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Bill· SS. 1597 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Organ Transplant Program Reauthorization Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the grant program for organ procurement organizations and other public or nonprofit institutions to increase organ donation through public education programs, training individuals to request organ donations, and providing technical assistance to organ-procuring organizations and hospitals. Requires priority to be given to grant requests designed to alleviate organ shortages for minority and other populations where there is a greater degree of organ shortages relative to the general population. Revises requirements of organ procurement organizations to increase the rate of donations, including: (1) evaluation of their effectiveness in acquiring organs, especially among minority populations; (2) assessment of the variations in procurement among hospitals within their region; and (3) development of plans to increase procurement for minorities and other populations experiencing organ shortages. Requires the Office of Technology Assessment to report to specified congressional committees on a study of organ procurement organizations. Requires participation by transplant recipients and their families on the boards of organ procurement organizations and on the board of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Sets forth provisions for a more equitable allocation of organ donations. Directs the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees on the prevalence and distribution of organ transplants to foreign nationals and nonresident aliens, the equitable allocation systems for organs, and the composition of board membership of organ procurement organizations and the Network. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the grant program for organ procurement organizations until FY 1996.
Bill· SS. 1595 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Bone Marrow Donor Program Reauthorization Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the terms of office for members of the board of the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Modifies Registry functions. Mandates establishment, through grant or contract, of an office of patient advocacy and case management. (Current law requires the Registry to establish a system for patient advocacy.) Authorizes grants and contracts to increase bone marrow donation, including through public education, training individuals in requesting donations, and testing and enrolling marrow donors. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3390 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Conflict Resolution and Mediation Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make conflict resolution and mediation program grants to assist local elementary schools most directly affected by conflict and violence. Directs the Secretary to develop a written model for conflict resolution and mediation. Authorizes appropriations. Sets requirements for fund use, applicant eligibility and planning, fund allocation and limitation, awards, and reports.
Bill· HRH.R. 3382 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution from participating in the Federal Pell Grants program if it is ineligible for participation in the Federal Family Education Loans program (also known as the Stafford or guaranteed student loan program) because of a high default rate. Authorizes waivers of such prohibition in cases of exceptional mitigating circumstances.
Bill· HRH.R. 3375 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) most directly affected by crime and violence. Requires the Director to develop and make available to LEAs a written safe schools model in English and in Spanish. Makes grant funds available: (1) to fund anticrime and safety measures and to develop education and training programs for the prevention of crime, violence, and illegal drugs and alcohol; (2) for counseling programs for victims of crime within schools; (3) for crime prevention equipment, including metal detectors and video-surveillance devices; and (4) for the prevention and reduction of the participation of young individuals in organized crime and drug- and gang-related activities in schools. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application requirements; (2) allocation of, and limitations on, grant funds; (3) selection of recipients; and (4) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3376 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1993 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make certain technical corrections and conforming amendments.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 288 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1993
Declares that the generally applicable Federal employment and civil rights laws should apply to the Congress. Requires the appropriate committees of the House of Representatives to report legislation providing for coverage of the Congress by the following laws, together with any related or similar laws: (1) the Social Security Act; (2) the National Labor Relations Act; (3) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; (4) the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (5) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (6) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (7) title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; (8) the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; (9) the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; (10) the Ethics in Government Act of 1978; (11) the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; (12) the Freedom of Information Act; and (13) the Privacy Act of 1974.
Bill· SS. 1586 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park Act of 1993 - Establishes the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, Louisiana, (Park) to be administered and managed as a unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a general management plan for the Park. Establishes the New Orleans Jazz Commission to: (1) advise the Secretary in the preparation of the general management plan, assist in public discussions of planning proposals, and assist the National Park Service in working with individuals, groups, and organizations in determining programs in which the Secretary should participate through cooperative agreements; (2) develop partnerships with educational groups, schools, universities, and other groups, including city-wide organizations, in furtherance of this Act; (3) raise and disperse funds for programs that assist mutual aid and benevolent societies in encouraging the continuation of and enhancement of jazz cultural traditions; (4) acquire or lease property for jazz education, and advising on hiring brass bands and musical groups to participate in education programs and help train young musicians; (5) assist in providing recommendations for the location of the Park's visitor center and other interpretive sites and funds to support research on the origins and early history of jazz in New Orleans; and (6) seek and accept donations to use for providing services, programs, and facilities for jazz education or assisting in the rehabilitation and restoration of structures identified in the national historic landmark study as having outstanding significance to the history of jazz in New Orleans. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3353 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to assist States and local governments (or combinations thereof) in planning, operating, coordinating, and evaluating projects for the development of more effective programs, including education, prevention, treatment, and enforcement programs, to reduce: (1) the formation or continuation of juvenile gangs; and (2) the use and sale of illegal drugs by juveniles. Specifies uses of such grants, including: (1) reducing juvenile participation in drug-related crimes (particularly in and around elementary and secondary schools) and juvenile involvement in organized crime, drug- and gang-related activity (particularly activities that involve the distribution of drugs by or to juveniles and such activity in public housing projects); (2) developing new and innovative means to address the problems of juveniles convicted of serious, drug- and gang-related offenses; (3) promoting the involvement of all juveniles in lawful activities; (4) providing pre- and post-trial drug abuse treatment to juveniles in the juvenile justice system and education and treatment programs for youth exposed to severe violence in their homes, schools, or neighborhoods; and (5) identifying promising new juvenile drug demand reduction and enforcement programs, replicating and demonstrating such programs to serve as national, regional, or local models, and providing technical assistance and training to public or private organizations to implement similar programs. Sets forth application requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 284 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Declares that the Third College at the University of California, San Diego, should be renamed as the Thurgood Marshall College.
Bill· SS. 1581 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Increase in the Number of Trained Law Enforcement Personnel Subtitle A: Rapid Deployment Strike Force Subtitle B: Federal-State Anti-Drug and Anti-Violence Task Forces Subtitle C: Police Corps Program Subtitle D: Law Enforcement Scholarship and Employment Program Subtitle E: Job Training and Placement for Separated Members of the Armed Forces Title II: Studies Subtitle A: Commission on Crime and Violence Subtitle B: Use of Antiloitering Laws to Fight Crime Title III: Violent and Habitual Offenders Subtitle A: Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program Subtitle B: Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Grants Title IV: Prisons Subtitle A: Prison for Violent Drug Offenders Subtitle B: Task Force on Prison Construction Standardization and Techniques Title V: Violent Crime and Drug Emergency Areas Violent Crime Reduction Act of 1993 - Title I: Increase in the Number of Trained Law Enforcement Personnel - Subtitle A: Rapid Deployment Strike Force - Directs the Attorney General to establish in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), which shall be made available to assist units of local government in combatting crime. Requires the RDF to be headed by a Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI and comprised of approximately 2,500 Federal law enforcement officers with training and experience in the investigation of violent and drug-related crime, criminal gangs, and juvenile delinquency and in community action to prevent crime. (Sec. 102) Authorizes the Deputy Assistant Director, upon application of the Governor of a State and the chief executive officer of the affected local government and upon finding that criminal activity in a particular jurisdiction is being exacerbated by the interstate flow of drugs, guns, and criminals, to deploy on a temporary basis an RDF unit to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in the investigation of criminal activity. Sets forth provisions regarding application requirements, conditions of deployment, and deputization of RDF members. (Sec. 104) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Federal-State Anti-Drug and Anti-Violence Task Forces - Authorizes appropriations for the support and expansion of Federal-State anti-drug and anti-violence task forces participated in by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and U.S. Attorneys Offices with State and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors for the purposes of: (1) enhancing interagency coordination of activities in the provision of intelligence information; (2) facilitating multijurisdictional investigations; and (3) aiding in the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of drug traffickers and violent criminals. Subtitle C: Police Corps Program - Requires a State that desires to participate in the Police Corps program (established pursuant to this Act) to designate a lead agency and submit a State plan containing assurances with respect to: (1) lead agency cooperation with other State and local agencies; (2) the State advertising of the assistance available; (3) State screening and selection of law enforcement personnel for participation in the program; and (4) compliance with other specified requirements. (Sec. 124) Establishes within the Department of Justice (DOJ) an Office of the Police Corps to be headed by a Director. (Sec. 125) Authorizes the Director to award scholarships to participants who agree to work for four years in a State or local police force after completion of a baccalaureate program and police corps training. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) scholarship assistance for dependent children of law enforcement officers; (2) the selection of participants; (3) minority recruitment; and (4) leaves of absence. (Sec. 127) Requires the Director to establish up to three training centers to provide basic law enforcement training to State Police Corps program participants. Requires participants to attend two eight-week training sessions at such centers and to meet certain performance standards in order to remain in the program. Requires the Director to pay participants a weekly stipend during training. (Sec. 129) Requires a State, in order to participate in the Police Corps program, to submit a plan for implementing such program to the Director for approval. Requires such plan to: (1) include assurances that participants will receive additional State or local training after completing Federal training which shall count toward the four-year service obligation; and (2) provide that program participants shall be assigned to community and preventive patrol in geographic areas with the greatest need for additional law enforcement personnel. (Sec. 129A) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) assistance to States and localities employing Police Corps officers; (2) the swearing in of participants and members of the police force to which they are assigned after completing Federal training and meeting the requirements of that police force; and (3) layoffs. (Sec. 129C) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Law Enforcement Scholarship and Employment Program - Sets forth requirements regarding designation of a lead agency and submission of a State plan which are analogous to those under the Police Corps program. (Sec. 135) Directs each State to pay from funds under this Act the Federal share (not more than 60 percent) of the costs of: (1) awarding scholarships to in-service law enforcement personnel for further education; and (2) providing full-time employment in the summer or part-time employment for a period not to exceed one year. (Sec. 138) Sets forth State and individual application requirements. Grants priority in awarding scholarships to persons who are members of underrepresented groups, are pursuing an undergraduate degree, and are not receiving financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965. (Sec. 139A) Requires each scholarship recipient to work in a law enforcement position in the State for a period of one month for each credit hour for which funds are received under the scholarship (with a six-month minimum and two-year maximum). (Sec. 139C) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Job Training and Placement for Separated Members of the Armed Forces - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into an interagency agreement with the Directors of the FBI and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under which the FBI and NIJ will develop and operate, on a reimbursable basis, a training program to assist eligible separated members of the armed forces in obtaining the training necessary to become law enforcement personnel. Sets forth provisions regarding the selection and number of participants, the content of the training program, and job placement assistance. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 142) Amends the JTPA to require the Secretary to offer to enter into a cooperative agreement with the National Center for Housing Management under which the Center will develop and operate a training program to assist eligible separated members of the armed forces in obtaining the training necessary to become managers and employees in public housing agencies and organizations that manage housing projects for such agencies. Sets forth provisions regarding the selection and number of participants, the content of the training program, the use of experts, evaluations, and job placement assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Studies - Subtitle A: Commission on Crime and Violence - Establishes the National Commission on Crime and Violence in America to: (1) review all segments of the criminal justice system and the effectiveness of traditional criminal justice approaches in preventing and controlling crime and violence; (2) examine the impact that changes to Federal and State law during the past 25 years have had in controlling crime and violence; (3) convene hearings in various parts of the country to receive testimony from a cross-section of criminal justice professionals, victims of crime, and others; (4) bring to public attention successful models and programs in crime prevention, control, and antiviolence; and (5) develop a comprehensive and effective crime control and antiviolence strategy and recommend how to implement such a strategy in a coordinated fashion by Federal, State, and local authorities. Subtitle B: Use of Antiloitering Laws to Fight Crime - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) study ways in which antiloitering laws can be used, without violating the constitutional rights of citizens, to eradicate open-air drug markets and other blatant criminal activity; (2) prepare a model antiloitering statute and guidelines for enforcing it to prevent, deter, and punish illegal drug and other criminal activity; and (3) make the results of the study and the model statute and guidelines available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities. Title III: Violent and Habitual Offenders - Subtitle A: Serious Habitual Offender Comprehensive Action Program - Directs the Attorney General, using specified funds appropriated under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, to continue the funding of new demonstration projects in the Serious Habitual Offenders Comprehensive Action Program during FY 1995 through 1997. Subtitle B: Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Grants - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: (1) require States to impose a mandatory sentence of 20 years' imprisonment without possibility of probation, parole, or any other form of early release for a firearm offense committed by a career criminal (i.e., a person with three or more convictions under Federal or State law for crimes of violence) in order to avoid a 50 percent reduction of drug control and system improvement grant funds (to be reallocated equally among States in compliance); and (2) permit the use of such grants for programs designed to keep victims informed concerning the status of cases against offenders and to provide victims advance notification of the release of alleged offenders prior to conviction and of convicted offenders at the conclusion of their terms of imprisonment or on probation, parole, or any other form of release. Title IV: Prisons - Subtitle A: Prison for Violent Drug Offenders - Directs the Attorney General to construct and operate ten regional prisons in which eligible prisoners shall participate in a drug treatment program under conditions established by the Director of National Drug Control Policy. Requires the Director to choose former military facilities as locations for such prisons. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) goals in prisoner selection; (2) postrelease treatment; (3) payment of costs; and (4) prisoner eligibility (including return of prisoners not in compliance with the conditions for participation in a drug treatment program). Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Task Force on Prison Construction Standardization and Techniques - Requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to establish a task force composed of experts in prison design and construction to: (1) establish and recommend standardized construction plans and techniques for prison construction and to evaluate and recommend new construction technologies, techniques, and materials to reduce prison construction costs and make such construction more efficient; (2) disseminate such information to State and local officials involved in prison construction; and (3) work to promote the implementation of, evaluate and advise on the results and effectiveness of, and certify the effectiveness of, cost-saving efforts at the Federal, State, and local levels. Title V: Violent Crime and Drug Emergency Areas - Authorizes the President to declare a State or part of a State to be a violent crime or drug emergency area and to provide emergency Federal assistance to protect property, public health, and safety. Specifies that requests for declaration of an emergency must be made in writing by the chief executive officer of a State or local government and that the President must act on the request within 30 days. Authorizes the President to direct any Federal agency to utilize its resources in support of State and local assistance efforts and to provide technical and advisory assistance to meet any such emergency. Limits assistance under this title.
Bill· SS. 1579 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Managed Competition in Employer-Based Health Plans: Incentives to Control Costs Subtitle A: Use of Tax Incentives to Purchase Cost-Effective Plans Subtitle B: Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs) Subtitle C: Accountable Health Plans (AHPs) Subtitle D: National Health Board Subtitle E: Managed Competition in Rural and Urban Underserved Areas Subtitle F: Treatment of Chronically Underserved Areas Subtitle G: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements Subtitle H: Definitions Title II: Low-Income Assistance for Health Coverage Subtitle A: Low-Income Assistance Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Phase-Down Assistance to States Subtitle C: Financing Subtitle D: Repeal of Medicaid Program Title III: Training and Education of Health Care Professionals Subtitle A: Reform of Federal Funding for Medical Residency Training Subtitle B: Other Medical Education Grants and Programs Title IV: Preventive Health and Individual Responsibility Subtitle A: Expansion of Public Health Programs Subtitle B: Medicare Title V: Malpractice Reform Subtitle A: Findings; Purpose; Definitions Subtitle B: Grants to States for Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems Subtitle C: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims Subtitle D: Grants to States for Development of Practice Guidelines Title VI: Paperwork Reduction and Administrative Simplification Managed Competition Act of 1993 - Title I: Managed Competition in Employer-Based Health Plans: Incentives to Control Costs - Subtitle A: Use of Tax Incentives to Purchase Cost-Effective Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the excess health plan expenses of any employer which are health plan expenses exceeding specific limits under an accountable health plan for a defined geographical area. (Sec. 1002) Increases to 100 percent and makes permanent the deduction for health plan premium expenses of self-employed individuals. (Sec. 1003) Permits the deduction for medical, dental, etc. expenses without regard to the limitation on such deduction with respect to amounts paid for premiums under an accountable health plan. (Sec. 1004) Provides for the exclusion from gross income of contributions by a partnership or S corporation to a health plan covering partners or shareholders. Subtitle B: Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs) - Provides for the establishment of Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs). Considers each State to be a HPPC, except that a State may subdivide into HPPC areas, and that there may be interstate HPPCs, as specified. Requires HPPCs to enter into agreements with accountable health plans and small employers, offer enrollment in accountable health plans, and charge premiums. Subtitle C: Accountable Health Plans (AHPs) - Directs the National Health Board to provide a process whereby a health plan may be registered with the Board by its sponsor as an accountable health plan. Sets forth requirements for a plan to be registered, including: (1) coverage for a specified uniform set of benefits, including cost-sharing for low-income individuals; (2) standard premiums for the uniform benefits; (3) grievance procedures; (4) collecting and providing specified information; (5) prohibiting discrimination in enrollment or benefits; and (6) financial solvency. (Sec. 1208) Sets forth additional requirements for open AHPs, which is any plan which is not closed. Defines a closed plan as one limited by structure or law to one or more large employers. (Sec. 1211) Requires each AHP to provide for payment of one percent of gross premium receipts to the National Medical Education Fund. (Sec. 1221) Sets forth provisions concerning the preemption of State laws for AHPs. (Sec. 1231) Directs the President to provide for the development and publication of guidelines on the application of Federal antitrust laws to AHPs. Subtitle D: National Health Board - Establishes, as an independent agency in the Executive Branch, a National Health Board (the Board). Requires the Board to transmit annually to the Congress recommendations for the uniform set of effective benefits. States that such recommendations shall apply unless the Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval. (Sec. 1303) Directs the Board to provide for the initial organization, as a nonprofit corporation in the District of Columbia, of the Benefits, Evaluations, and Data Standards Board in order to make recommendations to the Board concerning the uniform set of effective benefits and matters related to the evaluation of health care services. (Sec. 1304) Directs the Board to provide for the initial organization, as a nonprofit organization, of the Health Plan Standards Board in order to make recommendations to the Board concerning the standards for AHPs and concerning its assessment of risk-adjustment factors. (Sec. 1305) Sets forth provisions concerning the registration of AHPs. (Sec. 1306) Directs the Board to establish rules for the process of risk-adjustment of premiums among AHPs by HPPCs. (Sec. 1307) Directs the Board to establish standards for the periodic provision by AHPs of standardized information. (Sec. 1309) Establishes, within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Clinical Evaluations which shall assume the responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Medical Applications of Research at the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Office of Research and Demonstrations of the Health Care Financing Administration (insofar as such responsibilities relate to clinical evaluations), the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research under title IX of the Public Health Service Act and specified provisions of the Social Security Act, and the Director of the National Center for Health Statistics, as well as other specified responsibilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1312) Authorizes appropriations for the Board through FY 2000. Terminates the Board on December 31, 1999. Subtitle E: Managed Competition in Rural and Urban Underserved Areas - Authorizes the Governor of any State to designate rural and urban areas of a State as underserved areas. Permits a HPPC serving such an area to require AHPs offered by the HPPC and with a service area adjoining such area to include the area as part of their service area. (Sec. 1411) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) technical assistance for entities seeking to establish a network plan in an underserved area; (2) financial assistance to eligible entities in order to provide for the development and implementation of AHPs in rural areas; and (3) under the Public Health Service Act, migrant health centers and community health centers. (Sec. 1422) Provides coverage under part B of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for rural emergency access care hospital services. (Sec. 1431) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments for transitional assistance to eligible hospitals. Requires any hospital accepting such assistance to provide a significant volume of services to persons unable to pay for services. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Treatment of Chronically Underserved Areas - Directs the National Health Board to develop standards for the identification of chronically underserved areas. Makes provisions for addressing health care delivery in such areas. Subtitle G: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements - Repeals the COBRA continuation requirements for group health plans and title XXII of the Public Health Service Act. Subtitle H: Definitions - Sets forth definitions for this title and title II. Title II: Low-Income Assistance for Health Coverage - Subtitle A: Low-Income Assistance - Provides premium assistance for very-low income individuals and moderately low-income individuals. Provides for nominal cost-sharing for such individuals and special assistance for certain items and services. Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Phase-Down Assistance to States - Provides for long-term care phase-down assistance to eligible States for each calendar quarter in 1995 through 1998. Subtitle C: Financing - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to achieve savings under such program by: (1) reducing the update for inpatient hospital services; (2) reducing the conversion factor for the physician fee schedule for non-primary care services; and (3) reducing hospital outpatient services through establishing a prospective payment system. (Sec. 2204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a Medicare part B premium tax on higher-income individuals. (Sec. 2205) Achieves additional Medicare savings through the: (1) phased-in elimination of Medicare disproportionate share adjustment payments; (2) reduction of routine cost limits for home health services; (3) reduction in routine cost limits for extended care services; and (4) reductions in payments for hospice services. Subtitle D: Repeal of Medicaid Program - Repeals title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Title III: Training and Education of Health Care Professionals - Subtitle A: Reform of Federal Funding for Medical Residency Training - Directs the National Health Board to approve a resident training position in a medical residency program for purposes of funding approved medical residency training programs under this title. Provides funding, in addition, for physician retraining. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) the allocation of entry positions among programs; and (2) the general distribution of positions among specialties. (Sec. 3004) Requires payment by AHPs of one percent of gross premium receipts to the National Medical Education Fund. Requires payments from the Medicare trust funds to the National Medical Education Fund. (Sec. 3005) Establishes the National Medical Education Fund. Subtitle B: Other Medical Education Grants and Programs - Authorizes appropriations under the Public Health Service Act for medical education programs, including: (1) the scholarship and loan repayment programs of the National Health Service Corps; (2) area education centers; (3) public health and preventive medicine; (4) family medicine; (5) general internal medicine and pediatrics; (6) physician assistants; (7) allied health projects grants and contracts; and (8) nurse practitioner and nurse midwife programs. Title IV: Preventive Health and Individual Responsibility - Subtitle A: Expansion of Public Health Programs - Authorizes appropriations under the Public Health Service Act for the following public health programs: (1) immunizations against vaccine-preventable diseases; (2) prevention, control, and elimination of tuberculosis; (3) lead poisoning prevention; (4) preventive health measures with respect to breast and cervical cancers; (5) the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; (6) the Office of Minority Health; (7) preventive health and health services block grant; (8) categorical grants for early intervention regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome; and (9) programs of the Centers for Disease Control regarding the smoking of tobacco products. Directs the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to promote individual responsibility in personal health care and in the use of valuable health care resources. Subtitle B: Medicare - Provides Medicare coverage for: (1) screening fecal-occult blood tests and screening flexible sigmoidoscopies for the purpose of the early detection of cancer; (2) tetanus-diphtheria boosters; (3) well-child services; and (4) an annual screening mammography for women over age 64. Title V: Malpractice Reform - Subtitle A: Findings; Purpose; Definitions - Sets forth the findings, purpose, and definitions for this title. Subtitle B: Grants to States for Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Provides for grants for a two year period to States for the implementation and evaluation of alternative dispute resolution systems. Subtitle C: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims - Makes the provisions of this subtitle applicable to any medical malpractice liability action brought in a Federal or State court, and to any malpractice claim subject to alternative dispute resolution. (Sec. 5202) Establishes the United States Commission on Malpractice Awards which shall promulgate guidelines relating to limits on noneconomic and punitive damages. (Sec. 5205) Makes special provision for obstetric services. (Sec. 5206) Permits a finding of malpractice only if the defendant's conduct was unreasonable. Subtitle D: Grants to States for Development of Practice Guidelines - Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for the development of medical practice guidelines for health care professionals that may be applied to resolve medical malpractice liability claims. Title VI: Paperwork Reduction and Administrative Simplification - Preempts State quill pen laws. Ensures the confidential treatment of electronic health care information. Sets forth provisions which provide for: (1) the standardization of electronic health information; (2) uniform claims forms; (3) the liability of insurers when benefits are payable under two or more plans; and (4) the uniformity of the availability of information among health plans when benefits are payable under two or more plans. (Sec. 6007) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on a health plan not in compliance with specified requirements of this title.
Bill· HRH.R. 3324 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1993
Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a program of public information and education on the prevention and treatment of eating disorders, including toll free telephone communications to provide information and referrals. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1569 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Policy Title II: Health Services Title III: Health Professions Title IV: Research and Data Collection Title V: Miscellaneous Title VI: General Provisions Preventive Health Services and Health Professions Amendments Act of 1993 - Title I: Health Policy - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Advisory Committee on Minority Health to advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the development of the goals of the Office of Minority Health for each racial and ethnic group. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998. Requires a specific amount of such funds to be used to improve access to health care services for individuals with limited English proficiency. (Sec. 102) Provides for the establishment of an Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Requires such Offices to develop and implement health programs that target racial and ethnic minority populations. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of 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 as they affect minority populations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 through 1997. (Sec. 104) Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Title II: Health Services - Extends authorized appropriations for grants to States for the community scholarship program until FY 1996. Revises the eligibility requirements for such program. Modifies the definition of primary health care to include dentistry and mental health provided by physicians and other health professionals (currently, provided by physicians, certified nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, or physician assistants). (Sec. 202) Extends the authorized appropriations for the grant program for health services for residents of public housing to FY 1996. (Sec. 203) Requires the Secretary to issue regulations to reduce the extent to which having limited English proficiency constitutes a significant impediment to individuals for eligibility in health programs under the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 204) Amends the Disadvantaged Minority Health Improvement Act of 1990 to allow substance abuse services under the grant program for health services for Pacific Islanders. Extends authorized appropriations for such program through FY 1996. Requires a report to the Congress on the effectiveness of projects funded under such program. Title III: Health Professions - Extends authorized appropriations until FY 1996 for: (1) loans for disadvantaged students; (2) the Cesar Chavez Scholarship Program (currently known as the Exceptional Financial Need Program); (3) the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Program (currently known as the Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students program); (4) loan repayments and fellowships regarding faculty positions at health professions schools; (5) Centers of Excellence; and (6) educational assistance regarding undergraduates. (Sec. 305) Requires Centers of Excellence (health professions schools) to carry out community-based training programs to prepare students in secondary schools and institutions of higher education for attendance at such schools. Requires such schools to provide training to students to enable them to provide health service to minorities at community-based health facilities. Allows such schools to establish consortia. Allows schools of pharmacy and clinical psychology to be Centers of Excellence. Title IV: Research and Data Collection - Establishes an Advisory Committee on Research on Minority Health to advise the Director of the Office on Minority Health on appropriate research activities. (Sec. 402) Extends authorized appropriations through FY 1997 for the National Center for Health Statistics. (Sec. 403) Requires that research, demonstration projects, and evaluations be carried out on the health status of, and the delivery of health care to, populations of medically underserved urban and rural areas and low-income, minority groups, and the elderly. Title V: Miscellaneous - Extends authorized appropriations for the program for State offices of rural health through FY 1996 and revises the matching fund requirement. (Sec. 504) Extends the demonstration project for grants to States for Alzheimer's disease through FY 1998. Requires improved access for individuals with Alzheimer's disease, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and individuals living in isolated rural areas, to services that are home-based or community-based. (Sec. 505) Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the need to combine the designations of medically underserved area and health professional shortage area. (Sec. 506) Requires the Secretary to establish programs regarding birth defects. Title VI: General Provisions - Declares that this Act is effective October 1, 1993, or upon enactment, whichever occurs later.
Bill· HRH.R. 3315 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strategies to Assist State and Local Governments in Providing an Immediate Response to Crime Subtitle A: Grants to Combat Violent Crimes Subtitle B: Community Policing; Cop on the Beat Subtitle C: Law Enforcement Family Support Subtitle D: Police Misconduct Subtitle E: Police Corps and Law Enforcement Officers Training and Education Title II: Crime Victims Subtitle A: Crime Victims Subtitle B: Confidentiality for Abused Persons Subtitle C: Full Faith and Credit Title III: Crime Prevention Subtitle A: Safe Schools Subtitle B: Midnight Sports Subtitle C: Rape Prevention Title IV: Strategies to Combat Recidivism Subtitle A: Family Unity Demonstration Project Subtitle B: Drug Rehabilitation for Federal Prisoners Subtitle C: Drug Rehabilitation for State Prisoners Subtitle D: Alternatives to Incarceration Subtitle E: Voting Rights for Former Offenders Subtitle F: Sex Offender Treatment Programs Subtitle G: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts Subtitle H: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts Title V: Commission on Crime, Drugs, and Violence Title VI: Confidence in Criminal Justice System Subtitle A: Racial Justice Act Subtitle B: Racial Bias Subtitle C: Minimum Sentencing Subtitle D: Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Subtitle E: Sentencing Uniformity Subtitle F: Coerced Confessions and Harmless Error Title VII: Fiscal Impact of Criminal Justice Sentencing Title VIII: Habeas Corpus Reform Title IX: Gun Control Subtitle A: Firearms Subtitle B: Semiautomatic Assault Weapons Subtitle C: Gun Violence Liability Subtitle D: Ammunition Subtitle E: Multiple Handgun Transfers Subtitle F: Licensing Subtitle G: Saturday Night Specials Title X: Asset Forfeiture Title XI: Miscellaneous Provisions Subtitle A: Amendments to Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act Subtitle B: Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Act - Title I: Strategies to Assist State and Local Governments in Providing an Immediate Response to Crime - Subtitle A: Grants to Combat Violent Crimes - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants (under the drug control and system improvement grant program) to States, local governments, nonprofit nongovernmental victim services programs, and Indian tribes to develop effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat violent crimes (placing particular emphasis on combating violent crimes against women and people of color) and to reduce the rate of violent crimes against women. Specifies that such grants shall provide additional personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes and for purposes of: (1) training law enforcement officers and prosecutors to identify and respond more effectively to violent crimes, including crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence; (2) developing, training, or expanding units of law enforcement officers and prosecutors that specifically target violent crimes; (3) developing and implementing police and prosecution policies, protocols, or orders specifically devoted to the identification of and response to violent crimes against women; (4) developing, installing, or expanding data collection systems linking police, prosecutors, and courts or identifying and tracking arrests, protection orders, prosecutions, and convictions for crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence; and (5) developing, enlarging, or strengthening victim services programs to increase reporting and reduce attrition rates for cases involving violent crimes against women. Sets forth application and related requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Community Policing; Cop on the Beat - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director to make grants to units of local government and to community groups to establish or expand cooperative efforts between police and a community for purposes of increasing the police presence in the community, including: (1) developing innovative neighborhood-oriented policing programs; (2) providing new technologies to reduce the amount of time officers spend processing cases instead of patrolling the community; (3) providing training in cultural differences for law enforcement officials; (4) developing community-based crime prevention programs; and (5) developing crime prevention programs in communities which have experienced a recent increase in gang-related violence. Requires the Director to develop a written model that informs community members regarding: (1) how to identify the existence of a drug or gang house; (2) available civil remedies, such as public nuisance violations and civil suits in small claims court; and (3) available mediation techniques between community members and individuals who have established a drug or gang house in such community. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application requirements; (2) the allocation and limitations on use of grant funds; (3) awarding grants; and (4) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Law Enforcement Family Support - Amends the Omnibus Act to require the Director to: (1) establish guidelines and oversee the implementation of family-friendly policies within law enforcement-related offices and divisions in the Department of Justice (DOJ); (2) study the effects of stress on law enforcement personnel and family well-being and disseminate the findings to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs), related organizations, and other interested parties; (3) identify and evaluate model programs that provide support services to law enforcement personnel and families; (4) provide technical assistance and training programs to develop stress reduction and family support to LEAs; (5) collect and disseminate information regarding family support, stress reduction, and psychological services; and (6) determine issues to be researched by BJA and by grant recipients. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States and local LEAs to provide family support services to law enforcement personnel. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) activities of grant recipients that are required (counseling for law enforcement family members, child care on a 24-hour basis, marital and adolescent support groups, stress reduction programs, and stress education for law enforcement recruits and families) or optional (such as post-shooting debriefing for officers and their spouses, hypertension clinics, counseling for law enforcement personnel exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and counseling for families of personnel killed in the line of duty); (2) further application requirements and limitations; (3) discretionary research grants; and (4) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Police Misconduct - Prohibits any governmental authority from engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. Authorizes civil actions by the Attorney General and by an injured person. Permits the court, in private actions, to allow the prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Makes a governmental body liable for such fees and costs to the same extent as a private individual. (Sec. 132) Directs the Attorney General to: (1) acquire data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers; and (2) publish an annual summary. Limits the use of such data. (Sec. 133) Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) set penalties for police brutality; and (2) provide for liability by any State, county, municipality, or other unit of State or local government in a civil action to the party injured for the conduct of a law enforcement officer of such unit for subjecting any individual, under color of law, to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States (regardless of whether such officer had a reasonable good faith belief in the lawfulness of the conduct). Subtitle E: Police Corps and Law Enforcement Officers Training and Education - Establishes in DOJ an Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education, to be headed by a Director. (Sec. 143) Requires a State that desires to participate in the Police Corps Program (under Chapter 1 of this subtitle) or the Law Enforcement Scholarship Program (under chapter 2) to designate a lead agency that will be responsible for: (1) submitting to the Director a State plan for the Program; and (2) administering the Program in the State. Chapter 1: Police Corps Program - Authorizes the Director to award scholarships of up to $7,500 or the cost of the educational expenses related to attending an institution of higher education (subject to limitation) to participants who agree to work in a State or local police force for four years after successful completion of a baccalaureate program and training. Permits the use of scholarships for graduate and professional study and for reimbursement of the participant's prior educational expenses under specified circumstances. Requires repayment of all of the scholarship or payment received plus interest for failure to comply with program requirements (but the Director may substitute community service for the required repayment if the recipient is unable to comply because of a physical or emotional disability or for good cause). Entitles a dependent child of a law enforcement officer killed in the course of performing police duties to scholarship assistance if specified conditions are met. (Sec. 153) Sets forth program provisions regarding: (1) participant selection criteria and qualifications; (2) recruitment of minorities; (3) enrollment of applicants; (4) leaves of absence; and (5) admission of applicants. (Sec. 154) Requires: (1) the Director to establish programs of training for participants, to be carried out at up to three training centers, and to pay participants a stipend during training; and (2) participants to attend two eight-week training sessions at a training center as basic law enforcement training and to be evaluated for mental, physical, and emotional fitness. (Sec. 155) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the swearing in of participants; (2) participants' rights and responsibilities; (3) discipline; (4) layoffs; and (5) State plan requirements. (Sec. 156) Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 2: Law Enforcement Scholarship Program - Provides for scholarships for in-service law enforcement personnel who seek further education, allotting 80 percent of funds based on the relative number of law enforcement officers per State and 20 percent based on the relative shortage of officers. Provides grants for summer jobs or part-time jobs during the year for high school students interested in law enforcement careers. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 3: Reports - Requires: (1) the Director to submit to the Attorney General, the President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate annual reports concerning the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Scholarship Programs; and (2) the Attorney General to submit to the Congress a plan to expand assistance to Federal law enforcement officers. Title II: Crime Victims - Subtitle A: Crime Victims - Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to: (1) specify funds and percentages of funds available for various purposes from the Crime Victims Fund; and (2) provide that if the compensation paid by an eligible crime victim compensation program would cover costs that a Federal program or a federally financed State or local program would otherwise pay, such victim compensation program shall not pay such compensation and the other program shall make its payments without regard to the existence of the crime victim compensation program. (Sec. 203) Amends Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to give victims of violent crimes and sexual abuse the right to address the court concerning the sentence to be imposed on convicted offenders. Permits such right to be exercised by a parent or guardian if the victim is under 18 or by one or more family members if the victim is deceased or incapacitated. Subtitle B: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Directs the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Subtitle C: Full Faith and Credit - Provides that any protection order issued by a State court consistent with specified requirements (with respect to jurisdiction, due process rights, and ex parte orders) shall be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State and enforced as if it were the order of such other State. Makes an exception for an order issued by a State court against one who has petitioned, filed a complaint, or otherwise filed a written pleading for protection against abuse by a spouse or intimate partner if: (1) no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order; or (2) a cross or counter petition has been filed and the court did not make specific findings that each party was entitled to such an order. Title III: Crime Prevention - Subtitle A: Safe Schools - Amends the Omnibus Act to: (1) authorize the Director of BJA to make grants to local educational agencies for the purpose of providing assistance to such agencies most directly affected by crime and violence; and (2) require the Director to develop a written safe schools model in English and in Spanish and make such model available to any local educational agency. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the use of funds to fund anticrime and safety measures and develop education and training programs for the prevention of crime, violence, illegal drugs, and alcohol, for counseling programs for victims of crime within schools, for crime prevention equipment, and for the prevention and reduction of youth participation in organized crime and drug- and gang-related activities in schools; (2) application requirements; (3) limitations on grants and grant renewal; (4) the selection of recipients; and (5) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Midnight Sports - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to eligible entities to assist in carrying out midnight sports league programs and to advisory entities to provide technical assistance in establishing and operating such programs. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Rape Prevention - Authorizes the Director of BJA to make grants for specified purposes, including to: (1) provide educational seminars designed to change attitudes regarding rape and develop awareness of what acts may meet the legal definition of rape; (2) provide programs for elementary and secondary school age children that teach nonviolent conflict resolution, self defense, or other relevant skills; (3) develop treatment programs for convicted sex offenders and make such programs available in the local community and in Federal and State prisons; and (4) develop other projects to increase awareness of sexual assault prevention among racial, ethnic, cultural, and language minorities. (Sec. 322) Sets forth application and reporting requirements. (Sec. 324) Prohibits a State from receiving funds under this Act unless the State or other grantee incurs the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault. (Sec. 326) Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Strategies to Combat Recidivism - Subtitle A: Family Unity Demonstration Project - Chapter 1: General Provisions - Authorizes appropriations for family unity demonstration projects. Chapter 2: Grants to States - Authorizes the Director of the National Institute of Corrections to make grants to States to carry out family unity demonstration projects that enable eligible prisoners to live in community correctional facilities with their children. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) preferences for grants; (2) the number of grants; (3) eligibility to receive grants; and (4) reporting requirements. Chapter 3: Family Unity Demonstration Project for Federal Prisoners - Directs the Attorney General to carry out a family unity demonstration project that enables eligible prisoners to live in community correctional facilities with their children. Subtitle B: Drug Rehabilitation for Federal Prisoners - Drug Treatment in Federal Prisons Act of 1993 - Requires the Bureau of Prisons to provide residential substance abuse treatment (where possible, by community-based drug and alcohol treatment programs) for: (1) not less than 50 percent of eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1993; (2) not less than 75 percent of eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1994; and (3) all eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1995. Specifies that prisoners who successfully complete such treatment could be released up to a year early. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) drug testing; (2) aftercare services; and (3) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Drug Rehabilitation for State Prisoners - Substance Abuse Treatment in State Prisons Act of 1993 - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of BJA to make grants to States for the purpose of developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs within State correctional facilities. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) State application requirements (including drug testing, eligibility for preference for programs with an aftercare component, and designation of a State office to administer grant funds); (2) review of State applications; (3) allocation and distribution of funds; and (4) an evaluation requirement. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Alternatives to Incarceration - Chapter 1: Grants - Authorizes the Director of BJA to make grants to States, units of local government, court systems, district attorneys, and private nonprofit organizations to establish or expand sentencing options in addition to existing incarceration and probation programs for offenders who would otherwise be sentenced to incarceration. (Sec. 452) Permits the use of grant funds to develop sentencing option projects that include: (1) day fines; (2) house arrest; (3) electronic monitoring; (4) intensive probation supervision; (5) defense-based sentencing; (6) day reporting centers; (7) victim-offender reconciliation; (8) shock incarceration; and (9) substance abuse treatment in lieu of incarceration. (Sec. 453) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) grant applications; (2) grant renewal and the Federal share; and (3) priorities in awarding grants. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 2: Substance Abuse Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration - Authorizes the Director of BJA to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to provide substance abuse treatment to individuals who are not incarcerated but who are under criminal justice supervision because of their status as pretrial or post-trial releasees, probationers, parolees, supervised releasees, or releasees with a deferred prosecution. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) priorities in awarding grants; (2) required substance abuse treatment services (including addiction education, individual, group, and family counseling, HIV education, counseling, and testing (when requested), services that facilitate access to health and social services, and planning for and counseling to assist reentry into society); and (3) application requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Voting Rights for Former Offenders - Specifies that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because he has committed a criminal offense unless such citizen is imprisoned in a correctional institution or facility at the time of such election. Sets fines for violators. Subtitle F: Sex Offender Treatment Programs - Requires the National Institute of Justice to establish criteria and develop training programs to assist: (1) prison, youth residential, and mental health institutional staff; and (2) probation and parole officers and other personnel who work with released sex offenders in the areas of relapse prevention, supervision, and case management. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 472) Directs the Attorney General to compile information regarding sex offender treatment programs and ensure that information regarding specialized community treatment programs in the community into which a convicted sex offender is released is made available to each person serving a sentence of imprisonment for sex offenses. Subtitle G: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to award grants for the purpose of developing, testing, presenting, and disseminating model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in the laws of the States on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. (Sec. 483) Directs the Institute to ensure that such model programs are developed with the participation of law enforcement officials, recognized experts on gender bias in the courts, and specified others. (Sec. 484) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Directs the: (1) circuit judicial councils to conduct studies of the instances of gender bias in their respective circuits; (2) Judicial Conference of the United States to designate an entity within the judicial branch to act as a clearinghouse to disseminate reports and materials issued by the gender bias task forces and to respond to requests for such reports and materials (and requires such task forces to provide such entity with their reports and related materials); and (3) Federal Judicial Center to include in its educational programs information on issues related to gender bias in the courts. (Sec. 492) Authorizes appropriations for the: (1) salaries and expenses account of the courts of appeals, district courts, and other judicial services; (2) Federal Judicial Center; and (3) Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Requires the Judicial Conference to allocate funds to Federal circuit courts that undertake studies in their own circuits or implement reforms, including education and training, recommended as a result of such studies in their own or other circuits. Title V: Commission on Crime, Drugs, and Violence - Establishes a National Commission on Crime, Drugs, and Violence in America to examine the: (1) impact of criminal justice policy on the African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American communities and criticism that the criminal justice system functions in a racially disparate manner; and (2) root causes of violent crime (and make recommendation for the creation of a national public education strategy on violence) and of the demand for drugs in the United States (and undertake an evaluation of the efficacy of current Federal drug policy). Title VI: Confidence in Criminal Justice System - Subtitle A: Racial Justice Act - Racial Justice Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit: (1) the imposition or execution of sentences of death under color of State or Federal law in a racially discriminatory pattern; and (2) any person from being put to death in the execution of a sentence imposed pursuant to any law if that person's death sentence furthers a racially discriminatory pattern. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) establishment of such pattern (ordinary methods of statistical proof shall suffice and it shall not be necessary to show discriminatory motive, intent, or purpose by any individual or institution); and (2) establishing and rebutting a prima facie showing of such pattern. Requires any State or Federal entity that provides by law for death to be imposed as a punishment for any crime to designate a central agency to collect and maintain pertinent data on the charging, disposition, and sentencing patterns for all cases of death-eligible crimes. Provides for appointment of counsel and the furnishing of investigative, expert, or other services necessary for the adequate development of a discriminatory pattern claim to persons financially unable to retain counsel and obtain such services. Specifies that no determination of the merits of a factual issue made by a State court pertinent to any such claim shall be presumed to be correct unless specified conditions are met. Subtitle B: Racial Bias - Specifies that any existing race bias claim, whether or not previously raised or determined (unless determined on the merits in a Federal habeas corpus proceeding) may be raised in a Federal habeas corpus proceeding within one year after the enactment date of this Act and shall be determined on the merits (applying the law in effect at the time of the determination). Subtitle C: Minimum Sentencing - Amends the Federal criminal code to grant a court authority to impose a sentence below a statutory minimum. Subtitle D: Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing - Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act of 1993 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to eliminate specified mandatory minimum penalties relating to the trafficking in, and possession and importation of, crack cocaine. (Sec. 635) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to promulgate such amendments to its sentencing guidelines as necessary to conform such guidelines to the amendments made by this subtitle. Subtitle E: Sentencing Uniformity - Sentencing Uniformity Act of 1993 - Revises the Federal criminal code, the CSA, and various other Federal laws to grant courts greater flexibility in sentencing. Subtitle F: Coerced Confessions and Harmless Error - Specifies that: (1) if, on direct or collateral review of a Federal or State criminal judgment, including in a Federal habeas corpus proceeding, any U.S. court determines that a Federal or State criminal conviction or sentence was obtained in violation of the Constitution, the court shall award relief unless, in the case of a violation that can be harmless, the Federal Government or the State concerned proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not contribute to the conviction or sentence; and (2) the admission into evidence of a coerced confession shall not be considered harmless error. Title VII: Fiscal Impact of Criminal Justice Sentencing - Directs the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare a criminal justice impact assessment for any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report (bill) that could increase or decrease the number of persons incarcerated in State or Federal penal institutions. (Sec. 702) Specifies that it shall not be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill that would increase or decrease the number of persons incarcerated in State or Federal penal institutions unless such bill is accompanied by a criminal justice impact statement prepared by CBO. (Sec. 703) Directs CBO to prepare and transmit to the Congress an annual summary report reflecting the cumulative fiscal effect of all relevant changes in the law that will increase or decrease the number of persons incarcerated in State or Federal penal institutions taking effect during the preceding calendar year. Title VIII: Habeas Corpus Reform - Habeas Corpus Reform Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal judicial code to revise provisions governing habeas corpus procedures, particularly in capital cases. (Sec. 802) Establishes a statute of limitations of one year for the filing of an application for habeas corpus relief from a sentence of death. Prescribes periods during which such time requirement shall be tolled, including any period during which the applicant is not represented by counsel. Provides for dismissal of an application for failure to comply with such time requirement, except where the waiver of such requirement is warranted by exceptional circumstances. (Sec. 803) Specifies requirements for stays of execution in capital cases. (Sec. 804) Prohibits the court from applying a new rule representing a clear break from precedent announced by the U.S. Supreme Court that could not have reasonably been anticipated at the time the claimant's sentence became final in State court, unless such rule: (1) places the claimant's conduct beyond the power of the criminal law-making authority to proscribe or punish with the sanction imposed; or (2) requires the observance of procedures without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction or valid capital sentence is seriously diminished. (Sec. 805) Bars the court from presuming a finding of fact made in certain State court proceedings to be correct or from declining to consider a claim on the ground that it was not raised in such a proceeding at the time or in the manner prescribed by State law, unless: (1) the relevant State maintains a mechanism for providing legal services to indigents in capital cases which meets specified requirements; (2) the State actually appointed an attorney to represent an applicant who was eligible for and did not waive such appointment in the State proceeding in which the finding of fact was made or the default occurred; and (3) any attorney so appointed substantially met specified qualification standards and the performance standards established by the appointing authority. Specifies that such mechanism shall include requirements that: (1) the State provide legal services to indigents charged with offenses for which capital punishment is sought, who have been sentenced to death and who seek appellate, collateral, or unitary review in State court, and who have been sentenced to death and seek certiorari review of State court judgments in the U.S. Supreme Court; (2) the State establish a counsel authority, which shall be a statewide defender organization, a resource center, or a counsel authority appointed by the highest State court having jurisdiction over criminal matters; and (3) such authority publish a roster of attorneys qualified to be appointed in capital cases, monitor attorney performance, and appoint a defense team to represent a client at the relevant stage of proceedings within 30 days after receiving notice of the need for the appointment from the relevant State court. (Sec. 806) Requires that, in the case of an applicant for Federal habeas corpus relief under sentence of death, a claim presented in a second or successive application be dismissed unless the applicant shows that: (1) the basis of the claim could not have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence before the applicant filed the prior application, or the failure to raise the claim in the prior application was due to action by State officials in violation of the U.S. Constitution; and (2) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient, if proven, to undermine the court's confidence in the applicant's guilt of the offense for which the capital sentence was imposed, or in the validity of that sentence under Federal law. (Sec. 807) Grants an applicant under sentence of death the right to appeal without a certification of probable cause, except after denial of a second or successive application. (Sec. 808) Requires the district court, in adjudicating habeas corpus cases, to: (1) exercise independent judgment in ascertaining the pertinent Federal legal standards and in applying those standards to the facts when adjudicating the merits of a particular ground (rather than deferring to a previous State court judgment regarding a Federal legal standard or its application); (2) issue habeas corpus relief at any time on behalf of an applicant under sentence of death imposed either in Federal or State court who offers newly discovered evidence which, had it been presented to the trier of fact or sentencing authority at trial, would probably have resulted in an acquittal of the offense for which the death sentence was imposed or a sentence other than death; and (3) decline to consider a habeas corpus claim under specified circumstances. Title IX: Gun Control - Subtitle A: Firearms - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for a seven (business) day waiting period for the purchase of a handgun. Sets forth: (1) interim procedures (pending the establishment of a national instant criminal background check system) for checking with the chief law enforcement officer of the place of residence of the purchaser as to whether the purchaser has a criminal record or whether there is any other legal impediment to such individual's receiving a handgun; and (2) permanent procedures for conducting criminal background checks. Sets penalties for violations. (Sec. 902) Directs the Attorney General to establish a national instant criminal background check system that any licensee may contact for information on whether receipt of a firearm by a prospective purchaser would violate specified legal provisions. Provides for the correction of erroneous information in the system. (Sec. 903) Permits the use of formula grants under the Omnibus Act for improvements in State criminal records. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to the withholding of State and DOJ funds for failure to meet set deadlines. Subtitle B: Semiautomatic Assault Weapons - Semiautomatic Assault Weapon Violence Prevention Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) list weapons classified as semiautomatic assault weapons; and (2) make it unlawful to transfer or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon. Makes this Act inapplicable to the transfer or possession of a weapon: (1) by a Federal or State agency; (2) that was lawfully possessed before this Act's enactment or, in the case of a semiautomatic firearm designated as a semiautomatic assault weapon under this Act, before the designation is made; or (3) by a licensed manufacturer or importer for purposes of authorized testing or experimentation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to designate a rifle, pistol, or shotgun that is a semiautomatic firearm and meets specified criteria as a semiautomatic assault weapon. Requires the serial numbers of such weapons to clearly show if they were manufactured or imported after this Act's effective date. (Sec. 913) Prohibits the transfer or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device (i.e., a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition and any combination of parts from which such a device can be assembled, but not an attached tubular device designed to accept and capable of operating only with .22 caliber rimfire ammunition). Sets penalties for violators. Requires such devices to be identified by a serial number. Subtitle C: Gun Violence Liability - Gun Violence Economic Equity Act of 1993 - Authorizes any person suffering bodily injury or death as a result of the discharge of a handgun or an assault weapon to bring an action in U.S. district court against any manufacturer, importer, or dealer of a handgun or assault weapon. Makes such defendants strictly liable for all direct and consequential damages that arise from such bodily injury or death, except where the injury is: (1) suffered while committing a felony; (2) self-inflicted; or (3) a result of a discharge by a law enforcement officer or a member of the armed forces in the line of duty. Subtitle D: Ammunition - Requires each licensed importer and manufacturer of ammunition to: (1) maintain such records of importation, production, shipment, sale, or other disposition of ammunition at his place of business for such period and in such form as the Secretary may prescribe, including the amount, caliber, and type of ammunition; and (2) annually prepare a summary report of such dispositions during the preceding year. Directs the Secretary to request the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) prepare a study of the criminal use and regulation of ammunition; and (2) report to the Congress recommendations on the potential for preventing crime by regulating or restricting the availability of ammunition. (Sec. 932) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to: (1) increase the tax on nine millimeter, .25 caliber, and .32 caliber ammunition, except with respect to sales to or for the use of the United States or any State or political subdivision thereof; and (2) establish in the Treasury a Trauma Center Trust Fund, for purposes of making grants for the operating expenses of trauma centers that have incurred substantial uncompensated costs in providing trauma care in geographic areas with significant incidences of violence due to crime. Subtitle E: Multiple Handgun Transfers - Multiple Handgun Transfer Prohibition Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer from transferring two or more handguns to an individual not so licensed during any 30-day period or from transferring a handgun to any such individual who received a handgun during the previous 30-day period; and (2) any individual who is not so licensed from receiving two or more handguns during any 30-day period. Makes such prohibitions inapplicable with respect to any individual who has presented to the transferor a written statement, issued by the chief law enforcement officer of the individual's place of residence during the ten days preceding, that the individual requires access to a handgun because of a threat to his or her life or household. Sets forth: (1) reporting and recordkeeping requirements; and (2) penalties for knowing violations of this Act. Subtitle F: Licensing - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) a common or contract carrier knowingly to deliver in interstate or foreign commerce a firearm to a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector without identifying the person to whom the firearm is delivered and making and maintaining a record of the identity of the person; and (2) the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to another person having reasonable cause to believe that the person is acquiring such firearm or ammunition with the intent that it will be used by any person to commit a crime of violence. (Sec. 953) Increases application fees for dealers in firearms. (Sec. 954) Repeals a provision requiring the Secretary to approve or deny an application for a license as a firearms or ammunition importer, manufacturer, or dealer (dealer) within 45 days and authorizing the applicant to file an action to compel the Secretary to act. (Sec. 955) Makes compliance with State and local law a condition for licensure as a dealer. (Sec. 956) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) inspections of firearms licensees; (2) reports of theft or loss of firearms; and (3) responses to requests for information concerning disposition of firearms. (Sec. 959) Amends the IRC to require individuals required to register as dealers of firearms to include their photograph and fingerprints with the initial application. Subtitle G: Saturday Night Specials - Prohibits the possession or transfer of a non-sporting handgun (i.e., a firearm which is designed to be fired by the use of a single hand, is not a sporting handgun, and any combination of parts from which such a firearm can be assembled). Sets penalties for violators. Title X: Asset Forfeiture - Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 1993 - Amends: (1) the Tariff Act of 1930 to require that proceedings for the forfeiture of property, other than of merchandise upon which the duties have not been paid or which has been otherwise brought into the United States unlawfully, be conducted only upon conviction of the owner of such property for the crime upon which the forfeiture is based; and (2) the Federal criminal code to require a conviction before a gambling ship may be forfeited to the United States. (Sec. 1003) Amends the Tariff Act to: (1) require that notice be sent within 60 days after a seizure to any possessor, owner, or other interested party, including any lienholder; (2) shift the burden of proof in forfeiture proceedings from the defendant to the Government and to require a showing of clear and convincing evidence that the property was subject to forfeiture for the Government to prevail; (3) repeal the requirement that persons making claims regarding seized property give a bond to the United States; and (4) afford a right to trial by jury in forfeiture cases. (Sec. 1005) Amends the CSA and the Federal criminal code to: (1) require a preliminary hearing prior to a seizure of property subject to civil forfeiture, with exceptions; and (2) prohibit the civil or criminal forfeiture of property which has been paid or pledged as bona fide attorney's fees. (Sec. 1014) Amends: (1) the Tariff Act, the Federal criminal code, and the CSA with respect to the retention of forfeiture proceeds by State and local law enforcement agencies, for disposition according to State law; and (2) the Federal judicial code to make forfeiture proceeds available to the Attorney General for community-based crime control programs for drug education, prevention, and treatment, with amounts for such programs to be distributed (in accordance with criteria determined by the State) with priority given to the communities in which the assets involved are seized. (Sec. 1016) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the payment of informants; (2) changes in adoptive seizure regulations; (3) reporting requirements; (4) maintenance of seized property; (5) limits on administrative and contracting expenses; (6) nominal consideration sales of low value real property to certain tax-exempt organizations; and (7) limits on the customs and tax exemption under tort claim procedures. Title XI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Amendments to Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act - Increases the discretionary grant authorization under the drug control and system improvement grant program under the Omnibus Act. Subtitle B: Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - Increases the authorization of appropriations under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness and improve the coordination of the operation of all Federal programs relating to juvenile justice and juvenile delinquency prevention in order to maximize the effectiveness of such programs, reduce duplication of effort, and develop a unified strategy for addressing juvenile delinquency; and (2) submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate an annual report describing the results and containing a five-year plan for the continued operation of such programs.
Bill· HRH.R. 3310 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1993
Barbara McClintock AIDS Cure Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a project to develop a cure for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Prohibits the program from being administered by any officer or employee of the National Institutes of Health. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the project: (1) pursues all basic science investigations, based on diverse theories and schools of thought which elucidate the pathogenesis of AIDS; and (2) identifies, based on this work, all promising curatives and oversees their timely and adequate testing. Establishes a governing council to set policy and oversee research priorities, ethical standards, conflict of interest rules, and hiring of researchers. Establishes a coordinating committee to facilitate communication among the different scientists working on the project, evaluate the progress of its work, and convene the entire staff on some regular schedule (or when necessary) to evaluate the progress of the project as a whole, reevaluate its direction, and consider newly developed theories emanating from both within and outside the project. Grants the Secretary extraordinary powers in carrying out such project.
Bill· SS. 1549 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1993
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) utilize the resources of the Presidio unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, to provide for and support programs and activities that foster research, education and demonstration projects concerning the environment, international affairs, cultural understanding, health, and science; (2) negotiate and enter into leases, as appropriate, with any private or government entity for the use of any property within the Presidio in accordance with the Area's General Management Plan or the Act establishing the Area; (3) negotiate and enter into leases or other appropriate agreements with any Federal agency to house the agency's employees who are engaged in activities or programs at the Presidio; and (4) enter into interagency permitting agreements or other appropriate agreements with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and leases with the Red Cross to house their activities and employees at the Presidio. Requires the Secretary to establish competitive bidding procedures to be used for the issuance of such leases. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and permits for purposes of such Area.
Bill· HRH.R. 3294 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1993
Frontline Medical Education Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to: (1) services of interns and residents at federally-qualified health centers and Medicare payments for graduate medical education; (2) Medicare payment for direct graduate medical education costs of such centers; and (3) waiver of the application of productivity screens for such centers receiving medical education payments.
Bill· SS. 1544 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1993
World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1993 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that specified amounts should be appropriated for FY 1994 and 1995 to achieve full participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act (WIC program) and the Head Start program. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for contributions to the United Nation's Children's Fund and for the Child Survival Fund. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authority should be granted to the President to exercise specified debt forgiveness for least developed countries that are pursuing economic policy reforms to promote long-term development. Earmarks development assistance funds for FY 1994 and 1995 for the Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for: (1) iodine and iron fortification programs; and (2) prevention, care, and control programs related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Earmarks development and economic assistance funds for FY 1994 and 1995 for programs in support of basic education. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for population assistance activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that specified amounts should be appropriated for FY 1994 and 1995 for migration and refugee assistance. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank to: (1) ensure that poverty reduction and support of basic human needs become a higher priority within the Bank; (2) ensure that the majority of water and sanitation projects fall within targeted interventions against poverty; and (3) increase the proportion of total Bank lending which supports primary health care and basic education, with a minimum of five percent of total lending devoted to each area. Requires the President to call upon other governments to provide their share of resources required to achieve the World Summit for Children goals by the year 2000.
Bill· HRH.R. 3286 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1993
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) utilize the resources of the Presidio unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, to provide for and support programs and activities that foster research, education and demonstration projects concerning the environment, international affairs, cultural understanding, health, and science; (2) negotiate and enter into leases, as appropriate, with any private or government entity for the use of any property within the Presidio in accordance with the Area's General Management Plan or the Act establishing the Area; (3) negotiate and enter into leases or other appropriate agreements with any Federal agency to house the agency's employees who are engaged in activities or programs at the Presidio; and (4) enter into interagency permitting agreements or other appropriate agreements with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and leases with the Red Cross to house their activities and employees at the Presidio. Requires the Secretary to establish competitive bidding procedures to be used for the issuance of such leases. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and permits for purposes of such Area.
Bill· HRH.R. 3290 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1993
Head Start Safety Act - Amends the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984 and the Toxic Substances Control Act to expand coverage of such Acts to include Head Start programs and facilities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3289 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1993
College Financial Aid Protection Act of 1993 - Exempts from the antitrust laws agreements, or attempts to agree, by two or more institutions of higher education, on: (1) financial assistance that may be provided to any individual by any of such institutions or by the family of such individual, in connection with enrolling in and attending any of such institutions; (2) a formula for determining such assistance; (3) any matter relating to requiring individuals who receive such assistance to engage in activities to obtain income to be expended to attend any of such institutions; (4) student fees; or (5) communication among such institutions regarding financial assistance provided, or to be provided, to such individual, or a plan, projection, or budget assumption regarding future student fees.
Bill· HRH.R. 3267 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Supplemental Appropriations for Full Employment Economy Title II: Work Hours Title III: Wages Title IV: Tax Incentives for Full Employment Title V: Entitlement Programs Full Employment Act for Fiscal Year 1994 - Title I: Supplemental Appropriations for Full Employment Economy - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY 1994 to: (1) the Department of Agriculture for watershed and flood prevention operations, rural water and waste disposal grants, the special supplemental food program, and the National Forest System; (2) the Small Business Administration for the business loans program account; (3) the Department of the Interior for the National Park System; (4) the Department of Energy for energy conservation activities; (5) the Department of Labor for training and employment services and community service employment for older Americans; (6) the Department of Health and Human Services for health resources and services, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, and children and families services programs; (7) the Department of Education for compensatory education for the disadvantaged and student financial assistance; (8) the Department of Transportation for grants-in-aid for airports, Federal-aid highways, grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and formula grants; (9) the Department of the Treasury for Internal Revenue Service information systems; (10) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for homeless assistance and community development grants; and (11) the Environmental Protection Agency for construction grants. Title II: Work Hours - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require overtime to be paid at two times the regular hourly rate (currently, one- and one-half times). Reduces the regular 40-hour workweek to a 30-hour workweek. Title III: Wages - Establishes the minimum wage at $7 an hour. Title IV: Tax Incentives for Full Employment - Expresses the sense of the Congress that appropriate tax incentives should be provided to businesses that hire new employees, create new jobs, provide ongoing education and training for their employees, provide child care arrangements for their employees, establish health care plans for their employees, and undertake research and development. Title V: Entitlement Programs - Expresses the sense of the Congress that individuals who receive assistance under any Federal entitlement program should seek to obtain employment providing livable wages and, where appropriate, affordable child care arrangements.
Bill· HRH.R. 3254 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization Title II: General Provisions Title III: Academic Research Facilities Modernization Title IV: International Scientific Cooperation National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1993 - Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization - Authorizes appropriations to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for FY 1994 through 1996. Title II: General Provisions - Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to direct the NSF to include in its annual report to the President a strategic plan defining its goals, criteria, and procedures. Requires the NSF Director to submit to the Congress an annual upgrade and maintenance plan for national research facilities. Amends the Academic Research Facilities Modernization Act of 1988 to require the NSF Director, when making awards for academic facilities maintenance, to exclude from consideration after FY 1994 certain institutions or consortia which received Federal maintenance funds for projects that were not subjected to a competitive, merit-based award process. Prohibits a science-technology center from being disqualified from competition for funding support under NSF informal science education programs on the basis of: (1) geographic location; (2) size of population served; or (3) date on which it commences operations. Amends the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to include within its target population women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups. Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 and the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 to modify certain administrative procedures. Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act, 1977 to repeal its mandate for an Office of Small Business Research and Development. Title III: Academic Research Facilities Modernization - Instructs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a multiagency Federal program plan to provide financial support to institutions of higher education to modernize obsolete science and engineering research facilities. Title IV: International Scientific Cooperation - Authorizes the NSF Director to: (1) make grants to domestic organizations for "debt-for-science" exchanges; and (2) facilitate and participate in the establishment of binational and multinational endowed science foundations. Requires the NSF Director to submit to the Congress a strategic plan for NSF international scientific cooperation activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3258 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Boot Camp Grants Title II: Boot Camp Option for Nonviolent Drug Offenders Title I: Boot Camp Grants - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to States for establishing boot camp prisons, with priority given to applications to establish such prisons by utilizing surplus Federal property (including military bases that are no longer in use). Conditions grant eligibility on a prison providing: (1) an organized program of manual labor and discipline designed to build character, instill a sense of maturity, promote a positive self-image for offenders, and foster respect for authority; (2) training or vocational education; (3) treatment and counseling to all inmates who are addicted to drugs or alcohol; (4) a corrective therapeutic environment; (5) an agreement that specifies procedures to ensure compliance with boot camp requirements and resentencing by the court to traditional prisons for noncompliance; and (6) a community adjustment phase that begins after an inmate has successfully completed a boot camp prison term which includes specified restrictions. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application requirements; (2) review of State applications; (3) allocation and distribution of funds; and (4) evaluation (including reports on recidivism rates among participants). Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Boot Camp Option for Nonviolent Drug Offenders - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to authorize the court, in the case of a defendant who is convicted of simple possession of a controlled substance that did not involve violence, to sentence the defendant to incarceration in an intensive confinement center (i.e., a boot camp prison) and make any mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment otherwise required inapplicable (with provision for resentencing the defendant to a term not less than the sentence otherwise required if the defendant is in substantial noncompliance with the requirements of the center).
Bill· HRH.R. 3257 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
Equity in Health Professions Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study to determine the extent to which health professions schools provide adequate education to students on women's health conditions. Requires priority in the study to be given to schools of medicine and osteopathic medicine. Requires a report to specified congressional committees by April 1, 1995.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 274 (103rd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.R. 1804 (national education reform).
Bill· SS. 1533 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care Subtitle A: Increased Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage for Employees and Their Families Subtitle B: Reform of Health Insurance Marketplace for Small Business Subtitle C: Preemption Subtitle D: Health Deduction Fairness Subtitle E: Improved Access to Community Health Services Subtitle F: Improved Access to Rural Health Services Subtitle G: State Flexibility in the Medicaid Program: The Medical Health Allowance Program Subtitle H: Medicaid Program Flexibility Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings Subtitle C: Deduction for Cost of Catastrophic Health Plan; Medical Savings Accounts Subtitle D: Anti-Fraud Subtitle E: Medicare Payment Changes; Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals Subtitle F: Removing Anti-Trust Impediments Subtitle G: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities Subtitle H: Prefunding Government Health Benefits for Certain Annuitants Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Long-Term Care Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle B: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle C: Studies Subtitle D: Volunteer Service Credit Demonstration Projects Affordable Health Care Now Act of 1993 - Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care - Subtitle A: Increased Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage for Employees and Their Families - Part 1: Required Coverage Options for Eligible Employees, Spouses, and Dependents - Requires each employer to make available to each eligible employee a group health plan under which: (1) coverage of each eligible individual with respect to such employee may be elected on an annual basis; (2) coverage is provided for at least the required coverage specified; and (3) employees may elect to have premiums collected through payroll deduction. Does not require employer contributions to the cost of coverage under such a plan. Provides for the exclusion of: (1) employers who have been employers for less than two years or who have no more than two eligible employees or no more than two eligible employees not covered under any group health plan; and (2) family members under specified circumstances. Specifies that a group health plan shall not be treated as failing to meet the requirements of this Act solely because a period of service by an eligible employee of not more than 60 days is required for coverage. Specifies that the required coverage is standard coverage, except that in the case of a small employer that has not contributed during the previous plan year to the cost of coverage for any eligible employee under any group health plan, the required coverage for the plan year is coverage under a MedAccess standard, MedAccess catastrophic, and MedAccess medisave plan. Provides for a five-year transition for existing group health plans. (Sec. 1002) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) compliance with applicable requirements through multiple employer health arrangements; and (2) coverage options under a State medical health allowance program. Part 2: Preexisting Conditions and Continuity of Coverage; Renewability - Prohibits a group health plan from imposing (and an insurer from requiring an employer from imposing through a waiting period for coverage under a plan or similar requirement) a limitation or exclusion of benefits relating to treatment of a preexisting condition if: (1) the condition relates to a condition that was not diagnosed or treated within three months before the date of coverage under the plan; or (2) the limitation or exclusion extends over more than six month after the date of coverage, applies to an individual who, as of the date of birth, was covered under the plan, or relates to pregnancy. Specifies that, in the case of an individual who is eligible for coverage under a plan but for a waiting period imposed by the employer, the individual shall be treated as having been covered under the plan as of the earliest date of the beginning of the waiting period. (Sec. 1012) Requires each group health plan to waive any period applicable to a preexisting condition for similar benefits with respect to an individual to the extent that the individual, prior to enrollment in such plan, was covered for the condition under any other health plan. (Sec. 1013) Prohibits: (1) a multiemployer plan and an exempted multiple employer health plan from canceling or denying renewal of coverage under such a plan for an employer other than for nonpayment of contributions, fraud or other misrepresentation, noncompliance with plan provisions, or misuse of a provider network provision, or because the plan is ceasing to provide any coverage in a geographic area; (2) an insurer from canceling a health insurance plan or denying renewal of coverage other than as prescribed above; and (3) an insurer who terminates the offering of health insurance plans in an area from offering such a plan to any employer in the area until five years after the date of the termination. Part 3: Enforcement; Effective Dates; Definitions - Makes provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 applicable with respect to enforcement of this Act (by the Department of Labor). Amends the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to impose a tax ($100 per day for each individual involved, subject to specified limitations) on the failure of an insurer to comply with the requirements under part 2 unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) determines that the State has in effect a regulatory enforcement mechanism that provides adequate sanctions. Subtitle B: Reform of Health Insurance Marketplace for Small Business - Requires each insurer that makes available a health insurance plan to a small employer in a State to make available to each small employer in the State a MedAccess standard, MedAccess catastrophic, and MedAccess medisave plan, with exceptions for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and if a State provides for guaranteed availability (rather than guaranteed issue). Requires each insurer that offers a MedAccess plan to a small employer in a State to accept: (1) every small employer in the State that applies for coverage; and (2) every eligible individual who applies for enrollment on a timely basis. Sets forth provision regarding: (1) special rules for HMOs; (2) timely enrollment requirements; and (3) enrollment of spouses and dependents. Makes such requirements inapplicable in a State that has provided (in accordance with specified standards) a mechanism under which each insurer offering a health insurance plan to a small employer in the State must participate in a program for assigning high-risk small employer groups (or individuals within such a group) among some or all such insurers, if the insurers comply. (Sec. 1102) Defines "MedAccess plan" as a health insurance plan that: (1) is designed to provide standard coverage with substantial cost-sharing, only catastrophic coverage, or medisave coverage; (2) includes only essential and medically necessary services; (3) meets applicable requirements relating to guaranteed issue; and (4) meets specifies consumer protection standards. Defines "MedAccess standard plan," "MedAccess catastrophic plan," and "MedAccess medisave plan" to mean a MedAccess plan that provides for at least standard coverage, for only catastrophic coverage, or medisave coverage, respectively. Requests the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to submit to the Secretary a set of rules which NAIC determines is sufficient for determining, in the case of any health insurance plan and for purposes of this subtitle, the actuarial value of the coverage offered by the plan. Directs the Secretary to certify such set of rules for use under this subtitle if they meet such requirements or establish such a set of rules. Specifies that a health insurance plan is considered to provide: (1) standard coverage if the benefits are determined, in accordance with certified rules of actuarial equivalence, to have a value that is within five percentage points of an established target actuarial value for standard coverage; (2) catastrophic coverage if benefits are available under the plan for a year only to the extent that expenses for covered services in a year exceed a deductible amount that is consistent with a specified requirement for a catastrophic health plan under the Code, and are determined, in accordance with certified actuarial equivalence rules, to have a value that is within five percentage points of an established target actuarial value for catastrophic coverage; and (3) medisave coverage if such plan consists of a catastrophic health plan within the meaning of the Code and a medical savings account. Requests NAIC to submit to the Secretary target actuarial values for standard and catastrophic coverage. Permits NAIC to submit periodic revisions of, and permits the Secretary to revise, the set of rules of actuarial equivalence and target actuarial values where necessary to take into account changes in the relevant types of health benefits provisions, in deductible levels for catastrophic coverage, or in relevant demographic conditions. (Sec. 1103) Directs the Secretary to request NAIC to develop model regulations that specify standards with respect to requirements: (1) that insurers make available MedAccess plans; (2) of guaranteed availability of MedAccess plans to small employers; (3) relating to limits on premiums and certain consumer protections; and (4) relating to limitation of annual premium increases. Requires the Secretary to review such standards and, if NAIC fails to specify standards meeting such requirements, to promulgate standards. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the application of MedAccess standards and consumer protection standards by the States; and (2) the Federal role. (Sec. 1104) Sets forth provisions: (1) regarding limits on premiums and annual premium increases; and (2) requiring an insurer, at the time of offering a health insurance plan to a small employer, to fully disclose rating practices for health insurance plans, including rating practices for different populations and benefit designs. (Sec. 1106) Directs the Secretary to: (1) request NAIC to develop models for reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms for health insurance plans made available to small employers for whom an insurer is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan; and (2) review such models or specify models. Sets forth provisions regarding implementation of reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms by the States and the Federal role. Amends the Code to provide for the imposition of a tax on any health insurance plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. (Sec. 1108) Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Private Health Care Coverage. Requires the Office Director to submit to the Congress annual reports evaluating health care coverage reform. (Sec. 1109) Authorizes the Director to conduct: (1) research on the impact of this subtitle on the availability of affordable health coverage for employees and dependents in the small employers group health care coverage market and other specified topics; and (2) demonstration projects relating to such topics. Requires the Director to develop: (1) methods for measuring the relative health risks of eligible individuals in terms of the expected costs of providing benefits under health insurance plans and, in particular, MedAccess plans; and (2) a model for equitably distributing health risks among insurers in the small employer health care coverage market. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Preemption - Part 1: Scope of State Regulation - Prohibits: (1) State benefit mandates for group health plans; and (2) State or local law prohibitions against two or more employers obtaining coverage under an insured multiple employer health plan. (Sec. 1203) Preempts State restrictions concerning: (1) reimbursement rates or selective contracting; (2) differential financial incentives; and (3) utilization review methods. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Part 2: Multiple Employer Health Benefits Protections - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow a limited exemption under preemption rules for multiple employer plans providing health benefits subject to certain Federal standards. (Sec. 1212) Relieves exempted multiple employer plans providing medical care benefits of certain restrictions on preemption of State law. Treats such plans as employee welfare benefit plans. Allows commencement of new arrangements only if such exemption is in effect or an application is pending and the Secretary of Labor determines that provisional protection is appropriate. Sets forth exemption procedures, eligibility requirements, and additional requirements applicable to exempted arrangements. Requires certain disclosures to participating employers, maintenance of reserves, and corrective actions. Provides for expiration, suspension, and revocation of exemptions, and for review of actions by the Secretary. (Sec. 1213) Revises provisions relating to scope of preemption rules, and to treatment of single employer arrangements and of certain collectively bargained arrangements. (Sec. 1215) Establishes special rules for employee leasing healthcare arrangements. Treats such arrangements as multiple employer welfare arrangements except when they are multiple employer health plans. (Sec. 1216) Sets forth enforcement provisions relating to multiple employer welfare arrangements and employee leasing health care arrangements. (Sec. 1217) Sets forth filing requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements. (Sec. 1218) Provides for cooperation between Federal and State authorities in enforcing ERISA requirements for multiple employer welfare arrangements with the limited exemption. Part 3: Encouragement of Multiple Employer Arrangements Providing Basic Health Benefits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the commonality of interest or geographic location requirement for tax exempt trust status for multiple employer health plans and insured multiple employer health plans if they meet certain requirements under ERISA and this Act. Part 4: Simplifying Filing of Reports for Employers Covered under Insured Multiple Employer Health Plans - Amends ERISA to direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe an alternative method providing for a single annual report with respect to all employers who are covered under the same insured multiple employer health plan. Part 5: Compliance with Coverage Option Requirements - Provides for compliance with applicable coverage requirements through multiemployer plans and other multiple employer health arrangements. Subtitle D: Health Deduction Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide: (1) for a permanent extension and increase in the health insurance tax deduction for self-employed individuals; and (2) that the deduction for certain health insurance costs be determined without regard to an adjusted gross income threshold. Disallows the deduction to individuals eligible for employer-subsidized coverage. Allows the deduction whether or not the individual itemizes other deductions. Subtitle E: Improved Access to Community Health Services - Part 1: Increased Authorization for Community and Migrant Health Centers - Directs the Secretary to provide for grants to migrant and community health centers to promote primary health care services for underserved individuals. Allows grants to be used to promote the provision of off-site services, to improve birth outcomes in areas with high infant mortality and morbidity, to establish primary care clinics in areas in need, and for recruitment and training costs of necessary providers and operating costs for unreimbursed services. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the impact of such grants on access to health care, birth outcomes, and the use of emergency room services. Part 2: Grants for Projects for Coordinating Delivery of Services - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities: (1) to carry out demonstration projects to increase access to outpatient primary health services in specified geographic areas (i.e., areas that are rational areas for the delivery of health services, have a population of not more than 500,000 individuals, and have been designated by the Secretary as areas with a shortage of personal health services or that have a significant number of individuals with low incomes or insufficient health care insurance through coordinating the delivery of such services under Federal, State, local, and private programs; and (2) for developing plans to carry out such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Improved Access to Rural Health Services - Part 1: Establishment of Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Under Medicare - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for: (1) establishment of rural emergency access care hospitals under Medicare; and (2) coverage of and payment for rural emergency access care hospital services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Part 2: Rural Medical Emergencies Air Transport - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treatments. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application and State plan requirements; (2) considerations in awarding grants; (3) State administration and use of grants; (4) the number of grants; and (5) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Part 3: Emergency Medical Services Amendments - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Emergency Medical Services, headed by a Director; (2) engage in specified emergency medical services activities, including disseminating information obtained in carrying out specified activities to public and private entities, providing technical assistance to State and local agencies, coordinating Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) activities with those of other Federal agencies; and (3) ensure that such activities are carried out consistent with certain requirements regarding maintaining an adequate number of health professionals with expertise in the provision of services, developing, periodically reviewing, and revising as appropriate guidelines for the provision of such services, appropriately using available technologies, and serving the unique needs of underserved inner-city and rural areas. (Sec. 1522) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of improving the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services, subject to specified matching fund, budgetary, and other requirements. (Sec. 1523) Provides for demonstration projects to establish telecommunications between rural medical facilities and medical facilities with expertise or equipment. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the telecommunications technologies demonstrated include interactive video telecommunications, static video imaging transmitted through the telephone system, and facsimiles transmitted through such system. (Sec. 1524) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) emergency medical services (including for State offices of Emergency Medical Services and for telecommunications demonstrations); and (2) trauma care and certain other activities. Subtitle G: State Flexibility in the Medicaid Program: The Medical Health Allowance Program - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for the establishment of State health allowance programs under which the State makes payments to a group health plan which provides coverage to an eligible individual as an allowance towards the costs of providing the individual with benefits under the plan. Subtitle H: Medicaid Program Flexibility - Amends SSA title XIX Medicaid) to modify: (1) Federal requirements to allow States more flexibility in contracting for coordinated care services under Medicaid; and (2) provisions regarding the extension of certain waivers. Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Part 1: General Provisions - Makes this subtitle applicable with respect to any medical malpractice liability claim and to any medical malpractice liability action brought in State or Federal court, except a claim or action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death to the extent that title XXI of the Public Health Service Act applies. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) preemption of State law; (2) effect on sovereign immunity and choice of law or venue; (3) jurisdiction; and (4) effective dates. Part 2: Medical Malpractice and Product Liability Reform - Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action from being brought in any State court during a calendar year unless the relevant claim has been initially resolved (i.e., a decision has been reached on whether the defendant is liable to the plaintiff for damages and on the amount of damages) under a certified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system or an alternative Federal system. Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action from being brought in Federal court based on diversity of citizenship during a calendar year unless the relevant claim has been initially resolved under such a system in the State whose law applies. Directs the Attorney General to establish an ADR process for tort claims consisting of medical malpractice liability claims brought against the United States under chapter 171 of the Federal judicial code (U.S. Court of Federal Claims). Prohibits a medical malpractice liability action based on such a claim from being brought in any Federal court unless the claim has been initially resolved under such process. Sets forth procedures for filing actions. (Sec. 2012) Limits to $250,000 the amount of noneconomic damages that may be awarded to a claimant and family members in a medical malpractice liability action. Sets limits on punitive damages and on periodic payments for future losses. (Sec. 2013) Set forth provisions regarding: (1) limits on attorney fees and other costs; (2) joint and several liability (generally, liability may be found only for those damages directly attributable to the person's proportionate share of fault or responsibility for the injury); (3) a statute of limitations of seven years; and (4) a uniform standard for determining negligence (the defendant's conduct at the time of providing the health care services was not reasonable). (Sec. 2017) Specifies that in the case of a medical malpractice liability claim relating to services provided during labor or the delivery of a baby, if the health care professional did not previously treat the injured individual for the pregnancy, the trier of fact may not find that the defendant committed malpractice nor assess damages unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Part 3: Requirements for State Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Lists requirements for State ADR systems, including that such a system: (1) applies to all medical malpractice liability claims under the jurisdiction of the courts of that State; (2) requires that a written opinion resolving the dispute be issued within six months after each party against whom the claim is filed has received notice of the claim; (3) is approved by the State or local governments; (4) provides for the transmittal to the State agency responsible for monitoring or disciplining health care professionals and providers of any findings of malpractice; and (5) provides for the regular transmittal of information on disputes resolved under the system to the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research in a manner that protects the identity of the parties involved. (Sec. 2032) Directs the Secretary, by October 1 of each year, to certify State ADR systems that meet such requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish an alternative Federal ADR system for the resolution of medical malpractice liability claims in States that do not have in effect a certified ADR system. (Sec. 2033) Directs the Secretary, within five years, to submit to the Congress a report describing and evaluating State ADR systems and the alternative Federal system, including: (1) information on the effect of the ADR systems on health care costs, access to health care, and quality of care provided within the State; and (2) to the extent that such report does not provide information on no-fault systems operated by States as ADR systems, an analysis of the feasibility and desirability of establishing a system for resolving medical malpractice liability claims on a no-fault basis. Part 4: Other Provisions Relating to Medical Malpractice Liability - Authorizes a State agency responsible for disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner to enter into agreements with State or county professional societies to permit their participation in the licensing of such practitioner and to review any health care malpractice action, claims, or allegation, or other information concerning the practice patterns of any such practitioner. Sets forth agreement requirements. (Sec. 2042) Directs the Secretary to study incentives adopted by State and local governments, insurers, medical societies, and other entities to encourage physicians to volunteer to provide health care services in medically underserved areas. (Sec. 2043) Directs each State to require: (1) each health care professional and health care provider to participate in a risk management program to prevent, and provide early warning of, practices which may result in injuries to patients or endanger patient safety; and (2) each provider of health care professional and provider liability insurance in the State to establish risk management programs or sanction programs of risk management for health care professionals and providers provided by other entities, and require each such professional or provider, as a condition of maintaining insurance, to participate in one such program at least once in each three-year period. (Sec. 2044) Directs the Secretary to make grants: (1) for basic research in the prevention of, and compensation for, injuries resulting from health care professional or provider malpractice and for research of the outcomes of health care procedures; (2) to the States to assist in improving their ability to license and discipline health care professionals; and (3) to States and local governments, private nonprofit organizations, and health professional schools for educating the general public about the appropriate use of health care, realistic expectations of medical intervention, and the resources and role of health care professional licensing and disciplinary boards in investigating claims of incompetence or health care malpractice, and for developing programs of faculty training and curricula for educating health care professionals in quality assurance, risk management, and medical injury prevention. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings - Part 1: Standardization of Claims Processing - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to: (1) data elements for use in paper and electronic claims processing under health benefit plans and in utilization review and management of care; (2) uniform claims forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. (Sec. 2102) Authorizes the Secretary, two years after standards are adopted for classes of services upon determining that a significant number of claims for benefits for such services under health benefit plans are not being submitted in accordance with such standards, to require that all providers of such services submit claims to health benefit plans in accordance with such standards. (Sec. 2103) Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for the ongoing receipt and review of comments and suggestions for changes in the standards adopted and promulgated; (2) establish a schedule for the periodic review of such standards; and (3) revise such standards. Part 2: Electronic Medical Data Standards - Directs the Secretary to promulgate standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data, including standards for transmission of such data and confidentiality of patient-specific information. Authorizes the Secretary to periodically revise such standards. (Sec. 2112) Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) the sharing of hospital information under Medicare; (2) waiver of such requirements; and (3) application of such requirements to hospitals of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Sec. 2113) Authorizes the head of a Federal agency to require a provider to present and transmit a required data element electronically in accordance with applicable presentation or transmission standard. (Sec. 2114) Sets forth limitations on data requirements where standards with respect to data elements are in effect. (Sec. 2115) Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory commission on the standards established under this part and operational concerns about the implementation of such standards. Authorizes appropriations. Part 3: Development and Distribution of Comparative Value Information - Directs the Secretary to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets specified criteria and a specified schedule. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants to enable each State to plan development and initiate implementation of its health care value information program; and (2) recover the amount of such a grant by offset against any other amount payable to the State under the Social Security Act under specified circumstances. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 2122) Directs the Secretary to take actions necessary to implement a comparable program in a State that fails to develop or implement a health care value information program in accordance with such criteria and schedule. Authorizes the Secretary to charge fees for the information materials provided pursuant to such a program. (Sec. 2123) Directs the head of each Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to individuals to develop health care value information relating to each program that such head administers and covering the same types of data that a State program meeting such criteria would provide. (Sec. 2124) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop model systems to facilitate the gathering of data on health care cost, quality, and outcome and the analysis of such data in a manner that will permit the valid comparison of such data among providers and among health plans; (2) support experimentation with different approaches to achieve such objectives in the most cost effective manner; and (3) evaluate the various methods to determine their relative success. Authorizes the Secretary to establish standards for the collective and reporting of data on health care cost, quality, and outcomes. Authorizes appropriations. Part 4: Additional Standards and Requirements; Research and Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to: (1) adopt standards relating to the design and use of magnetized Medicare identification cards to assist health care providers in determining whether individuals are eligible for benefits for provided services under the Medicare program and in billing the Medicare program for covered services; (2) take steps to encourage and assist States in the design and use of magnetized Medicaid identification cards under their Medicaid plans; and (3) establish a Medicare and Medicaid information system to provide information on group health and other health benefit plans that are primary payors to the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 2132) Specifies that, effective January 1, 1994, no effect shall be given to any provision of State law that requires medical or health insurance records (including billing information) to be maintained in written, rather than electronic, form. (Sec. 2133) Requires, effective January 1, 1995, each health benefit plan: (1) to use a beneficiary's social security number as the personal identifier for claims processing and related purposes (authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil money penalty on any plan that fails to do so); and (2) to use the unique identifier under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) for a provider that furnishes health care items or services to a beneficiary under the plan as the identifier of that provider for claims processing and related purposes. (Sec. 2134) Directs the Secretary to: (1) determine, where benefits are payable under two or more health benefit plans, whether problems relating to the rules for determining the liability of plans or the availability of information among plans causes significant administrative costs; and (2) promulgate standards, if the implementation of standards would significantly reduce such administrative costs. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a civil money penalty on plans that fail to comply with such standards. (Sec. 2135) Directs the Secretary to provide grants to qualified entities for research on the application of comprehensive information systems in continuously monitoring and improving patient care. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to: (1) two to five community organizations or coalitions of health care providers, health benefit plans, and purchasers to establish and document the efficacy of communication links between the information systems of health benefit plans and of health care providers; (2) two to five public or private nonprofit entities for the development of regional or community-based clinical information systems; and (3) public or private nonprofit entities to develop and test the definition of a comprehensive set of data elements and the specification and manner of presentation of the individual data elements of the set, for electronic medical data generated by physicians and other entities (other than hospitals) that provide health care services. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Deduction for Cost of Catastrophic Health Plan; Medical Savings Account - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include under the medical expense deduction the portion of such expense attributable to coverage under a catastrophic health plan. (Sec. 2202) Allows individuals a tax deduction for percentage of contributions made to a medical care savings account established for the benefit of an eligible individual. Allows such deduction whether or not an individual itemizes deductions. Disallows distributions from such accounts as medical expense deductions. Excludes employer contributions to such accounts from employment taxes. Establishes an excise tax for excess contributions to medical care savings accounts. Subtitle D: Anti-Fraud - Part 1: Criminal Prosecution of Health Care Fraud - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) set penalties for health care providers who knowingly engage in any scheme or artifice to defraud any person in connection with the provision of health care; and (2) make activity which, if engaged in by the U.S. Postal Service, would be a violation of mail fraud provisions punishable to the same extent with respect to private or commercial interstate carriers. (Sec. 2303) Authorizes appropriations to hire, equip, and train no fewer than: (1) 225 special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and support staff to investigate health care fraud cases; (2) 50 assistant United States Attorneys and support staff to prosecute such cases; and (3) 25 investigators in the Office of Inspector General, DHHS, to be devoted exclusively to health care fraud cases. (Sec. 2304) Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General to make payments of up to $10,000 to a person who furnishes information unknown to the Government relating to a possible prosecution of health care fraud, subject to specified requirements and exceptions. Part 2: Coordination of Health Care Anti-Fraud and Abuse Activities - Directs the Secretary to establish in the Office of the Inspector General of DHHS a program (all-payer fraud and abuse control program) to: (1) coordinate Federal, State, and local law enforcement programs to control fraud and abuse with respect to the delivery of, and payment for, health care in the United States; (2) conduct investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections relating to such delivery and payment; and (3) facilitate the enforcement of provisions of the Social Security Act and other statutes applicable to health care fraud and abuse. Directs the Secretary to establish standards to carry out such program, including standards relating to the furnishing of information by health insurers, providers, and other to enable the Secretary to carry out the program and procedures to assure that such information is provided and utilized in a manner that protects the confidentiality of the information and the privacy of individuals receiving health care services. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) qualified immunity for providing information; (2) ensuring access to documentation; and (3) failure to comply as grounds for exclusion from the Medicare and Medicaid programs. (Sec. 2312) Authorizes additional appropriations to enable the Secretary to conduct investigations of allegations of health care fraud and to carry out the all-payor fraud and abuse control program. (Sec. 2313) Establishes in the Treasury an Anti-Fraud and Abuse Trust Fund to be used to assist the Inspector General of DHHS in carrying out the all-payor fraud and abuse control program in the fiscal year involved. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the deposit into the Fund of Federal health anti-fraud and abuse penalties; and (2) the use of such penalties to repay beneficiaries for cost-sharing. (Sec. 2314) Amends SSA title XI to provide for the application of Federal health anti-fraud and abuse sanctions to all fraud and abuse against private health benefit plans. Subtitle E: Medicare Payment Changes; Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals: Part 1 - Medicare Payment Changes - Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) eliminate the membership limitation for Medicare health maintenance organizations; and (2) revise the Medicare select policy program and provide for a civil money penalty for misrepresentations made in connection with a Medicare select policy. (Sec. 2402) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to: (1) make permanent the Medicare select policy program; and (2) allow access to Medicare select policies in all States. (Sec. 2403) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take such steps as may be necessary to consolidate the administration of Medicare parts A and B. Part 2: Part B Premium Tax for High-Income Individuals - (Sec. 2411) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the Medicare part B premiums of high income individuals. Subtitle F: Removing Anti-Trust Impediments - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate guidelines under which a health care joint venture may submit an application requesting that the Attorney General provide the entities participating in the venture with an exemption under which: (1) monetary recovery on an antitrust claim brought against the entity shall be limited to actual damages if specified conditions are met; and (2) the conduct of the entity in making or performing a contract to carry out the venture shall not be deemed illegal per se. Requires the Attorney General to approve or disapprove the application within a specified time frame and to provide a statement explaining the reasons for any disapproval. Directs the Attorney General to approve the application if an entity participating in the venture submits to the Attorney General an application that contains the identities of the parties to the venture; the nature, objectives, and planned activities of the venture; and specified assurances and information. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) revocation and renewal of exemptions and withdrawal of an application; (2) requirements relating to notice and publication of exemptions; and (3) issuance of health care certificates of public advantage to each eligible health care joint venture that complies with specified requirements. Establishes the Interagency Advisory Committee on Competition, Antitrust Policy, and Health Care to: (1) discuss and evaluate competition and antitrust policy and their implications regarding the performance of health care markets; (2) analyze the effectiveness of health care joint ventures receiving exemptions in reducing costs and expanding access; and (3) make recommendations to the Congress. Subtitle G: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Part 1: Application of the Clayton Act to Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Provides that no damages, cost of suit, or attorney fee may be recovered under section 4, 4A, or 4C of the Clayton Act, or under any similar State law, except by a State or the United States, from any medical self-regulatory entity as a result of engaging in standard setting or enforcement activities that are: (1) designed to promote the quality of health care provided to patients; and (2) not conducted for purposes of financial gain. Directs the court to award the cost of such a suit, including a reasonable attorney fee, to a substantially prevailing defendant. Part 2: Consultation by Federal Agencies - Requires any Federal agency engaged in the establishment of medical profession standards to consult with appropriate medical societies or associations, specialty boards, or recognized accrediting agencies, if available, in carrying out medical professional standard setting and guidelines or standards relating to the practice of medicine. Subtitle H: Prefunding Government Health Benefit for Certain Annuitants - Requires that certain agencies prefund Government health benefits contributions for their annuitants. Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends Civil Service and Federal Employees' Retirement Systems law to increase the minimum age required to be eligible for an immediate retirement annuity. Provides for the conformance of other Federal retirement systems with the minimum age increase made above. Title III: Long-Term Care - Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance for purposes of insurance company taxation. (Sec. 3002) Excludes from gross income benefits provided under a long-term care insurance contract. Includes in gross income employer-provided coverage for long-term care services. (Sec. 3003) Includes amounts paid for qualified long-term care services as medical expenses for individual itemized deductions. Includes any parent or grandparent as a dependent for purposes of such expenses. (Sec. 3004) Provides for the nonrecognition of gain or loss on the exchange of any life insurance contract or an endowment or annuity contract for a long-term care insurance contract. (Sec. 3005) Excludes from gross income certain amounts withdrawn from individual retirement accounts and certain employer cash or deferred arrangement to pay long-term care premiums. (Sec. 3006) Allows insurance companies to issue accelerated death benefit riders on life insurance contracts. Subtitle B: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends SSA title XIX to require State Medicaid plans to disregard some or all of the individual's assets attributable to coverage under a qualified long-term care insurance contract in determining the individual's eligibility for long-term care services. Subtitle C: Studies - Requires the Comptroller General to study the feasibility of: (1) encouraging health care providers to donate their services to homebound patients; and (2) providing heads of households who care for elderly family members in their home with an income tax credit. (Sec. 3203) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of encouraging or requiring the use of a single designate public or nonprofit agency to coordinate, through case management, the provision of long-term care benefits under current Federal, State, and local programs in a geographic area. Subtitle D: Volunteer Service Credit Demonstration Projects - (Sec. 3301) Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Commissioner of the Administration on Aging to establish and operate a volunteer service credit demonstration project in each State.
Bill· SS. 1525 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1993
Foreign Language Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a foreign language assistance program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants: (1) as allocations to States in any fiscal year in which appropriations equal or exceed a specified amount; or (2) when appropriations are below such amount, to State educational agencies, local educational agencies (LEAs), consortia of LEAs, or consortia of LEAs and institutions of higher education. Requires that half of such funds be used for foreign language instructional programs at elementary and secondary schools and half for foreign language teacher development and recruitment. Authorizes as Federal activities: (1) grants for model demonstration programs of foreign language instruction for elementary or secondary school students; (2) evaluation and research; and (3) bonus grants to States for having specified levels of foreign language requirements or enrollments. Provides for Federal share and for participation of children and teachers from private schools. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3252 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Rivers Title II: Trails Title III: Parks Title I: Rivers - West Virginia Rivers Conservation Act of 1993 - Amends the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978, the West Virginia National Interest River Conservation Act of 1987, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to modify boundaries of the: (1) New River Gorge National River; (2) Gauley River National Recreation Area; and (3) Bluestone National Scenic River. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a segment of the Upper New River, West Virginia, as a component of the National Wild and Scenic River System (NWSRS). Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study and report to specified congressional committees on the eligibility and suitability of designating a specified segment of the Elk River, West Virginia, as either a component of the NWSRS or a unit of the National Park System (NPS) as a national river or recreation area. Provides for consolidated management between offices and personnel administering the segment of the Upper New River designated by this Act and offices and personnel administering the New River Gorge National River, the Gauley River National Recreation Area, and the Bluestone National Scenic River. Amends the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 to make provisions of the West Virginia National Interest River Conservation Act of 1987 (the Act) relating to cooperative agreements and remnant lands in the Gauley River National Recreation Area applicable to the New River Gorge National River. Amends the Act to set forth provisions relating to access of the Gauley River National Recreation Area by certain noncommercial recreational users. Authorizes the Secretary to construct a visitor center in the vicinity of the confluence of the New and Gauley Rivers. Extends certain provisions of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act with respect to segments of the Bluestone and Meadow Rivers that were found eligible for addition to the wild and scenic rivers system in studies completed by NPS in 1983 but that were not designated as part of the Bluestone National Scenic River or the Gauley River National Recreation Area under the Act. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to set forth provisions relating to public access to the Bluestone River. Ceases the force and effect of any boundary modification of the Gauley River National Recreational Area relating to new project construction in the Area if construction is not commenced within the time required in the license or if such license is surrendered. Title II: Trails - Amends the National Trails System Act to designate the Great Western Scenic Trail, extending from the Arizona-Mexico border to the Idaho-Montana-Canada border, for study as an addition to the National Scenic Trail System. Title III: Parks - Provides that at noon on July 30, 2000, the use of Highway 209 within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area by commercial vehicles shall be prohibited when such use is in no way connected with the operation of the Area unless permitted by the Secretary, under specified conditions. Repeals provisions of Federal law, on such date, relating to steps to be taken to further the purposes of the Area and to provide public safety in it. Authorizes the Secretary to continue to collect and utilize a commercial user fee in an amount not to exceed $25 per vehicle from the date of enactment of this Act through July 30, 2000. Changes the map reference for the Area with respect to its boundary. Authorizes the Secretary to purchase lands within the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia with appropriated funds and to use such funds to purchase or maintain property within the Park's boundaries. Directs the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on potential means to preserve and interpret Revere Beach, Massachusetts, including recommendations on the feasibility of establishing it as a unit of the NPS. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the NPS, to enter into cooperative agreements relating to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: (1) with appropriate organizations or groups (on a matching grant basis) to promote education concerning the natural and cultural resources of the Area and adjacent lands; and (2) in which the Secretary agrees to maintain the facilities at 2600 Franklin Canyon Drive, Beverly Hills, California, for eight fiscal years and to provide funding for programs of the William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom that utilize those facilities (in return for which the Classroom agrees that at the end of the term of such agreement, all right, title, and interest in and to such facilities will be donated to the United States for addition to the Area). Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to establish the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Center to be added to and administered as part of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer that portion of the U.S. existing sewage disposal system (including related improvements and structures) within the Colonial National Historical Park to York County, Virginia, without reimbursement, together with such rights-of-way determined to be necessary to maintain and operate such system. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement with York County to pay a specified maximum amount of the repair and rehabilitation costs for the system. Requires the cooperative agreement to: (1) reduce or eliminate the amounts charged to the NPS for its sewage disposal; and (2) minimize the impact of the system on the Park and its resources. Prohibits such system from being enlarged or substantially altered without NPS concurrence. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire specified lands to be included within the Park's boundaries. Authorizes appropriations. Designates the visitors center at Channel Islands National Park, California, as the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitors Center.
Bill· HRH.R. 3247 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1993
Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for knowingly circumcising, excising, or infibulating any part of the labia majora, labia minora, or clitoris of another person who has not attained age 18, except where: (1) necessary to the health of the person on whom it is performed (if performed by a person licensed in the place of its performance as a medical practitioner); or (2) performed on a person in labor or who has just given birth (if performed for medical purposes connected with such labor or birth by a person licensed in the place it is performed as a medical practitioner, midwife, or person in training to become such a practitioner or midwife). Prohibits and sets penalties for knowingly denying a person medical care or services, or otherwise discriminating against a person in the provision of medical care or services, because that person has: (1) undergone female circumcision, excision, or infibulation (female circumcision); or (2) requested that female circumcision be performed on any person. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out appropriate education, preventive, and outreach activities in communities that traditionally practice female circumcision to inform people in those communities about the health risks and emotional trauma inflicted by such practices and to inform them and the medical community about the provisions of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3242 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1993
Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and the National School Lunch Act to prohibit for a five-year period the award of contracts for the procurement of milk for schools to companies convicted of violating any of the antitrust laws in connection with a contract with any school, food service authority, or other institution eligible for program payments under such Acts. Prohibits for a five-year period the award of contracts for the procurement of milk for military bases to companies convicted of violating any of the antitrust laws in connection with a contract with the Department of Defense.
Bill· SS. 1523 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1993
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Reauthorization Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for primary health services for homeless children. Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to extend homeless program authorizations of appropriations for: (1) community demonstration projects for the mentally ill; (2) adult education; (3) education for homeless children and youth; (4) job training; (5) emergency community services; and (6) family support centers.
Bill· HRH.R. 3222 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Managed Competition in Employer-Based Health Plans: Incentives to Control Costs Subtitle A: Use of Tax Incentives to Purchase Cost-Effective Plans Subtitle B: Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs) Subtitle C: Accountable Health Plans (AHPs) Subtitle D: Health Care Standards Commission Subtitle E: Managed Competition in Rural and Urban Underserved Areas Subtitle F: Treatment of Chronically Underserved Areas Subtitle G: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements Subtitle H: Definitions Title II: Low-Income Assistance for Health Coverage Subtitle A: Low-Income Assistance Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Phase-Down Assistance to States Subtitle C: Financing Subtitle D: Repeal of Medicaid Program Title III: Training and Education of Health Care Professionals Subtitle A: Reform of Federal Funding for Medical Residency Training Subtitle B: Other Medical Education Grants and Programs Title IV: Preventive Health and Individual Responsibility Subtitle A: Expansion of Public Health Programs Subtitle B: Medicare Title V: Malpractice Reform Subtitle A: Findings; Purpose; Definitions Subtitle B: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims Subtitle C: Requirements for State Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems (ADR) Subtitle D: Grants to States for Development of Practice Guidelines Title VI: Paperwork Reduction and Administrative Simplification Title VII: Additional Benefits On a Pay-As-You-Go Basis Managed Competition Act of 1993 - Title I: Managed Competition in Employer-Based Health Plans: Incentives to Control Costs - Subtitle A: Use of Tax Incentives to Purchase Cost-Effective Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the excess health plan expenses of any employer which are health plan expenses exceeding specific limits under an accountable health plan for a defined geographical area. (Sec. 1002) Increases to 100 percent and makes permanent the deduction for health plan premium expenses of self-employed individuals. (Sec. 1003) Permits the deduction for medical, dental, etc. expenses without regard to the limitation on such deduction with respect to amounts paid for premiums under an accountable health plan. (Sec. 1004) Provides for the exclusion from gross income of contributions by a partnership or S corporation to a health plan covering partners or shareholders. (Sec. 1006) Eliminates the commonality of interest and geographic location requirements with respect to group purchasing by large tax-exempt organizations. Subtitle B: Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs) - Provides for the establishment of Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs). Considers each State to be a HPPC, except that a State may subdivide into HPPC areas, and that there may be interstate HPPCs, as specified. Requires HPPCs to enter into agreements with accountable health plans and small employers, offer enrollment in accountable health plans, and charge premiums. Subtitle C: Accountable Health Plans (AHPs) - Directs the Health Care Standards Commission to provide a process whereby a health plan may be registered with the Commission by its sponsor as an accountable health plan. Sets forth requirements for a plan to be registered, including: (1) coverage for a specified uniform set of benefits, including cost-sharing for low-income individuals; (2) standard premiums for the uniform benefits; (3) grievance procedures; (4) collecting and providing specified information; (5) prohibiting discrimination in enrollment or benefits; and (6) financial solvency. (Sec. 1208) Sets forth additional requirements for open AHPs, which is any plan which is not closed. Defines a closed plan as one limited by structure or law to one or more large employers. (Sec. 1211) Requires each AHP to provide for payment of one percent of gross premium receipts to the National Medical Education Fund. (Sec. 1221) Sets forth provisions concerning the preemption of State laws for AHPs. (Sec. 1231) Directs the President to provide for the development and publication of guidelines on the application of Federal antitrust laws to AHPs. (Sec. 1232) Provides for the issuance of certificates of public advantage by the Attorney General to eligible health care joint ventures which, if followed, exempt such ventures from antitrust liability. Subtitle D: Health Care Standards Commission - Establishes, as an independent agency in the Executive Branch, a Health Care Standards Commission. Requires the Commission to transmit annually to the Congress recommendations for the uniform set of effective benefits. States that such recommendations shall apply unless the Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval. (Sec. 1303) Directs the Commission to provide for the initial organization, as a nonprofit corporation, of the Benefits, Evaluations, and Data Standards Board in order to make recommendations to the Commission concerning the uniform set of effective benefits and matters related to the evaluation of health care services. (Sec. 1304) Directs the Commission to provide for the initial organization, as a nonprofit organization of the Health Plan Standards Board in order to make recommendations to the Commission concerning the standards for AHPs and concerning its assessment of risk-adjustment factors. (Sec. 1305) Sets forth provisions concerning the registration of AHPs. (Sec. 1306) Directs the Commission to establish rules for the process of risk-adjustment of premiums among AHPs by HPPCs. (Sec. 1307) Directs the Commission to publish information concerning procedures, their prices, and their quality. (Sec. 1309) Establishes, within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Clinical Evaluations which shall assume the responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Medical Applications of Research at the National Institutes of Health, the Director of the Office of Research and Demonstrations of the Health Care Financing Administration (insofar as such responsibilities relate to clinical evaluations), the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research under title IX of the Public Health Service Act, as well as other specified responsibilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1311) Prohibits the Commission from establishing or enforcing any controls on health care spending. (Sec. 1313) Authorizes appropriations for the Commission through FY 2000. Terminates the Commission on December 31, 1999. Subtitle E: Managed Competition in Rural and Urban Underserved Areas - Authorizes the Governor of any State to designate rural and urban areas of a State as underserved areas. Permits a HPPC serving such an area to require AHPs offered by the HPPC and with a service area adjoining such area to include the area as part of their service area. (Sec. 1411) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) technical assistance for entities seeking to establish a network plan in an underserved area; (2) financial assistance to eligible entities in order to provide for the development and implementation of AHPs in rural areas; and (3) under the Public Health Service Act, migrant health centers and community health centers. (Sec. 1422) Provides coverage under part B of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for rural emergency access care hospital services. (Sec. 1431) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments for transitional assistance to eligible hospitals. Requires any hospital accepting such assistance to provide a significant volume of services to persons unable to pay for services. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Treatment of Chronically Underserved Areas - Directs the Health Care Standards Commission to develop standards for the identification of chronically underserved areas. Makes provisions for addressing health care delivery in such areas. Subtitle G: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements - Repeals the COBRA continuation requirements for group health plans and title XXII of the Public Health Service Act. Subtitle H: Definitions - Sets forth definitions for this title and title II. Title II: Low-Income Assistance for Health Coverage - Subtitle A: Low-Income Assistance - Provides premium assistance for very-low income individuals and moderately low-income individuals. Provides for nominal cost-sharing for such individuals and special assistance for certain items and services. Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Phase-Down Assistance to States - Provides for long-term care phase-down assistance to eligible States for each calendar quarter in 1995 through 1998. Subtitle C: Financing - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to achieve savings under such program by: (1) reducing the update for inpatient hospital services; (2) reducing the conversion factor for the physician fee schedule for non-primary care services; and (3) reducing hospital outpatient services through establishing a prospective payment system. (Sec. 2204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a Medicare part B premium tax on higher-income individuals. (Sec. 2205) Achieves additional Medicare savings through the: (1) phased-in elimination of Medicare disproportionate share adjustment payments; (2) reduction of routine cost limits for home health services; (3) reduction in routine cost limits for extended care services; and (4) reductions in payments for hospice services. Subtitle D: Repeal of Medicaid Program - Repeals title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Title III: Training and Education of Health Care Professionals - Subtitle A: Reform of Federal Funding for Medical Residency Training - Directs the Health Care Standards Commission to approve a resident training position in medical residency program for purposes of funding approved medical residency training programs under this title. Provides funding, in addition, for physician retraining. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) the allocation of entry positions among programs; and (2) the general distribution of positions among specialties. (Sec. 3004) Requires payment by AHPs of one percent of gross premium receipts to the National Medical Education Fund. Requires payments from the Medicare trust funds to the National Medical Education Fund. (Sec. 3005) Establishes the National Medical Education Fund. Subtitle B: Other Medical Education Grants and Programs - Authorizes appropriations under the Public Health Service Act for medical education programs, including: (1) the scholarship and loan repayment programs of the National Health Service Corps; (2) area education centers; (3) public health and preventive medicine; (4) family medicine; (5) general internal medicine and pediatrics; (6) physician assistants; (7) allied health projects grants and contracts; and (8) nurse practitioner and nurse midwife programs. Title IV: Preventive Health and Individual Responsibility - Subtitle A: Expansion of Public Health Programs - Authorizes appropriations under the Public Health Service Act for the following public health programs: (1) immunizations against vaccine-preventable diseases; (2) prevention, control, and elimination of tuberculosis; (3) lead poisoning prevention; (4) preventive health measures with respect to breast and cervical cancers; (5) the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion; (6) the Office of Minority Health; (7) preventive health and health services block grant; (8) categorical grants for early intervention regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome; and (9) programs of the Centers for Disease Control regarding the smoking of tobacco products. Directs the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to promote individual responsibility in personal health care and in the use of valuable health care resources. Subtitle B: Medicare - Provides Medicare coverage for: (1) screening fecal-occult blood tests and screening flexible sigmoidoscopies for the purpose of the early detection of cancer; (2) tetanus-diphtheria boosters; (3) well-child services; and (4) an annual screening mammography for women over age 64. Title V: Malpractice Reform - Subtitle A: Findings; Purpose; Definitions - Sets forth the findings, purpose, and definitions for this title. Subtitle B: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims - Prohibits bringing a medical malpractice liability action in a State court unless there has been an initial resolution under an alternative dispute resolution system. Limits the total noneconomic damages in such actions to $250,000. Sets limits on attorney's fees. Makes special provision for obstetric services. Subtitle C: Requirements for State Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems (ADR) - Establishes requirements for State alternative dispute resolution systems. Provides for grants to States to assist in implementation of such systems. Subtitle D: Grants to States for Development of Practice Guidelines - Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for the development of medical practice guidelines for health care professionals that may be applied to resolve medical malpractice liability claims. Title VI: Paperwork Reduction and Administrative Simplification - Preempts State quill pen laws. Ensures the confidential treatment of electronic health care information. Sets forth provisions which provide for: (1) the standardization of electronic health information; (2) uniform claims forms; (3) the liability of insurers when benefits are payable under two or more plans; and (4) the uniformity of the availability of information among health plans when benefits are payable under two or more plans. (Sec. 6007) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on a health plan not in compliance with specified requirements of this title. Title VII: Additional Benefits On a Pay-As-You-Go Basis - Expresses the sense of the Congress that additional benefits should be provided by the Federal Government to the extent that additional financing is made available on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Law· HRH.R. 3225 (103rd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1993
South African Democratic Transition Support Act of 1993 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to U.S. policy towards South Africa. Repeals specified provisions of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, providing for a total repeal of such Act when the President certifies to the Congress that an interim government that was elected on a nonracial basis through free and fair elections has taken office in South Africa. Urges all State or local governments and private entities in the United States to rescind any restrictions on economic interactions with South Africa. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should continue to respect United Nations Security Council resolutions on South Africa. Authorizes the President to provide development and economic support fund assistance to support the transition to nonracial democracy in South Africa. Prohibits such assistance to the Government of South Africa unless the President certifies to the Congress that an interim government elected on a nonracial basis through free and fair elections has taken office. Exempts from such prohibition assistance to the Transitional Executive Council, South African higher education institutions, and any other entity that would promote the transition to nonracial democracy. Declares that the President should: (1) negotiate a tax treaty with South Africa; (2) initiate negotiations with the South African Government to provide for Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs in such country; (3) conclude cooperative agreements with South Africa on various issues; and (4) encourage other donors to expand their activities in support of the transition to nonracial democracy. States that: (1) the Director of the Trade and Development Agency should provide additional funds for projects in South Africa; (2) the Export-Import Bank should expand its activities in connection with exports to South Africa; and (3) the Director of the U.S. Information Agency should use his authorities to promote the transition to nonracial democracy. Requires the heads of Federal Government agencies, in procuring goods or services, to make affirmative efforts to assist business enterprises having more than 50 percent ownership by nonwhite South Africans. Declares that the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the U.S. executive directors of international financial institutions to urge financial assistance to South Africa to support the transition to democracy.
Bill· HRH.R. 3228 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1993
Emergency Immigrant Education Act of 1993 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an emergency immigrant education program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education to allocate program payments to State educational agencies for services for immigrant children in elementary and secondary schools in local educational agency districts where the number of immigrant children is equal to at least 1,000 or at least five percent of the total number of students enrolled in public and nonpublic schools during that fiscal year. Allows a State to reserve not more than three percent of such funds for such services in local educational agencies which do not meet such criteria. Authorizes the Secretary, also under such program, to make district-wide immigrant grants for other services for immigrant children to local educational agencies whose districts include numbers of such children in public and nonpublic schools equal to at least 5,000 or at least ten percent.
Bill· HRH.R. 3229 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Education Improvement Title II: Additional Education Amendments Title III: Bilingual Education Title I: Education Improvement - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to make limited-English-proficient (LEP) children eligible under the ESEA title I program for disadvantaged children. Provides for assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of such programs. Title II: Additional Educational Amendments - Revises payments for State administration to include funds for coordinating inclusion of LEP students and for developing linguistically accessible assessment instruments. Provides for supplemental capacity building grants for improving schools capacity to meet standards for economically deprived and LEP students, as well as research-based approaches for educating such students, and innovative school-wide projects for schools in which half or more of the students are economically deprived. Requires that review of State regulations include teachers who are familiar with effective instructional approaches for economically deprived and LEP children. Title III: Bilingual Education - Revises ESEA title VII, which is the Bilingual Education Act, and extends the authorization of appropriations. Provides for revised programs to develop exemplary bilingual education and educational programs for language-minority and LEP students through: (1) bilingual education capacity and demonstration grants, including grants for program and development and implementation, program enhancement projects, whole-school programs, system-wide improvement, Puerto Rico programs, and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools programs; (2) research, development, and dissemination, including a national bilingual education network, education statistics coordination, grants for State programs, evaluation and assessment centers, multifunctional resource centers, national clearinghouse on bilingual education, and Blue Ribbon Bilingual Education Schools; and (3) bilingual education teacher training, including programs for training for all teachers, bilingual education teachers and personnel grants, bilingual education career ladder, and graduate fellowships in bilingual education. Provides that the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Affairs shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary (currently a Director). Directs the Secretary of Education to identify effective policies to strengthen the quality of education for all students, including language-minority and LEP students residing near the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and freely associated nations. Requires readers and scorers of applications for grants involving conservation of Indian languages and other indigenous languages subject to losses to include individuals with expertise in such programs. Allows Bilingual Education Act funds to be used to: (1) acquire or develop educational technology or instructional materials; and (2) conduct language and cultural institutes, with priority to applications that include secondary school personnel. Requires allocation of bilingual education funds in proportion to the geographical distribution of LEP children throughout the Nation.
Bill· SS. 1517 (103rd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Marine Biotechnology Investment Act of 1993 - Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a National Marine Biotechnology Strategy for the establishment and implementation of a comprehensive research and development effort to assist the Nation in understanding and using marine biotechnology. Requires the submission of the Strategy to the President and Congress within one year after the date of enactment of this Act and a revised Strategy at least once every three years thereafter. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to maintain, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a balanced program of marine biotechnology activities. Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act to establish a program to further research, development, education, and technology transfer in marine biotechnology. Provides for the establishment of a Marine Biotechnology Review Panel. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3210 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Education Goals Title II: National Education Reform, Leadership, Standards and Assessments Title III: State and Local Education Systemic Improvement Title IV: National Skill Standards Board Title V: Miscellaneous Title VI: Parental Information and Resource Centers Goals 2000: Educate America Act - Title I: National Education Goals - (Sec. 102) Sets forth national goals for education, to be achieved by the year 2000, in the following categories: (1) school readiness; (2) school completion; (3) student achievement and citizenship; (4) teacher education and professional development; (5) mathematics and science; (6) adult literacy and lifelong learning; and (7) safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools. Sets forth specific objectives for each goal. Title II: National Education Reform, Leadership, Standards, and Assessments - Part A: National Education Goals Panel - (Sec. 202) Establishes the National Education Goals Panel in the executive branch. (Sec. 203) Requires the Panel to issue an annual national report card on progress toward achieving the national education goals and on actions that Federal, State, and local governments should take to enhance such progress. (Sec. 207) Directs the Panel to support the work of its Resource and Technical Planning Groups to improve the methods of assessing the readiness of children for school that would lead to alternatives to currently used norm-referenced early childhood assessments. Part B: National Education Standards and Improvement Council - (Sec. 212) Establishes the National Education Standards and Improvement Council in the executive branch. (Sec. 213) Requires the Council to develop and certify (subject to Panel review and approval) voluntary national standards for content areas, student performance, and fair opportunity-to-learn. Authorizes the Council to certify any such standards presented by a State, if these are consistent with the national standards. Directs the Council to certify a system of assessments voluntarily presented by a State if such system meets certain criteria, including coverage of all students, especially those with disabilities or limited English proficiency. Prohibits such a system from being used to make decisions regarding graduation, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 218) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make a competitive grant to a consortium of various individuals and organizations to develop voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards. (Sec. 219) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to applicant States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to help defray costs of developing, field testing, and evaluating systems of assessments aligned to Council-certified State content standards. (Sec. 221) Directs the Secretary to make an annual grant to the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Academy of Sciences or the National Academy of Education to evaluate the work of and process used by the Panel and Council and provide them information. Part C: Authorization of Appropriations - (Sec. 221) Authorizes appropriations for the Panel, the Council, the opportunity-to-learn development grant, and the assessment development and evaluation grants. Title III: State and Local Education Systemic Improvement - Establishes a five-year grant program for State and local education systemic improvement. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 306) Sets forth requirements for State improvement plans, including strategies for: (1) improving teaching and learning (including standards for content, student performance, and opportunity-to-learn); (2) system governance and management; (3) parental and community support and involvement; (4) State system-wide improvement; and (5) promoting bottom-up reform. (Sec. 309) Requires State education agencies (SEAs) to make competitive subgrants for: (1) local reform, to LEAs; and (2) preservice teacher education and professional development activities, to consortia of LEAs, higher education institutions, private nonprofit organizations, or combinations of these, through a peer-review process. Requires that at least 50 percent of local reform subgrants be awarded to LEAs with a greater percentage or number of disadvantaged children than the statewide average. (Sec. 310) Provides for availability of systemic reform information and training to private elementary and secondary schools and teachers. (Sec. 311) Authorizes the Secretary to waive requirements and related regulations of specified Federal laws relating to education upon request of SEAs, LEAs, and schools if such requirements impede their ability to carry out the State or local education improvement plans, and if other conditions are met. (Sec. 313) Authorizes the Secretary to provide for national leadership activities, including technical assistance, data gathering, research, evaluation, and information dissemination. Reserves funds for grants to urban and rural LEAs with large numbers of concentrations of students economically disadvantaged or with limited English proficiency, to assist in school improvement plans development and implementation. (Sec. 314) Provides for assistance under this title for outlying areas, Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and Department of Defense schools. Title IV: National Skill Standards Board - (Sec. 402) Establishes a National Skill Standards Board. (Sec. 403) Directs the Board to identify broad clusters of major occupations (except certain industry occupations or trades with recognized labor-management-developed apprenticeship standards) that involve one or more industries in the United States and, with respect to each cluster, promote and assist in voluntary development and adoption by specified representative groups of industries, employees, and educational institutions of: (1) skill standards; (2) assessment and certification systems; (3) evaluation systems; (4) information dissemination systems; and (5) revision and updating of systems. Provides for Board endorsement of standards. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make grants and contracts to carry out purposes of this title. (Sec. 406) Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Miscellaneous - (Sec. 502) Prohibits the use of funds under titles II or III of this Act to undertake assessments that will be used to make decisions regarding the graduation, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years from the enactment of this Act. Title VI: Parental Information and Resource Centers - (Sec. 601) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make annual grants to private, nonprofit organizations to provide training and information to parents of children enrolled in participating schools and individuals who work with such parents to encourage a more effective working relationship with professionals in meeting the educational needs of such children. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary, after the establishment of a parent training and information center in each State, to provide for establishment of additional experimental centers. (Sec. 607) Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3220 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Health Professions Education Availability Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants under the program for health care for rural areas to health professions schools that emphasize training and encourage study in primary health care. Requires such schools to admit applicants who are not citizens or permanent residents only if no qualified citizens seek admission.
Bill· HRH.R. 3214 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Children's Education Opportunity Act - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to give States the option of linking a family's full receipt of AFDC benefits to the regular school attendance of its children through the establishment of learnfare programs.
Bill· SS. 1513 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 Title II: Amendments to the General Education Provisions Act Title III: Amendments to Other Acts Improving America's Schools Act of 1993 - Title I: Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and reauthorize ESEA. (Sec. 101) Establishes a title I program for Helping Children in Need Meet High Standards, which revises and reauthorizes some of the current title I chapter 1 programs of Financial Assistance to Meet the Special Educational Needs of Children. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) grants under the basic program; (2) Even Start; (3) education of migratory children; (4) education for neglected or delinquent youth; (5) capital expenses; (6) school improvement; and (7) Federal activities. Requires any State desiring to receive a grant (under the basic program for making high-poverty schools work) to submit State plans that are integrated with that State's plan under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act or with other State plans under this Act. Requires each State plan to describe high-quality standards for all children that will be used by the State, it local educational agencies (LEAs), and its schools to carry out this Act, including challenging content standards in the core academic subjects and challenging performance standards, as well as assessment provisions and other teaching and learning support provisions. Directs the Secretary of Education to establish a process for peer review and Secretarial approval. Requires LEAs receiving subgrants to have plans with standards and assessments provisions and other teaching and learning support provisions. Provides for State approval and shared program responsibility of schools and the LEA in deciding on schoolwide programs and targeted assistance schools. Allows an LEA to only use basic program funds in eligible school attendance areas in which the percentage of children from low-income families is at least as high as that in the LEA as a whole. Sets forth formulas for ranking eligible school attendance areas for purposes of such funding in various cases where there are insufficient funds. Sets forth criteria which a school must meet in order for the LEA to use basic program funds to upgrade the entire educational program at an eligible school (schoolwide programs). Provides that in participating schools that are ineligible for a schoolwide program or that choose not to operate a schoolwide program, an LEA may use basic program funds only for targeted assistance programs that provide services to eligible children identified as having the greatest need for special assistance (targeted assistance schools). Sets forth criteria for eligible children at such schools. Sets forth requirements for parental involvement and for participation of children enrolled in private schools. Provides for assessment and school and district improvement, including local review, designation of Distinguished Schools, school improvement identification, State review and LEA improvement, State establishment of a corps of Distinguished Educators, and State allocations for school improvement. Revises formulas for allocations of funds. Revises Even Start Family Literacy Programs to increase program services and high-poverty-area targeting and include teenage parents. Revises Education of Migratory Children to restrict eligibility to children who have moved within the previous two years. Revises Education of Neglected and Delinquent Youth to require a 20-hour instructional week. Eliminates title I provisions for the National Commission on Migrant Education, rural technical assistance centers, current chapter 2 State block grants under the partnership for educational improvement, national diffusion network, and law-related education. Eliminates under title I, but provides elsewhere for, evaluation and technical assistance and blue ribbon schools. Provides, later in this Act, for programs for handicapped children to be combined with programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Establishes a new ESEA title II, Improving Teaching and Learning, with a new part A, Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program, to support professional development of elementary and secondary school teachers in core academic subjects. (This replaces the current Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education Act programs.) Gives priority for professional development in mathematics and science. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a new title II part B, Support and Assistance for ESEA Programs. (This replaces the current Foreign Languages Assistance Act programs.) Includes under such technical assistance program comprehensive regional centers and technology-based technical assistance. Provides for information collection, evaluation, and transition. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a new ESEA title III, Expanding Opportunities for Learning. (The current title III, Magnet Schools Assistance, is transferred to a new title V, Promoting Equity.) Authorizes appropriations for the following title III parts: (A) Putting Technology to Work for All Students, including educational technology research, development, and demonstration, an Office of Educational Technology, a national long-range plan, and Federal leadership, as well as a revised Star Schools Program; (B) a revised and renamed Fund for the Improvement of Education (currently under title IV as the Secretary's Fund for Innovation in Education); (C) a revised Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Program (currently under title IV); (D) a new Charter Schools program to increase public school choice through grants for innovative programs and exemptions from regulations that limit school operational and management flexibility; (E) an expanded Arts in Education program; and (F) the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program. Establishes as ESEA title IV a Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program, which replaces and revises the current title V Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act program. (The current title IV Special Programs are replaced as follows: (1) Women's Educational Equity, Gifted and Talented Children, Immigrant Education, and the Secretary's Fund for Innovation are transferred to other titles; and (2) Ellender Fellowships and certain Territorial Assistance are eliminated.) The new program includes: (1) State Grants for Drug and Violence Prevention Programs at State and local levels, including coordinating councils; (2) Postsecondary Drug and Violence Prevention Programs, including higher education institution grants and a national center; and (3) national programs. Establishes as ESEA title V, Promoting Equity, which authorizes appropriations for parts: (A) a revised Magnet Schools Assistance program; (B) a new Equalization Assistance program which provides technical and other assistance, including research, regarding school finance equity; and (C) a revised Women's Educational Equity program. Establishes a new ESEA title VI, Indian Education, which adds revised Indian Education Act programs to ESEA. (Eliminates the current title VI provisions for Projects and Programs Designed to Address School Dropout Problems and to Strengthen Basic Education.) Authorizes appropriations for the following title VI programs: (1) formula grants to LEAs; (2) discretionary programs to improve achievement of Indian children, through grants to Indian-controlled schools and demonstration grants; (3) professional development and adult education programs; (4) national activities and grants to States; and (5) Federal administration through the Office of Indian Education and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. Revises ESEA title VII, Bilingual Education Programs, while transferring the Emergency Immigrant Education Program to title VII from title IV. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) financial assistance for bilingual education, including enhancement grants and comprehensive district grants; (2) research and evaluation, including academic excellence awards, State grants, and the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education; (3) professional development, including grants to higher education institutions, State educational agencies, and LEAs, and academic fellowships; and (4) the Emergency Immigrant Education Program. Establishes a new ESEA title VIII, Impact Aid. (The current impact aid laws are repealed later in this Act.) Revises the impact aid to LEAs by: (1) terminating payments for children whose parents either live on Federal land or work for the Federal Government; and (2) changing the payment formula for those children whose parents work for the Federal Government and live on Federal property, and those who live on Indian lands. Authorizes appropriations. Revises ESEA General Provisions, transferring them from title X to title IX. Provides for: (1) flexibility in the use of administrative and other funds, through consolidation of State administrative funds for elementary and secondary education programs and consolidation of funds for local administration; (2) coordination of programs, including consolidated State and local applications; (3) waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements; and (4) certain uniform provisions. Title II: Amendments to the General Education Provisions Act - Part A: Applicability of the General Education Provisions Act - Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to revise applicability and other aspects. Part B: The Department of Education - Revises GEPA with respect to functions of the Department of Education, including an Office of Private Education. Part C: Appropriations and Evaluations - Revises GEPA with respect to availability of appropriations, contingent extension of programs, and biennial evaluation report. Part D: Administration of Education Program - Revises GEPA with respect to joint funding of programs, information collection and dissemination, review of application, use of withheld funds, applications, regulations, reduction of record retention requirements, and equity for students, teachers, and other program beneficiaries. Part E: Advisory Committees - Repeals specified GEPA provisions relating to Advisory Councils. Part F: Enforcement - Repeal specified GEPA provisions relating to use of recovered funds. Part G: Related Amendments to Other Acts - Makes related amendments to the Department of Education Organization Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Part H: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and to HEA. Title III: Amendments to Other Acts - Part A: Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to revise provisions for allocations. Combines the current ESEA title I chapter I State agency program for the handicapped with the IDEA programs of grants to States and for infants and toddlers with disabilities. Part B: Amendments to the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to revise provisions with respect to grants for State literacy initiatives and grants for State and local activities for the education of homeless children and youth. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: Repeal of Impact Aid Statutes - Repeals certain Federal laws for impact aid. (Impact aid provisions are added to ESEA earlier in this Act.)
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 267 (103rd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1993
Elects Representative Michael N. Castle to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Bill· SS. 1512 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) designate not more than five facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs as locations for a center of mental illness research, education and training, and clinical activities; (2) subject to appropriations, establish and operate such centers; (3) designate one such center by January 1, 1994; and (4) ensure that such centers are located in various geographic regions. Requires the Under Secretary for Health of the Department to: (1) ensure that research conducted at such centers includes an appropriate emphasis on the psychosocial dimension of mental illness and on the means of furnishing care and treatment to veterans suffering from mental illness; and (2) disseminate information produced at such centers. Authorizes appropriations. Requires reports.
Law· SS. 1507 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Higher Education Technical Amendments Act of 1993 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make certain technical corrections and conforming amendments.
Bill· SS. 1511 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Elimination of "Good Time" for Violent and Repeat Offenders Title II: Boot Camps and Prisons Title III: Sentencing Reports Title IV: Victim's Right of Allocution Violent Crime Prevention Act of 1993 - Title I: Elimination of "Good Time" for Violent and Repeat Offenders - Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code to exclude Federal prisoners convicted of a crime of violence or of more than one felony from provisions regarding credit toward service of sentence for satisfactory behavior (good time); and (2) the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to require the elimination of certain formula grants to States failing to prohibit the crediting of the State equivalent of good time with respect to such prisoners and to reduce the amount allocated to States not requiring State officials to administer to a convicted defendant a test for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, disclose the results to the defendant and victim, and provide the victim with related counseling, testing, and referral. Title II: Boot Camps and Prisons - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish within the Bureau of Prisons ten military-style boot camp prisons, located on closed military installations, to provide a highly regimented schedule of strict discipline, physical training, work, drill, and ceremony characteristic of military basic training, and remedial education and treatment for substance abuse; and (2) acquire, convert, and operate as regional prisons at least ten former military facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Sentencing Reports - Directs the Attorney General to prepare and make available to the public an annual report on the sentences that were imposed by each Federal judge during the preceding year on defendants convicted of Federal felonies. Amends the Omnibus Act to require the elimination of formula grants to States not requiring that annual reports be submitted on the sentences imposed by each State judge on defendants convicted of State felonies. Title IV: Victim's Right of Allocution - Amends: (1) Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to require the Court, before sentencing a defendant for a crime of violence or sexual abuse, to address the victim personally and determine if the victim wishes to make a statement and present information in relation to the sentence; and (2) the Omnibus Act to require the elimination of formula grants to States not providing for a victim's right of allocution.
Bill· SS. 1505 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Natural Resource Employment Transition Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to require the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) include a detailed economic impact statement with each notice published in the Federal Register of a proposal to withdraw lands from the operation of public land laws; and (2) prepare a record of decision for each withdrawal decision. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to States, substate grantees, employers, employer associations, and labor organizations to: (1) provide training, adjustment assistance, and employment services to adversely affected workers because of such withdrawal; and (2) make needs-related payments to them to complete training or education programs in accordance with this Act. Specifies as entities eligible for designation as substate grantees: (1) private industry councils in a substate area designated by the Governor of the State involved; (2) service delivery area grant recipients or administrative entities; (3) private nonprofit organizations; (4) units of general local government in the substate area, or agencies thereof; (5) local offices of State agencies; and (6) other public agencies, such as community colleges and area vocational schools. Prohibits a grant from being awarded to an applicant without assurances that a portion of it will be used to provide training, adjustment assistance, employment services, and needs-related payments to adversely affected workers in rural areas. Sets forth provisions relating to priority and approval of applications for the grants. Authorizes the use of such grants for: (1) any purpose under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act; and (2) job search allowance for an adversely affected worker, under specified conditions. Requires a grantee of such award to provide employment counseling and referral to training programs, if needed, to an adversely affected worker who qualifies for unemployment benefits pursuant to this Act. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to assess and report to the Congress on the effects on Federal land management, natural resources, and employment that are attributable to compliance with such Act and any other Federal land management and resource policies. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3201 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Programs Title II: Training, Technical Assistance, Planning, and Evaluation Title III: Model Federal Government Child Development Programs Title IV: Research and Demonstrations Title V: General Provisions Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Act of 1993 - Establishes and expands comprehensive early childhood education programs and services. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations. Title I: Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Programs - Directs the Secretary of Education to provide financial assistance for early childhood education programs to prime sponsors and other public and private nonprofit agencies and organizations pursuant to approved plans and applications. (Sec. 102) Authorizes the Secretary to designate a State, locality, combination of localities, Indian tribe on a Federal or State reservation, or public or private nonprofit agency or organization as a prime sponsor if it meets certain requirements and has its plan approved. (Sec. 103) Requires each designated prime sponsor to establish and maintain an Early Childhood Education Council. (Sec. 104) Sets forth requirements for comprehensive early childhood education plans. (Sec. 106) Authorizes special grants to States for various purposes. (Sec. 108) Requires reports on possible use of public facilities for child development programs. (Sec. 109) Provides for Federal share payments for programs, services, and activities. Title II: Training, Technical Assistance, Planning, and Evaluation - Authorizes the Secretary to make payments for preservice and inservice training for programs under this Act for employees, potential employees, and volunteers. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary to make technical assistance available to prime sponsors and project applicants for planning, developing, and implementing programs under this Act. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to make an annual evaluation of Federal involvement in early childhood education activities. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary to: (1) appoint a Special Committee on Federal Standards for Early Childhood Education; and (2) promulgate Federal Standards for Early Childhood Education to be applicable to all programs assisted under this Act. (Sec. 205) Directs the Secretary to appoint a special committee to develop a uniform licensing code for early childhood education facilities. Title III: Model Federal Government Early Childhood Education Programs - Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance to establish and operate model early childhood education programs for the children of Federal civilian employees. (Sec. 302) Provides for Federal share payments. Title IV: Research and Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out a program of early childhood development research and demonstration projects; and (2) coordinate all early childhood education research, training, and development within the Federal Government and, as feasible, by other agencies, organizations, and individuals. Requires representatives of specified Federal agencies to meet at least annually to coordinate child development and early childhood education and related activities. Title V: General Provisions - Defines "children" as individuals who have not reached age eight. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary to establish procedures to assure that adequate nutrition services will be provided in programs under this Act. Requires such services to make use of the Special Food Services Program for children. (Sec. 503) Sets forth special administrative, including nondiscrimination, provisions. Provides for withholding of grants and for public information.
Bill· SS. 1497 (103rd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1993
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to carry out an educational satellite loan guarantee program. Guarantees any lender against loss of principal or interest on a loan which is to be used solely to acquire and operate a communications satellite system dedicated to transmitting instructional programming. Restricts such a loan to a non-Federal, nonprofit, public corporation: (1) whose sole purpose is to acquire and operate such a system; (2) whose governing board includes members representing elementary and secondary education, vocational and technical education, community and State colleges, and universities; (3) whose charter is designed for affiliation with State and local instructional institutions and agencies and other distance learning and instructional resource providers; and (4) which is in existence as of January 1, 1992. Requires such corporation, before such loan is guaranteed, to have: (1) investigated all practical means to acquire a communications satellite system; (2) reported its findings to the Secretary; and (3) recommended the most cost-effective, high-quality communications satellite system for the purposes of this Act. Sets forth limitations on the amount of guaranteed loans to acquire such system and to operate and manage it for up to three years. Requires the lender to assign rights and interests in such system to the United States upon payment of such loan guarantee. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3171 (103rd)open
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Farm and International Trade Services Title II: Rural Economic and Community Development Title III: Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Title IV: Natural Resources and Environment Title V: Marketing and Inspection Services Title VI: Research, Economics and Education Title VII: Ancillary Provisions Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1993 - Transfers to the Secretary of Agriculture all functions of the Department of Agriculture not already vested in the Secretary, with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to establish and utilize a National Appeals Division. Title I: Farm and International Trade Services - Establishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and International Trade Services. Abolishes the position of Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs. Authorizes the Secretary to establish: (1) the Farm Service Agency; and (2) the International Trade Service. Makes conforming amendments. Abolishes the Foreign Agricultural Service. Title II: Rural Economic and Community Development - Amends the Rural Development Policy Act of 1980 to establish the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Economic and Community Development. Abolishes the position of Under Secretary for Small Community and Rural Development. Establishes within the Department of Agriculture: (1) the Rural Utilities Services; (2) the Rural Community Development Service; and (3) the Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service. Abolishes the Rural Electrification Administration. Makes conforming amendments. Title III: Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services - Establishes within the Department of Agriculture: (1) the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; (2) the Food and Consumer Service; and (3) the Nutrition and Education Service. Title IV: Natural Resources and Environment - Authorizes the Secretary to establish the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Abolishes the Soil Conservation Service. Title V: Marketing and Inspection Services - Authorizes the Secretary to establish the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. Abolishes the Federal Grain Inspection Service. Title VI: Research, Economics and Education - Authorizes the Secretary to establish: (1) the Agricultural Research and Education Service; (2) the Agricultural Economic Service; and (3) the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Title VII: Ancillary Provisions - Establishes six Assistant Secretaries of Agriculture. Makes conforming amendments.