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101 records in US in 1996

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Bill· SS. 2130 (104th)referred

An original bill to extend certain privileges, exemptions, and immunities to Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices.

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Authorizes extension of the International Organizations Immunities Act to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (Hong Kong's official economic and trade missions in the United States) in the same manner as such Act may be extended to a public international organization in which the United States participates pursuant to any treaty or Act of the Congress. Authorizes the President to apply to such Offices certain provisions of the Agreement on State and Local Taxation of Foreign Employees of Public International Organizations.

Bill· SS. 2123 (104th)referred

Highway Funding Fairness Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Highway Funding Fairness Act of 1996 - Requires the Secretary of Transportation, for FY 1997, to determine the Federal-aid highway apportionments and allocations to a State without regard to the approximately $1.596 billion credit to the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) of estimated taxes paid by States that was made by the Secretary of the Treasury for FY 1995 in correction of an accounting error made in FY 1994. Requires the Secretary, for each State, to: (1) determine whether the State would have been apportioned and allocated an increased or decreased amount for Federal-aid highways for FY 1996 if such error had not been made; and (2) adjust such amount for FY 1997 by the amount of the increase or decrease and to adjust accordingly the obligation limitation for Federal-aid highways distributed to the State under provisions of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997. States that nothing in this Act shall affect any apportionment, allocation, or distribution of obligation limitation, or reduction thereof, to a State for Federal-aid highways for FY 1996.

Bill· HRH.R. 4176 (104th)referred

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow certain employees without employer-provided health coverage a refundable credit for their health insurance costs.

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a health insurance cost tax credit for certain employees without employer-provided coverage. Subjects such credit to employee compensation, adjusted gross income, and tax limits. Excludes long-term care insurance.

Bill· HRH.R. 4179 (104th)referred

To provide that members of the Armed Forces who performed services for the peacekeeping efforts in Somalia shall be entitled to tax benefits in the same manner as if such services were performed in a combat zone, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Treats Somalia as a "hazardous duty area" to entitle U.S. military personnel who performed U.S. peacekeeping services in Somalia between December 2, 1992, and April 1, 1994, to the same tax benefits under the Internal Revenue Code that are provided to U.S. military personnel serving in an area designated by the President as a combat zone.

Bill· SS. 2105 (104th)open

A bill to amend chapter 29 of title 35, United States Code, to provide for a limitation on patent infringements relating to a medical practitioner's performance of a medical activitiy.

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Amends Federal patent law to provide that with respect to a medical practitioner's performance of a medical activity that constitutes an infringement, specified provisions relating to remedies, injunctions, and damages and attorney fees shall not apply against the practitioner or against a related health care entity with respect to such medical activity. Provides that this Act shall not apply to the activities of any person or his or her employee or agent (regardless of whether such person is a tax-exempt organization) who is engaged in the commercial development, manufacture, sale, importation, or distribution of a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter or the provision of pharmacy or clinical laboratory services (other than laboratory services provided in a physician's office), if such activities are: (1) directly related to such endeavors; and (2) regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, or the Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act.

Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 63 (104th)open

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Omnibus Appropriations Title I (sic): Department of Justice Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Title III: The Judiciary Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies Title V: Related Agencies Title VI: General Provisions Title VII: Rescissions Title VIII: Fiscal Year 1996 Supplementals and Rescissions Title I (sic): Department of the Interior Title II: Related Agencies Title III: General Provisions Title IV: Emergency Appropriations Title I (sic): Department of Labor Title II: Department of Health and Human Services Title III: Department of Education Title IV: Related Agencies Title V: General Provisions Title VI: Commission on Retirement Income Policy Title I (sic): Department of the Treasury Title II: Postal Service Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President Title IV: Independent Agencies Title V: General Provisions (This Act) Title VI: General Provisions (Departments, Agencies, and Corporations) Title I (sic): Additional Investment Funds for the Thrift Savings Plan Title II: Thrift Savings Accounts Liquidity Title VII (sic): Counter-Terrorism and Drug Law Enforcement Title II (sic): Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 Title I (sic): Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area Title II: Upper Klamath Basin Title III: Deschutes Basin Title IV: Mount Hood Corridor Title V: Coquille Tribal Forest Title VI: Bull Run Watershed Protection Title VII: Oregon Islands Wilderness, Additions Title VIII: Umpqua River Land Exchange Study Title III (sic): Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 Title I (sic): Streamlining the Home Mortgage Lending Process Title II: Streamlining Government Regulation Subtitle A: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Requirements and Procedures Subtitle B: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens Subtitle C: Regulatory Micromanagement Title III: Regulatory Impact on Cost of Credit and Credit Availability Title IV: Consumer Credit Subtitle A: Credit Reporting Reform Subtitle B: Credit Repair Organizations Title V: Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Title VI: Miscellaneous Title VII: Deposit Insurance Funds Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 - Division 1 - Title I: Omnibus Appropriations - Makes FY 1997 appropriations in amounts necessary for programs, projects or activities provided for in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, as if it had been enacted into law as the regular appropriations Act. Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of Justice - Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of Justice. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. (Sec. 103) Prohibits the use of funds to pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or in the case of rape. (Sec. 104) Prohibits the use of funds to require any person to perform, or facilitate the performance of, any abortion. (Sec. 109) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise: (1) quarterly bankruptcy fees; and (2) the formulae for the deposit of portions of such fees in the United States Trustee System Fund. (Sec. 110) Amends specified Federal law to establish in the Treasury the Department of Justice Telecommunications Carrier Compliance Fund, which shall be available to the Attorney General to make specified payments to telecommunications carriers, equipment manufacturers, and providers of telecommunications support services. (Sec. 111) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with other appropriate Federal agencies, should take necessary action to end the illegal importation into the United States of Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), a drug frequently distributed with the intent to facilitate sexual assault and rape. (Sec. 112) Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to authorize use of specified funds to make supplemental grants to U.S. Attorneys Offices to provide assistance to victims of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, to facilitate their observation or participation at related trial proceedings, and to pay other related expenses. (Sec. 113) Amends the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 with respect to the Secretary of the Treasury's mandated study of taggants marking, rendering inert, and licensing of explosive materials. Repeals: (1) the exclusion of black or smokeless powder from such study; and (2) the requirement for congressional review of such study and congressional hearings on the Secretary's recommendations. Shortens, from 270 to 90 days, the period before proposed regulations for the addition of tracer elements to explosive materials become effective (unless modified or disapproved by an Act of Congress). (Sec. 114) Revises standards for Federal criminal law enforcement applications to judges for multipoint wiretaps and procedures for interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications. Authorizes approval of such wiretaps where there is an adequate showing of intent to thwart interception or actions and conduct that would have that effect. (Sec. 115) Amends Federal criminal law to authorize interceptions of communications in cases of certain terrorism related offenses. Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies - Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of Commerce and related agencies, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the International Trade Commission. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. Rescinds specified amounts of unobligated balances for: (1) construction of research facilities of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and (2) operations, research, and facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Sec. 206) Provides for transfer of appropriations to successor organizations in the event the Department of Commerce is dismantled or reorganized. (Sec. 208) Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated under this or any other Act henceforth to develop new fishery management plans, amendments, or regulations which create new individual fishing quota, individual transferable quota, or new individual transferable effort allocation programs, or to implement any such plans, amendments, or regulations approved by a Regional Fishery Management Council or the Secretary of Commerce after January 4, 1995, until offsetting fees to pay for administrative costs are expressly authorized under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Makes such restriction inapplicable to the North Pacific halibut and sablefish, South Atlantic wreckfish, or the Mid-Atlantic surfclam and ocean (including mahogany) quahog individual quota programs. (Sec. 210) Establishes the Bureau of the Census Working Capital Fund to cover costs of maintenance and operation of services and projects that the Director of the Census Bureau determines may be performed more advantageously when centralized. Title III: The Judiciary - Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1997 - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for activities of the Judiciary, including: (1) the Supreme Court; (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; (3) the U.S. Court of International Trade; (4) Courts of Appeals, district courts, and other judicial services; (5) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; (6) the Federal Judicial Center; (7) Judicial Retirement Funds; and (8) the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. (Sec. 305) Extends the Judiciary Automation Fund and related authorities through FY 1998. (Sec. 306) Prohibits the use of funds available to the Judiciary for certain costs related to the appointment of Special Masters before April 26, 1996. (Sec. 307) Establishes a Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals, which shall report its recommendations to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies - Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for the Department of State and related agencies, programs, and trust funds (including the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency). Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. Provides specified funds for: (1) broadcasting to Cuba; (2) the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, in Hawaii; and (3) the North-South Center, in Florida. Title V: Related Agencies - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for: (1) the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation; (2) the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; (3) the Commission on Civil Rights; (4) the Commission on Immigration Reform; (5) the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (6) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (7) the Federal Communications Commission; (8) the Federal Maritime Commission; (9) the Federal Trade Commission; (10) the Legal Services Corporation; (11) the Marine Mammal Commission; (12) National Bankruptcy Review Commission; (13) the Securities and Exchange Commission; (14) the Small Business Administration; (15) the Gambling Impact Study Commission; (16) the Japan-United States Friendship Commission; (17) the State Justice Institute; and (18) the Commission on the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement. Continues certain requirements and restrictions with respect to use of funds by the Legal Services Corporation. Title VI: General Provisions - Sets forth limitations and prohibitions on the use of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 606) Prohibits the use of funds for the construction, repair, overhaul, conversion, or modernization of vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in shipyards located outside of the United States. (Sec. 607) Expresses the sense of the Congress that equipment and products purchased under this Act should be American-made. Declares ineligible to receive any Federal contract or subcontract made with funds under this Act any person finally determined by a court or Federal agency to have intentionally affixed a false "Made in America" label to any product sold in or shipped to the United States that is not made in the United States. (Sec. 608) Prohibits the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce any guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission covering harassment based on religion, when it is made known that such guidelines do not differ from certain proposed guidelines. (Sec. 609) Prohibits the use of funds from this Act, unless certain conditions are met, to pay for costs incurred for: (1) opening or operating any U.S. diplomatic or consular post in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that was not operating on July 11, 1995; (2) expanding any such post that was in operation on such date; or (3) increasing the number of personnel assigned to such posts above the level existing on such date. Allows the use of such funds for such purposes only if the President certifies that the Vietnamese Government is fully cooperating with the United States in specified activities relating to the investigation and recovery of missing U.S. military personnel, including: (1) resolution of discrepancy cases, live-sightings, and field activities; (2) recovery and repatriation of American remains; (3) provision of documents on POW-MIAs; and (4) implementation of trilateral investigations with Laos. (Sec. 610) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act for any United Nations peacekeeping mission involving U.S. forces under the command or control of a foreign national, if the President's military advisors have not recommended that such involvement is in the U.S. national security interest, and the President has not submitted such a recommendation to the Congress. (Sec. 611) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act to provide specified amenities or personal comforts in the Federal prison system. (Sec. 614) Prohibits funds in this Act for the Federal Bureau of Prisons from being used to distribute or make available to a prisoner any commercially published information or material that is sexually explicit or features nudity. (Sec. 615) Limits the amount of State and local law enforcement assistance funds which may be provided to any entity under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 if that entity does not provide a certain level of health insurance benefits to its employed public safety officers who retire or are separated from service due to injury suffered in the line of duty while responding to an emergency situation or a hot pursuit. (Sec. 616) Amends Federal patent law to shield a medical practitioner or related health care entity from liability for patent infringement even though such practitioner's performance of a medical activity constitutes a patent infringement. Denies this exemption from liability to the activities of any person (or employee or agent), regardless of tax-exempt status, who is engaged in the commercial development, manufacture, sale, importation, or distribution of a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter or the provision of pharmacy or clinical laboratory services (other than those provided in a physician's office), if such activities: (1) are directly related to such commercial development, and so forth; and (2) are regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, or the Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act. (Sec. 617) Amends the Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980 to repeal the mandate that Department of Justice organizations notify congressional committees before reprogramming funds or taking certain other administrative actions. (Sec. 618) Prohibits any Federal agency from using funds to pay administrative expenses or compensation of any Federal officer or employee to deny certain qualified applications for permits to import U.S. origin "curios or relics" firearms, parts, or ammunition. (Sec. 619) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to provide a guarantee or commitment to guarantee, under the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, for shipyard infrastructure development and modernization and for vessels integral to the reactivation and modernization of an eligible shipyard that receives such a guarantee. Title VII: Rescissions - Rescinds specified amounts from unobligated balances under the following headings for the Department of Justice: (1) general administration, working capital fund; and (2) Immigration and Naturalization Service, Immigration Emergency Fund. Title VIII: Fiscal Year 1996 Supplementals and Rescissions - Provides for specified additional funds for FY 1997, and rescissions of similar unobligated amounts for FY 1996, for the Department of Justice's Federal Prison System salaries and expenses. Makes appropriations for programs, projects, or activities provided for in the following bills, as if they had been enacted into law: (1) the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1997 (H.R. 3610), as passed by the Senate on July 18, 1996; (2) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997 (H.R. 3540), as passed by the Senate on July 26, 1996; and (3) the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, as provided in the Act that follows. Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for the FY 1997 operation of the Department of the Interior, setting forth uses and prohibitions on the use of funds under this title. Names the Bureau of Land Management's Visitor Center in Rand, Oregon, the William B. Smullin Visitor Center. Prohibits the National Park Service from spending any funds under this Act for activities in direct response to the United Nations Biodiversity Initiative in the United States. Authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to transfer NPS funds to State, local, and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations to carry out NPS programs. Provides certain funds for closure of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, including payments for workers compensation and unemployment compensation for former Bureau employees. (Sec. 114) Establishes in the Treasury a franchise fund pilot for capitalizing and operating central administrative services. (Sec. 115) Amends the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act (Public Law 102-495) to allow the State of Washington, upon appropriation of a specified amount for the Federal Government to acquire the Elwha and Glines dams, and upon submission to Congress by the State of a binding agreement to remove them within a reasonable period of time, to purchase such dams from the Federal Government for $2. Repeals such Act upon purchase of the dams by the State. (Sec. 116) Extends, for one year, the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission (Massachusetts and Rhode Island). (Sec. 117) Designates and ratifies assignment to the University of Utah as successor to, and beneficiary of, all the existing assets, revenues, funds and rights granted to the State of Utah under the Miners Hospital Grant and the School of Mines Grant. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept relinquishment of all remaining and unconveyed entitlement for quantity grants owed the State of Utah for the Miners Hospital Grant and any unconveyed entitlement that may remain for the University of Utah School of Mines Grant. (Sec. 118) Amends the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to increase from 20 to 50 the number of new tribes per year which the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Office of Self-Governance, may select from an applicant pool to participate in self-governance. (Sec. 119) Allows the Indian Arts and Crafts Board to carry out specified revenue-generating activities, including charging museum admission fees, if such revenue is covered into a designated special fund. (Sec. 120) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to transfer: (1) to Lander County, Nevada, title to the former BLM administrative site and associated buildings in Battle Mountain, Nevada; and (2) to the State of Nevada, title to the surplus BLM District Office building in Winnemucca, Nevada. (Sec. 121) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer a certain Grumman Goose aircraft to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska. (Sec. 122) Amends the Mesquite Lands Act of 1988 to require the City of Mesquite, Nevada, to notify the Secretary of the Interior, within a specified period, as to which of specified public lands it wishes to purchase. Father Aull Site Transfer Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey without consideration certain land near Silver City, New Mexico, to Saint Vincent DePaul Parish. (Sec. 125) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to use BLM appropriations to enter into cooperative agreements, directly or indirectly through State, local, or tribal governments, with willing private landowners for restoration and enhancement of fish, wildlife, and other biotic resources on public or private land or both that benefit these resources on public lands within the watershed. (Sec. 126) Designates the visitor center at Channel Islands National Park, California, the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center. Title II: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service, including additional amounts for emergency rehabilitation, forest fire presuppression due to emergencies, and wildfire suppression activities. Prohibits the use of funds to implement any reorganization or "reinvention" of the Forest Service, without the consent of the congressional appropriations committees, other than the relocation of a specified regional office from San Francisco to excess military property at Mare Island, Vallejo, California. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to report to the congressional appropriations committees on the status and disposition of all salvage timber sales started under the emergency salvage timber sale program mandated by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Additional Disaster Assistance, for Anti-terrorism Initiatives, for Assistance in the Recovery from the Tragedy that Occurred at Oklahoma City, and Rescissions Act, 1995 and subsequently withdrawn or delayed and completed under different authorities as a consequence of the Secretary's July 2, 1996 directive on the implementation of the mandate. Names the Pacific Northwest Research Station Silviculture Laboratory in Bend, Oregon, the Robert W. Chandler Building. Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Energy (DOE) for fossil energy research and development, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the SPR Petroleum Account, and other activities. Rescinds a specified amount of funds for clean coal technology, making them available for any ongoing DOE project. Directs the Secretary of Energy to sell a specified dollar amount of oil in FY 1997 from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and deposit the proceeds in an SPR Operating Fund. Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service for services and facilities. Appropriates funds for FY 1997 to: (1) the Department of Education for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education for Indian Education; (2) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation; (3) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (4) the Smithsonian Institution; (5) the National Gallery of Art; (6) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and (7) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Makes FY 1997 appropriations for: (1) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (2) the Institute of Museum Services; (3) the Commission of Fine Arts; (4) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (5) the National Capital Planning Commission; (6) the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission; and (7) the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Sets forth uses and prohibitions on funds under this title. Title III: General Provisions - Sets forth uses and limitations of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 307) Requires expenditures under this Act to comply with the Buy American Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that entities receiving Federal assistance should purchase only American-made equipment and products. Prohibits Federal contracts with persons found to have falsely labeled a product with a "Made in America" inscription. (Sec. 312) Permits the use of funds from this Act for the AmeriCorps program, subject to availability of funds under the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies FY 1997 appropriations bill, and only if the relevant agencies follow appropriate reprogramming guidelines. (Sec. 316) Places limitations on the type of grant awards that can be made by the National Endowment for the Arts. (Sec. 317) Prohibits the use of funds for any rules or regulations under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to assert jurisdiction, management, or control over any waters (other than non-navigable waters on Federal lands), non-Federal lands, or lands selected by, but not conveyed to, Alaska under the Submerged Lands Act of 1953 or the Alaska Statehood Act of 1959, or an Alaska Native Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Sec. 318) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to review or modify sourcing areas previously approved under specified provisions of the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 or to enforce or implement specified Federal regulations. Prohibits adoption of policies that would restrain domestic transportation or processing of timber from private lands or impose additional accountability requirements on any timber. (Sec. 319) Extends through FY 1999 the authority to collect recreation fees under the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, and through FY 2002 the availability in accounts of the fees collected. (Sec. 320) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for any activity in connection with a scenic shoreline drive in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. (Sec. 321) Prohibits the Bureau of Indian Affairs from using funds under this Act to transfer any land into trust under the Indian Reorganization Act or any other Federal statute that does not explicitly denominate and identify a specific tribe or specific property, except where there is a binding agreement, between the tribe that will have jurisdiction over such land and the appropriate State and local officials, for the collection and payment of: (1) State and local sales and excise taxes, including any special tax on motor fuel, tobacco, or alcohol, on retail items sold to a non-member of the tribe by any retail establishment on such land; or (2) an agreed upon payment in lieu of such taxes. (Sec. 322) Transfers specified land, including the Bend Silviculture Lab, to the Central Oregon Community College, Bend, Oregon. (Sec. 323) Prohibits the use of any funds for activities of the Office of Forestry and Economic Assistance, or any successor office. (Sec. 324) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) accept title to specified land in Prince Georges County, Maryland, adjacent to Oxon Cove Park, on condition that it has not become contaminated with hazardous substances; and (2) in exchange, convey to the Corrections Corporation of America specified land located in Oxon Cove Park in the District of Columbia. (Sec. 325) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain National Forest lands (including a wastewater treatment facility) in Chelan County, Washington, for certain lands owned by Public Utility District Number 1 of Chelan County, Washington. Snoqualmie National Forest Boundary Adjustment Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to modify the boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest to include specified adjacent lands in Washington State. Sugarbush Land Exchange Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for conveyance to Sugarbush Resort Holdings, Inc., of certain land in the Green Mountain National Forest, in exchange for cash or other land, proceeds from the sale of which shall become part of such National Forest. (Sec. 328) Amends the North Carolina Wilderness Act of 1984 to remove 100 acres from the Snowbird Wilderness Study Area. (Sec. 329) Renames the Columbia Wilderness the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. (Sec. 330) Authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior for FY 1997 to limit competition for watershed restoration project contracts as part of the "Jobs in the Woods" component of the President's Forest Plan for the Pacific Northwest to individuals and entities in historically timber-dependent areas of Washington, Oregon, and northern California that have been affected by reduced timber harvesting on Federal lands. (Sec. 331) Amends the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act to declare that, for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, settlement lands shall not be treated as Indian lands. (Sec. 332) Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior during FY 1997 from expending any funds to develop, promulgate, implement, or enforce any regulation or procedure providing for the establishment of class III gaming (as defined under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) in the absence of a tribal-State compact. Title IV: Emergency Appropriations - Makes additional appropriations for specified functions and activities of the Department of Agriculture and of the Department of the Interior. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of Labor - Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies, programs, and various trust funds, within the Department of Labor. Prescribes uses and limitations on the use of funds under this title. (Sec. 105) Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt inmates from minimum wage and overtime requirements. Title II: Department of Health and Human Services - Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies and programs within the Department of Health and Human Services. Prescribes limitations on the use of appropriated funds under this title. (Sec. 213) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for the relocation of the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center (located in Louisiana) and its patients, in accordance with specified requirements. Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to such Center. (Sec. 216) Directs the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, with the assistance of the Agency for Health Care Policy Research, to report to the appropriate congressional committees a review of research on treatment of end-stage emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by specified surgical procedures, and recommend as to the appropriateness of Medicare coverage of such conditions and procedures. (Sec. 217) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to increase the maximum allowable State grant allotment. (Sec. 218) Names the new clinical research center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research and Patient Care Center. Title III: Department of Education - Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies and programs within the Department of Education, subject to certain requirements for and limitations of their use. (Sec. 301) Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to transport teachers or students in order to: (1) overcome racial imbalance in any school or school system; or (2) carry out a racial desegregation plan. (Sec. 303) Prohibits the use of funds to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in the public schools. (Sec. 304) Limits the amount of funds which may be used for specified student aid programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Prohibits the Secretary of Education from using HEA funds for subsequent fiscal years for administrative expenses of the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program. (Sec. 307) Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with respect to additional assistance for heavily impacted local educational agencies (LEAs) to allow LEAs to participate in the determination of maximum impact aid payments. (Sec. 308) Amends HEA with respect to the Quality Assurance Program to require experimental sites authorized by the Secretary of Education to test alternative data verification. (Sec. 309) Amends the Goals 2000: Educate America Act to provide for use of State allotments to award subgrants to LEAs to support the use of computers and computer-related technology, the use of technology-enhanced curricula and instruction, the purchase of computers, or computer-related technology. Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for the following agencies or programs: (1) Armed Forces Retirement Home; (2) Corporation for National and Community Service (for domestic volunteer service programs); (3) Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (4) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (5) Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (6) National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (7) National Council on Disability; (8) National Education Goals Panel; (9) National Labor Relations Board; (10) National Mediation Board; (11) Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (12) Physician Payment Review Commission; (13) Prospective Payment Assessment Commission; (14) Social Security Administration, for various trust funds and programs; (15) Railroad Retirement Board; and (16) United States Institute of Peace. Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth requirements and limitations on the use of appropriated funds under this Act. (Sec. 505) Prohibits the use of funds to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug unless the Surgeon General Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines that such programs are effective in preventing the spread of HIV and do not encourage the use of illegal drugs. (Sec. 506) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased under this Act should be American-made. (Sec. 508) Prohibits the use of funds to perform abortions except to save the life of the mother or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Sec. 510) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for the expenses of an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) task force. (Sec. 511) Prohibits use of funds in this Act to enforce specified requirements under HEA with respect to any lender that has a guaranteed student loan portfolio less than $5 million. (Sec. 512) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for: (1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under certain Federal regulations and the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 513) Prohibits the National Labor Relations Board from using funds in this Act to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute which does not involve any class or category of employer over which the Board would assert jurisdiction under the standards prevailing on August 1, 1959, with each financial threshold amount adjusted for inflation in a specified manner. (Sec. 524) Permanently cancels a specified amount of the budgetary resources available to agencies (except the Food and Drug Administration and the Indian Health Service) in this Act for salaries and expenses, such cancelled amount to be allocated by the Office of Management and Budget. (Sec. 525) Provides for voluntary separation incentives for employees of the Railroad Retirement Board and its Office of Inspector General. Title VI: Commission on Retirement Income Policy - Commission on Retirement Income Policy Act of 1996 - Establishes the Commission on Retirement Income Policy to study and report to the President and Congress on: (1) trends in retirement savings in the United States; (2) existing Federal incentives and programs to encourage and protect such savings; and (3) new Federal incentives and programs needed for such purpose. Authorizes appropriations. Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of the Treasury - Treasury Department Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations to the Department of the Treasury and its related agencies for FY 1997. (Sec. 118) Amends the Federal criminal code, with respect to licensing and related gun show sales requirements for firearms importers, manufacturers, and dealers, to declare that nothing in such requirements shall be construed to diminish the right of a licensee to conduct "curios or relics" firearms transfers and business away from its business premises with another licensee without regard to whether the place where the business is conducted is located in the State specified on the license of either licensee. Title II: Postal Service - Makes appropriations to the Postal Service Fund for FY 1997. Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President - Executive Office Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for the Executive Office of the President and related offices and programs. Title IV: Independent Agencies - Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for: (1) the Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled; (2) the Federal Election Commission; (3) the Federal Labor Relations Authority; (4) the General Services Administration; (5) the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board; (6) the Merit Systems Protection Board; (7) the National Archives and Records Administration; (8) the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; (9) the Office of Government Ethics; (10) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); (11) the Office of Inspector General; (12) the Office of Special Counsel; and (13) the United States Tax Court. Specifies uses of funds provided to the General Services Administration. (Sec. 407) Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to authorize the Administrator of the General Services Administration to establish, acquire space for, and equip flexiplace work telecommuting centers, and charge fees, for use by employees of Federal agencies, State and local governments, and the private sector. (Sec. 408) Directs the Administrator of General Services to acquire certain land in Portland, Oregon, for construction of a proposed Law Enforcement Center on the site. (Sec. 409) Amends specified Federal law to mandate conveyance of certain real property at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant to the City of Middleton, Iowa. Repeals the requirement that the City pay fair market value for such property. Requires the Secretary of the Army to permit the City to use existing water and sewer lines and sewage system at the Plant for a three-year period after conveyance. (Sec. 410) Directs the Administrator of General Services to convey, without compensation, to the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development certain real property in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania. (Sec. 411) Declares that certain land in Denver, Colorado, shall not be subject to condemnation by any Federal agency or instrumentality without the owner's consent. Makes appropriations for FY 1997, also, for: (1) specified Government contributions, with respect to retired Federal employees, as payments for annuitants, employee health benefits and life insurance; and (2) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Title V: General Provisions (This Act) - Sets forth certain prohibitions and limitations on the use of appropriations made under this Act. (Sec. 503) Amends Federal law to repeal the requirement that each mint have a superintendent and an assayer, and the Philadelphia mint have an engraver, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (Sec. 512) Requires entities appropriated funds under this Act to comply with the Buy American Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress to such effect. (Sec. 518) Prohibits the availability of funds under this Act to pay for an abortion or expenses in connection with any health plan under the Federal employees health benefit program which provides any benefits or coverage for abortions, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Sec. 521) Considers Personal Service Contractors (PSC) employed by the Department of the Treasury outside the United States to be Federal employees for purposes of Federal employee health and life insurance. (Sec. 523) Amends Federal law to allow for the minting of 24 karat gold coins and of platinum coins. (Sec. 525) Directs the heads of the Internal Revenue Service, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and of the U.S. Customs Service to submit to specified congressional committees their respective strategic plans for making voluntary separation incentive ("buyout") payments, meeting specified requirements, to eligible employees. Requires reduction of an agency's total number of funded employee positions by the number of employees separating and receiving such payments. (Sec. 526) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay up to $500,000 to reimburse former employees of the White House Travel Office, terminated on May 19, 1993, for attorney fees and related costs (except those incurred with respect to any Congressional hearing or investigation). (Sec. 527) Prohibits use of funds in this Act by the Executive Office of the President to request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) any official background investigation report on any individual without the individual's express written consent. (Sec. 528) Closes to the public a specified alley in Washington, D.C., on which the Federal Government is constructing a facility. Grants the Administrator of General Services administrative jurisdiction over, and title on behalf of the United States to, the alley, facility, and related property. (Sec. 529) Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary, beginning January 1, 1999, to mint and issue commemorative coins in no more than two commemorative coin programs per calendar year. Specifies mintage levels and conditions on payment of surcharges to recipient organizations. Requires quarterly financial reports to the Congress on commemorative coin programs. Sets a fixed four-year term for members of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, and provides for election of a Chairperson. Title VI: General Provisions (Departments, Agencies, and Corporations) - Sets forth certain requirements for and prohibitions and limitations on the use of appropriations by all Federal departments, agencies, and corporations. (Sec. 624) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for certain types of employee training, including those containing elements: (1) inducing high emotional or psychological stress; (2) associated with religious, quasi-religious, or "new age" belief systems; (3) offensive to, or designed to change, participants' personal values or lifestyle; or (4) related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) other than that necessary for specified purposes. (Sec. 627) Amends the Federal Financial Management Act of 1994 (title IV of the Government Management Reform Act of 1994, Public Law 103-356) to extend through FY 2001 the franchise fund pilot program. (Sec. 632) Designates a specified U.S. Courthouse under construction in Portland, Oregon, as the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse. (Sec. 633) Amends Federal civil service law for the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to mandate survivor annuity resumption, as well as resumption of Federal employees health benefits, upon divorce for a disabled child whose annuity and Federal health benefits had terminated because of marriage. (Sec. 634) Amends Federal civil service law for CSRS and FERS to allow a Federal employee involuntarily terminated due to a reduction in force or transfer of function to apply unused annual leave to remain on the agency's rolls after the would-be separation date if, and only to the extent that, such additional time in pay status will enable the employee to meet minimum age and service requirements for title to an immediate annuity, or to qualify to carry health benefits coverage into retirement. (Sec. 635) Amends the Federal criminal code to specify that certain post-employment restrictions for senior officials do not apply to Federal officers and employees whose basic rate of compensation is below level 5 of the Senior Executive Service. (Sec. 636) Provides for Federal agency reimbursement to Federal law enforcement officers and Federal supervisors or management officials for up to half the costs they incur for professional liability insurance. Applies such reimbursement authority to the Legislative Branch, including any office or committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as well as to the Executive Branch. (Sec. 639) Amends the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996 to authorize all Federal agencies to receive and use funds resulting from the sale of Federal records disposed of pursuant to a record schedule (the Federal Register) which are subsequently recovered through recycling or waste prevention programs. (Sec. 640) Authorizes Federal agency heads to use private sector to review and analyze the contracting out, outsourcing or privatization of business and administrative functions and related issues subject to the Information Technology Management Act (title LI of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1996). (Sec. 641) Amends the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 to authorize appropriations for their FY 1998 through 2002 activities under such Act to the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel. (Sec. 643) Amends the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996 with respect to co-chairs, the meeting quorum, donations to, and travel allowances of the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service. (Sec. 644) Amends Federal law to increase from $10,000 to $30,000 the annual salary of each Governor on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. (Sec. 645) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report to the Congress estimates of the total annual costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs, together with: (1) an analysis of the impact of Federal rules on the private sector as well as on Federal, State, and local governments; (2) cost-benefit estimates for each rule likely to have a gross annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more in increased costs; and (3) recommendations to reform or eliminate any Federal regulatory program or program element that is inefficient, ineffective, or not a sound use of national resources. (Sec. 646) Amends the Federal Financial Management Act of 1994 to extend the authority of the OMB Director with respect to simplification of the management reporting process. (Sec. 647) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transfer to the University of Miami, without charge, title to the real property and improvements that constitute the Perrine Primate Center. (Sec. 648) Amends the Federal criminal code to upgrade counterfeiting offenses from a class C to a class B felony, thus increasing penalties. Prescribes criminal penalties for the production, sale, transportation, or possession of fictitious financial instruments (including fictitious obligations) purporting to be those of State or local governments or of private organizations. (Sec. 649) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act by a Federal agency to provide a Federal employee's home address to any labor organization without the employee's consent or a court order. (Sec. 650) Requires the Inspector General of each Federal agency to audit and report on the use of administratively uncontrollable overtime by employees. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to issue revised guidelines to limit or, in specified circumstances, prohibit the use of administratively uncontrollable overtime. (Sec. 651) Authorizes a Federal agency head to pay up to $10,000 in a death gratuity to the personal representative of a civilian employee whose death resulted from an injury sustained on the job on or after August 2, 1990. (Sec. 653) Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to : (1) establish scientific certification standards for explosives detection canines; (2) provide for certification of explosives detection canines employed by Federal agencies; and (3) establish a program for the training of canines for explosives detection at U.S. airports. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 654) Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a national repository of information on incidents involving arson and the suspected criminal use of explosives. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 655) Amends Federal law to allow a Trustee of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation to serve past expiration of his or her term until a successor is chosen. (Sec. 656) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to transfer directly to Indian tribes in North and South Dakota portable housing units at the Grand Forks Air Force base in North Dakota which the Department of Defense has declared excess. (Sec. 657) Amends the Federal criminal code to limit to firearms that have moved in or otherwise affect interstate or foreign commerce the existing prohibition against the possession or discharge of firearms in a school zone. (Sec. 658) Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful to sell firearms to anyone who has been convicted in any court of any crime involving domestic violence, if the individual has been represented by counsel or knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel. Makes it unlawful for such persons to engage in the trafficking of firearms. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations providing for the effective receipt and secure storage of firearms relinquished by such persons. (Sec. 659) Title I (sic): Additional Investment Funds for the Thrift Saving Plan - Thrift Savings Investment Funds Act of 1996 - Amends Federal civil service law to add two new funds, the International Stock Index Investment Fund and the Small Capitalization Stock Index Fund, to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Title II: Thrift Savings Accounts Liquidity - Thrift Savings Plan Act of 1996 - Increases withdrawal options for TSP participants upon separation from employment. Eliminates the purpose requirements for taking a TSP loan. Requires an employee or member, before a loan is issued, to be given appropriate information in writing about the cost of the loan relative to other sources of financing, as well as the lifetime cost of the loan, including the difference in interest rates between the funds offered by the Thrift Savings Fund, and any other effect of such loan on the employee's or member's final account balance before a loan is issued. Permits a TSP participant, before separation, to make a one-time withdrawal from the account upon: (1) attaining age 59 and one-half; or (2) financial hardship. Revises provisions concerning notification of an employee's or Member's spouse upon making or changing a withdrawal election. Eliminates the definition of basic pay with respect to the TSP. (Sec. 660) Authorizes interagency financing to carry out the purposes of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. (Sec. 661) Designates the U.S. courthouse to be constructed at a specified site in Omaha, Nebraska, the Roman L. Hruska United States Courthouse. Title VII (sic): Counter-terrorism and Drug Law Enforcement - Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (sic) - Makes additional FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of the Treasury and to the President for: (1) the Office of Foreign Assets Control; (2) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; (3) the U.S. Customs Service; and (4) Federal drug control programs. Makes additional FY 1996 appropriations to the Department of Defense for programs, projects, and activities relating to force protection, anti-terrorism, and security enhancement activities. Makes additional FY 1996 appropriations for programs, projects, and activities relating to emergency supplemental costs arising from Hurricanes Fran and Hortense and other disasters to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Small Business Administration; (4) the Department of Defense-Civil, Department of the Army; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services; (6) the Department of Transportation; and (7) the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Makes additional FY 1997 appropriations for specified programs, projects, and activities to: (1) the Department of Energy; (2) the Department of Transportation; (3) the National Transportation Safety Board; and (4) the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority (for education facilities). Makes specified rescissions in the Department of Transportation. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish at individual airports consortia of government and aviation industry representatives (which, however, shall not be considered Federal advisory bodies) to provide advice on aviation safety and security. (Sec. 106) Specifies funds for direct loans to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority to continue the Alameda Corridor Project. (Sec. 107) Makes additional funds available to the Secretary of Transportation for grants for Amtrak operating losses and related expenses and for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program. (Sec. 108) Permits the use of FY 1996 and 1997 Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief funds to halt erosion caused by an emergency ocean condition to a bank protecting a scenic highway or byway, and stabilize the bank, if such action is necessary to protect the highway from imminent failure and is less expensive than highway relocation. (Sec. 109) Establishes in the Treasury an account, "Support for International Sporting Competitions and other Special Activities, Defense,"" for logistical and security support for international sporting competitions and other special events of national and international significance. (Sec. 110) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 to make effective as of the date of enactment of such Act the designation of the Chief of Naval Research at a minimum rank of rear admiral (upper half). Title II (sic): Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 - Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 - Title I (sic): Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area - Opal Creek Wilderness and Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area Act of 1996 - Provides that on the determination of the Secretary of Agriculture that certain parcels of land have been donated to the United States without encumbrances and that a binding agreement between the Secretary and owners of specified interests for the disposition of such interests to the Government has been executed: (1) certain land in the Willamette National Forest in Oregon shall be designated as the Opal Creek Wilderness (OCW); (2) the part of the Bull of the Woods Wilderness located within the Forest shall be incorporated into the OCW; and (3) the Secretary shall establish the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area within the Forest. Requires lands or interests conveyed to the United States to become part of the OCW or the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area, as appropriate. (Sec. 105) Requires, with respect to such Area, the Secretary to: (1) prepare a comprehensive Opal Creek Management Plan which shall become part of the land and resource management plan for the Forest; (2) permit recreation activities at no less than the levels in existence upon enactment of this Act; (3) prepare a transportation plan to maintain reasonable motorized and other access to recreation sites and facilities, including access by persons with disabilities (otherwise prohibits motorized vehicles in the Area); (4) permit hunting and fishing, with limitations; (5) prohibit the cutting or selling of trees, with specified exceptions; and (6) review and revise the inventory of cultural and historic resources on the public land in the Area. Withdraws Area lands from operations under the public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing laws. Specifies exceptions applicable with respect to the Bornite Project. Places restrictions on new water impoundments in the Area. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory council for the Area and to consult with the Council and seek the views of private groups, individuals, the public, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations regarding the Area. (Sec. 107) Provides for the acquisition of lands within the Area. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct any necessary environmental response actions within the Area. (Sec. 108) Provides for an equal-value land exchange between the Rosboro Lumber Company and the Government. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 109) Amends the Wild and Scenic Recreation Rivers Act to designate Elkhorn Creek as a wild and scenic river. (Sec. 109) Requires the Secretary, upon completion of a management plan and receipt of an economic development projects plan developed by the State of Oregon, to provide $15 million to Oregon to make grants and loans for such projects that benefit the local communities in the vicinity of the Area. Requires the State to report annually on the use of such funds. Title II: Upper Klamath Basin - Directs the Upper Klamath Basin Working Group, through the Klamath Basin Ecosystem Restoration Office, to propose ecological restoration projects, economic development and stability projects, and projects designed to reduce the impacts of drought conditions to be undertaken in the Upper Klamath Basin in Oregon based on a consensus of the Working Group membership. Requires the Secretary to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of such projects during FY 1997 through 2001 (with a $1 million annual limit). Requires the Secretary to formulate a cooperative agreement among the Working Group, the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force, the Trinity River Restoration Task Force, and the Klamath River Basin Compact Commission to ensure that projects proposed and funded through the Group are consistent with other basin-wide fish and wildlife restoration and conservation plans. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Deschutes Basin - Directs the Deschutes River Basin Working Group to propose ecological restoration projects on Federal and non-Federal lands and waters to be undertaken in the Deschutes River Basin based on a consensus of the Working Group membership, provided that such projects, when involving Federal land or funds, shall be proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in the Department of the Interior and other Federal agencies with affected land or funds. Requires BOR to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of such projects during FY 1997 through 2001 (with a $1 million annual limit). Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Mount Hood Corridor - Provides for an equal-value land exchange between Longview Fibre Company and the Secretary of the Interior. Requires: (1) all lands managed by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in the Mount Hood Corridor which can be seen from U.S. Highway 26 to be managed primarily for the protection or enhancement of scenic qualities; and (2) management prescriptions for other resource values associated with these lands to be planned and conducted for purposes other than timber harvest, so as not to impair scenic qualities in the Corridor. Allows timber cutting in the Corridor after a resource-damaging catastrophic event only for specified management objectives. Requires Forest Service Road 2503 to remain closed, except for limited uses, to protect resources and to prevent illegal dumping and vandalism in the Corridor. Exempts this title from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for one year. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Coquille Tribal Forest - Amends the Coquille Restoration Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior, two years after enactment of this title, to take approximately 5,400 acres in Coos County, Oregon, into trust for the Coquille Tribe. Designates such lands as the Coquille Forest. Provides for management of such lands by BLM in the interim two years. Directs: (1) the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to initiate development of a forest management plan; and (2) Secretary toassist in the transition of forest management operations to the Assistant Secretary. Requires the Secretary to: (1) manage the Forest, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, under applicable State and Federal forestry and environmental protection laws, subject to critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act and to the standards and guidelines of Federal forest plans on adjacent or nearby Federal lands, and in accordance with laws pertaining to the management of Indian Trust lands; and (2) distribute revenues in accordance with existing Federal law. Subjects unprocessed logs harvested from the Forest to the same Federal statutory restrictions on export to foreign nations that apply to unprocessed logs harvested from Federal lands. Requires all sales of timber from land subject to this title to be advertised, offered, and awarded according to competitive bidding practices, with sales being awarded to the highest responsible bidder. Allows the Secretary, upon a satisfactory showing of management competence, to enter into a binding Indian self-determination agreement with the Tribe which provides for the Tribe to carry out all or a portion of the forest management for the Forest. Conditions the agreement on the: (1) Tribe entering into a binding Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Oregon relating to the establishment and management of the Forest; and (2) Secretary's authority to rescind the agreement without encumbrances. Requires the Forest to remain open to public access for purposes of hunting, fishing, recreation, and transportation, except when closed by Federal or State law or when the Tribe and the State of Oregon agree in writing that restrictions on access are necessary or appropriate to prevent harm to natural resources, cultural resources, or environmental quality. Vests jurisdiction in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon over actions: (1) against the Secretary arising out of claims that this title has been violated; and (2) between Oregon and the Tribe arising out of claims of breach of the MOA. Prohibits suits against the Secretary for claims that the MOA has been violated. Limits remedies available under this title to equitable relief and excludes damages. Specifies exclusive regulatory civil jurisdiction vested in the States of Oregon. Title VI: Bull Run Watershed Protection - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit timber cutting within the hydrographic boundary of the Bull Run River Drainage, including certain lands within the unit and located below the headworks of Portland, Oregon's water storage and delivery project, except for the: (1) protection or enhancement of water quality in the area; (2) protection, enhancement, or maintenance of water quantity available from the area; (3) construction, expansion, protection, or maintenance of municipal water supply facilities; or (4) construction, expansion, protection, or maintenance of facilities for the transmission of energy through and over the unit or previously authorized hydroelectric projects associated with such facilities. Prohibits the Secretary from authorizing a salvage sale in the Area. (Sec. 605) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to specified congressional committees on that part of the Little Sandy Watershed that is within the Bull Run Management Unit (study area) to determine: (1) the impact of management activities within the study area on the quality of drinking water provided to the Portland metropolitan area; (2) the identity and location of certain ecological features within the study area; and (3) the location and extent of any significant cultural or other values within the study area. Prohibits the Secretary from advertising, offering, or awarding any timber sale within the study area for a two-year period after the enactment of this title. (Sec. 606) Provides that lands within the Bull Run Management Unit but not contained within the Bull Run River Drainage shall continue to be managed in accordance with existing Federal law. Title VII: Oregon Islands Wilderness, Additions - Designates as wilderness: (1) certain lands within the boundaries of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon; and (2) all other federally owned rocks, reefs, islets, and islands lying within three geographic miles off the Oregon coast and above mean high tide and also within the Refuge boundaries under the administration of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or presently under the jurisdiction of BLM. Makes permanent Public land Order 6287 which withdrew certain rocks, reefs, islets, and islands lying within three geographical miles off the coast of Oregon and above mean high tide as an addition to the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Title VIII: Umpqua River Land Exchange Study - Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to: (1) consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the Umpqua Land Exchange Project (ULEP), affected units of State and local agencies, and, as appropriate, the World Forestry Center and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to assist ULEP's ongoing efforts in studying and analyzing land exchange opportunities in the Umpqua River basin and to provide assistance and information to such entities; and (2) report thereon to specified congressional committees. Lists priority matters for specific study by the Secretaries, including identifying: (1) areas where consolidation of land ownership could promote long-term species protection; (2) areas where land exchanges might be utilized to better satisfy sustainable timber harvest goals; and (3) options to insure that post-exchange revenues will approximate pre-exchange revenues. (Sec. 803) Authorizes appropriations. Title III (sic): Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 - Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 - Lists the purposes of this Act, including to: (1) improve the delivery of services to the public; (2) promote State, local, and tribal governments and private, nonprofit organizations to identify goals to improve their communities and the lives of their citizens; and (3) enable eligible applicants to adapt programs of Federal financial assistance to the particular needs of their communities by integrating programs and program funds across existing similar Federal financial assistance programs. (Sec. 305) Creates a Community Empowerment Board composed of specified Cabinet Secretaries and agency heads. Requires the Board, among other things, to: (1) select six States to participate; and (2) receive, review, and approve or disapprove flexibility plans. Defines a "flexibility plan" as a comprehensive plan for the coordination and administration by an eligible applicant of financial assistance provided by the Federal Government under two or more eligible Federal financial assistance programs that includes funds from Federal, State, local, or tribal government or private sources to address the service needs of a community. Requires that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Board, coordinate and assist in creating: (1) a uniform Federal financial assistance application; (2) a release form to facilitate the sharing of information across Federal financial assistance programs; and (3) a system wherein an organization or consortium of organizations may use one proposal to apply for assistance. (Sec. 306) Authorizes an applicant to apply to the Board for approval of a flexibility plan which must meet specified requirements, including that the application be submitted to, and contain all comments on the proposed plan made by, each affected State and local government. Provides for the submission of an application to the Board without such comments if, within 60 days of submission of the plan to an affected government, such government has failed to act on or endorse the application. (Sec. 307) Sets forth the following limitations: (1) authorizes the Board to approve no more than 30 plans; and (2) allows State applicants to submit only three approved plans. Prohibits the Board from approving any plan that includes funds under a Federal financial assistance program to support tuition vouchers for children attending private schools or otherwise pay their cost of attending such schools. Authorizes affected Federal agencies to waive any requirement under a Federal financial assistance program if the waiver is: (1) necessary to implement a plan; (2) not disapproved by the Board; and (3) necessary to effectively achieve the purposes of this Act by adhering to conditions for approval of a flexibility plan, and review and approval of flexibility plans and waiver requests. (Sec. 309) Requires an approved applicant to monitor the effectiveness of its plan and report on it to the Board. Mandates a final report to the Board. Requires the: (1) Board to report to the President and the Congress on the Federal laws or regulations most frequently waived, with the President reviewing the report and identifying those statutory and regulatory requirements that the President determines should be amended or repealed; and (2) OMB Director to report on its progress in achieving certain functions outlined under this Act requiring coordination and assistance with Federal agencies. Requires the General Accounting Office to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of Federal financial assistance programs included in flexibility plans approved pursuant to this Act; (2) establish and maintain a program for the ongoing collection of data and analysis of each such program included in an approved flexibility plan; and (3) submit a report to the Congress and the President. Mandates a specified report by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to the Congress and the President. Repeals this Act on January 1, 2005. Requires all Federal agencies to develop a consistent policy that stipulates that the date of the U.S. postmark shall be deemed to be the date of delivery for any Federal contract, grant, assistance application, or other document which is required to be filed by a certain date and is delivered late by U.S. mail. Division 2: Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction - Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 - Title I (sic): Streamlining the Home Mortgage Lending Process - Sets a deadline by which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must take action under Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to simplify and provide a single format for credit transaction disclosures. (Sec. 102) Amends RESPA to transfer from HUD to the Board all rulemaking authority under such Act except with respect to the prohibitions against referrals, kickbacks, and unearned fees, and against direct purchases of title insurance. (Sec. 103) Amends TILA to authorize the Board to exempt those transactions from TILA disclosure requirements which the Board determines: (1) are not necessary to effectuate its purposes; or (2) do not provide a measurable benefit in the form of useful information or consumer protection. Includes among factors for Board consideration: (1) whether the loan in question is secured by the consumer's principal residence; and (2) whether the goal of consumer protection would be undermined by such an exemption. (Sec. 104) Amends RESPA to repeal requirements that: (1) a federally related mortgage lender disclose to a mortgage loan applicant the servicing of mortgages the lender has assigned, sold, or transferred during the most recent three calendar years; and (2) a lender that does not service federally related loans similarly disclose any intention to assign, sell, or transfer such servicing. Repeals the mandate for model disclosure statements. Declares that the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees shall not be construed as prohibiting payment by a depository institution or mortgage bank to its own employee for a referral to an affiliate for a loan product, if the employee does not hold himself or herself out as anything but an employee of that institution. Requires the Board to ensure that the exemption from RESPA regulations for credit transactions for primarily business, commercial, or agricultural purposes shall be the same as the exemption for such transactions under TILA. (Sec. 105) Declares that the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees shall not be construed as prohibiting a payment made to a person or affinity group relating to an endorsement of the products or services of a settlement service provider if the at the time of the first written communication with the consumer it is clearly disclosed that payment was made or may be made or other thing of value may accrue to the affinity group for the endorsement. (Sec. 106) Amends TILA to exempt from its disclosure requirements any credit transactions involving consumers with an annual earned income of more than $200,000 or having net assets in excess of $1 million at the time of the transaction, upon submission of a handwritten waiver, signed and dated by such consumer. (Sec. 107) Grants creditors the option to set forth alternative disclosures regarding conditions which could trigger increases or decreases in payment and interest rates for variable interest rate residential mortgage transactions. (Sec. 109) Amends the Truth in Lending Act to restrict certain limitations on creditor liability with respect to closed end consumer credit transactions secured by real property or a dwelling under the Act. Title II: Streamlining Government Regulation - Subtitle A: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Requirements and Procedures - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to set forth conditions under which prior approval is not required for any merger, consolidation, asset acquisition, or liabilities assumption involving only insured depository institution subsidiaries of the same depository institution holding company. (Sec. 202) Permits an insured depository institution to participate in optional conversion transactions between members of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund without prior approval of the responsible agency (but still requires approval). Eliminates the requirement for approval of such a merger under the Oakar Amendment as well as the Bank Merger Act. (Sec. 203) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to remove from its regulatory purview a bank holding company subject to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA). Revises the definition of "savings and loan holding company" to exclude a bank holding company under BHCA jurisdiction. Provides that acquisition of a savings association by a bank holding company under BHCA jurisdiction obviates approval by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision. Amends BHCA to direct the Federal Reserve Board to solicit the views of the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision with respect to its examination and enforcement role over bank holding companies. (Sec. 204) Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the requirement that the aggregate minimum capital of a national banking association and all its branches be no less than the aggregate minimum capital that would be required if each branch were a separately chartered national bank. (Sec. 205) Amends the Revised Statutes and FDIA to exclude from the definition of "branch" an automated teller machine or remote service unit (thus exempting those entities from the approval requirements and geographic restrictions of such Acts). (Sec. 206) Amends the Federal Reserve Act (FRA) to permit well-capitalized and well-managed banks to invest amounts equal to 150 percent (currently, only 100 percent) of capital and surplus in bank premises without prior approval. (Sec. 207) Amends BHCA to repeal the presumption that shares transferred by a bank holding company to a transferee under its control (divestitures) remain under the holding company's control (thus subject to specified approval requirements). (Sec. 208) States that prior notice and approval is not required (but written notice to the Federal Reserve Board within ten days after commencing such an activity is required) for a proposal by a well-capitalized, well-managed bank holding company to engage in any activity or acquire the shares or assets of any company (other than an insured depository institution) if it meets specified financial and managerial criteria. (Sec. 209) Amends FDIA to repeal the requirement that the appropriate Federal banking agency be notified prior to the appointment or addition of a new director or senior executive officer if the affected insured depository institution or depository institution holding company: (1) has been chartered less than two years; or (2) has undergone a change in control within the preceding two years. Retains the prior notice requirement for troubled insured depository institutions or depository institution holding companies only if the agency determines that prior notice is appropriate. Extends from 30 days up to 90 days the period during which, following notice, the agency may disapprove board of directors or senior executive officer appointments by such institutions or companies. (Sec. 210) Amends the Depository Institutions Management Interlocks Act to revise the prohibition on dual service of management officials to raise the asset-size thresholds of the depository institutions or depository holding companies to which the prohibition applies. Authorizes Federal banking regulatory agencies to adjust such thresholds for inflation. Repeals the 20-year exemption from the dual service prohibition for certain grandfathered directors and management officials (thus permitting them to continue their dual service permanently). Repeals the requirement that each appropriate Federal depository institutions regulatory agency: (1) review according to prescribed criteria the petition of a management official to serve in more than one position (interlocking directorate); and (2) determine whether continuation of such dual service produces an anti-competitive effect. Authorizes the appropriate regulatory agencies to prescribe rules and regulations permitting dual service by a management official that would otherwise be prohibited if such service would not result in a monopoly or substantial lessening of competition. Repeals the criteria governing regulatory approval of management interlocks. (Sec. 211) Amends FRA to exempt from its proscription against preferential terms in credit extensions to executive officers, directors, or principal shareholders (insider lending) any credit extension: (1) made pursuant to a benefit or compensation program widely available to employees of the member bank; and (2) that does not give preference to any officer, director, or principal shareholder of the member bank, or to any related interest of such person, over other employees of the member bank. Authorizes the Federal Reserve Board to waive the proscription against such preferential terms for certain executive officers and directors of a subsidiary that controls the member bank if the subsidiary's assets do not exceed ten percent of the consolidated assets of a company that controls the member bank and such subsidiary (and is not controlled by any other company). (Sec. 212) Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to direct the Appraisal Subcommittee to repay the Secretary of the Treasury the unpaid portion of its startup funding by the end of FY 1998. (Sec. 213) Amends the FDIA to exempt from branch closure notice requirements automated teller machines and relocated or consolidated bank branches, if: (1) the relocation or consolidation occurs within the same neighborhood and does not substantially affect the nature of the business or customers served; or (2) a branch is closed in connection with emergency acquisitions or any Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) assistance. (Sec. 214) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to direct the Federal Reserve Board to avoid unnecessary duplication of foreign bank examinations. Provides that: (1) each Federal and State branch or agency of a foreign bank shall be subject to on-site examination by the appropriate regulator as frequently as would its U.S. counterpart (instead of annually, as at present); and (2) the cost of such examination shall be assessed against its owner to the same extent that fees are collected by the Federal Reserve Board for examination of any State member bank. Authorizes the Board to approve an application by a foreign bank even if the authorities in the home country have not yet established a comprehensive regulation on a consolidated basis, as long as they are actively working to establish one. Instructs the Board to consider, when acting on a foreign bank application, whether the foreign bank has adopted and implemented procedures to combat money laundering. Directs the Board to take final action on any application within 180 days after its receipt. Authorizes the Board to terminate a foreign bank office in the United States if it finds that the authorities in the home country are not making demonstrable progress in establishing arrangements for comprehensive consolidated supervision. (Sec. 215) Amends the BHCA to authorize the Board to approve extensions beyond the current five-year deadline for a bank holding company to dispose of foreclosed assets, under certain conditions, up to an aggregate of five more years. (Sec. 216) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 and the Home Owners Loan Act to extend the authority of the Board, and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, respectively, to grant exceptions to certain antitying prohibitions. (Sec. 217) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to act within a 60- day period (which may be extended for an additional 30 days) upon receipt of the application of an insured State bank (or subsidiary) to engage as principal in activity impermissible for a national bank. Subtitle B: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens - Amends FDIA to increase from $175 million to $250 million the asset-size ceiling on the meaning of "small depository institution" which Federal banking agencies may in their discretion determine for examination on an 18-month cycle. (Sec. 222) Directs the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council, and each Federal banking agency represented on it, to review and report to the Congress on Federal banking regulations at least every ten years to identify unnecessary regulatory requirements imposed upon insured depository institutions. Requires the Council or the pertinent banking agency to eliminate unnecessary regulations to the extent appropriate. (Sec. 223) Amends Federal monetary law to repeal the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to require each insured depository institution to identify certain non-bank financial institution customers. (Sec. 224) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to repeal the mandate that insured depository institutions include information on small businesses and small farm lending in their annual reports of condition. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and the International Lending Supervision Act of 1983 to repeal annual reporting requirements for specified Federal financial institution regulatory agencies, including certain reports on changes to improve the international lending operations of banking institutions. (Sec. 225) Amends the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 to increase from $10 million to $50 million the maximum asset-size of institutions exempt from its requirements. Declares that a depository institution shall be deemed to have satisfied the public availability requirements for its mortgage loan transactions if its branch offices provide notice of the availability of such information from the home office upon request. (Sec. 226) Amends FDIA guidelines governing a change in control of insured depository institutions to repeal mandatory reporting by financial institutions (or affiliates) of any loans secured by 25 percent or more of any class of shares of an insured depository institution (stock loans). Retains such mandatory reporting for foreign banks and their affiliates. (Sec. 227) Requires the Federal Reserve Board to study and report to the Congress on the extent of small business lending by all creditors. Subtitle C: Regulatory Micromanagement - Amends the Revised Statutes to allow the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the residency requirement for national banking association directors. Repeals the Comptroller's authority to waive citizenship requirements for a minority of the directors of a foreign bank subsidiary or affiliate. (Sec. 242) Amends the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to require each Federal banking agency to review and eliminate regulations which require insured depository institutions and credit unions to produce unnecessary internal written policies. (Sec. 243) Amends FDIA to mandate: (1) that one of the presidentially appointed directors serving on the FDIC Board have State bank supervisory experience; (2) that each appropriate Federal banking agency take action necessary to ensure that depository institution examiners consult and reach agreement on examination activities and resultant recommendations; and (3) consider appointing an examiner-in-charge to ensure such consultation. Title III: Regulatory Impact on Cost of Credit and Credit Availability - Amends FDIA guidelines for improved accountability in financial management to: (1) eliminate the use of an independent public accountant to detect and report violations of law by an insured depository institution or depository institution holding company; and (2) authorize a Federal banking agency to permit an independent audit committee to be composed of a majority of outside directors independent of institution management (currently the entire committee must be composed of such outside directors) if it determines that an insured depository institution has encountered hardships in retaining competent directors on such committee. (Sec. 302) Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act to set forth incentives for self-testing and self- correcting by lenders subject to such Acts. Prescribes conditions under which: (1) an enforcing agency is prohibited from acquiring or using reports generated by any creditor-conducted review of lending operations to determine compliance with such Acts; and (2) such self-test results may be used by an adversary party. (Sec. 303) Permits a Federal savings association to make credit card loans or education loans without being subject to a percentage-of-assets limitation. Raises from ten percent to 20 percent the percentage-of-assets limitations ceiling placed upon commercial and agricultural loans offered by an association. Restricts loan amounts exceeding ten percent of an association's total assets to loans made to small businesses. Repeals the five-percent-of-assets loan restriction placed upon education loans offered by an association. Expands the scope of "qualified thrift lender" to include a domestic building and loan association. Permits a savings association that qualifies as a qualified thrift lender to operate a branch outside the State in which it has its home office. Redefines "qualified thrift investment" to cover, as assets includible without limit, educational loans, small business loans, and loans made through credit cards or credit card accounts. Removes the ten-percent-of-assets loan restriction placed upon certain personal, family, household or education loans other than educational loans, small business loans, and loans made through credit cards or credit card accounts. (Sec. 304) Amends BHCA to repeal the seven percent growth cap restrictions placed upon banks controlled by certain bank holding companies not statutorily treated as bank holding companies. Excludes from BHCA jurisdiction any limited purpose institution that accepts collateral for extensions of credit by holding deposits under $100,000. (Sec. 305) Amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to revise the prohibition against failure to disclose clearly in all communications with a consumer that the debt collector is attempting to collect a debt. (Sec. 306) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to increase from $10,000 to $20,000 the ceiling on credit union loans which may be made to a director or member of a supervisory or credit committee without first being approved by the board of directors. (Sec. 307) Amends the Federal Reserve Act to increase from ten percent to 20 percent the amount of capital and surplus that a national bank may invest in the stock of Edge Act subsidiaries and certain financial service corporations held by a member bank's non- U.S. branches, as long as the investment of an additional amount over ten percent would not be unsafe or unsound. Title IV: Consumer Credit - Subtitle A: Credit Reporting Reform - Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to cite additional permissible purposes for which a consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report, including: (1) for employment purposes; (2) for credit or insurance transactions that are not initiated by the consumer; and (3) for direct marketing transactions that are not initiated by the consumer. Mandates consumer consent as a prerequisite to furnishing medical information contained in a consumer report. (Sec. 406) Revises exceptions to the prohibition against the reporting of certain obsolete information by a consumer reporting agency. Raises the minimum dollar threshold amounts permitting release of such information: (1) from $50,000 to $150,000 in the case of a credit transaction; (2) from $50,000 to $150,000 the policy amount in the case of life insurance underwriting; and (3) from $20,000 to $75,000 the amount of salary of an individual in the case of an employment-related credit report. Provides that the seven-year reporting period applicable to accounts placed for collection begins no later than 180 days after the beginning of the delinquency immediately preceding the collection activity. Mandates disclosure in a consumer report of: (1) the particular chapter under which a bankruptcy case arises; (2) withdrawal of a bankruptcy case prior to final judgment; (3) voluntary closure by a consumer of a credit account; (4) information disputed by the consumer. (Sec. 407) Prohibits a consumer reporting agency from prohibiting disclosure to the consumer by a credit report user of the contents of a credit report if the user has taken adverse action against the consumer based on such report. Prescribes guidelines for procurement of a consumer report for resale. (Sec. 408) States that nothing requires a consumer reporting agency to disclose to a consumer any credit scores, risk scores, and other predictors relating to her or him. Provides for mandatory disclosure to a consumer of additional kinds of information, including a summary of consumer rights. Requires the Federal Trade Commission to take action to assure that consumer standardization and comprehensibility are achieved. Prohibits consumer lawsuits for defamation, invasion of privacy, or negligence against a consumer reporting agency based on information disclosed by a credit report user to or for a consumer against whom the user has taken adverse action based on the report. (Sec. 409) Revises procedural and disclosure guidelines governing: (1) disputed information in a consumer's file, including free mandatory reinvestigation by the reporting agency; (2) users of information in a consumer report taking adverse actions, or making written credit or insurance solicitations based upon such report (including any direct marketing transaction that is not initiated by the consumer); and (3) adverse action based on information obtained from third parties other than consumer reporting agencies. (Sec. 412) Revises civil liability guidelines to set forth liquidated damages for willful and negligent noncompliance, and to award attorney's fees to the prevailing party for pleadings filed in bad faith. (Sec. 413) Specifies the responsibilities of persons who furnish information to a consumer reporting agency, including the obligation to provide accurate, updated information and notices of information disputed by consumers. (Sec. 414) Revises disclosure guidelines governing investigative consumer reports to require: (1) certification that the consumer has been notified; and (2) confirmation of any adverse information obtained from personal sources. (Sec. 415) Increases criminal penalties for obtaining information under false pretenses, and for unauthorized disclosures. (Sec. 416) Revises administrative enforcement guidelines to authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to commence a civil action to recover a civil penalty in Federal district court in the event of a knowing violation constituting a pattern or practice of FCRA violations. Limits such penalty to $2500 per violation. Prohibits: (1) the FTC from promulgating trade regulation rules with respect to the FCRA; and (2) specified Federal regulatory agencies from conducting an examination of a bank, savings association or credit union regarding FCRA compliance except in response to a complaint alleging noncompliance. (Sec. 417) Authorizes the States to bring a court action for FCRA violations. (Sec. 418) Authorizes the Federal Reserve Board to issue interpretations of the FCRA with respect to certain financial institutions and holding companies. (Sec. 419) Identifies specified FCRA provisions that preempt State law. Subtitle B: Credit Repair Organizations - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide that specified provisions of that Act may be cited as the Credit Repair Organizations Act. (Sec. 451) Prohibits: (1) advising any consumer to make an untrue or misleading statement, or to alter the consumer's identification to prevent the display of the consumer's credit record; (2) other fraud or deception; and (3) a credit repair organization (CRO) from charging or receiving valuable consideration for any service before such service is fully performed. Specifies a statement which a CRO must provide to consumers before an agreement is executed regarding the consumer, the CRO, and related rights, powers, and obligations. Requires written, signed contracts covering specified matters in order for a CRO to provide services. Allows a consumer to cancel a contract with a CRO within three business days of making the contract. Declares void any consumer waiver of any protection under this subtitle. Makes an attempt to obtain a waiver a violation of this subtitle. Voids any contract not in compliance with this subtitle. Provides for civil liability for failing to comply with this subtitle, including allowing punitive damages and class actions. Requires enforcement of this subtitle under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) by the FTC. Makes: (1) a violation of this subtitle an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of specified provisions of the FTCA; and (2) all functions and powers of the FTC available for enforcement of this subtitle. Establishes a five-year statute of limitations for actions to enforce liability under this subtitle. (Sec. 452) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) individuals should be judged for credit worthiness based upon their own credit worthiness and not that of their zip code or residential neighborhood; and (2) the FTC should report to certain congressional committees on the impact of residential location upon corporate lenders' consideration of an application for unsecured credit. Title V: Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection - Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Act of 1996- Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to declare that the liability of a fiduciary for the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance in connection with a vessel or facility held in fiduciary capacity shall not exceed the assets held in fiduciary capacity, unless: (1) a person is liable independently of the person's ownership of a vessel or facility as a fiduciary or actions taken in a fiduciary capacity; or (2) the fiduciary negligently causes or contributes to the release or threatened release. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Directs the Federal Reserve Board to evaluate and report to the Congress whether the Electronic Fund Transfer Act could be applied to electronic stored value products without adversely impacting their cost, development, and operation. (Sec. 602) Amends FDIA to treat as administrative expenses of a receiver or conservator for an insured depository institution any final and unappealable judgment for monetary damages entered against such receiver or conservator for breach of a post-appointment agreement executed or approved by such receiver or conservator. (Sec. 603) Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) increase the penalty for certain counterfeiting violations; and (2) establish criminal penalties for the production, sale, transportation, or possession of fictitious financial instruments purporting to be those of the States, political subdivisions, and of private organizations. (Sec. 604) Amends the Truth in Savings Act to repeal: (1) civil liability for violations of such Act; and (2) the definition of an on-premises display in a depository institution. Redefines "depository institution" to exclude certain nonautomated credit unions (thus exempting them from such Act). (Sec. 605) Amends TILA to direct the Federal Reserve Board to: (1) promulgate regulations to update and clarify requirements and definitions applicable to lease disclosures and contracts; (2) publish model disclosure forms to facilitate compliance with disclosure requirements; and (3) consider, when establishing such model forms, the use of automated equipment by lessors. Amends the guidelines governing requisite disclosures in consumer lease advertisements. Shields the owner or employee of an advertising medium from liability relating to such disclosures. (Sec. 606) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the regulatory practices of the National Credit Union Administration Board with respect to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund; (2) the potential effects of the administration of that Fund by an entity other than the National Credit Union Administration; and (3) the investment practices and financial status of the ten largest corporate credit unions. (Sec. 607) Directs each Federal banking agency to report to the Congress on its actions regarding inconsistent or duplicative accounting and reporting requirements (differences between regulatory accounting principles and generally accepted accounting principles) affecting certain reports filed by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 608) Amends FIRREA to instruct the Federal Reserve Board to include in its annual report to the Congress a description of any discernible trend in the cost and availability of certain retail banking services in the nation as a whole, in each of the 50 States and in each consolidated metropolitan statistical area or primary metropolitan statistical area. (Sec. 609) Amends the Federal monetary code to continue the ban on gold clauses in contracts prior to 1977 unless all parties to a pre-1977 contract specifically agree to include such clause in the new agreement. (Sec. 610) Amends the BHCA to exclude a qualified family partnership from the meaning of "company" under such Act. (Sec. 611) Expresses the sense of the Congress that financial institutions and Federal bank regulators should work cooperatively with farmers and ranchers in drought-affected communities to allow financial obligations to be met without imposing undue burdens. Title VII: Deposit Insurance Funds - Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996 - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to impose a special assessment on the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF)-assessable deposits of each insured depository institution at a rate that the Board, in its sole discretion, determines will cause the SAIF to achieve the designated reserve ratio on the first business day of the first month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Allows the Board to exempt weak institutions from such assessment, but requires exemption for certain newly chartered and other defined institutions, which shall pay semiannual assessments at certain former rates during calendar years 1996 through 1998, with a special rate provision for calendar 1999. (Sec. 702) Authorizes certain institutions facing hardship as a result of the special assessment to elect to pay it in two assessments, plus a third supplemental special assessment, determined according to specified formulae. Prescribes adjustments of the special assessment for Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) member banks and certain savings associations. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to require the 20 percent reductions to the adjusted attributable deposit amount for certain BIF members and to the special assessment for certain converted savings associations. (Sec. 703) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to revise the assessment authority of the Financing Corporation (FICO), extending FICO assessments to all depository institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (rather than SAIF members only). Repeals specified limits on the amount that may be assessed. Declares that assessments imposed upon insured depository institutions with respect to any BIF-assessable deposit shall be assessed at 1\5 of the rate of the assessments imposed on insured depository institutions with respect to any SAIF-assessable deposit. (Sec. 704) Declares that the SAIF and the BIF shall be merged into the Deposit Insurance Fund, which shall have a Special Reserve for any excess of the SAIF reserve ratio over the designated reserve ratio. Makes conforming amendments to specified banking statutes. (Sec. 705) Amends the FDIA to establish a SAIF Special Reserve if the SAIF reserve exceeds the designated reserve ratio on January 1, 1999. (Sec. 706) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the refund of assessed payments in a deposit insurance fund in excess of the designated reserve amount. (Sec. 707) States that the assessment rate for a SAIF member may not be less than the assessment rate for a BIF member posing a comparable risk to the deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 708) Prohibits the FDIC Board of Directors from setting semi-annual assessments in excess of the amount needed to maintain or achieve the designated reserve ratio of a deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 709) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on all issues relevant to the development of a common charter for all insured depository institutions and the abolition of separate and distinct charters between banks and savings associations.

Bill· HRH.R. 4151 (104th)referred

National Indian Bonding Authority Pilot Project Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Establishment of National Indian Bonding Pilot Authority Title II: Private Bonds Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions National Indian Bonding Authority Pilot Project Act of 1996 - Title I: Establishment of National Indian Bonding Pilot Authority - Establishes a commission to be known as the National Indian Bonding Pilot Project Authority to: (1) provide for the issuance of certificates of participation (revenue bonds of the Authority); and (2) promulgate regulations to carry out such issuance. (Sec. 105) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Private Bonds - Directs the Authority to, by regulation, establish a program to provide for the issuance of certificates of participation and other debt instruments pursuant to an agreement between the Authority and a private underwriter to provide funding for facility improvement, repair, and new construction of schools of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Education Amendments Act of 1978. Provides for the transfer of funds for each fiscal year. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires: (1) the Authority to annually make a report to the Secretary of the Interior; and (2) the Secretary to review and make such recommendations deemed necessary to the Congress and Indian nations.

Bill· HRH.R. 4155 (104th)referred

District of Columbia Economic Recovery Act

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

District of Columbia Economic Recovery Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth a limitation on the income tax imposed on individuals who are residents of the District of Columbia. Specifies that the limitation is the sum of: (1) 15 percent of so much District-sourced income as exceeds the exemption amount; and (2) the average rate of the non-District-sourced adjusted gross income. Sets forth definitions, including for "resident of the District of Columbia" and "exemption amount." Provides for the tax treatment of certain sources of income. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to annually study the impact of the provisions of this Act on the economy of the District of Columbia.

Bill· HRH.R. 4154 (104th)referred

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make the dependent care credit refundable, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 13 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.

Bill· HRH.R. 4136 (104th)referred

To provide for a reduced rate of postage for certain mailings that, under Federal or State law, are required to be made by local governments.

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Requires the U.S. Postal Service to establish a discount presort first-class postage rate for specified local governmental mailings that are mandated by Federal or State law, such as property tax statements, summonses, and jury-duty pay, but for which no Federal or State funds are provided to local governments to defray the associated administrative costs.

Bill· HRH.R. 4142 (104th)referred

Save Our Savings Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Cap Entitlements and Other Mandatory Spending Title II: Enforcement Provisions Save Our Savings Act of 1996 - ( Title I: Cap Entitlements and Other Mandatory Spending ) - Sets forth a timetable for completion of certain budget actions by the President and by the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). (Sec. 102) Applies direct spending caps to all entitlement authority, except for undistributed offsetting receipts and net interest outlays. Sets forth a table of such caps for specified categories of entitlements and other mandatory spending. (Sec. 103) Requires determinations of such direct spending caps (as well as any breaches of such caps and actions necessary to remedy such breaches) to be based on certain economic assumptions for specified future fiscal years, subject to periodic reestimation based on changed economic conditions or changes in eligible population. (Sec. 104) Provides for automatic adjustments to the caps for entitlements and other mandatory spending. Allows the direct spending caps to be revised in a specified manner, only by recorded vote. Title II: Enforcement Provisions - Directs OMB to: (1) compile a statement of actual direct spending for a fiscal year, following the end of that year, identifying such spending by categories of entitlements and other mandatory spending; and (2) under specified conditions, issue a report to the President and the Congress, estimating necessary spending reductions. Sets forth a timetable for specified budget actions by the President and by OMB and CBO. (Sec. 202) Provides for enforcement of the direct spending caps on categories of spending established under title I of this Act. Applies specified enforcement rules and procedures for any fiscal year in which direct spending exceeds the applicable direct spending cap. (Sec. 203) Subjects all direct spending (except matters specifically exempted under this title) to caps on total direct spending outlays for each fiscal year. Establishes separate caps, consistent with the cap on total outlays, for: (1) any entitlement program named in the table in title I; (2) such other program or groups of programs for which additional caps are established in subsequent legislation; and (3) the remainder of direct spending programs. Prohibits the total of the separate caps from title I, plus any additional separate caps subsequently established, from exceeding the cap for total direct spending, as appropriately adjusted. Sets forth: (1) general rules triggering sequestration to reduce spending for programs subject to direct spending caps; (2) special rules for programs with certain characteristics; and (3) rules for insurance programs, loan programs, and State grant program formulas. Requires a within session sequester under certain conditions. (Sec. 204) Exempts from sequestration specified programs and activities, in terms of their budget accounts, activities within accounts, or income. Authorizes the President to exempt any military personnel account from sequestration or provide for a lower uniform percentage reduction that would otherwise apply, if the Congress is notified of the manner in which such authority will be exercised on or before the initial snapshot date for the budget year. (Sec. 205) Sets forth special rules for sequestration orders for: (1) the child support enforcement program under the Social Security Act; (2) the Commodity Credit Corporation; (3) the earned income tax credit; (4) regular and extended unemployment compensation; (5) the Federal Employees Health Benefits Fund; (6) the Federal Housing (Finance) Board; (7) Federal personnel pay; (8) the Medicare program under the Social Security Act; (9) the Postal Service Fund; (10) the Department of Energy power marketing administration funds or the Tennessee Valley Authority fund; and (11) programs which provide a businesslike service in exchange for a fee. (Sec. 206) Directs CBO and OMB to report to the President and the Congress the budget baselines for the budget year and at least the subsequent nine fiscal years. Requires submission of the CBO report on or before January 15. Requires the OMB report to accompany the President's budget. Specifies requirements for the budget baseline.

Resolution· HRESH.Res. 529 (104th)passed

Waiving points of order against the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 3259) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1997 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Waives points of order against the consideration of the conference report on H.R. 3259 (authorizing appropriations for intelligence and intelligence-related activities).

Bill· SS. 2095 (104th)open

Government Corporation and Government Sponsored Enterprise Standards Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Classifications of Government Corporations and GSES Title II: General Provisions Title III: Wholly Owned Government Corporations Title IV: Transitional Government Corporations Title V: Government Sponsored Enterprises Title VI: Government Corporation Control Act Title VII: Separability Government Corporation and Government Sponsored Enterprise Standards Act - Title I: Classifications of Government Corporations and GSES - Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to maintain a list of all Government corporations and Government sponsored enterprises and publish such list as a part of the annual budget of the U.S. Government. Title II: General Provisions - Reserves to the Congress the right to alter, amend or repeal any law establishing or governing the activities of a Government corporation or Government sponsored enterprise (GSE). (Sec. 202) Authorizes each newly established Government corporation or newly established GSE to establish, acquire or control the activities of a subsidiary or other affiliate only by or under a U.S. law expressly authorizing the action. Title III: Wholly Owned Government Corporations - Subjects each newly established wholly owned Government corporation to the Government Corporation Control Act. (Sec. 303) Provides that each newly established wholly owned Government corporation shall terminate ten years after establishment, but may be extended for additional ten-year periods by the Congress. (Sec. 304) Provides for: (1) the general powers of each newly established wholly owned Government corporation; (2) officers and employees; (3) obligations issued or guaranteed; (4) retirement and disability contributions and contributions to the Employees' Compensation Fund; and (5) annual financial statements. (Sec. 309) Prohibits a newly established wholly owned Government corporation from engaging in new business activities before they are included in the annual budget program approved by the Congress. (Sec. 310) Authorizes appropriations to each newly established wholly owned Government corporation for each year in sums equal to certain revenues foregone by the corporation for national policy reasons to provide goods or services at prices or rates below a reasonable estimate of the cost of production. (Sec. 311) Exempts funds, accounts, receipts and outlays of newly established wholly owned Government corporations from general budget limitations upon expenditures and net lending (budget outlays), sequestration orders, or discretionary spending limits. (Sec. 312) Exempts, subject to exceptions, newly established wholly owned Government corporations, including their franchises, property and income, from all State, county, municipality or local taxation. Requires that each such corporation make payments to State and local governments in lieu of property taxes. Title IV: Transitional Government Corporations - Provides for each newly established transitional Government corporation to have succession for a period of five years. (Sec. 403) Directs each newly established transitional Government corporation, no later than four years after enactment of its establishing or extending statute to submit to the President and the Congress a specified strategic privatization plan. Directs the U.S. Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the extent to which: (1) the privatization plan would result in any ongoing obligation or undue cost to the Government; and (2) the revenues gained by the Government under the plan would represent at least the net present value of the corporation. Title V: Government Sponsored Enterprises - Provides for each newly established government sponsored enterprise (GSE) to have succession for a period of ten years, subject to review by the Congress and extension for additional ten-year periods. (Sec. 503) Requires the statute establishing any GSE to address specified financial safety and soundness issues, including requirements for Federal supervision. Requires the Secretary to contract with two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations to: (1) assess a new GSE's ability to meet its obligations; and (2) review the new GSE's rating at least annually. Requires each new GSE to maintain throughout its existence one of the two highest of such ratings. (Sec. 504) Requires that the Federal agency responsible for supervision of the newly established GSE or the Secretary, within one year after the establishment or extension of a GSE, to submit to the President and the Congress a strategic plan (revised and updated triennially) for the removal of Government sponsorship from the GSE. Permits a GSE that holds different views from those of the Federal agency or Secretary to prepare and submit its own strategic plan. Requires the Federal agency or the Secretary to report at least annually on any unauthorized transactions or undertakings. (Sec. 505) Mandates that an annual report be submitted by the Secretary to the Congress assessing the financial safety and soundness of the activities of all newly established GSEs and the impact of their operations on Federal borrowing. (Sec. 506) Requires each newly established GSE to have an annual audit of its financial statements by an independent accountant. Subjects each GSE to an audit by the Comptroller General. (Sec. 507) Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) shareholder rights; (2) equity securities; and (3) Federal investments. (Sec. 511) Subjects each newly established GSE to Federal, State, and local taxation to the same extent as other business organizations are taxed. (Sec. 512) Requires each newly established GSE to report annually to the Congress. Title VI: Government Corporation Control Act - Amends the Government Corporation Control Act to: (1) redefine the term "Government corporation" to mean a wholly owned Government corporation and a Government sponsored enterprise; (2) strike the current definition of the term "mixed-ownership Government corporation" and define the term "Government sponsored enterprise" to mean the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Farm Credit Banks, the Banks for Cooperatives of the Farm Credit System, and such other Government sponsored enterprises as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate; (3) revise audit provisions, including requiring the Comptroller General to conduct annual audits of wholly owned Government corporations; (4) exempt former mixed-ownership wholly owned government corporations from specified Federal budget and audit requirements under the Act; (5) exempt GSE's from specified requirements of the Secretary to keep accounts; and (6) delete references to "mixed-ownership Government corporation" and insert "Government sponsored enterprise." Title VII: Separability - Sets forth separability provisions.

Bill· HRH.R. 4115 (104th)referred

Residential Windstorm Insurance Plan Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996

Residential Windstorm Insurance Plan Act of 1996 - Instructs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study the advisability and feasibility of establishing a Residential Windstorm Insurance Program designed to provide windstorm insurance to residential property owners unable to obtain coverage in the private market. Delineates Program contents and considerations. Requires the Director to: (1) submit to specified congressional committees study conclusions and estimated Program costs; and (2) enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a feasibility study regarding the establishment of a Federal earthquake insurance program modeled after the "Write Your Own" Program under the National Flood Insurance Program. Directs the Comptroller General, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress the results of a joint study evaluating the public policy issues associated with conferring favorable Federal tax treatment to multiyear insurance reserves set aside by private insurers for future catastrophic natural disasters.

Bill· HRH.R. 4122 (104th)referred

Immigrant Fairness Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Termination of Provisions of Public Law 104-193 Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Legal Immigrants Title II: Tax Provisions Immigrant Fairness Act of 1996 - Title I: Termination of Provisions of Public Law 104-193 Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits For Legal Immigrants - Repeals title IV (Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Title II: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to: (1) tax provisions on expatriation, including coordination with estate and gift tax and health insurance portability rules; (2) basis of assets of nonresidents who become U.S. citizens or residents; (3) foreign income exclusions; (4) treatment of domestic corporation stock dispositions by certain foreign shareholders as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, and related withholding requirements; and (5) imposition of an alternative minimum tax on corporations importing products into the United States at artificially inflated prices.

Bill· SS. 2089 (104th)referred

A bill to transfer land administered by the Bureau of Land Management to the States in which the land is located.

United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996

Requires the Secretary of the Interior to offer to transfer all right, title, and interest of the United States (including fee simple interest and mineral and water rights) in lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the State in which such land and interests are located. (Excludes mineral interests underlying a surface estate held in trust by the United States for an Indian tribe which interests shall be transferred from the BLM administrative jurisdiction to be held in trust for the Indian tribe for which the overlying surface estate is held in trust.) Permits a State to accept an offer only in its entirety. Makes such a land transfer effective ten years after a State accepts the offer. Restricts conveyance of such lands by a State. (Sec. 3) Requires a State to honor valid existing leases and permits on such lands and to manage the land in accordance with other terms and conditions of such leases and permits. Provides that, except for mining claims for which the holder is entitled to a patent as provided by this Act and under specified conditions, after the date on which land subject to a mining claim is transferred to a State, the validity and continued existence of such claim shall be determined under the law of the State to which the land was transferred and shall be administered in accordance with such State law. Requires a State to which land is transferred to respect a right- of-way granted by the United States on the land in accordance with the terms and conditions of the right-of-way. (Sec. 4) Requires transferred land: (1) that has been designated by an Act of Congress as wilderness to be managed by the State as wilderness in accordance with the requirements of Federal laws that specifically provide for its management; (2) that is, on the date of transfer, subject to use for military purposes to continue to be subject to the same military uses; and (3) to continue to provide for the public access provided on the date of transfer. Sets forth provisions relating to the transfer of water rights on the transferred land. Limits BLM obligations and expenditures to $800 million beginning with the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted. Requires the Secretary to give priority to expending amounts available to the BLM for land management activities and carrying out this Act.

Bill· SS. 2088 (104th)referred

Child Care Infrastructure Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996

Child Care Infrastructure Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer-provided child care credit for qualified expenses to build, rehabilitate, or expand a qualified child care facility, or subsidize or contract for such services, for an employer's employees. Terminates such credit by a specified date.

Bill· HRH.R. 4106 (104th)referred

Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996

Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund which shall finance qualified intercity passenger rail service expenses of: (1) the National Railroad Passenger Corporation; and (2) eligible States. Transfers to the Fund a specified percentage of the general revenue portion of the highway motor fuel taxes.

Bill· HRH.R. 4110 (104th)referred

Children Health Insurance Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996

Children Health Insurance Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, as amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, to: (1) require group health plans and health insurers to provide access to coverage for a participant's or beneficiary's qualifying children; and (2) impose a noncompliance excise tax. Amends the Code to provide a tax credit for an individual who purchases child health care coverage.

Bill· SS. 2080 (104th)referred

A bill to save taxpayer money by reducing the unnecessary increase in Penatgon spending in fiscal year 1997.

United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996

Limits the total amount of appropriations authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 to the amount requested by the President in his budget submission for FY 1997 for the national security activities of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Directs the Secretary of Defense to allocate necessary reductions in authorizations of appropriations as a result of such limitation so as not to jeopardize the military readiness of the Armed Forces or the quality of life of Armed Forces personnel. Requires application of savings from such reductions to reduce the budget deficit for FY 1997.

Bill· SS. 2086 (104th)referred

International Tax Simplification for American Competitiveness Act

United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Treatment of Passive Foreign Investment Companies Title II: Treatment of Controlled Foreign Corporations Title III: Other Provisions International Tax Simplification for American Competitiveness Act - Title I: Treatment of Passive Foreign Investment Companies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt U.S. shareholders of a controlled foreign corporation from passive foreign investment company (PFIC) inclusion. (Sec. 102) Allows a U.S shareholder of a PFIC to elect to include the difference between such stock's fair market value and adjusted basis as income, or the difference between adjusted basis and fair market value or unreversed inclusions as a deduction. (Sec. 103) Modifies the definition of "passive income" and the asset valuation test. Title II: Treatment of Controlled Foreign Corporations - Amends the Code to treat as dividends the gain on certain stock sales by controlled foreign corporations. (Sec. 203) Revises specified indirect (deemed taxes paid) foreign tax credit provisions. (Sec. 204) Excludes certain active finance-related income from inclusion as foreign personal holding company income. (Sec. 205) Repeals the separate foreign tax credit limitation (separate basket rule) for certain noncontrolled U.S.-foreign corporations. Applies "look-thru" rules to such entities. (Sec. 206) Treats European Union countries as a single country for certain controlled foreign corporation income purposes. (Sec. 209) Allows affiliated foreign insurance companies to offset losses. Title III: Other Provisions - Amends the Code with respect to certain foreign tax credit determinations to provide that accrued taxes shall be translated into dollars by using the average exchange rate for the year to which such taxes relate. (Sec. 302) Allows a taxpayer to elect a specified alternative minimum foreign tax credit limitation. (Sec. 303) Provides for recognition of taxable gain with respect to certain property transfers by a U.S. person to a foreign corporation. (Sec. 306) Applies uniform capitalization rules to foreign taxpayers with respect to income connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business. (Sec. 307) Extends the excess foreign tax carryover or carryback period. (Sec. 308) Provides for recharacterization of overall domestic loss by treating certain U.S. source income as non-U.S. source income. (Sec. 309) Treats as non-U.S. source income compensation earned by nonresident alien aircraft or vessel crew members for services in the United States. (Sec. 310) Includes computer software within the category of foreign sales corporation (FSC) property. (Sec. 311) Provides special rules with respect to financial services income and interest. (Sec. 312) Excludes from consideration as U.S. property certain assets acquired by securities or commodities dealers.

Bill· HRH.R. 4080 (104th)open

Veterans Entrepreneurship Promotion Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996

Veterans Entrepreneurship Promotion Act of 1996 - Amends the Small Business Act (the Act) to define as eligible veterans for programs under this Act: (1) disabled veterans; or (2) veterans who served on active duty during a period of war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is authorized and who were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. Makes small businesses owned and controlled by such veterans (veteran-owned small businesses) eligible for participation in the annual Government-wide goal of awarding to small businesses no less than 20 percent of all prime contracts awarded in a fiscal year. Subjects veteran-owned small businesses to provisions requiring a report from the head of each Federal agency to the Small Business Administration (SBA) concerning the extent of small business participation in that agency's procurement contracts. Requires the SBA to submit an analysis of such reports to the Congress (currently, only to the President) and to include information concerning the veteran-owned businesses. (Sec. 6) Includes veteran-owned small businesses as small businesses for purposes of subcontracting policy and goals with respect to the performance of contracts awarded by any Federal agency. (Sec. 7) Directs the SBA Administrator, for each fiscal year, to: (1) obtain information concerning the procurement practices and procedures of each Federal agency having procurement authority; and (2) make such information available to any requesting small business. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to annually engage in affirmative efforts to identify veteran-owned small businesses. (Sec. 8) Amends the Small Business and Economic Policy Act of 1980 to include information concerning veteran-owned small businesses within a required annual report on the state of small business. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the SBA to make loans to small business concerns eligible for assistance under the Act, as long as it determines that: (1) the type and amount of such assistance is otherwise unavailable from other sources on reasonable terms; (2) with such assistance, the small business has a reasonable chance to operate soundly and profitably within a reasonable time; (3) such assistance will be used within a reasonable time for plant construction, conversion, or expansion or to supply such business with working capital for appropriate purposes; and (4) such assistance is sound enough to reasonably assure that its terms and conditions will not be breached by the small business. Limits to $750,000 the outstanding balance on any individual small business loan. Provides loan financing terms and conditions. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to ensure that veteran-owned small businesses have access to programs under the Act which provide entrepreneurial training, business development assistance, counseling, and management to small business concerns. (Sec. 11) Directs the SBA to make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, various entities for the establishment and implementation of outreach programs for eligible veterans. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training to establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive outreach program to assist eligible veterans. (Sec. 13) Authorizes the Administrator to appoint an Associate Administrator for Veterans Programs (AAVP) to formulate and execute policies and programs providing assistance to veteran-owned small businesses. (Sec. 14) Makes it a duty of the SBA to enter into contracts to provide to the Government articles, equipment, supplies, services, or materials or construction work. Outlines administrative procedures for: (1) the awarding of a procurement contract to the SBA after certification of capability; and (2) a review and determination by a department or agency Secretary of a decision not to award a procurement contract to the SBA. Authorizes the SBA to arrange for the performance of procurement contracts by negotiating or otherwise letting subcontracts to veteran-owned small businesses. Authorizes the award of procurement contracts and subcontracts to veteran-owned small businesses which successfully complete an SBA business opportunity and development assistance program (program) (established later under this Act), under specified terms and conditions. Requires veteran-owned small businesses to meet specified certification requirements issued by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations limiting the personal net worth of a program participant and requiring participants to annually submit certain financial information to the SBA. Directs the SBA to: (1) conduct a review to determine whether a withdrawal of funds or other assets by a program participant for the personal use of its owners was detrimental to the achievement of the targets, objectives, and goals contained in the program participant's business plan; and (2) take specified action upon a positive determination. Authorizes a hearing before an adjudicator for small businesses receiving an adverse determination or review under this section. Directs the SBA to develop and implement an outreach program to inform and recruit small businesses to apply for assistance under this section. Requires subcontracts to be awarded within the county or State where the work is to be performed. Directs the SBA to require each eligible small business to annually prepare and submit to the SBA a capability statement. Specifies requirements to be met by a small business prior to being awarded a services or supplies procurement contract. Directs the SBA to establish requirements applicable to contracts for general and specialty construction and contracts for any other industry not otherwise subject to such requirements. Prohibits an otherwise responsible small business from being denied the opportunity to compete for the award of any supply procurement contract under this section solely because such business is not the actual manufacturer of the process or product to be supplied, as long as such business meets certain business size and certification requirements. Provides conflict-of-interest employment prohibitions and penalties for certain former SBA employees. Prohibits SBA employees empowered to take action with respect to any program or activity conducted under this section from exercising such authority on the basis of the political activity or affiliation of any entity or owner. Requires small businesses participating in the program to report semiannually to their assigned veterans business counselors concerning any compensation paid to individuals for assistance in obtaining a Federal contract for such participant. Requires such report to be reviewed and forwarded to the AAVP. Considers the failure to submit a report as good cause for the initiation of a program participation termination proceeding against such business. Requires awarded contracts to be performed by the business that initially received such contract. Terminates such a contract if the owners relinquish ownership of the business during such contract, with a waiver under specified circumstances. Requires a business to notify the SBA immediately upon entering into an agreement to change ownership. Establishes within the SBA an eligible veterans business opportunity and development assistance program to provide assistance exclusively for veteran-owned small businesses. Outlines various types of assistance and services to be provided under the program, allowing each business to participate for five years from the date of certification. Requires each participant, promptly after program certification, to submit a business plan for review by the veterans business counselor assigned to assist such participant. Requires plan approval and outlines required plan contents. Requires each participant to annually: (1) review and modify its plan; and (2) forecast its needs for contract awards for the remaining years of program participation. Outlines conditions under which a participant shall be denied assistance and services under the program. Provides for program participation termination proceedings in appropriate circumstances. Requires a program participant, during the developmental stage of participation, to take steps to attain the goals and targets contained in its plan for the awarding of contracts to such business. Makes a participant in the transitional stage subject to regulations regarding business activity targets. Establishes a Division of Program Certification and Eligibility within the SBA's Office of Veterans Programs. Requires an annual review of program participants by the Division Director. Requires: (1) review findings and conclusions to be reported to the AAVP; and (2) the AAVP to issue appropriate policy and program directives. Requires the SBA to conduct an evaluation of a participant's eligibility for continued participation in the program whenever it receives information alleging that a participant no longer meets program requirements. Divides a program into a developmental stage designed to assist participants to access their markets and strengthen their financial and managerial skills and a transitional stage designed to prepare a participant for program graduation. Outlines appropriate assistance and services to be provided during each stage. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress with respect to individual and business participants in the program. (Sec. 15) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1997 through 1999.

Bill· HRH.R. 4079 (104th)referred

Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reductions in Government Overregulation Subtitle A: The Home Mortgage Process Subtitle B: Consumer Banking Reforms Subtitle C: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments Subtitle D: Consumer Leasing Act Amendments Title II: Streamlining Government Regulations Subtitle A: Regulatory Approval Issues Subtitle B: Streamlining of Government Regulations; Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Lender Liability Title IV: Annual Study and Report on Impact on Lending to Small Business Title V: Financial Service Reform Subtitle A: Reform of Holding Company Procedures Subtitle B: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Task Force Title VI: Drought Relief Title VII: Financial Activities Title VIII: Deposit Insurance Funds Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 1996 - Title I: Reductions in Government Overregulation - Subtitle A: The Home Mortgage Process - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) regarding the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees to permit an employer's payment to the employer's own bona fide employees for any referral activities. (Sec. 101) Restricts criminal sanctions to willful violation of law (current law penalizes unwillful and unintentional violations as well). Redesignates "a controlled business arrangement" as "an affiliated business arrangement". Revises the disclosure prescriptions governing affiliated business arrangements where referrals are made by: (1) electronic media; and (2) by a lender. Permits an affiliated business arrangement if a written disclosure of its existence and estimated attendant charges is made within three business days after a referral by telephone or electronic media. Modifies the statute of limitations for bringing actions arising from violations of requirements for servicing mortgages and administering escrow accounts. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take action under RESPA and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to simplify and provide a single format for credit transaction disclosures. (Sec. 103) Exempts from TILA disclosure requirements any transactions that the Board determines: (1) are not necessary to effectuate the Act's purposes; or (2) do not provide a measurable benefit in the form of useful information or consumer protection. (Sec. 104) Amends RESPA to repeal requirements that for certain federally related mortgage loans the lender disclose: (1) that it has previously assigned, sold, or transferred the servicing of such loans, or, during the most recent three-year period, a specified percentage of them; and (2), in the case of a lender who does not service federally related loans, a present intent to assign, sell or transfer them. Repeals the mandate for model disclosure statements. Excises from the definition of "federally related mortgage loan" any loan secured by a subordinate lien on residential real property (thereby removing second mortgages from RESPA requirements). Directs the Board to ensure that regulations pertaining to the business credit exemption from RESPA jurisdiction include all business credit exempted from TILA. (Sec. 105) Revises TILA disclosure requirements to permit alternative disclosures for adjustable rate home mortgages which state that a monthly payment may increase or decrease significantly due to annual percentage rate increases. (Current law requires illustrations how a rate increase or decrease affects monthly payments). Revises disclosure requirements for any consumer credit transaction (other than under an open end credit plan) to require Board regulations to allow a creditor the option of providing certain substitute information in lieu of an historical example that illustrates the effects of interest rate changes implemented in accordance with the terms of the transaction. Mandates: (1) additional disclosures pertaining to note rates and points for residential mortgage transactions; (2) a statement that the terms are subject to change; and (3) that any charges or premiums for voluntary insurance or noninsurance product providing protection against the debtor's liability for amounts in excess of the value of the collateral securing the obligation must be included in the finance charges, unless a specified statement in writing is furnished to the consumer. (Sec. 108) Revises certain TILA provisions for recovery of fees. (Sec. 109) Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to repeal the mandate for homeownership debt counseling availability notification. (Sec. 110) Amends the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 to increase the maximum asset-size of institutions exempt from its purview from $10 million to $50 million. Declares that a depository institution shall be deemed to have satisfied the public availability notification requirements for its mortgage loan transactions if its branch offices provide notice of the availability of the information from the home office upon request. Subtitle B: Consumer Banking Reforms - Amends the Truth In Savings Act (TISA) to repeal: (1) civil liability for depository institution non-compliance with disclosure requirements; and (2) the requirement that on-premises displays in depository institutions be designed for viewing only from the interior of the premises. (Sec. 141) Redefines depository institution to exclude certain nonautomated credit unions that were not required to comply with TISA requirements. Limits account schedule distribution requirements for certain time deposits renewable at maturity without notice from the depositor to deposits with maturities of more than 30 days. (Sec. 142) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to allow depository institutions (including affiliates and subsidiaries) to exchange information without limitation if such information sharing is disclosed and the consumer has opportunity beforehand to direct that the information not be communicated. (Sec. 143) Amends TILA to permit full creditor restitution payments of adjusted finance charges to a person over an extended period if the enforcing agency determines that this is necessary to avoid causing the creditor to become undercapitalized. (Sec. 144) Instructs the Board to study and report to the Congress on the applicability of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to payment transactions using value-added electronic devices. Subtitle C: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments - Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments of 1996 - States that the purpose of this Act is to combine the adverse action notification requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with respect to consumer credit applications, and to make the information which must be furnished more understandable. (Sec. 153) Revises ECOA notification requirements regarding adverse actions against credit applicants. Shields from liability for non-compliance persons who show by a preponderance of the evidence that they maintained reasonable procedures to ensure compliance at the time of the alleged violation. (Sec. 154) Revises specified FCRA disclosure requirements for users of consumer reports to repeal such requirements for credit denials and adverse actions based on reports of persons other than consumer reporting agencies. (Sec. 155) Amends ECOA and the Fair Housing Act (the Acts) to add incentives for creditor self-testing and voluntary corrective action by prohibiting review, examination, or acquisition by an applicant in any legal proceeding of a creditor or other person's self-procured test or review of its lending activities, including residential real estate lending, if the self-test has identified discriminatory practices and the creditor or other person has taken or is taking appropriate corrective action to address the discrimination. Specifies circumstances in which an applicant or Government department or agency may obtain and use the results of a self-test in a proceeding or civil action. (Sec. 156) Requires the Attorney General to consult with the appropriate agency before bringing a civil action in connection with creditor self-testing under the Acts. Subtitle D: Consumer Leasing Act Amendments - Consumer Leasing Act Amendments of 1996 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to direct the Board to: (1) write regulations or staff commentary to update and clarify requirements and definitions for lease disclosures, contracts, and other issues related to consumer leasing which would carry out the purposes of the Consumer Leasing Act; and (2) publish model disclosure forms and clauses to facilitate compliance with such requirements and aid the consumer in understanding the transaction. (Sec. 164) Revises CCPA provisions relating to consumer lease advertising, repealing special requirements for radio advertisements. (Sec. 165) Limits creditor liability for statutory penalties for failure to provide specified consumer lease disclosures. Title II: Streamlining Government Regulations - Subtitle A: Regulatory Approval Issues - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA) to cite the statutory criteria for: (1) approval of a well-capitalized and well-managed financial services holding company proposal to engage in any (non-banking) activity or acquire or retain the shares or assets of any company (including acquisition of savings associations); and (2) deemed approval of the acquisition of shares by a registered bank holding company, or a merger or consolidation between registered bank holding companies. (Current law requires prior Board approval). (Sec. 203) Amends the FDIA and the National Bank Consolidation and Merger Act to cite conditions under which prior approval is not required for any merger, consolidation, asset acquisition, or liabilities assumption involving only insured depository institution subsidiaries of the same depository institution holding company. (Sec. 204) Permits any insured depository institution to participate in optional conversion transactions between members of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) (Oakar transactions) without the prior written approval of the responsible agency. Repeals guidelines for agency approval of such transactions (but retains the proscription against transactions which result in the transfer of any insured depository institution's Federal deposit insurance from one Federal deposit insurance fund to the other). (Sec. 205) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA) to remove from its regulatory purview a bank holding company subject to the BHCA, and exclude it from the definition of "savings and loan holding company." Amends the BHCA of 1956 to mandate cooperation between the Board and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision regarding supervision and enforcement over bank holding companies that control savings associations. Amends HOLA to provide that any savings association which meets specified Internal Revenue Code requirements shall be deemed to be a qualified thrift lender. (Sec. 206) Amends the BHCA to repeal the provision that shares transferred by a bank holding company to a transferee under its control are deemed to be under such holding company's control unless the Board determines otherwise and approves the divestiture. (Sec. 207) Amends the Revised Statutes, the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), and the FDIA to delineate conditions under which prior approval is not required for well-capitalized and well-managed banks to establish and operate a branch or seasonal agency. (Sec. 208) Amends the Revised Statutes and the FDIA to exclude from the definition of "branch" an automated teller machine or remote service unit (thus exempting those entities from approval requirements of such Acts). (Sec. 209) Amends the FRA to exempt well-capitalized and well-managed banks from the approval requirement for investments in bank premises. (Sec. 210) Amends the FDIA to authorize the appropriate Federal banking agency to waive, on a case-by-case basis, prior notice requirements pertaining to new officer or director appointments of certain undercapitalized or troubled institutions. (Sec. 211) Repeals the requirement for a hearing in the determination of new nonbanking activities. (Sec. 212) Authorizes the Board to extend from five years to ten years the period during which a bank holding company may retain shares acquired in a loan foreclosure. (Sec. 213) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to increase from $10,000 to $50,000 the aggregate amount of loans to Credit Union officials that may be made without approval of the board of directors. Subtitle B: Streamlining of Government Regulations; Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the aggregate minimum per-branch capital requirements imposed upon a national banking association and its branches. (Sec. 222) Amends the FDIA to exclude automated teller machines and bank branches in specified merger or relocation situations from the definition of "bank branch" (thus exempting them from Federal bank closure notification requirements). Makes such exemption retroactive to the enactment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991. (Sec. 223) Amends the Depository Institutions Management Interlocks Act to exempt management officials of depository institutions or holding companies with small (under 20 percent) market shares from prohibitions against dual service with unaffiliated institutions or companies in the same geographic banking market. Raises from $1 billion to $2.5 billion the asset-size ceiling beneath which a depository institution or depository holding company may retain directors and management officials performing dual service for nonaffiliated institutions whose total assets do not exceed $1.5 billion (currently $500 million). Authorizes Federal regulatory agencies to adjust such ceiling annually for cost-of-living increases. Extends a specified grandfather exemption which allows certain management officials to continue dual service despite interlocks prohibitions (thus permitting them to continue their dual service permanently). (Sec. 224) Directs the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Financial Institutions Examination Council to accelerate repayment of specified funds to the Treasury. (Sec. 225) Amends the FRA to permit loans to executive officers, directors, or principal shareholders (insider lending) made pursuant to a benefit or compensation program widely available to employees of the member bank, and that does not give preference to any officer, director or principal shareholder of the member bank over other bank employees. Expands the Board's authority to exempt specified executive officers and directors from the proscription against preferential lending terms. Repeals the requirement that an executive officer indebted to a bank over a certain lawful amount submit a written report of such debt to the board of directors. Amends the FRA to permit a member bank to make available to its executive officers: (1) home equity lines of credit of up to $100,000; and (2) loans secured by readily marketable assets. (Sec. 226) Amends the FDIA to allow the appropriate Federal banking agency to increase from $175 million to $250 million the asset-size ceiling on certain small depository institutions whose mandatory periodic on-site examinations make take place every 18 months instead of annually. Requires the Federal banking agencies to report semiannually to the Congress regarding implementation of a coordinated Federal bank examination system until it is in place and provides full coordination of examinations of State depository institutions with State bank supervisors. (Sec. 227) Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act to require a Government authority to reimburse a financial institution for assembling or providing the financial records of corporate customers. (Sec. 228) Amends specified Federal monetary law to repeal the requirement that depository institutions identify domestic nonbank financial institution customers (retaining the requirement for foreign nonbank financial institution customers). (Sec. 229) Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency and the National Credit Union Administration to conduct a paperwork reduction review, and eliminate any requirements for unnecessary internal written policies. (Sec. 230) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to revise the daily confirmation requirement under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 concerning hold-in custody repurchase agreements to permit the counterparty to the agreement to waive such confirmation upon receipt of certain disclosures. (Sec. 231) Requires the Financial Institutions Examination Council and each Federal banking agency represented on it to review and identify unnecessary regulations every ten years and report thereon to the Congress. (Sec. 232) Amends the International Lending Supervision Act to change from mandatory to discretionary the duty of each appropriate Federal banking agency to: (1) require a banking institution to maintain a special reserve whenever the quality of its assets has been impaired by protracted inability of debtors in a foreign country to make payments; (2) analyze the results of foreign loan rescheduling negotiations and attendant loan risks; and (3) ensure that bank capital and reserve positions are adequate to accommodate potential losses on foreign loans. (Sec. 233) Amends FDIA financial management accountability guidelines to: (1) repeal the mandate that an independent public accountant detect and report non-compliance with laws and regulations; (2) permit Federal agencies to designate certain required reports of financial condition as privileged and confidential and not available to the public; (3) exempt well-capitalized and well-managed insured depository institutions from mandatory financial management status reports (although not from the requirement of independent financial audits); (4) restructure audit committee membership from one entirely made up of outside directors independent of management, to one at least one-half of whose membership is composed of outside directors independent of management; and (5) exclude outside directors from the primary definition of an "institution-affiliated party" but include them in such definition as independent contractors if an appropriate Federal banking agency determines for purposes of insurance termination that it is appropriate under the circumstances, after taking into consideration that an outside director may have a different level of knowledge of the management and operation of an insured depository institution than one who is not an outside director. (Sec. 235) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to: (1) prescribe guidelines under which the Board may approve a foreign bank application to establish a U.S. presence even though it is not subject to comprehensive supervision on a consolidated basis in its home country; and (2) authorize termination of a foreign bank office if the appropriate authorities in its home country are not making progress in establishing arrangements for such supervision. (Sec. 236) Directs the Board to avoid unnecessary duplication of foreign bank examinations. Subjects foreign banks to the same on-site examination schedule and examination fee collections as apply to domestic banks. (Sec. 237) Instructs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) to ascertain and report to the Congress whether the national market for certain mortgages secured by a consumer's principal dwelling has been impacted by the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (including its impact upon lenders, consumers, and the secondary mortgage market for refinanced loans and home equity loans). Amends TILA disclosure guidelines to waive: (1) new disclosure requirements for any change in regular payment amounts of two percent or less from the initially disclosed regular payment amount, and in specified third party fees or disbursements; and (2) the three business days disclosure requirement in the case of certain consumer credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling. Includes certain consumer credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling within the purview of TILA disclosure regulations. (Sec. 238) Revises FDIA guidelines to approve new activities of a State bank and its subsidiaries if the FDIC has not disapproved the bank's prior 60-day written notice of intent to engage in such activities. (Sec. 239) Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the requirement that three bank directors, in addition to the officer making the declaration, attest in writing the correctness of reports of condition. (Sec. 240) Retitles the Bank Service Corporation Act the "Bank Service Company Act" and amends it to authorize banks under the Act to own limited liability companies). (Sec. 241) Amends the FRA to increase from ten percent to 25 percent the amount of capital and surplus that a national bank may invest in the stock of Edge Act subsidiaries and certain financial service corporations held by a member bank's non-U.S. branches. (Sec. 242) Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency to report to certain congressional committees on its actions to reconcile Regulatory Accounting Principles and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, thereby eliminating inconsistent or duplicative accounting and reporting requirements applicable to mandatory reports filed by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 243) Permits the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the residency requirement for national bank directors. (Sec. 244) Amends FDIA to: (1) direct each Federal banking agency to ensure that its banking examiners consult on examination activities and resolve any inconsistent recommendations given to a depository institution; and (2) revise the mandate for establishment of a joint banking agency system to include State bank examiners as well as Federal agencies among the options for determining which shall be the lead agency responsible for managing a unified examination of each insured depository institution. (Sec. 245) Amends HOLA to authorize the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision to grant exceptions to the statutory prohibition against tying arrangements by a savings association. Title III: Lender Liability - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a person holding indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in a vessel or facility should not, except in certain circumstances, be considered to have "participated in management" as that term is used in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA); (2) the term "security interest" as used in CERCLA should include rights accruing to a person to secure repayment of specified obligations, including those under various security instruments; and (3) the Congress should address the potential liability of lenders and fiduciaries under Superfund (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Title IV: Annual Study and Report on Impact on Lending to Small Business - Directs the following agencies to submit a joint annual report to the Congress on the extent to which the regulatory reductions under this Act have resulted in increased lending to small businesses: (1) the Federal Reserve Board; (2) the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision; (3) the Comptroller of the Currency; and (4) the FDIC Board of Directors. Title V: Financial Serv ice Reform - Subtitle A: Reform of Holding Company Procedures - Amends BHCA to revise examination and reporting requirements for Financial Services Holding Companies (FSHC). (Sec. 502) Sets forth a statutory scheme for reduced supervision of FSHCs controlling principally nondepository institutions. (Sec. 503) Sets forth a procedure for the conversion of unitary savings and loan holding companies to FSHC status, during the 18 months after the enactment of this Act, without prior Board approval. Sets forth a statutory scheme under which a FSHC may retain ownership or control of specified nonconforming financial companies. (Sec. 505) Renames the BHCA of 1956 as the Financial Services Holding Company Act of 1996. (Sec. 507) Specifies that "bank" does not include an institution: (1) which engages only in the provision of credit card accounts for business purposes; or (2) which does not engage in the business of making commercial loans (other than the provision of credit card accounts for business purposes in connection with such credit card operations). (Sec. 508) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to prohibit an insured credit union from being sponsored by, or accepting financial support from, any Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) whose customers are in the field of the credit union's membership. Excepts from this prohibition the forms of financial assistance generally provided by a GSE in its ordinary course of business. Amends FDIA to prohibit a depository institution from being an affiliate of, sponsored by, or accepting financial support from any GSE. Exempts from such proscription: (1) members of a depository institution in a Federal Home Loan Bank; and (2) financial assistance authorized by statute. (Sec. 509) Identifies circumstances under which qualified limited purpose banks are exempt from: (1) asset growth restrictions; (2) new activities' restrictions; (3) cross-marketing restrictions; and (4) divestiture requirements. Prescribes guidelines for the conversion of certain nonbank holding companies to FSHC status. (Sec. 510) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to authorize the Federal Reserve Board to waive, or adjust at its discretion, the procedural requirements governing applications to acquire bank shares or assets (including the attendant filing and information requirements). Amends the Federal Reserve Act regarding loans by member banks on stock or bond collateral, to: (1) abolish the minimum six-member affirmative vote required for the Board to adjust the percentage of individual bank capital and surplus which may be represented by loans secured by stock or bond collateral; and (2) repeal the 15 percent of unimpaired capital and surplus ceiling on the amount of loans a bank may make to any person. (Sec. 511) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to define a qualified family partnership and to exclude it from the definition of "company". Subtitle B: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Task Force - Establishes the Banking and Financial Services Task Force to make recommendations: (1) to the Board and the Comptroller of the Currency; and (2) for legislative or administrative action regarding the supervision, efficiency, and competitiveness of the financial services industry. (Sec. 522) Establishes the Financial Services Advisory Committee to advise the Task Force and submit an annual status report to certain congressional committees. Title VI: Drought Relief - Expresses the sense of the Congress that financial institutions and Federal bank regulators should work cooperatively with farmers and ranchers in drought-affected communities to allow financial obligations to be met without imposing undue burdens. Title VII: Financial Activities - Amends the BHCA of 1956 to exempt from its prohibition against interests in nonbanking organizations any activity the Federal Reserve Board determines is either financial in nature, or incidental to financial activities. Declares that, for purposes of interpreting "financial activity," transactions in which an FSHC acting as principal, agent, or broker provides either insurance, or an annuity contract whose income is tax- deferred, shall not be deemed to be: (1) closely related to banking, or managing or controlling banks; (2) financial in nature; or (3) incidental to a financial activity (thereby retaining those transactions within the ambit of proscribed activities). Repeals the mandate that the Board consider, when determining whether a particular activity is a proper incident to banking, if its performance by a bank holding company affiliate is such that the public interest benefit outweighs any possible adverse effects (such as undue concentration of resources, decreased or unfair competition, conflicts of interests, or unsound banking practices). States that for purposes of determining insurance activities exempt from the proscription against interests in nonbanking organizations, the term "insurance agency activity" includes providing any annuity contract as agent or broker. (Sec. 702) Amends FDIA to include within the definition of deposit any liability of an insured depository institution arising under an annuity contract whose income is tax-deferred (retirement certificates of deposit). (Sec. 703) Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on whether State insurance regulation of the insurance activities of national banks is adequate or comparable to that of nonbank activities. (Sec. 704) Amends the Revised Statutes to require national banks to comply with non-discriminatory State licensing requirements governing individuals selling insurance as agents. Title VIII: Deposit Insurance Funds - Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996 - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to impose a special assessment on the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF)-assessable deposits of each insured depository institution at a rate that the Board, in its sole discretion, determines will cause the SAIF to achieve the designated reserve ratio on the first business day of the first month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Allows the Board to exempt weak institutions from such assessment, but requires exemption for certain newly chartered and other defined institutions, which shall pay semiannual assessments at certain former rates during calendar years 1996 through 1998. (Sec. 801) Authorizes certain institutions facing hardship as a result of the special assessment to elect to pay it in two assessments, plus a third supplemental special assessment, determined according to specified formulae. Prescribes adjustments of the special assessment for Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) member banks and certain savings associations. Amends FDIA to require the deposit into the SAIF of exit fees resulting from a conversion transaction. Authorizes the FDIC Board of Directors to exempt insured depository institutions that have paid the exit and entrance fees from paying the special assessment intended to capitalize the SAIF. (Sec. 803) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) and FDIA to revise the assessment authority of the Financing Corporation (FICO), extending FICO assessments to all FDIC-insured depository institutions (rather than SAIF members only). Repeals specified limits on the amount that may be assessed. Declares that assessments imposed upon insured depository institutions with respect to any BIF-assessable deposit shall be assessed at 1\5 of the rate of the assessments imposed on insured depository institutions with respect to any SAIF-assessable deposit. (Sec. 804) Declares that the SAIF and the BIF shall be merged into the Deposit Insurance Fund, which shall have a Special Reserve for any excess of the SAIF reserve ratio over the designated reserve ratio. (Sec. 805) Amends FDIA to establish a SAIF Special Reserve if the SAIF reserve exceeds the designated reserve ratio on January 1, 1999. (Sec. 806) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the refund of assessed payments in a deposit insurance fund in excess of the designated reserve amount. (Sec. 807) States that the assessment rate for a SAIF member may not be less than the assessment rate for a BIF member posing a comparable risk to the deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 808) Prohibits the FDIC Board of Directors from setting semi-annual assessments in excess of the amount needed to maintain or achieve the designated reserve ratio of a deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 809) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on all issues relevant to the development of a common charter for all insured depository institutions and the abolition of separate and distinct charters between banks and savings associations.

Bill· SS. 2072 (104th)referred

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the requirement that States pay unemployment compensation on the basis of services performed by election workers.

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1996

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt States from the current requirement of paying unemployment compensation to an election worker if the amount of remuneration reasonably expected to be received by such worker for services as an election worker is less than a specified amount.

Bill· SS. 2074 (104th)referred

Estate and Gift Taxes Repeal Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1996

Estate and Gift Taxes Repeal Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the estate tax, gift tax, and tax on generation-skipping transfers.

Bill· HRH.R. 4075 (104th)referred

Essential Health Facilities Investment Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Essential Access Community Hospital Program Title II: Capital Financing Assistance for Safety Net Providers Subtitle A: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Subtitle B: Capital Financing Assistance for Safety Net Providers Title III: Capital Allocation Plans Essential Health Facilities Investment Act of 1996 - Title I: Essential Access Community Hospital Program - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise the Essential Access Community Hospital Program (EACH), extending EACH to all States and authorizing increased appropriations for EACH grants; and (2) establish a program of assistance (PA) for activities related to the formation of State and local community health networks. (Sec. 103) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report on EACH and PA effectiveness in increasing medically underserved population health care. Title II: Capital Financing Assistance for Safety Net Providers - Subtitle A: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to impose a tax on the hospital gross receipts of any person for the taxable year. Subtitle B: Capital Financing Assistance for Safety Net Providers - Amends SSA to establish a program to provide capital financing assistance in the form of loan guarantees, interest rate subsidies, matching loans, and direct grants to eligible hospitals and facilities. Creates in the Treasury the related Capital Financing Trust Fund. (Sec. 212) Provides for adjustment of Medicare hospital payments to take into account any capital financing assistance received by the hospital. (Sec. 213) Amends the IRC to grant tax-exempt status to State and local bonds guaranteed by the Fund. Title III: Capital Allocation Plans - Amends SSA title XVIII to mandate that each State establish a plan for Federal approval of capital expenditures for certain non-rural health care services in the State in order to receive Medicare reimbursement for capital-related expenses.

Bill· HRH.R. 4050 (104th)referred

Revenue Restructuring Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Repeal of Individual and Corporate Income Taxes and Social Security and Medicare Taxes Title II: Value Added Tax Title III: Burden Adjustments Revenue Restructuring Act of 1996 - Title I: Repeal of Individual and Corporate Income Taxes and Social Security and Medicare Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the individual, corporate, social security and tier I railroad retirement, and Medicare taxes. Title II: Value Added Tax - Amends the Code to establish a 20 percent value added tax on business activity. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) tax computation; (2) administration and operating rules; (3) small business tax exemption; and (4) definitions. Title III: Burden Adjustments - Amends the Code to provide for value added tax burden adjustments consisting of specified rebates for low-income individuals and tax increases for high-income individuals.

Bill· HRH.R. 4046 (104th)referred

Emergency Disaster Assistance Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1996

United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Title II: General Provisions Emergency Disaster Assistance Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1996 - Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 1996 to provide relief from the damages caused by Hurricane Fran and other natural disasters of 1996. Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Agriculture, for the Farm Service Agency's emergency conservation program; (2) the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for watershed and flood prevention operations; (3) the Rural Housing Service, for Rural Housing Insurance Fund Program Account direct loans, and for very low-income housing repair grants; (4) the Rural Utilities Service, for the rural utilities assistance program; and (5) the Commodity Credit Corporation, for covering 1996 crop losses. Chapter 2: Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Commerce, for the Economic Development Administration's economic development assistance programs; and (2) the Small Business Administration, for the Disaster Loans Program Account. Chapter 3: Energy and Water Development - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to the Department of Defense-Civil, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers-Civil, for: (1) general operation and maintenance; and (2) flood control and coastal emergencies. Chapter 4: Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to: (1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for community development grants; and (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agencies for disaster relief. Title II: General Provisions - Designates each amount provided for a program or activity in title I as an emergency requirement for all purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes such amount available only to the extent of a specific dollar amount for such program or activity that is: (1) included in an official budget request submitted by the President to the Congress; and (2) designated as an emergency requirement for all purposes of that Act. (Sec. 202) Authorizes Federal department or agency heads to waive certain restrictions in administering funds provided under title I.

Bill· HRH.R. 4045 (104th)referred

National Mental Health Parity Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Parity for Treatment of Mental Illness Title II: Medicare Mental Health Improvement National Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 - Title I: Parity for Treatment of Mental Illness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on the applicable issuer a tax equal to 25 percent of a health plan's premiums received during the calendar year if the plan imposes limitations or financial requirements on the coverage of benefits provided with respect to any of specified psychiatric conditions (described in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), while similar limitations or requirements are not imposed on coverage of benefits with respect to other conditions. Provides similar obligations and sanctions with respect to group health plan parity for treatment of mental illness. Title II: Medicare Mental Health Improvement - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to restructure the mental health benefit, including: (1) coverage under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) of inpatient hospital services furnished primarily for the diagnosis or treatment of mental illness or substance abuse for up to 60 days during a year, as well as coverage of intensive residential services furnished to an individual for up to 120 days during a year; (2) lower co-payments for certain out-patient mental health and substance abuse services; (3) waiver of co-payment for case management services furnished to a seriously mentally ill adult, a seriously emotionally disturbed child, or an adult or child with serious substance abuse disorder; (4) case management services for an unlimited duration for such individuals; (5) provision of items and services furnished under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for the treatment of mental illness or emotional disturbances according to standards established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (6) a new category of intensive community- based services covering, among other services, current partial hospitalization services as well as psychiatric rehabilitation services, in-home services, and day treatment for substance abuse for individuals of any age and for other mental health services for individuals under age 19; (7) mandatory authorization under State law or certification by an appropriate accreditation entity (approved by the State in consultation with the Secretary) for intensive community- based services programs (whether facility-based or freestanding); and (8) supervision of individualized treatment programs by non-physician mental health professionals to the extent permitted under State law.

Bill· HRH.R. 4039 (104th)open

Social Security Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1996

Social Security Miscellaneous Amendments Act of 1996 - Amends the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 with respect to disability benefits under titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act (SSA). Revises effective dates for the application of certain provisions to individuals. Provides that, with respect to the effective date of denial of disability benefits to drug addicts and alcoholics, a claim may not be considered finally adjudicated (and thus subject to such denial) if there is a pending request for administrative or judicial review or a pending readjudication pursuant to a class action or court remand. Provides that the requirement to appoint a representative payee, and refer beneficiaries for treatment, applies to beneficiaries who are allowed benefits (due to another impairment) based on a new application filed before enactment, and who continue to get benefits based on a successful redetermination filed before July 1, 1996. Repeals specified reporting requirements related to the monitoring and testing of beneficiaries on the basis of drug addiction or alcoholism who are required to undergo treatment as a condition for receipt of benefits. Declares that challenges to State disability determinations under OASDI may be made only against the Commissioner of Social Security (in all cases in which there is not a final judgment). Amends various specified Acts, including the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 and the Social Security Independence and Program Improvements Act of 1994, to extend social security disability insurance (SSDI) program demonstration project authority. Authorizes the Commissioner to conduct demonstration projects involving SSDI applicants as well as recipients. Amends OASDI anti-assignment prohibitions to allow the withholding of taxes from any benefit under OASDI pursuant to a proper request made in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code by the person entitled to such benefit. Applies to the payment of OASDI benefits to prisoners the same requirements as enacted by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 with respect to SSI payments for agreements between the Commissioner and State or local correctional institutions for monthly identifying information, and the exchange of such information among Federal or federally-assisted cash, food, or medical assistance programs. Extends to all prisoners, regardless of offense or length of sentence, the current prohibition against the payment of social security benefits, by repealing its limitation to offenses punishable by imprisonment for more than one year. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to require inclusion of prisoners receiving OASDI benefits in certain required studies and reports to the Congress.

Bill· HRH.R. 4043 (104th)referred

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1996

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Act of 1996 - Establishes the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve to provide for the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of the Spring Hill Ranch area of the Flint Hills of Kansas. Specifies that the Preserve shall be a unit of the National Park System, including for purposes of charging entrance and admission fees. Sets forth provisions regarding liability of the United States and of landowners. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to expend Federal funds for the cooperative management of private property within the Preserve for research, resource management, and visitor protection and use. Requires the Secretary to: (1) prepare and submit to specified congressional committees a general management plan; and (2) acquire, by donation, not more than 180 acres of real property within the boundaries of the Preserve and the improvements on such property. Sets forth provisions regarding payments to local governments in lieu of taxes for such real property. Prohibits: (1) such property from being acquired without the owner's consent; and (2) U.S. acquisition of fee ownership of any lands within the Preserve other than these lands. Establishes the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee. Authorizes appropriations.

Law· HRH.R. 4036 (104th)enacted

Human Rights, Refugee, and Other Foreign Relations Provisions Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Foreign Relations Provisions Title II: Foreign Assistance Provisions Human Rights Restoration Act of 1996 - Title I: Foreign Relations Provisions - Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995 to revise provisions authorizing the charging of fees for processing machine readable nonimmigrant visas and machine readable combined border crossing identification cards and nonimmigrant visas. Changes the use of such fees, for FY 1996 and 1997, from recovering the costs of consular services to recovering the costs of the Department of State's border security program. Repeals the prohibition against charging such fees to a citizen of a country signatory to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 102) Directs the President to report semiannually to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) methods employed by Cuba to enforce the United States-Cuba agreement of September 1994 to restrict Cuban immigration to the United States; and (2) the treatment of such people by Cuba who have returned there pursuant to the United States-Cuba agreement of 1995. (Sec. 103) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 1997 the special allocation of 1,000 admissions into the United States per year of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania who have been persecuted for participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches. Extends through FY 1997 the period for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to be paroled into the United States after denial of refugee status for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status to permanent resident. (Sec. 104) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the definition of "refugee" to declare that a person who has been forced to have an abortion or undergo involuntary sterilization, or who has been persecuted for refusing to do so, or for other resistance to a coercive population control program, shall be deemed to have been persecuted on account of political opinion. States that anyone with a well-founded fear that he or she will be forced to undergo such a procedure, or be subjected to persecution for such failure, refusal, or resistance, shall be deemed to have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of political opinion. (Sec. 105) Requires the Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) to take steps to provide opportunities for participation in educational and cultural exchange programs to human rights and democracy leaders of countries whose people do not enjoy freedom and democracy, including but not limited to China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Tibet, and Burma. (Sec. 106) Directs the USIA Director to establish educational and cultural exchange programs between the United States and Tibet. Specifies the number of scholarships to be made available during FY 1997 to Tibetan and Burmese students and professionals who are outside their respective countries. (Sec. 107) Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make improvements to the Rio Grande Canalization Project, especially in the reach between the Percha Diversion Dam in New Mexico and the American Diversion Dam in El Paso, Texas. Title II: Foreign Assistance Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require a certain human rights report to include: (1) the votes of each member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on all country-specific and thematic resolutions voted on at the Commission's annual session; and (2) the extent to which each country has extended protection to refugees, including the provision of first asylum and resettlement. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the President from providing economic or military assistance or arms transfers to the Government of Mauritania unless he certifies to the Congress that such government has taken action to eliminate chattel slavery, including the enactment and enforcement of anti-slavery laws that provide appropriate punishment for violators.

Bill· HRH.R. 4028 (104th)referred

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1996

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1996 - Amends the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 to: (1) include among the Act's purposes to develop and implement proposals for the restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin (Basin); and (2) include microorganisms within the definition of "nonindigenous species." Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to: (1) ensure that proposals resulting from recommendations of the Great Lakes fishery resources restoration study or identified through an annual request to specified State and tribal entities are developed and that the highest priority proposals are implemented; and (2) annually request that State Directors and Indian Tribes submit fish and wildlife resources restoration proposals based on the results of the study or other sources. Requires the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to retain authority and responsibility for formulation and implementation of a comprehensive program for eradicating or minimizing sea lamprey populations in the Basin. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, at the Commission's request, to construct and improve water resources projects related to sea lamprey management. Establishes the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Proposal Review Committee. Directs the Secretary to select proposals to be implemented and, within available appropriations, fund their implementation. Sets forth cost-sharing requirements. Authorizes appropriations for the operation of the three offices for each of FY 1998 through 2002. Revises the Act to require the Director to maintain the functions of the Great Lakes Coordination Office in East Lansing, Michigan, and of the Upper and Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Offices and to provide administrative and technical support services. Requires the Director, within six months after the end of every second fiscal year, to submit to specified congressional committees a report describing actions taken to implement the process for the indentification, review, and implementation of proposals, and the results of proposals so implemented. Authorizes appropriations for implementation of specified fish and wildlife restoration proposals for FY 1996 through 2002.

Bill· HRH.R. 4025 (104th)passed

For the relief of the estate of Gail E. Dobert.

United States · United States Congress · 4 September 1996

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the estate of a named individual in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States in connection with her death an amount which shall be: (1) equal to twice the individual's gross annual pay at the time of her death; and (2) exempt from income taxes.

Bill· SS. 2049 (104th)referred

Budget Process and Oversight Reform Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 3 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Limited Sessions Title II: Two-Year Budgeting Budget Process and Oversight Reform Act of 1996 - Title I: Limited Sessions - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 to repeal provisions with respect to congressional adjournments. Allows a sine die adjournment of the Congress on any date provided by it in each odd-numbered calendar year. Requires such adjournment by July 31 in each even-numbered calendar year with the exception that the Congress may remain in session after such date, only if: (1) a state of war exists pursuant to a declaration of war by the Congress; or (2) it enacts a concurrent stating the necessity of remaining in session to enact legislation relating to a natural disaster, an increase in the public debt limit, or appropriations to provide for emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property. (Sec. 102) Prohibits each Member of Congress, during any calendar year of the first session of a Congress, from receiving pay for any period after September 30 if the Congress has not completed action on reconciliation legislation and biennial appropriation bills in accordance with the timetable under provisions of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Excludes a calendar year in which the first congressional session continues from the preceding calendar year. Imposes such prohibition for the second session of a Congress for any period after July 31 during which it has not adjourned sine die in accordance with such timetable unless it remains in session because of a war or an emergency pursuant to this Act. Excludes a calendar year in which the second congressional session continues from the preceding calendar year or any period of a third congressional session. Provides that such pay not received shall be forfeited and shall not be payable at any later time. Sets forth provisions with respect to adjustments if necessary in withholdings and deductions for life and health insurance coverage for Members of Congress during the first and second congressional session to provide for the payment of employee contributions for the entire calendar year, as applicable. Provides that: (1) nothing in this Act shall result in the lapse of such coverage for any Member of Congress; and (2) any period of a calendar year in which the Member does not receive such pay shall not be a period of creditable service and shall not be construed as a separation from service. Title II: Two-Year Budgeting - Biennial Budgeting Act of 1996 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and other Federal law to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. (Sec. 203) Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Revises the reconciliation process to: (1) increase from 20 to 100 hours the time of debate permitted in the Senate with respect to reconciliation measures; and (2) make it out of order in both the House and the Senate to consider any reconciliation legislation changing any provision of law other than one relating to new budget or spending authority, revenues, or the public debt limit. (Sec. 205) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. (Sec. 206) Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework. (Sec. 207) Terminates, effective October 1, 1997, spending authority for each discretionary spending program unless it is reauthorized after the date of enactment of this Act. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that includes any provision that appropriates funds unless such appropriation has been previously authorized by law. Allows the requirements of this section to be waived or suspended in the House of Representatives or the Senate only by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members.

Bill· SS. 2035 (104th)referred

Growing the Economy for Tomorrow: Assuring Higher Education is Affordable and Dependable Act

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Incentives for Higher Education Subtitle A: Tax Relief for Higher Education Costs Subtitle B: Encouraging Savings for Higher Education Costs Title II: Scholarships for Academic Achievement Title III: Deficit Neutrality Growing the Economy for Tomorrow: Assuring Higher Education is Affordable and Dependable Act - Title I: Tax Incentives for Higher Education - Subtitle A: Tax Relief for Higher Education Costs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide income tax deductions for qualified higher education expenses and student loan interest. (Sec. 102) Excludes from income qualified scholarships and fellowships, including Federal tuition grants requiring future Federal service. (Sec. 103) Makes the educational assistance income exclusion permanent. Subtitle B: Encouraging Savings for Higher Education Costs - Amends the Code to permit distributions from certain retirement and pension plans to be used without penalty for higher education expenses. (Sec. 112) Provides for (deductible and nondeductible) education savings accounts. (Sec. 113) Increases educational savings bond income limits. (Sec. 114) Exempts State prepaid tuition plans from taxation (but not from tax on unrelated business income). Defers taxation on purchasers and beneficiaries until receipt. Title II: Scholarships for Academic Achievement - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award scholarships to secondary school students graduating in the top five percent of their class, subject to family income limits. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Deficit Neutrality - Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) this Act will be deficit neutral; and (2) costs should be paid by closing corporate loopholes.

Bill· SS. 2027 (104th)referred

A bill to provide for a 5-year extension of Hazardous Substance Superfund, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund), to extend the following for five years: (1) the environmental income tax imposed upon corporations; (2) the application of the Fund financing rate (of petroleum excise tax); (3) authority to make repayable advances to the Fund; and (4) the authorization of appropriations to the Fund. Increases from $11.97 billion to $22 billion the limitation on Fund taxes that may be collected.

Bill· SS. 2022 (104th)referred

Surface Transportation Equity Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Surface Transportation Equity Act of 1996 - Amends Federal-aid highway program provisions to direct the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) provide reimbursement to each State the highway users of which paid into the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) an amount in excess of the amount received by the State from the HTF since 1957; and (2) allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that a State's share of fiscal year apportionments and prior fiscal year allocations from the HTF is not less than the estimated tax payments into the HTF attributable to highway users in the State for the fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations.

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