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101 records in US in 2000
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2000
Declares Julian Mart, Paul Mart, Veronica Mart, and Adelina Mart to each be eligible for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2000
Directs the Attorney General to adjust the alien status of certain Syrian (Jewish) nationals present in the United States to permanent resident status. Limits the total number of such adjustees to 2,000.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Attorney General to waive the taking of the naturalization oath of renunciation and allegiance for an alien with a disability, or a child, who is unable to understand or communicate an understanding of such oath.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2000
Declares Antonio Costa to be eligible for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Attorney General to waive the taking of the naturalization oath of renunciation and allegiance for an alien with a disability, or a child, who is unable to understand or communicate an understanding of such oath.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Act of 2000 - Directs the Attorney General to take necessary measures to: (1) reduce the immigration application backlog and ensure that a subsequent backlog does not develop; and (2) make infrastructure improvements to effectively provide immigration services. Authorizes appropriations which shall be designated in the Treasury as the Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Account. Directs the Attorney General to make specified backlog elimination reports.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2000
Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to make communities with high levels of out-migration or population loss eligible for community facilities grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2000
Violence Against Women Act of 2000 - Title I: Strengthening Law Enforcement to Reduce Violence Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General (AG) to make grants to provide technical assistance and equipment to police departments, prosecutors, courts, and tribal jurisdictions to facilitate the widespread enforcement of protection orders. Revises provisions of the Federal criminal code governing the full faith and credit of protection orders. Designates State, local, and Indian tribal courts as eligible grantees under the program to combat violent crimes against women. Reauthorizes through FY 2005 various programs which address violence against women, including domestic violence and stalking offenses. Title II: Strengthening Services to Victims of Violence - Authorizes the AG to award grants to increase the availability of legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault. Reauthorizes through FY 2005 various grants and programs under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Title III: Limiting the Effects of Violence on Children - Authorizes the AG to make grants to States, local governments, and Indian tribal governments for the provision of supervised visitation and safe visitation exchange of children by and between parents in situations involving domestic violence, child abuse, or sexual assault. Reauthorizes through FY 2005 runaway and homeless youth grants and programs for victims of child abuse. Title IV: Strengthening Education and Training to Combat Violence Against Women - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for model programs of education and training in appropriate responses to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Title V: Battered Immigrant Women - Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide certain protections to battered immigrant women. Title VI: Extension of Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund - Extends through FY 2005 the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2000
21st Century Law Enforcement and Public Safety Act - Title I: Supporting Local Law Enforcement and Promoting Crime-Fighting Technologies - Expands the purpose of the COPS (public safety and community policing) program to increase the number of prosecutors as well as police. Authorizes grants for underserved rural areas of less than 25,000 people. Supports the creation or expansion of community-based justice programs. Extends the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act. Integrated Information Technology Assistance Act of 2000 - Authorizes grants and technical assistance to, or contracts with, public agencies, Indian tribal governments, private entities, and international agencies for the development, implementation, and improvement of justice information systems to achieve greater integration and improved information sharing among criminal justice agencies. Authorizes the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to expand the Combined DNA Identification System to include information from missing persons and criminal offenses and acts of juvenile delinquency committed under Federal law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and the District of Columbia Code. Title II: Breaking the Cycle of Drugs and Violence - Subtitle A: Zero Tolerance Drug Supervision - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants for programs that support: (1) developing and implementing comprehensive drug testing policies and practices with regard to criminal justice populations; and (2) establishing appropriate interventions to illegal drug use for offender populations. Reestablishes drug courts. Subtitle B: Anti-Drug Provisions - Requires the Secretary of Transportation to withhold funds from any State that has not enacted and is not enforcing a law that considers as intoxicated a driver with an alcohol concentration level of 0.08 percent or greater. Drug-Free Teenage Drivers Act - Directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish a demonstration program in several States to provide drug testing for all teenaged applicants (or other first time applicants) for a driver's license. Subtitle C: Anti-Drug and Organized Crime Money Laundering Act - Provides that for purposes of proving a violation of provisions involving an illegal money transmitting business, it shall be sufficient for the Government to prove that the defendant knew that the business lacked a license required by State law or failed to comply with money transmitting business registration requirements. Sets forth provisions regarding restraint of assets of persons arrested abroad and long-arm jurisdiction over foreign money launderers. Includes a foreign bank within the definition of "financial institution" for purposes of money laundering provisions. Expands the definition of "specified unlawful activity" to cover certain listed offenses, including, with respect to a financial transaction occurring in the United States, an offense against a foreign nation involving a crime of violence, fraud, bribery of a public official, smuggling or export control violations involving munitions, and an offense under which the United States would be obligated by a multilateral treaty either to extradite the alleged offender or to submit the case for prosecution if the offender were found within U.S. territory. Sets forth provisions regarding criminal forfeiture for money laundering, venue, bulk cash smuggling, and penalties for violations of geographic targeting orders and record-keeping requirements. Title III: Fighting Terrorism and International Crime - Subtitle A: Investigating and Punishing Violent Crimes Against U.S. Nationals Abroad - Prohibits: (1) extortion against U.S. nationals abroad in furtherance of organized crime; and (2) murder or serious assault of a State or local law enforcement, judicial, or other official abroad. Subtitle B: Strengthening the Air, Land and Sea Borders of the United States - Provides for the death penalty under specified circumstances involving violence committed along the U.S. border. Subtitle C: Denying Safe Haven to International Criminals - Provides for extradition for offenses not covered by a list treaty, or absent a treaty, under specified circumstances. Excludes from entry into the United States persons involved in international alien smuggling. Subtitle D: Seizing and Forfeiting the Assets of International Criminals - Authorizes the U.S. Customs Service to examine outbound mail for contraband. Provides for forfeiture of property used to violate Federal explosives laws. Subtitle E: Responding to Emerging International Crime Threats - Provides for U.S. jurisdiction over certain financial crimes committed abroad. Subtitle F: Promoting Global Cooperation in the Fight Against International Crime - Establishes procedures for execution of mutual legal assistance requests. Authorizes training of foreign law enforcement agencies for anti-terrorism purposes. Subtitle G: Streamlining the Investigation and Prosecution of International Crimes in U.S. Courts - Authorizes: (1) Federal reimbursement of State and local law enforcement agencies in international crime cases; and (2) granting safe conduct for foreign witnesses testifying in U.S. courts. Prohibits fugitives from benefitting from time served abroad. Authorizes the suspension of statutes of limitations for the collection of evidence located abroad. Subtitle H: Terrorism - Prohibits specified conduct with respect to biological agents, toxins, and delivery systems. Rail and Mass Transportation Anti-Terrorism and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 - Prohibits specified terrorist attacks and other acts of violence against railroad carriers and mass transportation systems. Title IV: Protecting Americans and Supporting Victims of Crime - Subtitle A: Violence Against Women - Reauthorizes certain Violence Against Women Act programs. Comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of State to establish mechanisms to measure and evaluate global progress in reducing trafficking. Urges the President to promote economic opportunities for women and establish or expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data, including significant research and resource information on domestic and international trafficking in persons. Creates a new "T" non- immigrant visa classification for certain aliens possessing material information concerning unlawful activity. Authorizes assistance to victims of trafficking without regard to immigration status. Establishes new prohibitions against trafficking and criminal exploitation of workers and unlawful possession of documents in furtherance of trafficking, criminal worker exploitation, involuntary servitude, or peonage. Subtitle B: Children Exposed to Violence - Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to provide a sentencing enhancement for violent crimes committed in the presence of children. Subtitle C: Victims Assistance - Expands U.S. jurisdiction over child buying and selling offenses. Subtitle D: Health Care Fraud and Abuse - Directs the Sentencing Commission to study and report on health care fraud sentences. Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Punishment Act of 2000 - Prescribes punishment and fines for engaging in a pattern of violations resulting in harm to residents of nursing homes and related facilities. Subtitle E: Consumer Fraud - Provides for the blocking or termination of service in cases of telemarketing scams. Subtitle F: Pension-Welfare and Labor-Management Racketeering Act - Prescribed fines and terms of imprisonment for: (1) fraud in relation to retirement arrangements; and (2) bribery and graft in connection with employee benefit plans. Provides for forfeiture for retirement offenses. Subtitle G: Environmental Crimes and Enforcement Act - Provides for reimbursement by a person convicted of Federal environmental crimes of State, local, or tribal government costs for assistance in Federal investigation and prosecution of such crimes. Establishes within the Environmental Protection Agency a State, local, and tribal environmental enforcement training program. Sets a five year statute of limitations for felony environmental crimes, with exceptions. Provides for environmental crime restitution or remediation. Subtitle H: Hate Crimes Prevention Act - Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2000 - Prescribes punishment to be imposed for certain acts of violence committed because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of the victim. Title V: Strengthening Federal Criminal Laws to Combat Violent and White-Collar Crime - Subtitle A: Bolstering Federal Law to Fight Violent Crime and Apprehend Dangerous Fugitives - Authorizes the Attorney General to subpoena witnesses to produce records relevant to an investigation regarding apprehension of a fugitive. Subtitle B: Combatting Crime and Improving Operations in Correction Facilities - Increases penalties and expands jurisdiction for sexual abuse and contraband offenses in correctional facilities. Removes wiretap restrictions from prison communications. Subtitle C: Improvements in Federal Law Relating to White Collar Crime - Eliminates the proof of value requirement for felony theft or conversion of grand jury material. Provides for forfeiture of computers and other devices used for counterfeiting. Increases the maximum corporate penalty for antitrust violations. Subtitle D: Federal Law Enforcement Programs - Authorizes executive agencies, under certain circumstances, to pay extended assignment incentives for civil service positions in U.S. territories, commonwealths, or possessions. Subtitle E: Improvements to Federal Sentencing Laws - Rewrites provisions regarding credit for prior custody. Expands a provision allowing for release of non- dangerous offenders who have served at least 30 years in prison who are at least 70 years old.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2000
Drug Availability and Health Care Access Improvement Act of 2000 - Title I: Medicaid Prescription Drug Coverage for Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require State Medicaid plans to cover prescribed drugs for qualified Medicare (SSA title XVIII) and other low-income Medicare beneficiaries. Provides full Federal funding for such Medicaid coverage. Title II: Improved Access of Americans to Health Insurance Coverage - Subtitle A: Access of Medicare Beneficiaries to Medicare+Choice Plans - Amends SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice) with respect to access to Medicare+Choice plans through an increase in the minimum Medicare+Choice capitation rate. Subtitle B: Access of the Self-Employed - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a tax deduction for the full amount of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Subtitle C: Improve the Coverage of Needy Children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the Medicaid Program - Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) to require the respective State Medicaid and SCHIP plans to provide for eligibility determinations, coordinated enrollment, and response to electronic communications received through the national toll-free system the Secretary shall establish. (Sec. 221) Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to provide financial incentives to promote outreach and enrollment activities. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for additional entities qualified to determine Medicaid presumptive eligibility for low-income children. (Sec. 222) Amends SSA title XXI with respect to coordination of pediatric care within a family and reduction in the burden of administering cost-sharing provisions under SCHIP. (Sec. 223) Amends SSA title XIX and XXI to provide for automatic reassessment of eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP benefits in the case of a child who loses eligibility for Medicaid or SCHIP benefits on the basis of changes in income, assets, or age. Amends SSA title XXI to authorize optional coverage of low-income, uninsured pregnant women under a State SCHIP plan. Amends SSA title XIX to give States the option to use an enhanced Federal medical assistance percentage for coverage of additional pregnant women under Medicaid. Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to give States the option to cover qualified alien children under Medicaid and SCHIP. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to except child Medicaid or SCHIP assistance from the prohibition on seeking support from sponsors. Amends SSA title XXI to provide for: (1) elimination of the funding offset for exercise of the presumptive eligibility option under SCHIP; and (2) coordination of it with the Maternal and Child Health Services program under SSA title V. Title III: Improved Access to Reasonably Priced Prescription Drugs - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with regard to: (1) conditions for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning notices about imported drugs; and (2) consumer information in prescription drug advertising. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary to inform patients of the existence of programs operated by prescription drug manufacturers to provide such drugs to patients without charge. (Sec. 304) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the increased merger of drug manufacturers has resulted in a decrease in price competition in the prescription drug market and increased the potential for collusion in setting prices; and (2) the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission should give increased scrutiny to the anti-competitive effects of such mergers.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Immigrant Labor Policy Review Act - Establishes the High Level Commission on Immigrant Labor Policy. Directs the Commission to study the interactions between Federal immigration policy and the labor markets for aliens in the United States. Terminates the Commission six months after submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2000
Money Laundering Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal criminal code (the code) to provide that, for purposes of proving a violation of provisions involving an illegal money transmitting business, it shall be sufficient for the Government to prove that the defendant knew that the business lacked a license required by State law, failed to comply with money transmitting business registration requirements, or both, but it shall not be necessary to show that the defendant knew that the operation of such business without a license or registration was an offense punishable as a felony or misdemeanor. (Sec. 4) Grants the district courts jurisdiction over any foreign person that commits an offense under civil money laundering provisions involving a financial transaction that occurs in the United States, subject to specified requirements. Authorizes the court to issue a pretrial restraining order or take any other action necessary to ensure that any bank account or other property held by the defendant in the United States is available to satisfy a judgment under such provisions. (Sec. 5) Includes a foreign bank within the definition of "financial institution" for purposes of money laundering provisions. (Sec. 6) Expands the definition of "specified unlawful activity" to cover certain listed offenses, including, with respect to a financial transaction occurring in the United States, an offense against a foreign nation involving: (1) a crime of violence; (2) bribery of a public official; (3) smuggling or export control violations involving munitions listed in the United States Munitions List or technologies with military applications; and (4) an offense under which the United States would be obligated by a multilateral treaty either to extradite the alleged offender or to submit the case for prosecution if the offender were found within U.S. territory. Includes within such activity an offense relating to firearms trafficking, computer fraud and abuse, any felony violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, fraud in the purchase of securities, and certain Lacey Act and Clean Air Act violations. Includes burglary and embezzlement within the scope of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. (Sec. 7) Amends the code to: (1) provide for criminal forfeiture for money laundering conspiracies; and (2) authorize a party to request the Clerk of the Court in the district in which a proceeding for civil or criminal forfeiture is pending to issue a subpoena to a financial institution to produce documents. (Sec. 9) Permits: (1) a person who commits multiple violations of money laundering provisions that are part of the same scheme or continuing course of conduct to be charged in a single count; (2) a prosecution for a money laundering offense to be brought in any district in which the financial or monetary transaction is conducted, or where a prosecution for the underlying specified unlawful activity could be brought, if the defendant participated in the transfer of the proceeds of the specified unlawful activity from that district to the district where the financial or monetary transaction is conducted, with an exception; and (3) the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications where there is a violation of provisions dealing with the reporting and illegal structuring of currency transactions. (Sec. 12) Revises the definition of "knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity" for purposes of monetary instrument laundering prohibitions to specify that such knowledge shall not require knowing whether or not the unlawful activity constituted a felony. (Sec. 13) Requires that a person asserting an innocent owner defense: (1) to the forfeiture of currency, monetary instruments, or funds (funds) purchased or received from a money broker be a bona fide purchaser for value without reason to know that the funds were subject to forfeiture; and (2) establish that such person took all reasonable affirmative steps to determine the source of the funds, or to verify that the funds were not derived from illegal activity. (Sec. 14) Considers a transaction, transportation, transmission, or transfer of funds to involve the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if it involves: (1) funds directly traceable to the specified unlawful activity; (2) a bank account in which the proceeds of such activity have been commingled with other funds; or (3) two or more bank accounts, where the proceeds of such activity are deposited into one bank account and there is a contemporaneous, related withdrawal from, or debit to, another bank account controlled by the same person or by a person acting in concert with that person. Defines a "monetary transaction in criminally derived property that is of a value greater than $10,000" to include: (1) a monetary transaction involving the transfer, withdrawal, encumbrance, or other disposition of more than $10,000 from a bank account in which more than $10,000 in proceeds of specified unlawful activity have been commingled with other funds; (2) a series of monetary transactions in amounts under $10,000 that exceed $10,000 in the aggregate and that are closely related to each other in terms of time, the identity of the parties involved, the nature of the transactions, and the manner in which they are conducted; and (3) any financial transaction involving two or more bank accounts, where the proceeds of such activity are deposited into one bank account and there is a contemporaneous, related withdrawal from, or debit to, another bank account controlled by the same person that involves more than $10,000 in proceeds of specified unlawful activity. (Sec. 15) Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to make: (1) current provisions of the Act regarding the taking of depositions under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure applicable to the extent that the provisions of the Rule are consistent with the purposes for which discovery is conducted under such provisions; and (2) the provisions of Rule 15 requiring the defendant's consent and presence at the deposition inapplicable. (Sec. 16) Authorizes the court to order: (1) that the defendant return property placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court to the court's jurisdiction; and (2) that the defendant repatriate any property subject to forfeiture pending trial and deposit that property in the registry of the court or with the U.S. Marshals Service or the Secretary of the Treasury in an interest-bearing account. Specifies that failure to comply shall be punishable as a civil or criminal contempt of court and may also result in an enhanced sentence for the offense giving rise to the forfeiture. (Sec. 17) Includes within the definition of "specified unlawful activity" providing material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations. (Sec. 18) Prohibits knowingly concealing, with intent to evade a currency reporting requirement, more than $10,000 in currency or other monetary instruments on an individual's person or in any conveyance, article of luggage, merchandise, or other container and transporting or transferring such currency or monetary instruments from a place within, to a place outside, the United States, or vice versa. Sets penalties for violations. Sets forth forfeiture provisions. Directs the court, upon a showing by the property owner by a preponderance of the evidence that the currency or monetary instruments involved were derived from a legitimate source and were intended for a lawful purpose, to reduce the forfeiture to the maximum amount that is not grossly disproportional to the gravity of the offense. Revises provisions regarding search and forfeiture of monetary instruments to direct the court, in imposing sentence for any violation of specified currency and monetary instrument reporting requirements, or conspiracy to commit such a violation, to order the defendant to forfeit all property involved in the offense and any property traceable thereto. Sets forth provisions regarding procedures governing forfeiture, civil forfeiture, and proportionality of the forfeiture. (Sec. 19) Provides that any person who conceals more than $10,000 in currency in any vehicle or in any compartment or container within any vehicle and transports such currency in interstate commerce on any public road or highway, knowing that the currency was derived from or intended to be used to promote some form of unlawful activity, shall be punished under prohibitions against engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. Allows the defendant's knowledge to be established by proof that the defendant was willfully blind to the source or intended use of the currency. (Sec. 20) Subjects to civil forfeiture property involved in a transaction or attempted transaction in violation of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions regarding returns relating to cash received in trade or business (which include provisions regarding cash receipts of more than $10,000) or any property traceable to such property (see also section 27). (Sec. 21) Modifies civil forfeiture provisions to: (1) subject to civil forfeiture any property within U.S. jurisdiction constituting, derived from, or traceable to certain foreign crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and which would be punishable under U.S. law by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year if such conduct had occurred within U.S. jurisdiction, or any property used to facilitate such offense; and (2) authorize the Attorney General or the Secretary to transfer forfeited personal property or proceeds to a foreign country which participated in the seizure or forfeiture of the property if specified conditions are met whenever property is civilly or criminally forfeited under any provision of Federal law. (Sec. 23) Amends the code and the CSA to provide that to the extent that a forfeiture order includes only an in personam money judgment against the defendant, no proceeding with respect to publication of notice of the order, the Government's intent to dispose of the property, and notice to persons known to have alleged an interest in the property shall be necessary. (Sec. 24) Amends CSA criminal forfeiture provisions to provide that: (1) if property subject to criminal forfeiture is already in U.S. custody, it shall not be necessary to seize or restrain the property for the purpose of criminal forfeiture; and (2) upon application of the United States, the court may enter a restraining order or injunction, require the execution of a satisfactory performance bond, or take any other action to preserve the availability of substitute property, subject to specified requirements. (Sec. 26) Includes tribal governments within the definition of a "financial institution" for purposes of Federal record keeping and reporting requirements regarding monetary transactions. (Sec. 27) Transfers from the Internal Revenue Code to other Federal law governing monetary transactions specified reporting requirements relating to coins and currency (in sums of more than $10,000) received in nonfinancial trade or business. (Sec. 28) Provides for civil and criminal penalties for willful violations of orders the Secretary may issue to financial institutions in a geographic area (geographic targeting orders) or other specified regulations. Increases civil and criminal penalties for violations of specified recordkeeping requirements. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and specified monetary law to increase civil and criminal penalties for violation of recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 29) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include as an excludable alien (i.e., ineligible to receive a visa and be admitted to the United States) any individual who is engaged in money laundering activities, and the spouse, son, or daughter of such individual, subject to specified requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General, upon the request from a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, to waive such provision in the case of an alien witness, potential witness, person cooperating with an investigation into major criminal activity, or an immediate family member or close associate of a witness, potential witness, or person cooperating with such an investigation, if the Attorney General determines that the alien will not pose a danger to the safety of persons or property. (Sec. 30) Includes within the definition of: (1) "financial institution" a bail bondsman for purposes of provisions concerning records and reports on monetary instruments transactions; and (2) "subpoena for records" (for purposes of code provisions regarding obstruction of criminal investigations) a subpoena issued pursuant to Federal judicial code provisions regarding assistance to foreign and international tribunals and to litigants before such tribunals. (Sec. 31) Amends the CSA to provide that an order of criminal forfeiture: (1) may be enforced in the manner provided for the collection and payment of fines under the code, or in the same manner as a judgment in a civil action; and (2) that has been made part of a criminal sentence shall not abate by reason of the death of any or all defendants, petitioners, or potential petitioners, regardless of any appeal that may be pending at the time of death.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2000
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the judiciary, and related agencies. Title I: Department of Justice - Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for the Department of Justice for: (1) general administration; (2) a Joint Automated Booking System; (3) conversion to narrowband communications; (4) counterterrorism activities; (5) payments of costs of telecommunications carriers in complying with capability requirements; (6) administration of pardon and clemency petitions and immigration-related activities; (7) establishment of a Federal Detention Trustee to exercise functions relating to the detention of Federal prisoners in non- Federal institutions or those in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and detention of aliens in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); (8) the Office of Inspector General; (9) the U.S. Parole Commission; (10) legal activities; (11) antitrust activities; (12) the Offices of U.S. Attorneys; (13) the U.S. Trustee Program; (14) the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission; (15) the U.S. Marshals Service, including amounts for Federal prisoner detention; (16) fees and expenses of witnesses; (17) the Community Relations Service; (18) certain uses of the Assets Forfeiture Fund; (19) administrative expenses related to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act; (20) the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund; (21) interagency law enforcement with respect to organized crime drug trafficking; (22) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (23) construction for specified agencies; (24) the Drug Enforcement Administration; (25) the INS; (26) the Federal prison system, including an amount for buildings and facilities; (27) Office of Justice programs; (28) State and local law enforcement assistance; (29) the Executive Office for Weed and Seed; (30) community oriented policing services; (31) juvenile justice programs; and (32) public safety officers' benefits. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. (Sec. 103) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this title to: (1) pay for abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or in the case of rape; or (2) require any person to perform or facilitate an abortion. (Sec. 109) Makes a provision of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 relating to grants for assistance to the victims of Pan Am Flight 103 applicable for FY 2001. (Sec. 110) Applies certain provisions of law that authorize the Department of Justice, in litigation involving unusually high costs, to receive and retain reimbursement for salaries and expenses from any other governmental component being represented in the legislation only to litigation in which the United States (or a U.S. agency or officer) is a defendant. (Sec. 111) Makes a certain provision of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 that prohibits the use of funds by any Act to pay premium pay to any Department of Justice attorney applicable to FY 2001 as well. (Sec. 112) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish the Genealogy Fee for providing genealogy research and information services. Provides for deposit of the fee as offsetting collections in the Examinations Fee Account. Requires INS employees to collect fees before disseminating any requested genealogical information. Authorizes the Attorney General to establish and collect a premium fee for employment-based petitions and applications. Requires the fee to be used to provide certain premium-processing services to business customers and to make infrastructure improvements in the adjudications and customer-service processes. Provides for deposit of the fee as offsetting collections in the Immigration Examinations Fee Account. (Sec. 113) Prohibits the Attorney General, during the current fiscal year, from certifying any amount for appropriation to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account (established under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act) for any purpose of the Department of Justice without advance notification of the Appropriations Committees. Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies - Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for the Department of Commerce for: (1) the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; (2) the International Trade Commission; (3) the International Trade Administration; (4) export administration and national security activities; (5) the Economic Development Administration; (6) minority business development; (7) economic and statistical analysis programs; (8) the Census Bureau; (9) the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; (10) public telecommunications facilities planning and construction grants; (11) information infrastructure grants; (12) the Patent and Trademark Office; (13) the Under Secretary for Technology-Office of Technology Policy; (14) the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including amounts for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership and for construction of new research facilities; (15) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including amounts for procurement, acquisition, and construction of capital assets; (16) restoration of Pacific salmon populations; (17) the Coastal Zone Management Fund; (18) the Fishermen's Contingency Fund; (19) the Foreign Fishing Observer Fund; (20) the fisheries finance program account; (21) general administration; and (22) the Office of Inspector General. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Title III: The Judiciary - Judiciary Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for: (1) the Supreme Court, including an amount for care of the building and grounds; (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; (3) the U.S. Court of International Trade; (4) the courts of appeals, district courts, and other judicial services; (5) defender services; (6) fees of jurors and commissioners; (7) court security; (8) the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; (9) the Federal Judicial Center; (10) judicial retirement funds; and (11) the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. (Sec. 304) Authorizes the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to designate judicial branch officers and employees to be disbursing officers and to certify payment requests from appropriations and funds. Sets forth provisions regarding liability of such officers and employees. Title IV: Department of State and Related Agency - Department of State and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for the Department of State for: (1) administration of foreign affairs, diplomatic and consular programs; (2) the Capital Investment Fund; (3) the Office of Inspector General; (4) educational and cultural exchange programs; (5) representation allowances; (6) protection of foreign missions and officials; (7) embassy security, construction, and maintenance; (8) emergencies in the diplomatic and consular service; (9) the repatriation loans program account; (10) the American Institute in Taiwan; (11) the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (12) international organizations, conferences, peacekeeping, and commissions; (13) the Asia Foundation; (14) the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, Incorporated; (15) the Israeli Arab Scholarship Program; and (16) the National Endowment for Democracy. Makes appropriations for the Broadcasting Board of Governors for international broadcasting operations and capital improvements. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 403) Provides that there shall be up to 71 Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State in the Department of State. (Sec. 404) Bars the use of funds made available in this Act by the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors to provide assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. (Sec. 405) Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to require the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources to be appointed by the President. Makes such Deputy Secretary a Level II Executive Schedule position. Title V: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for the: (1) Maritime Administration for maritime security, operations and training, and the maritime guaranteed loan program; (2) Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; (3) Commission on Civil Rights; (4) Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (5) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); (6) Federal Communications Commission; (7) Federal Maritime Commission; (8) Federal Trade Commission; (9) Legal Services Corporation; (10) Marine Mammal Commission; (11) Securities and Exchange Commission; (12) Small Business Administration, including amounts for the Office of Inspector General and business and disaster loans; and (13) State Justice Institute. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Title VI: General Provisions - Sets forth limitations on the use of funds under this Act. (Sec. 607) Sets forth Buy American provisions. (Sec. 608) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to: (1) enforce any EEOC guidelines covering harassment based on religion if such guidelines do not differ from proposed guidelines of October 1, 1993; (2) pay for costs incurred in operating certain diplomatic or consular posts in Vietnam or increasing the number of personnel assigned to such posts until the President makes a specified certification; or (3) provide specified personal comforts in the Federal prison system. (Sec. 609) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act for any United Nations undertaking if: (1) such undertaking is a peacekeeping mission and will involve U.S. armed forces under the control of a foreign national; and (2) the President's military advisors have not submitted a recommendation that such involvement is in the national security interest and the President has not submitted such recommendation to Congress. (Sec. 611) Makes earmarks, limitations, or minimum funding requirements contained in any other Act inapplicable to funds appropriated under this Act. (Sec. 617) Makes funds provided by this Act unavailable to promote the sale or export of tobacco or tobacco products or to seek the reduction or removal by any foreign country of restrictions on the marketing of such products, except for restrictions which are not applied equally to products of the same type. (Sec. 618) Bars funds appropriated under any law from being used for: (1) the implementation of any tax or fee in connection with any criminal background check system that implements requirements under the Federal criminal code in connection with certain restrictions on the transfer of firearms; and (2) any such system that does not result in the destruction of information submitted by persons determined not to be prohibited from owning a firearm. (Sec. 621) Bars the use of funds appropriated in this Act for purposes of processing or granting immigrant or nonimmigrant visas to residents of countries that the Attorney General has determined deny or unreasonably delay accepting the return of certain deportable aliens. (Sec. 622) Prohibits the use of funds made available to the Department of Justice in this Act for transporting any maximum or high security prisoner to any prison other than one certified by the Federal Bureau of Prisons as appropriately secure. (Sec. 623) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to propose or issue rules or orders for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. Title VII: Rescission - Rescinds a specified amount appropriated to the Maritime Administration for the maritime guaranteed loan program account.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2000
Declares a named individual to be eligible for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Directs the Attorney General to adust the alien status of certain Syrian (Jewish) nationals present in the United States to permanent resident status. Limits the total number of such adjustees to 3,000.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Child Support Distribution Act of 2000 - Title I: Distribution of Child Support - Amends title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) modify the rule requiring that a family member assign support rights to the State as a condition for receiving TANF; (2) revise child support payment and distribution guidelines; and (3) mandate that State plans for child and spousal support ban the use of the TANF program to recover Medicaid costs for the birth of a child for whom support rights have been assigned. Title II: Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders - Requires State plans to prescribe mandatory triennial review and modification of child support orders for TANF recipients, including certification that the child support enforcement program will receive notice of certain families leaving the TANF program. Title III: Expanded Information and Enforcement - Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to report to the public separate sets of recommendations regarding participation of certain public and private child support enforcement agencies, including privacy safeguards, data security, and due process rights. Subtitle A: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Public Non-IV-D Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide information and enforcement mechanisms to public non-IV-D child support enforcement agencies, including all information in the State Directory of New Hires and information obtained through certain information comparisons. (Sec. 312) Authorizes a State agency implementing such option to use certain enforcement mechanisms, including: (1) Federal tax refund intercepts; (2) reports of arrearages to credit bureaus, (3) passport sanctions; (4) financial institution data matches; and (5) income withholding for unemployment insurance benefits. Subtitle B: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Private Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide the same information and enforcement mechanisms to private child support enforcement agencies as apply to their public non-IV-D child support enforcement agency counterparts. Title IV: Expanded Enforcement - Reduces the amount of child support arrearages that will trigger passport denial. Provides for the use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors. Title V: Fatherhood Programs - Subtitle A: Fatherhood Grant Program - Prescribes requirements for a fatherhood grant program to promote marriage, parenting, and employment building skills. Subtitle B: Fatherhood Projects of National Significance - Instructs the Secretary to award a grant to a nationally recognized, nonprofit fatherhood promotion organization to develop and promote marriage and responsible fatherhood, including a national clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding media campaigns and fatherhood programs. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Instructs the Secretary to: (1) report to certain congressional committees on undistributed child support payments; (2) disclose to a State unemployment compensation agency the putative employer of an individual listed in the National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 604) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) declare that nonimmigrant aliens are ineligible to receive visas and excluded from admission for nonpayment of adjudicated child support; and (2) authorize immigration officers to serve an alien applicant for admission to the United States with legal process with respect to any action to enforce or establish a legal obligation to pay child support.. Makes conforming amendments to SSA title IV part A to: (1) reflect these provisions; and (2) authorize the Secretary to share child support enforcement information in order to enforce Immigration and Naturalization law. (Sec. 605) Amends the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program to: (1) correct errors in conforming amendments in the Welfare-to-Work and Child Support Amendments of 1999; and (2) repeal the set-aside of welfare-to-work funds for successful performance bonus. Title VII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to reauthorize appropriations for FY 2001 through 2004 from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2000
Title I: Access to Safety and Advocacy for Victims of Violence Against Women Act - Access to Safety and Advocacy for Victims of Violence Against Women Act - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to enhance the availability and quality of civil legal assistance for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault through: (1) efforts to further the health, safety, and economic needs of such victims; (2) the provision of comprehensive legal services to such victims; (3) the development of partnerships between domestic violence and sexual assault programs and civil legal assistance providers; (4) the improvement of court and administrative handling of pro se cases involving such victims; (5) efforts to enhance the availability and quality of civil legal representation through increasing law school programs on domestic violence and sexual assault; (6) the development of training or technical assistance programs on State, tribal, or local levels to improve the civil justice system's response to domestic violence and sexual assault; and (7) the provision of civil legal assistance for the non-abusive parent in cases where the custody and visitation of children subjected to child sexual abuse is sought or challenged by the abusive parent or in any child welfare or abuse and neglect proceedings involving children subjected to sexual abuse. (Sec. 104) Sets forth application requirements. (Sec. 105) Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth an allocation formula providing that at least 65 percent of grant funds shall be allocated to projects that provide direct services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Bars discrimination against specified categories of individuals. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the Attorney General to evaluate the grants funded through contracts or other arrangements with entities expert on sexual assault or domestic violence and evaluation research. Title II: Access to Safety and Advocacy for Battered Immigrants - Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to provide that a recipient of funds from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) shall not be prohibited from using: (1) funds derived from a source other than LSC to provide legal assistance to any alien who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty to prevent or obtain relief; and (2) LSC funds to provide legal assistance to any alien who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty who qualifies for classification under specified provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent or obtain relief. (Sec. 202) Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2000, to provide for funding for civil legal assistance for any alien who has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty to prevent or obtain relief.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2000
Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2000 - Title I: Brownfields Revitalization Funding - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish programs to provide grants to eligible entities (including local government units, redevelopment agencies, States, and Indian tribes) for: (1) inventorying, characterizing, assessing, and conducting planning related to brownfield sites; and (2) remediating brownfield sites through loans. Defines a "brownfield site," with exceptions, as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance or pollutant. Includes within such definition a site contaminated by a controlled substance or mine-scarred land. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Brownfields Liability Clarifications - Exempts from liability under CERCLA certain owners of real property contiguous to property on which there has been a hazardous substance release or threatened release that is not owned by such persons. (Sec. 202) Absolves from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any casefor which the owner is not liable by reason of this section and the facility's fair market value has increased above that which existed before the action was taken. (Sec. 203) Deems a person, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to have undertaken appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person demonstrates that inquiries were undertaken in accordance with specified requirements (for property purchased after May 31, 1997, compliance with an American Society for Testing and Materials standard until standards are issued by the Administrator). Deems the appropriate inquiry requirements to be satisfied by a facility inspection and title search that reveal no basis for further investigation in the case of property for residential or similar use purchased by a nongovernmental or noncommercial entity. Title III: State Response Programs - Adds CERCLA provisions authorizing the Administrator to provide grants to States or Indian tribes to establish or enhance response programs comprised of elements including survey and inventory of brownfield sites, public participation opportunities, oversight and enforcement authorities, and certification mechanisms. Authorizes appropriations. Restricts authority to take enforcement actions under CERCLA in cases of hazardous substance releases addressed by a State response plan. Authorizes the President to bring enforcement actions in certain instances, including cases where a State requests assistance, there is migration of contamination across State lines or onto Federal property, or there is an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or welfare or the environment and additional response actions are likely to be necessary. Makes restrictions on the President's authority to take such actions applicable only at sites in States that maintain, update at least annually, and make publicly available a record of sites at which response actions have been completed in the previous year and are planned to be addressed under the State response program in the upcoming year. Applies enforcement action requirements only to response actions conducted after June 8, 2000. (Sec. 302) Requires the President to defer final listing of an eligible response site on the National Priorities List if the State is conducting a response action in compliance with a State response program that will provide long-term health and environmental protection or is actively pursuing an agreement to perform such an action with a capable person. Requires reasonable progress toward completion of actions for deferral of listing. Permits the President to decline to defer, or discontinue a deferral if: (1) deferral would be inappropriate because the State, as an owner, operator, or significant contributor is a potentially responsible party; (2) the criteria under the National Contingency Plan for issuance of a health advisory have been met; or (3) the other conditions under this section for deferral are no longer being met.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2000
Young Immigrant Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Attorney General to establish special asylum and detention procedures for alien children unaccompanied by a parent or guardian, including (1) appointment of a non-Immigration and Naturalization Service guardian ad litem; (2) appointment of legal counsel; (3) custodial detention provisions; and (4) translation services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Family, Work and Immigrant Integration Amendments of 2000 - Title I: Central American and Haitian Parity - Central American and Haitian Parity Act of 2000- Amends the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to: (1) extend permanent resident status adjustment provisions to qualifying Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Haitian nationals; and (2) extend the application filing deadline. Permits certain pending applications filed by Salvadoran or Guatemalan nationals under the Act or Haitian nationals under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to be converted to an application for status adjustment under the Act. Amends such Acts to: (1) authorize the Attorney General to waive certain grounds of inadmissibility; and (2) provide for issuance of immigrant visas to certain spouses and children. Provides for the limited reopening of certain orders of deportation, exclusion, or removal by certain Haitian, Cuban, or Nicaraguan nationals. Title II: Filing Deadlines for Adjustment of Status of Certain Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Haitian Nationals - Extends specified permanent resident adjustment of status filing deadlines for certain Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Haitian nationals. Title III: Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairnes s- Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 2000 - Provides for the permanent resident adjustment of status of certain Liberian nationals present in the United States. Title IV: Increased Flexibility in Employment-Based Immigration - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) to make employment-based immigrant visas available on a quarterly basis without regard to per-country limitations if unused visas are available. Authorizes a U.S.-residency extension for a nonimmigrant alien for whom an employment-based immigrant petition has been filed but who is subject to the per-country limit until resolution of such alien's application for status adjustment. Authorizes a qualifying H-1B alien to accept new employment upon a prospective employer's filing of a new petition, which shall last until such petition's adjudication. Provides for one-year extensions of authorized H-1B stay in cases of permanent residence adjudications lasting 365 days or longer. Title V: Restoration of Section 245 (i ) - Amends the Act to eliminate the restriction that only aliens with preference petitions or labor certifications filed by January 14, 1998, are eligible to adjust to permanent resident status without leaving the United States if they entered without inspection or fall within one of other specified classes. Title VI: Registry Dates - Date of Registry Act of 2000- Amends the Act to extend the admission date for permanent residence for certain aliens, including additional one-year extensions during specified time periods. Title VII: Backlog Reduction for Family-Sponsored Immigrants - Increases the number of annual family-sponsored immigrant visas. Authorizes appropriations for related visa and adjudication expenses. Title VIII: Alien Children Protection - Alien Children Protection Act of 2000 - Requires, with exceptions, an alien under the age of 18 who does not have an adult relative or guardian in the United States to be placed in a facility appropriate for children (as defined in this Act) while he or she is awaiting final immigration status adjudication. Amends the Act to authorize the Attorney General to adjust the status of an alien under the age of 18 with no lawful immigration status to that of a permanent resident alien if: (1) the alien or parent or guardian has so applied, and the alien has resided in the United States for five consecutive years; or (2) no foreign-domiciled parent or guardian has requested the alien's return, and the Attorney General determines that a return would subject the alien to physical or mental abuse, and it is in the alien's best interests to remain in the United States. Limits the annual number of such status adjustments. Directs the Attorney General to appoint a child welfare professional or trained individual as such alien's guardian ad litem. Expresses the sense of Congress commending the Immigration and Naturalization Service for issuance and implementation of specified children's asylum claims guidelines. Directs the General Accounting Office to report with respect to U.S. embassy and consular efforts to reunify on a priority basis children in foreign countries with parents who are legally present in the United States. Title IX: Benefits Restoration - Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2000- Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 with respect to lawful resident aliens and their eligibility for Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA)) and other types of Federal assistance. Provides States with the option of extending Medicaid-eligibility to certain lawful resident alien pregnant women and children, as well as the option of extending SSA title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) eligibility to such children. Title X: Admission of Spouses and Children of Certain Nonimmigrants - Amends the Act to provide for the temporary visitor or student admission of certain alien spouses or children of U.S. permanent residents. States that a petition for permanent resident classification filed on behalf of such alien shall not constitute evidence of intent to abandon a foreign residence.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Agricultural Opportunities Act - Title I: Agricultural Worker Registries - Directs the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to establish a database system of U.S. worker and eligible alien agricultural worker registries to provide temporary and seasonal agricultural job opportunity and referral information. States that such registries may be established as part of the "America's Job Bank" and "America's Talent Bank" databases. Bases registry coverage on job opportunities in a single State, except for the New England States which may be represented by a single registry. Requires prospective employers of H-2C visa agricultural workers to first apply for registry workers before a petition to import H-2C workers may be approved. Sets forth individual registrant requirements. States that an agricultural worker may apply for registry inclusion in the State of his or her residency. Grants referral preference to U.S. workers. Directs the Attorney General to establish an employment eligibility verification system. Title II: H-2C Program - Sets forth registry application requirements for H-2C employers and employer associations, including assurances: (1) that the job opportunity is not the result of a labor dispute, and is temporary or seasonal; (2) respecting required wages and benefits, and compliance with labor laws; (3) respecting advertising in the registry and other labor market sources, and contact of former employees; and (4) respecting provision of workers compensation. Provides that: (1) the Secretary, upon application approval, shall complete a registry search and notify an employer of available registered workers within seven days of the beginning work date; (2) if insufficient workers are available, the Secretary shall so notify an employer, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State; (3) an employer shall pay a user fee for each admitted alien worker; (4) an employer may apply directly to the Secretary of State for alien worker admissions if such worker referral has not been received within the seven-day period; and (5) an employer may file a request for redetermination of need. (Sec. 204) Sets forth employment requirements with respect to: (1) wages; (2) housing; (3) transportation reimbursement; and (4) obligation to employ U.S. workers. (Sec. 205) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an alternative agricultural temporary worker program (H-2C visa) for admission of aliens who are outside the United States. Sets forth program provisions. States that nothing in this title shall preclude the Secretary and the Attorney General from continuing to apply special procedures to alien employment in the range production of livestock. Directs the Attorney General to establish an H-2C departure verification program. . Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary to establish a process to receive and enforce complaints against employers by aggrieved persons or third party organizations (including bargaining representatives). Sets forth related provisions respecting: (1) expedited investigation of housing, wage, and child labor violations; (2) written notice of findings and opportunity for appeal; (3) ability of alien workers to change employers; and (4) remedies. Establishes the Commission on Housing Migrant Agricultural Workers which shall study the problem of in-season housing for migrant agricultural workers. Directs the Secretaries of Labor, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services to conduct a study of migrant worker child care, including the relationship between such child care and child labor violations in agriculture. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture to conduct a study of agricultural field sanitation conditions. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of persistent and serious agricultural labor standards violations. (Sec. 302) Authorizes and requests the Attorney General to establish bilateral commissions between the United States and each country having specified numbers of H-2C workers in the United States. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to establish registry user and alien employment user fee schedules and related collection processes. (Sec. 305) States that additional funds for agricultural worker registry startup costs may be taken from amounts available to Federal or State entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act. (Sec. 308) Sets forth the termination date for the this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Education Reinvestment Act- Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise, and reauthorize through FY 2005, various ESEA programs. (Sec. 3) Declares U.S. national educational priorities addressed by this Act. Title I: Student Performance - Revises and renames ESEA title I as Student Performance (currently Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 102) Declares it to be U.S. policy to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education by: (1) holding States, LEAs, and schools accountable for increased student academic performance results; and (2) facilitating improved classroom instruction. (Sec. 103) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the following title I programs under: (1) part A, LEA grants; (2) part B, Even Start; (3) part C, education of migratory children; (4) part D, prevention and intervention programs for youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk of dropping out; (5) provisions for capital expenses; and (6) part E, Federal evaluations, demonstrations, and transition projects. (Sec. 104) Requires SEAs to reserve a specified portion of their title I part A (I-A) funds to: (1) make at least 80 percent of such reserved funds available directly to LEAs; and (2) carry out SEA responsibilities for school improvement, including SEA statewide system of technical assistance and support for LEAs. Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies - Revises ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) (I-A) with respect to formulas for distributing funds to schools with the highest concentrations of poverty. (Sec. 105) Revises State plan requirements with respect to implementing challenging content and student performance standards (standards), yearly student assessments (assessments), and accountability. Requires State standards to: (1) be applied to all schools and children within the State; and (2) include at least the subjects of mathematics, science, and English language arts. Requires a State, if it allows LEAs to adopt more rigorous standards than the State, to allow LEAs to implement such standards. Requires each State plan to demonstrate what constitutes adequate yearly progress (AYP) of the State itself (as well as its schools and LEAs, as under current law) in enabling all children in all schools receiving I-A assistance to meet the State's challenging performance standards. Revises requirements for State definition of AYP. Adds requirements relating to: (1) accountability for AYP; (2) annual improvement by States, LEAs, and schools; and (3) public notice and comment. Requires assessments to be used, starting no later than the 2000-2001 school year, as the primary means of determining the yearly performance of each LEA and school in enabling all children to meet State standards (but does not require States to meet requirements for science standards or assessments until the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year). Requires State plans to provide that students who have attended school in the United States for at least three consecutive years are to be assessed in the English language, with certain exceptions. Requires State plans to describe what reasonable steps the State is taking to assist and encourage LEAs to: (1) measure literacy skills of first graders in schools receiving I-A funds by providing assessments that are developmentally appropriate, aligned with State standards, and scientifically research-based; and (2) identify and take developmentally appropriate and effective interventions in any school served under I-A in which a substantial number of first graders have not demonstrated grade-level literacy proficiency by the end of the school year. Requires State plans to describe how SEAs will: (1) assist each affected LEA and school to develop the capacity to comply with requirements for schoolwide programs, targeted assistance, and assessment and improvement; (2) hold each affected LEA accountable for improved student performance, including a procedure for identifying and assisting LEAs and schools in need of improvement, and for corrective action if assistance is not effective; (3) provide low-performing students additional academic instruction, such as before- and after-school programs and summer academic programs; (4) ensure that all teachers in both schoolwide programs and targeted assistance programs are fully qualified not later than December 31, 2005, and low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by inexperienced, uncertified, or out-of-field teachers; and (5) evaluate and publicly report the State's progress in improving the quality of instruction in the schools served by the SEA and LEAs receiving ESEA funding. Requires State plans to assure that SEAs will: (1) use the disaggregated results of required student assessments, and other available measures or indicators, to review annually the progress of each LEA and school served under I-A to determine whether each one is making the annual progress necessary to ensure that all students will meet the proficient level of performance on such assessments within ten years of the enactment of this Act; (2) modify or eliminate State fiscal and accounting barriers so that elementary and secondary schools can easily consolidate funds from other Federal, State, and local sources for schoolwide programs under specified provisions; and (3) inform LEAs of LEA authority to obtain waivers under title VIII of ESEA and, if the State is an Ed-Flex Partnership State, under the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999. Penalizes States for failing to meet statutory deadlines for demonstrating that they have in place standards, assessments, a system for measuring and monitoring AYP, and a statewide system for holding schools and LEAs accountable for making AYP with specified groups of students. Makes such States ineligible to receive any administrative funds under title I that exceed the amount received for such purposes in the previous year. Directs the Secretary of Education to withhold additional administrative funds in an amount determined appropriate based on the extent of the State's failure. Requires the Secretary, for each additional year that the State fails to comply with such requirements, to withhold at least one-fifth of the amount the State receives for such administrative expenses. Allows a State to request a one-time, one-year waiver to meet such requirements. (Sec. 106) Requires LEA plans to include descriptions of how they will: (1) assist low-performing schools, including those identified as in need of improvement; and (2) promote the use of alternative instructional methods, and extended learning time, such as an extended school year, before- and after-school programs, and summer programs. Requires various LEA assurances with respect to school accountability, improvement, and assessment. Requires LEAs to ensure that all teachers in both schoolwide programs and targeted assistance programs are fully qualified not later than December 31, 2005, and low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by inexperienced, uncertified, or out-of-field teachers. Requires LEAs to reserve at least ten percent of the I-A funds they receive for high quality professional development for professional instructional staff. Sets forth requirements for parental notification and consent for English language instruction. (Sec. 107) Revises school eligibility criteria for school-wide programs. Allows an LEA to use I-A funds for a school-wide programs at schools that serve eligible school attendance areas in which: (1) not less than 40 percent of the children are from low-income families; or (2) not less than 40 percent of the children enrolled in the school are from such families. (Sec. 108) Revises requirements for public school choice plans to allow limited amounts of I-A funds to be used for transportation services. (Sec. 109) Revises requirements for assessment and LEA and school improvement. Requires the provision of public school choice for families of students attending I-A schools deemed to be in need of corrective action. (Sec. 110) Revises requirements for State assistance for school support and improvement. Requires SEAs to provide such assistance according to the following order of priorities: (1) LEAs and schools in need of improvement; (2) LEAs subject to corrective action, and to individual schools for which an LEA has failed to carry out certain responsibilities; and (3) LEAs and schools at risk of being identified as being in need of improvement within the next academic year. Directs SEAs to use for such State assistance certain funds available for technical assistance and support. Authorizes SEAs also to use for such State assistance certain State administrative funds. (Sec. 111) Revises requirements for parental involvement. (Sec. 112) Sets forth required qualifications and duties for teachers and paraprofessionals in I-A schools. (Sec. 113) Revises requirements for professional development activities. Includes among required activities any strategies for identifying and eliminating gender and racial bias in instructional materials, methods, and practices. Includes among optional activities instruction in ways teachers, principals, and guidance counselors can work with parents and students from groups, such as females and minorities, that are underrepresented in careers in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology, to encourage and maintain student interest in such careers. (Sec. 115) Includes among coordination requirements for LEAs the linking of LEA educational services with those provided in local Head Start agencies. (Sec. 116) Revises requirements for reservation and allocation of funds for grants for the outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior. (Sec. 117) Sets forth revised formulas for allocating amounts for basic grants, concentration grants, and targeted grants. (Sec. 118) Revises requirements for basic, concentration, and targeted grants to LEAs. (Sec. 121) Revises special allocation procedures. Part B: Even Start Family Literacy Programs - Revises ESEA title I part B (Even Start Family Literacy Programs) (Even Start). Directs the Secretary (currently the National Institute for Literacy) to disseminate, or designate another entity to disseminate, the results of certain research to States and recipients of Even Start subgrants. Part C: Education of Migratory Children - Revises ESEA title I part C (Education of Migratory Children) to refer to language instruction programs under the new ESEA title III provided by this Act (current law refers to bilingual education). Part D: Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk of Dropping Out - Revises ESEA title I part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk of Dropping Out). Part E: Federal Evaluations, Demonstrations, and Transition Projects - Revises title I part E (Federal Evaluations, Demonstrations, and Transition Projects) to set new deadlines for certain interim and final reports on the National Assessment of educational Progress (NAEP). (Sec. 152) Establishes a Comprehensive School Reform program. (Replaces part E provisions for demonstrations of innovative practices.) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to SEAs to provide subgrants to LEAs to provide financial incentives for schools to develop comprehensive school reforms, based upon scientifically-based research and effective practices that include an emphasis on basic academics and parental involvement so that all children can meet challenging State content and performance standards. Allows reservation of specified amounts for schools supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), schools in U.S. territories, and national evaluation activities. Sets forth requirements for State awards, local awards, evaluation, and reporting. Authorizes appropriations. Part F: Rural Education Development Initiative - Establishes a Rural Education Development Initiative as a new title I part F. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for elementary and secondary education development by LEAs that are eligible because they serve: (1) a school-age population of whom 15 percent or more are from families with incomes below the poverty line; and (2) a school district in a rural locality, or a school-age population of 800 or fewer. Reserves a specified portion of grant funds for schools operated by the BIA. Sets forth an allotment formula for grants to SEAs to make grants to eligible LEAs. Authorizes the Secretary to make direct competitive grants to specially qualified eligible rural LEAs in nonparticipating States. Requires LEAs or their schools to use grant funds for: (1) educational technology, including software and hardware; (2) professional development; (3) technical assistance; (4) teacher, and principal, recruitment and retention; (5) parental involvement activities; or (6) academic enrichment programs or other education programs. Requires SEAs to award grants on a formula basis. Requires that at least 99 percent of such funds be awarded to eligible LEAs in the first year, and 99.5 in the second and in each succeeding year that an SEA receives such a grant. Directs the Secretary, at the end of the third year an SEA participates in the program, to permit continued participation only if the SEA has met its performance goals and objectives for two consecutive years. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on this part F program's impact on student achievement. Authorizes appropriations. Part G: General Provisions - Transfers title I general provisions to a new part G (currently part F). Revises a deadline for the Secretary's issuance of final regulations for title I. Eliminates a provision for State reservation of certain amounts for administrative costs. Title II: Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development, and Class Size - Revises and renames ESEA title II as Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development, and Class Size (currently Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program). (Sec. 201) Sets forth a part A, Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development (II-A). Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to raise the quality of, and provide professional development for, public school teachers, principals, and administrators. Provides for: (1) reservations, State allotments, and within-State allocations; (2) State and local plans; (3) performance objectives; (4) optional activities; (5) State administrative expenses; (6) local activities; (7) professional development for teachers; (8) parents' right to know; (9) State reports and a study by the Comptroller General, and (10) educator partnership grants. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth a part B, Class Size Reduction. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to help them and LEAs recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional teachers to: (1) reduce nationally class size in grades one through three to an average of 18 students per regular classroom; and (2) improve teaching in the early elementary school grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Language Minority Students and Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education - Establishes a new ESEA title III, Language Minority Students and Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education, which combines and revises provisions of the current title VII (Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs) and of the current title IX (Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education). Redesignates, reauthorizes, and revises the current title III as title X Technology for Education. (Sec. 301) Repeals the current ESEA title III part A, Technology for Education of All Students. Sets forth a new title III subtitle A, Language Minority Students (which also replaces the current title VII) Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs). Declares it to be U.S. policy that, in order to ensure equal educational opportunity for all children and youth, and to promote educational excellence, the Federal Government should: (1) assist SEAs, LEAs, and community-based organizations to build their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain programs of instruction and English language development for children and youth of limited English proficiency (LEP); (2) hold SEAs and LEAs accountable for increases in English proficiency and core content knowledge among LEP students; and (3) promote parental and community participation in LEP programs. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to help LEP students become proficient in English. Prohibits the Secretary from mandating or precluding a particular curricular or pedagogical approach to educating LEP students. Requires LEAs to certify to SEAs that all teachers in any language instruction program for LEP students funded under this subtitle are fluent in English. Requires LEAs to notify parents of students participating in language instruction educational program of: (1) the student's level of English proficiency and academic achievement, and certain implications of the student's strengths and needs; (2) various available programs; (3) instructional goals of such program; and (4) the parental option to decline the student's enrollment in such program. (Sec. 302) Repeals the current ESEA title III parts: (1) B, Star Schools Program; (2) C, Ready-to-Learn Television; (3) D, Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics; and (4) E, Elementary Mathematics and Science Equipment Program. Eliminates current title VII part B provisions for the Foreign Language Assistance Program. Transfers to a new title III subtitle B the Emergency Immigration Education Program (currently part C of title VII). Extends through FY 2005 the authorization of appropriations for such program. (Sec. 303) Transfers to a new title III subtitle C provisions for Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education (currently title XIX). Extends the authorization of appropriations for various programs of Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education. Title IV: Public School Choice - Establishes a new ESEA title IV, Public School Choice, and authorizes a new public school choice program. Transfers certain parts and provisions of the current title V to such new title IV. Redesignates, reauthorizes and revises the current title IV as title XI, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities. (Sec. 401) Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) Magnet Schools Assistance; and (2) Public Charter Schools. Requires SEAs that receive grants for charter schools assistance to hold assisted charter schools accountable for AYP for improving student performance under title I and as established in the school's charter, including the use of the same standards and assessments as established under title I. Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) support and stimulate improved public school performance through increased public school competition and increased Federal financial assistance; and (2) provide parents with more choices among public school options. (Sec. 402) Establishes a new title IV part C, Development of Public School Choice Programs (PSC programs). Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make competitive grants to LEAs to develop such PSC programs; (2) reserve specified program funds for technical assistance, information dissemination, and evaluations; and (3) a priority to partnership projects. Requires the Secretary to give a priority to applications that would serve high-poverty LEAs. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth a new title IV part D, Report Cards. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States, if they have State report cards on education which meet specified requirements, to publish such report cards for each elementary and secondary school receiving ESEA funding. Authorizes appropriations. Requires States, if they receive assistance under ESEA, to prepare and disseminate (or publicly report through other public means) annual report cards, in easily understandable language, on all elementary and secondary schools receiving funds under ESEA I-A or II-A. Requires such State report cards on LEAs and schools to contain specified information regarding indicators of school performance and quality. Title V: Impact Aid - Transfers ESEA Impact Aid provisions to a new title V (currently title VIII). Eliminates the current title V, Promoting Equity, including part B, Women's Educational Equity, and part C, Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems (but transfers the current part A of title V to part A of title IV). (Sec. 501) Extends the authorization of appropriations for various impact aid programs. Title VI: High Performance and Quality Education Initiatives - Establishes a new title VI, High Performance and Quality Education Initiatives. Eliminates the current title VI, Innovative Education Program Strategies. (Sec. 601) Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) facilitate significant innovation in elementary and secondary school education programs; (2) enrich the learning environment of students; (3) provide a safe learning environment for all students; (4) ensure that all students are technologically literate; and (5) assist SEAs and LEAs in building their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain innovative programs for public school students. Directs the Secretary to make grants to SEAs with approved plans to award grants to LEAs. Requires States to allocate grant funds among LEAs according to both their I-A population and their entire school-age population. Requires LEAs to use grant funds for programs designed to achieve each of the goals described in the following category areas: (1) school improvement; (2) 21st Century Opportunities programs; (3) safe learning environments; and (4) New Economy Technology Schools. Allows LEAs that meet or exceed AYP requirements to reallocate, at their own discretion, specified portions of grant funds among the four categories. Allows LEAs identified as in need of improvement to reallocate for school improvement activities a certain portion of funds from the other three categories. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Accountability - Establishes a new ESEA title VII, Accountability, with sanctions and rewards based on meeting performance objectives. Eliminates the current title VII, Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs (but sets forth some provisions for language minority students under the new title III). (Sec. 701) Requires certain sanctions if performance objectives established under a covered provision have not been met by a State receiving grant funds under such provision. Directs the Secretary to reduce the amount the State is entitled to receive by specified percentages if such objectives have not been met by the end of the third fiscal year or the end of the fourth fiscal year. Requires such reductions to continue for each subsequent fiscal year until the State demonstrates that it has met such objectives. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance, if sought, to a State subjected to such sanctions. Requires each State receiving assistance under ESEA titles I, II, III, or VI to develop a system, including sanctions, to hold LEAs accountable for meeting performance objectives and AYP requirements. Directs the Secretary to make awards to States that either ensure that all teachers teaching in their public schools are fully qualified by FY 2003, or for three consecutive years have: (1) exceeded their performance objectives; (2) exceeded their AYP levels; (3) significantly narrowed the gaps between minority and non-minority students, and between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students; (4) raised all students to the proficient standard level within ten years; or (5) significantly increased the percentage of core classes being taught by fully qualified teachers teaching in schools receiving funds under part A of title I. Requires States to: (1) distribute 80 percent of such award funds to LEAs that have been consistently high-performing and achieving in specified ways; and (2) use the remainder to establish demonstration sites with respect to high-performing schools in order to help low-performing schools, and to improve the level of performance of all elementary and secondary school students in the State. Requires LEAs to use such award funds to: (1) reward individual schools that demonstrate high performance with respect to specified criteria; (2) reward collaborative teams of teachers, or teams of teachers and principals, who significantly increase the annual performance of low-performing students or significantly improve in a fiscal year the English proficiency of LEP students; (3) reward principals who successfully raise the performance of a substantial number of low-performing students to high academic levels; (4) develop or implement school district-wide programs or policies to increase the level of student performance on State assessments aligned with State content standards; and (5) reward schools for consistently high achievement in another area that the LEA deems appropriate to reward. Authorizes appropriations for such awards. Authorizes the Secretary to use certain amounts not reserved for other specified activities to: (1) support activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; (2) study and disseminate information regarding model programs assisted under ESEA; (3) provide training and technical assistance to recipients of ESEA funds in administering and implementing ESEA-assisted activities; (4) support activities to promote systemic education reform at State and local levels; (5) award grants or contracts to public or private nonprofit entities to develop and disseminate exemplary reading, mathematics, science, and technology educational practices, and instructional materials to States, LEAs, and schools; (6) disseminate information on models of value-added assessments; (7) award a grant or contract to a public or private nonprofit entity or consortium to develop and disseminate exemplary programs and curricula for accelerated and advanced learning for all students, including gifted and talented students; (8) award a grant or contract with Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., and other public or private nonprofit entities to support and promote programs which include distribution of inexpensive books to students and literacy activities that motivate children to read; and (9) develop English language development standards and assessments, and native language tests for LEP students that States may use to assess student achievement in reading, science, and mathematics. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: General Provisions and Repeals - Requires SEAs and LEAs to use ESEA funds to supplement, and not supplant, State or local funds. (Sec. 802) Repeals the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the following ESEA titles: (1) V, Promoting Equity; (2) X, Programs of National Significance; (3) XI, Coordinated Services; (4) XII, School Facilities Infrastructure Improvement; and (5) XIII, Support and Assistive Programs to Improve Education. Title IX: Technology for Education - Technology for Education Act of 2000 - Redesignates, reauthorizes, and revises the current title III as title X, Technology for Education. (Sec. 901) Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) part A, Technology for Education of All Students, including National Programs for Technology in Education, State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources, Regional Technical Support and Professional Development, and Product Development; (2) part B, Star Schools Program (also known as the Star Schools Act); (3) part C, Ready-to-Learn Television; (4) part D, Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics; and (5) part E, Elementary Mathematics and Science Equipment Program (also known as the Elementary Mathematics and Science Equipment Act). Title X: Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities - Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 2000 - Redesignates, reauthorizes and revises the current title IV as title XI, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities. (Sec. 1001) Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) part A, subpart 1, State Grants for Drug and Violence Prevention Programs; and (2) subpart 2, National Programs, including hate crime prevention. Title XI: Programs of National Significance - Redesignates, reauthorizes and revises the current title X as title XII, Programs of National Significance. (Sec. 1101) Extends the authorization of appropriations for part A, the Fund for the Improvement of Education, which includes provisions for the following programs: (1) elementary school counseling demonstration; (2) partnerships in character education pilot project; (3) promoting scholar-athlete competitions; (4) smaller learning communities; (5) national student and parent mock election; and (6) model projects. Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2000 - Extends the authorization of appropriations for part B, Gifted and Talented Children programs. Extends the authorizations of appropriations for part D, Arts in Education, including programs of: (1) support for arts education; and (2) cultural partnerships for at-risk children and youth. Extends the authorization of appropriations for part E, the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program, including provisions for the contract with the Reading Is Fundamental organization for an inexpensive book distribution program for reading motivation. Extends the authorization of appropriations for part F, Civic Education, including programs for instruction: (1) on the history and principles of democracy in the United States; and (2) in civics, government, and the law. Extends the authorization of appropriations for part G, the Allen J. Ellender Fellowship Program, including programs for: (1) middle and secondary school students; (2) middle and secondary school teachers; and (3) recent immigrants, students of migrant parents and older Americans. 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act - Extends the authorization of appropriations for part H, 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Extends the authorization of appropriations for part I, Urban and Rural Education Assistance, including: (1) demonstration grants for urban schools; (2) demonstration grants for rural schools; (3) grants for higher education institutions, alone, in consortia, or in partnership with rural LEAs, to help with rural school improvement; and (4) White House Conferences on Urban Education and on Rural Education. Extends the authorization of appropriations for part J, the National Writing Project.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2000
Considers Luis A. Gonzalez and Virginia Aguilla Gonzalez to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2000
Public Education Reinvestment, Reinvention, and Responsibility Act (Three R's) - Amends The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to reauthorize through FY 2005 and revise various ESEA programs. (Sec. 3) Declares U.S. national educational priorities addressed by this Act. Title I: Student Performance - Revises and renames ESEA title I as Student Performance (currently Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 102) Declares it to be U.S. policy to ensure that all students receive a high-quality education by: (1) holding States, LEAs, and schools accountable for increased student academic performance results; and (2) facilitating improved classroom instruction. (Sec. 103) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the following title I programs under: (1) part A, LEA grants; (2) part B, Even Start; (3) part C, education of migratory children; (4) part D, prevention and intervention programs for youth who are neglected, delinquent, or at-risk of dropping out; (5) provisions for capital expenses; and (6) part E, Federal evaluations, demonstrations, and transition projects. (Sec. 104) Requires SEAs to reserve a specified portion of their title I part A (I-A) funds to: (1) make at least 80 percent of such reserved funds available directly to LEAs; and (2) carry out SEA responsibilities for school improvement, including SEA statewide system of technical assistance and support for LEAs. Part A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies - Revises ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) (I-A) with respect to formulas for distributing funds to schools with the highest concentrations of poverty. (Sec. 105) Revises State plan requirements with respect to implementing challenging content and student performance standards (standards), yearly student assessments (assessments), and accountability. Requires State standards to: (1) be applied to all schools and children within the State; and (2) include at least the subjects of mathematics, science, and English language arts. Requires a State, if it allows LEAs to adopt more rigorous standards than the State, to allow LEAs to implement such standards. Requires each State plan to demonstrate what constitutes adequate yearly progress (AYP) of the State itself (as well as its schools and LEAs, as under current law) in enabling all children in all schools receiving I-A assistance to meet the State's challenging performance standards. Revises requirements for State definition of AYP. Adds requirements relating to: (1) accountability for AYP; (2) annual improvement by States, LEAs, and schools; and (3) public notice and comment. Requires assessments to be used, starting no later than the 2000-2001 school year, as the primary means of determining the yearly performance of each LEA and school in enabling all children to meet State standards (but does not require States to meet requirements for science standards or assessments until the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year). Requires State plans to provide that students who have attended school in the United States for at least three consecutive years are to be assessed in the English language, with certain exceptions. Requires State plans to describe what reasonable steps the State is taking to assist and encourage LEAs to: (1) measure literacy skills of first graders in schools receiving I-A funds by providing assessments that are developmentally appropriate, aligned with State standards, and scientifically research-based; and (2) identify and take developmentally appropriate and effective interventions in any school served under I-A in which a substantial number of first graders have not demonstrated grade-level literacy proficiency by the end of the school year. Requires State plans to describe how SEAs will: (1) assist each affected LEA and school to develop the capacity to comply with requirements for schoolwide programs, targeted assistance, and assessment and improvement; (2) hold each affected LEA accountable for improved student performance, including a procedure for identifying and assisting LEAs and schools in need of improvement, and for corrective action if assistance is not effective; (3) provide low-performing students additional academic instruction, such as before- and after-school programs and summer academic programs; (4) ensure that all teachers in both schoolwide programs and targeted assistance programs are fully qualified not later than December 31, 2005, and low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by inexperienced, uncertified, or out-of-field teachers; and (5) evaluate and publicly report the State's progress in improving the quality of instruction in the schools served by the SEA and LEAs receiving ESEA funding. Requires State plans to assure that SEAs will: (1) use the disaggregated results of required student assessments, and other available measures or indicators, to review annually the progress of each LEA and school served under I-A to determine whether each one is making the annual progress necessary to ensure that all students will meet the proficient level of performance on such assessments within ten years of the enactment of this Act; (2) modify or eliminate State fiscal and accounting barriers so that elementary and secondary schools can easily consolidate funds from other Federal, State, and local sources for schoolwide programs under specified provisions; and (3) inform LEAs of LEA authority to obtain waivers under title VIII of ESEA and, if the State is an Ed-Flex Partnership State, under the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999. Penalizes States for failing to meet statutory deadlines for demonstrating that they have in place standards, assessments, a system for measuring and monitoring AYP, and a statewide system for holding schools and LEAs accountable for making AYP with specified groups of students. Makes such States ineligible to receive any administrative funds under title I that exceed the amount received for such purposes in the previous year. Directs the Secretary of Education to withhold additional administrative funds in an amount determined appropriate based on the extent of the State's failure. Requires the Secretary, for each additional year that the State fails to comply with such requirements, to withhold at least one-fifth of the amount the State receives for such administrative expenses. Allows a State to request a one-time, one-year waiver to meet such requirements. (Sec. 106) Requires LEA plans to include descriptions of how they will: (1) assist low-performing schools, including those identified as in need of improvement; and (2) promote the use of alternative instructional methods, and extended learning time, such as an extended school year, before- and after-school programs, and summer programs. Requires various LEA assurances with respect to school accountability, improvement, and assessment. Requires LEAs to ensure that all teachers in both schoolwide programs and targeted assistance programs are fully qualified not later than December 31, 2005, and low-income students and minority students are not taught at higher rates than other students by inexperienced, uncertified, or out-of-field teachers. Requires LEAs to reserve at least ten percent of the I-A funds they receive for high quality professional development for professional instructional staff. Sets forth requirements for parental notification and consent for English language instruction. (Sec. 107) Revises school eligibility criteria for school-wide programs. Allows an LEA to use I-A funds for a school-wide programs at schools that serve eligible school attendance areas in which: (1) not less than 40 percent of the children are from low-income families; or (2) not less than 40 percent of the children enrolled in the school are from such families. (Sec. 108) Revises requirements for public school choice plans to allow limited amounts of I-A funds to be used for transportation services. (Sec. 109) Revises requirements for assessment and LEA and school improvement. Requires the provision of public school choice for families of students attending I-A schools deemed to be in need of corrective action. (Sec. 110) Revises requirements for State assistance for school support and improvement. Requires SEAs to provide such assistance according to the following order of priorities: (1) LEAs and schools in need of improvement; (2) LEAs subject to corrective action, and to individual schools for which an LEA has failed to carry out certain responsibilities; and (3) LEAs and schools at risk of being identified as being in need of improvement within the next academic year. Directs SEAs to use for such State assistance certain funds available for technical assistance and support. Authorizes SEAs also to use for such State assistance certain State administrative funds. (Sec. 111) Revises requirements for parental involvement. (Sec. 112) Sets forth required qualifications and duties for teachers and paraprofessionals in I-A schools. (Sec. 113) Revises requirements for professional development activities. Includes among required activities any strategies for identifying and eliminating gender and racial bias in instructional materials, methods, and practices. Includes among optional activities instruction in ways teachers, principals, and guidance counselors can work with parents and students from groups, such as females and minorities, that are underrepresented in careers in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology, to encourage and maintain student interest in such careers. (Sec. 115) Includes among coordination requirements for LEAs the linking of LEA educational services with those provided in local Head Start agencies. (Sec. 116) Revises requirements for reservation and allocation of funds for grants for the outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior. (Sec. 117) Sets forth revised formulas for allocating amounts for basic grants, concentration grants, and targeted grants. (Sec. 118) Revises requirements for basic, concentration, and targeted grants to LEAs. (Sec. 121) Revises special allocation procedures. Part B: Even Start Family Literacy Programs - Revises ESEA title I part B (Even Start Family Literacy Programs) (Even Start). Directs the Secretary (currently the National Institute for Literacy) to disseminate, or designate another entity to disseminate, the results of certain research to States and recipients of Even Start subgrants. Part C: Education of Migratory Children - Revises ESEA title I part C (Education of Migratory Children) to refer to language instruction programs under the new ESEA title III provided by this Act (current law refers to bilingual education). Part D: Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk of Dropping Out - Revises ESEA title I part D (Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk of Dropping Out). Part E: Federal Evaluations, Demonstrations, and Transition Projects - Revises title I part E (Federal Evaluations, Demonstrations, and Transition Projects) to set new deadlines for certain interim and final reports on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). (Sec. 152) Establishes a Comprehensive School Reform program. (Replaces part E provisions for demonstrations of innovative practices.) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to SEAs to provide subgrants to LEAs to provide financial incentives for schools to develop comprehensive school reforms, based upon scientifically-based research and effective practices that include an emphasis on basic academics and parental involvement so that all children can meet challenging State content and performance standards. Allows reservation of specified amounts for schools supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), schools in U.S. territories, and national evaluation activities. Sets forth requirements for State awards, local awards, evaluation, and reporting. Authorizes appropriations. Part F: Rural Education Development Initiative - Rural Education Initiative Act of 2000 - Establishes a Rural Education Development Initiative as a new title I part F. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for elementary and secondary education development by LEAs that are eligible because they serve: (1) a school-age population of whom 15 percent or more are from families with incomes below the poverty line; and (2) a school district in a rural locality, or a school-age population of 800 or fewer. Reserves a specified portion of grant funds for schools operated by the BIA. Sets forth an allotment formula for grants to SEAs to make grants to eligible LEAs. Authorizes the Secretary to make direct competitive grants to specially qualified eligible rural LEAs in nonparticipating States. Requires LEAs or their schools to use grant funds for: (1) educational technology, including software and hardware; (2) professional development; (3) technical assistance; (4) teacher, and principal, recruitment and retention; (5) parental involvement activities; or (6) academic enrichment programs or other education programs. Requires SEAs to award grants on a formula basis. Requires that at least 99 percent of such funds be awarded to eligible LEAs in the first year, and 99.5 in the second and in each succeeding year that an SEA receives such a grant. Directs the Secretary, at the end of the third year an SEA participates in the program, to permit continued participation only if the SEA has met its performance goals and objectives for two consecutive years. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on this part F program's impact on student achievement. Authorizes appropriations. Part G: General Provisions - Transfers title I general provisions to a new part G (currently part F). Revises a deadline for the Secretary's issuance of final regulations for title I. Eliminates a provision for State reservation of certain amounts for administrative costs. Title II: Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development, and Class Size - Revises and renames ESEA title II as Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development, and Class Size (currently Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program). (Sec. 201) Sets forth a part A, Teacher and Principal Quality, Professional Development (II-A). Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to raise the quality of, and provide professional development for, public school teachers, principals, and administrators. Provides for: (1) reservations, State allotments, and within-State allocations; (2) State and local plans; (3) performance objectives; (4) optional activities; (5) State administrative expenses; (6) local activities; (7) professional development for teachers; (8) parents' right to know; (9) State reports and a study by the Comptroller General, and (10) educator partnership grants. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth a part B, Class Size Reduction. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to help them and LEAs recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional teachers to: (1) reduce nationally class size in grades one through three to an average of 18 students per regular classroom; and (2) improve teaching in the early elementary school grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Language Minority Students and Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education - Establishes a new ESEA title III, Language Minority Students and Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education, which combines and revises provisions of the current title VII (Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs) and of the current title IX (Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education). (Eliminates the current title III, Technology for Education, but provides for some technology literacy programs under title VI.) (Sec. 301) Repeals the current ESEA title III part A, Technology for Education of All Students. Sets forth a new title III subtitle A, Language Minority Students (which also replaces the current title VII) Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs). Declares it to be U.S. policy that, in order to ensure equal educational opportunity for all children and youth, and to promote educational excellence, the Federal Government should: (1) assist SEAs, LEAs, and community-based organizations to build their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain programs of instruction and English language development for children and youth of limited English proficiency (LEP); (2) hold SEAs and LEAs accountable for increases in English proficiency and core content knowledge among LEP students; and (3) promote parental and community participation in LEP programs. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to help LEP students become proficient in English. Prohibits the Secretary from mandating or precluding a particular curricular or pedagogical approach to educating LEP students. Requires LEAs to certify to SEAs that all teachers in any language instruction program for LEP students funded under this subtitle are fluent in English. Requires LEAs to notify parents of students participating in language instruction educational program of: (1) the student's level of English proficiency and academic achievement, and certain implications of the student's strengths and needs; (2) various available programs; (3) instructional goals of such program; and (4) the parental option to decline the student's enrollment in such program. (Sec. 302) Repeals the current ESEA title III parts: (1) B, Star Schools Program; (2) C, Ready-to-Learn Television; (3) D, Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics; and (4) E, Elementary Mathematics and Science Equipment Program. Eliminates current title VII part B provisions for the Foreign Language Assistance Program. Transfers to a new title III subtitle B the Emergency Immigration Education Program (currently part C of title VII). Extends through FY 2005 the authorization of appropriations for such program. (Sec. 303) Transfers to a new title III subtitle C provisions for Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education (currently title XIX). Extends the authorization of appropriations for various programs of Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education. Title IV: Public School Choice - Establishes a new ESEA title IV, Public School Choice, and authorizes a new public school choice program. Redesignates certain parts of the current title IV, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, under such new title IV (and provides for some school safety improvement programs under title VI). Transfers certain parts and provisions of the current titles V and X to such new title IV. (Sec. 401) Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) Magnet Schools Assistance; and (2) Public Charter Schools. Requires SEAs that receive grants for charter schools assistance to hold assisted charter schools accountable for AYP for improving student performance under title I and as established in the school's charter, including the use of the same standards and assessments as established under title I. Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) support and stimulate improved public school performance through increased public school competition and increased Federal financial assistance; and (2) provide parents with more choices among public school options. (Sec. 402) Establishes a new title IV part C, Development of Public School Choice Programs (PSC programs). Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make competitive grants to LEAs to develop such PSC programs; (2) reserve specified program funds for technical assistance, information dissemination, and evaluations; and (3) a priority to partnership projects. Requires the Secretary to give a priority to applications that would serve high-poverty LEAs. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth a new title IV part D, Report Cards. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States, if they have State report cards on education which meet specified requirements, to publish such report cards for each elementary and secondary school receiving ESEA funding. Authorizes appropriations. Requires States, if they receive assistance under ESEA, to prepare and disseminate (or publicly report through other public means) annual report cards, in easily understandable language, on all elementary and secondary schools receiving funds under ESEA I-A or II-A. Requires such State report cards on LEAs and schools to contain specified information regarding indicators of school performance and quality. Title V: Impact Aid - Transfers ESEA Impact Aid provisions to a new title V (currently title VIII). Eliminates the current title V, Promoting Equity, including part B, Women's Educational Equity, and part C, Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems (but transfers the current part A of title V to part A of title IV). (Sec. 501) Reauthorizes and revises Impact Aid programs. Adds to program purposes: (1) promotion of LEA control of the assisted educational services for federally connected children; and (2) special construction assistance to LEAs as a result of their inability to tax Federal property. Eliminates the purpose of providing financial assistance to LEAs that experience sudden or substantial increases or decreases in enrollments because of military realignments. (Sec. 502) Revises the program of payments to LEAs relating to Federal acquisition of real property (which makes that property non-taxable) with respect to: (1) fiscal year requirements, including provisions relating to insufficient funds and maximum amounts; (2) fiscal years in which insufficient funds are appropriated; (3) special payments; (4) additional assistance for certain LEAs; and (4) data requirements for preliminary and final payments. (Sec. 503) Revises the program of payments for eligible federally connected children. Includes under such program's LEA payment formula, as eligible children who resided on Federal property and had a parent on active duty in the uniformed services military personnel, those children who: (1) would have resided in housing on Federal property except that such housing was undergoing renovation or rebuilding for not more than two fiscal years (current law only refers to renovation); or (2) reside in housing initially acquired or constructed under the military Build-to-Lease program housing, if such property is within the fenced security perimeter of a military facility, with appropriate reductions in such payments with respect any such housing which is not federally-owned and which is subject to State or local taxation. (Sec. 504) Allows a supplementary payment, in excess of the maximum amount of basic support payments, to compensate an LEA for increased current expenditures necessitated by unusual geographical factors. (Sec. 505) Establishes a separate (rather than the current additional) program of basic support payments for LEAs heavily impacted by the presence of federally connected children in their schools. Prohibits an LEA from receiving a basic support payment under both the standard and the heavily impacted programs. Sets forth: (1) eligibility requirements for continuing and for new heavily impacted LEAs; and (2) maximum payment amounts for regular and for large heavily impacted LEAs. Sets forth a revised formula for computing each LEA's learning opportunity threshold (LOT), a factor used in determining actual amounts of basic support payments when sufficient funds are not available to pay the maximum amounts, in the case of LEAs with total enrollments of fewer than one thousand students and per-pupil expenditures less than their State average. (Sec. 506) Provides for basic support payments for certain LEAs affected by removal of Federal property, if such property is transferred to a non-Federal entity so that it is subject to State or local taxation and if such LEAs meet specified additional requirements. (Sec. 507) Repeals provisions for additional payments to LEAs with high concentrations of children with severe disabilities. (Sec. 508) Prohibits the Secretary from accepting or approving any LEA application for Impact Aid filed more than 60 days after the Secretary sends written notice to the LEA. (Sec. 509) Repeals provisions for payments for sudden and substantial increases in attendance of military dependents. (Sec. 510) Revises requirements for eligibility for and allocation of school construction and renovation payments to certain categories of LEAs, including those receiving basic support payments and impacted by military dependent children or children living on Indian lands. Requires that 70 percent of specified funds be used for such construction payments, with the remaining 30 percent to be used for school facility modernization grants for specified types of LEAs. Sets forth award criteria for such grants, including certain emergency grants. (Sec. 511) Revises provisions relating to Federal administration. (Sec. 512) Revises certain deadlines with respect to administrative hearings and judicial review. (Sec. 513) Makes affordable housing assisted under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 eligible for Impact Aid payments. (Sec. 514) Extends the authorization of appropriations for Impact Aid programs, including: (1) payments for Federal acquisition of real property; (2) basic support payments for LEAs and for heavily impacted LEAs; (3) payments for children with disabilities; (4) construction; (5) facilities maintenance; and (6) additional assistance for certain LEAs impacted by Federal property acquisition. Eliminates the authorization of appropriations for Impact Aid payments for increases in military children. Title VI: High Performance and Quality Education Initiatives - Establishes a new title VI, High Performance and Quality Education Initiatives. Eliminates the current title VI, Innovative Education Program Strategies. (Sec. 601) Declares it to be U.S. policy to: (1) facilitate significant innovation in elementary and secondary school education programs; (2) enrich the learning environment of students; (3) provide a safe learning environment for all students; (4) ensure that all students are technologically literate; and (5) assist SEAs and LEAs in building their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain innovative programs for public school students. Directs the Secretary to make grants to SEAs with approved plans to award grants to LEAs. Requires States to allocate grant funds among LEAs according to both their I-A population and their entire school-age population. Requires LEAs to use grant funds for programs designed to achieve each of the goals described in the following category areas: (1) school improvement; (2) 21st Century Opportunities programs; (3) safe learning environments; and (4) New Economy Technology Schools. Allows LEAs that meet or exceed AYP requirements to reallocate, at their own discretion, specified portions of grant funds among the four categories. Allows LEAs identified as in need of improvement to reallocate for school improvement activities a certain portion of funds from the other three categories. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Accountability - Establishes a new ESEA title VII, Accountability, with sanctions and rewards based on meeting performance objectives. Eliminates the current title VII, Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs (but sets forth some provisions for language minority students under the new title III). (Sec. 701) Requires certain sanctions if performance objectives established under a covered provision have not been met by a State receiving grant funds under such provision. Directs the Secretary to reduce the amount the State is entitled to receive by specified percentages if such objectives have not been met by the end of the third fiscal year or the end of the fourth fiscal year. Requires such reductions to continue for each subsequent fiscal year until the State demonstrates that it has met such objectives. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance, if sought, to a State subjected to such sanctions. Requires each State receiving assistance under ESEA titles I, II, III, or VI to develop a system, including sanctions, to hold LEAs accountable for meeting performance objectives and AYP requirements. Directs the Secretary to make awards to States that either ensure that all teachers teaching in their public schools are fully qualified by FY 2003, or for three consecutive years have: (1) exceeded their performance objectives; (2) exceeded their AYP levels; (3) significantly narrowed the gaps between minority and non-minority students, and between economically disadvantaged and non-economically disadvantaged students; (4) raised all students to the proficient standard level within ten years; or (5) significantly increased the percentage of core classes being taught by fully qualified teachers teaching in schools receiving funds under part A of title I. Requires States to: (1) distribute 80 percent of such award funds to LEAs that have been consistently high-performing and achieving in specified ways; and (2) use the remainder to establish demonstration sites with respect to high-performing schools in order to help low-performing schools, and to improve the level of performance of all elementary and secondary school students in the State. Requires LEAs to use such award funds to: (1) reward individual schools that demonstrate high performance with respect to specified criteria; (2) reward collaborative teams of teachers, or teams of teachers and principals, who significantly increase the annual performance of low-performing students or significantly improve in a fiscal year the English proficiency of LEP students; (3) reward principals who successfully raise the performance of a substantial number of low-performing students to high academic levels; (4) develop or implement school district-wide programs or policies to increase the level of student performance on State assessments aligned with State content standards; and (5) reward schools for consistently high achievement in another area that the LEA deems appropriate to reward. Authorizes appropriations for such awards. Authorizes the Secretary to use certain amounts not reserved for other specified activities to: (1) support activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards; (2) study and disseminate information regarding model programs assisted under ESEA; (3) provide training and technical assistance to recipients of ESEA funds in administering and implementing ESEA-assisted activities; (4) support activities to promote systemic education reform at State and local levels; (5) award grants or contracts to public or private nonprofit entities to develop and disseminate exemplary reading, mathematics, science, and technology educational practices, and instructional materials to States, LEAs, and schools; (6) disseminate information on models of value-added assessments; (7) award a grant or contract to a public or private nonprofit entity or consortium to develop and disseminate exemplary programs and curricula for accelerated and advanced learning for all students, including gifted and talented students; (8) award a grant or contract with Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., and other public or private nonprofit entities to support and promote programs which include distribution of inexpensive books to students and literacy activities that motivate children to read; and (9) develop English language development standards and assessments, and native language tests for LEP students that States may use to assess student achievement in reading, science, and mathematics. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: General Provisions and Repeals - Requires SEAs and LEAs to use ESEA funds to supplement, and not supplant, State or local funds. (Sec. 802) Repeals the Goals 2000: Educate America Act and the following ESEA titles: (1) V, Promoting Equity; (2) X, Programs of National Significance; (3) XI, Coordinated Services; (4) XII, School Facilities Infrastructure Improvement; and (5) XIII, Support and Assistive Programs to Improve Education.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement Act of 2000 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 respecting the automated entry-exit control system to: (1) replace the current requirement that information be collected on every entering and exiting alien with the requirement that such system be an integrated entry and exit data system using available data; (2) state that no additional data collection authority is authorized; (3) extend program implementation deadlines; (4) revise reporting provisions; and (5) authorize appropriations. Directs the Attorney General to determine which Department of Justice and other law enforcement personnel may have access to such data. Directs the Attorney General to establish a task force which shall evaluate specified program-related issues. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and the Treasury, should consult with affected foreign governments to improve border management.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2000 - Title I: Brownfields Revitalization - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish programs to provide grants to eligible entities (including local government units, redevelopment agencies, States, and Indian tribes) for site characterization and assessment of, and performance of response actions at, brownfields facilities. Defines a "brownfield facility," with exceptions, as real property, the expansion or redevelopment of which is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance. Title II: State Response Programs - Adds CERCLA provisions requiring the Administrator to provide grants to States to establish and expand qualifying State response programs, comprised of elements including public participation opportunities, oversight and enforcement authorities, and certification mechanisms. Restricts authority to take enforcement actions under CERCLA in cases of hazardous substance releases subject to a State response plan. Authorizes the President to bring enforcement actions in certain instances, including cases where a State requests assistance or is unable to conduct a response action and there is a public health or environmental emergency or there is migration of contamination across State lines. (Sec. 202) Revises conditions for State financial and other assurances with respect to remedial actions to prohibit the Administrator from providing any funding for such actions unless the State enters into an agreement that provides assurances for State payment of ten percent of the costs of the action and operation and maintenance costs. Title III: Property Considerations - Adds CERCLA provisions governing owner-operator status of persons owning or operating property contiguous to a release site. Absolves such persons of liability as owners or operators, subject to certain conditions. (Sec. 302) Absolves from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any case in which there are such unrecovered costs for which the owner is not liable by reason of provisions limiting liability of fiduciaries and the facility's fair market value has increased above that which existed 180 days before the action was taken. (Sec. 303) Deems a person, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to have undertaken appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person establishes that inquiries were undertaken in accordance with specified requirements (compliance with an American Society for Testing and Materials standard or with standards issued by the Administrator). Deems the appropriate inquiry requirements to be satisfied by a site inspection and title search that reveal no basis for further investigation in the case of property for residential or similar use purchased by a nongovernmental or noncommercial entity. Title IV: Federal Entities and Facilities - Revises provisions regarding the applicability of CERCLA to the U.S. Government. Makes Federal agencies subject to all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements regarding response or restoration actions or management of, hazardous wastes, pollutants, or contaminants in the same manner as any nongovernmental entity. Waives immunity of the United States with respect to the enforcement of injunctive relief. Makes Federal employees subject to criminal sanctions under State or Federal response or hazardous waste management laws. Authorizes the Administrator to issue an abatement order to a Federal agency and requires initiation of an administrative enforcement action in the same manner as such action would be initiated against any other person. Requires all funds collected by a State from the Federal Government from penalties imposed for violations of response or hazardous waste management laws to be used only for projects to improve or protect the environment or to defray costs of environmental protection or enforcement unless a State law requires such funds to be used differently.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Act of 2000 - Directs the Attorney General to take necessary measures to: (1) reduce the immigration application backlog and ensure that a subsequent backlog does not develop; and (2) make infrastructure improvements to effectively provide immigration services. Authorizes appropriations which shall be designated in the Treasury as the Immigration Services and Infrastructure Improvements Account. Directs the Attorney General to make specified backlog elimination reports.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Immigration and Naturalization Service Data Management Improvement Act of 2000 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 respecting the automated entry-exit control system to: (1) replace the current requirement that information be collected on every entering and exiting alien with the requirement that such system be an integrated entry and exit data system using available data; (2) state that no additional data collection authority is authorized; (3) extend program implementation deadlines; (4) revise reporting provisions; and (5) authorize appropriations. Directs the Attorney General to determine which Department of Justice and other law enforcement personnel may have access to such data. Directs the Attorney General to establish a task force which shall evaluate specified program-related issues. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretaries of State, Commerce, and the Treasury should consult with affected foreign governments to improve border management.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Child Support Distribution Act of 2000 - Title I: Distribution of Child Support - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to: (1) modify the rule requiring assignment of support rights to the State as a condition for receiving TANF; (2) revise child support payment and distribution guidelines; and (3) mandate that State plans for child and spousal support ban the use of TANF to recover Medicaid costs for the birth of a child for whom support rights have been assigned. (Sec. 101) Amends the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 to accelerate from September 30, 2001, to September 30, 2000, the repeal of hold harmless provisions governing the increased State share of distribution of collected child support. Title II: Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders - Requires State plans to prescribe mandatory triennial review and update of child support orders for TANF recipients, including certification that the child support enforcement program will receive notice when certain families leave the TANF program. Title III: Expanded Information and Enforcement - Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a public report containing separate sets of recommendations regarding participation of certain public and private child support enforcement agencies in child support enforcement, including privacy safeguards, data security, and due process rights. Subtitle A: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Public Non-IV-D Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide information and enforcement mechanisms to public non-IV-D child support enforcement agencies, including all information in the State Directory of New Hires and information obtained through certain information comparisons. (Sec. 312) Authorizes a State agency implementing such option to use certain enforcement mechanisms, including: (1) Federal tax refund intercepts; (2) reports of arrearages to credit bureaus, (3) passport sanctions; (4) financial institution data matches; and (5) use of income withholding for unemployment insurance benefits. Subtitle B: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Private Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide the same information and enforcement mechanisms to private child support enforcement agencies as apply to their public non-IV-D child support enforcement agency counterparts. Title IV: Expanded Enforcement - Decreases the amount of child support arrearage which will trigger passport denial. Sets forth limitations upon garnishment of compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities in order to enforce child support obligations. (Sec. 403) Authorizes use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors. Title V: Fatherhood Programs - Subtitle A: Fatherhood Grant Program - Sets forth the parameters of a fatherhood grant program to promote marriage, parenting and employment building skills. Subtitle B: Fatherhood Projects of National Significance - Instructs the Secretary to award a grant to a nationally recognized, nonprofit fatherhood promotion organization to develop and promote marriage and responsible fatherhood, including a national clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding media campaigns and fatherhood programs. Title VI: Financing - Amends the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program to repeal the set-aside of welfare-to-work funds for successful performance bonus. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Instructs the Secretary to: (1) report to certain congressional committees on undistributed child support payments; and (2) disclose to a State unemployment compensation agency the putative employer of an individual listed in the National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 704) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) declare that nonimmigrant aliens are ineligible to receive visas and excluded from admission for nonpayment of adjudicated child support; and (2) authorize immigration officers to serve an alien applicant for admission to the United States with legal process with respect to any action to enforce or establish a legal obligation to pay child support. Makes conforming amendments to the TANF program to authorize the Secretary to share child support enforcement information to enforce Immigration and Naturalization law. (Sec. 705) Amends the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program to correct errors in conforming amendments in the Welfare-to-Work and Child Support Amendments of 1999. Title VIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Prohibits Valentine Nwandu from being removed from, or denied admission to, the United States by reason of any criminal offense that is reflected in the records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Visa Office. Directs the Attorney General to rescind any outstanding order of removal or any finding of inadmissability that has been entered against Valentine Nwandu by reason of any such offense.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2000
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 - Division A - Title I: Agricultural Programs - Appropriates funds for FY 2001 for the following Department of Agriculture programs and services: (1) Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary); (2) executive operations; (3) Office of the Chief Information Officer; (4) Office of the Chief Financial Officer; (5) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration; (6) agriculture buildings and facilities and rental payments; (7) hazardous materials management; (8) departmental administration; (9) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Congressional Relations; (10) Office of Communications; (11) Office of the Inspector General; (12) Office of the General Counsel; (13) Office of the Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics; (14) Economic Research Service; (15) National Agricultural Statistics Service; (16) Agricultural Research Service; (17) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service; (18) Office of the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs; (19) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; (20) Agricultural Marketing Service; (21) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration; (22) Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety; (23) Food Safety and Inspection Service; (24) Office of the Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services; (25) Farm Service Agency; (26) Risk Management Agency; (27) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Fund; and (28) Commodity Credit Corporation Fund. Title II: Conservation Programs - Appropriates funds for the: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; and (2) Natural Resources Conservation Service. Title III: Rural Development Programs - Appropriates funds for the: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Rural Development; (2) Rural Housing Service; (3) Rural Business-Cooperative Service; and (4) Rural Utilities Service. Title IV: Domestic Food Programs - Appropriates funds for the: (1) Office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; and (2) Food and Nutrition Service. Title V: Foreign Assistance and Related Programs - Appropriates funds for the: (1) Foreign Agricultural Service; and (2) Public Law 480 program account, title I ocean freight differential grants, and titles II and III grants. Title VI: Related Agencies and Food and Drug Administration - Appropriates funds for the: (1) Food and Drug Administration; (2) Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and (3) Farm Credit Administration. Title VII: General Provisions - Specifies certain uses and limits on or prohibitions against the use of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 714) Authorizes the Natural Resources and Conservation Service to enter into noncompetitive cooperative agreements. (Sec. 728) Prohibits, with an exception for field laboratory facilities, funds under this Act from being used to: (1) reduce the Detroit, Michigan, Food and Drug Administration District Office below specified 1999 staffing levels; (2) change the Office to a station or similarly modified office; or (3) reassign residence posts. Establishes the income eligibility level for Alaskan rural development programs at 150 percent. (Sec. 736) Requires, with exceptions, Foreign Agricultural Service approval of sales of residences used by agricultural attaches abroad. (Sec. 737) Authorizes the Department of Agriculture to acquire personal services agreements for overseas operations. (Sec. 738) Prohibits funds under this Act from being used to close or relocate a State Rural Development office unless cost and operation effective. (Sec. 739) Requires the Secretary to use specified amounts of commodities for foreign HIV and AIDS related assistance. Division B - Title I: National Disaster Assistance and Other Emergency Appropriations - Chapter 1 - Appropriates funds for FY 2000 for the following Department of Agriculture programs and services: (1) Farm Service Agency; (2) Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Fund; (3) Rural Community Advancement Program; (4) Rural Housing Service; and (5) Rural Utilities Service. (Sec. 1101) Provides additional FY 2000 amounts for technical assistance activities related to the conservation reserve and the wetlands reserve programs. (Sec. 1102) Extends certain livestock assistance eligibility through February 7, 2000. (Sec. 1104) Reduces specified crop and upland cotton loan indebtedness for entities and persons in qualifying North Carolina counties who suffered losses from Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, or Irene. (Sec. 1105) Conforms the definition of "livestock" for livestock indemnity program purposes. (Sec. 1106) Provides supplemental assistance for qualifying dairy producers. (Sec. 1107) Authorizes assistance for agricultural losses due to: (1) Mexican fruit fly quarantines in San Diego and San Bernadino-Riverside counties, California; (2) Pierce's disease; (3) grasshoppers and mormon crickets; and (4) citrus canker. (Sec. 1108) Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to extend the milk price support program through 2001. (Sec. 1109) Provides assistance for livestock producers in designated emergency counties (for 2000 losses) through September 30, 2001. Requires the Secretary to consider the effects of drought in establishing payment levels. (Sec. 1110) Directs the Secretary to offset the assessment on peanut producers for 1999 program losses using excess assessments to be collected in 2000 and subsequent years. Chapter 2: Department of Defense- Civil Department of the Army - Appropriates additional amounts for the: (1) Corps of Engineers- Civil; and (2) Appalachian Regional Commission. Chapter 3: Department of the Interior - Appropriates additional amounts for the: (1) Bureau of Land Management; (2) United States Fish and Wildlife Service; (3) National Park Service; (4) United States Geological Survey; (5) Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement; (6) Bureau of Indian Affairs; and (7) Forest Service (Department of Agriculture). Chapter 4: Department of Health and Human Services - Appropriates additional amounts for the: (1) Health Care Financing Administration; and (2) Administration for Children and Families. Chapter 5: Legislative Branch - Appropriates additional amounts for the : (1) Capitol Police Board; (2) Capitol Police; and (3) Architect of the Capitol. (Sec. 1501) Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1993 to increase the amount of private donations that the Architect of the Capitol may accept for the National Garden. (Sec. 1502) Amends the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 with respect to Trade Deficit Review Commission funding and reporting requirements. Chapter 6: Department of Transportation and Related Agencies - Appropriates additional amounts for the National Transportation Safety Board. Chapter 7: Department of the Treasury - Appropriates additional amounts for: (1) departmental offices; (2) Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and (3) General Services Administration (Independent Agencies). Chapter 8: Department of Housing and Urban Development - Appropriates additional amounts for: (1) community planning and development; and (2) Federal Emergency Management Agency (Independent Agencies). Chapter 9: General Provision - Appropriates additional amounts for: (1) Saint John's Lutheran Hospital, Libby, Montana; and (2) Libby, Montana. (Sec. 1902) Appropriates additional amounts for fisheries disaster relief for: (1) Pribilof Island and east Aleutian area of the Bering Sea; (2) affected families in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon; (3) Bering Sea ecosystem research; and (4) Alaskan crab fisheries. (Sec. 1903) Appropriates additional amounts for the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department related to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Organization Spring Conference, April 2000. Title II: Supplemental Appropriations and Offsets - Chapter 1 - Authorizes specified funds to be used for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (Department of Agriculture). (Sec. 2101) Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act make cities or towns with more than 50, 000 persons eligible for rural business and industry loan guarantees if the primary beneficiaries of a project are agricultural producers. (Sec. 2102) Directs the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide financial and technical assistance to the: (1) Long Park Dam, Utah; (2) Kuhn Bayou Project, Arkansas; and (3) Snake River Project, Minnesota. Chapter 2 - Provides funds for the: (1) Radiation Exposure Trust Fund (Department of Justice); (2) Economic Development Administration, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Department of Commerce); and (3) Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. Chapter 3 - Provides additional amounts for the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund. Chapter 4 - Provides additional amounts for the: (1) Employment and Training Administration, and Mine Safety and Health Administration (Department of Labor); (2) Administration for Children and Families, and Administration on Aging (Department of Health and Human Services); (3) Railroad retirement Board; and (4) Social Security Administration. Extends the availability of specified Department of Education higher education funds through September 30, 2000. Chapter 5 - Provides additional amounts for the Federal Aviation Administration. (Sec. 2501) Expands permitted fund use for the Salt Lake City, Utah, regional commuter system project. (Sec. 2502) Directs the Coast Guard to transfer specified funds to Unalaska, Alaska, for municipal pier construction and harbor improvements. (Sec. 2503) Makes specified funds available for testing the potential for ultra- wideband signals to interfere with global positioning system receivers by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (Sec. 2504) Appropriates funds to the Federal Highway Administration for transfer to the Utah Department of Transportation. Directs the Utah Department of Transportation to make specified State funds available for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Chapter 6 - Makes funds available to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for: (1) homeless assistance grants; (2) FHA- General and Special Risk Program Account; and (3) Office of the Inspector General. Provides additional amounts for: (1) National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and (20 National Science Foundation. (Sec. 2601) Amends Federal law with respect to enhanced vouchers. (Sec. 2604) Makes technical revisions with respect to specified grants to Alaska and South Dakota. (Sec. 2608) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt State housing finance agencies that administer public or section 8 housing programs from the requirement to appoint a resident of such housing to the board of directors. Requires appointment of resident advisory committees. Chapter 7 - Cancels specified amounts transferred to the Department of Agriculture's Office of the Chief Information Officer for information technology system conversion. Rescinds specified amounts made available to the Department of Justice for: (1) general administration; (2) United States Parole Commission; (3) legal activities; (4) Federal Bureau of Investigation (information sharing initiative); (5) Immigration and Naturalization Service; and (6) Office of Justice programs. Rescinds specified amounts from the: (1) Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (advanced technology program); and (2) Small Business Administration (new markets venture capital program). Cancels specified amounts transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services for information technology systems and computer conversions. Rescinds specified amounts from: (1) Executive Office of the President for Federal drug control programs; and (2) Department of Housing and Urban Development for the housing certificate fund. (Sec. 2701) Rescinds specified nondefense, general purpose amounts for information technology. Chapter 8 - Extends the patent term held for an elemental biologic (as defined by this Act). (Sec. 2802) Amends Federal law to designate Ketchikan, Alaska, as the new home port of the vessel RAINIER. (Sec. 2804) Directs the Department of Justice to transfer back to any Federal department or agency tobacco litigation funds. (Sec. 2807) Makes additional amounts available for the purchase of two Sabreliner-class aircraft for Department of Justice prisoner and alien transportation. (Sec. 2808) Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State , the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 to: (1) obligate funds for reimbursement of Seattle and other Washington State jurisdictions for security costs in connection with the Third World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference; and (2) make additional amounts available for a new site for the National Domestic Preparedness Office and related "Blueprint" implementation. (Sec. 2809) Provides for the transfer of specified funds to the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth in Sentencing Incentive Grants program for construction of the Hoonah Spirit Camp. (Sec. 2811) Obligates specified Department of Commerce amounts for the Commission on Online Child Protection. Title III: General Provisions - Prohibits fund use to reallocate Cental Arizona Project water until Congress directs the Secretary of the Interior to allocate funds and enter into contracts for delivery of such water. (Sec. 3104) Prohibits fund use related to closure or post-closure of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, New Mexico. (Sec. 3105) Limits certain fund use by the Secretary of the Interior to specified matters of the National Research Council's Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands report. (Sec. 3106) Prohibits FY 2000 fund use by the Federal Communications Commission for certain spectrum competitive bidding procedures. (Sec. 3107) Provides interim compensation for certain closed Alaskan fisheries. (Sec. 3108) Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and the Army to jointly designate land for the jetty and sand transfer system for the Oregon Inlet on the North Carolina coast. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer administrative jurisdiction over such land to the Secretary of the Army. (Sec. 3109) Authorizes the Indian Health Service to improve municipal, tribal, or private lands for construction of a clinic in King Cove, Alaska. (Sec. 3110) Amends federal law to repeal a provision respecting Federal salary payment due dates. Title IV: Food and Medicine for the World Act - Food and Medicine for the World Act - Prohibits the President from imposing a unilateral agricultural sanction or unilateral medical sanction against a foreign country, except for specified circumstances, unless: (1) not less than 60 days before the sanction is proposed to be imposed, the President makes a specified report to Congress; and (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution approving the report. Sets forth license and sanction provisions for countries supporting international terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2000
Training and Education for American Workers Act of 2000 - Amends the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (as contained in title IV of division C of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277)) to revise provisions for the use of amounts deposited into the H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account for demonstration programs and projects to provide technical skills training for employed and unemployed workers. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) use 75 percent of such funds to award grants to provide such training for any skill shortage related to a specialty occupation, as defined under the Immigration and Nationality Act; and (2) transfer 25 percent of such funds to the Secretary of Education for a student loan forgiveness program for mathematics, science, and reading teachers. Revises such training grant eligibility provisions for local boards and local, regional, or multi-State consortia. Requires 25 percent matching funds from grantees. Gives priority for such training grants to programs or projects that train employed and unemployed workers in skills that are in shortage in the high technology, information technology, and biotechnology fields, including software and communications services, telecommunications, systems installation and integration, computers and communications hardware, health care technology, biotechnology, and biomedical research, manufacturing, and innovation services. Requires grantees to make active efforts to recruit and train individuals traditionally underrepresented in information technology occupations, such as minorities, women, low-wage workers, workers residing in empowerment zones and enterprise communities, and individuals with a disability. Establishes such student loan forgiveness program, for specified loans made under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), for new borrowers after October 1, 1998, who have been employed as full-time teachers of mathematics, science, or a related field, or have been full-time teachers responsible for providing reading instruction in any of grades kindergarten through third grade, for three consecutive complete school years in schools that qualify under specified HEA provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Declares Rose-Marie Barbeau-Quinn to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act upon payment of the required visa fees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2000
Children's Health Act of 2000 - Title I: Autism - Subtitle A: Surveillance and Research Regarding Prevalence and Pattern of Autism - Autism Statistics, Surveillance, Research, and Epidemiology Act of 2000 (ASSURE) - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants and cooperative agreements for the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Mandates establishment, through grants or cooperative agreements, of three to five centers of excellence in autism and pervasive developmental disorders epidemiology to collect and analyze autism information. Requires that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) serve as the coordinating agency for autism and pervasive development disorders surveillance through the establishment of a clearinghouse for data generated from the monitoring programs created under this subtitle. Mandates establishment of an Advisory Committee for Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders Epidemiology Research. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Expansion, Intensification, and Coordination of Autism Activities of National Institutes of Health With Respect to Autism - Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act of 2000 - Directs the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH activities regarding autism. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that there is in operation an interagency Autism Coordinating Committee to coordinate all Department of Health and Human Services efforts concerning autism, including activities carried out through the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Requires the Director, among other things, to make awards of grants or contracts to public or nonprofit entities for centers of excellence regarding research on autism. Requires the Director to establish a program to provide information and education on autism to health professionals and the general public. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this subtitle. Title II: Research and Development Regarding Fragile X - Fragile X Research Breakthrough Act of 2000 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to: (1) expand, intensify, and coordinate the Institute's activities respecting research on the mental retardation disease known as fragile X; and (2) make grants to, and enter into contracts with, public or private nonprofit entities for the development and operation of at least three centers for fragile X research. Requires each center to conduct basic and clinical research, which may include clinical trials of new or improved diagnostic methods and drugs or other treatment approaches. Allows such centers to use grant funds to provide fees to individuals serving as subjects in clinical trials. Requires the Director to provide for the coordination of the centers' activities, including the exchange of information. Requires each center to use the facilities of a single institution, or be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions. Allows support to be provided to a center for up to five years, with authorized extensions. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to enter into contracts with qualified health professionals who agree to conduct fragile X research in return for repayment (up to $35,000 for each year of service) of such health professionals' educational loans. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Juvenile Arthritis and Related Conditions - Requires the Directors of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases to expand and intensify their respective programs of research and related activities concerning juvenile arthritis and related conditions. Directs the Secretary, through the appropriate agencies of the Public Health Service, to develop a coordinated effort to help ensure that a national infrastructure is in place to train and develop pediatric rheumatologists. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Reducing Burden of Diabetes Among Children and Youth - Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a system to collect data on juvenile diabetes, including its incidence and prevalence, and to establish a national database for such data; and (2) implement a national public health effort to address type 2 diabetes in youth. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to conduct or support long-term epidemiological studies concerning type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Directs the Secretary to: (1) support regional clinical centers for the cure of juvenile diabetes; and (2) provide for a national effort to develop a vaccine for type 1 diabetes. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Asthma Treatment Services for Children - Children's Asthma Relief Act of 2000 - Subtitle A: Treatment - Directs the Secretary to award grants to: (1) provide access to medical care for children who live in areas with a high asthma prevalence and lack access to medical care; (2) provide on-site education to parents, children, health care providers, and medical teams to recognize the signs and symptoms of asthma and to train them in the use of medications to treat asthma and prevent its exacerbations; (3) decrease preventable trips to the emergency room by making medication available to individuals who have not previously had access to treatment or education in asthma management; and (4) provide other direct and support services that ameliorate conditions that exacerbate or induce asthma. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Prevention Activities - Amends the Act to include, within the preventive health and health services block grant, any system for reducing asthma and asthma-related illnesses, especially with regard to children, through urban cockroach pest management in public facilities through a combination of biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. Subtitle C: Coordination of Federal Activities - Requires the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Director to: (1) identify all Federal programs carrying out asthma-related activities; (2) develop a Federal plan for responding to asthma; and (3) submit recommendations to appropriate congressional committees on ways to strengthen and improve Federal coordination of such activities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Compilation of Data - Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct local asthma surveillance activities to collect data on the prevalence and severity of asthma and the quality of asthma management; and (2) compile and publish annually data on the prevalence of children suffering from asthma in each State and the childhood mortality rate associated with asthma nationally. Title VI: Birth Defects Prevention Activities - Subtitle A: Folic Acid - Folic Acid Promotion and Birth Defects Prevention Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary to carry out a program, directly or through grants or contracts, for professional and public education and training, research, and epidemiological activities regarding folic acid and birth defects. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities - Establishes a National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities to: (1) collect, analyze, and make available data on birth defects; (2) operate centers for the conduct of applied epidemiological research on prevention of those defects; and (3) provide birth defect prevention information and education to the public. Transfers to such Center all activities, budgets, and personnel of the National Center for Environmental Health that relate to birth defects, folic acid, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, child development, newborn screening, autism, fragile X syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, pediatric genetics, and disability prevention. Title VII: Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Treatment Regarding Hearing Loss in Infants - Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 2000 - Mandates grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) develop statewide newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and systems; and (2) provide technical assistance to State agencies to complement an intramural program and to conduct applied research related to newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and systems. Requires NIH to continue a program of research and development on the efficacy of new screening techniques and technology. Mandates Federal coordination and collaboration with State and local agencies, consumer groups, national medical, health, and education specialty organizations, deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals and their families, qualified professional personnel, and related commercial industries. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Children and Epilepsy - Directs the Secretary, directly or through grants or contracts, to develop and implement public health surveillance, education, research, and intervention strategies to improve the lives of persons with epilepsy, with emphasis on children. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State and local governments for demonstration projects to improve access to health and other services regarding seizures to encourage early detection and treatment in children and others residing in medically underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Safe Motherhood; Infant Health Promotion - Subtitle A: Safe Motherhood Monitoring and Prevention Research - Safe Motherhood Monitoring and Prevention Research Act - Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish a national monitoring and surveillance program to identify and promote the investigation of deaths and severe pregnancy complications; (2) expand the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System to provide surveillance and collect data in each State; and (3) expand the Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Program to provide technical support, financial assistance, or the time-limited assignment of senior epidemiologists to maternal and child health programs in each State. Permits the Secretary to carry out specified activities to promote safe motherhood. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this subtitle. Subtitle B: Pregnant Mothers and Infants Health Promotion - Pregnant Mothers and Infants Health Protection Act - Requires the Secretary to: (1) collect, analyze, and make available data on prenatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage; (2) conduct applied epidemiological research on the prevention of prenatal and postnatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage; (3) support, conduct, and evaluate the effectiveness of educational and cessation programs; and (4) provide information and education to the public on the prevention and implications of prenatal and postnatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage. Authorizes appropriations. Title X: Revision and Extension of Programs - Subtitle A: Pediatric Research Initiative - Pediatric Research Initiative Act of 2000 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (the Act) to mandate establishment, in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), of a Pediatric Research Initiative. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to support activities to increase: (1) the number and size of institutional training grants to pediatric departments of medical schools and to children's hospitals; and (2) the number of career development awards for health professionals who are in pediatric specialties or subspecialties and intend to build careers in pediatric basic and clinical research. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Other Programs - Extends through FY 2003 programs under the Act for: (1) immunizations; and (2) screenings, referrals, and education regarding lead poisoning. Title XI: Childhood Skeletal Malignancies - Directs the Secretary to: (1) study environmental and other risk factors for childhood skeletal cancers; (2) carry out projects to improve outcomes among children with such cancers and related secondary conditions; and (3) ensure that such activities are coordinated with other Public Health Service activities focused on childhood cancers and limb loss. Authorizes the Secretary to revise, for this title, the definition of "childhood skeletal cancer" as the Secretary determines appropriate. Authorizes appropriations. Title XII: Adoption Awareness - Subtitle A: Infant Adoption Awareness - Infant Adoption Awareness Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary to make grants to national, regional, or local adoption organizations to develop and implement programs to train health center staff in providing adoption information and referrals to pregnant women on an equal basis with all other courses of action included in nondirective counseling. Provides for the development of related best practices guidelines. Allows a grantee to spend the grant for development of a training curriculum. Requires grantees, in the training they provide, to make reasonable efforts to include voluntary family planning projects, community health centers, migrant health centers, centers regarding homeless individuals and residents of public housing, and health centers that receive grants under the Public Health Service Act to provide services in schools. Directs the Secretary to require that each program providing voluntary family planning services with a grant from the Secretary provide nondirective counseling and referrals on all the options, including adoption. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Special Needs Adoption Awareness - Directs the Secretary: (1) to make grants for planning, developing, and carrying out a national campaign to provide information to the public regarding the adoption of special needs children; (2) directly or though grant or contract, to carry out a program that, through toll-free telecommunications, makes available to the public information regarding the adoption of special needs children; and (3) to make grants for assistance to support groups for adoptive parents, adopted children, and siblings of adopted children, and for studies to identify the reasons for adoption disruptions. Authorizes appropriations. Title XIII: Traumatic Brain Injury - Traumatic Brain Injury Act Amendments of 2000 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include in the allowed uses of currently-authorized grants to reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury the implementation of a national education and awareness campaign on such injury. Includes brain dysfunction caused by anoxia (currently, caused by anoxia due to near drowning) in the definition of "traumatic brain injury." Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States or their designees to operate the State's traumatic brain injury registry, and to academic institutions to conduct applied research that will support registry development, to collect specified types of traumatic brain injury data. (Sec. 1303) Amends provisions relating to the NIH program of trauma research to include brain dysfunction caused by anoxia (currently, caused by anoxia due to near drowning) in the definition of "traumatic brain injury." Authorizes appropriations to carry out the program. (Sec. 1304) Removes, with respect to grants for demonstration projects to improve access to health and other services regarding traumatic brain injury, a requirement that State matching funds be in cash. Revises other matching fund requirements for those grants and sets forth required and allowed uses for grant funds. Includes brain dysfunction caused by anoxia (currently, caused by anoxia due to near drowning) in the definition of "traumatic brain injury." Authorizes appropriations. Title XIV: Prevention and Control of Injuries - Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the prevention and control of injuries. Title XV: Healthy Start Initiative - Healthy Start Initiative Continuation Act - Directs the Secretary to continue in effect the Healthy Start Initiative, a current demonstration project of grants for areas with high rates of infant mortality. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out the program nationally. Authorizes additional grants to States to assist communities with technical assistance, replication of successful projects, and State policy formation. Authorizes grants to health care entities to provide: (1) health services for pregnant women or infants (up to one year) that are medically appropriate to prevent or mitigate congenital defects or other serious obstetric complications, allowing grant funds to be used for transportation and subsistence expenses for a pregnant woman; and (2) ultrasound for pregnant women on medical indication. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title XVI: Oral Health Promotion and Disease Prevention - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States and Indian tribes to increase the resources available for community water fluoridation, allowing grants to be used to purchase equipment, train engineers, develop educational materials, or support the monitoring and quality maintenance infrastructure. Directs the Secretary to establish a demonstration project to assist rural water systems in implementing specified water fluoridation guidelines. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States and Indian tribes for the development of school-based dental sealant programs to improve children's access to sealants, with grantees using the amounts received to provide children in second and sixth grades with access to dental care and dental sealant services. Requires, for eligibility, that: (1) urban schools be in an area where more than half the student population is participating in Federal or State free or reduced meal programs; and (2) rural schools be in a district with a median income below a specified level. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title XVII: Vaccine Compensation Program - Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Amendments of 2000 - Requires a petition for compensation for a vaccine-related injury or death, in addition to current matters, to demonstrate that administration of a qualified vaccine resulted in inpatient hospitalization and surgical intervention. Makes the previous sentence effective on enactment, including regarding pending petitions. Title XVIII: Hepatitis C - Hepatitis C and Children Act of 2000 - Authorizes the Secretary to provide for programs relating to hepatitis C and: (1) implementation of a national system to determine incidence and prevalence of infection; (2) the identification, contacting, and referral of individuals infected by blood transfusions before July 1992 when they were infants, small children, or adolescents; (3) public information and education; and (4) the education, training, and skills of health professionals. Authorizes the Secretary, directly or through grants, to provide for improvements in the quality of clinical laboratory procedures regarding hepatitis C. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title XIX: NIH Initiative on Autoimmune Diseases - NIH Autoimmune Diseases Initiative Act of 2000 - Requires the NIH director to expand, intensify, and coordinate research and other NIH activities regarding juvenile-onset diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erthematosus, multiple sclerosis, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn's disease, colitis, and other diseases or disorders as the Secretary determines appropriate (autoimmune diseases). Directs the Secretary to establish the Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee and the Autoimmune Diseases Public Advisory Council. Requires the Committee to develop, and at least annually review (and revise as appropriate), a plan for conducting and supporting research and education on autoimmune diseases through the national research institutes. Requires the NIH director to ensure that NIH activities are implemented in accordance with the plan. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title XX: Graduate Medical Education Programs in Children's Hospitals - Authorizes appropriations for payments to children's hospitals for direct expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs. Title XXI: Special Needs of Children Regarding Organ Transplantation - Pediatric Organ Transplantation Improvement Act of 2000 - Requires the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to: (1) recognize the differences in health and organ transplantation issues between children (individuals under the age of 18) and adults and adopt criteria, policies, and procedures that address children's unique health care needs; and (2) carry out studies and demonstration projects to improve procedures for organ donation procurement and allocation. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on the costs of immunosuppressive drugs provided to children pursuant to organ transplants and the extent to which health plans and health insurance cover such costs, including recommendations on issues particular to the special health and transplantation needs of children. Title XXII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the NIH director to report to Congress on activities that in FY2000 were, or in the next five fiscal years are planned to be, conducted or supported by NIH regarding rare diseases in children, including (in FY2000) Friedreich's ataxia. Title XXIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date for this Act and its amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend the retroactive period of provisions providing for crediting of Armed Forces service toward the required U.S. residency period of a citizen parent in order for a person born outside the United States of an alien parent and a citizen parent to acquire U.S. citizenship at birth.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2000
Provides for the permanent resident status adjustment of certain alien (and family member) parolees who were traveling with President Ferdinand Marcos to Hawaii.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2000
Alien Child Protection and Deferred Enforced Departure Family Unity Act of 2000 - Provides for the permanent resident status adjustment (and stay of removal if applicable) of an alien orphan who is physically present in the United States and under 12 years old. Provides for deferred enforced departure (and stay of removal if applicable) of an alien who is the natural and legal parent of a U.S.-born child under 18 years old.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2000
Alien Unaccompanied Minor Adjustment and Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Attorney General to adjust the status of certain unaccompanied aliens under 18 years old to permanent resident. Directs the Attorney General to provide for the establishment outside the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) of a panel of advisors to serve as guardians ad litem for such aliens in related INS proceedings.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2000
Safe and Successful Schools Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to reauthorize through FY 2005, and revise or establish requirements for, assistance for various programs, including: (1) reading and literacy; (2) technology for education; (3) safe and drug-free schools and communities; (4) class size reduction through hiring more teachers; (5) higher standards and higher pay for teachers and principals in public schools of low-income local educational agencies (LEAs); (6) the Fund for the Improvement of Education; (7) public charter schools; (8) arts in education; (9) civic education; (10) Ellender fellowships; (11) early learning; (12) Holocaust education; (13) 21st Century Learning Centers for after-school programs; (14) parental information and resource centers; (15) urban educational assistance; (16) coordinated services, including child opportunity zone family centers; (17) public school repair and renovation; and (18) support and assistance programs to improve education and establish America's educational goals. (Sec. 1) Prohibits any services under ESEA from being provided through voucher or certificate. (Sec. 2) Revises ESEA title I (Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards) part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) (IA) to require State plans to describe: (1) specific steps the State educational agency (SEA) will take to assist schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive IA funds (IA LEAs) to ensure that all their students reach a minimum proficient level of performance; (2) actions the State will take to ensure that critical education services and resources are available in IA LEAs to the extent that they are available in non-IA LEAs; and (3) annual measures and reports comparing IA LEAs and non-IA LEAs in terms of services, teachers, curricula, and instructional materials and resources. Requires each IA LEA to obtain SEA approval of a comprehensive plan to ensure comparability in use of State and local funds and educational services among its IA schools and its other schools with respect to: (1) teacher experience and qualifications; (2) curriculum range and opportunity to take rigorous courses, including advanced placement; and (3) quality and availability of instructional materials and resources including technology. Requires IA LEAs to update annually records relating to compliance with such comparability requirements. (Sec. 3) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Reading and Literacy Grants program (part C of ESEA title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program). (Sec. 4) Revises, redesignates, and reauthorizes certain programs under ESEA title III (Technology for Education). Revises and renames part A as National Long-Range Technology Plans and Activities. Eliminates programs of: (1) national challenge grants for technology in education (but establishes a similar program, the Next-Generation Technology Innovation Awards program, as the new subpart 2 of part B); and (2) regional technical support and development (but establishes a similar program, Regional Technology in Education Consortium, as the new subpart 1 of part F). Redesignates as part B State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources (currently subpart 2 of part A). Eliminates the current part B Star Schools Program. Establishes the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund as a new subpart 1 of part B. Provides for grants to support State and local activities relating to education technology to improve student achievement, particularly in high-poverty, low-performing schools, and teachers' ability to integrate technology into the curriculum. Establishes the Next-Generation Technology Innovation Awards program as a new subpart 2 of part B. Authorizes the Secretary, through OET, to award competitive grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements for up to 50 percent of costs to eligible applicants, which are consortia that include: (1) at least one SEA or LEA; and (2) at least one institution of higher education (IHE), for-profit entity, museum, library, other public or private entity with appropriate expertise. Establishes a new part C, Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology. Authorizes the Secretary, through OET, to award competitive grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to develop or redesign teacher preparation programs to enable prospective teachers to use technology effectively in their classrooms. Requires applicants to be consortia that include at least one IHE that offers a baccalaureate degree and prepares teachers for their initial entry into teaching, at least one SEA or LEA, and at least one other of specified types of entities with the capacity to contribute to the technology-related reform of teacher preparation programs. Establishes a new part D, Getting Our Girls Ready for the 21st Century Act (Go Girl). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts and cooperative agreements with, LEAs to provide subgrants to elementary and secondary schools for services that: (1) encourage the ongoing interest of girls in science, mathematics, and technology; and (2) prepare girls to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees and careers in those fields. Establishes a new part E, Library Resources. Eliminates the current part E Elementary Mathematics and Science Equipment program. Directs the Secretary, under a part E subpart 1 Library Media Resources program, to make allotments to States for library media resources and discretionary grants for school library access during non-school hours. Requires SEAs to make allocations to applicant LEAs that have: (1) the greatest need for school library media improvement; and (2) the highest percentages of poverty. Authorizes the Secretary, under a part E subpart 2 School Library Access Program, to make grants to applicant LEAs to provide students with access to libraries in elementary schools and secondary schools during non-school hours, including the hours before and after school, weekends, and summer vacation periods. Requires that priority be given to LEAs that: (1) seek to provide activities that will increase reading skills and student achievement; (2) have effectively coordinated services and funding with entities involved in other Federal, State, and local efforts to provide programs and activities for students during non-school hours; and (3) have a high level of community support. Sets forth a new part F, Special Projects of National Significance, with a subpart 1 Regional Technology in Education Consortium which revises and replaces a similar regional technical support and development program currently under subpart 3 of part A. Establishes a program for Community Technology Centers, as subpart 2 of part F. Authorizes the Secretary, through OET, to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible applicants to create or expand community technology centers that expand access to information technology and related training for disadvantaged residents of distressed urban or rural communities or to provide technical assistance and support to such centers. Redesignates and renames as subpart 3 of part F, Ready-to-Learn-Digital-Television (currently part C, Ready-To-Learn Television), including provisions for Special Projects of National Significance. Redesignates and renames as subpart 4 part F, Telecommunications Project for Mathematics (currently part D, Telecommunications Demonstration Project for Mathematics). Establishes a program for Future Math and Science Teacher Recruitment, as subpart 5 of part F. Makes available 500 scholarship grants and stipends to outstanding students enrolled in nationally accredited teacher training graduate programs who are committed to pursuing teaching careers in secondary school mathematics and science teaching. Authorizes the Secretary to award funds for such National Math and Science Teacher Scholarships on a competitive basis to qualifying IHEs with graduate programs in teacher training. Makes an institution eligible for such funds only if it is ranked by the Secretary in the top 25 percent of schools in its State with the highest percentage of graduates passing the State teacher qualification assessment for new teachers. Directs the Secretary to give priority to eligible IHEs that have one or more of these: (1) a year-long internship program in a professional development school; (2) mentoring programs for novice teachers in their first three years; (3) a history of placing graduates in rural and urban schools; and (4) a high retention rate of teachers that the institution places in teaching positions. Requires scholarship recipients to agree to teach in an urban or rural public secondary school for at least three full academic years, or (with specified exceptions) repay the pro rata amount of awards received, plus interest, for any failure to fulfill such obligation. (Sec. 5) Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act - Revises ESEA title IV to change the short title (currently, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994). Extends the authorization of appropriations for title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) programs. Eliminates provisions relating to a National Trust for Drug-Free Youth. Sets forth title IV part A subpart 1 provisions for State grants for drug and violence prevention programs. Establishes principles of effectiveness to be applied to title IV programs. Sets forth title IV part A subpart 2 provisions for National Programs. Directs the Secretary to carry out national programs to promote: (1) drug-free, safe, and orderly learning environments for students at all educational levels, from preschool through postsecondary; and (2) lifelong physical activity for such students. Requires the Secretary to reserve a specified amount of national program funds to make competitive grants to LEAS and community organizations for hate crime prevention activities. Establishes a title IV part B Technical Assistance program of comprehensive prevention technical assistance grants. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such grants to SEAs that meet specified requirements to implement prevention programs that meet a high scientific standard of program effectiveness. Establishes a title IV part C Alternative Education program to assist SEAs and LEAs in providing: (1) sound and equitable policies that ensure a safe, orderly, and drug-free learning environment for all children, while reducing the need to suspend or expel students and the number of such suspensions and expulsions; and (2) educational supports, services, and programs, using trained and qualified staff, for children aged five through 21 who have been suspended or expelled, so such children make continuing progress toward meeting the State's challenging academic standards. Establishes a title IV part D Resource Staff for Students program of establish a grants program to assist States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to recruit, train, and hire 100,000 school-based resource staff to work with students to: (1) reduce the student-to-counselor ratios nationally, in grades six through 12, to an average of one such staff for every 250 students; (2) help address the mental, emotional, and developmental needs of public school students; and (3) support other school staff and teachers in reaching students early before problems arise, conducting behavioral interventions to improve school discipline, and developing the awareness and skills to identify early warning signs of violence and the need for mental health services. Directs the Secretary to make such grants, for up to three years for each grant, to establish or expand the number of resource staff available for students' needs. Provides that resource staff means an individual with a specified kind of licensure, certification, or educational qualifications who has documented competence and training in mental health to be able to provide services to children and adolescents in a school setting. Establishes a title IV part E program, Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence) under which the Secretary to carry out Project SERV directly, or through contracts, grants, or cooperative agreements shall provide education-related services to LEAs in which the learning environment has been disrupted due to a violent or traumatic crisis, such as a shooting or major accident. Requires the establishment of a Federal Coordinating Committee on school crises, to coordinate Federal responses to crises that occur in schools or directly affect the learning environment in schools. Gun-Free Schools Act - Revises and transfers to title IV part F the provisions of the Gun-Free Schools Act (currently under title XIV part F). Requires each State receiving Federal funds under ESEA to have in effect a State law that: (1) requires LEAs to expel from school, for at least one year, any student determined to have possessed a firearm at school under the jurisdiction of the LEA in that State; and (2) allows the chief administering officer of that LEA to modify the expulsion requirement for a student on a case-by-case basis. Prohibits awarding ESEA funds to any LEA unless it has a policy ensuring that: (1) any student who possesses a firearm at a school served by such agency is referred to the criminal justice or juvenile delinquency system; (2) students who possess a firearm at school are referred to mental health professionals for assessment as to whether they pose an imminent threat of harm to themselves or others; and (2) any student determined to pose such a threat receives appropriate mental health services, in addition to other services, before being permitted to return to school. Requires each SEA and LEA that receives title IV funds to have a policy that prohibits cigarette vending machines, and the illegal possession or use of drugs and alcohol, in any form, at any time, and by any person, in school buildings, on school grounds, or at any school-sponsored event. (Sec. 6) Revises and reauthorizes ESEA title VI, Innovative Educational Strategies. Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) title VI programs; and (2) additional allotments to States of funds for LEAs demonstrating adequate yearly progress. Establishes, as a new part E under title VI, a Class Size Reduction program. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes, as a new part F of title VI, a Higher Standards, Higher Pay program. Authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to high-poverty LEAs to attract and retain fully qualified teachers and high-quality principals through better pay and benefits. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Revises ESEA title X Programs of National Significance. Revises and reauthorizes title X part A (Fund for the Improvement of Education) (FIE). Includes among authorized uses of assistance: (1) senior mentoring of at-risk students; (2) student community service programs; (3) assisting all students to meet challenging State standards; (4) cultural education centers; (5) museum-operated Indian education programs in public schools; (6) improving academic achievement through innovative partnerships between LEAs and teachers unions; and (7) hiring and supporting school nurses. Extends the authorization of appropriations for FIE. Revises part A provisions for character education. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out programs of: (1) grants for State and local character education; and (2) grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for character education research, dissemination, and evaluation. Authorizes appropriations. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Smaller Learning Communities grants program under part A. Includes among authorized uses of such funds design and construction of improvements to the learning environment, including daylighting, energy conservation technologies, and renewable energy. Eliminates part A provisions for: (1) elementary school counseling demonstration programs; (2) Promoting Scholar Athlete Competitions; (3) National Student and Parent Mock Election; and (4) Model Projects. (Sec. 8) Extends the authorization of appropriations for title X part C, Public Charter Schools. (Sec. 9) Extends the authorization of appropriations for title X part D, Arts in Education, including: (1) Arts Education; and (2) Cultural Partnerships for At- Risk Children and Youth. Includes, among authorized uses of Arts Education funds, supporting model programs and projects in the performing arts for children and youth through arrangements with the Division of Cultural History of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. (Sec. 9 (sic)) Education for Democracy Act - Revises ESEA title X, part F, Civic Education to provide for grants or contracts for the Center for Civic Education (CCE) to carry out civic education activities under: (1) (as under current law) (the We the People...) The Citizen and the Constitution program; and (2) (the We the People...) The Project Citizen program. Includes among program requirements: (1) civic education materials and services to address specific problems such as prevention of school violence and drug and alcohol abuse; and (2) optional simulated hearings of Congress (Citizen and Constitution) and State legislatures (Project Citizen). Extends the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 10) Reauthorizes ESEA title X part G, the Allen J. Ellender Fellowship Program (which is administered by the Close Up Foundation, provides financial aid to enable economically disadvantaged middle and secondary students, their teachers, economically disadvantaged older Americans, recent immigrants, and students of migrant parents to come to Washington, D.C., to study the operations of the Federal Government). Extends the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 11) Establishes a new ESEA title X part H, Early Learning Program to improve educational opportunities for young children, from birth through age five. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth allowable program activities under categories of promoting: (1) children's learning at home, through parenting education; (2) quality teaching in child care settings; and (3) quality child care. (Sec. 12) Holocaust Education Assistance Act - Establishes a new ESEA title X part L, Holocaust Education. Authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to LEAs to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 13) Revises ESEA title X part H, 21st Century Learning Centers program (known as the 21st Century Learning Centers Act) for program grants to SEAs for after-school center projects addressing educational, health, social service, cultural, and recreational needs of inner and small cities and rural and disadvantaged suburban communities. Extends the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 14) Establishes a new ESEA title X part M for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements for Parental Information and Resource Centers. Authorizes appropriations. Eliminating Educational Disparities and Promoting Learning for Urban Students Act of 1999 (sic) - Establishes a new ESEA title X part N, Urban Education Assistance, for urban school grants to eligible LEAs serving urban areas (or to SEAs which are LEAs) for activities to assist schools with high concentrations of students from racial and language minority groups to improve schoolwide academic achievement. Requires particular attention to be given to narrowing or overcoming disparities in achievement scores and school completion: (1) between minority and nonminority group students; and (2) between urban and nonurban public school students. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 15) Revises ESEA title XI, Coordinated Services, to: (1) continue certain coordinated services provisions; and (2) provide for coordinated services through child opportunity zone family centers (school-based or school-linked community service centers that provide and link children and their families with comprehensive information, support, services, and activities to improve the children's and families' education, health, mental health, safety, and economic well-being). Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible partnerships for the Federal share of costs of establishing and expanding such child opportunity zone family centers. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 15 (sic)) Establishes a new ESEA title XII, Public School Repair and Renovation, which authorizes Federal financial assistance for the urgent repair and renovation of public elementary and secondary schools in high-need areas. (Replaces the current title XII, School Facilities Infrastructure Improvement, which is also known as the Education Infrastructure Act of 1994.) Requires high-need LEAs to use the title XII grants or loans they receive for repairs and renovations to reduce health and safety problems, and to improve the learning environment. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Revises and renames ESEA title XIII as Support and Assistance Programs to Improve Education and Establish America's Educational Goals (currently Support and Assistance Programs to Improve Education). Extends the authorization of appropriations for: (1) part A, Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers; and (2) part B (currently part C), Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia. Eliminates the current part B, National Diffusion Network, and part D, Technology-Based Technical Assistance. Establishes a new part C, America's Educational Goals Panel and America's Educational Goals. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 17) Revises ESEA title XIV, General Provisions, to revise part E, Uniform Provisions, to prohibit any services under ESEA from being provided through voucher or certificate. Requires all SEAs that receive ESEA funds to have plans in place to have all teachers fully qualified by September 30, 2003. Prohibits any funds authorized under ESEA from being used to allow a third party to monitor, receive, gather, or obtain information intended for commercial purposes from any student under age 18 without prior, written, informed consent of the student's parent. Requires a school, LEA, or SEA, before entering into a contract with a third party, to inquire as to: (1) whether the third party intends to gather, collect, or store information on students; (2) the nature of the information to be gathered; (3) how the information will be used; (4) whether the information will be sold, distributed, or transferred to other parties; and (5) the amount of class time that will be consumed by such activity. Authorizes one-time grants to ESEA funds recipients to develop their data systems to help them make continuous program improvement. Authorizes the Secretary: (1) establish performance measures for each program under ESEA and subtitle B of title VII of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act; and (2) require applicants for funds under such Acts to include information on how they will use such measures, and report data relating to such measures. Requires collaboration with SEAs, LEAs, and other ESEA funds recipients in establishing such measures. Revises part G, Sense of Congress, to eliminate provisions expressing the sense of Congress with respect to increasing the total share of Federal spending on education.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
International Trafficking Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of State, with the assistance of the Assistant Secretary of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, to include in the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices specified information on the status of trafficking in persons in various countries, and the steps, if any, that governments are taking to end such trafficking and assist the victims. (Sec. 5) Requires the President to establish an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, which shall: (1) measure and evaluate the progress of the United States and other countries in trafficking prevention, protection, and assistance to victims of trafficking, and prosecution and enforcement against traffickers; (2) expand interagency procedures to collect and organize data; (3) engage in efforts to facilitate cooperation among countries of origin, transit, and destination; (4) examine the role of the international sex tourism industry in the trafficking of persons and in the sexual exploitation of women and children around the world; and (5) engage in advocacy, with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, among other entities, to advance the purposes of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of State to establish within the Department of State an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to assist the Task Force. (Sec. 6) Directs the President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (AID) and the heads of other appropriate agencies, to carry out initiatives to enhance economic opportunity for potential victims of trafficking as a method to deter trafficking, including: (1) microcredit lending programs, training in business development, skills training, and job counseling; (2) programs to promote women's participation in economic decisionmaking; (3) programs to keep children, especially girls, in elementary and secondary schools, and to educate children, women, and men who have been victims of trafficking; (4) development of educational curricula regarding the dangers of trafficking; and (5) grants to nongovernmental organizations to accelerate and advance the political, economic, social, and educational roles and capacities of women in their countries. Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State, to carry out programs to increase public awareness, particularly among potential victims, of the dangers of trafficking and the protections available for such victims. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of State and the AID Administrator to establish programs and initiatives in foreign countries to: (1) meet the mental and physical health, housing, legal, and other assistance needs of victims of trafficking and their children; (2) assist in their safe integration, reintegration, or resettlement, including, if appropriate, their spouses and parents; and (3) take steps to enhance cooperative efforts among foreign countries, including countries of origin of trafficking victims, to assist in their integration, reintegration, or resettlement. Requires the Attorney General, the HHS Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation to expand existing services to provide assistance to victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons within the United States, without regard to their immigration status. Defines severe forms of trafficking as: (1) sex trafficking in which either a commercial sex act or any act or event contributing to such an act is effected or induced by fraud, force, coercion, or deception, or in which the person induced to perform such act is under age 18; or (2) the recruitment, harboring, provision, transportation, employment, transfer, receipt, purchase, sale, or securing, by any means, of a person, through the use of force, coercion, fraud, or deception, for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, or slavery or slavery-like practices. Makes victims of severe forms of trafficking in the United States eligible, without regard to immigration status, for any benefits otherwise available under the Crime Victims Fund, including victim services, compensation, and assistance. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States, territories and possessions of the United States, Indian tribes, local governments, and nonprofit, nongovernmental victim service organizations to develop, expand, or strengthen victim service programs for victims of trafficking. Authorizes a victim of a violation of the anti-trafficking criminal prohibitions of this Act to bring a civil action in U.S. district court. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations for law enforcement personnel, immigration officials, and Department of State officials to implement specified requirements for: (1) physical protection, housing, medical care, food, and other assistance to victims of severe forms of trafficking while in U.S. custody; (2) immunity of such victims from penalties for unlawful acts owing to having been trafficked, including use of false documents, entry into the country without documentation, or working without documentation; (3) access to legal assistance, information about their rights, and translation services; (4) continued presence in the United States for the prosecution of those responsible for trafficking, with measures for witness protection; and (5) training of State Department and Department of Justice personnel in identifying such victims and providing them protection. Urges that funds from asset forfeitures be first disbursed to satisfy any judgments awarded victims of trafficking. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a new "T" nonimmigrant visa for victims of trafficking (and specified family members), subject to certain requirements. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) refer such aliens to nongovernmental organizations to educate them about their options and resources while in the United States; and (2) grant them authorization to engage in employment in the United States. Authorizes the Attorney General to adjust to permanent residence the status of any such aliens who meet specified criteria. (Sec. 8) Sets forth minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking for a country of origin, transit, or destination for a significant number of victims. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Secretary of State and AID to provide assistance to foreign countries directly, or through nongovernmental, intergovernmental and multilateral organizations, for programs and activities designed to meet such minimum international standards for the elimination of trafficking. (Sec. 10) Declares that it is U.S. policy not to provide nonhumanitarian non-trade foreign assistance to countries which do not meet such minimum standards. Requires the Secretary of State to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees a list of those countries, if any, which do not meet such minimum standards. Prescribes a congressional procedure for denying them nonhumanitarian non-trade foreign assistance. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the President to exercise certain authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in the case of any foreign person listed publicly by the Secretary of State as: (1) playing a significant role in a severe form of trafficking in persons, directly or indirectly in the United States or any of its territories or possessions; (2) materially assisting in or otherwise supporting activities of a significant foreign trafficker; or (3) owning, controlling, directing, or acting for or on behalf of, a significant foreign trafficker. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude from admission into the United States of persons who have been listed, or are known by the Attorney General or a consular official, as having benefitted from illicit activities of traffickers in persons. (Sec. 12) Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe penalties for: (1) trafficking into involuntary servitude, peonage, or slavery-like conditions; (2) sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion; and (3) unlawful possession of documents in furtherance of trafficking, involuntary servitude, peonage, or slavery-like conditions. Includes among such penalties mandatory restitution of victim losses. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of offenses involving the trafficking of persons, including component or related crimes of peonage, involuntary servitude, slave trade offenses, and possession, transfer or sale of false immigration documents in furtherance of trafficking. (Sec. 13) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Reading Deficit Elimination Act - Title I: Reducing the Reading Deficit - Reduces the total amount of Federal discretionary spending appropriated for a fiscal year by an amount that bears the same relation to 0.5 percent of the total amount of such spending for the preceding fiscal year as the total number of children enrolled in kindergarten through fourth grade in public elementary schools in States submitting requests for funds under this title bears to the total number of such children in all States. Reallots such Reading Enhancement and Achievement Disbursement (READ) funds to States to reduce the national reading deficit through the use of programs of reading instruction based on scientifically-based reading research, which includes a sequence of instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, reading fluency, spelling, writing, and reading comprehension strategies. (Sec. 103) Requires States to allocate 95 percent of such allotments to local educational agencies (LEAs) on the basis of relative numbers of such children, for use for teacher training, instructional materials, student assessment, teacher bonuses, and tuition assistance grants to parents or guardians to purchase tutoring. Repeals this title on the date that the National Assessment of Educational Progress publishes a notice certifying that the national reading deficit is less than five percent of the total number of children enrolled in grades kindergarten through fourth grade in the United States. Title II: Improving Literacy Through Family Literacy Projects; Reauthorization of Inexpensive Book Distribution Program - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and reauthorize Even Start Family Literacy Programs (Even Start) (part B of title I provisions for Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 201) Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for such Even Start programs, and increases the amounts authorized. (Sec. 202) Requires State plans to assure that State educational agencies (SEAs) will encourage local educational agencies (LEAs) and individual schools participating in a program assisted under ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) to use part A funds to offer family literacy services, if the LEA or school determines that a substantial number of students served under part A have parents who do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) reserve an increased portion of part B Even Start funds for migrant programs, outlying areas, and Indian tribes, under specified conditions; (2) award a competitive demonstration grant of sufficient amount and duration for a potentially high-quality family literacy program in a prison that houses women and their preschool age children; (3) ensure coordination of family literacy programs under Even Start with similar programs operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and (4) reserve specified portions of Even Start excess funds for scientifically-based research on family literacy by the National Institute for Literacy. Authorizes States to use a portion of Even Start funds to provide technical assistance and training to subgrantees (partnerships of LEAs and eligible organizations) to improve the quality of their family literacy services, giving priority to low-quality programs. Requires all such instructional staff, whose salaries are paid, in whole or in part, with Federal Even Start funds, within four years after enactment of this Act to: (1) have an associate's, bachelor's, or graduate degree in a field related to early childhood education, elementary school education, or adult education; or (2) meet State-established qualifications for such types of education provided as part of an Even Start or other family literacy program. Requires all new instructional staff, beginning on the enactment of this Act, to meet one of those two requirements. Requires, within such four-year period, that: (1) all paraprofessionals whose salaries are paid with any Federal Even Start funds have at least a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent; and (2) the individual responsible for administrating each local Even Start program be trained in operating a family literacy program. Requires Even Start programs to: (1) use research-based techniques for helping children learn to read, as well as for helping adults where appropriate research is available; and (2) encourage participating families to attend regularly and remain in the program a sufficient time to meet their program goals. Allows an Even Start program, despite specified age limitations, to permit children eight years of age or older to participate, under certain conditions. Requires an SEA, in awarding subgrants to continue an Even Start program after the first year, to review the progress of each eligible entity in meeting program goals described in the State plan (as well as, under current law, evaluating the program based on State-developed program quality indicators). Eliminates the eight-year limitation on a subgrantee's receiving Even Start funds. Sets the same limits on the Federal share of renewed subgrants as on Even Start grants. Directs the National Institute for Literacy to use certain reserved Even Start funds for scientifically-based research to determine: (1) the most effective ways of improving literacy skills of adults with reading difficulties; and (2) how family literacy services can best provide parents with knowledge and skills to support their children's literacy development. Requires the Secretary, and any Even Start grantee or subgrantee, to treat religious organizations the same as other nongovernmental organizations for purposes of participating in eligible partnerships receiving or applying for such assistance, under specified conditions and limitations. Prohibits Even Start services from being provided through vouchers or certificates. (Sec. 204) Requires State applications for Even Start grants to describe how the State will encourage programs and projects assisted under Even Start to offer family literacy services, if the program or project serves a substantial number of migratory children with parents who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 205) Defines family literacy services under ESEA as services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate: (1) interactive literacy activities between parents and their children; (2) training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children; (3) parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and (4) an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences. (Sec. 206) Amends the Education Amendments Act of 1978 to require BIA-operated family literacy programs, under the early childhood education program for Indian children or other programs, to be coordinated with Even Start family literacy programs under ESEA. Subtitle II: Inexpensive Book Distribution Program - Reauthorizes and revises the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program, with respect to which the Secretary of Education contracts with Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Requires RIF to support and promote programs which include distribution of books to young and school-aged children that motivate them to read. (Sec. 211) Requires RIF also to provide training to subcontractors. Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for such Program. Requires assisted local reading motivation programs to: (1) use Program assistance to provide books, training for volunteers, motivational activities, and other essential literary resources; and (2) give highest priority to serving the youngest and neediest children. Allows subcontractors operating such programs in low-income communities with substantial numbers or percentages of children with special needs to use funds from other Federal sources to pay up to one-half of the non-Federal share of funds used for acquiring and distributing books. Authorizes RIF, under specified conditions, to waive certain requirements for subcontractors and to enter into multi-year subcontracts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Amends the Federal criminal code (the code) to prohibit any person from operating a motor vehicle at land border ports of entry with a drug or alcohol in his or her body in violation of applicable State law. Deems any individual who operates a motor vehicle at a land border port of entry to have given consent to submit to a test of the driver's blood, breath, or urine for drugs or alcohol by an officer or employee (officer) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Directs the Attorney General to notify the State or foreign state that issued an individual's motor vehicle license or that is the residence of such individual of any refusal by such individual to submit to such a test and of any conviction of an individual under this Act for violating this Act. (Sec. 2) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to authorize an INS officer who: (1) inspects a driver at a land border port of entry and who has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver may be operating a motor vehicle in violation of State laws to require the driver to submit to a breath test to determine the presence or concentration of the alcohol; and (2) arrests a driver for such prohibited operation of a motor vehicle to require the driver to submit to a drug or alcohol test. (Sec. 3) Amends the INA to require the Attorney General, at each point where motor vehicles regularly enter a land border port of entry, to post a notice that operation of a motor vehicle with a drug or alcohol in the driver's body at a land border port of entry is an offense under Federal law. (Sec. 4) Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations authorizing an INS officer to impound a vehicle if the individual who operates it refuses to submit to such a test.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit H-2A (visa) temporary agricultural workers from bringing a lawsuit against an employer except in the State of the employer's residence or principal place of business.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend the visa waiver pilot program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program II and Local Medical Emergency Reimbursement Act - Title I: State Criminal Alien Assistance Program II - State Criminal Alien Assistance Program II Act of 2000 - Amends the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 to provide for the reimbursement of States (or their political subdivisions if appropriate) for indirect costs of incarcerating illegal aliens. Defines such costs as: (1) court costs, county attorney costs, and non-trial criminal proceedings; (2) indigent defense; and (3) unsupervised probation costs. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for the reimbursement of States for costs of incarcerating juvenile aliens. Provides that reimbursement of States for incarcerating illegal aliens and certain Cuban nationals shall be allocated to give special consideration for any State that: (1) shares a border with Mexico or Canada; or (2) has a large number of undocumented aliens. Title II: Reimbursement of States and Localities for Emergency Health Services to Undocumented Aliens - Authorizes appropriations for allotments to States to be paid to local governments, hospitals, and other providers for emergency health services provided to undocumented aliens. Provides special consideration for providers: (1) in a border county with Mexico or Canada; or (2) in an area with a large number of undocumented aliens. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Reading Deficit Elimination Act - Title I: Reducing the Reading Deficit - Reduces the total amount of Federal discretionary spending appropriated for a fiscal year by an amount that bears the same relation to 0.5 percent of the total amount of such spending for the preceding fiscal year as the total number of children enrolled in kindergarten through fourth grade in public elementary schools in States submitting requests for funds under this title bears to the total number of such children in all States. Reallots such Reading Enhancement and Achievement Disbursement (READ) funds to States to reduce the national reading deficit through the use of programs of reading instruction based on scientifically-based reading research, which includes a sequence of instruction in phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, reading fluency, spelling, writing, and reading comprehension strategies. (Sec. 103) Requires States to allocate 95 percent of such allotments to local educational agencies (LEAs) on the basis of relative numbers of such children, for use for teacher training, instructional materials, student assessment, teacher bonuses, and tuition assistance grants to parents or guardians to purchase tutoring. Repeals this title on the date that the National Assessment of Educational Progress publishes a notice certifying that the national reading deficit is less than five percent of the total number of children enrolled in grades kindergarten through fourth grade in the United States. Title II: Improving Literacy Through Family Literacy Projects; Reauthorization of Inexpensive Book Distribution Program - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and reauthorize Even Start Family Literacy Programs (Even Start) (part B of title I provisions for Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 201) Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for such Even Start programs, and increases the amounts authorized. (Sec. 202) Requires State plans to assure that State educational agencies (SEAs) will encourage local educational agencies (LEAs) and individual schools participating in a program assisted under ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) to use part A funds to offer family literacy services, if the LEA or school determines that a substantial number of students served under part A have parents who do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) reserve an increased portion of part B Even Start funds for migrant programs, outlying areas, and Indian tribes, under specified conditions; (2) award a competitive demonstration grant of sufficient amount and duration for a potentially high-quality family literacy program in a prison that houses women and their preschool age children; (3) ensure coordination of family literacy programs under Even Start with similar programs operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and (4) reserve specified portions of Even Start excess funds for scientifically-based research on family literacy by the National Institute for Literacy. Authorizes States to use a portion of Even Start funds to provide technical assistance and training to subgrantees (partnerships of LEAs and eligible organizations) to improve the quality of their family literacy services, giving priority to low-quality programs. Requires all such instructional staff, whose salaries are paid, in whole or in part, with Federal Even Start funds, within four years after enactment of this Act to: (1) have an associate's, bachelor's, or graduate degree in a field related to early childhood education, elementary school education, or adult education; or (2) meet State-established qualifications for such types of education provided as part of an Even Start or other family literacy program. Requires all new instructional staff, beginning on the enactment of this Act, to meet one of those two requirements. Requires, within such four-year period, that: (1) all paraprofessionals whose salaries are paid with any Federal Even Start funds have at least a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent; and (2) the individual responsible for administrating each local Even Start program be trained in operating a family literacy program. Requires Even Start programs to: (1) use research-based techniques for helping children learn to read, as well as for helping adults where appropriate research is available; and (2) encourage participating families to attend regularly and remain in the program a sufficient time to meet their program goals. Allows an Even Start program, despite specified age limitations, to permit children eight years of age or older to participate, under certain conditions. Requires an SEA, in awarding subgrants to continue an Even Start program after the first year, to review the progress of each eligible entity in meeting program goals described in the State plan (as well as, under current law, evaluating the program based on State-developed program quality indicators). Eliminates the eight-year limitation on a subgrantee's receiving Even Start funds. Sets the same limits on the Federal share of renewed subgrants as on Even Start grants. Directs the National Institute for Literacy to use certain reserved Even Start funds for scientifically-based research to determine: (1) the most effective ways of improving literacy skills of adults with reading difficulties; and (2) how family literacy services can best provide parents with knowledge and skills to support their children's literacy development. Requires the Secretary, and any Even Start grantee or subgrantee, to treat religious organizations the same as other nongovernmental organizations for purposes of participating in eligible partnerships receiving or applying for such assistance, under specified conditions and limitations. Prohibits Even Start services from being provided through vouchers or certificates. (Sec. 204) Requires State applications for Even Start grants to describe how the State will encourage programs and projects assisted under Even Start to offer family literacy services, if the program or project serves a substantial number of migratory children with parents who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 205) Defines family literacy services under ESEA as services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate: (1) interactive literacy activities between parents and their children; (2) training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children; (3) parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and (4) an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences. (Sec. 206) Amends the Education Amendments Act of 1978 to require BIA-operated family literacy programs, under the early childhood education program for Indian children or other programs, to be coordinated with Even Start family literacy programs under ESEA. Subtitle II: Inexpensive Book Distribution Program - Reauthorizes and revises the Inexpensive Book Distribution Program, with respect to which the Secretary of Education contracts with Reading is Fundamental (RIF). Requires RIF to support and promote programs which include distribution of books to young and school-aged children that motivate them to read. (Sec. 211) Requires RIF also to provide training to subcontractors. Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for such Program. Requires assisted local reading motivation programs to: (1) use Program assistance to provide books, training for volunteers, motivational activities, and other essential literary resources; and (2) give highest priority to serving the youngest and neediest children. Allows subcontractors operating such programs in low-income communities with substantial numbers or percentages of children with special needs to use funds from other Federal sources to pay up to one-half of the non-Federal share of funds used for acquiring and distributing books. Authorizes RIF, under specified conditions, to waive certain requirements for subcontractors and to enter into multi-year subcontracts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Urges the Attorney General to take no irrevocable action with respect to Elian Gonzalez until a hearing is held to determine whether authorizing him to file an application for asylum is in his best interest.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Mother Teresa Religious Workers Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the U.S. entry date in order for religious workers to qualify for a special immigrant visa. (Thus making such entry category permanent.)
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Date of Registry Act of 2000 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend the admission date for permanent residence for certain aliens, including additional one-year extensions during specified time periods.