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351 records in US in 1997
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1997
Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of information and public education concerning the prevention and treatment of eating disorders. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1997
Hillory J. Farias Date Rape Prevention Drug Act - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) schedule Gamma y-hydroxybutyrate in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and Ketamine in schedule II of the Act; (2) establish programs and disseminate materials to provide high school and college students with education about the use of controlled substances in the furtherance of rape and sexual assault; and (3) assist law enforcement personnel in the prevention of abuse of controlled substances for such purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Presidential Honors Scholarship Act of 1997 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the award of Presidential Honors Scholarships to all students who graduate in the top five percent of their secondary school graduating class. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide assistance for emergency operating expenses incurred by a local educational agency (LEA) in educating students in elementary and secondary schools who have been displaced by a disaster when: (1) the LEA serves an area in which a major disaster has been declared by the President; (2) the State's Governor has certified the need for such assistance; (3) the LEA is or will utilize all State and other financial assistance available for such purpose; and (4) the LEA has made provisions for the conduct of educational programs in which children enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools may attend and participate, except that no payments shall be made for religious worship or instruction. Authorizes such assistance for a period beginning on the date that the disaster is declared by the President and ending 18 months thereafter. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the FEMA Director, pending such appropriations, to expend funds from amounts currently available to FEMA or the Director in order to provide immediate assistance. Requires a report to the Congress on any such immediate assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Go to College Tax Incentives Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit (based on adjusted gross income), of up to $1500, for the interest paid on any qualified education loan of a student (who is at least a half-time student) for qualified higher education expenses during the first 60 months interest payments are due. Sets forth rules, with respect to such credit, concerning, among other things: (1) dependents; (2) the taking of the credit and an educational expense deduction; (3) married couples; and (4) reporting. Establishes, as a general rule, that an education savings account is exempt from taxation. Defines such account as a trust created exclusively to pay qualified higher education expenses. Sets forth special rules concerning such accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Rural Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1997 - Authorizes the establishment of the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement as a private, nonprofit corporation for the purpose of assisting rural law enforcement agencies with management education and training, maintaining a clearinghouse, evaluation, technical assistance, research, computer and forensic education and training, and providing other support. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: America Reads Challenge Act Title II: Grants to States Title III: Local and Regional Grants to Support Effective Models and Exemplary Partnerships Title IV: Supportive Activities Title V: Miscellaneous America Reads Challenge Act of 1997 - Title I: America Reads Challenge - Makes appropriations to the Secretary of Education and provides for funds from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation for National and Community Service for joint financial support for effective local reading programs for preschool-aged children and children attending both public and private schools. Title II: Grants to States - Directs the Secretary and the CEO to use specified amounts of funds for grants to States for subgrants to local reading programs and local "Parents As First Teachers" programs. Title III: Local and Regional Grants to Support Effective Models and Exemplary Partnerships - Directs the Secretary and the CEO jointly to: (1) make competitive grants for various local, regional, and national activities that identify and promote effective and promising practices for helping all children read well and independently by the end of the third grade; and (2) ensure that at least ten percent of such funds are awarded to national or regional information networks or other programs to provide support, training, and educational materials to assist parents to help their children become successful readers by the end of the third grade. Title IV: Supportive Activities - Directs the Secretary and the CEO to use certain reserved funds: (1) for technical assistance, dissemination of materials and information about best practices, and other activities; and (2) to evaluation of programs under this Act. Title V: Miscellaneous - Authorizes the Secretary and the CEO to waive certain provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 under specified conditions. (Sec. 503) Prohibits use of funds under this Act for: (1) awards to a pervasively sectarian organization; or (2) support of religious worship, instruction, or proselytization.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Cost of Higher Education Review Act of 1997 - Establishes a National Commission on the Cost of Higher Education to study and make recommendations to the President and the Congress regarding: (1) the increase in tuition compared with other commodities and services; (2) innovative methods of reducing or stabilizing tuition; (3) the impact on tuition of specified trends in college and university costs, student financial aid, and government mandates and fiscal policies; (4) mechanisms for a more timely and widespread distribution of data on tuition trends and other costs of operating colleges and universities; and (5) the adequacy of existing Federal and State financial aid programs in meeting the costs of attending colleges and universities. (Sec. 6) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Public-Private Education Partnerships Title II: Hope Scholarship Credit Education Opportunities Tax Act of 1997 - Title I: Public-Private Education Partnerships - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited credit to a taxpayer who holds a qualified zone academy bond. Establishes a private business contribution requirement for such a bond. Requires such an academy to: (1) be located in an empowerment zone or enterprise community; or (2) have a reasonable expectation that at least 35 percent of its students will be from families with incomes that are 70 percent or less of the lower living standard. Sets a national zone academy bond limitation. Includes in gross income the amount of the credit allowed to the taxpayer. Title II: Hope Scholarship Credit - Allows, for up to the first four years of postsecondary education, a credit (based on modified adjusted gross income) of up to $1,500 annually for qualified higher education expenses in the case of a student who is at least a half-time student. Sets forth rules concerning, among other things: (1) the denial of the credit for students who are convicted of a drug offense or who fail to make satisfactory academic progress; (2) prohibiting the taking of both such credit and an educational expense deduction; (3) adjustments for certain scholarships; (4) married individuals; and (5) coordination with other student financial assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Urges the Department of Education, States, and local education agencies to work together to ensure that at least 90 percent of all funds appropriated for Department-administered elementary and secondary education programs is spent for children in their classrooms.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Department of Defense Supplementals Title II: Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies Title III: Other Supplementals Title IV: Department of Defense Offsets Title V: Other Offsets Title VI: Social Services Block Grant Amendment Title VII: Government Shutdown Prevention Act Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act of 1997 - Title I: Department of Defense Supplementals - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Defense (DOD)--Military, for: (1) Military Personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps,and Air Force; (2) operation and maintenance, Overseas Contingency Operations Transfer Fund; (3) OPLAN 34A-35 POW payments to individuals; and (4) the Reserve Mobilization Income Insurance Fund. (Sec. 101) Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, upon his determination that it is necessary in the national interest and with Office of Management and Budget approval, to transfer between such appropriations, but only for higher priority items, based on unforeseen military requirements, up to a specified amount of DOD working capital and other specified funds earmarked for: (1) U.S. participation in the Bosnia Stabilization Force (SFOR); and (2) enforcement of the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. (Sec. 102) Prohibits the use of DOD funds to transfer management, development, and acquisition authority over the National Missile Defense Program from the Military Services until the contract for a Lead System Integrator for it is awarded. Directs the Joint Requirements Oversight Council to: (1) submit recommendations to Congressional Defense Committees on the future roles of the Services with respect to the management, technical development, cost, schedule, and acquisition plan for the elements in such program; and (2) certify that such contract will conform to these recommendations. (Sec. 103) Makes additional appropriations for a grant to reimburse the American Red Cross for disaster relief and recovery expenditures. (Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary of the Navy to transfer specified funds to reimburse costs incurred for repairing damage caused by hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters during 1996 and 1997 to real property and facilities at Marine Corps facilities (including Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Cherry Point, North Carolina; and the Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, California). (Sec. 105) Makes additional appropriations to cover incremental operation and maintenance costs from hurricane damage to family housing units at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. (Sec. 106) Prohibits use of DOD funds for operations or activities of the Armed Forces relating to Bosnia, unless the President reports to the Congress, with specified details, on the cost and source of funds for military activities relating to Bosnia. (Sec. 107) Authorizes the incumbent to continue to serve as the Secretary of Defense designee on the Board of the Panama Canal Commission if he retires as an officer of the Department of Defense, until and unless the Secretary of Defense designates another person to serve in this position. Title II: Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies - Chapter 1: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of Agriculture for: (1) the Farm Service Agency's Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund Program Account for the additional cost of certain emergency insured loans (including loan modifications); (2) the Emergency Conservation Program for expenses, including carcass removal; (3) the Tree Assistance Program for assistance to small orchardists to replace, rehabilitate, or replant disaster-damaged trees and vineyards, including (through the Forestry Incentives Program) trees damaged by 1997 tornadoes; and (4) the Commodity Credit Corporation Fund, Disaster Reserve Assistance Program, to implement a livestock indemnity program. Makes such appropriations to: (1) the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations to repair damages to the waterways and watersheds; (2) the Rural Housing Service, Rural Housing Insurance Fund Program, for the cost of specified direct loans for emergency expenses, and Rural Housing Assistance Program, for very low-income housing repair grants and domestic farm labor grants; and (3) the Rural Utilities Service, Rural Utilities Assistance Program, for the cost of direct loans, loan guarantees, and grants. Chapter 2: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of Commerce for: (1) the Economic Development Administration, Economic Development Assistance Programs; and (2) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for construction. Chapter 3: Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of Defense--Civil, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers--Civil, for: (1) flood control, Mississippi River and tributaries, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; (2) general operations and maintenance; and (3) flood control and coastal emergencies. Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, for operation and maintenance. Chapter 4: Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of the Interior for: (1) the Bureau of Land Management; (2) the Fish and Wildlife Service; (3) National Park Service; (4) U.S. Geological Survey; and (5) the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Makes such appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to: (1) the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service for the National Forest System's emergency expenses;and (2) the Department of Health and Human Services' Indian Health Service. Chapter 5: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations for FY 1997 with respect to flood and other natural disaster costs to the Department of Transportation for: (1) the Federal Highway Administration, Federal-Aid Highways, Emergency Relief Program; and (2) the Federal Railroad Administration, Emergency Railroad Rehabilitation and Repair, to repair and rebuild freight rail lines of regional and short line railroads damaged as a result of the floods in the northern plains States in March and April of 1997. Makes such appropriations for a related agency, the National Transportation Safety Board, for emergency expenses resulting from the crashes of TWA Flight 800 and ValuJet 592, and for assistance to families of victims of aviation accidents. Chapter 6: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations to: (1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Planning and Development, community development block grants fund; and (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), for disaster relief. Requires the FEMA Director to submit to the Congress a legislative proposal to control disaster relief expenditures, including the elimination of funding for certain revenue producing facilities. Chapter 7: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies - Makes emergency appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Secretary, Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, to support research on environmental risk factors associated with breast cancer. Directs the Secretary of HHS to award such funds on a competitive basis. Title III: Other Supplementals - Chapter 1: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies - Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Agriculture for: (1) the Farm Service Agency's Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund Program Account for the additional cost of certain direct operating loans; and (2) the Food and Consumer Service's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Chapter 2: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of State for payment of United States arrearages owed to the United Nations, subject to express authorization enacted in a subsequent Act. Chapter 3: Subcommittee on the District of Columbia - Makes supplemental FY 1997 appropriations to the District of Columbia, (Federal Payment to the District of Columbia) for deposit into an escrow account of the D.C. Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority and disbursal pursuant to the instructions of, and in accordance with a plan approved by, such Authority. Requires the use of specified portions of such funds for: (1) emergency repair of D.C. public schools; and (2) pay raises within the Metropolitan Police Department. Chapter 4: Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies - Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, for repairs, facilities construction, visitor transportation, and related purposes at Yosemite National Park. Chapter 5: Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Congressional Operations, Senate - Makes supplemental appropriations for an additional amount for expenses of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, to carry out specified provisions of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997. Chapter 6: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies - Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Transportation for: (1) Coast Guard retired pay and for operating expenses directly related to support activities in the TWA Flight 800 crash investigation; (2) Federal Aviation Administration, to reimburse State and local agencies for unanticipated disaster costs associated with efforts directly related to the 1996 TWA Flight 800 and ValuJet Flight 592 tragedies; and (3) Federal Highway Administration, Federal-Aid Highways. Chapter 7: Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government - Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of the Treasury. Authorizes the Secretary of Treasury to use the law enforcement services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the State of Colorado and of the County and City of Denver for security arrangements for the Denver Summit of Eight. Makes supplemental appropriations to the U.S. Postal Service, for the Postal Service Fund, for revenue forgone on free and reduced rate mail for specified purposes. Chapter 8: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies - Makes supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Benefits Administration; and (2) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), for annual contributions for assisted housing and for capacity building for community development and affordable housing. Chapter 9: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies - Amends specified Federal law relating to appropriations to provide for additional amounts for: (1) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Health Resources and Services Administration's Health Education Assistance Loans Program, and the Administration for Children and Families' Social Services Block Grant program; and (2) the Department of Education, Education for the Disadvantaged programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Chapter 10: General Provisions - Earmarks a specified amount from the Counterterrorism Fund of the Department of Justice for allocation to the appropriate unit or units of government in Ogden, Utah, for necessary expenses to counter any potential terrorism threat related to the 2002 Winter Olympic games. (Sec. 303) Prohibits the use of any funds made available in any appropriations Act for FY 1997 to the Department of Commerce for preparing to use sampling in the 2000 decennial census. (Sec. 304) Provides that, for specified purposes, all patents in force on June 8, 1995, are entitled to the full benefit of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 as well as any extension granted before such date. (Sec. 305) Repeals specified provisions of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, which make certain additional Department of Defense appropriations earmarked for the Dual-Use Applications Program. (Sec. 306) Declares that the U.S. members and alternate members, appointed under the Susquehanna River Basin Compact and the Delaware River Basin Compact, shall be officers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who hold Presidential appointments as Regular Army officers with Senate confirmation, and serve without additional compensation. (Sec. 307) Amends the Delaware River Basin Compact to provide that certain members serve at the pleasure of the President. (Sec. 308) Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (part of the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996) with respect to a recreational fee demonstration program. (Sec. 309) Amends the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, to authorize the Indian Health Service (IHS), with respect to functions it transfers to tribes or tribal organizations, to provide goods and services to those entities, on a reimbursable basis, including payment in advance with subsequent adjustment. (Sec. 310) Prohibits the use of any funds for any Federal agency for FY 1997 and thereafter to promulgate or implement any rule, regulation, policy, statement, or directive issued after October 1, 1993, regarding the recognition, validity, or management of any right of way established pursuant specified Federal law relating to public lands. (Sec. 311) Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to exempt certain emergency flood control projects from specified consultation and conferencing requirements, and prohibitions against the taking of species. (Sec. 312) Extends through FY 1998 the availability, to recipients in Presidentially-declared disaster areas, of certain funds awarded for State-administered programs of the Department of Education for FY 1995 (and for FY 1996, with respect to such programs under the Rehabilitation Act). (Sec. 313) Authorizes the Secretary of Education, with respect to student aid awards for award year 1997-1998, to waive or modify any statutory or regulatory provision applicable to the student financial aid programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to assist individuals and other program participants who suffered financial harm from natural disasters. (Sec. 314) Prohibits the use of any funds to administer or implement in Denver, Colorado, a Medicare Competitive Pricing-Open Enrollment Demonstration program. (Sec. 315) Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriation Act, 1968 to make a specified limitation on the minimum rate of gross compensation inapplicable to any member or civilian employee of the Capitol Police whose compensation is disbursed by the Secretary of the Senate. (Sec. 316) Authorizes the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate, with the approval of the Committee on Rules and Administration, to provide additional facilities, services, equipment, and office space for use by a Senator in that Senator's State in connection with a Presidentially-declared disaster or emergency. (Sec. 319) Authorizes additional appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY 1997 for grants to States for alcohol-impaired driving countermeasures. (Sec. 320) Amends Federal transportation law to exempt from certain fees overflights operated by citizens of a country contiguous to the United States if: (1) both the origin and destination of such flights are within that country; and (2) that country exempts similar categories of flights operated by U.S. citizens. (Sec. 321) Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to obligate specified appropriations for construction of the Montgomery, Alabama, courthouse. (Sec. 322) Prohibits the use of funds to impose or collect any penalty imposed solely because of a failure to use the electronic fund transfer system by a person first required do so during the last six months of 1997. (Sec. 323) Amends the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 to repeal specified provisions relating to cooperative purchasing. (Sec. 324) Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to publish quarterly in the Federal Register a list of all contracts and task orders in excess of $250,000 entered into by HUD, the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. (Sec. 325) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to revise certain time periods relating to notice requirements for terminating section 8 housing contracts. Title IV: Department of Defense Offsets - Rescinds specified funds provided in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1997 for: (1) military personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force; (2) operation and maintenance for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Defense-wide; (3) environmental restoration by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-wide; (4) Former Soviet Union Threat Reduction; (5) various types of procurement, including aircraft missile, weapons, tracked combat vehicles, shipbuilding and conversion, and ammunition, by various branches of the armed forces; (6) National Guard and Reserve equipment; (7) armed forces research, development, test and evaluation; (8) the National Defense Sealift Fund; (9) chemical agents and munitions destruction; and (10) drug interdiction and counter-drug activities. (Sec. 401) Rescinds specified amounts of the funds appropriated in specified categories in: (1) the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1996, including the Base Realignment and Closure Account; and (2) the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1997. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the continuing obligation and expenditure of certain funds appropriated for Navy weapons procurement that were obligated and expended to settle claims on the MK-50 torpedo program. (Sec. 403) Prohibits the use of any Department of Defense funds to pay the cost of operating a National Missile Defense Joint Program Office which includes more than 55 military and civilian personnel located in the National Capital Region. (Sec. 404) Requires the merger of certain National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Air Force funds for obligation only on Titan IV vehicles and related activities. (Sec. 405) Rescinds a certain amount of funds appropriated for Military Construction in the Navy under specified Federal law. Title V: Other Offsets - Chapter 1: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Rescinds specified amounts of the available unobligated balances for the Department of Justice under the General Administration Working Capital Fund. Chapter 2: Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies - Rescinds specified funds made available to the Department of Energy for Clean Coal Technology and for Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Chapter 3: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related Agencies - Rescinds specified contract authorizations for the Department of Transportation for: (1) Federal Aviation Administration grants-in-aid for airports; (2) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration highway traffic safety grants; and (3) Federal Transit Administration discretionary grants for fixed guideway modernization and bus activities. Chapter 4: Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government - Rescinds specified amounts available to the General Services Administration for Presidential transition expenses. Chapter 5: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies - Rescinds specified amounts recaptured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from annual contributions for assisted housing. Directs the Secretary of HUD to recapture a specified section 8 reserve funds made available to housing agencies for tenant-based assistance. Rescinds a specified amount of negative credit subsidy from the sale of mortgage notes for the HUD Federal Housing Administration General and Special Risk Program Account. Rescinds certain funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and NASA. Chapter 6: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies - Prohibits the use of Department of Agriculture funds under the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to pay the personnel salaries and expenses above specified levels to carry out: (1) a combined program for export credit guarantees, supplier credit guarantees, and emerging democracies facilities guarantees; and (2) an export enhancement program. Chapter 7: Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development - Cancels, permanently, specified funds for the Department of Defense--Civil, Corps of Engineers--Civil, for general construction. Title VI: Social Services Block Grant Amendment - Amends title XX of the Social Security Act to establish a program of block grants to States for non-Medicaid assistance to noncitizens. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1997. Title VII: Government Shutdown Prevention Act - Government Shutdown Prevention Act - Provides for continuing appropriations for FY 1998 at 98 percent of the level of FY 1997 operations, in the absence of regular appropriations for FY 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: America Reads Challenge Act Title II: General Provisions Title I: America Reads Challenge Act - Part 1: Program Authorized - Makes appropriations to the Secretary of Education and provides for funds from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Corporation for National and Community Service for joint financial support for effective local reading programs for preschool-aged children and children attending both public and private schools. Part 2: Grants to States - Directs the Secretary and the CEO to use specified amounts of funds for grants to States for subgrants to local reading programs and local "Parents As First Teachers" programs. Part 3: Local and Regional Grants to Support Effective Models and Exemplary Partnerships - Directs the Secretary and the CEO jointly to: (1) make competitive grants for various local, regional, and national activities that identify and promote effective and promising practices for helping all children read well and independently by the end of the third grade; and (2) ensure that at least ten percent of such funds are awarded to national or regional information networks or other programs to provide support, training, and educational materials to assist parent to help their children become successful readers by the end of the third grade. Part 4: Supportive Activities - Directs the Secretary and the CEO to use certain reserved funds: (1) for technical assistance, dissemination of materials and information about best practices, and other activities; and (2) to evaluate programs under this Act. Title II: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary and the CEO to waive certain provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 under specified conditions. (Sec. 203) Prohibits use of funds under this Act for: (1) awards to a pervasively sectarian organization; or (2) support of religious worship, instruction, or proselytization.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth a special rule for the donation by a corporation, as a charitable deduction, of computer equipment and software, as well as related training, to elementary and secondary schools and to qualified organizations providing assistance to disabled individuals. Directs the Comptroller General to report concerning such deductions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that one of the main purposes of such enhanced charitable deduction is to encourage the donation of computer equipment and software to: (1) schools serving low income communities; (2) schools with budgets below applicable norms; and (3) schools with student test scores below the norm.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Division A: International Affairs Agency Consolidation, United Nations Reform, Foreign Assistance Reform, and Foreign Assistance Authorizations Title I: General Provisions Title II: Consolidation of Certain Foreign Assistance Agencies Chapter 1: General Provisions Chapter 2: United States International Development Cooperation Agency Title III: Foreign Assistance Reform Title IV: Defense and Security Assistance Chapter 1: Narcotics Control Assistance Chapter 2: Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs Chapter 3: Foreign Military Financing Program Chapter 4: International Military Education and Training Chapter 5: Transfer of Naval Vessels to Certain Foreign Countries Chapter 6: Other Provisions Title V: Economic Assistance Chapter 1: Economic Support Assistance Chapter 2: Development Assistance Chapter 3: Urban and Environmental Credit Program Chapter 4: The Peace Corps Chapter 5: International Disaster Assistance Chapter 6: Debt Relief Chapter 7: Other Assistance Provisions Title VI: Trade and Development Agency Title VII: Special Authorities and Other Provisions Chapter 1: Special Authorities Chapter 2: Repeals Division B: Foreign Relations Authorizations Act Title X (sic): General Provisions Title XI: Authorization of Appropriations for Department of State and Certain International Affairs Functions and Activities Title XII: Department of State Authorities and Activities Chapter 1: Authorities and Activities Chapter 2: Consular Authorities of the Department of State Chapter 3: Refugees and Migration Title XIII: Organization of the Department of State; Department of State Personnel; the Foreign Service Chapter 1: Organization of the Department of State Chapter 2: Personnel of the Department of State; the Foreign Service Title XIV: United States Public Diplomacy: Authorities and Activities for United States Informational, Educational, and Cultural Programs Title XV: International Organizations; United Nations and Related Agencies Chapter 1: General Provisions Chapter 2: United Nations and Related Agencies Title XVI: Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Title XVII: Foreign Policy Provisions Foreign Policy Reform Act - Division A: International Affairs Agency Consolidation, United Nations Reform, Foreign Assistance Reform, and Foreign Assistance Authorizations - Title I: General Provisions - Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 1997 - Declares that: (1) U.S. leadership overseas must be maintained to support America's vital national security, economic, and humanitarian overseas interests; and (2) with the end of the Cold War, foreign assistance programs must be reformed to take advantage of the opportunities for the United States in the 21st century. Title II: Consolidation of Certain Foreign Assistance Agencies - Chapter 1: General Provisions - International Affairs Agency Consolidation Act of 1997 - Chapter 2: United States International Development Cooperation Agency - Abolishes the United States International Development Cooperation Agency, and transfers all functions of the Director of such agency to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). (Sec. 221) Provides for: (1) the continuation of USAID as a Federal agency; and (2) the Administrator of USAID to be under the direction of the Secretary of State. Title III: Foreign Assistance Reform - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to revise requirements for the annual report to the Congress on foreign assistance programs. Replaces responsibility for such report from the Chairman of the Development Coordination Committee to the President. (Sec. 301) Directs the President, as part of the annual requests for foreign assistance program authorizations and appropriations, to submit to the Congress annual congressional presentation documents that provide, among other things, the amount, the rationale, and the direct U.S. national interest for the allocation of assistance provided under this Act and the Arms Export Control Act to each foreign country or international organization. Requires the President, as part of such documents, to estimate the year in which each country will no longer receive bilateral development assistance. (Sec. 302) Prohibits U.S. assistance to countries that consistently oppose the U.S. position in the UN General Assembly. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such prohibition if it is determined that the provision of assistance is necessary to promote U.S. foreign policy objectives. (Sec. 303) Urges the President for FY 1998 and 1999 to allocate foreign assistance funds to private and voluntary organizations and cooperatives in a manner that reflects the increase in the funding of such entities since FY 1995. (Sec. 304) Replaces the Private Sector Revolving Fund with a program of assistance (including loans, guarantees, and training) to increase the availability of credit to micro- and small enterprises. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 305) Authorizes the Administrator of USAID to provide grant assistance for programs of credit and other assistance for microenterprises in developing countries. Urges the Administrator to establish a monitoring system establishing performance goals for such assistance. (Sec. 306) Authorizes the President to provide funds and support to private sector Enterprise Funds for countries eligible to receive development assistance on the same basis as such funds and support are provided to Enterprise Funds for Poland and Hungary under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989. (Sec. 307) Authorizes the President to use certain Development Credit Authority to promote: (1) micro- and small enterprise development; and (2) certain urban and environmental activities. Authorizes appropriations. Requires, to the maximum extent practicable, the use of U.S. technology, firms, and equipment with respect to such activities. (Sec. 308) Withholds from obligation an amount equivalent to 110 percent of the total unpaid fully adjudicated parking fines owed to the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and New York City by the government of a foreign country in a fiscal year until the Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that such fines are fully paid. Title IV: Defense and Security Assistance - Chapter 1: Narcotics Control Assistance - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for U.S. antinarcotics assistance to foreign countries. Chapter 2: Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Programs - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to establish the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund to promote bilateral and multilateral nonproliferation and disarmament activities with specified goals. Prohibits the use of the Fund to implement U.S. obligations under bilateral or multilateral arms control treaties or nonproliferation accords. (Sec. 411) Earmarks specified amounts of U.S. military assistance funds for: (1) nonproliferation and disarmament activities; (2) demining activities; and (3) voluntary contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999. Chapter 3: Foreign Military Financing Program - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for grant assistance and direct loans for the procurement of defense articles and services by countries and international organizations friendly to the United States. (Sec. 422) Earmarks specified amounts of military assistance for FY 1998 and 1999 for: (1) Israel and Egypt; (2) assistance for the transition of countries to NATO membership; (3) direct loans for Greece and Turkey; and (4) administrative expenses. Chapter 4: International Military Education and Training - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for military education and training for civilian personnel in foreign countries. (Sec. 432) Makes Panama and Haiti eligible for assistance under the international military education and training (IMET) program. Chapter 5: Transfer of Naval Vessels to Certain Foreign Countries - Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to transfer certain naval class vessels to: (1) Brazil; (2) Chile; (3) Egypt; (4) Israel; (5) Malaysia; (6) Mexico; (7) Taiwan; and (8) Thailand. (Sec. 444) Directs the Secretary to encourage recipient countries to have such vessels repaired or refurbished at U.S. shipyards. Chapter 6: Other Provisions - Amends Federal law to authorize for FY 1998 and 1999 the transfer of excess defense articles to countries eligible to participate in the Partnership for Peace program and eligible for assistance under the SEED Act of 1989. (Sec. 452) Authorizes the President, in return for specified concessions, to transfer to the Republic of Korea certain obsolete or surplus defense articles in the war reserve allies stockpile. (Sec. 453) Limits to no more than $60 million for FY 1998 the value of additions to the stockpiles of defense articles in foreign countries. Sets forth limits on stockpiles in the Republic of Korea and Thailand. Title V: Economic Assistance - Chapter 1: Economic Support Assistance - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for economic support funds (ESF) assistance. (Sec. 502) Earmarks amounts for Israel, Egypt, the International Fund for Ireland, and assistance and training for civilian personnel of the Ministry of Defense of the Government of Nicaragua. Chapter 2: Development Assistance - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for specified development assistance, including: (1) the Development Fund for Africa; (2) assistance for the independent states of the former Soviet Union (independent states); (3) assistance for Eastern Europe; (4) the Inter-American Foundation; and (5) the African Development Foundation. (Sec. 512) Earmarks certain foreign assistance funds for specified child survival, health, basic education for children, and disease prevention programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999. (Sec. 513) Limits the amount of foreign assistance funds available to the Russian Federation unless the President determines and reports to the Congress that the Government of the Russian Federation has terminated assistance to the ballistic missile or nuclear programs of Iran and Cuba. (Sec. 521) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for operating expenses of USAID and its Office of the Inspector General. Chapter 3: Urban and Environmental Credit Program - Revises the authority for the urban and environmental credit program to repeal: (1) minimum annual program levels; (2) authority for agricultural and productive credit and self-help community development programs; and (3) certain requirements for guaranties for housing projects (including face amounts for Egypt and Israel). Chapter 4: The Peace Corps - Amends the Peace Corps Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for the Peace Corps. (Sec. 542) Earmarks certain foreign assistance funds for Peace Corps activities in the independent states of the former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Prohibits the use of funds to pay for abortions. Chapter 5: International Disaster Assistance - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to revise congressional policy to affirm U.S. willingness to provide international disaster assistance for the reconstruction of foreign countries. (Sec. 522) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for international disaster assistance. Chapter 6: Debt Relief - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to replace the Central America Democracy, Peace, and Development Initiative with a program of special debt relief for poor countries. Authorizes the President to reduce amounts owed to the U.S. Government as a result of loans or guarantees issued under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or credits or guarantees extended under the Arms Export Control Act. (Sec. 561) Makes eligible for such debt reduction countries with a heavy debt burden that: (1) are eligible to borrow from the International Development Association but not from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and (2) meet other specified conditions concerning military expenditures, terrorism, narcotics control, and human rights. Limits such authority only to implement multilateral official debt relief ad referendum agreements (the Paris Club Agreed Minutes), and only to the extent that appropriations for the modifications are made in advance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999. (Sec. 562) Authorizes the President, subject to certain conditions, to sell to an eligible purchaser concessional loans made before January 1, 1995, to the government of an eligible country or reduce or cancel such loans on receipt of payment from an eligible purchaser for purposes of facilitating debt-for-equity, debt-for-development, or debt-for-nature swaps or debt buybacks by eligible countries to support specified activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999. Chapter 7: Other Assistance Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that restrictions on assistance for a country shall not be construed to restrict support of programs of nongovernmental organizations. (Sec. 571) Repeals authority to waive the requirement that U.S. private and voluntary organizations to which assistance is made available obtain at least 20 percent of their total annual financial support for international activities from sources other than the U.S. Government. (Sec. 573) Prohibits the availability of foreign assistance funds to private and voluntary organizations which: (1) fail to provide documents to meet auditing requirements of the USAID; or (2) are not registered with such agency. Title VI: Trade and Development Agency - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for the Trade and Development Agency. Title VII: Special Authorities and Other Provisions - Chapter 1: Special Authorities - Increases from ten to 20 percent the amount authorized to be transferred between specified accounts under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act. (Sec. 702) Increases the amount of emergency assistance the President is authorized to use in any fiscal year for unanticipated contingencies. (Sec. 703) Authorizes the President to provide assistance, sales, or other action under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the Arms Export Control Act, or any annual (or periodic) foreign assistance authorization or appropriations legislation, notwithstanding laws restricting such assistance, if the Speaker of the House and a specified congressional committee are notified that to do so is vital to national interests. Increases annual ceilings with respect to such assistance. (Sec. 704) Authorizes the President, to make an equitable settlement of termination claims under extraordinary contractual relief standards, to adopt as a contract or other U.S. obligation and assume any liabilities under it, any contract with a U.S. or third-country contractor to carry out any program of foreign assistance that was subsequently terminated. (Sec. 705) Amends the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 to authorize the use of foreign assistance provided to independent nongovernmental human rights organizations and individuals in Cuba for local costs in delivering such assistance. Chapter 2: Repeals - Repeals specified foreign assistance laws. Division B: Foreign Relations Authorizations Act - Title X: (sic) General Provisions - Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 - Sets forth general provisions and definitions. Title XI: Authorization of Appropriations for Department of State and Certain International Affairs Functions and Activities - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of State for FY 1998 and 1999 for: (1) the administration of foreign affairs; (2) contributions to international organizations and international peacekeeping activities; (3) international conferences and contingencies; (4) offset of adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; (5) international commissions; (6) migration and refugee assistance; (7) the Asia Foundation; (8) international information activities and educational and cultural exchange programs; and (9) purposes of carrying out the Arms Control and Disarmament Act. Earmarks funds for specified organizations and activities. (Sec. 1102) Withholds certain amounts of funds from the United Nations Development Program unless the President certifies to appropriate congressional committees that the Program's activities in Burma: (1) are focused on eliminating human suffering and addressing the needs of the poor; (2) are undertaken only through international or private voluntary organizations that are independent of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); (3) provide no financial, political, or military support to SLORC; and (4) are supported by the leadership of the National League for Democracy and the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. Title XII: Department of State Authorities and Activities - Chapter 1: Authorities and Activities - Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide for rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of aiders or abettors of acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property or in certain narcotics-related offenses. Makes the resources of the rewards program available, at the Secretary's discretion, for the publication of rewards offered by foreign governments about acts of terrorism not involving the United States. Directs the President, in carrying out the rewards program, to take possession and exercise full control of up to two percent of earnings accruing on all assets of foreign governments blocked under the International Emergency Powers Act. (Sec. 1202) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit amounts contained in the Foreign Service national separation liability trust fund in interest-bearing accounts. (Sec. 1203) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 to make one of the purposes of the Capital Investment Fund the enhancement of information technology and other related capital investments for the Department of State. (Sec. 1204) Amends the International Center Act to authorize the deposit of amounts contained in the International Center Reserve Fund in interest-bearing accounts. Authorizes the Secretary to retain, and expend without further appropriation, the interest earned on such deposits. (Sec. 1205) Amends the Foreign Service Buildings Act, 1926 to authorize the deposit of proceeds from the sale of foreign properties into interest-bearing accounts. Authorizes the Secretary to retain, and expend without further appropriation, the interest earned on such deposits. (Sec. 1208) Amends the International Claims Settlement Act to grant jurisdiction to the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States to adjudicate claims included in a category of claims against a foreign government which is referred to it by the Secretary. (Sec. 1210) Establishes a special fee account for use in paying certain expenses of the Department of State and the Foreign Service. Earmarks funds for the provision, without charge, of passport information services to U.S. citizens. (Sec. 1211) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 to require deposit in a special fund of the Treasury of a certain amount of fees collected from processing machine readable visas. Makes funds available for certain costs of the Department's border security program. Repeals the prohibition against the charging of fees to citizens of countries that are signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 1212) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to change from $700,000 to all the amount of registration fees collected by the Office of Defense Trade Controls of the Department of State which shall be credited for each fiscal year to a Department of State account, without limitation. Adds to the permissible expenses payable from such account the enhancement of defense trade export compliance and enforcement activities to include compliance audits of U.S. and foreign parties, the conduct of administrative proceedings, end-use monitoring of direct commercial arms sales and transfers, and cooperation in criminal proceedings related to defense trade export controls. (Sec. 1213) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to authorize the Secretary to provide training through the Foreign Service Institute to U.S. company employees engaged in business abroad, and their families. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such training on a reimbursable basis to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the judiciary, and their employees. Authorizes the Secretary to charge a fee for use of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center Facility of the Department. (Sec. 1214) Declares that the United States, in cases where a covered beneficiary is provided health care by the Department and is enrolled in a covered health benefits plan of a third-party payer, shall have the right to collect from such third-party payer a reasonable charge for the care to the extent that the payment would be made under such plan for such care if a claim were submitted by or on behalf of the covered beneficiary. (Sec. 1215) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the Secretary to charge a fee for use of the Department's diplomatic reception rooms. (Sec. 1217) Bars the use of funds to further normalize diplomatic relations with Vietnam unless the President certifies to appropriate congressional committees that Vietnam: (1) accounts for American prisoners-of-war and missing in action from the Vietnam war; (2) has made substantial progress toward the release of all political and religious prisoners; and (3) is cooperating with U.S. requests to obtain access to persons of humanitarian interest there and in providing exit visas to such persons. Requires certification also that the U.S. Government is making vigorous efforts to interview and resettle former re-education camp victims, their immediate families, former U.S. Government employees, and certain other persons. (Sec. 1218) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 1999 the authorization for admission into the United States of a specified number of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania based on religious persecution owing to participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches. Makes September 30, 1999, the latest allowable entry date for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status. (Sec. 1219) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize a Federal agency to make grants to the Department, or otherwise reimburse or credit it with advance payment, for funds used in providing assistance to overseas educational facilities attended by children of agency employees. (Sec. 1220) Amends the International Child Abduction Remedies Act to authorize the U.S. Central Authority to make grants to, or enter into contracts or agreements with, any individual, corporation, or other Federal, State, or local agency, or U.S. private organization for the purpose of helping it remedy international child abductions (returning wrongfully removed children, as well as securing the exercise of visitation rights). Chapter 2: Consular Authorities of the Department of State - Makes 30 percent of the fees collected in FY 1998 and 1999 for expedited passport processing available only for enhancing passport services, investigating passport fraud, and deterring entry into the United States by terrorists and other criminals. Chapter 3: Refugees and Migration - Directs the Secretary to include in the monthly report to the Congress entitled "Update on Monitoring of Cuban Migrant Returnees" information on: (1) the methods employed by the Cuban Government to enforce the United States-Cuba Immigration Agreement of September 1994 to restrict the emigration of Cuban people to the United States; and (2) their treatment of persons who have returned to Cuba pursuant to the United States-Cuba Agreement of May 1995. (Sec. 1262) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the Secretary to waive certain congressional notification requirements with respect to the reprogramming of Department funds if failure to do so would pose a substantial risk to human health or welfare. Requires such notification to specified congressional committees, with an explanation of the emergency circumstances, not later than three days after taking the action to which notification is required. Title XIII: Organization of the Department of State; Department of State Personnel; the Foreign Service - Chapter 1: Organization of the Department of State - Establishes a Coordinator for Counterterrorism within the office of the Secretary. (Sec. 1302) Repeals the statutory establishment of: (1) an Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs; (2) a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Burdensharing; and (3) a Bureau and Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. (Sec. 1303) Establishes within the Department of State: (1) an Assistant Secretary for Human Resources; (2) an Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security; and (3) a U.S. Special Envoy for Tibet. (Sec. 1306) Declares that the Bureau of Migration and Refugee Assistance: (1) shall be the State Department bureau charged with principal responsibility for carrying out the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962; and (2) shall not be charged with responsibility for assisting the Secretary in matters relating to family planning or population policy. Chapter 2: Personnel of the Department of State; the Foreign Service - Establishes limits on the number of Foreign Service personnel in the Department of State, the United States Information Agency (USIA), and the Agency for International Development (AID) during FY 1998 and 1999. Allows a waiver of such limitations as necessary to carry out foreign affairs functions. (Sec. 1323) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to authorize the Secretary to separate from the Foreign Service without a hearing a member of the Service convicted of a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment of more than one year may be imposed. (Currently, a Foreign Service member can be separated without a hearing only if convicted of a crime related to the cause of separation). (Sec. 1325) Directs the Secretary report annually to the Congress on minorities and the Foreign Service officer corps. (Sec. 1326) Provides for certain retirement benefits under the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System and the Foreign Service Pension System for employees who are involuntarily separated from the Foreign Service. (Sec. 1327) Makes qualified criminal investigators within the Diplomatic Security Service eligible for availability pay. Title XIV: United States Public Diplomacy: Authorities and Activities for United States Informational, Educational, and Cultural Programs - Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 to decrease the fiscal year authorization of appropriations for the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between North and South. (Sec. 1405) Revises the Muskie Fellowship Program for graduate students from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to require selection of participants on the basis of academic and leadership potential in the additional fields of journalism and communications, education administration, public policy, and library and information science. (Sec. 1406) Establishes within USIA, in order to improve the coordination and effectiveness of U.S. Government sponsored international exchanges and training, a senior-level interagency Working Group on United States Government Sponsored International Exchanges and Training. (Sec. 1407) Requires the USIA Director to establish programs of educational and cultural exchange between the United States and the people of Tibet, including scholarships to Tibetan and Burmese students and professionals who are outside their countries. (Sec. 1408) Requires transfer from USAID to USIA of funds appropriated or allocated for the ATLAS and Mandela Fellows programs. Requires USIA to enter agreements with the J. William Fulbright Commission in South Africa to provide for oversight and management of such programs. (Sec. 1409) Urges the USIA and the Board of Broadcasting Governors to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on the appropriateness, feasibility, and projected costs of: (1) providing surrogate broadcasting service to Africa; and (2) a Radio Free Europe- Radio Liberty broadcasting service to Iran. (Sec. 1410) Authorizes the Director of USIA to administer summer travel-work programs without regard to preplacement requirements. (Sec. 1411) Amends the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 to make permanent certain administrative authorities regarding appropriations for the USIA. (Sec. 1412) Amends the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 to revise the authorities of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Sets forth the responsibilities of the Director of the Board. (Sec. 1413) Amends the Japan-United States Friendship Act to authorize the investment of amounts from the United States-Japan Trust Fund, as redesignated, in interest-bearing obligations of Japan, or in obligations guaranteed by Japan. Renames: (1) the Japan-United States Friendship Commission as the United States-Japan Commission; and (2) the Japan-United States Friendship Trust Fund as the United States-Japan Trust Fund. Title XV: International Organizations; United Nations and Related Agencies - Chapter 1: General Provisions - Sets forth provisions governing employment benefits due to Federal employees who are reemployed after having served in an international organization. Chapter 2: United Nations and Related Agencies - Authorizes the President to withhold 20 percent of the funds appropriated for the U.S. assessed contribution to the United Nations if the United Nations has failed to implement consensus-based decisionmaking procedures on budgetary matters which assure that sufficient attention is paid to the views of the United States and other member states who are major financial contributors. Title XVI: Arms Control and Disarmament Agency - Amends the Arms Control and Disarmament Act to repeal the mandate for the Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency to report annually to the Congress a comprehensive compilation of studies relating to arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues concluded during the previous calendar year. Title XVII: Foreign Policy Provisions - Bars the use of funds for the involuntary return by the United States of a person to a country in which the person has a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, except on grounds recognized as precluding protection as a refugee under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of refugees of July 28, 1951, and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees of January 31, 1967. (Sec. 1701) Bars the use of migration and refugee assistance funds for the involuntary return of a person to any country unless the Secretary first notifies the appropriate congressional committees. (Sec. 1702) Prohibits the United States from expelling, extraditing, or otherwise effecting the involuntary return of a person to a country in which there are reasonable grounds for believing the person would be in danger of subjection to torture. (Sec. 1703) Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees on specific actions taken by the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce in resolving certain commercial disputes between U.S. firms and the Saudi Arabia Government. (Sec. 1705) Prohibits the availability of appropriated funds to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unless the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that: (1) UNFPA has terminated all activities in China; or (2) during the 12 months preceding such certification, there have been no forced abortions associated with family planning policies in China. (Sec. 1706) Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to the Congress on: (1) the number of persons and aliens residing in the United States entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution, including each case involving such an alien whom appropriate law enforcement authorities reasonably believe to have committed a serious crime within the United States; and (2) the number of U.S. citizens residing in a receiving state who are entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution there, including each case in which the United States has been requested by the government of the state to waive immunity. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should explore, in appropriate fora, whether states should enter into agreements and adopt legislation to provide: (1) jurisdiction in the sending state to prosecute crimes committed in the receiving state by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and (2) that where there is probable cause to believe that an individual with such immunity committed a serious crime, the sending state will waive immunity or will prosecute the individual. (Sec. 1707) Declares the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should submit to the Congress a plan to consolidate some or all of the functions currently performed by the Department of State, the Agency for International Development, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, in order to increase efficiency and accountability in the conduct of the foreign policy of the United States. (Sec. 1708) Expresses the sense of the Congress that Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty should continue surrogate broadcasting beyond the year 2000 to countries (including Serbia, Belarus, Slovakia, and other countries) whose people do not yet fully enjoy freedom of expression. (Sec. 1709) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to withhold the U.S. share of assistance for IAEA projects in Cuba, except those for the discontinuation, dismantling, or safety inspection of nuclear facilities or related materials. Declares that such exception shall not apply to the Juragua Nuclear Power Plant near Cienfuegos, or the Pedro Pi Nuclear Research Center, unless Cuba: (1) ratifies the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons or the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (commonly known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco); and (2) incorporates internationally accepted nuclear safety standards. Directs the Secretary to instruct the U.S. representative to the IAEA to use the U.S. vote to oppose IAEA projects at: (1) the Juragua Nuclear Power Plant, Cuba; and (2) any other IAEA project there that is, or could become, a threat to the security of the United States. (Sec. 1710) Earmarks specified funds for construction of a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel. Bars use of funds for the publication of any official government document which lists countries and their capitals unless it identifies Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (Sec. 1711) Directs the Secretary to report semi-annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the compliance of its signatories with the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
HUD Reverse Mortgage Program Protection Act - Amends the National Housing Act with respect to the home equity conversion mortgage program for the elderly to: (1) make the program permanent; (2) remove the participant mortgage ceiling; (3) require adequate consumer education, and full disclosure to the mortgagor of all mortgage costs, including estate planning, financial advice, or other related costs; and (4) prohibit excessive referral fees.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1997
Grants the University of Alaska, and entitles it to take, up to 250,000 acres of Federal lands (or reserved interests in lands) in or adjacent to Alaska as a Federal grant in exchange for specified University holdings. Sets forth provisions governing the selection of lands by the University and the approval and conveyance of lands by the Secretary of the Interior. Provides for public notice and comment and for judicial review of agency decisions under this Act. Grants the University, and entitles it to take, up to an additional 250,000 acres in Federal lands (or reserved interests in lands) in or adjacent to Alaska on a matching acre-for-acre basis to the extent that the State of Alaska shall first grant State-owned land to the University. Permits the University to select, and requires the Secretary to convey, land pursuant to this State matching grant provision in 25,000-acre increments.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Directs the Department of Education to modify its public information Internet site to include direct links to free databases of information concerning scholarships, fellowships, and other student financial aid. Requires the Department to: (1) obtain prior verification from the Federal Trade Commission that such databases are not being used in furtherance of any fraudulent or deceptive practice; (2) display a disclaimer and warning with such links; and (3) provide additional direct links to information resources about fraudulent and deceptive practices in the provision of services related to student financial aid.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Public Schools Renewal and Improvement Act of 1997 - Establishes a procedure by which a local schools consortium shall request, through the State Governor, a declaration by the President that a public schools renewal effort is underway in its community. Requires such request to: (1) include the three-year plan for public schools renewal and improvement; (2) describe the nature and amount of State and local resources which have been or will be committed to such renewal and improvement; and (3) certify that State or local government obligations and expenditures will comply with all applicable matching requirements established pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the President to: (1) make such a requested declaration; and (2) authorize the Department of Education and other Federal agencies to provide assistance under this Act. Requires the consortium to make annual: (1) amendments to the request to include additional initiatives and approaches to improve academic effectiveness and school safety; and (2) progress reports to the Secretary of Education. (Sec. 5) Sets forth required elements of such public schools renewal and improvement plans, including specification of certain adverse conditions and certain assurances. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the President to provide for various forms of allowable Federal assistance under this Act. Directs the Secretary to distribute such funds and resources. (Sec. 7) Sets forth requirements for use of such assistance for various student-targeted resources, classroom-focused school development, accountability reforms, and other, similar types of public school reforms. (Sec. 8) Allows such assistance to be provided for each of FY 1998 through 2000. (Sec. 9) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on this Act's effectiveness. (Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth matching requirements for States or localities, which the President may waive upon the Secretary's recommendation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
College Access and Affordability Act of 1997 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to extend and set forth the maximum Federal Pell Grant award for academic year 1998-1999 and each of the four succeeding academic years. Establishes a maximum Pell grant amount of $3,300 for academic year 1998-1999 which is lower than the maximum $4,500 for 1997-1998; and provides for incremental increases until $4,500 is reached as the maximum for academic year 2002-2003. (Sec. 2) Specifies sums that shall be available to the Secretary of Education annually to provide funds for such grants. Authorizes the Secretary, in case of insufficient funds to pay all such grants as specified, to reduce them by either a fixed or variable percentage reduction or by a fixed dollar reduction. (Sec. 3) Provides for forgiveness of student loans for those who do specified types of teaching service for certain periods. (Sec. 4) Makes any institution exempt from the cohort default rate trigger also exempt from administrative action by the Secretary based solely on such institution's cohort default rate under provisions appearing in the Code of Federal Regulations. (Sec. 5) Adjusts specified student aid need analysis formulas. Revises the income protection allowance (IPA) for dependent students and for independent students without dependents (other than a spouse). Permits updating IPA calculations to reflect inflation. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to recall to the Treasury from the reserve funds held by guaranty agencies specified minimum amounts in FY 1998 through 2002. Requires each guaranty agency to transfer all non-recalled reserve funds to a restricted account and invest them in U.S. Government securities specified by the Secretary. Prohibits a guaranty agency (except for FY 1998 operational expenses) from using any restricted account funds without the express permission of the Secretary. (Sec. 7) Provides borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program with certain extended and graduated repayment options currently available to Direct Loan program borrowers, including the option to change repayment plans. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the repayment plans offered to FFEL borrowers are comparable to Direct Loan repayment plans. (Sec. 8) Reduces the applicable interest rate on all subsidized and unsubsidized FFEL and Direct Loans during in-school, grace, and deferment periods to the same rate as the borrowing rate of the Department of Education, but retains current cap levels on such interest rates. (Sec. 9) Reduces the lenders' insurance rate from 98 to 95 percent. (Sec. 10) Eliminates the one percent insurance premium charged to a FFEL borrower at the time of loan origination on or after July 1, 1998. Reduces FFEL origination fees on subsidized FFELs. Reduces the loan fees charged on various types of subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans over a specified phaseout period. Prohibits the Secretary from charging borrowers origination fees on any direct loan made after the calendar year 2001. (Sec. 11) Revises the role of the guaranty agency in the FFEL program. Makes the Secretary the sole guarantor of FFELs. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a guaranty agency to insure loans, with the guaranty agency acting as the Secretary's agent. Replaces outstanding loan insurance issued by the guaranty agency by loan insurance issued by the Secretary. Makes new guaranty agreements effective for five years, renewable by the Secretary for successive five-year periods, but terminable by the Secretary before expiration under certain circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary, after the initial agreement has ended, to enter into: (1) another agreement with that guaranty agency; (2) an alternate agreement with a different guaranty agency; or (3) one or more contracts under which contractors would carry out one or more of the functions formerly performed by the guaranty agency. Authorizes the Secretary to permit a guaranty agency to engage in other businesses, previously purchased or developed with reserve funds, that relate to the FFEL program. Provides that, under such agreements, guaranty agencies shall receive specified fees and revenues. Permits guaranty agencies to retain a share of their net revenues for activities in support of postsecondary education. Establishes fines for guaranty agencies that fail to achieve a specified level of performance on one or more performance standards. Grants an exemption to lenders with small FFEL portfolios, by requiring only eligible lenders that originate or hold more than $5 million in FFELs during an annual audit period to submit to compliance audit for that period. Requires an eligible lender to pay a guaranty agency, to which the lender referred a delinquent loan, a default prevention fee of up to $100 per borrower account if the agency succeeds in bringing such loan into current repayment status. (Sec. 12) Repeals the requirement that a State pay the Secretary an annual amount representing the State's share of risk for high default rates at institutions within the State. (Sec. 13) Revises certain requirements for FFEL consolidation loans. (Sec. 14) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into one or more contracts to carry out any of the functions that otherwise would be carried out by a guaranty agency. (Sec. 15) Revises the definition of an eligible lender to exclude lenders that do not offer uniform terms and conditions to all borrowers taking out the same type of FFEL loans. (Sec. 16) Requires computation of special allowance rates at the same time and in the same manner as student loan interest rates (annually rather than quarterly). (Sec. 17) Revises the formula for computation of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) offset fee on loans it holds. (Sec. 18) Limits the payment of the direct loan transition fee to: (1) institutions or consortia in their first year of participation in the direct loan program; and (2) an amount not more than an average of $10 per borrower at such institutions. (Sec. 19) Authorizes funds through FY 2002 for mandatory administrative expenses for the student financial aid programs, including the direct loan program. (Sec. 20) Extends the FFEL program and certain other HEA title IV student assistance programs through FY 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Zero to Three Resolution for Early Childhood Development - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that sufficient funding should be provided to meet the needs of infants and toddlers through: (1) the Healthy Start program under the Public Health Service Act; (2) the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; (3) Head Start programs and programs under the Head Start Act that provide services for families with infants and toddlers; (4) programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and (5) programs under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Declares that legislation should be enacted during the 105th Congress to expand health insurance to provide coverage for all uninsured children.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Makes amounts available for expenses, including expenses of staff salaries, of the following committees of the House of Representatives in the 105th Congress: (1) Agriculture; (2) Banking and Financial Services; (3) Budget; (4) Commerce; (5) Education and the Workforce; (6) House Oversight; (7) Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; (8) International Relations; (9) Judiciary; (10) National Security; (11) Resources; (12) Rules; (13) Science; (14) Small Business; (15) Standards of Official Conduct; (16) Transportation and Infrastructure; (17) Veterans' Affairs; and (18) Ways and Means. Sets forth first and second session limitations on such amounts. Grants the Committee on House Oversight the authority to make adjustments in such amounts if necessary to comply with a presidential sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) or to conform to any reduction in appropriations. Provides that any net increase in the aggregate amount of committees expenses for the 105th Congress over the aggregate amount of funds appropriated for such expenses for the 104th Congress shall be offset by reductions in expenses for other legislative branch activities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Primary Care Promotion Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to direct graduate medical education for residents enrolled in combined approved primary care medical residency training programs. Provides for full-time-equivalent resident reimbursement for an additional year beyond the minimum number of years of formal training required to satisfy the requirements for initial board eligibility in the longest of the individual programs. Declares that a resident enrolled in a combined medical residency training program that includes an obstetrics and gynecology program qualifies for the period of board eligibility under this Act if the other programs such resident combines with such obstetrics and gynecology program are for training a primary care resident.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to state as the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats. Adds a requirement that, in administering the System, the Secretary of the Interior shall ensure that the System's mission and policies are carried out, except that if a conflict exists between the purposes of a refuge and the System mission, it shall be resolved in a manner that first protects the purposes of the refuge. Recognizes and supports wildlife-dependent recreation (recreation which involves hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, or environmental education and interpretation) within the System. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative arrangements with State fish and wildlife agencies for the management of programs on a refuge. Prohibits the Secretary from initiating or permitting a new refuge use or expanding, renewing, or extending an existing use, unless the Secretary determines that such use is a compatible use which is not inconsistent with public safety. Establishes compatibility standards and procedures, including those for wildlife-dependent recreational uses. Requires the Secretary to issue final regulations establishing the process for determining a compatible use. States that the compatibility determination provisions of the Act shall not apply to overflights above a refuge or to activities authorized, funded, or conducted by a Federal agency having primary jurisdiction over a refuge. Directs the Secretary to propose comprehensive conservation plans for each refuge in the System except for lands in Alaska (which are governed by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act). Requires maximum 15-year cycles of plan revision. Sets forth matters to be considered in plan development, including fish and wildlife distribution and migration patterns, plant populations, archaeological and cultural values, habitat problems, and opportunities for compatible wildlife-dependent recreation. Authorizes the Secretary to temporarily suspend any refuge activity when necessary to protect the health and safety of the public or any fish or wildlife population.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
James P. Grant World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1997 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for the Child Survival Fund. Earmarks funds for activities that have a direct measurable impact on reducing rates of child death and disease. Directs the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to report to the Congress on the progress to significantly increase the level of funding to private and voluntary organizations conducting community-based child survival programs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authority should be granted to the President to exercise specified debt forgiveness authority for least developed countries that are pursuing economic policy reforms to promote long-term development. Earmarks development assistance funds for FY 1998 and 1999 for the Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for: (1) iodine and iron deficiency prevention programs; (2) prevention and control programs related to human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome in developing countries; and (3) population assistance programs. Earmarks development and economic assistance funds for FY 1998 and 1999 for programs in support of basic education. Expresses the sense of the Congress that specified amounts should be appropriated for FY 1998 and 1999 for migration and refugee assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for the prevention of the global spread of tuberculosis. 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.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act of 1997 - Revises provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) continue the Chesapeake Bay Program; and (2) maintain a Program Office to provide specified support to the Chesapeake Executive Council. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance and assistance grants to nonprofit private organizations and individuals, State and local governments, colleges and universities, and interstate agencies to carry out the Program. Provides the Federal and non-Federal share of various Program costs. Provides for Chesapeake Bay Agreement (an agreement among signatory members to restore and protect the Bay's ecosystem) implementation grants, with specified Federal and non-Federal shares. Requires any Federal agency that owns or operates a facility within the Bay watershed to participate in regional and subwatershed planning and restoration programs. Requires the Administrator to ensure that management plans are developed and that implementation is begun by signatories to the Agreement for the Bay tributaries to achieve specified water nutrient and quality goals and habitat restoration and protection. Authorizes the Administrator to offer technical assistance and assistance grants for a small watershed grants program within the Bay. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on Program goals, effects, and needs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 through 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical and financial assistance to: (1) identify, conserve, restore, and interpret natural, recreational, historical, and cultural resources within the Chesapeake Bay watershed; (2) identify and utilize such sources as Chesapeake Bay Gateways sites for enhancing public education of and access to the Bay; (3) link such Gateways sites with trails, roads, byways, and other connections; (4) develop and establish Chesapeake Bay Watertrails comprising water routes and connections to the Gateways sites and other land resources within the watershed; and (5) create a network of Gateways sites and Watertrails, including within such network State or Federal parks or refuges, historic seaports, and archaeological, cultural, historical, or recreational sites. Directs the Secretary to establish a Chesapeake Bay Gateways Grants Assistance Program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Division A: Employment, Training, and Literacy Programs Title I: Amendments to General Provisions and Program Requirements Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: State and Local Administrative Provisions Subtitle C: Program and Fiscal Provisions Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions Title II: Amendments to Employment and Training Programs for Disadvantaged Youth Title III: Amendments to Employment and Training Programs for Adults Title IV: Amendments to Federally Administered Programs Subtitle A: Employment and Training Programs for Native Americans and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Subtitle B: Job Corps Subtitle C: National Activities Subtitle D: Repealers Title V: Amendments to Adult Education Programs Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions Title VII: Amendments to State Human Resource Investment Council Title VIII: Amendments to Wagner-Peyser Act Title IX: Technical and Conforming Amendments Subtitle A: Amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act Subtitle B: Amendments to Other Acts Title X: Effective Date and Transition Provisions Division B: Vocational Rehabilitation Programs Title XXI: Amendments to General Provisions Title XXII: Amendments to Vocational Rehabilitation Services Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services Title XXIII: Amendments to Research and Training Title XXIV: Amendments to Training and Demonstration Projects Subtitle A: Training Programs and Community Rehabilitation Programs Subtitle B: Special Projects and Supplementary Services Title XXV: Amendments to National Council on Disability Title XXVI: Amendments to Rights and Advocacy Title XXVII: Amendments to Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities Title XXVIII: Amendments to Independent Living Services and Centers for Independent Living Title XXIX: Repeal of Special Demonstrations and Training Projects Title XXX: Effective Date Employment, Training, and Literacy Enhancement Act of 1997 - Division A: Employment, Training, and Literacy Programs - Title I: Amendments to General Provisions and Program Requirements - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to extend through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for various JTPA programs. Subtitle B: State and Local Administrative Provisions - Requires State Governors to establish a collaborative process, including representatives of the State legislature, State agencies, local governments, education and training experts, business leaders, and labor representatives, to develop: (1) a single State plan for the three new block grants under this Act and for Wagner-Peyser Act programs; (2) a performance measurement system for the three block grant programs; and (3) criteria for the statewide full-service employment and training delivery system, designation of local workforce development areas, and appointment of local workforce development boards. (Sec. 112) Requires establishment of local Workforce Development Boards (replacing the Private Industry Councils which currently run local programs). Requires such boards to: (1) provide policy guidance and oversight over local systems (rather than directly run programs); and (2) establish local full service employment and training delivery systems to be easily accessible, single points of entry into the employment and training system. Requires selection of service providers eligible to provide training services under the Adult Employment and Training Block Grant. Subtitle C: Program and Fiscal Provisions - Chapter 1: General Provisions - Revises JTPA general program requirements as well as requirements for trainee or employee benefits, labor standards, grievance procedures, identification of additional imposed requirements, authority of State legislatures, and interstate agreements. Chapter 2: Performance Accountability Provisions - Requires each State receiving JTPA funds to implement a statewide performance accountability system with negotiated benchmarks, including core indicators of performance, performance reports, incentive grants, and sanctions. Chapter 3: Other Provisions - Revises JTPA requirements relating to: (1) data for prompt allocation of funds; (2) fiscal controls and sanctions; (3) reports, recordkeeping, and investigations; (4) administrative adjudication; (5) nondiscrimination; and (6) administrative provisions. Repeals specified provisions relating to: (1) judicial review; (2) Presidential awards for outstanding private sector involvement in job training programs; and (3) construction of certain JTPA provisions. Establishes limits on certain administrative costs. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals specified JTPA provisions, including certain criminal provisions. Title II: Amendments to Employment and Training Programs for Disadvantaged Youth - Consolidates: (1) adult training programs with those for disadvantages workers under a new title III; and (2) summer youth employment and training programs with year-round youth training programs into a new title II disadvantaged youth employment and training opportunities block grants program. (Sec. 203) Revises requirements for the allotment of funds within States. Provides for allocation of funds to local areas under a State-determined formula developed through the collaborative process. Sets forth individual eligibility requirements. Gives service priority to individuals who, in addition to being economically disadvantaged, are determined to be hard to serve, including school dropouts. Requires the use of disadvantaged youth program funds for specified activities, including: (1) assessments and service strategies for participants; (2) integration of academic, occupational, and work-based learning; (3) comprehensive guidance and counseling; (4) postsecondary education and training opportunities, where appropriate; (5) involvement of employers and parents in program design and implementation; and (6) adult mentoring. Authorizes use of program funds for: (1) direct training services; (2) tutoring and study skills training; (3) instruction leading to completion of high school or the equivalent; (4) alternative high school services; (5) paid and unpaid work experience, including summer employment opportunities, which are directly linked to academic, occupational, and work-based learning; (6) mentoring; (7) training-related supportive services; (8) peer-centered activities encouraging responsibility and other positive social behaviors during non-school hours; and (9) other locally determined appropriate training and transition services that assist disadvantaged youth make the transition to employment. Title III: Amendments to Employment and Training Programs for Adults - Consolidates the current dislocated worker grant program and economically disadvantaged adult training program, as well as various other training programs for adults, into an adult employment and training opportunities block grant program for all adults. Provides for allocation of funds, under both the adult and dislocated worker funding streams, to local workforce development areas based upon State-determined formulas developed through the collaborative process. Makes such funds available to local workforce development areas for establishing full-service employment and training delivery, and for providing core, intensive, and training (as well as supportive) services for adults and for dislocated workers. (Sec. 301) Allows individuals to receive further training beyond core services if: (1) they are unable, through core services, to obtain initial employment, or employment that will lead to self-sufficiency; and (2) they have been determined, after an interview, evaluation, or assessment and counseling, to be in need of training services. Requires, under the adult funding stream, that priority for intensive and training services be given to welfare recipients and other economically disadvantaged individuals with multiple barriers to employment. Requires provision (except in certain circumstances) of training services for adults: (1) through service delivery methods that maximize consumer choice in the selection of eligible training service providers; and (2) through the use of skill grants distributed through the full-service employment and training delivery system. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to award national emergency grants to: (1) certain entities to provide employment and training to workers in areas affected by major economic dislocations; and (2) State Governors to provide disaster relief employment assistance to areas that have suffered specified emergencies and disasters. Authorizes the award of grants, also, to assist projects that provide training to upgrade the skill of employed workers who reside and are employed in enterprise zones or empowerment communities. Title IV: Amendments to Federally Administered Programs - Programs - Subtitle A: Employment and Training Programs for Native Americans and Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers - Revises JTPA employment and training programs for Native Americans. Requires eligible Indian tribal, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian entities to submit program plans to the Secretary for grant and contract assistance. Eliminates the Native American Employment and Training Council. Allows entities receiving such assistance to consolidate it with assistance received from related programs in accordance with the Indian Employment, Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992. (Sec. 402) Revises JTPA employment and training programs for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Requires eligible entities to submit program plans to the Secretary for grant and contract assistance. Directs the Secretary to consult with State Governors and local boards in making such grants and contracts. Subtitle B: Job Corps - Revises JTPA Job Corps provisions relating to: (1) individual eligibility; (2) screening and selection of applicants; (3) Job Corps centers; (4) standards of conduct; (5) counseling and job placement; and (6) experimental and developmental projects and coordination with other programs. Subtitle C: National Activities - Revises JTPA with respect to research, demonstration, evaluation, and capacity building, including: (1) national partnerships and special training; (2) technical assistance, dissemination, and replication activities; and (3) incentive grants. (Sec. 422) Repeals the mandate for a nontraditional employment demonstration program. Subtitle D: Repealers - Repeals JTPA provisions for: (1) the National Commission on Employment Policy; (2) training to fulfill affirmative action obligations; (3) the Youth Fair Chance Program; (4) the Microenterprise Grants Program; and (5) disaster relief employment assistance (while making provisions for such disaster assistance under title III). Title V: Amendments to Adult Education Programs - Consolidates various adult education and literacy programs into a block grant program. Requires program funds distributed through the States to local adult education providers to be used to provide adult education and family literacy services to qualifying adults. Establishes a framework to ensure that adult education programs are aligned with job training programs. (Sec. 501) Repeals authority for the current Jobs for Employable Dependent Individuals Incentive Bonus Program. (Sec. 502) Adult Education and Family Literacy Act - Establishes a new JTPA title V, Adult Education Programs, to be cited as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA), by transferring a renamed and revised Adult Education Act from the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1996. Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations under AEFLA. Revises provisions for grants to eligible agencies, including initial and additional allotments, fund uses, competitive grant requirements, and adult education and literacy activities. Directs eligible agencies to require local providers to use their competitive grant funds for one or more programs in one or more of these categories: (1) adult education and literacy services; (2) family literacy services; and (3) English literacy programs. Sets forth fiscal requirements and restrictions on uses of funds. Revises provisions for: (1) the National Institute for Literacy (NIL); (2) NIL's authority to make certain grants, contracts, agreements, and literacy leadership fellowships; (3) an NIL Advisory Board; and (4) NIL funding from the Secretaries of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program of national leadership activities to enhance the quality of adult education and family literacy programs nationwide. (Sec. 503) Repeals the National Literacy Act of 1991. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals JTPA provisions relating to specified amendments to: (1) the Wagner-Peyser Act; and (2) the Social Security Act, regarding certain required training and employment services and regarding an earnings disregard. Title VII: Amendments to State Human Resource Investment Council - Revises JTPA provisions for State Human Resource Investment Councils. Title VIII: Amendments to Wagner-Peyser Act - Amends the Wagner-Peyser Act with respect to: (1) functions of the Secretary of Labor; (2) designation of State agencies; (3) disposition of allotted funds; and (4) State plans. Repeals the mandate for a Federal advisory council. Requires the provision of all job search, placement, recruitment, labor market information, and other authorized labor exchange services as part of the full service employment and training delivery system established by the State. Title IX: Technical and Conforming Amendments - Subtitle A: Amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act - Renames JTPA as the Employment, Training, and Literacy Enhancement Act, and makes various technical and conforming amendments. Subtitle B: Amendments to Other Acts - Makes technical and conforming amendments to other specified Federal laws. Title X: Effective Date and Transition Provisions - Sets forth an effective date and transition provisions for Division A of this Act. Division B: Vocational Rehabilitation Programs - Title XXI: Amendments to General Provisions - Revises Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA) general provisions, including those relating to the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Title XXII: Amendments to Vocational Rehabilitation Services - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for grants to States for basic vocational rehabilitation services. Revises provisions relating to: (1) State plans; (2) individualized written rehabilitation programs; (3) scope of vocational rehabilitation services; (4) State Rehabilitation Advisory Councils; (5) evaluation standards and performance indicators; and (6) monitoring and review. Subtitle B: Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services - Extends through FY 2000 the reservation of funds from State allotments for American Indian vocational rehabilitation services. (Sec. 2213) Extends through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for the client assistance program. Title XXIII: Amendments to Research and Training - Extends through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council; and (2) specified research programs and centers. Repeals the mandate for a Deputy Director of the Institute, and the authority to appoint technical and professional employees. Title XXIV: Amendments to Training and Demonstration Projects - Subtitle A: Training Programs and Community Rehabilitation Programs - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for various training programs. Repeals the mandate for grants for career advancement and competency-based training. (Sec. 2232) Repeals specified RA provisions for: (1) certain grants and contracts for vocational rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities; (2) loan guarantees for community rehabilitation programs; (3) comprehensive rehabilitation centers; and (4) general grant and contract requirements. (Sec. 2233) Extends through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for Special Projects and Supplementary Services (sic). Subtitle B: Special Projects and Supplementary Service s - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) special demonstration programs; (2) migratory workers programs; and (3) special recreational programs. Repeals RA provisions for: (1) transitional planning services for youth with severe disabilities; and (2) educational and vocational rehabilitation projects for individuals who are low-functioning and deaf or hard-of-hearing. Title XXV: Amendments to National Council on Disability - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for the National Council on Disability. Title XXVI: Amendments to Rights and Advocacy - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations to support a system in each State to protect the legal and human rights of individuals with disabilities who: (1) need services beyond the scope of those under the client assistance program; and (2) are ineligible for protection and advocacy programs under specified Acts. Title XXVII: Amendments to Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) projects with industry; and (2) supported employment services for individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 2272) Repeals RA provisions for: (1) community service pilot programs for individuals with disabilities; and (2) business opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Title XXVIII: Amendments to Independent Living Services and Centers for Independent Living - Amends RA to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) independent living services, and centers for independent living, for individuals with disabilities; and (2) independent living services for older individuals who are blind. Title XXIX: Repeal of Special Demonstrations and Training Projects - Repeals RA provisions for special demonstrations and training projects. Title XXX: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date for Division B of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Establishment and Operation of the United States Health Service Part A: Initial Organization Part B: Organization of Area Health Boards Part C: General Provisions Regarding Health Boards Title II: Delivery of Health Care and Supplemental Services Part A: Patients' Rights in Health Care Delivery Part B: Eligibility for, Nature of, and Scope of Services Provided by the Service Part C: Health Care Facilities and Delivery of Health Care Services Title III: Health Labor Force Part A: Job Categories and Certification Part B: Education of Health Workers Part C: Employment and Labor-Management Relations Within the Service Title IV: Other Functions of Health Boards Part A: Advocacy, Grievance Procedures, and Trusteeships Part B: Occupational Safety and Health Programs Part C: Health and Health Care Delivery Research Part D: Health Planning, Distribution of Drugs and Other Medical Supplies, and Miscellaneous Functions Title V: Financing of the Service Part A: Health Service Taxes Part B: Health Service Trust Fund Part C: Preparation of Plans and Budgets Part D: Allocation and Distribution of Funds Part E: General Provisions Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions Josephine Butler United States Health Service Act - Title I: Establishment and Operation of the United States Health Service - Part A: Initial Organization - Establishes the United States Health Service as an independent executive branch entity. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Organization of Area Health Boards - Sets forth procedures regarding election and appointment of interim national, interim regional, interim district, and initial and subsequent national, regional, district, and community health boards. Part C: General Provisions Regarding Health Boards - Sets forth the membership and terms of office of health boards. Title II: Delivery of Health Care and Supplemental Services - Part A: Patients' Rights in Health Care Delivery - Affords every user the right to receive high quality care and supplemental services without charge and without discrimination. Sets forth a list of other basic health rights. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1973 to entitle certain employees to health leave compensation. Part B: Eligibility for, Nature of, and Scope of Services Provided by the Service - Declares all individuals in the United States eligible to receive health care and supplemental services under this Act. Requires the Service to provide specified services. Provides for Service reimbursement of emergency health services costs. Part C: Health Care Facilities and Delivery of Health Care Services - Requires each community board to maintain health care facilities as necessary for the delivery of primary, specialized, and community-oriented services. Requires each district board to maintain a general hospital, other health care facilities, and specialized health care services. Requires each regional board to maintain: (1) a regional medical facility for highly specialized care; and (2) services that cannot be provided by community or district boards. Requires each area health board to hire health workers, purchase or lease necessary premises, and minimize care delivery fragmentation and duplication. Prohibits a health board from permitting its facilities to be used for private service delivery. Prohibits health board employees from engaging in private service delivery. Requires regular facilities inspections. Requires area health boards to provide specified services, including abortion services. Title III: Health Labor Force - Part A: Job Categories and Certification - Declares that, notwithstanding State laws to the contrary, the Service shall be the sole judge of the qualifications of its employees. Requires the National Board to establish guidelines for the classification, certification, and employment of health workers. Requires that the guidelines permit alternative approaches to healing. Requires that each regional board establish advanced specialty training certification standards. Part B: Education of Health Workers - Requires each regional board to establish a health team school to provide initial and continuing basic care delivery education and initial and continuing advanced specialty education. Requires that the schools be funded exclusively by the Service, prohibits them from charging or accepting tuition or fees, and requires them to provide each student with an allowance for living expenses, educational supplies, and any child care. Requires that enrollees agree to perform health care services as Service employees. Requires the National Board to make educational loan payments. Part C: Employment and Labor-Management Relations Within the Service - Requires the National Board to ensure that all individuals employed as health workers before enactment of this Act and desiring employment in the Service find appropriate employment in the Service. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to include the Service in the term "employer." Makes the remedies provided by stated Federal laws regarding jurisdiction and tort claims exclusive of any other civil action or proceeding. Title IV: Other Functions of Health Boards - Part A: Advocacy, Grievance Procedures, and Trusteeships - Requires each area health board to establish a health advocacy program. Requires the National Board to establish a health rights legal services program for users and health workers. Part B: Occupational Safety and Health Programs - Requires the National Board to oversee regional occupational safety and health programs and to participate in the establishment and administration of standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Amends that Act to substitute references to the National Health Board for references to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires each: (1) community board to provide for the operation of a community occupational safety and health action council; (2) regional board to establish a regional occupational health and safety program; and (3) employer to maintain a health facility in or near the work place to meet occupational and emergency health care needs of employees, with the cost borne by the employer. Grants employees the right to establish work place occupational safety and health committees. Authorizes employees to monitor conditions and remove themselves from the site of any hazard without loss of pay or other job rights. Part C: Health and Health Care Delivery Research - Requires the Service to conduct a program of health and health care delivery research. Transfers the National Institutes of Health from the Department of Health and Human Services to the National Health Board. Requires the National Board to establish five new national institutes: Epidemiology, Evaluative Clinical Research, Health Care Services, Pharmacy and Medical Supply, and Sociology of Health and Health Care. Part D: Health Planning, Distribution of Drugs and Other Medical Supplies, and Miscellaneous Functions - Requires: (1) each area board to collect data on supply and demand regarding health workers and care delivery; (2) publication of a National Pharmacy and Medical Supply Formulary; and (3) each regional board to establish a program for the purchase and distribution of drugs and other medical supplies. Authorizes the National Board to operate drug and medical supply manufacturing facilities. Title V: Financing of the Service - Part A: Health Service Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on individuals and corporations an additional tax of specified percentages of the normal tax and imposed by a specified section of the code. Ends the exclusion from gross income of amounts paid by third parties for medical care. Excludes from gross income employer contributions to accident or health plans to the extent that such contributions do not provide for health care available to such employees under the Health Service Act. Prohibits income tax deductions for: (1) health care expenses as a trade or business expense; and (2) contributions to certain medical and hospital facilities. Repeals Internal Revenue Code provisions regarding medical and dental expenses, hospital insurance tax imposed on employment and self-employment income, and receipts for railroad employees. Declares that no contractual or other nonstatutory obligation of any employer to pay or provide for health care for present or former employees and their dependents and survivors shall apply on or after the effective date of health services under this Act to the extent such individuals are eligible to receive such services under this Act. Prohibits Federal, State, or private workers' compensation programs from paying for or providing any health care on or after the effective date of health services under this Act to the extent such care is available under this Act. Part B: Health Service Trust Fund - Creates the Health Service Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund amounts equal to 100 percent of the expected net receipts from specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Appropriates to the Fund a Government contribution equal to 40 percent of the amount appropriated under the 100 percent provision. Transfers to the Fund all assets and liabilities of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Part C: Preparation of Plans and Budgets - Requires the National Board to annually fix the maximum amount of funds which may be expended from the Fund during the fiscal year. Part D: Allocation and Distribution of Funds - Requires the National Board to annually transmit a national budget to regional boards. Declares the budget adopted on approval by a majority of the regional boards. Sets forth similar requirements for preparation and adoption of regional and district budgets. Requires funds allocated under the national health budget to be distributed by the National Board from the Trust Fund. Prohibits health boards from requesting or receiving funds from any other source. Part E: General Provisions - Authorizes the National Board to borrow money, issue and sell obligations, and pledge Fund assets. Empowers the National Board to require the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase the Service's obligations, to a specified maximum. Makes obligations issued by the Service obligations of the U.S. Government under certain circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, for the purchase of Service obligations, to use as a public debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals, on the effective date of health services, the Public Health Service Act, except for provisions regarding: (1) its short title and definitions; (2) licensing, quarantine, and inspections authority; and (3) safety of public water systems. Delays, until four years after the effective date of health services, repeal of portions of the Public Health Service Act regarding provision of assistance to educational institutions and their students in areas that have not established health team schools. Repeals provisions of the Social Security Act relating to maternal and child health, Medicare, Medicaid, professional standards review, entitlement to hospital insurance benefits, uniform health reporting systems, limitation on Federal participation for capital expenditures, the program for determining qualification for certain health care personnel, disclosure of ownership and related information, disclosure of certain convictions, and payments to States for health care and supplemental services. Repeals provisions of Federal law regarding health insurance for Federal employees, medical benefits and programs regarding veterans, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). Repeals the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970, the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1974, and a provision of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 relating to medical treatment of narcotic addiction. Repeals Federal law regarding hospitals, community hospitals, and other health facilities for Indians. Repeals the District of Columbia Medical Facilities Construction Act of 1968 and the District of Columbia Medical and Dental Manpower Act of 1970. Repeals provisions of the National Housing Act regarding mortgage insurance for nursing homes, hospitals, and group practice facilities. Repeals the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963, the Family Planning Services and Population Research Act of 1970, the National Arthritis Act of 1974, and the National Diabetes Mellitus Research and Education Act. Repeals provisions of the Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act regarding grant, demonstration, and research programs for lead-based paint poisoning prevention. Repeals the Act of March 2, 1897, relating to tea importation. (This Act was repealed by Public Law 104-128.) Repeals provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 regarding the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Requires the President to prepare and submit to the Congress legislation to repeal or amend provisions of laws that are inconsistent with this Act. Transfers to the Health Service Trust Fund amounts appropriated to carry out the purposes of any law repealed by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified State tuition programs to, among other things: (1) provide for the exclusion from gross income of distributions used for qualified higher education expenses; (2) include room and board in the definition of qualified higher education expenses; and (3) permit income from redeemed U.S. savings bonds to be used to contribute, without including such income in gross income (subject to income limitations), to a qualified State tuition program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified State tuition programs to, among other things: (1) provide for the exclusion from gross income of distributions used for qualified higher education expenses; (2) include room and board in the definition of qualified higher education expenses; and (3) permit income from redeemed U.S. savings bonds to be used to contribute, without including such income in gross income (subject to income limitations), to a qualified State tuition program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified State tuition programs to, among other things: (1) provide for the exclusion from gross income of distributions used for qualified higher education expenses; (2) include room and board in the definition of qualified higher education expenses; and (3) permit income from redeemed U.S. savings bonds to be used to contribute, without including such income in gross income (subject to income limitations), to a qualified State tuition program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1997
Children's Environmental Protection Act - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to state U.S. policy regarding the adequacy of protection of vulnerable subpopulations from exposure to environmental pollutants. Defines "vulnerable subpopulations" to mean children, pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with a history of serious illness, and other subpopulations identified by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as likely to experience elevated health risks from environmental pollutants. Directs the Administrator to: (1) consistently and explicitly evaluate environmental health risks to vulnerable subpopulations in all risk assessments and characterizations, environmental or public health standards, or general regulatory decisions; (2) ensure that all EPA standards protect such subpopulations with an adequate margin of safety; (3) develop and use a separate assessment with respect to such subpopulations; and (4) issue revised standards, after reevaluation, that meet the criteria of this Act. Requires a report to the Congress. Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify pollutants commonly used or found in areas reasonably accessible to children (defined as homes, schools, day care centers, shopping malls, movie theaters, and parks); (2) create and review at least annually a list of such substances that are known, likely, or suspected to pose health risks to children and a list of safer-for-children substances and products for use in such areas; (3) establish guidelines to reduce and eliminate exposure to pollutants in such areas, including advice on integrated pest management; (4) create a family right-to-know information kit; (5) make all information described above publicly available; and (6) prohibit the use of any product not on the safer-for-children list in Federal properties and areas. Directs the Administrator and the Secretaries of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services to: (1) coordinate and support the development and implementation of research initiatives to examine the health effects and toxicity of pesticides and other pollutants on vulnerable subpopulations; and (2) report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified State tuition programs to, among other things: (1) provide for the exclusion from gross income of distributions used for qualified higher education expenses; (2) include room and board in the definition of qualified higher education expenses; and (3) permit income from redeemed U.S. savings bonds to be used to contribute, without including such income in gross income (subject to income limitations), to a qualified State tuition program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Loan Interest Forgiveness for Education Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited deduction (based on modified adjusted gross income) on an amount equal to the interest paid by a taxpayer on any qualified educational loan.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Directs the Secretary of Education to deem timely any State's submission on March 10 or March 12, 1997, of certain written notices of intent to consider specified payments under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in providing State aid to local educational agencies for school year 1997-1998. Authorizes the Secretary to require such a State to submit appropriate additional information, which shall be considered part of such notice.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Calls for the Republican majority to take up without delay a budget resolution that balances the budget by 2002, targets its tax relief on working and middle class families to the same degree as the President's budget proposal, and protects important domestic priorities such as Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the environment.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Requires the Secretary of Defense, before commencing any study or entering into any arrangement with respect to the provision at a military installation of elementary or secondary education for dependents of military personnel and civilian employees of the Department of Defense, to notify the appropriate congressional representatives, local education agency, and education department of the State, territory, or possession in which the military installation is located of the reasons why the Secretary considers such study or arrangement to be necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Amends the Adult Education Act to authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to States to provide support services to participants in adult education programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reorganization Compacts Title II: Amendment to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act Title III: Reform of the Regulations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Indian Affairs Reorganization Act of 1997 - Title I: Reorganization Compacts - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to enter into compacts with the appropriate Indian tribes to reorganize the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) at the area, agency, and central office levels. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Amendment to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act - Amends the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to: (1) direct the Secretary to establish a program of tribal participation in BIA budget requests; and (2) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a similar program for the Indian Health Service. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Reform of the Regulations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs - Directs the Secretary to: (1) in consultation with Indian tribes, review the BIA manual, promulgate as proposed regulations those provisions appropriate under the new compacts, and revoke all other provisions of the manual; and (2) establish a related regulatory task force which shall include tribal representatives from each of the 12 BIA areas. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Provisions Title II: Student Financial Aid Provisions Hope and Opportunity for Postsecondary Education Act of 1997 - Title I: Tax Provisions - Higher Education Tax Incentive Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a tax credit of up to $1,500 for qualified higher education expenses. Allows the credit: (1) for only the first two years of postsecondary education; and (2) only if an individual is an eligible student for at least one academic period during the year. Reduces such credit: (1) by the amount of any non-taxable Federal scholarship or grant assistance received; and (2) if adjusted gross income exceeds specified levels. Sets forth other rules concerning the credit, including denying the credit to an individual: (1) convicted of a drug offense; and (2) failing to maintain grade point average requirements. Prohibits the credit after December 31, 2000. (Sec. 103) Permits a limited deduction for qualified higher education expenses based on modified adjusted gross income for qualified higher education expenses. Prohibits taking both such deduction and the above credit. Prohibits the deduction after December 31, 2000. (Sec. 104) Revises provisions concerning the cancellation of certain student loans. (Sec. 105) Terminates, after December 31, 2000, the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance. (Sec. 106) Includes in the general business credit, until December 31, 2000, a small business educational assistance credit equal to ten percent of qualified educational assistance expenses. Prohibits a deduction for that portion of such expenses otherwise allowable as a deduction which is equal to such credit. Permits election of a reduced credit. Title II: Student Financial Aid Provisions - Student Financial Aid Improvements Act of 1997 - Part A: Pell Grants -Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to increase the maximum Pell grant award from $2,700 to $3,000, subject to specified award rules. Part B: Student Loan Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Education to recall from the reserve funds held by guaranty agencies specified minimum amounts in FY 1998 through 2002. Requires such recalled amounts to be: (1) in proportion to each guaranty agency's share of the total reserve funds held by guaranty agencies as of September 30, 1996; and (2) deposited in the Treasury. Requires each guaranty agency to transfer all reserve funds that it holds to a restricted account and invest those funds in U.S. Government securities specified by the Secretary. Prohibits a guaranty agency from using any restricted account funds for any purpose without the express permission of the Secretary, with specified exceptions for limited amounts of working capital to use for certain operational expenses. Provides that non-liquid reserve fund assets, as well as any liquid assets remaining in a guaranty agency's restricted account after the recalls, remain U.S. property, may only be used for purposes that the Secretary determines are appropriate, and are be subject to recall by the Secretary. (Sec. 222) Provides borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program with certain extended and graduated repayment options currently available to Direct Loan program borrowers, including the option to change repayment plans. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the repayment plans offered to FFEL borrowers are comparable to Direct Loan repayment plans. (Sec. 223) Reduces the applicable interest rate on all subsidized and unsubsidized FFEL and Direct Loans during in-school, grace, and deferment periods to the same rate as the borrowing rate of the Department of Education, but retains current cap levels on such interest rates. Specifies that the interest rate used to determine the rebate of excess interest under specified HEA is not to be used to change special allowance payments for the period affected by the rebate. (Sec. 224) Revises specified HEA provisions to reduce the lenders' insurance rate from 98 to 95 percent. (Sec. 225) Eliminates the one percent insurance premium charged to a FFEL borrower at the time of loan origination. Reduces FFEL origination fees on subsidized FFELs from three percent to two percent. Reduces the loan fee charged on Direct Loans from four percent to three percent for unsubsidized Direct Loans, and from four percent to two percent for subsidized Direct Loans. (Sec. 226) Revises HEA provisions relating to the role of the guaranty agency in the FFEL program. Declares that the Secretary is the sole guarantor of FFELs. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a guaranty agency to insure loans, with the guaranty agency acting as the agent of the Secretary. Allows any guaranty agency that had an agreement with the Secretary under specified provisions on the day before the date of enactment of this Act to enter into an initial agreement with the Secretary. Makes all existing guaranty agency agreements expire within 180 days of such date of enactment. Replaces outstanding loan insurance issued by the guaranty agency by loan insurance issued by the Secretary. Relieves the guaranty agency of any further liability on the loans. Authorizes interim administration measures necessary for the efficient transfer of such loan insurance function. Makes the new guaranty agreements effective for five years, and renewable by the Secretary for successive five-year periods, but authorizes the Secretary to terminate the agreements prior to expiration under certain circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary, after the initial agreement has ended, to enter into: (1) another agreement with that guaranty agency; (2) an alternate agreement with a different guaranty agency; or (3) one or more contracts under specified provisions, under which contractors would carry out one or more of the functions formerly performed by the guaranty agency. Requires the agreement between the Secretary and a guaranty agency to specify the responsibilities of the guaranty agency, if any, with respect to certain functions. Authorizes the Secretary to permit a guaranty agency to engage in other businesses, previously purchased or developed with reserve funds, that relate to the FFEL program. Provides that, under such agreements, guaranty agencies shall receive specified fees and revenues. Permits guaranty agencies to retain a share of their net revenues for activities in support of postsecondary education. Requires such share to be calculated and approved by the Secretary after determining an adequate level of economic incentive for guaranty agencies to maximize their efficiency, in an amount not to exceed 50 percent of guaranty agency net revenues. Requires guaranty agencies to carry out their responsibilities under the agreement in accordance with performance standards set by the Secretary and uniformly applied to all guaranty agencies. Directs the Secretary to compare the performance of the guaranty agencies with one another, and publicly disseminate such comparison. Establishes fines for guaranty agencies that fail to achieve a specified level of performance on one or more performance standards. Requires the guaranty agency, if its failure resulted in a financial loss to the United States, to indemnify the Secretary for that loss. Termination of a guaranty agency's agreement prior to the expiration date either automatically under certain circumstances or upon the Secretary's determination that the guaranty agency has substantially failed to achieve an acceptable level of performance. Grants an exemption to lenders with small FFEL portfolios, by requiring only eligible lenders that originate or hold more than $5 million in FFELs during an annual audit period to submit to compliance audit for that period. (Sec. 227) Repeals specified HEA provisions which require a State to pay to the Secretary an annual amount that represents the State's share of risk for high default rates at institutions within the State. (Sec. 228) Revises HEA provisions relating to FFEL consolidation loans. (Sec. 229) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into one or more contracts to carry out any of the functions that otherwise would be carried out by a guaranty agency. (Sec. 230) Revises the definition of an eligible lender to require lenders to offer uniform terms and conditions to all borrowers taking out the same type of FFEL loans. (Sec. 231) Requires computation of special allowance rates at the same time and in the same manner as student loan interest rates (annually rather than quarterly). (Sec. 232) Revises provisions relating to the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) and its payment of an offset fee on loans it holds. (Sec. 233) Limits the payment of a specified transition fee to: (1) institutions or consortia in their first year of participation in the Direct Loan program; and (2) an amount not more than an average of $10 per borrower at such institutions. (Sec. 234) Sets funding levels through FY 2002 for mandatory administrative expenses for the student financial aid programs, including the Direct Loan program, at levels lower than the current baseline. Part C: Need Analysis and General Provisions - Revises provisions for calculation of a postsecondary student's need for assistance under HEA title IV. (Provides, in various ways, that students' future eligibility for title IV assistance not be affected by their families' use of the HOPE Scholarship tax credit or the education and training tax deduction.) (Sec. 242) Makes the income protection allowance (IPA) for independent students without dependents (other than a spouse) comparable to those used for parents of dependent students and for independent students with dependents. Permits updating IPA calculation to reflect inflation. (Sec. 243) Requires the Secretary to define certain education-related terms for purposes of the HOPE Scholarship tax credit and the education and training tax deduction provided under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Makes inapplicable to such regulations specified HEA provisions relating to a deadline for publication of regulations in final form. (Sec. 244) Extends the FFEL program and certain other HEA title IV student assistance provisions through FY 2002. Part D: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Part A: Pell Grants Part B: Student Loan Provisions Part C: Need Analysis and General Provisions Part D: Effective Dates Student Financial Aid Improvements Act of 1997 - Title I: Student Financial Aid Provisions - Part A: Pell Grants - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to increase the maximum Pell grant award from $2,700 to $3,000, subject to specified award rules. Part B: Student Loan Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Education to recall from the reserve funds held by guaranty agencies specified minimum amounts in FY 1998 through 2002. Requires such recalled amounts to be: (1) in proportion to each guaranty agency's share of the total reserve funds held by guaranty agencies as of September 30, 1996; and (2) deposited in the Treasury. Requires each guaranty agency to transfer all reserve funds that it holds to a restricted account and invest those funds in U.S. Government securities specified by the Secretary. Prohibits a guaranty agency from using any restricted account funds for any purpose without the express permission of the Secretary, with specified exceptions for limited amounts of working capital to use for certain operational expenses. Provides that non-liquid reserve fund assets, as well as any liquid assets remaining in a guaranty agency's restricted account after the recalls, remain U.S. property, may only be used for purposes that the Secretary determines are appropriate, and are be subject to recall by the Secretary. (Sec. 122) Provides borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program with certain extended and graduated repayment options currently available to Direct Loan program borrowers, including the option to change repayment plans. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the repayment plans offered to FFEL borrowers are comparable to Direct Loan repayment plans. (Sec. 123) Reduces the applicable interest rate on all subsidized and unsubsidized FFEL and Direct Loans during in-school, grace, and deferment periods to the same rate as the borrowing rate of the Department of Education, but retains current cap levels on such interest rates. Specifies that the interest rate used to determine the rebate of excess interest under specified HEA is not to be used to change special allowance payments for the period affected by the rebate. (Sec. 124) Revises specified HEA provisions to reduce the lenders' insurance rate from 98 to 95 percent. (Sec. 125) Eliminates the one percent insurance premium charged to a FFEL borrower at the time of loan origination. Reduces FFEL origination fees on subsidized FFELs from three percent to two percent. Reduces the loan fee charged on Direct Loans from four percent to three percent for unsubsidized Direct Loans, and from four percent to two percent for subsidized Direct Loans. (Sec. 126) Revises HEA provisions relating to role of the guaranty agency in the FFEL program. Declares that the Secretary is the sole guarantor of FFELs. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a guaranty agency to insure loans, with the guaranty agency acting as the agent of the Secretary. Allows any guaranty agency that had an agreement with the Secretary under specified provisions on the day before the date of enactment of this Act to enter into an initial agreement with the Secretary. Makes all existing guaranty agency agreements expire within 180 days of such date of enactment. Replaces outstanding loan insurance issued by the guaranty agency by loan insurance issued by the Secretary. Relieves the guaranty agency of any further liability on the loans. Authorizes interim administration measures necessary for the efficient transfer of such loan insurance function. Makes the new guaranty agreements effective for five years, and renewable by the Secretary for successive five-year periods, but authorizes the Secretary to terminate the agreements prior to expiration under certain circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary, after the initial agreement has ended, to enter into: (1) another agreement with that guaranty agency; (2) an alternate agreement with a different guaranty agency; or (3) one or more contracts under specifed provisions, under which contractors would carry out one or more of the functions formerly performed by the guaranty agency. Requires the agreement between the Secretary and a guaranty agency to specify the responsibilities of the guaranty agency, if any, with respect to certain functions. Authorizes the Secretary to permit a guaranty agency to engage in other businesses, previously purchased or developed with reserve funds, that relate to the FFEL program. Provides that, under such agreements, guaranty agencies shall receive specified fees and revenues. Permits guaranty agencies to retain a share of their net revenues for activities in support of postsecondary education. Requires such share to be calculated and approved by the Secretary after determining an adequate level of economic incentive for guaranty agencies to maximize their efficiency, in an amount not to exceed 50 percent of guaranty agency net revenues. Requires guaranty agencies to carry out their responsibilities under the agreement in accordance with performance standards set by the Secretary and uniformly applied to all guaranty agencies. Directs the Secretary to compare the performance of the guaranty agencies with one another, and publicly disseminate such comparison. Establishes fines for guaranty agencies that fail to achieve a specified level of performance on one or more performance standards. Requires the guaranty agency, if its failure resulted in a financial loss to the United States, to indemnify the Secretary for that loss. Termination of a guaranty agency's agreement prior to the expiration date either automatically under certain circumstances or upon the Secretary's determination that the guaranty agency has substantially failed to achieve an acceptable level of performance. Grants an exemption to lenders with small FFEL portfolios, by requiring only eligible lenders that originate or hold more than $5 million in FFELs during an annual audit period to submit to compliance audit for that period. (Sec. 127) Repeals specified HEA provisions which require a State to pay to the Secretary an annual amount that represents the State's share of risk for high default rates at institutions within the State. (Sec. 128) Revises HEA provisions relating to FFEL consolidation loans. (Sec. 129) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into one or more contracts to carry out any of the functions that otherwise would be carried out by a guaranty agency. (Sec. 130) Revises the definition of an eligible lender to require lenders to offer uniform terms and conditions to all borrowers taking out the same type of FFEL loans. (Sec. 131) Requires computation of special allowance rates at the same time and in the same manner as student loan interest rates (annually rather than quarterly). (Sec. 132) Revises provisions relating to the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) and its payment of an offset fee on loans it holds. (Sec. 133) Limits the payment of a specified transition fee to: (1) institutions or consortia in their first year of participation in the Direct Loan program; and (2) an amount not more than an average of $10 per borrower at such institutions. (Sec. 134) Sets funding levels through FY 2002 for mandatory administrative expenses for the student financial aid programs, including the Direct Loan program, at levels lower than the current baseline. Part C: Need Analysis and General Provisions - Revises provisions for calculation of a postsecondary student's need for assistance under HEA title IV. (Provides, in various ways, that students' future eligibility for title IV assistance not be affected by their families' use of the HOPE Scholarship tax credit or the education and training tax deduction.) (Sec. 142) Makes the income protection allowance (IPA) for independent students without dependents (other than a spouse) comparable to those used for parents of dependent students and for independent students with dependents. Permits updating IPA calculation to reflect inflation. (Sec. 143) Requires the Secretary to define certain education-related terms for purposes of the HOPE Scholarship tax credit and the education and training tax deduction provided under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Makes inapplicable to such regulations specified HEA provisions relating to a deadline for publication of regulations in final form. (Sec. 144) Extends the FFEL program and certain other HEA title IV student assistance provisions through FY 2002. Part D: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
OSHA Modernization Act of 1997 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to provide that employee safety and health participation committees are not prohibited under the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act. (Sec. 3) Revises inspection provisions. Prohibits routine inspections of, or enforcement of rules against, employers of ten or fewer employees if such employers are: (1) farming operations which do not maintain a temporary labor camp; or (2) in a category of employers having an occupational injury or a lost workday case rate which is less than the national average. Grants the Secretary of Labor specified types of discretionary authority in determining which employee complaints must receive special inspection responses. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary to establish a voluntary compliance program granting partial exemption from certain OSHA safety and health inspections and investigations for employers who either retain certain consultation or certification programs, or have an exemplary safety record and a safety and health program meeting specified criteria, including having an employee participation program. (Sec. 5) Adds to employer defenses to a violation citation the defenses of employee misconduct or alternative methods equally or more protective of employee safety and health. (Sec. 6) Prohibits the Secretary from establishing any quotas for subordinates within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with respect to number of inspections conducted, citations issued, or penalties collected. (Sec. 7) Provides for warnings in lieu of citations, at the Secretary's discretion. (Sec. 8) Reduces penalties for nonserious violations and where there are mitigating circumstances. Directs the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to assess all civil penalties, giving due consideration to their appropriateness with respect to specified factors. Provides for various reductions of penalties for voluntary compliance program participants or exemplary safe worksites under certain conditions. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with States for State provision of consultation services to employers on safe and healthful working conditions, if the State's approved plan does not provide for federally funded consultation services. Requires that at least 15 percent of the annual OSHA appropriation be expended for education, consultation, and outreach efforts. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) cooperative agreements to encourage the establishment of comprehensive safety and health management systems specified mandatory features; and (2) a voluntary protection program, also with specified mandatory features, to encourage the achievement of excellence in both the technical and managerial protection of employees from occupational hazards. Authorizes the Secretary to charge an annual fee to participants in the voluntary protection program.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization Title II: General Provisions National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1997 - Title I: National Science Foundation Authorization - Authorizes appropriations to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for FY 1998 and 1999. Title II: General Provisions - Directs NSF to submit to the Congress an annual upgrade and maintenance plan for national research facilities. (Sec. 202) Makes administrative amendments to the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, the National Science Foundation Authorization Act, 1976, the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988, and the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act. (Sec. 203) Directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, in consultation with other relevant agencies, to prepare a report analyzing what steps would be needed to: (1) reduce by ten percent the proportion of Federal assistance to institutions of higher education that are allocated for indirect costs; and (2) reduce the variance among indirect cost rates of different higher education institutions, including an evaluation of the relative benefits and burdens of each option on higher education institutions. Requires that such report be transmitted to the Congress no later than December 31, 1997. (Sec. 204) Subjects NSF temporary employees to the same financial disclosure requirements as apply to permanent employees. (Sec. 205) Requires an institution of higher education receiving NSF funds to grant a military-educational leave of absence to a student on active military duty (other than training). (Sec. 206) Renames the Critical Technologies Institute as the Science Studies Institute. (Sec. 207) Prohibits funds authorized by this Act, or any other Act enacted before the enactment of this Act, from being used for the Next Generation Internet. (Sec. 208) Prohibits the use of any funds authorized under this Act from being used for any lobbying activity, except that the prohibition shall not prevent U.S. officers or employees or of its departments or agencies, from communicating to Members of Congress on the request of any Member, or to the Congress, through the proper channels, requests for legislation or appropriations which they deem necessary for the efficient conduct of the public business. Excludes from NSF awards for five years any person who received project funds not subject to competitive merit-based awards. (Exempts persons who are members of a law-specified class.) (Sec. 209) Requires that if any funds authorized by this Act are subject to a reprogramming action that requires notice to be provided to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, notice of such action shall concurrently be provided to the House Committee on Science and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Directs the NSF Director to provide notice not later than 15 days before any major reorganization of any NSF program, project, or activity. (Sec. 210) Expresses the sense of the Congress that NSF should: (1) give high priority to correcting all two-digit date-related problems in its computer systems to ensure that those systems continue to operate effectively in the year 2000 and beyond; (2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to NSF operations posed by such problems, and plan and budget for achieving Year 2000 compliance for all its mission-critical systems; and (3) develop contingency plans for those systems that NSF is unable to correct in time.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Surface Transportation Title II: Highway Safety Title III: Federal Mass Transportation Amendments of 1997 Title IV: Motor Carrier Safety Title V: Infrastructure Credit Enhancement Title VI: Research Part A: Programs and Activities Part B: Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 1997 Title VII: Revenue Title VIII: Rail Passenger Programs National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997 - Title I: Surface Transportation - Surface Transportation Act of 1997 - Authorizes appropriations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for: (1) the National Highway System (NHS); (2) the Interstate Maintenance Program (IM); (3) the Surface Transportation Program (STP); (4) the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ); (5) the Bridge Program; (6) the Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP); (7) infrastructure safety; (8) the Integrated Safety Fund; (9) the Recreational Trails Program; and (10) university transportation centers. (Sec. 1003) Includes among eligible NHS projects: (1) specified capital improvements to National Railroad Passenger Corporation or publicly owned intercity passenger rail lines; (2) natural habitat mitigation; and (3) infrastructure-based Intelligent Transportation Systems capital improvements. (Sec. 1004) Revises: (1) the formulas for the NHS, CMAQ, and STP apportionments; (2) the CMAQ formulas to provide apportionment of additional funding to States with carbon monoxide or particulate matter pollution; and (3) the minimum allocation provision. Authorizes: (1) funding for rehabilitation of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge and for costs related to construction of a new bridge; and (2) the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to reimburse the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) for conducting annual HTF audits. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1005) Establishes levels for annual apportionments such that each State is guaranteed to receive at least a certain percentage of total apportionments for each year for specified purposes or programs. (Sec. 1006) Amends provisions regarding Federal and State responsibilities for projects to: (1) repeal a 15 percent cost limitation on estimates for construction engineering; (2) combine the current two-step process for project approval and execution of a project agreement; (3) direct the Secretary to require a financial plan for any project with an estimated total cost of $1 billion or more; and (4) permit States to use phase construction to meet safety considerations. Extends Davis-Bacon Act wage protections applicable to highway construction projects to the same workers employed on any project eligible for funding under title 23 of the U.S. Code, with exceptions. (Sec. 1007) Amends provisions regarding: (1) real property acquisition and corridor preservation; (2) credit for donated lands; and (3) income from airspace rights-of-way. (Sec. 1009) Repeals: (1) requirements for the Secretary to issue Interstate maintenance guidelines and for States to annually certify that they have a maintenance program in place that meets such guidelines; and (2) the separate Interstate System (IS) preventive maintenance eligibility standard. Expands IM eligibility to include certain Interstate highway reconstruction and infrastructure-based capital improvements. (Sec. 1011) Reauthorizes the current Interstate 4R discretionary program. (Sec. 1012) Modifies provisions regarding emergency relief to: (1) reduce the Federal share payable on emergency relief projects; and (2) shorten the time period in which States receive a 100 percent Federal share. (Sec. 1013) Removes prohibitions against Federal participation in the initial construction of a toll highway, bridge, or tunnel on the IS or in the reconstruction of a toll-free highway and its conversion to a toll facility. Eliminates a tolling pilot project. (Sec. 1014) Expands STP eligibility. Eliminates the safety set-aside from the STP program. Replaces the current quarterly, project-by-project State certification and notification requirements with an annual, program-wide approval. Extends the allocation of obligation authority to urbanized areas through the life of the reauthorization. Requires that each State and metropolitan planning organization (MPO) ensure the fair and equitable treatment of central cities of over 200,000 population. (Sec. 1015) Amends metropolitan planning provisions to direct that: (1) MPO transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas provide for integrated management of transportation systems and facilities; and (2) in designating MPOs, local governments represent 51 percent of the affected population. Permits redesignation under procedures established by State law. Directs that policy boards of MPOs include local officials, officials of certain public agencies, and appropriate State officials. Amends provisions regarding: (1) metropolitan planning area boundaries; and (2) the metropolitan transportation improvement program (TIP). Requires the creation of a congestion management system within transportation management areas (TMAs). Prohibits Federal funding for any highway project that will result in a significant increase in single-occupant vehicles (SOVs) for a TMA classified as nonattainment for ozone, carbon monoxide, or particulate matter, with exceptions. (Sec. 1016) Amends statewide planning provisions. Requires the State to: (1) develop a transportation plan, with a minimum 20-year forecast period, that provides for the development and implementation of the State's intermodal transportation System, in cooperation or consultation with MPOs and local elected transportation officials; and (2) identify transportation strategies. (Sec. 1017) Encourages States to: (1) reserve training slots on their Federal-aid contracts for welfare recipients; and (2) implement preferences for employment of welfare recipients and persons residing in Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Declares that the Virgin Islands should implement a preference for employment of local workers. Authorizes the Secretary to develop, conduct, and administer technology training and to develop and fund Summer Transportation Institutes. Directs the Secretary to establish an assistance program to increase participation by certain minority institutions of higher education in grants and cooperative agreements awarded for research and planning. (Sec. 1018) Requires that: (1) at least ten percent of the funds authorized to be appropriated for specified programs under this Act be expended with small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals; (2) each State annually survey and compile a list of such concerns; and (3) the Secretary establish minimum uniform criteria for State government use in certifying whether a concern qualifies. (Sec. 1019) Modifies the Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program. Expands eligibility to include scour countermeasures. Reauthorizes the bridge discretionary program. (Sec. 1020) Expands CMAQ eligibility to include projects in nonattainment areas for particulate matter. Limits CMAQ eligibility to nonattainment and maintenance areas that were classified as such under the Clean Air Act. Excludes projects funded with CMAQ apportionments from the list of safety projects eligible for 100 percent Federal participation. (Sec. 1021) Reauthorizes provisions regarding IS reimbursement. Makes permanent the State Infrastructure Bank Pilot Program authorized for FY 1996 and 1997 in the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995. (Sec. 1023) Directs the Secretary to carry out a National Scenic Byways Program. (Sec. 1024) Sets forth: (1) eligible railway-highway crossing uses of apportioned funds; and (2) a new apportionment formula for railway-highway crossing funds. Requires States to report to DOT on completed railway-highway crossing projects. Expands the protective devices set-aside to include enforcement and education efforts. (Sec. 1025) Repeals: (1) a restriction which applies the Federal-non-Federal matching rate to each payment that a State receives; (2) a provision concerning the use of motor vehicle taxes to fund highway construction projects; and (3) a law relating to bridge commissions and Federal approval of their membership. Permits reimbursement of eligible indirect costs to State and local governments. (Sec. 1026) Amends planning and agency coordination provisions to direct the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of the appropriate Federal land managing agency, to develop transportation planning procedures which are consistent with the metropolitan and Statewide planning processes. Establishes a national bridge program for replacing or rehabilitating deficient Indian reservation road bridges. (Sec. 1027) Includes the construction of pedestrian walkways as an eligible use of States' NHS apportionments under the same criteria by which bicycle transportation facilities are eligible. Removes a restriction against safely accommodating bicycles on highway bridges located on fully access-controlled highways. Amends planning provisions to require that: (1) consideration be given to bicyclists and pedestrians in the comprehensive statewide and metropolitan planning processes; and (2) the inclusion of bicycle transportation facilities and pedestrian walkways be considered in conjunction with all new construction and reconstruction of transportation facilities, with exceptions. (Sec. 1028) Incorporates the Recreational Trails Program (enacted into law as the National Recreational Trails Fund Act, Title I of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA)), into the Federal-aid highway program, but repeals provisions regarding the National Recreational Trails Advisory Committee. Requires States to establish State trail advisory committees. Requires that: (1) at least 50 percent of the funds received annually by a State be used to facilitate the use of trails for diverse recreational purposes; and (2) States give priority to project proposals that provide for the redesign, reconstruction, nonroutine maintenance, or relocation of existing trails to benefit, or mitigate the impact on, the environment. Limits the Federal share payable for Recreational Trails Program projects to 50 percent, with exceptions. (Sec. 1029) Amends provisions regarding the international highway transportation outreach program to authorize: (1) the Secretary to engage in activities to promote U.S. highway transportation goods and services internationally and to gather and disseminate information on foreign transportation markets and industries; and (2) the use of certain funds to reimburse the Federal Highway Administration for employee salaries and benefits. (Sec. 1030) Directs the Secretary, subject to specified limitations, to: (1) make incentive grants to States and MPOs that share a common border with Canada or Mexico; and (2) make grants to States for the purpose of performing planning for the efficient movement of goods along and within international and interstate trade corridors. Authorizes multistate agreements for trade corridor planning. Establishes a border gateway pilot program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1031) Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to: (1) authorize appropriations and to limit eligibility for such funds to the development highway system authorized as of September 30, 1996; (2) provide for reallocation of funds not expended by a State within four years; (3) raise the Federal share payable regarding any pre-financed development highway project; and (4) authorize the deduction of up to 3.75 percent of funds authorized for Appalachian Regional Commission expenses in administering such funds. (Sec. 1032) Amends ISTEA to: (1) increase the number of value (formerly, congestion) pricing pilot programs eligible for funding and the Federal share payable on any project funded under the program; (2) require the Secretary to fund pre-implementation costs; (3) make the three-year funding limitation inapplicable to the pre-implementation stage; (4) authorize the use of toll revenues generated by pilot projects for any surface transportation purpose; (5) remove the three-program cap on the number of value pricing programs on which the Secretary shall allow the use of tolls on the IS; (6) require any value pricing pilot program to fully consider the potential effects of such projects on drivers of all income levels and develop mitigation measures to deal with potential adverse effects on low income drivers; and (7) eliminate requirements for the Secretary to annually report to the Congress on motor fuel tax enforcement activities and the expenditure of funds regarding highway use tax evasion projects and on increased enforcement activities to be financed with funds allocated by the Secretary to the Internal Revenue Service. Title II: Highway Safety - Highway Safety Act of 1997 - Amends highway safety program provisions to: (1) raise the minimum annual apportionment to the Secretary of the Interior; (2) allow program grants to be made to Indian tribes in Indian country; and (3) authorize the Secretary to periodically conduct a rulemaking process to identify highway safety programs that are highly effective and direct the States to consider such programs when developing their programs. Modifies safety incentive grant provisions. Establishes a drunk and impaired driving incentive program (which replaces a similar program when its terms expire at the end of FY 1997). Sets forth provisions regarding basic and supplemental grants. Establishes incentive programs to: (1) increase safety belt and child safety seat use; and (2) improve data systems and identify priorities for State and local highway and traffic safety programs and State drugged driving laws and related programs. (Sec. 2003) Adds provisions to the National Driver Register (NDR) statute to: (1) authorize the Secretary to decide whether to enter into an agreement with an organization representing State interests to manage, administer, and operate NDR's computer timeshare and user assistance functions; (2) extend participation to specified other Federal departments or agencies, such as the State Department; and (3) allow Federal agencies authorized to receive NDR information to make their requests and receive the information directly from NDR. (Sec. 2004) Authorizes appropriations out of the HTF for: (1) consolidated State highway safety programs; (2) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration operations and research; and (3) NDR. Title III: Federal Mass Transportation Amendments of 1997 - Federal Mass Transportation Amendments of 1997 - Amends Federal mass transportation law to redefine the term "capital project" to include as eligible project costs for Federal mass transportation project grant assistance: (1) pre-revenue startup costs and environmental mitigation associated with the acquisition or construction of mass transportation facilities; (2) Intelligent Transportation Systems; (3) preventive maintenance; (4) leasing of equipment and facilities; (5) joint mass transportation development projects; (6) mass transportation projects that meet the special needs of the elderly and disabled individuals; (7) new and extended fixed guideway systems, as well as the development of corridors to support them; (8) vehicles and facilities that are used to provide intercity passenger service by bus or rail; (9) access for bicycles to mass transportation facilities; (10) the repayment of the principal and interest of bonds used for capital projects; (11) crime prevention and security; and (12) acquiring non-fixed route paratransit transportation service to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. (Sec. 3004) Requires metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to develop, in a fair and equitable manner, transportation plans and programs for State urbanized areas that provide for the development and integrated management and operation of transportation systems and facilities that will function as an intermodal transportation system for the metropolitan area, the State, and the United States. Reduces the threshold for designating an MPO for an urbanized area with a population of over 50,000, by requiring that representatives of local governments with only 51 percent (currently, 75 percent) of the affected area must support such designation. (Sec. 3006) Requires the transfer of certain highway and mass transportation funds to the Secretary of Transportation. (Sec. 3007) Makes changes to certain State transportation planning requirements to conform to this Act. Excludes the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands from such requirements. (Sec. 3008) Authorizes the Secretary to make urbanized area formula grants (formerly block grants) for: (1) capital projects; (2) planning; (3) financing operating costs of equipment and facilities used in mass transportation in urbanized areas with a population of less than 200,000; (4) the transportation cooperative research program; (5) university transportation centers; (6) training; (7) research; and (8) technology transfer. (Sec. 3009) Repeals the mass transit account block grant program. (Sec. 3010) Authorizes the Secretary to make major capital investment grants (formerly discretionary grants and loans) to assist State and local governmental authorities in financing capital projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing systems. Terminates: (1) other discretionary capital transportation projects, including the bus program; and (2) the Secretary's authority to make loans for such projects. (Sec. 3011) Converts the grant and loan program for the special needs of elderly individuals and disabled individuals into a program of formula grants for such purposes to a State's chief executive officer for allocation to private nonprofit entities and governmental authorities. Terminates the Secretary's current authority to make loans for such projects. (Sec. 3012) Declares that four percent of rural formula program funds shall be available for the Rural Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) (thereby moving RTAP from the Transit Planning and Research Program to the formula program for other than urbanized areas). Authorizes States to use certain earmarked rural formula funds for the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) and for training. Includes intercity rail as an eligible activity for rural formula program funds. Terminates the intercity bus services set-aside program. (Sec. 3013) Terminates the Industry Technical Panel. (Sec. 3014) Revises the composition of the governing board of the TCRP to include one member from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). (Sec. 3015) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with consortia (public or private organizations which provide mass transportation service to the public) to promote the early deployment of innovation in mass transportation technology, services, management, or operational practices. Authorizes the Secretary to engage in activities to: (1) inform the U.S. mass transportation community about technological innovations available in the international marketplace; and (2) afford domestic businesses the opportunity to become globally competitive in the export of mass transportation products and services. (Sec. 3016) Changes the name of the National Mass Transportation Institute to the National Transit Institute (an institute established by Rutgers University). Revises the course instruction provided by the Institute to Federal, State, and local transportation employees. (Sec. 3021) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States, local governmental authorities, and private non-profit organizations to finance transportation services to transport economically disadvantaged persons to jobs and employment-related activities. (Sec. 3024) Makes surplus U.S. real property available for a transit purpose or as a source of materials for the construction of transit facilities. (Sec. 3025) Requires financial assistance under this Act to be obtained on a competitive basis. (Sec. 3027) Increases the amount of capital project funds that can be used for project oversight activities. (Sec. 3032) Authorizes the Secretary, among other things, to: (1) charge amounts to cover the costs of training or conferences sponsored by the FTA to promote mass transportation; and (2) perform by contract engineering or other services in connection with capital projects for States, local governmental authorities, recipients of Federal funding, or cooperating foreign countries. (Sec. 3034) Apportions a specified amount of formula grant funds for the access to jobs and training program. Earmarks specified percentages of funds for: (1) urbanized area formula grants; (2) formula grants for special needs of elderly and disabled individuals; (3) the formula program for other than urbanized areas; and (4) fixed guideway systems modernization. (Sec. 3036) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the formula grant program; (2) major capital investments; (3) metropolitan planning; (4) Statewide planning; (5) national transit research; (6) university transportation centers; and (7) administrative expenses. (Sec. 3037) Amends the National Capital Transportation Act of 1969, as added by the National Capital Transportation Amendments of 1990, to decrease the authorization of appropriations for grants to complete the Adopted Regional System. Authorizes appropriations from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund for FY 1998 and 1999 for such project (effectively repealing the FY 1998 and 1999 general fund authorization of appropriations). Title IV: Motor Carrier Safety - Amends Federal commercial motor vehicle safety law to revise the current program. Declares as the primary objective of this title is to help States improve commercial motor vehicle (including hazardous materials transportation safety) and driver safety through enforcement activities and the use of performance-based grants. (Sec. 4001) Revises requirements for the Commercial Vehicle Information System. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program which focuses on improving commercial motor vehicle safety. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Infrastructure Credit Enhancement - Transportation Infrastructure Credit Enhancement Act of 1997 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to one or more Project Sponsors to capitalize Revenue Stabilization Funds for nationally significant surface transportation facility projects which cannot obtain financing from other sources. (Sec. 5007) Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Research - Part A: Programs and Activities - Authorizes the Secretary to establish: (1) a national strategic planning process which encompasses Federal, State, and local planning activities for intermodal, multimodal, and modal transportation research and technology; and (2) the Intermodal Transportation Research and Development Program. (Sec. 6001) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to nonprofit institutions of higher learning to establish one university transportation center (thereby combining the existing university research institute and transportation centers programs) in each of the ten U.S. Government regions that compose the Standard Federal Regional Boundary System to conduct transportation research and education and training to qualified graduate and undergraduate students, with special attention to women and minorities. (Sec. 6002) Revises the duties of the Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics with respect to long term data collection program to require, among other things, that it be coordinated with efforts to measure outputs and outcomes of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the nation's transportation systems under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, or enter into cooperative contracts with, public and nonprofit entities to conduct research and development in support of the Bureau's activities, including the Transportation Statistics Annual Report, data collection, the National Transportation Library, and the National Transportation Atlas Data Base. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6003) Revises Federal highway law to direct the Secretary to develop programs to facilitate application of the products of research and technical innovations that will improve the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of the highway system. (Sec. 6004) Directs the Secretary to develop a National Technology Deployment Initiatives program, and access domestic and international technology to achieve certain deployment goals which will expand the adoption of innovative technologies by the surface transportation community. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6005) Directs the Secretary to carry out a transportation assistance program that will provide access to modern highway technology to: (1) highway and transportation agencies and tribal governments in urbanized as well as rural areas; and (2) contractors doing work for such agencies. Authorizes appropriations. Increases the set-aside of Federal highway funds for the surface transportation program for the State transportation agencies' payment of the cost of their employees' education and training expenses. Requires that the education and training of Federal, State, and local transportation employees be provided: (1) by the Secretary at no cost if it is in the best interests of the United States (currently, for those subject areas which are a Federal program responsibility); or (2) in any case in which it is to be paid by the State through grants and contracts with public and private agencies, institutions, individuals, and the National Highway Institute, except that international or foreign entities shall pay full cost of such education and training unless a lower cost is determined to be in the best interest of the United States. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program; and (2) the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). (Sec. 6006) Requires the Secretary to continue to completion the Long Term Pavement Performance Program (LTPP) initiated under the SHRP and advanced by ISTEA through the mid-point of its 20-year schedule. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish, through grants and contracts, an advanced research program that addresses longer-term, higher-risk research that shows benefits for improving the durability, efficiency, environmental impact, and safety of highway and intermodal transportation systems. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 1997 - Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 1997 (ITS Act) - Directs the Secretary to conduct an ongoing program to research, develop, and operationally test intelligent transportation systems and advance the deployment of such systems as a component of the Nation's surface transportation systems (in effect, extending the expiring ITS Act of 1991). (Sec. 6053) Defines "intelligent transportation systems" as the application of electronics, communications, or information processing to improve the efficiency and safety of surface transportation systems. (Sec. 6055) Directs the Secretary to update the National ITS Program Plan as necessary. (Sec. 6056) Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) planning and technical assistance, training, and information to State and local governments seeking to implement ITS technologies and services; and (2) funding to Federal agencies and make grants to non-Federal entities (including State and local governments, universities, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other persons) for ITS research. (Sec. 6057) Directs the Secretary to conduct an intelligent transportation infrastructure deployment incentives program (ITI) to promote deployment of integrated, multimodal transportation systems throughout the Nation (thereby replacing the IVHS Corridors Program). (Sec. 6058) Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Revenue - Surface Transportation Revenue Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend HTF fuel taxes at current rates, as well as existing refunds and exemptions. Terminates the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund. Extends and makes permanent the authority for the transfer of HTF motorboat fuel taxes to the Boat Safety Account to carry out the State Recreational Boating Safety grant program. (Sec. 7003) Revises eligibility requirements for the exclusion of qualified transportation fringe benefits (employer payment of employee parking and commercial vanpool services) from an employee's gross income. (Sec. 7004) Extends the Mass Transit Account. (Sec. 7005) Authorizes expenditures from the HTF for certain motor vehicle safety and cost savings programs. (Sec. 7006) Directs the Secretary to transfer amounts from the HTF to the general fund of the Treasury for specified transportation-related programs. Title VIII: Rail Passenger Programs - Amends Federal transportation law to authorize appropriations from the HTF to make grants to AMTRAK for: (1) operating expenses; (2) capital programs; and (3) certain supplemental capital investments.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Directs the Secretary of Education to deem timely any State's submission on March 10 or March 12, 1997, of certain written notices of intent to consider specified payments under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in providing State aid to local educational agencies for school year 1997-1998. Authorizes the Secretary to require such a State to submit appropriate additional information, which shall be considered part of such notice.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Fair Pay Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on account of sex, race, or national origin. (Allows payment of different wages under seniority systems, merit systems, or systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production.) Prohibits the discharge of or any other discrimination against an individual for opposing any act or practice made unlawful by this Act, or for assisting in an investigation or proceeding under it. Directs courts, in any action brought under this Act for violation of such prohibition, to allow expert fees as part of the costs awarded to prevailing plaintiffs. Allows any such action to be maintained as a class action. Requires employers subject to such prohibition to: (1) preserve records which document and support the method, system, calculations, and other bases used by the employer in establishing, adjusting, and determining the wages paid to their employees, for periods of time prescribed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); and (2) make reports to the EEOC. Directs the EEOC to: (1) undertake studies and provide information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning effective means available to implement this Act; (2) carry on a continuing program of research, education, and technical assistance with specified components related to the purposes of this Act; and (3) include a separate evaluation and appraisal regarding the implementation of this Act in its annual report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit an institution from participating in the Federal Pell Grant program if it is ineligible for participation in the Federal Family Education Loans program (also known as the Stafford or guaranteed student loan program) or in the Federal Perkins Loan program, because of a high default rate.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
College Student Tax Relief Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any amount received for services performed under a Federal work study program operated under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997 - Amends the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations to carry out this Act. Establishes a program to support communities in the development and implementation of comprehensive, long-term plans and programs to prevent and treat substance abuse among youth, including grants to coalitions including youth, parents, businesses, the media, schools, organizations serving youth, law enforcement, religious organizations, and other specified types of entities. Authorizes: (1) technical assistance and training; and (2) contracts and cooperative agreements with grant recipients. Establishes the Advisory Commission on Drug-Free Communities. Terminates the Commission five years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for Department of State and Certain International Affairs Functions and Activities Title II: Department of State Authorities and Activities Title III: Organization of the Department of State; Department of State Personnel; the Foreign Service Title IV: United States Public Diplomacy: Authorities and Activities for United States Informational, Educational, and Cultural Programs Title V: International Organizations; United Nations and Related Agencies Title VI: Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Title VII: Foreign Policy Provisions Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for Department of State and Certain International Affairs Functions and Activities - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of State for FY 1998 and 1999 for: (1) the administration of foreign affairs; (2) contributions to international organizations and international peacekeeping activities; (3) international conferences and contingencies; (4) offset of adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; (5) international commissions; (6) migration and refugee assistance; (7) the Asia Foundation; (8) international information activities and educational and cultural exchange programs; and (9) purposes of carrying out the Arms Control and Disarmament Act. Earmarks funds for specified organizations and activities. Withholds certain amounts of funds from the United Nations Development Program unless the President certifies to appropriate congressional committees that the Program's activities in Burma: (1) are focused on eliminating human suffering and addressing the needs of the poor; (2) are undertaken only through international or private voluntary organizations that are independent of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); (3) provide no financial, political, or military support to SLORC; and (4) are supported by the leadership of the National League for Democracy and the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. Title II: Department of State Authorities and Activities - Chapter 1: Authorities and Activities - Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to provide for rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of aiders or abettors of acts of international terrorism against U.S. persons or property or in certain narcotics-related offenses. Makes the resources of the rewards program available, at the Secretary's discretion, for the publication of rewards offered by foreign governments about acts of terrorism not involving the United States. Declares the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should pursue additional means of funding the rewards program, including the authority to seize and dispose of assets used in the commission of specified offenses, or to participate in asset sharing programs with the Department of Justice. Directs the President, in carrying out the rewards program, to take possession and exercise full control of up to two percent of earnings accruing on all assets of foreign governments blocked under the International Emergency Powers Act. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary of State to develop a worldwide plan for the consolidation, on a regional or area wide basis, of U.S. missions and consular posts abroad. (Sec. 203) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 to make one of the purposes of the Capital Investment Fund the enhancement of information technology and other related capital investments for the Department of State. (Sec. 204) Requires U.S. agencies performing functions at diplomatic and consular posts abroad to avoid duplicative acquisition actions to the maximum extent practicable. Authorizes amendment without competition of contracts awarded by such agencies through competition, or under the commercial item simplified procedures threshold of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, in order to permit other such agencies to obtain goods or services under such contract, provided prices or the scope of work are not increased as a result of such amendment. (Sec. 205) Amends the Foreign Service Buildings Act, 1926 to authorize the deposit of proceeds from the sale of foreign properties into interest bearing accounts. Authorizes the Secretary to retain, and expend without further appropriation, the interest earned on such deposits. (Sec. 208) Amends the International Claims Settlement Act to grant jurisdiction to the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the United States to adjudicate claims included in a category of claims against a foreign government which is referred to it by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to provide fair notice to all persons whose claims are to be preadjudicated by the Commission. (Sec. 210) Establishes a special fee account for use in paying certain expenses of the Department of State and the Foreign Service. Earmarks funds for the provision, without charge, of passport information services to U.S. citizens. (Sec. 211) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 to require deposit in a special fund of the Treasury of a certain amount of fees collected from processing machine readable visas. Makes funds available for certain costs of the Department's border security program. Repeals the prohibition against the charging of fees to citizens of countries that are signatories to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 212) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to change from $700,000 to all the amount of registration fees collected by the Office of Defense Trade Controls of the Department of State which shall be credited for each fiscal year to a Department of State account, without limitation. Adds to the permissible expenses payable from such account the enhancement of defense trade export compliance and enforcement activities to include compliance audits of U.S. and foreign parties, the conduct of administrative proceedings, end-use monitoring of direct commercial arms sales and transfers, and cooperation in criminal proceedings related to defense trade export controls. (Sec. 213) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to authorize the Secretary to provide training through the Foreign Service Institute to U.S. company employees engaged in business abroad, and their families. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such training on a reimbursable basis to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the judiciary, and their employees. Authorizes the Secretary to charge a fee for use of the National Foreign Affairs Training Center Facility of the Department. (Sec. 214) Authorizes the Secretary, under the Department's health care program, to collect from a third-party payer the reasonable costs incurred by the Department on behalf of covered beneficiaries for health care services to the same extent that such a beneficiary would be eligible to receive indemnification from the third-party payer for such costs. (Sec. 215) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the Secretary to charge a fee for use of the Department's diplomatic reception rooms. (Sec. 217) Bars the use of funds to further normalize diplomatic relations with Vietnam until the President certifies to appropriate congressional committees that Vietnam: (1) accounts for American prisoners-of-war and missing in action from the Vietnam war; (2) has made substantial progress toward the release of all political and religious prisoners; and (3) is cooperating with U.S. requests to obtain access to persons of humanitarian interest there and in providing exit visas to such persons. Requires certification also that the U.S. Government is making vigorous efforts to interview and resettle former re-education camp victims, their immediate families, former U.S. Government employees, and certain other persons. (Sec. 218) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 1999 the authorization of admission into the United States of a specified number of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania based on religious persecution owing to participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches. Makes September 30, 1999, the latest allowable entry date for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status. Chapter 2: Consular Authorities of the Department of State - Makes 30 percent of the fees collected in FY 1998 and 1999 for expedited passport processing available only for enhancing passport services, investigating passport fraud, and deterring entry into the United States by terrorists and other criminals. (Sec. 245) Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the compliance of the signatories to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction with such convention. Chapter 3: Refugees and Migration - Directs the Secretary to include in the monthly report to the Congress entitled "Update on Monitoring of Cuban Migrant Returnees" information on: (1) the methods employed by the Cuban Government to enforce the United States- Cuba Immigration Agreement of September 1994 to restrict the emigration of Cuban people to the United States; and (2) their treatment of persons who have returned to Cuba pursuant to the United States-Cuba Agreement of May 1995. (Sec. 262) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the Secretary to waive certain congressional notification requirements with respect to the reprogramming of Department funds if failure to do so would pose a substantial risk to human health or welfare. Requires such notification to specified congressional committees,with an explanation of the emergency circumstances, not later than three days after taking the action to which notification is required. Title III: Organization of the Department of State; Department of State Personnel; the Foreign Service - Chapter 1: Organization of the Department of State - Establishes a Coordinator for Counterterrorism within the office of the Secretary. (Sec. 302) Repeals the statutory establishment of: (1) an Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs; (2) a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Burdensharing; and (3) a Bureau and Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. (Sec. 303) Establishes an Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and an Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security within the Department of State. (Sec. 305) Establishes within the Department of State a U.S. Special Envoy for Tibet. (Sec. 306) Declares that the Bureau of Migration and Refugee Assistance: (1) shall be the State Department bureau charged with principal responsibility for carrying out the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962; and (2) shall not be charged with responsibility for assisting the Secretary in matters relating to family planning or population policy. Chapter 2: Personnel of the Department of State; the Foreign Service - Establishes limits on the number of Foreign Service personnel in the Department of State, the United States Information Agency (USIA), and the Agency for International Development (AID) during FY 1998 and 1999. Allows a waiver of such limitations as necessary to carry out foreign affairs functions. (Sec. 323) Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to authorize the Secretary to separate from the Foreign Service without a hearing a member of the Service convicted of a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment of more than one year may be imposed. (Currently, a Foreign Service member can be separated without a hearing only if convicted of a crime related to the cause of separation.) Title IV: United States Public Diplomacy: Authorities and Activities for United States Informational, Educational, and Cultural Programs - Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 to decrease the fiscal year authorization of appropriations for the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between North and South. (Sec. 405) Revises the law and business training program for graduate students from the Soviet Union (sic), Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to require selection of participants on the basis of academic and leadership potential in the additional fields of journalism and communications, education administration, public policy, and library and information science. (Sec. 406) Establishes within USIA, in order to improve the coordination and effectiveness of U.S. Government sponsored international exchanges and training, a senior-level interagency Working Group on United States Government Sponsored International Exchanges and Training. (Sec. 407) Requires the USIA Director to establish programs of educational and cultural exchange between the United States and the people of Tibet, including scholarships to Tibetan and Burmese students and professionals who are outside their countries. (Sec. 408) Declares that all law, educational, cultural, and other exchange programs (including the ATLAS and Mandela Fellows program) funded by the United States in South Africa shall be administer by the USIA. Title V: International Organizations; United Nations and Related Agencies - Chapter 1: General Provisions - Sets forth provisions governing employment benefits due to Federal employees who are reemployed after having served in an international organization. Chapter 2: United Nations and Related Agencies - Authorizes the President to withhold 20 percent of the funds appropriated for the U.S. assessed contribution to the United Nations if the United Nations has failed to implement consensus-based decision making procedures on budgetary matters which assure that sufficient attention is paid to the views of the United States and other member states who are major financial contributors. Title VI: Arms Control and Disarmament Agency - Amends the Arms Control and Disarmament Act to repeal the mandate for the Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency to report to the Congress a comprehensive compilation of studies relating to arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament issues concluded during the previous calendar year. Title VII: Foreign Policy Provisions - Bars the use of funds for the involuntary return of a person to a country in which the person has a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (Sec. 701) Bars the use of migration and refugee assistance funds for the involuntary return of a person to any country. (Sec. 702) Prohibits the United States from expelling, extraditing, or otherwise effecting the involuntary return of a person to a country in which there are reasonable grounds for believing the person would be in danger of subjection to torture. (Sec. 703) Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees on specific actions taken by the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Commerce in resolving certain commercial disputes between U.S. firms and the Saudi Arabia Government. (Sec. 705) Prohibits the availability of appropriated funds to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unless the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that: (1) UNFPA has terminated all activities in China; or (2) during the 12 months preceding such certification, there have been no forced abortions associated with family planning policies in China. (Sec. 706) Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to the Congress on: (1) the number of persons and aliens residing in the United States who are entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution, including each case involving such an alien whom appropriate law enforcement authorities reasonably believe to have committed a serious crime within the United States; and (2) the number of U.S. citizens residing in a receiving state who are entitled to diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution there, including each case in which the United States has been requested by the government of the state to waive immunity. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should explore, in appropriate fora, whether states should enter into agreements and adopt legislation to provide: (1) jurisdiction in the sending state to prosecute crimes committed in the receiving state by persons entitled to diplomatic immunity; and (2) that where there is probable cause to believe that an individual with such immunity committed a serious crime, the sending state will waive immunity or will prosecute the individual. (Sec. 707) Declares the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should submit to the Congress a plan to consolidate some or all of the functions currently performed by the Department of State, the Agency for International Development, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, in order to increase efficiency and accountability in the conduct of the foreign policy of the United States.