent residue limits if such limits are warranted by special local circumstances. Permits the Administrator to treat such authority as a petition to modify or revoke a tolerance. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of pesticide residues in imported and domestic foods. Title III: Adulterated Poultry Products - Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act to make a conforming amendment to provide that pesticide residues in or on raw agricultural commodities or processed foods do not make the food adulterated. Deems commodities or processed foods containing residues that are unsafe under FDCA standards to be adulterated. Title IV: Adulterated Meat and Meat Products - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to make amendments parallel to those made to the Poultry Products Inspection Act. Title V: Adulterated Eggs and Egg Products - Amends the Egg Products Inspection Act to make amendments parallel to those made to the Poultry Products Inspection Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3735 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Program for Greater Stability and Support (PROGRESS) for Eastern Europe Act of 1991 - Sets forth policies on the provision of trade benefits and other assistance to eligible Eastern and Central European countries, including prohibitions on assistance to Communist party organizations. Defines an eligible Central or Eastern European country as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and any other Central or Eastern European country (including Yugoslavia) that is taking steps toward: (1) political pluralism; (2) economic reform and a market economy; (3) respect for human rights; and (4) building a friendly relationship with the United States. Declares that the United States, in providing such assistance, should: (1) avoid equating the amount of funds used for assistance with success; (2) encourage and facilitate technical advice on establishing free market economies; and (3) encourage cultural and educational exchanges between U.S. and Eastern European nongovernmental organizations that are committed to democracy and free market economies. States that the President should consider property rights, business regulations, the informal sector, wage and price controls, taxation, trade policy, restrictions on investment and capital flows, the size of the state sector, and the banking sector, in determining whether such assistance should be provided. Declares that the United States should encourage U.S. companies to bid on contracts to improve Central and Eastern Europe's infrastructure and assist companies in applying for such contracts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include eligible Central and Eastern European countries within the definition of a beneficiary country for purposes of permitting tax deductions for conventions held in such countries. Increases the tax exclusion for income earned in eligible Central and Eastern European countries. Encourages the President to: (1) negotiate with eligible Central and Eastern European countries to establish tax sparing treaties; and (2) reduce trade barriers with such countries wherever possible. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide that Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs shall not be prohibited in eligible Central or Eastern European countries. Amends the SEED Act of 1989 to redesignate the SEED Information Center System as the Central and Eastern European Business Information Center System, a central clearinghouse and data resource service for U.S. and Central and Eastern European businesses. Requires information to be made available to local enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe seeking trade or investment with the United States through trade information centers. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth a matching requirement for U.S. businesses receiving such funding. Requires the Director of the U.S. Information Agency to establish a Program for East European Political Education. Provides that such Program shall provide training and experience for Central and Eastern European leaders with the Congress, in U.S. political campaigns, and with U.S. media and businesses, by awarding Congressional Gift of Democracy Fellowships. Sets forth a matching requirement for nongovernmental organizations chosen to award such fellowships. Limits fellowships to a five-month period. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to develop a management training program for business people and government officials from eligible Central and Eastern European countries. Makes Small Business Development Center Program and Senior Corps of Retired Executives funds available to carry out this program. Commends the Peace Corps and the Small Business Administration for developing the Business to Business Program to teach business and management skills to Central and Eastern Europe. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) to establish a task force to review, and recommend revisions to, AID's regulations governing the application process for private voluntary organizations and businesses to receive AID funding for activities relating to Central and Eastern Europe.
Bill· HRH.R. 3734 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Congressional Accountability Act - Makes applicable to the Congress the following Federal laws, to the extent that they relate to the terms and conditions of employment, the health and safety of employees, and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees: (1) Social Security Act; (2) National Labor Relations Act; (3) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; (4) Civil Rights Act of 1964; (5) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (6) Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (7) title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; (8) Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (9) Privacy Act of 1974; (10) Age Discrimination Act of 1975; (11) Ethics in Government Act of 1978; and (12) Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Makes applicable also to the Congress specified provisions of Federal law: (1) commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act; and (2) relating to independent counsel.
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 373 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Designates November 10 through 17, 1991, as Joliet Junior College 90th Anniversary Week.
Bill· SS. 1921 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Tax Fairness and Savings Incentive Act of 1991 - Title I: Tax Credit for Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of $300 per qualifying child. Title II: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Retirement Savings Incentives - Removes the limitations on deductions for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and provides a cost of living adjustment for deductible amounts. Establishes special individual retirement accounts that are nondeductible. Makes such accounts nontaxable if earnings on contributions are held for at least five years. Applies the early withdrawal penalty to distributions made before the end of the five year-period. Subtitle B: Penalty-Free Distributions - Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (2) financially devastating medical expenses. Requires contributions to be held in certain IRAs (other than special IRAs) for at least five years prior to distributions. Title III: Reduction in Defense Spending - Sets forth limits on budget outlays and authority for defense spending for FY 1993 through 1997. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit the Congress from exceeding such limits. Provides for reducing maximum deficit amounts. Prohibits sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
Bill· SS. 1926 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the tax exclusion of U.S. savings bonds used to pay higher education tuition and fees to remove the requirement that such expenses be for the enrollment or attendance of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or the taxpayer's dependent.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 226 (102nd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Designates January 4 through 10, 1992, as Braille Literacy Week.
Bill· HRH.R. 3724 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Indian Health Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to state that it is the intent of the Congress that the Nation meet specified health status objectives with respect to Indians and urban Indians by the year 2000. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to report to the President, for transmission to the Congress, on the progress made in each area of the Indian Health Service (Service) toward meeting each stated objective. Title I: Indian Health Manpower - Directs the Secretary to make preparatory scholarship grants for: (1) up to two years on a full-time basis (or the part-time equivalent) to Indians who have demonstrated the capability to successfully complete courses of study in the health professions; and (2) up to four years (or the part-time equivalent) for pregraduate education of any grantee leading to a baccalaureate degree in an approved course of study preparatory to such health professions. Prohibits the Secretary from denying scholarship assistance to an eligible applicant solely by reason of such applicant's eligibility for assistance or benefits under any other Federal program. Authorizes the Secretary to grant health professions scholarships to Indians who are enrolled full or part-time in appropriately accredited schools and pursuing courses of study in the health professions, with an emphasis on certain ones. Makes an individual eligible for such scholarship in any year in which he or she is enrolled full or part-time in such course of study. Provides that the period for a part-time scholarship shall not exceed the part-time equivalent of four years. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to establish a Placement Office to develop a national policy for the placement, to available vacancies within the Service, of health professionals required to meet the active duty obligation prescribed under the Public Health Service Act without regard to any competitive personnel system, agency personnel limitation, or Indian preference policy. Makes an individual liable to the United States for the amount paid to or on the individual's behalf under a written Indian health professions contract if it is breached in specified ways. Entitles the United States to recover an amount determined by a specified formula pursuant to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, as amended, from any individual who breaches such contract by failing to begin or complete such service obligations. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Service, to provide: (1) continuing education allowances to nurses employed by the Service; and (2) grants to establish and develop clinics operated by nurses, nurse midwives, or nurse practitioners to provide primary health care services to Indians. Allocates funds for the training of nurse practitioners. Requires that at least 25 percent of retention bonuses awarded each year by the Secretary beginning in FY 1992 be awarded to nurses. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Service, to establish a program to enable licensed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and registered nurses working in an Indian health program for at least one year to pursue advanced training in a residency program. Revises the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program with respect to: (1) eligibility requirements; (2) priority vacancy positions; (3) an individual's becoming a participant in the program; (4) extension of obligated service; (5) undergraduate loans; (6) repayment of loans; (7) tax liability reimbursements; and (8) the Secretary's annual report to the Congress. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to assign one individual in each area office to be responsible on a full-time basis for recruitment activities. Requires the Secretary to provide a grant to a college or university to establish and maintain a program parallel to the Indians into Medicine Program (INMED) for the nursing and mental health professions. Directs the Secretary to provide matching grants to Indian tribes and tribal organizations to assist in educating Indians to serve as health professionals in Indian communities by providing them with scholarships, under specified conditions. Prohibits any scholarship recipient from discriminating against an individual seeking health care on the basis of ability to pay or that payment for such care will be provided by Medicare or Medicaid Programs under the Social Security Act. Directs the Secretary, under authority of the Snyder Act, to: (1) maintain a Community Health Aide Program in Alaska; and (2) provide, in a specified manner, a high standard of training to community health aides to ensure that they provide quality health care, health promotion, and disease prevention services to the villages served by the Program. Requires the Secretary, by contract or otherwise, to provide training for individuals in the administration and planning of tribal health programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Health Services - Authorizes the Secretary to expend appropriated funds under this Act to eliminate the deficiencies in health status and resources of all Indian tribes. Changes the threshold cost established by the Secretary: (1) for FY 1992 to a minimum of $20,000 (currently a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $20,000) before a service unit can be eligible for reimbursement from the Catastrophic Health Emergency Fund for the cost of treatment of an individual; and (2) for each succeeding year to the cost of the previous year increased by the percentage increase in the medical care expenditure category of the consumer price index for all urban consumers. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to provide health promotion and disease prevention services to Indians to achieve the health objectives set forth in this Act. Repeals the requirement that the Secretary establish from one to four demonstration projects to discover the most effective and cost-efficient means of providing health promotion and disease prevention services to Indians. Directs the Secretary to continue to maintain specified model diabetes projects in existence through FY 2000. Authorizes the Secretary to establish new model diabetes projects. Prohibits the establishment of a greater number of them in one service area than in another until there is an equal number established with respect to all service areas. Adds to the duties of the diabetes control officer employed in each area office of the Service the task of evaluating the effectiveness of services provided through model diabetes projects established under this Act. Requires the Service to report annually to the President for transmission to the Congress, on the mental health status of Indians. Requires any person employed as a psychologist or as a social worker to provide mental health care services to Indians in a clinical setting, under this Act or through a contract under the Indian Self-Determination Act, to be licensed as such or working under the direct supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist or social worker. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the: (1) feasibility and desirability of furnishing hospice care to terminally ill Indians; (2) the determination of the most efficient and effective means of furnishing such care; and (3) the feasibility of allowing an Indian tribe to purchase, directly or through the Service, managed care coverage under certain circumstances. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Health Facilities - Requires the Secretary, when evaluating for the Congress the likely impact of the closure of an Indian Health Service hospital or one of its outpatient health care facilities, to specify: (1) the level of use of such hospital or facility by all eligible Indians; and (2) the distance between such hospital or facility and the nearest operating Service hospital. Requires the Secretary for health care delivery demonstration projects, as of October 1, 1995, to enter into contracts or award grants taking into consideration applications received from all service areas. Prohibits the award of a greater number of such contracts or grants in one service area than in another until there is an equal number of them with respect to all service areas for which the Secretary receives applications under certain conditions. Requires the Secretary to submit to the President (currently, the Congress) for inclusion in the budget submittal for: (1) FY 1997, an interim report on such established demonstration projects; and (2) FY 1999, a final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Access to Health Services - Amends the Social Security Act to prohibit any payments received by a hospital or skilled nursing facility of the Service for services provided to Indians eligible for Medicare benefits from being considered in determining appropriations for health care and services to Indians. Declares that the Secretary has no authority to provide services to an Indian beneficiary with coverage under Medicare in preference to an Indian beneficiary without such coverage. Requires payments to any Service facility made under the Medicaid program to be placed in a special fund to be held by the Secretary and used, in a specified manner, exclusively for making any improvements in the facilities of such Service to achieve compliance with the applicable conditions and requirements of the Social Security Act. Terminates this requirement when the Secretary determines and certifies that substantially all Service health facilities are in compliance with such conditions and requirements. Prohibits payments received by such facility for services provided to Indians eligible for benefits under Medicaid from being considered in determining appropriations for the provision of health care and services to Indians. Requires the Secretary to submit to the President, instead of the Congress, for submission with the budget, an accounting of the amount and use of funds reimbursed through Medicare and Medicaid made available to Indian Health Services. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Health Services for Urban Indians - Authorizes appropriations to make health services more accessible to the urban Indian population. Title VI: Organizational Improvements - Requires the Secretary to carry out, through the Director of the Service, all scholarship and loan functions under this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Substance Abuse Programs - Redesignates Title VII of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act as Title VIII. Expands the responsibilities of the Indian Health Service with respect to the Memorandum of Agreement entered into under the Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to provide a program of comprehensive alcohol and substance abuse prevention and treatment to members of Indian tribes. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Service, to enter into contracts with public or private providers of alcohol and substance abuse treatment services to assist the Service in carrying out such programs. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide assistance to Indian tribes in developing criteria for the certification and accreditation of service facilities which meet certain minimum standards; (2) develop and implement a program for acute detoxification and treatment for Indian youth who are alcohol and substance abusers; and (3) construct or renovate, and appropriately staff and operate, a youth regional treatment center in each area under the jurisdiction of an area office. Considers the area offices of the Service in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, as one area office. Authorizes the Secretary to make funds available to the Tanana Chiefs Conference, Incorporated, to lease, construct, renovate, operate and maintain a residential youth treatment facility in Fairbanks, Alaska. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to: (1) identify and use, where appropriate, federally-owned structures suitable as local residential or regional alcohol and substance abuse treatment centers for Indian youth; and (2) establish guidelines to determine their suitability for such purpose. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, to develop and implement, within each Health Service unit, community-based rehabilitation and follow-up services designed to integrate long-term treatment and to monitor and support Indian youth who are alcohol or substance abusers after their return home. Requires the Secretary to provide for the inclusion of family members of a youth in such treatment programs or other appropriate services. Earmarks at least ten percent of funds appropriated to carry out such programs for outpatient care of adult family members related to the treatment of an Indian youth. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the incidence and prevalence of the abuse of multiple forms of drugs, including alcohol, among Indian youth residing on Indian reservations and in urban areas; and (2) the interrelationship of such abuse with the incidence of mental illness among such youth. Requires the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, to develop and implement, within each service unit, a program to provide training and community education in the areas of alcohol and substance abuse. Directs the Secretary, with respect to such programs, to take into consideration and make available, the results of the demonstration project for children of alcoholics funded by the Office of Minority Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. Requires the Secretary to make grants to the Navajo Nation to provide residential treatment for alcohol and substance abuse for the Tribe's adult and adolescent members and neighboring tribes. Directs the Navajo Nation to enter into a contract with a Gallup, New Mexico, area institution accredited by the Joint Commission of the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations to provide such comprehensive alcohol and drug treatment. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to: (1) those urban Indian organizations with which the Secretary has entered into a contract under this Act for the provision of health-related services in prevention, treatment, or rehabilitation of, or school and community-based education in alcohol and substance abuse in urban centers; and (2) Indian tribes to establish fetal alcohol syndrome programs to meet the health status objective specified in this Act. Directs the Secretary to provide assistance to Indian tribes in the development, printing, and dissemination of education and prevention materials on fetal alcohol syndrome. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Service, to continue making grants through FY 1995 to the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, to provide substance abuse treatment services to Indians in need of them. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Directs the President to include with submission of the budget certain reports and statements on meeting the objectives of this Act. Extends to FY 2000 the time during which Arizona is designated as a contract health service delivery area. Continues through FY 1995 the demonstration programs involving treatment for child sexual abuse that were conducted in FY 1991 through the Hopi Tribe and the Asiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck Reservation. Authorizes the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior to establish such programs in any service area, except that the establishment of a greater number of them in one service area than in another is prohibited until there is an equal number established with respect to all service areas. Authorizes appropriations for Indian health care programs through FY 2000. Title IX: Technical Corrections - Makes technical corrections to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
Bill· SS. 1915 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1991
Student Loan Marketing Association Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to provide for the financial safety and soundness of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) (the Association). Requires the Association to furnish the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) promptly with copies of all: (1) periodic financial reports it publicly distributes; and (2) reports on it prepared by nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to appoint auditors to audit the Association from time to time. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct such studies as may be necessary to monitor the financial soundness and safety of the Association; and (2) upon determination that such soundness and safety are at risk, inform specified congressional committee officials and identify any corrective actions that should be taken. Requires the Association, if its capital ratio is less than two percent in any two consecutive calendar quarters, to submit a capital restoration plan within 60 days to the Secretary that will be adequate to cause its capital ratio to equal or exceed two percent within 36 months. Sets forth requirements for such capital restoration plan, including consultation, approval or disapproval or disapproval by the Secretary, and copies and reports to specified congressional committees. Prohibits the Association, if the Secretary determines that it has failed to make a good faith effort to implement such capital restroation plan, from dealing in any way in student loans insured under HEA by the Secretary of Education or by a guaranty agency (including making advances on security, purchasing, or repurchasing, selling or reselling, offering participations or pooled interests, or otherwise dealing in such loans). Allows the Associations, within 30 days after such a determination by the Secretary, to file a petition for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Sets a 60-day deadline for review by the Congress of material it receives from the Secretary of Education, the General Accounting Office, or the Congressional Budget Office relating to such requirements for the financial safety and soundness of the Association. Provides that the capital restoration plan of the Secretary shall take effect if the Congress does not take statutory action with respect to any such material by that deadline. Requires the Association, if the capital ratio is less than one percent at the end of its most recent calendar quarter to proceed with diligence to implement the most recently proposed plan with modifications the Secretary determines necessary to cause the capital ratio to equal or exceed two percent within 60 months (and, if it has not already submitted a capital plan, to do so within 14 days). Requires the Secretary to submit the plan to specified congressional committees. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the General Accounting Office (GAO) a copy of its plan and any proposed modifications sent to and by the Secretary. Directs the CBO and the GAO to: (1) maintain the confidentiality of such information; and (2) if the Secretary does not approve a plan or modifies a plan where the capital ratio is less than one percent, report to specified congressional committees, with specified analyses of the Secretary's submissions and recommendations for steps the Association should take to increase its capital ratio without impairing its ability to perform its purpose and authorized activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to review the Secretary's specified submissions and report to specified congressional committees with: (1) a description of any administrative or legislative provisions governing the student loan programs which contributed to the decline in the Association's capital ratio; and (2) recommendations for administrative and legislative changes in student loan programs to maintain their orderly operation and enable the Association to fulfill its purpose and authorized activities consistent with the two percent minimum capital ratio. Deems the Association in compliance with specified requirements relating to two percent and one percent capital ratios if it is rated in the highest or next higest full rating categories by two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations without regard to the Association status as a federally chartered corporation. Sets forth provisions for the level of confidential treatment, by the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Education, CBO, and GAO, of information made available by the Association under this Act. Defines capital ratio.
Bill· HRH.R. 3704 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1991
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1991 - Title I: National Ocean Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for: (1) mapping, charting, and geodesy; (2) observation and assessment; and (3) ocean and coastal management. Prohibits funds under this Act from being used to conduct analyses of samples collected under the National Status and Trends Program until completion of a specified water circulation model for Long Island Sound. Earmarks observation and assessment funds for such a model. Title II: National Marine Fisheries Service - Amends the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries Program Authorization Act to authorize appropriations to the Department of Commerce for the National Marine Fisheries Service for: (1) information collection and analysis; (2) conservation and management; and (3) State and industry assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with, and provide financial assistance to, State, marine fisheries commissions, regional fishery management councils, and academic institutions for research on marine animals, endangered species, and fisheries conservation and management. Mandates a study in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and a report to specified congressional committees on the effects of feeding of noncaptive dolphins by human beings. Requires establishment in NOAA of the National Shellfish Indicator Study Project to conduct research on pathogenic indicators of contamination of shellfish growing areas, to be conducted in accordance with a specified existing cooperative agreement between NOAA and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to release certain previously-appropriated funds for shellfish water standards research. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a comprehensive economic study and a report to the Congress to provide baseline information to guide policy decisions on the future of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp fishery. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Oceanic and Atmospheric Research - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) climate and air quality research; and (2) atmospheric research. Requires the Office of the Chief Scientist of NOAA to submit to the Congress a plan for implementation of a nationwide climate services system and applied climatology program. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for ocean and Great Lakes research. Authorizes appropriations to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OOAR) of NOAA for the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for the OOAR for a large lakes research plan. Title IV: National Weather Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) for operations and research. Mandates establishment of: (1) an advisory committee on Atlantic tropical cyclone research and reconnaissance; and (2) a five-year program for data collection, research, and analysis on such cyclones; and (3) a management plan for the five-year program. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for the NWS for public warning and forecast systems, including systems acquisition. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary to complete the acquisition and deployment of the Next Generation Weather Radar system and the Automated Surface Observing Systems. Directs the Secretary to provide at least one NWS liaison officer for each area receiving such public institution liaison and community preparedness services, as of the date of enactment of this Act, from a Weather Service Office (WSO), a Weather Service Meteorological Observatory (WSMO), or an Agricultural Weather Service Center (AWSC). Requires such officer to be provided for at least two years after the WSO, WSMO, or AWSC is closed, consolidated, automated, or relocated. Directs the Secretary to provide such areas with sufficient personnel to ensure that modernization and restructuring of the NWS do not result in degradation in public institution liaison and community preparedness of such areas. Requires the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to identify areas for which there is significant doubt that the Secretary will be able to make a certification that such actions regarding a WSO or a Weather Service Forecast Office will not result in degradation of weather services to the affected area. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees regarding any areas certified by the Secretary which are listed by the NAS as significantly doubtful of certification. Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989 to add removal of any NWS radar to the list of actions requiring such certification by the Secretary. Modifies the required contents of the certification and associated procedure. Title V: National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) satellite observing systems; and (2) completion of the procurement of specified Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites and Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites and the launching and supporting ground systems for each; and (3) data and information services. Amends the Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984 to mandate that any license issued under specified provisions of that Act specify that the licensee shall promptly make available all unenhanced data which the Secretary of the Interior (currently, the Secretary of Commerce) may request under specified provisions of the Act relating to archiving of data. Amends provisions of the Act relating to archiving in order to transfer from the Secretary of Commerce to the Secretary of the Interior responsibility for: (1) providing for long-term storage, maintenance, and upgrading of the basic, global, land remote-sensing data set; (2) requesting data needed for the basic data set from a system operator; (3) making data which is in the public domain available to requesting parties; and (4) using existing Government facilities, to the extent practicable, to carry out these functions. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to consult with the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that archiving activities are consistent with the terms and conditions of any contract, agreement, or license under specified provisions of the Act. Title VI: Buy America Provisions - Sets forth Buy American provisions regarding any contract or subcontract made with funds authorized under this Act for articles, materials, or supplies. Declares ineligible for any contract or subcontract from NOAA any person determined by a court or Federal agency to have affixed a fraudulent "Made in America" label to any product. Authorizes awarding to a domestic firm a contract under this Act for goods that, under competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm, if certain circumstances exist. Title VII: Tropical Cyclone Research Program - Tropical Cyclone Research Act of 1991. Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce to establish a five-year joint program, which expands on the plan established in provisions of this Act relating to Atlantic tropical cyclones, for collecting operational and reconnaissance data, conducting research, and analyzing data on tropical cyclones to assist the forecast and warning program and increase the understanding of the causes and behavior of tropical cyclones. Sets forth the responsibilities of each Secretary. Directs those Secretaries to jointly develop and submit to the Congress management plans for: (1) the program established by this Act; and (2) continued tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance which will adequately protect the citizens of U.S. coastal areas. Mandates that the management plan and program: (1) provide for a minimum of the same level and quality of protection as the current tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance program; and (2) in no way allow any reduction in the level, quality, timeliness, sustainability, and area of served of both the existing principal and back-up severe storm reconnaissance and tracking systems. Title VIII: Program Support - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) executive direction and administrative activities; (2) acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of facilities; (3) marine services; and (4) reactivation and operation of a specified research vessel. Directs the Secretary to acquire space from the Administrator of General Services that meets the long-term needs of NOAA on Near Island in Kodiak, Alaska, provided the annual lease costs do not exceed a specified amount. Prohibits deactivation of any NOAA research vessel until an equivalent replacement is operational. Prohibits construction of any NOAA vessel or its major components in a foreign shipyard. Prohibits NOAA vessels homeported in the United States from being overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a foreign shipyard, except for voyage repairs. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Oceanographer of the Navy regarding interoperability of NOAA vessels with Navy vessels. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for modernization of the NOAA fleet. Mandates submission to the Congress of a detailed fleet replacement and modernization plan. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire NOAA vessels by purchase, lease, lease-purchase, or otherwise, under one or more multi-year contracts. Imposes requirements and conditions on such contracts. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for aircraft services. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires notice to specified congressional committees: (1) before the Secretary may carry out a major reorganization of, or reprogram over a specified amount of funds appropriated for, any NOAA program or activity; and (2) annually regarding any new NOAA program or activity. Requires the Comptroller General to submit to the Congress an audit of: (1) natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities of NOAA under specified Acts; and (2) the Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on a two-year budget cycle for NOAA. Freezes the price of nautical charts or other nautical products produced or published by NOAA. Mandates a report to the Congress by the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology regarding: (1) the most urgent current needs of oceanographic researchers for remote sensing capabilities and remotely sensed data; and (2) the major goals of satellite oceanography for the next ten years. Directs the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees a report on how current and planned Federal satellite capabilities can aid in the enforcement of Federal fisheries laws and international fisheries conservation programs. Establishes in NOAA a Cooperative Institute of Fisheries Oceanography in partnership with Duke University and the Consolidated University of North Carolina. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to acquire space from the Administrator of General Services in the area of Newport News-Norfolk, Virginia, for consolidating and meeting the long-term space needs of NOAA in a cost-effective manner. Authorizes exchange of Department of Commerce real property for other real property in the area. Directs the Secretary to complete and make publicly available a manual describing requirements for recipients of NOAA financial assistance. Prohibits, after enactment of this Act, subjecting such assistance to review by the Financial Assistance Review Board. Sets forth procedures applicable to nondiscretionary assistance programs. Declares that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, financial assistance provided under a program for which the recipient is specified by statute to be, or has customarily been, a State or an interstate fishery commission may be provided on a sole-source basis. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for implementing the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. Prohibits using amounts appropriated under this Act for activities authorized separately under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resources Act. Repeals the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant of a specified amount to a qualified institution to develop and promote innovative post-secondary education and research in seafood business management and vessel operations. Establishes in NOAA the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Resources Office. Earmarks funds for the establishment of the Office. Requires, notwithstanding any other provision of law, that amounts received by the United States (after enactment of this Act or with respect to the grounding of the Exxon Valdez) as reimbursement of expenses related to oil or hazardous substance spills response activities conducted by NOAA: (1) be deposited in NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund; (2) be available for use in accordance with the law under which the activities are conducted; and (3) not be considered to be an augmentation of appropriations. Requires reversion to the Humbolt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District of certain property on Woodley Island in Eureka, California, acquired from that District and determined to be excess property.
Bill· SS. 1907 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1991
National Plastics Recycling Research and Development Act of 1991 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) establish three National Plastics Recycling Research and Development Centers at institutions of higher education; and (2) make grants to such Centers in the amount of 50 percent of the funds required to conduct assigned activities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to establish the National Clearinghouse on Plastics Recycling, to be located at one of the Centers. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1904 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1991
Amends title XI (Partnerships for Economic Development and Urban Community Service) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a Campus-Community Crime Intervention Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to award program grants to and enter into cooperative agreements with institutions of higher education to design and implement programs that address pressing and severe crime problems in urban institutions of higher education and the surrounding community, including the root causes of such problems. Requires such awards to be made in a manner that: (1) achieves a regionally equitable distribution of such grants; and (2) serves eight urban institutions of higher education with documented campus and community crime problems. Sets the duration of each grant or cooperative agreement at five years. Sets a maximum amount for each grant or cooperative agreement. Sets forth application requirements and allowable activities. Authorizes the Secretary to award demonstration program grants to or enter into cooperative agreements with institutions of higher education to support programs demonstrating to urban institutions of higher education across the Nation the role that such institutions can play as partners in their communities to address pressing and severe crime problems and such problems' root causes. Directs the Secretary to enter into eight such demonstration grants or contracts. Sets forth application requirements and authorized activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 to carry out this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3698 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1991
Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Block Grants to States Regarding Mental Health and Substance Abuse - Amends title XIX (Block Grants) of the Public Health Service Act (the Act) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to make an annual allotment, in accordance with a specified formula, to each State with an approved application for providing comprehensive community mental health services to adults with a serious mental illness and to children with a serious emotional disturbance. Sets forth criteria for State plans and mental health centers. Requires a State, in order to receive a grant, to maintain a State mental health planning council. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make an annual allotment to each State making specified agreements for the purpose of planning, carrying out, and evaluating activities to prevent and treat the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Requires a State to give priority to communities with the highest prevalence of substance abuse. Requires: (1) a specified percentage to be available to treat pregnant women and women with dependent children; and (2) that child care and prenatal care will be available for women receiving services. Requires that a specified percentage be expended for intravenous drug abuse programs with priority given to programs treating individuals with the etiologic agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Requires outreach activities. Requires a grant recipient State to: (1) provide for a revolving fund to make loans to establish group homes for recovering substance abusers; and (2) have in effect a law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to any individual under the age of 18. Sets forth additional provisions concerning a State's responsibilities, application, and plan. Authorizes appropriations. Adds a new subtitle to title XIX of the Act which sets forth new provisions regarding block grants, including provisions concerning: (1) the submission of the description of the intended use of a block grant; (2) reports and audits by States; (3) disposition of funds appropriated for allotments; (4) failure to comply with agreements required as a condition of receiving payments; and (5) nondiscrimination. Directs the Secretary to make grants to public entities for the purpose of providing comprehensive community mental health services to children with a serious emotional disturbance. Sets forth requirements for receiving grants, including: (1) matching fund requirements; and (2) requirements concerning the provision of services. Permits an entity to impose charges for the provision of such services, provided that: (1) the charges are adjusted to reflect the income of the child's family; and (2) no charges are imposed or families with income and resources below the official poverty line. Prohibits the period during which grant payments may be made from exceeding five years. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of increasing the maximum number of individuals to whom public and nonprofit private entities are capable of providing effective treatment for substance abuse. Requires that priority in making grants be given to States: (1) giving priority to residential treatment services for pregnant women; and (2) that more than meet their matching funds requirement. Sets forth requirements for receiving a grant. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Other Programs of Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration - Requires that at least 15 percent of the amounts appropriated under the Act for conducting or supporting research regarding mental health be made available for research on community-based treatment programs. Authorizes appropriations for such research. Establishes within the National Institute of Mental Health the Office of Rural Mental Health. Requires the Director of such Office to coordinate various activities concerning mental health in rural areas and to conduct research and carry out demonstration projects. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1986 to extend the authorization of appropriations. Establishes, in the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration an Office for Treatment Improvement. Requires the Director of such Office, with respect to the treatment of substance abuse, to carry out specified duties, including: (1) collaborating efforts with other similar agencies; (2) assisting entities providing treatment services; and (3) providing grants for the purpose of establishing demonstration projects that will improve the provision of treatment services for substance abuse. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Requires the establishment of a demonstration program within the national capital area. Requires the Director of the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention to establish a national data base providing information on programs for the prevention of substance abuse. Authorizes appropriations for such Office to assist communities in developing long-term strategies for the prevention of substance abuse and to evaluate the success of different approaches. Authorizes appropriations under the Act for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation model projects for high risk youth. Replaces current provisions providing grants to establish projects for pregnant and postpartum women having substance abuse problems with provisions providing grants for residential treatment programs for such women. Sets forth program requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for grants to establish projects for prevention and education activities and outpatient treatment regarding the effects of drug and alcohol abuse on pregnant and postpartum women and their infants. Requires the Director of the Prevention Office, through awarding grants, to develop programs to increase the number of full-time substance abuse treatment professionals and the number of professionals providing treatment services. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) a grant program the purpose of which is to reduce the waiting period for drug abuse treatment; (2) research on alcohol abuse and alcoholism; (3) research on drug abuse; (4) a study concerning programs that provide sterile hypodermic needles and bleach to individuals at risk of contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome; and (5) grants to entities for the acquisition of small instrumentation necessary for research on mental health and substance abuse. Title III: Trauma Centers and Drug-Related Violence - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for the purpose of providing for the operating expenses of trauma centers that have incurred substantial uncompensated costs in providing trauma care in geographic areas with a significant incidence of violence arising from the abuse of drugs. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) qualifying for such grants; and (2) priorities in making such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: National Drug Control Strategy - Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to require the National Drug Control Strategy to identify factors that influence individuals to engage in the abuse of drugs and determine whether the sale to and use of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products by minors are factors.
Bill· SS. 1899 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Youth Service Act of 1991 - Title I: Job Training - Part A: Purposes and Definitions - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to revise the congressional declaration of purpose. Adds definitions of service opportunity, youth corps programs, and citizenship skills. Part B: Job Training - Requires job training plans under JTPA to include a description of joint programs in which activities supported under JTPA are coordinated with actitivites (such as service opportunities and youth corps programs) supported under the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (NCSA). Revises JTPA performance standards to include increased educational attainment and occupational and citizenship skills (as well as increased employment and earnings and reduction in welfare dependency) as indicators of long-term economic self-sufficiency. Revises limitations on certain costs for specified JTPA programs. Revises requirements for the Governor's coordination and special services plan under JTPA to include provisions for coordinating activities, and for providing information and technical assistance for joint programs, including youth corps programs, under NCSA. Includes representatives of the State Advisory Board established under NCSA on the State job training coordinating council under JTPA. Revises general requirements relating to program income under JTPA. Part C: Adult and Youth Programs - Revises JTPA provisions for disadvantaged adults and youth to allow a youth program assisted under such provisions to operate jointly with a program assisted by contributions and grant funds from other public and private sources, including assistance under NCSA. Allows such joint programs to accept as participants both individuals whose participation is funded under such JTPA provisions and individuals not eligible for services under such JTPA provisions whose participation is funded from other sources. Adds youth corps programs and other programs which combine work experience with skills training to authorized uses of JTPA funds for disadvantaged adults and youth. Requires the service delivery area, in conducting programs for disadvantaged adults and youth under JTPA, to establish appropriate cooperative arrangements with other Federal programs, including programs assisted under NCSA. Part D: Summer Youth Programs - Revises JTPA provisions for summer youth programs to include among program purposes: (1) enhancing educational, occupational, and citizenship skills of youth; and (2) enabling young people to serve together in programs that benefit the Nation and improve their life chances through acquisition of literacy and job skills. Includes under authorized uses of such program funds community service work experience programs, work experience combined with skills training, instruction for high school completion or equivalency certificate, youth corps programs, and other programs that combine training or education with meaningful and constructive community service in public agencies or community-based programs. Requires each service delivery area to reserve specified increasing percentages of summer program funds to conduct youth corps programs in which youth work together under the direction of a crew supervisor (as such term is defined under NCSA). Allows joint programs and participation under JTPA summer programs and other programs assisted by public and private sources, including assistance under NCSA. Requires the service delivery area, in conducting JTPA summer programs, to establish appropriate cooperative arrangements with other Federal programs, including programs assisted under NCSA. Title II: College Work-Study - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions for college work-study programs to include encouraging students receiving Federal student financial assistance to participate in community service activities that will benefit the Nation and engender in students a sense of social responsibility and commitment to the community. Adds a definition of community service. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) reallot up to 50 percent of specified work-study funds to eligible institutions to initiate, improve, and expand community service work-study programs; (2) allocate the remainder according to specified criteria; and (3) notify all eligible institutions of the availability of such funds for community service work-study programs. Revises provisions for grants for work-study programs to require eligible institutions to: (1) use increasing percentages of such funds to make payments to students performing community service in work-study programs; (2) inform all eligible students of such opportunities and make community service work-study placements reasonably available to all interested eligible students; (3) consult with local nonprofit, governmental, and community-based organizations to identify community service opportunities, and with local labor organizations representing area employees engaged in work similar to the proposed community service. Increases the maximum percentage and amount of the work-study allotment which may be used for commnunity service job location and development. Requires consultation with local labor organizations representing employees engaged in work similar to the proposed community service. Provides for use of additional funds to conduct community service work-study programs.
Bill· HRH.R. 3692 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act of 1991 - Withdraws from all forms of entry, sale, and disposal under the public land laws and from all forms of appropriation and operation under mining and mineral leasing laws the public lands in Eddy County, New Mexico, which surround the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) (a Department of Energy (DOE) research and development facility authorized to demonstrate the safe disposal of defense radioactive waste). Describes the lands to be withdrawn. Revokes specified public land orders made inconsistent by this Act. Makes the Secretary of Energy responsible for management of the withdrawn lands. Requires the Secretary to develop a management plan for the withdrawn lands requiring any use of such lands for activities not associated with WIPP to be subject to conditions and restrictions that may be necessary to permit the conduct of WIPP activities. Requires the management plan to permit domestic livestock grazing, hunting and trapping, maintenance of wildlife habitat, the disposal of salt tailings remaining on the surface, and mining. Directs the Secretary to submit the management plan to appropriate congressional committees and the State of New Mexico. Authorizes the Secretary to close to the public any part of such withdrawn lands if required for public health and safety. Authorizes the Secretary to implement a transuranic waste experimental program at the WIPP according to prescribed guidelines. Directs the Secretary to submit the experimental program proposal to: (1) the State of New Mexico; (2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); (3) the National Academy of Sciences; and (4) the WIPP Environmental Evaluation Group (EEG). Provides for conflict resolution if the State of New Mexico disagrees with the Secretary's final experimental program plan. Sets forth review and modification procedures. Prohibits transuranic waste from being received for operational demonstration of the WIPP before: (1) the Secretary's determination of compliance with disposal regulations; and (2) the EPA Administrator's certification to the Congress that the Secretary has complied with them. Sets forth: (1) the EPA compliance scheme; (2) specified restrictions upon transuranic waste; (3) retrievability requirements regarding transuranic waste emplaced in the WIPP; and (4) transportation and containerization requirements (including training for accident prevention and emergency preparedness). Directs the Mine Safety and Health Administration of the Department of Labor to inspect the mine at the WIPP as frequently as other mine sites under its purview, and to report its findings to the Secretary for prompt correction of any deficiencies. Directs the Bureau of Mines to prepare an annual evaluation of mine safety at the WIPP. Sets forth an economic assistance payment scheme to be made by the Secretary to the State of New Mexico and certain local governmental units for operation and decommissioning expenses. Authorizes payments in lieu of taxes to such governmental entities. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the State of New Mexico regarding the promotion of WIPP-related business and employment opportunities, with particular attention given to Lea and Eddy counties. Directs the Secretary to make annual payments to the State of New Mexico for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an Impact Assessment Group within the Waste Management Education and Research Consortium to prepare annual reports on the economic impact of WIPP activities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) submit to certain congressional committees a preliminary plan for active and passive institutional controls for managing the WIPP after decommissioning; and (2) publish in the Federal Register a preliminary management plan for the WIPP after decommissioning. Authorizes appropriations to provide compensation for the cancellation of specified oil and gas leases. Authorizes appropriations for this Act generally. Mandates that transuranic waste introduced at the WIPP site prior to enactment of this Act be promptly removed if: (1) it is not being used to implement the experimental program; or (2) it does not comply with specified statutory restrictions. Subjects such waste to the retrievability requirements of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3680 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Family Tax Relief Act 1991 - Title I: Modification of Personal Income Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit of $350 for each child under the age of 18. Title II: Modifications of the Congressional Budget Process - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to reduce the discretionary spending limits for the defense, international, and domestic categories for FY 1992 and 1993. Reduces overall discretionary spending limits for fiscal year 1994 and 1995. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require the reductions in outlays for FY 1992 through 1995 resulting from the reductions in discretionary spending limits under this title to be treated as savings in direct spending for sequestration purposes. Title III: Nondefense Spending Savings - Subtitle A: Aid to Families With Dependent Children - Amends part A (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require State plans to reduce AFDC payments by reason of the tax credit for children. Provides that if any family becomes ineligible for AFDC payments because of such reduction, the family remains eligible for any other program, the qualification for which is eligibility to receive such aid, and will not be required to reapply if otherwise eligible. Prohibits the approval of any State plan for medical assistance if payment levels are less than the payment levels in effect under such plan on October 1, 1991 (currently, May 1, 1988). Revises the method of allocating child support payment received for AFDC recipients. Subtitle B: Termination of Specific Programs - Terminates the following: (1) the superconductor super collider project; (2) the Space Station Freedom Program or any other space station; (3) reduced rate mailings for qualified nonprofit organizations, except mailings by blind or other handicapped persons; (4) the Fossil Energy Research and Development program; (5) the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Program; and (6) the Clean Coal Technology program. Subtitle C: Termination of Certain Loan and Guarantee Programs - Provides for the termination of the Small Business Administration and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Transfers certain authorities to other Federal agencies. Subtitle D: Education Provisions - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain institutions of higher education to pay a co-origination fee in order for a student to be eligible to receive certain loans to attend such institution. Bases such fee on the loan default rate of the institution. Requires the Secretary of Education to use such fees to make payments on defaulted loans. Lowers the rates on special allowances paid to lenders who make higher education loans. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to make permanent provisions regarding the collection of non-tax debts owed to Federal agencies. Amends Federal law to revise the method of computing aid to local educational agencies in the case of children of persons who reside or work on Federal property by taking into account the number of children whose parents are employed on public housing property. Subtitle E: Agricultural Programs - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make individuals with adjusted gross income in excess of $100,000 ineligible for deficiency payments. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth the percentage of reduction in deficiency payments for wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, and crops for crop years 1992 through 1995. Amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to repeal the export enhancement program and the market promotion program. Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from using cash or commodities of, or owned by, the Commodity Credit Corporation or the Department of Agriculture to subsidize: (1) the export of an agricultural commodity or product; or (2) market and export promotion of an agricultural commodity or product by any person. Title IV: National Security Savings - Prohibits the Department of Defense from procuring the following weapon systems: (1) B-2 bomber aircraft; (2) MX missiles; and (3) small intercontinental ballistic missiles (SICBM). Suspends the following weapon system programs until the President certifies to the Congress the need for such programs and the Congress authorizes such programs to proceed: (1) the Air Force advanced tactical fighter; (2) the aerospace plan; (3) the MILSTAR satellite; (4) the A-12 aircraft; (5) the V-22 Osprey aircraft; and (6) the Army light helicopter. Limits the procurement of certain weapon systems that are procured for use in any fiscal year after FY 1991 to the minimum number of units necessary to maintain a defense industrial base sufficient for producing that weapon system as needed to meet existing and contingent threats to the national security as, determined by the President. Specifies such systems as: (1) the seawolf submarine (SSN-21); (2) the M-1 tank; (3) the F/A-18 aircraft; (4) helicopters; (5) the F-14 aircraft; and (6) the F-16 aircraft. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the modernization of weapon systems, including aircraft carriers, should continue; and (2) the Navy should continue to operate nonnuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the fleet while the environmental risks associated with the deployment of nuclear aircraft carriers into zones of armed conflict are unacceptable. Amends the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 to reduce the strength level of members of the Armed Forces stationed in Europe. Specifies the Armed Forces end strengths for FY 1992 through 1996. Provides for the distribution of personnel reductions by: (1) removing two heavy divisions of the Army from active to reserve components; (2) deactivating two light infantry divisions of the Army; and (3) reducing the number of aircraft carrier groups in the Navy. Declares that the Congress urges the President to enter into negotiations with appropriate foreign countries in regions where there are serious threats to vital national security interests of the United States in order to provide for the establishment of facilities in such countries that are suitable for facilitating rapid deployment of appropriate elements of the Armed Forces to those regions in the event of an international crisis that threatens those national security interests. Directs the President to take action as necessary to increase significantly the sea lift capabilities of the Armed Forces in order to facilitate the rapid deployment of such regions. Authorizes the Department of Defense to use funds available for the Strategic Defense Initiative for the development and deployment of an antiballistic missile defense system that is the minimum system necessary to defend the United States against a limited ballistic missile attack, including accidentally launched ballistic missiles. Authorizes appropriations for the sea lift and the Strategic Defense Initiative.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 223 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Designates October 30, 1992, as National Stay in School Awareness Day.
Bill· HRH.R. 3678 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Economic Growth Act of 1991 - Title I: Investment and Job Creation Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Capital Gains Tax for Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the capital gains deduction for individuals. Provides special rules for the gain or loss from the sale or exchange of collectibles and sales of interest in partnerships. Disallows such deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Revises the formula for determining gain from the dispositions of certain depreciable realty to take into account depreciation adjustments (adjustments allowed or allowable for exhaustion, wear and tear, obsolescence, or certain amortization). Subtitle B: Inflation Adjustment for Investments - Requires indexing, based on the consumer price index, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business after April 15, 1991) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Provides for the inflation adjustment treatment of: (1) short sales; (2) regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts; and (3) partnerships, S corporations, and common trust funds. Prohibits gain from the sale or other disposition of an indexed asset from being taken into account under the limitation on investment interest. Subtitle C: Enterprise Zones - Part I: Designation - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every two years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Part II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Excludes enterprise zone capital gains from income computation of alternative minimum taxes. Part III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Part IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Part V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987. Subtitle D: Research and Experimentation Credit Made Permanent - Makes permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities and the tax credit for clinical testing expenses. Title II: Savings Incentives - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Allows existing individual retirement accounts (IRA) to be rolled over into individual retirement plus accounts with payment of tax on the amount rolled over for which a deduction was once allowable, but no tax when withdrawn. Title III: Homeownership Incentives - Subtitle A: First-Time Homebuyers - Allows a tax credit for the first-time purchase of a principal residence by individuals with incomes of $31,000 or less (phased-out to incomes of up to $41,000). Limits such credit to $1,000. Subtitle B: Penalty-Free IRA Plus Withdrawal for Home Purchase, Higher Education, and Health Costs - Allows penalty-free distributions from IRA Plus accounts of up to 25 percent of the account limit for: (1) first-time homebuyers; (2) medical expenses; and (3) higher education expenses. Title IV: Work Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Social Security Penalty on Working Elderly - Amends title II of the Social Security Act (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Benefits) to raise the earnings limit for retirees. Appropriates to each payor fund amounts equivalent to the aggregate increase in social security benefits payable from such fund which is attributable to such amendment. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study during 1997 whether further amendments relating to deductions on account of work and the exempt amount under the earnings limit are necessary or appropriate. Subtitle B: 25 Percent Reduction in Income Tax Rates - Reduces the individual income tax rates and the alternative minimum tax. Title V: Reduction in Federal Spending to Offset Revenue Loss - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to annually: (1) estimate the amount (if any) of the net reduction in Federal revenues for the fiscal year which will result from the amendments made by this Act; and (2) determine the sequestration percentage necessary to reduce Federal outlays for such fiscal year by an aggregate amount equal to the estimated amount of such net reduction. Requires the President to issue an order requiring a sequestration with respect to each budget account in an amount equal to the sequestration percentage of the amount otherwise available for such account.
Bill· HRH.R. 3662 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to require that: (1) a decision by Federal Prison Industries (FPI) to produce a new prison-made product or to expand the production of an existing product be made by the Board of Directors of FPI (the Board) in conformance with the public notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act; and (2) the corporation prepare and furnish to the Board a detailed analysis of the probable impact on industry and free labor of any proposal to authorize the production and sale of a new prison-made product or to expand production of a currently authorized product (such proposal). Requires such analysis to identify and consider factors including: (1) the number of vendors that currently meet Federal requirements for the specific product; (2) the proportion of the Federal market for the product currently furnished by small and disadvantaged businesses and businesses in labor surplus areas during the previous three fiscal years; (3) the share of the Federal market for the product projected for FPI for the fiscal year in which production will commence (or expand) and the subsequent three fiscal years; (4) whether the industry producing the product in the private sector has an unemployment rate higher than the national average, a rate of employment for production workers that has consistently shown an increase during the previous five years, or an import to domestic production ratio of 25 percent or greater; (5) whether the specific product is an import-sensitive product; (6) the projected growth in the Government for the specific product and the capability of such demand to sustain both FPI and private vendors; and (7) whether authorizing the production of the new product will provide inmates with the maximum opportunity to acquire knowledge and skill in trades and occupations that will provide them with a means of earning a livelihood upon release. Bars the Board from approving such proposal if the product is: (1) produced in the private sector by an industry which has reflected during the previous year an unemployment rate above the national average; or (2) an import-sensitive product. Directs the Board to: (1) give additional notice of such proposal in a publication designed to most effectively provide notice to private vendors and labor unions representing private sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be affected by approval of such proposal; (2) solicit comments on the analysis required under this Act from trade associations representing private sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be affected by its approval; (3) afford an opportunity, upon request, for a representative of private industry to present comments on such proposal directly to the Board. Requires the corporation to provide the Board with its recommendations regarding action on the proposal, taking into consideration the comments received. Requires: (1) the various Federal departments and agencies (agencies) to offer to purchase from FPI any product authorized to be offered for sale and listed in the UNICOR Schedule of Products (whenever it has a requirement for an FPI product); and (2) FPI to publish and periodically revise such Schedule. Sets forth provisions with respect to the solicitation of offers from FPI and contract awards to FPI on either a competitive or sole source basis. Prohibits the cancellation or withdrawal of a solicitation solely for the purpose of affording an agency buying activity the opportunity to enter into noncompetitive negotiation with FPI unless the Attorney General determines that FPI cannot reasonably expect to receive the contract award on a competitive basis and that such award is necessary to: (1) maintain work opportunities otherwise unavailable at the penal facility at which the contract is to be performed to prevent circumstances that could reasonably be expected to significantly endanger the safe and effective administration of such facility; or (2) permit diversification into the labor-intensive manufacture of a specific product that has been approved by the Board. Specifies that: (1) a timely offer received from FPI shall be considered eligible for award (even if the competition is restricted); and (2) FPI shall be required to perform its contractual obligations to the same extent as any other contractor. Repeals a provisions under which any dispute relating to the price, quality, character, or suitability of FPI products shall be arbitrated by a board consisting of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Administrator of General Services, and the President, or their representatives. Specifies that: (1) a decision by a contracting officer regarding the award of a contract to FPI or relating to the performance of such contract shall be final, unless reversed on appeal (but authorizes the Director of FPI to appeal to the head of a Federal agency an adverse determination made by a contracting officer, in which case the decision of such agency head shall be final); and (2) a dispute between FPI and a buying activity regarding contract performance shall be subject to final resolution by the board of contract appeals having jurisdiction over the buying activity's contract performance disputes under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Requires that the amendments made by this Act be implemented through modifications to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) within 180 days. Makes the FAR subject to provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (which assure publication in the Federal Register and the opportunity for public comment before the promulgation of a final regulation). Requires each Federal agency reporting to the Federal Procurement Data System through the General Services Administration to report all acquisitions from FPI. Amends the Federal criminal code to require the Board, in its annual report to the Congress, to include: (1) an analysis of the corporation's total sales for each specific product sold to Federal agencies, the total purchases by each agency of each specific product, the corporation's share of such total Government purchases by specific product, and the number and disposition of disputes submitted to agency heads; (2) an analysis of the inmate workforce, including the number of inmates employed, the number and percentage of employed inmates by the term of their incarceration, and the various hourly wages paid to inmates employed with respect to the production of the various specific products authorized for production and sale; and (3) data concerning employment obtained by former inmates upon release to determine whether the employment provided by FPI during incarceration provided such inmates with knowledge and skill in a trade or occupation that enabled such former inmate to earn a livelihood upon release. Directs that copies of such annual report be made available to the public at a price not to exceed the cost of printing. Authorizes the Department of Defense (DOD) to count toward the attainment of the goal set out in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 for participation by small disadvantaged businesses, historically Black colleges and universities, and minority institutions in DOD contracting opportunities, the value of any purchase of supplies or services made by FPI from an entity described in such Act for the performance of a contract with DOD.
Bill· HRH.R. 3658 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Directs the Secretary of Education to provide funds to an elementary or secondary school to establish a pilot program for the composting of yard waste and cafeteria waste in order to reduce the amount of solid waste generated at such school. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on such pilot program, with findings and recommendations as to whether similar programs should be carried out at other schools and how the Federal Government should provide funds for such programs. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3648 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
School Dropout Prevention Act of 1991 - Prohibits a State from issuing a motor vehicle license to an individual under 18 years of age unless such individual is enrolled in an elementary or secondary school or in a State certified course leading to a high school diploma or its equivalent, or has obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent. Requires the withholding of certain State funds for noncompliance.
Bill· HRH.R. 3663 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free distributions from eligible individual retirement plans for: (1) qualified first-time home purchases; (2) qualified higher education expenses; (3) a period of involuntary unemployment; and (4) certain medical expenses. Increases the income limitation on the deduction for retirement savings. Provides a cost-of-living adjustment for the maximum allowable contribution.
Bill· SS. 1866 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
National Community Economic Partnership Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to establish a National Commission on Community Economic Development (the Commission), as an independent agency, to: (1) administer the community development programs established under this Act; and (2) serve as a focal point for Federal promotion of community-based economic development. Directs the Commission to develop and promulgate, in consultation with the heads of other Federal agencies, regulations to permit appropriate operation of joint programs coordinating activities supported with assistance under this Act with activities supported with assistance under programs administered by such agency heads. Authorizes the Commission to enter into contracts and other appropriate arrangements with nonprofit organizations for operation and management of any projects undertaken under such a joint program. Requires the Commission to coordinate such joint programs with other related Federal, State, local, and private activities. Establishes a program of community economic partnership investment funds. Authorizes the Commission to provide nonrefundable lines of credit to community development corporations (CDCs) to establish, maintain, or expand revolving loan funds to finance projects to: (1) provide business and employment opportunities for low-income and unemployed individuals; and (2) improve the quality of life in urban and rural areas. Sets forth requirements relating to such revolving loan funds, including: (1) competitive assessment of applications from eligible entities for capitalization of such funds; (2) applications including strategic investment plans and demonstrations of experience and achievement; (3) matching local funds (with exceptions); (4) application approval criteria, including priority for target areas with low incomes and high unemployment; and (5) availability of lines of credit; (6) authorized uses of lines of credit and of revolving loan funds; (7) limitations on use of funds; (8) local contributions; and (9) use of proceeds from investments. Requires the Commission to give priority in providing lines of credit under this Act to CDCs that propose to undertake economic development activities in distressed communities that target women, Native Americans, at-risk youth, farmworkers, very low-income communities, single mother or refugees and programs providing loans in limited amounts to very small business enterprises. Allows not more than five percent of program appropriations to be reserved for such priority activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such community economic partnership investment funds program. Establishes a program for emerging community development corporations (CDCs). Directs the Commission to award: (1) grants to community development corporations to attain or enhance the business management and development skills of the individuals that manage such CDCs, in order to enable such CDCs, to seek the public and private resources necessary to develop community economic projects; and (2) operating grants to community development corporations to enable them to support an administrative capacity for planning, developing, and management of low-income community development projects. Sets forth authorized uses and maximum amounts of, and application requirements for, such grants. Authorizes the Commission to award grants to emerging CDCs to enable them to establish, maintain, or expand revolving loan funds, to make or gurantee loans, or to make capital investments in new or expanding local businesses. Sets forth eligibility requirements, authorized uses of such revolving loan funds and of proceeds from investments, and maximum grant amount. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such program for emerging CDCs. Establishes a community economic development research and demonstration program. Directs the Commission to award grants to enable eligible organizations to undertake programs involving research, testing, studies, or demonstrations related to community economic development. Makes eligible for such grants, if they submit appropriate applications, the following entities: CDCs, universities, fiscal intermediaries, or nonprofit organizations involved in community-based economic development. Sets forth authorized uses and maximum amount of such grants. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such grants program. Prohibits funds authorized under this Act from being used to finance the construction of housing.
Bill· SS. 1865 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Defense Tax Rebate Act - Title I: Individual Income Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax rate reductions for all categories of taxpayers. Phases in such reductions from 1992 through 1996. Title II: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the limitations on (and thereby restoring) deductions for individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Provides a cost of living adjustment for deductible amounts. Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax Free IRAs - Establishes special IRAs that are nondeductible. Makes such accounts nontaxable if earnings on contributions are held for at least five years. Applies the early withdrawal penalty to distributions made before the end of the five year-period. Title III: Penalty-Free Distributions - Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (3) financially devastating medical expenses. Title IV: Incremental Investment Tax Credit - Provides an investment tax credit for new manufacturing and other productive equipment. Provides for determining such credit. Title V: Repeal of the Earnings Test - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase the exempt amount applicable to an individual who has attained retirement age on the outside income such individual may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits during the period 1992-1996. Repeals the earnings test in 1997 for such individuals. Title VI: Emergency Unemployment Compensation - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten for a five-percent period; and (2) seven for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 6, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligibility period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Reduces the length of required Desert Storm active duty by armed forces reserves for purposes of unemployment compensation payments. Limits payment to individuals who were: (1) involuntarily separated from the armed forces; or (2) separated after being retained on active duty. Title VII: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require in the case of Stafford Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS), and PLUS loans to parents for applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for applicants who have adverse credit histories. Requires lenders to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for the loan. Revises requirements for borrower information to be submitted to the institution during the exit interview. Requires lenders to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary of Education where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary to obtain from Federal or State agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title VIII: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the spectrum allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing of, such frequency bands. Exempts power marketing administrations and the Tennessee Valley Authority from any reallocation procedures. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50 MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Department of Commerce to make available to the FCC 50 MHz of electromagnetic spectrum for allocation of land-mobile or land-mobile-satellite services. Directs the Secretary to convene an advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) report to the Secretary and specified congressional committees on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national defense, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to: (1) form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996; and (2) submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title IX: Repeal Recreational Vessel User Fee - Amends Federal law to repeal the recreational vessel user fee. Title X: Reduction in Discretionary Spending - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to reduce the discretionary spending limit for the defense and domestic categories for FY 1993. Reduces such spending in all categories for FY 1994 and 1995.
Bill· HRH.R. 3632 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Work Colleges Act of 1991 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions for work-study programs to establish a work colleges program. (Replaces current provisions for work study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families.) Authorizes appropriations to carry out the work colleges program. Requires such funds to be allocated to qualifying institutions, in lieu of allocations under other specified work-study program provisions, upon application, for eligible students as defined under student aid provisions. Requires an institution receiving such a work colleges program allocation to expend an equal amount of matching funds from non-Federal sources for such program. Authorizes institutions to use such work colleges program funds for: (1) supporting qualified students' educational costs through self-help payments or credits provided under the institution's work-learning program within the limits of student aid program provisions; (2) promoting work-learning-service experience as a tool of postsecondary education, financial self-help, and community service-learning opportunities; (3) administering, developing, and assessing comprehsive college work-learning programs, including community based work-learning alternatives that expand opportunities for community service and career-related work; and (4) developing programs that develop sound citizenship and personal values, encourage student persistence, and make optimum use of college work-study dollars in HEA title IV aid in education and student development. Allows funds allocated to the institution under HEA title IV provisions for supplemental educational opportunity grants, work-study programs, and direct student loans to be transferred for use under the work colleges program to provide flexibility in strengthening the self-help-through-work element in financial aid packaging. Reuires postsecondary institutions, in order to be eligible to participate in the work colleges program, to: (1) be public or private nonprofit institutions with stated commitments to service; (2) have comprehensive work-learning-service program for at least two years; (3) requires service by all resident students through a comprehensive work-learning program as an integral part of the institution's educational philosophy; and (4) provide through the institutional work program an opportuntiy for the students to contribute to the overall educational program and the welfare of the community as a whole.
Bill· HRH.R. 3628 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to establish an undergraduate training program for Bureau employees to acquire skills that are critical to foreign counterintelligence and counter-terrorism missions of the Bureau.
Bill· HRH.R. 3641 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Wood Products Export Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to establish international forest products trade development centers at universities offering graduate training in forestry. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3616 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Repeals provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 which: (1) provide for grants for the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities; (2) establish and fund the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television; (3) provide for grants for the development of nonbroadcast telecommunications facilities and services for the delivery of health, education, and public or social service information; (4) establish and fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (5) prohibit Federal interference with or control over public telecommunication or the Corporation; (6) prohibit the support of, or opposition against, any political candidate on a noncommercial educational broadcasting station; and (7) authorize the limited use of business or institutional logograms within public television or radio broadcast.
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 362 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Designates October 30, 1991, as National Stay in School Awareness Day.
Law· HJRESH.J.Res. 360 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Makes continuing appropriations for FY 1992 for projects or activities including the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees provided for in the following Acts: (1) the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (2) the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (3) the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1992; (4) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1992; (5) the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (6) the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (7) the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1992; (8) the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (9) the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1992; and (10) the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992. Sets forth limitations on the use of such funds. Requires the following activities to be maintained at the current rate of operations: (1) the National Science Foundation's United States Antarctic Logistical Support Activities; and (2) the Federal Communications Commission's Salaries and Expenses account.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 254 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Elects Representative Cunningham to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Bill· SS. 1846 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Family Tax Relief Act 1991 - Title I: Modifications of Personal Income Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit of $350 for each child under the age of 18. Title II: Modifications of the Congressional Budget Process - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to reduce the discretionary spending limits for the defense, international, and domestic categories for FY 1992 and 1993. Reduces overall discretionary spending limits for FY 1994 and 1995. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require the reductions in outlays for FY 1992 through 1995 resulting from the reductions in discretionary spending limits under this title to be treated as savings in direct spending for sequestration purposes. Title III: Nondefense Spending Savings - Subtitle A: Aid to Families With Dependent Children - Amends part A (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require State plans to reduce AFDC payments by reason of the tax credit for children. Provides that if any family becomes ineligible for AFDC payments because of such reduction, the family remains eligible for any other program the qualification for which is eligibility to receive such aid, and will not be required to reapply if otherwise eligible. Prohibits the approval of any State plan for medical assistance if payment levels are less than the payment levels in effect under such plan on October 1, 1991 (currently, May 1, 1988). Revises the method of allocating child support payments received for AFDC recipients. Subtitle B: Termination of Specific Programs - Terminates the following: (1) the superconductor super collider project; (2) the Space Station Freedom Program or any other space station; and (3) reduced rate mailings for qualified nonprofit organizations, except mailings by blind or other handicapped persons. Subtitle C: Termination of Certain Loan and Guarantee Programs - Provides for the termination of the Small Business Administration and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Transfers certain authorities to other Federal agencies. Subtitle D: Education Provisions - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain institutions of higher education to pay a co-origination fee in order for a student to be eligible to receive certain loans to attend such institution. Bases such fee on the loan default rate of the institution. Requires the Secretary of Education to use such fees to make payments on defaulted loans. Lowers the rates on special allowances paid to lenders who make higher education loans. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to make permanent provisions regarding the collection of non-tax debts owed to Federal agencies. Amends Federal law to revise the method of computing aid to local educational agencies in the case of children of persons who reside or work on Federal property by taking into account the number of children whose parents are employed on public housing property. Subtitle E: Agricultural Programs - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make individuals with adjusted gross incomes in excess of $100,000 ineligible for deficiency payments. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth the percentage of reduction in deficiency payments for wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, and crops for crop years 1992 through 1995. Amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to repeal the export enhancement program and the market promotion program. Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from using cash or commodities of, or owned by, the Commodity Credit Corporation or the Department of Agriculture to subsidize: (1) the export of an agricultural commodity or product; or (2) market and export promotion of an agricultural commodity or product by any person. Title IV: National Security Savings - Prohibits the Department of Defense from procuring the following weapon systems: (1) B-2 bomber aircraft; (2) MX missiles; and (3) small intercontinental ballistic missiles (SICBM). Suspends the following weapon system programs until the President certifies to the Congress the need for such programs and the Congress authorizes such programs to proceed: (1) the Air Force advanced tactical fighter; (2) the aerospace plan; (3) the MILSTAR satellite; (4) the A-12 aircraft; (5) the V-22 Osprey aircraft; and (6) the Army light helicopter. Limits the procurement of certain weapon systems that are procured for use in any fiscal year after FY 1991 to the minimum number of units necessary to maintain a defense industrial base sufficient for producing that weapon system as needed to meet existing and contingent threats to national security as, determined by the President. Specifies such systems as: (1) the seawolf submarine (SSN-21); (2) the M-1 tank; (3) the F/A-18 aircraft; (4) helicopters; (5) the F-14 aircraft; and (6) the F-16 aircraft. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the modernization of weapon systems, including aircraft carriers, should continue; and (2) the Navy should continue to operate non-nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the fleet while the environmental risks associated with the deployment of nuclear aircraft carriers into zones of armed conflict are unacceptable. Amends the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1985 to reduce the strength level of armed forces stationed in Europe. Specifies the armed forces end strengths for FY 1992 through 1996. Provides for the distribution of personnel reductions by: (1) removing two heavy divisions of the Army from active to reserve components; (2) deactivating two light infantry divisions of the Army; and (3) reducing the number of aircraft carrier groups in the Navy. Declares that the Congress urges the President to enter into negotiations with appropriate foreign countries in regions where there are serious threats to vital national security interests of the United States in order to provide for the establishment of facilities in such countries that are suitable for facilitating rapid deployment of appropriate elements of the armed forces to those regions in the event of an international crisis that threatens those national security interests. Directs the President to take action as necessary to increase significantly the sea lift capabilities of the armed forces in order to facilitate the rapid deployment of such regions. Authorizes the Department of Defense to use funds available for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) for the development and deployment of an antiballistic missile defense system that is the minimum system necessary to defend the United States against a limited ballistic missile attack, including accidentally launched ballistic missiles. Authorizes appropriations for the sea lift and SDI.
Bill· SS. 1845 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Financial Aid for All Students Act of 1991 - Title I: Pell Grant Entitlement, Graduate Assistance, and Excellence Scholarships - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions for Pell Grants. Increases the Pell Grant maximum by $600, after July 1, 1994, and makes the additional amount for which the student qualifies an entitlement. Authorizes a full entitlement under the Pell Grant program for all eligible students, if the Congress makes available for such purpose sufficient additional revenue or savings pursuant to the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. Makes first-year graduate students eligible for Pell Grants if: (1) they would be eligible if they were undergraduates; and (2) there has been full funding of Pell Grants for undergraduate students in that fiscal year. Establishes an Excellence Scholarship Program for Pell Grant recipients who demonstrate high academic achievement. Grants eligible students a contractual right against the United States to receive such scholarships. Makes students eligible if they: (1) have received a Pell Grant for that academic year, are enrolled on at least a half-time basis in a program of study of at least two academic years in length that leads to a degree or certificate, and meet the following conditions for demonstrating academic excellence: (1) in the case of first year undergraduates, by taking specified college preparatory level coursework and by ranking in the top ten percent of their secondary school graduating class or achieving at least the minimum designated score on a nationally administered standardized test or participating for at least 36 months in an early intervention program, a special program for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or similar program; (2) in the case of students who initially qualified for a first-year scholarship because they participated in such early intervention or special program, by participating in student support program services and continuing to make significant progress toward agreed-upon academic milestones; and (3) in the case of any other student, by ranking in the top ten percent of their last completed undergraduate class year or meeting another measure of academic achievement determined by the Secretary of Education (the Secretary). Sets such scholarship award at $1,000 for any academic year. Reduces such amount by the amount it exceeds the student's cost of attendance by itself or when combined with other Federal or non-Federal grant or scholarship assistance in the academic year. Provides for proportionate reductions in each award to adjust for insufficient appropriations. Allows eligible students to receive up to four scholarships, each for one academic year, for undergraduate study (or five scholarships for undergraduate study programs that require attendance for the full-time equivalent of five academic years). Provides that a student's eligibility for such a scholarship does not depend on receipt of scholarship or Pell Grant in the previous academic year. Title II: Income-Dependent Education Assistance Program - Establishes the Income-Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Credit program as part D of title IV of HEA. (Replaces the current part D, Income Contingent Direct Loan Demonstration Project.) Directs the Secretary to: (1) make IDEA loans to eligible students; and (2) enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Treasury for the collection of repayments on such loans. Grants eligible students a contractual right against the United States to receive a loan under such IDEA program. Sets the following conditions for student eligibility for an IDEA loan: (1) eligibility for title IV assistance in accordance with specified provisions; (2) carrying at least one-half the normal full-time course work load; (3) applying for title IV need-based assistance,in the cases of independent students with adjusted gross incomes below specified levels and dependent students with family incomes below specified levels; (4) notification of the head of household of eligibility for a parent (PLUS) loan, in the case of dependent students with expected family contributions above specified levels; and (5) the borrower understanding and signing a statement that taking the IDEA loan will increase such individual's income taxes until the loan is paid in full with interest. Requires each eligible student to use the IDEA loan only to attend an eligible institution. Sets forth provisions for distribution of program funds to eligible institutions and students. Sets forth provisions for the amounts and terms of IDEA loans. Sets annual limits on the amounts of such loans to various categories of students. Sets a limitation on individual borrowing capacity, with adjustments for the borrower's age, exceptions for certain graduate students, and consideration of any outstanding student loan obligations. Limits the duration of individual eligibility for such loans. Sets forth requirements for: (1) agreements to the terms of such loans; and (2) applications. Sets forth provisions for interest charges on such loans. Requires such charges to be added to the recipient's obligation account at the end of each calendar year. Bases such charges on an interest rate equal to the lesser of: (1) ten percent; or (2) the sum of the average bond equivalent rates of 91-day Treasury bills auctioned for the previous year, plus two percentage points, rounded to the next higher one-eighth of one percent. Provides for conversion and consolidation of certain other types of student loans as IDEA loans. Authorizes the Secretary, upon request of borrowers who have received federally insured or guaranteed loans under title IV HEA (Stafford loans) or of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (HEAL loans), to make new IDEA loans to such borrowers which are equal to the sum of the unpaid principal of those other loans and which discharge the liability on those other loans. Provides for mandatory conversion of certain defaulted student loans to IDEA loans. Requires IDEA collection treatment of any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under specified provisions of HEA or PHSA after enactment of this Act which is assigned after default for collection by the Secretary of Education or the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to the Congress on the effects of: (1) the IDEA program on participating institutions' tuition rates and accrediting and licensure standards; and (2) inflation on IDEA loan limits, on the progressivity factor in IDEA loan collection formulas, and on the cost of attendance at an eligible institution. Authorizes the Secretary, after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees, to make inflation adjustments to increase: (1) IDEA loan limits; (2) adjusted gross income levels used to determine the progressivity factor in IDEA loan collection formulas; and (3) the cost of attendance determination for purposes of IDEA loan amounts. Directs the Secretary to notify each IDEA loan borrower of his or her yearly repayment obligation. Sets forth formulas for computation of the annual IDEA loan repayment amount. Makes such amount equal to the lesser of: (1) 20 percent of the excess of the modified adjusted income of the taxpayer for such taxable year over the sum of the standard deduction and any applicable exemption; or (2) the product of a base amortization amount and a progressivity factor based on the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income. Defines "base amortization amount" as the amount which, if paid at the close of each year for 12 consecutive years, would fully repay (with an eight-percent annual interest rate) the maximum account balance of the borrower. Sets forth progressivity factor tables for various types of taxpayers. Provides that, in general, the repayment obligation of an IDEA loan borrower shall terminate only if there is repaid the principal plus interest at applicable rates. Requires no repayment after 25 years in repayment status. Sets forth provisions for the determination of years in repayment status. Provides for discharge, by the Secretary, of the IDEA loan liability of any borrower who dies or becomes permanently and totally disabled. Provides for crediting of amounts paid on a joint return. Sets forth formulas for computation of an alternative annual payment for individuals who have attained age 55. Provides that, in general, an IDEA loan shall not be dischargeable in a case of bankruptcy, but authorizes the Secretary to postpone certain portions of the loan liability in such cases. Makes specified provisions relating to finality of assessment and collection applicable to such loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to include the amount required to be repaid for IDEA loans under amounts listed under requirements relating to failure by an individual to pay estimated income tax. Requires individuals who are obligated to make IDEA loan repayments to file income tax returns for the applicable years. Adds provisions for the collection of IDEA loans under IRC. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Education to provide for collection of IDEA loan repayments due by using the income tax collection system. Title III: Early Intervention Program - Amends HEA to establish an Early Intervention Program (under provisions for grants to States for student incentives). Directs the Secretary to make incentive grants to States for early intervention programs that: (1) raise the awareness of eligible students about the advantages of obtaining a postsecondary education; (2) prepare students for postsecondary education; and (3) qualify students for Excellence Scholarships for Pell Grant recipients demonstrating academic achievement. Directs the Secretary to allocate such payments to States, on the basis of the number of eligible students, from a specified total amount. Entitles and grants a contractual right to each State to receive such payment, subject to continuing compliance with program requirements. Bases student eligibility for the early intervention program on their eligibility: (1) to be counted under the chapter 1 program for educationally disadvantaged students under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (2) for assistance under the National School Lunch Act; or (3) for assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act. Requires a State to use its allotment to conduct an early intervention program that: (1) provides eligible students in any of the grades pre-school through 12 with continuing systems of mentoring and advising that is coordinated with Federal and State community service initiatives, that may include specified support services, and that may be provided by specified types of service providers; (2) requires each student to agree to achieve certain academic milestones in exchange for an Excellence Scholarship; (3) creates new linkage structures and programs to encourage greater collaboration between elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; and (4) provides for evaluation to allow service providers to track eligible student progress during program participation. Directs the Secretary to prescribe standards for the evaluation of the State programs. Requires submission of State plans. Requires annual State evaluations of such programs. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on assisted activities and program evaluations. Title IV: Guaranteed Student Loan Programs - Terminates all student loan programs under part B (Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program) of title IV of HEA, except the parent loan (PLUS) program. Prohibits any new loan from being made, insured, or guaranteed under part B after June 30, 1994 (including Stafford loans and supplemental loans for students, but not parent PLUS loans). Provides that such prohibition shall not affect the administration of such loans made on or before June 30, 1994.
Law· SS. 1848 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Dropout Prevention Technical Correction Amendment of 1991 - Amends Federal law relating to impact aid to restore provisions for the Secretary of Education to make certain preliminary payments to local education agencies. (Such provisions were eliminated by the National Dropout Prevention Act of 1991, P.L. 102-103).
Bill· SS. 1847 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
National Training Center for Afro-American Museum Professionals Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service, to: (1) provide for the operation and maintenance of, and technical assistance for, the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (the Museum), in Wilberforce, Ohio; and (2) construct a National Training Center at the Museum to prepare professionals for our Nation's museums. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes. Directs the Secretary of Education, acting through the Museum, to: (1) contract with a consortium of institutions of higher education to implement a program of Afro-American professional museum studies at such National Training Center of the Museum; and (2) provide scholarships and loans for students in those studies. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the National Afro-American History and Culture Commission (established by the National Center for the Study of Afro-American History and Culture Act) 30 days after the enactment of this Act. Provides that ultimate governance of the Museum shall rest with a Board of Governors established by the Congress in consultation with the State of Ohio.
Bill· HRH.R. 3606 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
National Community College Technology Education Act - Establishes a national technology education program in the Nation's accredited associate-degree-granting colleges. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (the Director) to carry out such program under which such colleges, using program grants and matching non-Federal funds will provide education in technology fields. Requires the Director to: (1) award such program grants on a competitive basis; and (2) establish and maintain, at NSF or by contract, a readily accessible inventory of technology education programs which are serving public and private employers and addressing the changing work force demands of technology. Requires each college awarded such a grant to provide an associate degree education program in designated technology fields in accordance with this Act. Limits individual grants amounts. Requires the Director to appoint a National Advisory Council on Technology Education, which is to advise on and review the program and to report annually to the Director and the Congress. Requires the Director and the Council to report annually on the program to the NSF and the Congress (directly, without review by NSF or the Office of Management and Budget). Requires such program to be coordinated with programs and policies of the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Education, and Defense, and other relevant Federal agencies. Sets forth special emphases for such program, and required uses of program funds. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3600 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any States to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers to the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unmployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the Armed Forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection Of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assitance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required payment, subjet to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments.
Bill· SS. 1836 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
American Health Quality Act - Declares that the Congress finds that health care liability systems impact on interstate commerce by contributing to the high cost of health care and premiums for malpractice and products liability insurance purchased by health care providers and producers. Title I: Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to make enhanced Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) bonus payments for a two-year period to eligible States that submit a plan for the development or implementation of alternative dispute resolution systems (ADRS) to resolve health care liability claims as an alternative to a judicial proceeding in a Federal or State court. Sets forth eligibility, approval, and review requirements for such program. Directs the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to make recommendations to the Secretary concerning such requirements. Requires the Agency to appoint a panel of advisers to: (1) assist in developing criteria for an ADRS that States must meet to be eligible to receive enhanced payments and assist States in preparing applications; (2) as part of such criteria, assist States receiving enhanced payments in complying with data gathering and evaluation guidelines; (3) provide advice and assistance to representatives from State governments concerning the establishment of an ADRS; (4) develop qualification standards and assist States applying to be quality improvement States; (5) report, not later than four years after the approval of an application, to the Secretary and the appropriate congressional committees on States receiving enhanced payments; (6) recommend to such entities, not later than four years after enactment of this Act, on the feasibility of a mandated ADRS; and (7) report to such entities, not later than four years after approval of the first quality improvement State plan, concerning the reform of State health profession disciplinary boards or alternative quality assurance plans. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to award grants to private entities for the establishment of demonstration alternative dispute resolution programs in the private sector. Sets forth application requirements for such program. Requires the panel: (1) to provide assistance to such entities in designing and implementing an ADRS; and (2) report to the Agency, the Secretary, and the appropriate congressional committees with data collected on such systems, together with recommendations for improvements. Authorizes appropriations for the demonstration programs for FY 1992 through 1996. Amends the Social Security Act to revise certain Medicaid payment provisions to conform with enhanced payments made under this title. Title II: Uniform Standards for Health Care Liability Claims - Establishes uniform rules for health care liability actions brought in any Federal or State court and any health care action resolved through an ADRS. Establishes procedures for settlement offers, including the calculation of attorney fees. Requires mandatory periodic payments of awards exceeding $100,000. Limits non-economic damages to $250,000. Mandates reductions in damages received by an individual, where other payments will be or have been made to compensate such individual. Limits attorney fees to 25 percent of the first $150,000 of any award or settlement and 15 percent of any additional amount in excess of $150,000. Prohibits punitive damages from exceeding twice the award of compensatory damages. Allows a separate proceeding to decide if punitive damages are to be awarded or to decide the amount of such award. Requires that 50 percent of all awards of punitive damages resulting from health care liability actions be transferred to a State health care disciplinary trust fund to assist the State in the improvement of health care quality programs. Permits claimants pursuing punitive damages to collect reasonable attorney fees. Declares that the liability of each defendant for non-economic damages shall be several only and shall not be joint. Prohibits health care liability actions from being initiated after the expiration of the two-year period that begins on the date on which the alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered, but in no event later than four years after the date of the alleged occurrence of the injury. Provides an exception for minors. Requires a higher standard of proof in obstetric cases where the physician delivering the baby has not provided prenatal services prior to delivery. Prohibits punitive damages from being awarded against a manufacturer or product seller of a drug or device that caused a complaint, if the drug or device is in compliance with Food and Drug Administration approval processes. Declares that this title supersedes any State law only to the extent that such law establishes higher payment limits, applies joint and several liability to all damages, permits the recovery of a greater amount of damages or the awarding of a greater amount of attorney fees, or establishes a longer period during which a health care liability claim may be initiated. Title III: Health Care Injury Prevention - Directs the Secretary to establish a program to make enhanced Medicaid bonus payments for a two-year period to eligible States that submit a State plan for the development or implementation of a health care injury prevention program or an approved alternative. Sets forth eligibility and application requirements for States. Designates a State that receives enhanced payments as a quality improvement State. Requires a quality improvement State to: (1) establish a Statewide health care injury prevention program; and (2) cooperate with Federal research efforts with respect to patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness and clinical practice guidelines. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations that establish performance criteria for the health care practitioner disciplinary board of such State in performing its oversight functions concerning health care professionals. Requires the State to: (1) allocate certain fees for the conduct of disciplinary actions with respect to health care professionals; (2) ensure that the general public is represented on such board; (3) grant immunity to such board from liability; (4) include a continuing education requirement in performance criteria for physicians who have been disciplined by such board. Title IV: Community Health Centers - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make a grant to an entity that represents recipients of assistance under provisions relating to migrant and community health centers to enable the entity to develop a business plan for, and to establish, a nationwide risk retention group as provided for in the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986, and that meets other requirements. Allows the group to negotiate with other entities for the purpose of managing and administering the group, and for obtaining reinsurance. Requires the group to provide professional liability insurance, and other types of profitable insurance approved for issuance by the Secretary, to migrant and community health centers. Requires the centers, subject to exception, to become members of the group and purchase the group's insurance. Makes all professional staff members of the centers eligible to obtain the group's insurance. Requires the group to engage outside experts in insurance, financing, and business to analyze and audit the group. Requires the experts to provide the group with an evaluation of the plan and group. Requires the group to submit the plan and the evaluation to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to permit implementation of the plan and operation of the group if it will result in an increase in the amount of funds available for use by community and migrant health centers and other entities receiving assistance under the specified provisions. Authorizes appropriations for preparation of the plan, establishment of the group, and capitalization of the group. Requires assets remaining after dissolution of the group to be used by the Secretary to pay the remaining expenses of the group. Authorizes appropriations to carry out specified provisions relating to migrant and community health centers.
Law· HJRESH.J.Res. 353 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Designates January 4 through 10, 1992, as Braille Literacy Week.