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Bill· SS. 238 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Presumes the following diseases to be service-connected and resulting from exposure to dioxins and other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma (with certain exceptions), and chloracne or other consistent acneform diseases becoming manifest to a degree of disability of ten percent or more; and (2) those additional diseases that the Secretary determines warrant such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with a herbicide agent, if they become manifest within the appropriate period. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted whenever it is determined by the Secretary that a positive association exists between the exposure of humans to a herbicide agent and the occurrence of a disease in humans. Requires the Secretary to take into account reports received from the National Academy of Sciences, as well as other sound medical and scientific information. Outlines procedures to be followed by the Secretary in weighing evidence, reporting information, and making conclusions for or against the positive association and, therefore, the service-connection presumption. Provides for the issuance of final regulations listing the diseases for which positive associations have been found or removing the presumption for a disease. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) under which NAS shall review and summarize the scientific evidence (and its strength) concerning the association between exposure to a herbicide agent during service in Vietnam and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure. Provides for NAS: (1) scientific determinations concerning diseases; (2) recommendations for additional studies to resolve areas of uncertainty relating to herbicide exposure; (3) subsequent reviews; and (4) reports, at least biennially, to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (the veterans' committees). Terminates the agreement ten years after the fiscal year of the first report from NAS. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with another body if the Secretary cannot reach an agreement with NAS within two months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to direct the Secretary to annually furnish updated information on health risks associated with exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Extends through 1993 the eligibility for hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care and medical treatment of individuals who served in Vietnam and who have been determined to have been exposed to dioxin or a toxic substance in a herbicide as the result of such service and of veterans exposed to ionizing radiation while serving between September 11, 1945 and July 1, 1946. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze, on a continuing basis, all clinical data obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with examinations and treatment furnished to veterans by the Department after November 3, 1981, for exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam and which is likely to be useful in determining the exposure to such agents and the disabilities suffered. Requires an annual report on such compilations and provides funding. Directs the Secretary, for facilitating research on the effects of exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam, to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed blood and tissue samples of veterans who served there. Provides for: (1) specimen security; (2) authorized uses; (3) limitations on acceptance of samples; and (4) authority based on specific funding. Directs the Secretary to establish a scientific research feasibility studies program for conducting research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in Vietnam; and (3) active military service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines program and report requirements. Directs the Secretary to consult with NAS. Directs the Secretary, upon the request of a Vietnam veteran who has applied for Department medical care and filed a claim for, or is in receipt of, disability compensation, to obtain a blood sample to conduct a test for the presence of a specified dioxin. Provides for notification to the veteran of test results and significance and requires such blood sample to be maintained as part of the collection of blood and tissue samples required under this Act. Makes conforming amendments and provides for alternative effective dates.
Bill· SS. 233 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Central Utah Project Completion Act - Title I: Central Utah Project Construction - Authorizes additional appropriations for the Colorado River water storage project (CRSP), to be available solely for design, engineering, and construction of the facilities identified in this title, the planning and implementation of certain fish and wildlife and recreation mitigation and conservation projects and studies, and the Ute Indian Rights Settlement authorized under this Act. Requires the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to implement specified recommendations prepared by the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior with respect to the financial management of the CRSP. Earmarks specified amounts of such additional funds for various reclamation projects and features within Utah. Permits counties in which such projects and features were proposed to be located to participate in certain local development projects. Provides for the termination of the authorization of appropriations for construction of any CRSP participating project located in Utah five years after the enactment of this Act unless the Secretary: (1) executes a cost-sharing agreement with non-Federal entities for construction of such project; and (2) has requested construction funds for such project. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make appropriated funds available in their entirety to non-Federal interests as provided for pursuant to the provisions of this Act; and (2) report to the Congress on the status of CRSP participating projects for which construction has not begun as of October 15, 1990. Makes specified amounts available, subject to certain restrictions, for features of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project (CUP), including: (1) an irrigation and drainage system; (2) a feasibility study and development of systems to allow ground water recharge, management, and the conjunctive use of surface and ground water resources; (3) a feasibility study of irrigation improvements to facilitate the acquisition of certain Strawberry Basin water rights and to increase efficiency, enhance beneficial uses, and achieve greater water conservation within Wasatch County; (4) a feasibility study to reduce the salinity of Utah Lake; (5) a feasibility study of direct delivery of Colorado River Basin water from the Strawberry Reservoir or elsewhere in the Strawberry Collection System to the Provo River Basin, and evaluating the potential for changes in existing importation patterns and quantities of water from the Weber and Duchesne River Basins; and (6) completing construction of the Diamond Fork System. Directs the Secretary, in exchange for and as a precondition to approval of the Strawberry Water Users Association's petition for Bonneville Unit water, to impose conditions on such approval so as to ensure that the Association manages and develops specified lands in a manner compatible with the management and improvement of adjacent Federal lands for wildlife purposes, natural values, and recreation. Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary from permitting commercial or other development of specified Federal lands. Makes specified amounts available to increase efficiency, enhance beneficial uses, and achieve greater water conservation within the Uinta Basin, including funds for: (1) the construction of the Pigeon Water Reservoir, together with an enclosed pipeline conveyance system to divert water from Lake Fork River to Pigeon Water Reservoir and Sandwash Reservoir; (2) the construction of the McGuire Draw and Clay Basin Reservoirs; (3) the rehabilitation of Farnsworth Canal; and (4) the construction of permanent diversion facilities identified by the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission on the Duchesne and Strawberry Rivers, the designs of which shall be approved by the Federal and State fish and wildlife agencies. Sets forth various requirements and restrictions on, and provisions setting conditions for the termination of authorizations for, the Bonneville Unit water development and the Uinta Basin replacement project. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) contract with the Uintah Water Conservancy District for the retention by the United States of responsibility for part of the municipal and industrial water obligation with a corresponding part of the water supply to be controlled and marketed by the United States in conformance with State law; and (2) establish a conservation pool of 4,000 acre feet in Red Fleet Reservoir to enhance associated fishery and recreational opportunities and for other purposes recommended by the Commission, and enter into an agreement with the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation for the management and operation of Red Fleet recreational facilities. Requires that the non-Federal share of the costs for the design, engineering, and construction of the Bonneville Unit water development and the Uinta Basin replacement project be 35 percent and 50 percent the specified feasibility studies. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of amounts for such development and project, with exceptions, until: (1) the Secretary or the Central Utah Water Conservancy District (the District), at the District's option, completes a Definite Plan Report for the Bonneville Unit and a feasibility study for the Uinta project; (2) the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 have been satisfied; and (3) a plan has been developed and approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent any harmful contamination of waters due to concentrations of selenium or other such toxicants, if the Service determines that development of the particular system may result in contamination. Bars the provision of Federal funds under this Act to any non-Federal interest until such interest enters into a binding agreement with the appropriate Federal authority to be considered a "Federal agency" for purposes of compliance with all Federal fish, wildlife, recreation, and environmental laws with respect to the use of such funds, and to comply with this Act. Requires the District, at the option of specified eligible counties, to rebate to such counties all ad valorem tax contributions paid by such counties to the District, with interest less the value of any benefits received by such counties and less the administrative expenses incurred by the District to that date. Directs the Secretary, upon request of eligible counties that elect not to participate in the project, to provide as grants to such counties sums for potable water distribution and treatment, wastewater collection and treatment, agricultural water management, and other public infrastructure improvements approved by the Secretary. Bars the use of available funds for the draining of wetlands, the dredging of natural water courses, and planning or constructing water impoundments of greater than 5,000 acre feet, with exceptions. Requires the District to: (1) prepare and maintain a comprehensive water management improvement plan, including specified water conservation goals and providing for a water management improvement inventory; (2) establish a continuous process for the identification, evaluation, and implementation of water conservation measures, and submit a report thereon to the Secretary; (3) prepare and transmit to the Secretary a study of wholesale and retail pricing to encourage water conservation, and a study of the coordinated operation of independent municipal, industrial, and irrigation water systems; and (4) evaluate cost-effective, flexible operating procedures that will serve specified purposes, including improving the availability and reliability of the water supply, coordinating the timing of reservoir releases, assisting in managing drought emergencies, and encouraging the maintenance of existing wells and other facilities which may be placed on standby status when water deliveries from the project become available. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Governor of Utah (or, if the Governor fails to do so, directs the Secretary) to establish the Utah Water Conservation Advisory Board. Directs the Board to recommend water conservation standards and regulations for promulgation by State or local authorities in the service area of each petitioner of project water. Requires the District to pay a surcharge for each year of substantial noncompliance according to a specified formula. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) judicial review; (2) citizen suits; (3) jurisdiction and venue; and (4) costs awarded by the Court. Requires that hydropower generation facilities associated with the CUP operate in accordance with a specified statute. Prohibits the diversion of Colorado River Basin waters exclusively for power generation purposes. Requires the District to utilize its best efforts to achieving operating agreements with the Jordanelle Reservoir, Deer Creek Reservoir, Utah Lake, and Strawberry Reservoir. Authorizes the prepayment of certain expenses in connection with the Jordan Aqueduct System. Requires the Comptroller General to audit project cost allocations among the various project purposes and submit a report to the Secretary and to the Congress. Grants the Secretary authority to reallocate project costs and to defer repayment of such costs under certain circumstances. Directs the Secretary to impose a surcharge for the use of CUP water to grow surplus commodity crops until the construction costs of certain facilities authorized by this Act are repaid. Title II: Fish, Wildlife, and Recreation Mitigation and Conservation - Establishes the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to coordinate the implementation of the mitigation and conservation provisions of this Act among the Federal and State fish, wildlife, and recreation agencies. Requires the Commission to complete certain plans and submit specified reports. Provides funding for the Commission. Directs the District to acquire, with funds provided by the Commission, specified water rights in the Provo River Drainage. Earmarks specified funds for such acquisition. Provides all water rights after such acquisition to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources for maintaining certain instream flows for fish, wildlife, and recreation purposes in the Provo River. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the District, annually, to provide amounts of water sufficient to sustain minimum stream flows established pursuant to a prior Stream Flow Agreement. Directs the District to acquire with Commission funds all of the Strawberry Basin water rights being diverted to the Heber Valley through the Daniel's Creek drainage and to apply such rights to increase the minimum stream flows of streams and rivers in the Strawberry River and Reservoir area. Earmarks funds for such acquisition. Requires the yield and operating plans for the Bonneville Unit of the CUP to be established or adjusted to provide for specified minimum stream flows for streams and rivers in the Diamond Fork and Provo Rivers. Requires such minimum flows to be provided continuously and in perpetuity from the date first feasible as determined by the Commission. Directs the District to prepare a study and develop a mitigation plan of the effects of peak season flows in the Provo River. Earmarks specified funds for such study and plan. Provides that, upon completion of the Diamond Fork water delivery system, the Strawberry Tunnel shall no longer be used, except for delivery of water for specified instream purposes. Provides an exception where the District has determined that the Syar Tunnel or the Sixth Water Aqueduct is rendered unusable or emergency circumstances require the use of the Strawberry Tunnel for the delivery of contracted CUP water and Strawberry Valley Reclamation Project water. Requires the fish, wildlife, and recreation projects identified or proposed in the Definite Plan Report (a May 1988 report for the Bonneville Unit of the CUP) which have not been completed as of the enactment of this Act to be completed in accordance with such Report and a fish, wildlife, and recreation mitigation schedule appearing later in this Act, with exceptions. Directs the Commission to acquire on an expedited basis big game winter range lands to compensate for the impacts of Federal reclamation projects in Utah. Requires such acquired lands to be transferred to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources or, for such parcels as may be within the boundaries of Federal land ownerships, to the appropriate Federal agency, for management as a big game winter range. Requires the Commission to construct big game crossings and wildlife escape ramps for the protection of big game animals along the Provo Reservoir Canal, Highline Canal, Strawberry Power Canal, and others. Earmarks funds for such construction. Earmarks funds for the planning and implementation of projects to preserve, rehabilitate, and enhance wetlands areas around the Great Salt Lake in accordance with a plan to be developed by the Commission. Requires the Commission to inventory, prioritize, and map the occurrences in Utah of sensitive nongame wildlife species and their habitat, and sensitive plant species and ecosystems. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Commission to acquire private land, water rights, conservation easements, or other interests necessary for the establishment of the Utah Lake Wetlands Preserve. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement under which the Wetlands Preserve shall be managed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources pursuant to a plan developed in accordance with this Act and the substantive requirements of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966. Requires that the Wetlands Preserve be managed for the protection of migratory birds, wildlife habitat, and wetland values in a manner compatible with the surrounding farmlands, orchards, and agricultural production area, with limited grazing. Makes funds available for the acquisition of such land, water rights, and other interests for the establishment of the Wetlands Preserve. Bars the acquisition of lands, easements, or water rights without the consent of the owner of such lands or water rights. Specifies that base property of a lessee or permitee under a Federal grazing permit or lease held on the date of enactment of this Act shall include land of such lessee or permitee acquired by the Secretary under this Act. Prohibits the United States from issuing Federal permits allowing commercial, industrial, or residential development on the southern portion of Provo Bay in Utah Lake, with exceptions. Earmarks specified funds for fisheries acquisition, rehabilitation, and improvements within Utah. Requires the project plan for the stabilization of high mountain lakes in the Upper Provo River drainage to be revised to provide for the stabilization of specified lakes in such area at levels beneficial for fish habitat and recreation. Earmarks specified funds for stabilization and of fish and wildlife habitat restoration in such lakes. Earmarks specified funds for stream access and riparian habitat development in Utah at specified areas. Earmarks funds to the Commission to conduct a study of the impacts to soils and riparian fish and wildlife habitats in drainages that will experience substantially-reduced water flows resulting from operation of the Strawberry Collection System. Earmarks specified funds for: (1) Jordan River riparian habitat rehabilitation; (2) acquisition of the wetland acreages along the Jordan River; (3) recreational facilities for the Provo/Jordan River Parkway; and (4) riparian habitat acquisition and preservation, stream habitat improvements, and recreation and angler access along the Provo River in specified areas. Earmarks specified funds for: (1) specified CUP recreation features; (2) watershed and fish and wildlife improvements in the Fremont River drainage; (3) small dams and watershed improvements in specified areas within Utah and the CUP; and (4) the planning and implementation of improvements to existing hatchery facilities or the construction and development of new hatcheries for areas affected by the CRSP. Provides certain restrictions in connection with the appropriation of funds for the CRSP. Outlines the fish, wildlife, and recreation mitigation and conservation schedule. Earmarks a specified percentage of funds allocated for scheduled projects for use by the Secretary to: (1) restore damaged natural ecosystems affected by the Federal reclamation program in a manner that provides for jobs and sustainable economic development; (2) expand recreational activities; and (3) support research and training in ecosystem restoration. Title III: Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Account - Establishes in the Treasury the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Account. Provides for deposits into such Account by Federal, State, and project beneficiary contributors. Authorizes the Commission to administer and expend all sums deposited into the Account. Requires the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, or its successors, to receive all amounts contributed annually to the Account and all interest on the principal of the Account at the beginning of each year. Requires funds received by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to be expended in accordance with a conservation plan, and amendments thereto, to be developed by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Specifies that the financial management of the Account shall be subject to audit by the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior. Title IV: Ute Indian Rights Settlement - Provides that, commencing July 1, 1992, and continuing for 50 years, the Ute Indian Tribe shall receive from the United States 26 percent of the annual Bonneville Unit municipal and industrial capital repayment obligation attributable to 35,500 acre-feet of water representing a portion of the Tribe's water rights which will not be supplied from the CUP because the Upalco and Uintah units are not to be constructed. Directs the Tribe, commencing in the year 2042, to receive seven percent of the fair market value of the Bonneville Unit agricultural water which has been converted to municipal and industrial water, to be utilized by the Tribe for governmental purposes, not distributed per capita, and to be used to enhance educational, social, and economic opportunities for the Tribe. Authorizes the Secretary to make any unused capacity in the Bonneville Unit Strawberry Aqueduct and Collection System diversion facilities available for use by the Tribe. Allows the Tribe at any time to elect to return all or a portion of the water which is delivered for use in the Uinta Basin. Ratifies and approves the revised compact reserving waters to the Ute Indian Tribe and establishing the uses and management of such tribal waters, subject to reratification by the State of Utah and the Tribe. Authorizes the Secretary to take all actions necessary to implement such compact. Restricts the disposal of waters secured to the Tribe in such compact into or in the Lower Colorado River Basin. Specifies that the use of water rights concerning such waters shall be governed solely as provided in this Act and in such compact. Earmarks specified amounts of the funds authorized under title I: (1) to permit the Ute Tribe to develop a farming/feed lot operation equipped with satisfactory water facilities, as well as a plan and a fund in connection with other farming projects of the Tribe; (2) to permit the Secretary to repair a leak in the Cedarview Reservoir in Dark Canyon, Utah; (3) to undertake stream improvements for certain rivers and creeks within Utah, under a specified condition; (4) to permit the Secretary to clean the Bottle Hollow Reservoir on the Ute Indian Reservation of trash and debris resulting from a submerged sanitary landfill, to remove all nongame fish, and to secure minimum flow of water to the reservoir to make it a suitable habitat for a cold water fishery; (5) for development of big game hunting, fisheries, campgrounds, and fish and wildlife management facilities on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation; (6) for Tribal participation in the construction of pipelines associated with the Duchesne County Municipal Water Conveyance System; and (7) for the Tribal Development Fund which the Secretary is authorized and directed to establish for the Ute Indian Tribe. Directs the Secretary to endeavor to maintain minimum stream flows from the outlet works of the Upper Stillwater Dam into Rock Creek during specified periods of the year. Directs the Bureau of Reclamation to transfer specified real property for the Ute Indian Tribe. Directs the Tribe to prepare a Tribal Development Plan for all or part of the Tribal Development Fund. Bars the Secretary from obligating or expending sums from the Fund for any economic project to be developed or constructed pursuant to this Act unless the Secretary has complied fully with the requirements of applicable fish, wildlife, recreation, and environmental laws. Authorizes the Tribe to waive and release claims concerning or related to water rights as described. Authorizes the Tribe to resurrect such claims if funds authorized for the Tribe under this Act are not actually received. Title V: Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act - Specifies that nothing in this Act shall be interpreted as modifying or amending the provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 or the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.
Bill· SS. 236 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Title I: Short Title - End of the Cold War Act of 1991. Title II: Elimination of Ideological Restrictions and Lists - Finds that during the Cold War the United States maintained lists of foreign persons (Lookout Lists) with unacceptable opinions in order to exclude such persons from entry into the United States. Finds that the United States also made it a criminal offense to express opinions concerning the desirability of revolution even when the person in no way incited persons or conspired to commit any criminal offense. Requires the Government to delete from any Lookout Lists the names of any aliens listed because of any past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that would be lawful within the United States. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make excludable from entry into the United States any alien whose entry or activities would have a serious adverse foreign policy consequence for the United States. Prohibits exclusion under such Act due to past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that would be lawful within the United States. Title III: Unification of United States Diplomacy - Requires the transfer to the Secretary of State of all the functions, powers, and duties of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Requires the President, as part of his annual budget submission to the Congress, to include an aggregate amount of budget outlays for the prior fiscal year for national and tactical intelligence activities, including intelligence activities carried out by the Department of Defense. Title IV: Prohibition on Channeling or Diverting Funds to Carry Out Activities for Which United States Assistance is Prohibited - Provides that whenever a provision of U.S. law prohibits all U.S. assistance from being provided to a specified foreign country, region, government, group, or individual, then no officer or employee of the executive branch may: (1) hold, use, or transfer funds for such purpose; (2) use any funds or facilities to assist any transaction whereby a foreign government or person or U.S. person provides such funds; or (3) provide any U.S. assistance to any third party in order to carry out such banned activities. Provides criminal and civil penalties for such prohibited action. Requires the President to notify the Congress whenever such a prohibition exists and any executive branch officer or employee advocates, promotes, or encourages the provision of funds or property by any foreign government, foreign person, or U.S. person for similar activities. Title V: Environmental Compliance - Federal Government Environmental Compliance Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to undertake a comprehensive review of existing environmental practices and procedures within the Departments of Defense and Energy and to report to the Congress on the degree to which facilities of such Departments are in compliance with existing State and Federal environmental statutes. Requires the Administrator to notify the Secretaries of Defense and Energy of his findings. Requires such Secretaries to: (1) report to the Congress all previous and ongoing violations of State and Federal environmental regulations; (2) report such violations to all relevant States and municipalities; and (3) submit to the Congress a comprehensive plan for bringing their departments into compliance with such regulations. Authorizes appropriations.
Law· HRH.R. 555 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (the Act) to prohibit an eviction or distress from being made during a period of military service with respect to a premise for which the agreed rent does not exceed $1,200 (currently, $150) per month, when such premises is occupied chiefly by the dependents of the person in military service, except upon leave of the court granted upon application or in a proceeding affecting the rights of possession. Extends the power of attorney coverage under the Act to include a power of attorney that by its terms expires after July 31, 1990. Provides professional liability protection for persons ordered to active duty after July 31, 1990, who, prior to such date, were engaged in the furnishing of health care services or other services determined by the Secretary of Defense to be professional services and who had in effect a professional liability insurance policy that does not continue coverage during the period of active duty. Requires an insurance carrier to suspend and to reinstate coverage of such affected person upon receipt of a written request from such person. Requires such person to request reinstatement within 30 days after release from active duty. Provides a minimum period of required coverage by the carrier following reinstatement, without an increase in the insurance premiums charged. Provides for the stay of a civil or administrative action for damages on the basis of professional liability of a person whose insurance has been suspended under these provisions if: (1) the action is based on an act or omission that occurred before the suspension was effective; and (2) the suspended insurance would, on its face, cover the alleged professional misconduct. States that the period of such stay shall not be included in any statute-of-limitations period. Outlines provisions concerning the death of a person whose professional liability insurance has been suspended and the consequences with respect to the suspended insurance coverage on previous or suspended (stayed) claims. Provides that, in the case of employer-offered health insurance, an exclusion or waiting period may not be imposed in connection with coverage of a health or physical condition of a person employed and covered under such policy who goes to active military service or training and returns and is reemployed if: (1) the condition arose before or during a person's training or services in the armed forces; (2) such exclusion or waiting period would not be imposed for the condition during a normal period of coverage; and (3) the condition of such person has not been determined by the Secretary to be service-connected. Provides that any person who, by reason of being ordered to active duty after July 31, 1990, is entitled to the rights and benefits of such Act shall be entitled upon release from such service to reinstatement of any health insurance coverage which: (1) was in effect on the day before such service commenced; and (2) was terminated during the period of such service. Prohibits the imposition of an exclusion or waiting period upon such person under the same conditions previously stated for health insurance reinstatement upon reemployment. Requires a court, upon application, to stay a judicial action or proceeding involving any member of the armed forces serving on active duty outside the State in which the court is located until after June 30, 1991. Provides that an application by a person in military service for a stay, postponement, or suspension of the payment of any tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium, or other civil obligation shall not provide the basis for denial or revocation of, or a change in, credit by creditors, a presumption that such individual cannot pay his or her debts due and owing, or refusal of an insurer to insure such individual. Provides reemployment rights for all reservists (currently, only those serving on active duty for not more than 90 days) upon their return from any active duty other than for training.
Law· HRH.R. 556 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Presumes the following diseases to be service-connected and resulting from exposure to dioxins and other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma (with certain exceptions), and chloracne or other consistent acneform diseases becoming manifest to a degree of disability of ten percent or more; and (2) those additional diseases that the Secretary determines warrant such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with a herbicide agent, if they become manifest within the appropriate period. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted whenever it is determined by the Secretary that a positive association exists between the exposure of humans to a herbicide agent and the occurrence of a disease in humans. Requires the Secretary to take into account reports received from the National Academy of Sciences, as well as other sound medical and scientific information. Outlines procedures to be followed by the Secretary in weighing evidence and report information and making conclusions for or against the positive association and, therefore, the service-connection presumption. Provides for the issuance of final regulations listing the diseases for which positive associations have been found or removing the presumption for a disease. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) under which NAS shall review and summarize the scientific evidence (and its strength) concerning the association between exposure to a herbicide agent during service in Vietnam and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure. Provides for NAS: (1) scientific determinations concerning diseases; (2) recommendations for additional studies to resolve areas of uncertainty relating to herbicide exposure; (3) subsequent reviews; and (4) reports, at least biennially, to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (the veterans' committees). Terminates the agreement ten years after the fiscal year of the first report from NAS. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with another body if the Secretary cannot reach an agreement with NAS within two months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to direct the Secretary to annually furnish updated information on health risks associated with exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Extends through 1993 the eligibility for hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care and medical treatment of individuals who served in Vietnam and who have been determined to have been exposed to dioxin or a toxic substance in a herbicide as the result of such service and of veterans exposed to ionizing radiation while serving between September 11, 1945 and July 1, 1946. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze, on a continuing basis, all clinical data obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with examinations and treatment furnished to veterans by the Department after November 3, 1981, for exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam and which is likely to be useful in determining the exposure to such agents and the disabilities suffered. Requires an annual report on such compilations and provides funding. Directs the Secretary, for facilitating research on the effects of exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam, to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed blood and tissue samples of veterans who served there. Provides for: (1) specimen security; (2) authorized uses; (3) limitations on acceptance of samples; and (4) authority based on specific funding. Directs the Secretary to establish a scientific research feasibility studies program for conducting research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in Vietnam; and (3) active military service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines program and report requirements. Directs the Secretary to consult with NAS. Directs the Secretary, upon the request of a Vietnam veteran who has applied for Department medical care and filed a claim for, or is in receipt of, disability compensation, to obtain a blood sample to conduct a test for the presence of a specified dioxin. Provides for notification to the veteran of test results and requires such blood sample to be maintained as part of the collection of blood and tissue samples required under this Act. Makes conforming amendments and provides for alternative effective dates.
Bill· SS. 221 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to require (current law authorizes) the Secretary of Defense to allow members of the U.S. armed forces serving under arduous conditions as part of Operation Desert Shield to participate in a savings program designed for military personnel assigned to permanent duty outside the United States.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 41 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress prior to each fiscal year to adopt a statement in which total Federal outlays (except those for repayment of debt principal) do not exceed total receipts (except those derived from borrowing), unless a three-fifths vote of both Houses authorizes a specific excess. Limits the rate of increase in receipts in the statement to that of the increase in national income in the previous calendar year, unless law is enacted solely to approve specific additional receipts. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget. Authorizes waiver of these provisions in time of war. Sets a permanent limit on the amount of Federal public debt, prohibiting any increase unless legislation enacted by a three-fifths majority of both Houses becomes law.
Bill· HRH.R. 538 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from treatment as unrelated business income certain revenue received by tax-exempt organizations that conduct amateur athletic events.
Bill· SS. 210 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Comprehensive Uranium Act of 1991 - Title I - Uranium Enrichment Act of 1991 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to repeal the existing statutory contracting requirements applicable to uranium enrichment enterprises. Establishes the United States Enrichment Corporation as a wholly-owned Government corporation to conduct uranium marketing and enrichment activities as a commercial, profitable, self-financing enterprise. Sets forth the Corporation's corporate office and powers and vests its management in an Administrator (appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate). Grants the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) general supervision over such Administrator only with respect to national security and health and environmental concerns. Establishes a Corporate Board whose members shall be appointed by the President, and who shall advise the Administrator and the Secretary regarding Corporation matters. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) Corporation personnel; (2) certain property transfers from the Department of Energy (DOE); (3) the Corporation's capital structure; and (4) Corporation pricing policies, including user charges for decommissioning, decontamination, and remedial activities. Requires the Corporation to make annual status reports to certain congressional committees, the President, and the Secretary. Prescribes licensing and taxation guidelines for the Corporation. Sets guidelines for payments in lieu of taxes by the Corporation to States and local governments. Requires the Administrator to make recommendations to the President and the Congress by specified dates regarding the transfer of the Corporation's functions and assets to private ownership. Establishes the Uranium Enrichment Decontamination and Decommissioning Fund to cover the Corporation's decommissioning and decontamination expenses. Applies Federal environmental and occupational safety and health law to the Corporation as though it were privately owned. Exempts the Corporation from sequestration because the maximum deficit amount has been exceeded under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Prohibits the Corporation's total FY 1991 expenditures from exceeding its total FY 1991 receipts. Title II: Uranium - Subtitle A: Short Title, Findings and Purposes, Definitions - Uranium Security and Tailings Reclamation Act of 1991 - Sets forth findings, purposes, and definitions of this title. Subtitle B: Uranium Revitalization - Directs the Corporation to establish for a minimum five-year period a voluntary overfeeding program to be made available to its enrichment services customers. ("Overfeeding" means the use of uranium in the enrichment process in excess of the amount required at the transactional tails assay, thus reducing customers' power costs). Provides that the resultant savings shall be credited to such customers. Establishes the National Strategic Uranium Reserve, consisting of 50,000,000 pounds of natural uranium, to be restricted to military purposes and Government research under the control of the Secretary. Confers continuing responsibility upon the Secretary for promotion of the domestic uranium industry, but without using any supervisory authority over the Corporation. Directs the Secretary to develop recommendations and implement Government programs promoting domestic uranium exports. Restricts all uranium purchases by Federal entities to uranium purchased from domestic producers. Exempts the Tennessee Valley Authority from such restriction. Subtitle C: Remedial Action for Active Processing Sites - Provides that remedial action costs, such as decontamination, decommissioning, and reclamation at an active uranium or thorium processing site, shall be borne by specified licensees for any activity resulting in byproduct material. Sets forth a reimbursement schedule for: (1) individual active site uranium licensees; (2) all active site uranium licensees; and (3) thorium licensees. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations governing such reimbursement. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 216 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Army to convey to Caroline County, Virginia, or to the Commonwealth of Virginia, all right, title, and interest of the United States to a specified parcel of land at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Requires a conveyance of land to Caroline County, Virginia, only if: (1) construction of a regional correctional facility commences and completes within specified deadlines; and (2) such parcel of land is used only for the construction and operation of the facility. Reverts to the United States all right, title, and interest in and to such land conveyed to Caroline County, Virginia, if the regional correctional facility is not so constructed and operated. Directs the Secretary to convey the reverted land to Virginia if similar conditions are met. Reverts the parcel of land again to the United States if such conditions are not met. Declares that the facility: (1) shall have a maximum capacity of not more than 2,400 inmates; and (2) may not be used to house Federal prisoners or prisoners convicted by, sentenced by, or awaiting trial in the District of Columbia courts. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to repeal provisions relating to the conveyance of certain land at Fort A.P. Hill Military Reservation, Virginia, to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Bill· SS. 212 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Domestic Violence Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Amendment of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to add increasing public awareness as a purpose of State demonstration grants. Authorizes grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Requires a State grant recipient to establish a Commission on Domestic Violence. Limits law enforcement training grants to private nonprofit organizations that have certain experience. Mandates grants or contracts for the establishment of one national and five regional resource centers to provide training and other assistance concerning domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Act. Requires grants to States to assist in becoming model demonstration States and in improving State leadership regarding certain domestic violence matters. Sets forth requirements for being designated as a model State. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Law Enforcement, Prosecution Grants, and Interstate Enforcement - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize competitive grants to States for use by States and local governments to assist in developing effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat domestic violence and to reduce the rate of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations. Amends Federal law to establish criminal penalties for interstate travel to commit spousal abuse or to violate protection orders. Allows temporary protection orders pending final adjudication of charges under these provisions. Mandates victim restitution. Requires a protection order by a court of one State to be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Amends the FVPSA to prohibit a State or locality from being awarded a grant under the Act if, as a matter of law, policy, or practice, it discriminated against victims of family violence. Requires certification that this condition has been met. Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to require a similar certification. Amends the FVPSA to authorize grants to State and local government entities to encourage them, and Indian tribes, to take specified actions in order to treat spousal violence as a serious violation of criminal law. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transfer a specified sum each fiscal year to the Attorney General for such grants.
Bill· SS. 215 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Energy Security Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the first sale within the United States of imports of: (1) crude oil; (2) refined petroleum products; and (3) petrochemical feedstocks or petrochemical derivatives. Sets the rate of the tax at the difference between $20 per barrel ($22.50 for petroleum and petrochemical products) and the most recently published average price of a barrel of internationally traded oil, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with a specified formula.
Bill· HRH.R. 535 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
National Voluntary Health Insurance Act of 1991 - Creates a National Voluntary Health Insurance Agency (Agency) to operate a National Voluntary Health Insurance Plan (Plan) with funds supplied by voluntary subscriptions and matching Treasury funds. Describes the administrative composition of the Agency, whose Director will be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. States that the Agency shall issue no rules or regulations, but shall be governed solely by this Act and its amendments. Authorizes appropriations. Withholds funding for duplicative benefits currently provided as hospital and medical service insurance benefits or payments by other Government agencies, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). Enumerates Plan benefits to include: (1) medical services when provided by a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine or medical doctor and wherever furnished, including psychiatric medicine, surgery, obstetrics, radiological and electrical procedures, pathology tests, transfusions, medication and immunization, injections, and anesthesia; (2) reconstructive oral surgery; (3) podiatric surgery; (4) laboratory services; and (5) inpatient or outpatient hospital services, supplies, medication, transfusions, and food provided by approved hospitals, including general or special hospitals, outpatient clinics, emergency wards, convalescent hospitals, nursing homes, and acute alcohol or drug toxification treatment centers. Excludes from coverage: (1) cosmetic surgery not approved under this Act; (2) certain services that are not medically necessary; (3) services for the benefit of a second party other than the enrollee; (4) certain employer responsibilities, such as those of a workers' compensation insurer; (5) services already covered by another plan; (6) hospital or laboratory services provided by an unapproved facility; and (7) certain other medical advice and services. Sets the amount of premium payments at $40 per month for each adult and $20 for each child. Entitles subscribers with a total annual family income of less than $12,000 to have their premiums calculated on a percentage-of-income basis, to a minimum monthly premium of five dollars per adult. Provides for the payment of premiums by employers and for the reinstatement of coverage on account of unpaid premiums paid within 60 days of the due date. Requires the Agency to establish a trust fund for the deposit of all premiums and at least an equal amount of money appropriated from the Treasury. Directs the Congress to deposit in such fund the amount of $5,000,000,000 by the effective date of the Plan. Declares that the total amount of general funds appropriated to the fund shall not exceed the total amount of subscribers' premiums after the Plan's fifth year of operation. Reserves 35 percent of the total amount of subscribers' premiums deposited in the trust fund for the payment of medical and laboratory service benefits, 62 percent of such premiums for hospital service benefits, and three percent for administrative costs. Applies a parallel apportionment scheme to trust fund monies derived from Treasury general funds. Sets forth enrollment and reimbursement provisions. Allows participating providers to require an enrollee to pay a reasonable charge in addition to the Plan fee. Sets forth standards and procedures governing Plan participation by medical service providers, laboratories, and hospitals. Directs the Agency to: (1) set a fee for every professionally recognized diagnostic and therapeutic medical service and for all laboratory pathological tests; and (2) provide each approved hospital with a schedule or per diem rate and charges that it will pay. Requires that the medical and laboratory services fees be in proportion to the usual, customary, and reasonable fees for such services and that the hospital charges be based on each hospital's certified annual financial and operating cost statement. Specifies certain additional requirements with respect to hospital charges. Requires Agency consultation with appropriate medical professional society personnel in the setting and revision of schedules and fees. Sets forth requirements with respect to the auditing, payment, and assessment on claims and the utilization of Plan benefits. Authorizes the Agency to temporarily or permanently exclude any enrollee or provider for making fraudulent payment or service claims. Mandates that the Agency directors, within a specified time period, consider the advisability and feasibility of offering additional Plan benefits and that they bring their recommendations before the Congress for appropriate amendment of this Act. Permits Plan subscribers to receive Plan benefits within the context of a prepaid group medical practice or health maintenance organization. Provides for premium increases or changes in trust fund allocations in the event Plan costs exceed trust fund reserves. Requires the Congress, at the time this Act becomes operational, to amend the rates of Social Security taxes relative to the reduction in Social Security health insurance expenditures effected by this Act. Requires that all malpractice claims be resolved by arbitration, and sets forth procedures to govern such arbitration, including provision for appeals to the appropriate State or Federal court. Declares that the resources of the Agency and of the Plan shall not be used in any way directly to regulate the quality or availability of, or to establish or operate, medical and hospital services. Details the estimated cost of the Plan.
Bill· HRH.R. 529 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Army to convey to Caroline County, Virginia, or to the Commonwealth of Virginia, all right, title, and interest of the United States to a specified parcel of land at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Requires a conveyance of land to Caroline County, Virginia, only if: (1) construction of a regional correctional facility commences and completes within specified deadlines; and (2) such parcel of land is used only for the construction and operation of the facility. Reverts to the United States all right, title, and interest in and to such land conveyed to Caroline County, Virginia, if the regional correctional facility is not so constructed and operated. Directs the Secretary to convey the reverted land to Virginia if similar conditions are met. Reverts the parcel of land again to the United States if the such conditions are not met. Declares that the facility: (1) shall have a maximum capacity of not more than 2,400 inmates; and (2) may not be used to house Federal prisoners or prisoners convicted by, sentenced by, or awaiting trial in the District of Columbia courts. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to repeal provisions relating to the conveyance of certain land at Fort A.P. Hill Military Reservation, Virginia, to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Bill· SS. 168 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Three Affiliated Tribes and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act - Declares that: (1) the Three Affiliated Tribes (TAT) (the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes that reside on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation) are entitled to additional financial compensation from amounts deposited to a TAT Recovery Fund for the taking of reservation lands for the site of the Garrison Dam and Reservoir; and (2) the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) (members of the Great Sioux Nation that reside on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation) is entitled to additional financial compensation from amounts deposited to a SRST Economic Recovery Fund for the taking of reservation lands as the site for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir. Establishes such Funds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit into each Fund 25 percent of the receipts from deposits to the Treasury for the preceding fiscal year from the integrated programs of the Eastern Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Project administered by the Western Area Power Administration, subject to certain limitations. Authorizes appropriations to each Fund. Makes available only the interest on the moneys in each Fund for use by the Secretary of the Interior in making payments to the SRST for use for educational, social welfare, economic development, and other programs. Specifies that: (1) no payments pursuant to this Act shall result in the reduction or denial of any Federal services or programs to which the TAT or SRST, or any of their members, are otherwise entitled to because of their status as federally recognized Indian tribes or members pursuant to Federal law; (2) no such payments shall be subject to Federal or State income tax, or affect power rates; and (3) no part of any moneys in either Fund shall be distributed to any TAT or SRST member on a per capita basis. Authorizes the Secretary to develop irrigation within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, subject to a finding by the Secretary of irrigability of the lands to receive water. Authorizes appropriations. Declares certain lands in North Dakota to be held in trust by the United States for the TAT as part of the Fort Berthold Reservation. Retains for the United States a flowage and sloughing easement over a specified portion of such lands for flood control and related Garrison Dam and Reservoir project purposes. Requires the Secretary of the Army to: (1) sell certain lands and minerals underlying such lands, subject to the right of the United States to continuously or intermittently inundate such lands with water as necessary for the operation of dam and reservoir projects; and (2) give the right of first refusal to any applicant, with respect to any land owned by such person immediately prior to its acquisition by the United States. Requires that any such lands sold be conveyed subject to any lease in effect with respect to such lands at the time of such conveyance. Declares certain lands to be held in trust by the United States for the SRST as part of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Transfers: (1) certain nontribal lands to those individuals from whom they were taken, or their assignees; and (2) certain lands acquired from the State of North Dakota to the State. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 141 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy credit for solar and geothermal property until December 31, 1996 (currently, such credit expires on December 31, 1991).
Bill· SS. 129 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual the following qualified employer-provided transportation benefits: (1) the value of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle between the employee's residence and workplace; and (2) up to $30 per month of the value of any transit pass entitling the employee to transportation on mass transit facilities.
Bill· SS. 150 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Higher Education Tax-Exempt Bond Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the tax treatment of bonds of certain nonprofit tax-exempt organizations in a manner similar to governmental bonds.
Bill· SS. 90 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Environmental Infrastructure Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish infrastructure bonds as a category of tax-exempt bond. Includes within this new category any State or local bond issued as part of an issue 95 percent or more of whose proceeds are to be used to provide public sewage facilities, solid or hazardous waste disposal facilities, water supply systems, or other facilities acquired, constructed, or renovated to achieve compliance with Federal environmental law. Revises arbitrage rebate provisions. Classifies infrastructure facilities as seven-year property for purposes of the accelerated cost recovery system associated with the depreciation deduction. Designates a ten-year class life to such facilities under the alternative depreciation system. Exempts infrastructure facility property from restrictions relating to property leased to a tax-exempt entity.
Bill· SS. 199 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income compensation received for active service as a member in the armed forces for any month served in a dangerous foreign area. (Current provisions exclude such income for any month served in a combat zone.) Increases from $500 to $2,000 the compensation excluded from the gross income of commissioned officers.
Bill· SS. 82 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by individuals (and their spouses) ordered to active duty in connection with Operation Desert Shield.
Bill· SS. 146 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Judicial Taxation Prohibition Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny inferior Federal courts jurisdiction to issue any remedy, order, writ, or other judicial decree requiring the Federal Government or any State or local government to impose any new tax or to increase any existing tax or tax rate.
Bill· SS. 201 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
World Environment Policy Act of 1991 - Title I: Establishment of the Council on World Environmental Policy - Requires the President to establish a Council on World Environmental Policy to replace the existing Council on Environmental Quality and to be chaired by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Outlines the duties of the Council, including: (1) the submission to the Congress of a Strategic Plan for coordinating policy responses to world environmental problems; (2) the advisement of the President and the Congress on the effects of U.S. policy on such problems; (3) the publication of an annual report detailing the Nation's progress toward meeting the goals of the Plan; and (4) the implementation by all Federal agencies of criteria to minimize the impact of Federal policies on the world environment. Authorizes the President to appoint a United States Environmental Negotiator to represent the United States in negotiations relevant to global environmental issues. Title II: Research, Development of Policy Responses, and Promotion of Public Awareness - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should participate in and support the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP); and (2) the President should periodically, but not less than biennially, transmit to the Congress a plan for U.S. participation in such program. Declares that: (1) the Antarctic region is a critical area in the study of global change; and (2) the United States should support the development of an Antarctic research component to IGBP to include specific recommendations of the ad hoc Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Council of Scientific Unions. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the preservation of Antarctica as a global ecological commons. States that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mission to Planet Earth initiative should enjoy public and congressional support. Expresses the sense of the Congress concerning steps to be taken by the United States with respect to global and domestic environmental issues. Requires the Council to direct Federal agencies to identify existing technologies and develop new technologies to mitigate the effects of global warming. Establishes an Advisory Committee on Response Strategies to provide scientific and technical advice to the Council and the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences. Requires the Council to collaborate with other industrialized countries to establish an international research effort to assess and develop environmentally benign response strategies to global warming. Directs the United States Environmental Negotiator to devise funding mechanisms to ensure that the technologies to implement the response strategies are available when necessitated by climate change. Title III: Carbon Dioxide Offsets Policy Enabling Act - C02 Offsets Policy Enabling Act of 1991 - Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit new major sources of carbon dioxide from operating without a permit issued under this Act. Requires new stationary sources to: (1) obtain certified carbon dioxide credits; (2) demonstrate possession of certified credits equal to one year's expected carbon dioxide emissions to the permitting authority before commencing operation; and (3) deposit annually with the permitting authority sufficient credits to compensate for the year's carbon dioxide emissions. Provides that the receipt by the permitting authority of carbon dioxide offset credits shall be a condition of any permit. Directs new sources that use biomass as a fuel to obtain credits sufficient to offset only the fossil fuel used in production of the biomass. Requires new sources that use trees as fuel to obtain credits for all carbon dioxide emissions. Directs new major sources emitting excess carbon dioxide to obtain credits as soon as practicable and to pay a penalty of $250 per ton of excess carbon dioxide. Adjusts such penalty annually according to percentage changes in the Consumer Price Index. Authorizes a permitting authority to certify carbon dioxide reductions as offset credits if the person providing the reduction or purchasing the credit is in compliance with regulations under this Act. Directs the Administrator of the EPA to establish regulations concerning the certification of stationary source carbon dioxide reductions. Requires the Administrator to promulgate rules establishing carbon dioxide fixation rates. Directs the Administrator to promulgate rules concerning the certification of: (1) carbon dioxide credits from fleet vehicle fuel efficiency improvements beyond the applicable Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency requirement; (2) carbon dioxide credits from appliance efficiency improvements beyond the minimum required under the National Appliance Energy Conservation Amendments; (3) carbon dioxide credits for energy conservation investments; (4) carbon dioxide equivalent credits from the capture and use of coalbed methane; (5) carbon dioxide credits created by construction of cogeneration facilities; and (6) carbon dioxide equivalent credit for the capture and destruction of chlorofluorocarbons. Requires the Administrator to establish regulations identifying the carbon dioxide credits to be granted by fuel switches to less carbon intensive fuels for mobile sources. Authorizes the Administrator to provide for expedited certification of carbon dioxide credits. Requires the Administrator to establish a baseline for sources subject to certification, to be set according to actual performances of such sources during 1990. Authorizes reductions in air pollutants that contribute to global warming to be certified as carbon dioxide offset credits if such reductions meet regulation criteria, except that the amounts of such credits may be reduced or increased based on radiative differences and atmospheric lifetime to reflect the global warming potential of such air pollutants. Requires the Administrator to establish the minimum elements of a permit program to be administered by any air pollution control agency. Requires State Governors to submit permit programs to the Administrator for approval. Directs the Administrator to enforce programs for States failing to make such submission. Requires permits to set forth inspection, entry, monitoring, compliance certification, and reporting requirements. Directs the Administrator to create a National Carbon Dioxide Offset Bank to ensure adequate supplies of carbon dioxide offsets and to create procedures for the tracking and retirement of used credits. Title IV: Phase-Out of Anthropogenic Emissions that Degrade the Environment - Expresses the sense of the Senate that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) urge the parties to the Montreal Protocol to meet on an annual basis and to amend the Protocol in light of scientific and technical developments; (2) join countries committed to phasing out domestic production of chlorofluorocarbons no later than 1997; (3) call for an amendment to the Protocol for phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons by 2030; (4) accelerate development and implementation of safe alternatives to ozone-depleting substances; and (5) contribute to efforts to make financial, scientific, and technical resources available to the developing world to enable developing countries to implement post-ozone depleting technologies. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require State solid waste management plans to provide for methods or technologies to minimize emissions of methane and other gases during operation and after closure. Provides that plans that fail to meet such requirements shall be disapproved. Requires all facilities subject to subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to be designed and operated, by January 1, 1995, to minimize emissions of methane and other pollutants. Requires: (1) all sewage treatment facilities constructed after January 1, 1992, to be designed and operated to minimize methane emissions; and (2) existing facilities to be modified before January 1, 1995, to minimize emissions of methane and other pollutants. Prohibits mass releases and flaring of methane after 1995. Title V: Fuel Economy - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe a gas guzzler tax schedule applicable to 1990 and later model year automobiles. Sets forth a tax credit schedule for the purchase of certain fuel efficient passenger vehicles. Title VI: Waste Minimization and Recycling - National Recyclable Commodities Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a Bureau of Recyclable Commodities within the Department of Commerce to promote the use of recovered materials diverted from solid waste. Requires the Secretary to gather and publish statistics on solid waste and specified recovered materials. Provides for the annual updating of such statistics. Directs the Secretary to: (1) designate between six and ten multi-State regions for the purpose of regional data collection; and (2) collect and compile statistics for such regions. Requires the Secretary to revise the standard industrial classification system, as necessary, to facilitate the collection of statistics and other information on recycling and related activities. Requires the Secretary to identify and, to the extent practicable, standardize: (1) the types and grades of recovered and compostable materials covered under this Act that qualify as recovered materials; (2) the technical specifications applied to the use of recyclable commodities as raw materials or feedstocks for recycling; and (3) the test methods used in determining whether materials meet specifications that apply to each commodity. Provides for the periodic revision of types and grades, as necessary. Authorizes the Secretary to assign solid waste materials to multiple types and grades. Requires the periodic revision of specifications and test methods to ensure continuing conformance to industry recycling standards. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory panel to support the identification of specifications and test methods for recyclable materials. Permits industries or local governments engaged in recycling activities to petition the Secretary for the revision of grades, specifications, or test methods to prevent or minimize interference with current recycling techniques. Requires the Secretary to issue a recycling advisory to potentially affected parties if a physical or chemical property or contaminant of a recyclable material is not adequately addressed by specifications or test methods and is interfering with: (1) current recycling techniques; (2) marketing of recycled goods manufactured from the material; or (3) handling of the recyclable material prior to recycling. Makes such advisories available to the public. Directs the Secretary to make reports available to the public, at least on a quarterly basis, on prevailing market prices for recovered materials. Requires the Secretary to make reports available to the public, at least annually, on: (1) the prevailing national recycling rate for each recovered material; and (2) the technical and economic factors that may influence future foreign and domestic markets for recovered materials. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on the potential for expanded recycling of recoverable paper and paperboard, lead scrap, rubber scrap, plastic scrap, aluminum scrap, ferrous and nonferrous scrap, waste glass, and yard and food waste. Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations requiring labeling on the recyclability and composition of nondurable goods. Sets deadlines for the promulgation of such regulations, requiring regulations for all covered items within four years of this Act's enactment. Directs the Secretary to take specified factors into consideration when determining the recyclability of an item. Sets forth label requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to establish an alternative label requirement if such alternative conveys information equivalent to labels required by this Act. Directs the Secretary to publish a standardized, national recyclability seal to further assist purchasers in identifying recyclable packaging, containers, and nondurable goods. Authorizes the Secretary, when a person is in violation of labeling requirements, to: (1) issue a recall order requiring the removal of the item from sale or distribution in commerce; or (2) commence a civil action against such person. Permits the assessment of civil penalties for noncompliance with an order. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force for developing a plan to transfer responsibility for the promulgation of procurement guidelines from the EPA to the Department of Commerce. Directs the Secretary to issue and periodically revise guidelines for the use of agencies in complying with this Act. Requires such guidelines to set forth information concerning the procurement of recovered items. Sets deadlines for the issuance of guidelines for specified items. Directs the Secretary to review biennially and increase the minimum recycled content standards for procured materials. Requires procuring agencies which procure items designated in the guidelines to procure items composed of the highest percentage of recycled content practicable or which are in conformance with minimum content standards issued by the Secretary. Makes exceptions to such requirements if procurement items: (1) are not reasonably available within a reasonable period of time; (2) fail to meet performance standards set forth in specifications or standards of the procuring agencies; or (3) are only available at an unreasonable price. States that an unreasonable price is one which exceeds the price of alternative items by more than ten percent (except with respect to certain paper goods). Requires contracting offices at procuring agencies to require vendors to: (1) certify that the percentage of recycled content used in the contract will be at least the amount required by specifications or contractual requirements; and (2) estimate the percentage of the total material to be used in the contract which is recycled. Applies such requirements to contracts in which the purchase price of procurement items exceeds $10,000. Directs procuring agencies to develop affirmative procurement programs to assure that items composed of recovered materials will be purchased to the maximum extent practicable. Requires such agencies to: (1) adopt procedures equivalent to those specified in the guidelines and to set equivalent minimum content standards; and (2) maintain records on types, quantities, and percentages of items composed of recycled content which are purchased or contracted for by the agency and report such statistics annually to the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on actions taken by Federal agencies to implement such procurement policies. Repeals a provision of the Solid Waste Disposal Act concerning Federal procurement of recovered materials. Requires the Secretary to develop a program to promote the export of recovered materials for recycling by foreign industries. Directs the Secretary to make available to the public information identifying potential foreign buyers of recovered materials. Requires the Secretary to develop a program to promote the export of recycled goods produced in the United States. Directs the Secretary to integrate this program with existing programs promoting such exports. Requires the Secretary to publish and make available to the public statistics and information on recycling and related activities collected pursuant to this Act on a cost-reimbursable basis. Requires the Secretary to conduct a national advertising campaign that promotes recycling and the purchase of recycled goods. Authorizes the Secretary to publish recycling rates for specific recovered materials and for types of containers, packaging, or goods. Directs the Secretary to make grants to accredited institutions of higher education to establish at least four to six recycling research centers in the United States. Requires the Secretary to establish such centers equitably among the regions of the United States. Directs each center to carry out at least one project relating to research on the composting of yard waste, food waste, or recoverable paper and paperboard. Authorizes such centers, as necessary to conduct research, to enter into contracts with: (1) persons involved in recycling activities; (2) State and local governments; and (3) nonprofit private entities which are exempt from Federal taxation. Limits the Federal share of grants to 80 percent of the total cost of establishing and operating the research center. Prohibits the use of such grants for the acquisition of real property or for building construction. Requires at least 40 percent of the funds made available to each center to be allocated to projects performed jointly by the center and local governments with expertise in areas critical to such research. Sets forth grant selection criteria. Requires the Secretary to establish a program for the source separation and collection of materials contained in solid waste from Federal agencies. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for such program. Requires Federal office facilities with more than 25 workers to carry out such programs. Provides for the retention by a Federal agency of any funds received from the sale of collected materials and any savings in solid waste disposal costs resulting from the implementation of such programs. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct an independent technical assessment of any product specification or standard that may: (1) disfavor the use of a recovered material as a substitute for comparable virgin feedstocks or raw materials in the manufacture of the product; and (2) have a substantial adverse impact on existing or potential markets for the recovered material. Prohibits the Secretary from reviewing specifications or standards established by individual firms or persons. Requires the Secretary to: (1) publish and make available to the public the findings of the technical assessment; and (2) provide to interested parties information and technical assistance to remove barriers to recycled goods through the standard-setting process. Permits industries or local governments engaged in recycling activities to petition for an independent technical assessment of any specification or standard. Requires the Secretary to establish an interagency working group to assist in the development of regulations and guidelines and the collection of information required by this Act. Sets forth provisions concerning judicial review of final regulations. Title VII: Financing of Certain Solid Waste Disposal Facilities - National Recyclable Commodities Financing Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the issuance of tax-exempt facility bonds for qualified recycling facilities. Exempts such government-owned facilities from a volume cap. Allows an investment tax credit for certain remanufacturing equipment. Title VIII: Conservation Data - Conservation Data Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide, by contract, for the establishment of a biological diversity conservation data network. Limits the total amount of funds for contracts and requires Federal funds to be matched by State or private funds. Requires: (1) at least 80 percent of funds appropriated for such contracts to be available for grants for Natural Heritage Programs; and (2) at least 25 percent of funds for such programs to be for biological surveys. Sets forth required network functions and contract application procedures. Requires the Secretary to establish a unit within the Department of the Interior to: (1) administer the contract; (2) provide for an annual audit of funds; (3) review the biological diversity conservation data network; (4) promote the use by Federal agencies of biological diversity conservation data; and (5) report to the Congress on the general knowledge of the conservation status of elements of biological diversity. Directs the Secretary to publish reports on the conservation status of elements of biological diversity. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Assistance to International Family Planning Organizations - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should provide funds for family planning to organizations operating in foreign countries, provided that such organizations can guarantee that no U.S. funds will be used to pay for performing abortions. Provides that the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 shall be understood to permit U.S. funds to support family planning in foreign countries. Title X: The World Bank and Sustainable Economic Development - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into discussions with the president of the World Bank and with officials of the governments of other major contributors to the Bank to work out guidelines for advance disclosure of prospective bank loans prior to their approval within the Bank. Requires the President to instruct U.S. representatives to the Bank to request that all future energy-sector lending for new energy supplies be contingent on a finding that the quantity of services specified in the loan proposal could not be delivered at the same or lower cost by improving the efficiency of energy use. Title XI: Replanting and Conserving the World's Forests - Sets forth congressional findings on tropical wood. Directs the Secretary of State to enter into negotiations with Japan and the European Communities to: (1) reach agreement on a Phased Tropical Hardwoods Agreement to restrain consumption of tropical hardwoods; and (2) establish an international agreement in support of a special Tropical Forest Conservation Lending Facility to be vested within the World Bank and to finance regimes of sustained yield management for tropical woods. Sets forth congressional findings on global deforestation. Requires the Director of AID to: (1) prepare an assessment of the potential for, and the costs of, raising the productivity of small-holders of land on a country specific basis; (2) frame proposals for the expansion of regional microenterprise lending focused on small-holding agriculture in environmentally stressed regions, to be supported by the World Bank; and (3) prepare an estimate of the full global potential for reforestation, its impact on regional ecological and economic problems, its effect on the global carbon balance, its estimated costs, and a proposal for sharing such costs with the international community. Sets forth congressional findings on the preservation of the Amazon Basin. Encourages the Brazilian Government to begin a process of international consultation toward a program for resource conservation in such Basin. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Secretary of State should intensify efforts to achieve international collaboration to afford Brazil the resources to preserve the rain forest, should Brazil invite such a program; and (2) members of the international community should reassess their investment policies to assure that they do not contribute to the accelerated destruction of such Basin's rain forest. Directs U.S. directors of multilateral development banks and other development assistance institutions to urge restraint pending the development of an approach which blends Brazil's requirements for national development with global environmental imperatives. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the rain forest of Sarawak, Malaysia. Declares that it should be U.S. policy to call upon the Government of: (1) Malaysia to act immediately to end the uncontrolled exploitation of the rain forests of Sarawak and to formally recognize and uphold the customary land rights and internationally established human rights of all its indigenous peoples; and (2) Japan to investigate the activities of certain of that country's private corporations in contributing to the destruction of the Sarawak rain forest and to the culture of the indigenous people of Sarawak. Title XII: Nobel Prize - Expresses the sense of the Congress that it should be U.S. policy to urge the Nobel Commission to consider awarding a Nobel Prize for achievements in preservation of the world environment. Title XIII: International Cooperation - Directs the President to request the United Nations to establish a temporary new agency, to be headed by the director of the United Nations Environmental Program, to: (1) coordinate international efforts to minimize and mitigate the effects of unavoidable environmental alterations; and (2) provide financial, technical, and other assistance to developing nations to facilitate improvements in their standard of living while minimizing or eliminating their contributions to global, continental, and subcontinental scale environmental damage. Directs the President to request the United Nations to establish a temporary program of forestation to: (1) assist and encourage nations in halting activities that are destroying forests; and (2) undertake a global reforestation program. Requires the President to instruct U.S. representatives to other bilateral and multilateral organizations to assure that the activities of such organizations are consistent with this Act's goals and objectives. Title XIV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 154 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Domestic Petroleum Security Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the first sale within the United States of any crude oil or refined petroleum product imported into the United States. (The tax is imposed on first use if no prior tax has been imposed.) Exempts crude oil and refined petroleum products purchased for export.
Bill· SS. 169 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Deficit and Debt Reduction Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create a new excise tax, a value added tax. Applies the tax to any sale or importation of property or services in the United States by a person engaging in a business. Sets the tax rate at five percent of the amount charged the purchaser by the seller of the taxable property or services. Prescribes rules to govern the taxable amount in cases of exchanges, imports, and certain sales. Makes the sale of property and services by a government entity or exempt organization a taxable transaction only if a charge or fee is imposed. Exempts from the value added tax the supply without consideration of property or services by a government entity or exempt organization. Permits as a credit against the tax the aggregate amount of tax: (1) paid by sellers to the taxpayer of property and services that the taxpayer uses in the business to which the transaction relates; or (2) reported by the taxpayer as importer of such property or services. Describes credits against such tax for: (1) certain purchases from a consumer; (2) post-sale price adjustments and refunds; and (3) casual sales. Describes administrative provisions to govern the tax, placing liability on the seller. Establishes special rules for: (1) self-consumption of certain property or services; and (2) insurance contracts. Sets forth the time and place for payment of the value added tax and penalties for failure to file required documents. Amends Federal law to establish in the Treasury the Deficit Reduction Trust Fund to receive amounts generated from the value added tax. Earmarks Fund monies exclusively to pay, redeem, or purchase before maturity any obligations of the Federal Government included in the public debt. Excludes the Fund from deficit calculations for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
Bill· SS. 138 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual an itemized deduction of travel expenses in connection with the trade or business of logging, including the miles to and from the individual's home.
Bill· SS. 200 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from broker reporting requirements property or services which involve any metal or coin other than any gold, silver, platinum, or palladium coin or bar which is the proper subject of a regulated futures contract. Provides that a person shall not be treated as a broker with respect to activities consisting of managing a farm on behalf of another person. Provides that except for stocks, bonds, and other intangible personal property, broker reporting requirements shall apply only to transactions the gross proceeds of which are more than $5,000.
Bill· SS. 196 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to grant the President legislative line item veto rescission authority. Authorizes the President to rescind all or part of any budget authority if the President determines that such rescission: (1) would help balance the Federal budget, reduce the Federal budget deficit, or reduce the public debt; (2) will not impair any essential Government functions; and (3) will not harm the national interest. Requires the President to notify the Congress of such a rescission by: (1) special message not later than 20 calendar days after enactment of appropriations legislation; or (2) special message accompanying the budget when such rescissions have not been proposed previously for that fiscal year. Makes such a rescission effective unless the Congress, during a review period of 20 calendar days, enacts a rescission disapproval bill. Describes: (1) information to be included in the President's message; and (2) procedures to govern consideration of rescission disapproval legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Bill· SS. 203 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Disregards the period of service in the Persian Gulf in connection with Operation Desert Shield, including any period of hospitalization outside the United States as a result of injury received while serving in such region, and the next 180 days thereafter, in determining the time for performing certain tax-related acts required under the Internal Revenue Code.
Bill· SS. 98 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989, with regard to closing, consolidating, automating, or relocating any Weather Service Office or Weather Service Forecast Office, to: (1) prohibit such action until one year after certification, required by current law, to specified congressional committees that the action will not degrade weather services; (2) require the certification to be based on an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences; and (3) modify the matters included in the certification.
Bill· SS. 86 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Retiree Health Protection and Long-Term Care Insurance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to add provisions relating to voluntary retiree health plans. Permits an income tax deduction for employer contributions to a qualified retiree health care trust. Limits the deduction to the difference between plan assets and 110 percent of the plan's liability at the end of a plan year. Excludes from the gross income of an individual or spouse, except under specified conditions: (1) any employer contribution under a qualified voluntary retiree health plan; or (2) receipts of any post-retirement long-term health benefit under the plan. Applies a 20 percent penalty tax to benefits that exceed a specified maximum. Prescribes plan qualification criteria. Limits plan holdings of employer securities and employer real property. Describes conditions to be met by any qualified retiree health care trust that is part of a qualified voluntary retiree health plan. Identifies criteria applicable to tax-exempt voluntary retiree health accounts established exclusively for the benefit of an individual or spouse. Excludes account distributions from the gross income of an individual as long as they are used exclusively to pay post-retirement long-term health care benefits of the eligible beneficiary. Retains the tax-exempt status of the accounts themselves unless the beneficiary-taxpayer either engages in prohibited transactions or pledges the account as security. Imposes a 20 percent surtax when benefits exceed a specified level. Sets forth minimum account distribution requirements. Requires the account trustee to report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary concerning the account. Preempts all State laws relating to health plans for former employees and their spouses. Imposes a 50 percent excise tax, with limited exceptions, on an employer who maintains a qualified plan if any distribution that is not a post-retirement long-term health care benefit is made. Exempts qualified retiree health care trusts from taxation. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with prohibited transactions associated with an account and for failure to file required reports.
Bill· SS. 171 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Federal Employees' Optional Early Retirement Act - Authorizes early retirement during the 60-day period beginning 30 days after enactment of this Act for certain Federal employees after: (1) completing 25 years of service; (2) becoming 50 years of age and completing 20 years of service; (3) becoming 55 years of age and completing 15 years of service; or (4) becoming 57 years of age and completing five years of service. Specifies those employees who are not eligible for such retirement. Subjects such retirement annuities to the applicable reduction for employees who retire under the age of 55. Directs the President to extend the early retirement provisions of this Act to: (1) participants in the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System; (2) participants in the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System; and (3) if determined appropriate, employees of the executive branch who are participants in any other Federal retirement system. Authorizes the President to exempt employees from early retirement provisions in cases of essential occupational categories, projects, or locations. Authorizes the head of an executive agency to hold over essential employees who are entitled to early retirement for a period not to exceed six months. Establishes a five-year hiring limitation period for the replacement of retirees. Authorizes the President to waive the application of such hiring limitation in cases of essential positions and for positions financed by user fees. Declares such hiring limitation inapplicable to postal employees, certain reinstatements, certain transfers, and periods of war or national emergency. Directs the President to ensure that there is no increase in contract procurement of personal services by reason of enactment of this Act. Requires that the savings in any fiscal year resulting from provisions of this Act be credited to personnel costs required to be sequestered under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to report to the Congress on an evaluation of the optional early retirement program and the limitation on the replacement of retirees. Requires congressional committees to report to their respective Houses revised allocations and budget aggregates resulting from this Act.
Bill· SS. 167 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
Bill· SS. 3 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Senate Election Ethics Act of 1991 - Title I: Senate Election Campaign Spending Limits and Benefits - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for spending limits and to establish eligibility requirements for benefits for Senate primary, general, and runoff elections. Limits personal expenditures during an election cycle to $250,000 and aggregate expenditures for a general election to the lesser of: (1) $5,550,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $950,000; or (b) $400,000 plus 30 cents for each voter up to 4,000,000 and 25 cents for each voter over 4,000,000. Limits expenditures for the primary election and any runoff election. Provides for increasing threshold amounts under this Act in accordance with increases in the price index. Increases such primary and runoff election spending limits by the aggregate amount of independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 made against, or on behalf of any opponent of, such candidate during the applicable period. Requires an individual who files as a candidate for the primary election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a declaration with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) indicating that the candidate and his or her authorized committees will comply with such limits. Sets forth a threshold contribution requirement for general election candidates. Requires a candidate for the general election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a certification with the FEC that the candidate and his or her authorized committees will comply with the primary and runoff election expenditure limits and the threshold contribution requirement. Allows a candidate or Federal officeholder to establish a fund with amounts subject to the requirements of this Act up to a certain amount to defray the costs of legal and accounting services provided to ensure compliance with this Act or in connection with the activities as a Federal officeholder other than costs for the purpose of influencing the election of such candidate to Federal office. Permits the candidate to petition the FEC for a waiver of such limitation if such costs exceed the limitation. Requires upon termination of the fund that remaining amounts be transferred to: (1) another fund to be used for such purposes during the next general election; (2) an authorized committee of the candidate as contributions allocable to the next such election; or (3) the Senate Election Campaign Fund. Exempts any expenditure by the candidate or the candidate's authorized committees for Federal, State, or local taxes on earnings allocable to contributions from the general expenditure limit. Establishes formulae for determining entitlements of candidates of a major party and for those not of a majority party. Entitles candidates to certain broadcast media rates and mailing rates and to voter communication vouchers to purchase broadcast time during the general election period. Limits the aggregate amount of such vouchers to 50 percent of the general election expenditure limit (25 percent if the candidate is not a major party candidate). Provides for additional payments and suspension of spending limits in cases where non-participating candidates exceed spending limitations. Permits candidates to use such payments to defray expenditures in the general election. Prohibits the use of such payments to: (1) make any payments directly or indirectly to the candidate or the candidate's immediate family, except to repay any loan used to further the general election of such candidate; (2) make any expenditure other than expenditures to further the general election; (3) make any expenditures in violation of State or Federal law; or (4) repay any loan except to the extent the proceeds of such loan were used to further the general election. Requires the FEC to certify the eligibility of candidates to the Secretary of the Treasury in order for them to receive benefits. Establishes in the Treasury the Senate Election Campaign Fund for the deposit of funds for payments and voter communication vouchers to eligible candidates. Directs the Secretary to maintain such accounts in the Fund as appropriate. Provides for prorating payments when monies in such Fund are insufficient. Provides for increasing the amount of the eligible candidate's contribution limit under this title by the pro rata reduction in payments. Directs the FEC, after each general election, to audit the campaign expenses of publicly financed candidates. Makes candidates liable for repayment to the Secretary for excess payments and vouchers. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations of this title. Subjects FEC actions under this Act to judicial review by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Authorizes appropriations to the FEC as necessary. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) revise the definition of a "political committee" to delete references to any separate segregated fund and any committee, club, association, or group which receives contributions or makes expenditures annually totaling over $1,000 and to include any national, State, or district committee of a political party, including any subordinate committee; (2) repeal provisions excluding nonpartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns and the establishment of, and solicitation of contributions for, a separate segregated fund from the definition of a "contribution or expenditure" by a national bank, corporation, or labor organization; (3) prohibit making, soliciting, or receiving contributions or making expenditures to influence a Federal election by any person other than an individual or a political committee; and (4) deem any political committee which is established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any candidate or Federal officeholder to be an authorized committee of such candidate or officeholder for purposes of limitations on contributions to a candidate's committees. Specifies that if such prohibition is not in effect: (1) it and the other amendments made by this Act to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 regarding such definitions and a candidate's committees shall not be in effect and prior law will be reinstated; (2) political action committees not connected to corporations, labor organizations, or trade associations will be subject to a $1,000 contribution limit; and (3) it shall be unlawful for a multicandidate political committee to make a contribution to a Senate candidate or a candidate's authorized committee to the extent that the making of the contribution will cause the amount of contributions received from the multicandidate political committees to exceed the lesser of: (1) $825,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $375,000; or (b) 20 percent of the sum of the general election spending limit plus the primary election spending limit regardless of whether the candidate is eligible. Provides that in the case of individuals who are executive or administrative personnel of an employer: (1) no contributions may be made by such individuals to any political committees established and maintained by any political party, or to any candidate for election to the Senate or the candidate's authorized committees, unless such individuals certify that such contributions are not being made at the direction of, or otherwise controlled or influenced by, the employer; and (2) the aggregate amount of such contributions by all such individuals in any calendar year shall not exceed $20,000 in the case of such political committees and $5,000 in the case of any such candidate and the candidate's authorized committees. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the charges made for the use of any broadcasting station by a candidate for Federal office: (1) during the 45 days before a primary or run-off election from exceeding 100 percent of the station's lowest unit charge for 30 seconds for the same time of day and day of the week; (2) during a general election from exceeding 50 percent of the lowest unit charge for 30 seconds; or (3) at any other time the charges made for comparable use of such station by other users. Outlines the responsibilities of broadcast licensees in providing broadcast time to eligible candidates pursuant to voter communications vouchers. Provides for reduced postal rates for eligible Senate candidates. Requires communications paid for or authorized by a candidate in a Senate general election who is not an eligible candidate under this Act to contain a specified message indicating that the candidate has not agreed to abide by the spending limits set forth in this Act. Sets forth reporting requirements for Senate candidates relating to spending limitations, candidate eligibility, and independent expenditures. Requires any candidate for the Senate who, during the election cycle, expends more than $250,000 from personal funds, the funds of the candidate's immediate family, and personal loans incurred by the candidate and the candidate's immediate family, to report to the FEC within 24 hours after such expenditures have been made or loans incurred. Requires the FEC to notify eligible candidates of such reports. Provides that when two or more persons make independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 in concert during any general, primary, or runoff election period for the office of Senator, each person shall report to the Secretary of the Senate on such expenditures. Title II: Expenditures and Contributions - Subtitle A: Independent Expenditures - Defines "cooperative expenditure" as any expenditure which is made: (1) with the cooperation of, or in consultation with, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate; or (2) in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate. Specifies the conditions under which an expenditure will be included within such definition. Provides that a cooperative expenditure shall be treated as: (1) an expenditure made by the candidate on whose behalf it was made; and (2) a contribution from the person making the expenditure to the candidate on whose behalf it was made. Amends the Communications Act of 1934: (1) to require a person who reserves broadcast time the payment for which would constitute an independent expenditure to inform the licensee of the nature of the payment and the names of all candidates for the office to which the proposed broadcast relates; and (2) to provide the licensee with a statement that identifies the candidate whom such independent expenditure is intended to affect. Outlines the responsibilities of a broadcast licensee who is informed and who endorses a candidate for Federal office in an editorial. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to set forth disclosure requirements for independent expenditures through television and audio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Subtitle B: Expenditures - Part I: Personal Loans; Credit - Provides that if a candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family made any loans to the candidate or to the candidate's authorized committee during any election cycle no contributions after the date of the general election for such election cycle may be used to repay such loans. Provides that no contribution by a candidate or member of the candidate's immediate family may be returned other than as part of a pro rata distribution of excess contributions to all contributors. Includes within the definition of "contribution" any extension of credit for goods or services relating to advertising if such extension of credit exceeds $1,000 and is for a certain period with respect to a Senate candidate. Part II: Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties - Establishes limitations of $20,000 and $15,000, respectively, on individuals and multicandidate committee contributions to State committees of a political party with respect to any calendar year. Provides for increasing the current $25,000 annual limitation on individual contributions by the amount of contributions made by an individual during a calendar year to such a committee. Limits such increase to $5,000. Subjects to Federal limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements any amount solicited, received, or expended directly or indirectly by a national, State, or local committee of a political party with respect to an activity to influence a Federal election (soft money). Specifies the activities during a Federal election period to be treated as influencing a Federal election for purposes of such provisions. Prohibits a State committee of a political party from making expenditures which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to four cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State for such activities with respect to the general election campaign of a candidate for President who is affiliated with such party. Repeals provisions excluding certain payments to State or local committees of a political party from the definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" to subject such payments to the limitations and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Revises provisions regarding certain payments to State and local committees of a political party to cover the costs incurred with respect to printed slate cards or sample ballots to provide that such provisions shall not apply to the costs incurred by such committees with respect to the mass mailing of such a printed listing. Applies the limitations on contributions under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to transfers between and among the political committees described in the provisions setting forth such limitations except that a national committee may not solicit or accept contributions not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of that Act. Prohibits such provisions from applying to contributions that are to be: (1) transferred to a State committee for activities which are not for influencing an election for Federal office; or (2) used by the committee primarily to support such activities. Prohibits the national committee of a political party, the congressional campaign committees of a political party, and a State or local committee of a political party from making expenditures during any calendar year for the activities specified under this part with respect to such State which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to 30 cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State. Specifies that "generic campaign activities" (a campaign activity whose preponderant purpose or effect is to promote a political party rather than any particular Federal or non-Federal candidate) during a Federal election period shall be treated as influencing an election for Federal office. Subjects fundraising by a candidate for Federal office and by an individual holding Federal office for Federal or non-Federal elections to the limitations, prohibitions, and requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising contributions from any person of more than $5,000 on behalf of any tax-exempt organization which they have established or which they maintain or control. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising any contributions on behalf of tax-exempt organizations if a significant portion of the activities of such an organization includes voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns. Sets forth additional reporting requirements for national, State, district, or local committees of a political party with respect to receipts and disbursements for activities to influence a Federal election (soft money). Requires national committees of a political party and any congressional campaign committee to report all receipts and disbursements whether or not they are used to influence a Federal election. Defines "congressional campaign committee" as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Provides that, in lieu of any report required to be filed by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the FEC may allow a State committee of a political party to file a report required under State law if such report contains substantially the same information. Applies the reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to certain payments to State or local committees of a political party excluded from the definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" under such Act (soft money). Requires any such exempt contributions or expenditures in excess of $200 to be reported. Requires any individual who makes contributions in excess of $10,000 to any candidate for Federal office or to any political committee that is subject to the limitations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to report to the FEC within seven days after making such contributions, and thereafter each time such individual makes contributions in excess of $5,000. Requires any candidate for Federal office, any authorized committee of a candidate, or any political committee of a candidate, or any political committee soliciting contributions subject to such limitation to include with such solicitation a notice of the requirement to report as well as the annual individual limitation on such contributions. Subtitle C: Contributions - Prohibits a congressional campaign committee of a political party, during an election cycle, from accepting from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds any contributions which exceed 30 percent of the total expenditures which such committee may make during that election cycle. Prohibits a national committee of a political party, during an election cycle, from accepting from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds any contributions which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to two cents multiplied by the voting age population of the United States. Subjects any expenditure made by a national or State committee of a political party or a congressional campaign committee for general public political advertising which clearly identifies a candidate for Federal office by name to the limitations on expenditures by national and State committees of a political party under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Prohibits such provisions from applying to expenditures for mass mailings designed primarily for fundraising purposes which make only incidental references to any one or more Federal candidates. Provides for the accountability of contributions made by intermediaries or conduits. Provides that any contribution by an individual who is not of voting age and who is a dependent of another individual shall be treated as having been made by such other individual. Subtitle D: Reporting Requirements - Revises reporting requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Title III: Federal Election Commission - Revises provisions regarding the organization of political committees to prohibit a political committee that is not an authorized committee from including the name of any candidate in its name in such a context as to suggest that it is an authorized committee of the candidate or that the use of the candidate's name has been authorized by the candidate. Revises reporting requirements to give a political committee which is the principal campaign committee of a House or Senate candidate the option of filing monthly reports in all calendar years in lieu of the reports currently required to be filed with the FEC, except with respect to the general election reports. Revises enforcement provisions. Changes the determination the FEC must make upon receiving a complaint and before notifying a person of an alleged violation. Repeals the requirement that all FEC decisions with respect to the exercise of its duties and powers under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 be made by a majority vote of its members. Subjects such decisions to an affirmative vote of four FEC members, except with respect to certain questions including the above mentioned determination, in which case the general counsel is required to make a recommendation for action. Requires such action to be taken upon an affirmative vote of three FEC members. Provides that in the event of a vacancy in the office of general counsel, the next highest ranking enforcement official in that office shall serve as acting general counsel with full powers of the general counsel until a successor is appointed. Increases the rate of basic pay of the general counsel to the rate for the FEC staff director. Provides that fees collected by the FEC for copying and certification of records and for the provision of other materials to the public shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, but shall be kept in a separate account and shall be available to the FEC to carry out the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Revises provisions regarding penalties prescribed in conciliation agreements and penalties for violations which are adjudicated in court. Authorizes the FEC to conduct random audits and investigations to ensure voluntary compliance with this Act. Sets forth disclosure requirements for expenditures and independent expenditures through television and radio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Declares that no person shall: (1) make a fraudulent misrepresentation that the person is authorized to solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee; or (2) solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee unless the person intends to, and does, pay over to the candidate or political committee any contribution received and informs the candidate or political committee of the name of the contributor. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Prohibits an incumbent in, or candidate for, Federal office from establishing, maintaining, or controlling a political committee other than an authorized committee of the candidate or a committee of a political party. Requires a contribution of polling data to a candidate for the Senate to be valued at the fair market value of the data on the date the poll was completed, depreciated at a rate not more than one percent per day from such date to the date on which the contribution was made. Prohibits congressional franked mass mailings within one year before an election (currently, within 60 days before an election).
Bill· SS. 11 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Social Security Tax Cut Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise social security tax rates to provide for reduced rates until 2015 and increased rates beginning in 2020. Increases the OASDI contribution and benefit base on a graduated basis from 1992 through 1996.
Bill· SS. 140 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Federal law to increase the Federal payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government for entitlement land. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust such payments by the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
Bill· SS. 101 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Honest Budget/Balanced Budget Act - Title I: Operating Budget, Retirement Funds Budget, and Debt and Interest Budget - Amends Federal law to require that the budget the President submits to the Congress be a unified budget comprising an operating budget, a retirement funds budget, and a debt and interest budget, each presented separately. Directs the President to submit with this budget an account of inter-fund transfers between the operating budget and the debt and interest budget. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the congressional concurrent resolution on the budget to be formulated in terms of these three separate budgets. Title II: Balanced Operating Budgets - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a point of order in both the Senate and the House of Representatives against considering a budget resolution that includes an unbalanced operating budget. Makes it out of order in both Houses, after the completion of action on the budget resolution, to consider any legislation that would cause operating budget outlays to exceed revenues. Requires the President to present a balanced operating budget. Title III: Trust Fund for the Reduction of the Deficit and Public Debt - Expresses U.S. policy supporting amendment of the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish a special debt retirement tax or taxes dedicated to reduction of the deficit and public debt; and (2) create a special trust fund to be used only for this purpose. Title IV: Definition of Deficit - Redefines the term "deficit" to mean the amount by which combined budget outlays for the operating and debt and interest budgets exceed combined revenues for such budgets for any fiscal year. Removes the surpluses of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund from calculations of the deficit.
Bill· SS. 26 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual the following qualified employer-provided transportation fringe benefits: (1) the value of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle between the employee's residence and workplace; and (2) up to $60 per month of the value of any transit pass entitling the employee to transportation on mass transit facilities.
Bill· SS. 83 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of energy or water conservation measures.
Bill· SS. 127 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans Benefits and Health Care Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Compensation - Part A: Generally - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase the rates of, and limitations on, Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation to coincide with benefit increases under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Requires such rate increases to be published in the Federal Register. Part B: Radiogenic Disabilities - Extends the presumption of service-connection, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, to cover members of the reserves who participated in a radiation-risk activity while serving on active duty for training or inactive duty for training. Amends Federal provisions relating to the payment of disability compensation due to certain diseases and disabilities presumed to be service-connected to remove the current limitation on the required manifestation period (either 40 or 30 years from the date on which a veteran last participated in a radiation-risk activity). Adds cancer of the salivary gland and cancer of the urinary tract to the list of diseases that will be presumed to be service-connected for purposes of such disability compensation. Requires the Secretary, within 210 days after enactment of this Act, to identify at least three military activities which likely would have exposed individuals to levels of ionizing radiation above background levels. Requires the Secretary to identify at least three additional activities by October 1 of FY 1991 through 1993. Requires the Secretary, immediately after identifying each additional activity, to direct the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards to evaluate, make findings, and report on whether participation in such activities resulted in exposure comparable to that resulting from a radiation-risk activity as defined under current law. Requires the Secretary to list each such activity unless the Advisory Committee's report and all other evidence indicate that such activity did not result in comparable exposure to that of veterans participating in radiation-risk activities. Requires the Secretary to make certain reports. Part C: Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service - Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1991 - Establishes a presumption of service connection, for the purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, for each of the following diseases incurred by individuals who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam era, if such diseases become manifest to a disability degree of ten percent or more: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma; (2) each soft-tissue sarcoma; and (3) chloracne. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary to update such list continually. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to a herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effect. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to lung cancer and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organization to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (veterans' committees) regarding its determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the event of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when no such reasonable basis is found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the list of diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides interim regulations and special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) are obtained by the VA in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) are likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of OTA to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of OTA if no agreement is made with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with NAS before undertaking such studies and requires NAS to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information to individuals listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs Agent Orange Registry on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for psychological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 1993, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam. Title II: Health Care - Part A: Mental Health - Authorizes the provision of health care and services for veterans of World War I or II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Era, or any other area during a period in which hostilities occurred who have been diagnosed to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to such services even though such disorder has not been determined to be service-connected. Requires the VA to accomplish an evaluation of a veteran within seven days after referral of such veteran to a Department health-care facility from a Vet Center (a center for treatment of veterans with mental illness disabilities). Expands eligibility for readjustment counseling at Vet Centers to include veterans of wars prior to Vietnam and veterans of service in any areas in which U.S. personnel were subjected to danger from armed conflict comparable to that occurring in battle with an enemy during a period of war. Directs the Secretary to establish and operate up to five VA health-care facilities as centers of mental illness research, education, and clinical activities, taking into account appropriate geographic distribution of such facilities. Precludes the Secretary from designating any health-care facility as a center unless the facility has (or may reasonably be anticipated to develop): (1) an arrangement with an accredited medical school or graduate school of psychology which provides education and training in psychiatry and psychology through regular rotation through such center so as to provide training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness; (2) an arrangement under which nurses, social workers, or other allied health personnel receive education and training in mental health care through regular rotation through such facility; (3) the ability to attract the participation of scientists who are capable of ingenuity and creativity in research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of mental illness and into models for furnishing care and treatment to veterans suffering from mental illness; (4) a policymaking advisory committee to advise the directors of such facility and center on policy matters pertaining to the activities of such center; and (5) the capability to conduct effectively evaluations of the activities of such center. Authorizes appropriations. Declares that activities of clinical and scientific investigation at each center shall be eligible to compete for the award of funding from funds appropriated for the Department's medical and prosthetics research account and shall receive priority insofar as funds are awarded to projects for mental illness. Requires the Chief Medical Director (CMD) to ensure that: (1) research activities carried out through such centers include an appropriate emphasis on the psychosocial dimension of mental illness and on models for furnishing care and treatment to veterans suffering from mental illness; and (2) useful information produced by the centers is disseminated throughout the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration (HSRA). Requires the Secretary to submit to the veterans' committees an annual report on activities and effectiveness of the centers. Directs the Special Committee on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to submit to the Secretary and veterans' committees no later than February 15 of each of the years 1991 through 1993 a report on the Committee's evaluation of the results of a study required under the Veteran's Health Care Amendments of 1983 relating to the diagnosis and treatment of veterans suffering from PTSD. Directs the Secretary to comment to the veterans' committees concerning such report. Requires the Committee to update certain reports required of the Committee under the Veterans' Health Care Act of 1984 and requires the Secretary to comment to the veterans' committees concerning such updates. Directs the Secretary, in certain papers required to be submitted to the President annually, to identify the amounts in the appropriations requests for the VA that are estimated to be obligated for payments and treatments for veterans suffering from PTSD, and for education, training, research, and the operation of the National Center on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Requires the Secretary to ensure to the extent practicable that there are Department PTSD treatment units in locations readily accessible to veterans residing in rural areas of the United States. Part B: General Health - Authorizes the VA to furnish wheelchairs, prosthetic devices, and other medically necessary supplies and services as part of veterans' outpatient care when necessary either to obviate the need for hospital admission or in preparation for hospital admission. Provides outpatient dental care when medically necessary in preparation for hospital admission or for a veteran otherwise receiving other outpatient care or services. Increases the maximum cost limitation for the provision of certain home health care services to disabled veterans. Makes permanent the program of community-based contract veterans' alcohol and drug treatment program (currently expires September 30, 1991). Extends through FY 1995 the authority to provide contract care to U.S. veterans in the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the upgrading and replacement of equipment and facilities for such Center through FY 1995. Decreases such annual authorization amount from $1,000,000 to $500,000. Earmarks the first $50,000 of grants appropriated to the Center for educating and training hospital personnel. Expands the current authority of the Secretary to acquire and provide housing for homeless veterans in order to allow entities to provide transitional housing for veterans recovering from substance abuse or mental illness disabilities. Extends such program through 1993. Establishes in the Treasury the Transitional Housing Fund for the provision of housing and loans to assist veterans in recovering from alcohol or drug dependence or abuse disabilities. Outlines loan conditions and conditions for veterans residing in housing provided. Requires the Secretary to issue guidelines for the operation of such residences. Requires the director of either each medical center or each regional office of the VA to make an assessment of the needs of homeless veterans living within the area served, including needs for health care, education and training, employment, shelter, counseling, and outreach services. Requires the director of each medical center to develop a plan for each of FY 1991 through 1993 for the provision of outreach and other services to meet the needs identified. Requires actions taken under such plans to be coordinated with other programs of the VA and Federal, State, or local governments. Requires the director to disseminate information regarding services provided to homeless veterans by the medical center or other facilities of the VA. Directs the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to determine the effectiveness of providing, through community-based organizations, domiciliary care (including medical services) to homeless veterans. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts with community-based organizations for the provision of such care. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993. Authorizes the Secretary to reprogram certain previously-appropriated funds to such program if it is found to be effective. Authorizes the Secretary to accept donations of funds or services in order to expand the medical services provided to homeless veterans through the Department. Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1988 to extend through FY 1993: (1) the authorization of appropriations for medical programs of the Department; (2) earmarked amounts for the conversion of unused space in urban VA facilities into domiciliary care beds for homeless veterans; and (3) earmarked amounts for the furnishing of care and services to homeless veterans who have chronic mental illness disabilities. Amends the Veterans' Benefits and Services Act of 1988 to extend its program for mentally ill homeless veterans. Extends through FY 1991 a pilot program under the Veterans' Benefits and Services Act of 1988 for the provision of mobile health-care clinics for the treatment of veterans residing at least 100 miles from a VA treatment facility. Requires the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Prosthetics and Special-Disabilities Programs to advise the Secretary and the CMD on the coordination of VA and non-VA programs, and the adequacy of funding, for prosthetics and special disabilities programs administered by the Secretary. Requires a report. Includes within the definition of "medical services" for coverage under Federal veterans' benefits provisions services to achieve pregnancy in a veteran or a veteran's spouse when such services are necessary to overcome a service-connected disability impairing the veteran's procreative ability. Directs the CMD to appoint an advisory committee to advise the CMD on the exercise of authority to furnish such services. Authorizes use of the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund of the VA for the payment of travel and related expenses necessary for the training of employees in the administration of therapeutic and rehabilitative services. Directs the Secretary, during FY 1991-1995, to conduct a compensated work therapy and therapeutic residence pilot program (CWTTR). Directs the Secretary to establish nonprofit corporations for the making of contracts for conducting work therapy programs under the CWTTR program at no less than ten or more than 15 VA medical centers operating such programs. Requires the Secretary to be assured from a nonprofit corporation that it will operate a therapeutic residence for eligible veterans in conjunction with an existing compensated work therapy program at a medical center. Allows for the provision of in-kind services from the Secretary to the corporation, including technical and clinical advice, supervision of activities, and minor maintenance and repairs to a therapeutic residence. Authorizes the Secretary to lend amounts to a corporation in order to assist such corporations to lease or purchase property for use as therapeutic residential treatment centers. Provides loan limits and other administrative provisions concerning such loans. Directs the Secretary to transfer to the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration no less than ten residences acquired by the VA for use for such centers. Requires each such property to be leased to a nonprofit corporation for operation as a therapeutic residence under the pilot program. Outlines lease conditions and other administrative provisions concerning the establishment of nonprofit corporations for therapeutic residences. Requires each such corporation to submit to the Secretary annual reports providing a detailed statement of its operations, activities, and accomplishments during the preceding year. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning each such corporation and its participation under the pilot program. Requires the Secretary, under the pilot program, to operate residences as therapeutic residences for the furnishing of transitional housing solely for veterans who are furnished compensated work therapy under applicable Federal law. Authorizes the Secretary to purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire residential housing for the purpose of furnishing such transitional housing for veterans being furnished compensated work therapy. Outlines the following conditions for the operation of such transitional housing: (1) that only qualified veterans and a house manager live in such residence; (2) that each resident (other than the house manager) pay the VA rent for the period of residence in such housing; (3) that, in the establishment and operation of such housing, the Secretary must comply with all local zoning, building, and other similar requirements; and (4) that the residence meet the State and community fire and safety requirements applicable to property used for similar purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for free room and subsistence for a house manager. Requires the CMD to be responsible for the management, maintenance, and disposition of property acquired for such transitional housing. Authorizes the Secretary to dispose of such property when no longer used for such purpose. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the experience under the pilot program. Allows the Secretary to authorize the establishment of one or more nonprofit corporations to provide a flexible funding mechanism for the conduct of VA compensated work therapy programs for veterans (including homeless veterans) in such community or communities as the Secretary may designate. Requires such corporations to be established solely for such programs. Requires funds received by such a corporation for the conduct of such programs to be transferred to the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund. Outlines administrative provisions concerning the establishment and operation of each such nonprofit corporation, including provisions concerning: (1) the board of directors and executive officers; (2) general powers; (3) applicable State law; and (4) accountability and oversight. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress no later than February 1, 1993, on the experience under the program. Prohibits the establishment of any nonprofit corporation for such purposes after September 30, 1993. Authorizes the use of the Special Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Activities Fund for the purchase of property to be used for transitional housing under this Act. Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees the Secretary's evaluation, findings, and conclusions regarding the provision of such alternative noninstitutional care. Extends through FY 1995 the pilot program for the furnishing of preventive health-care services for veterans by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to implement annually at each VA facility a major preventive health-care and health-promotion initiative for any veteran receiving other care and services administered through the Secretary. Limits expenditures for such programs and initiatives through FY 1995. Directs the CMD to designate an official in such Administration as the Director of Preventive Health-Care and Health-Promotion Programs. Requires such Director to prepare guidance regarding, to be responsible for coordinating and evaluating, and to advise the CMD on, all activities carried out under such programs and initiatives. Requires the Secretary to submit to the veterans' committees an interim and final report on experiences under the pilot program. Authorizes the Secretary to provide: (1) service dogs trained to assist quadriplegic individuals in the performance of daily living tasks to quadriplegic veterans who have a service-connected disability; and (2) signal dogs trained to provide hearing assistance to deaf persons to veterans having a service-connected hearing impairment and in need of such assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to pay travel to and from their homes incurred in becoming adjusted to such dogs. Directs the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning a backlog that has occurred in the procurement of prosthetic appliances in FY 1989, for the failure to furnish certain other prosthetic appliances, and the actions planned by the Secretary to prevent a recurrence of such problem. Increases from $500 to $1,000 the total amount that may be expended on any veteran in a 12-month period for such services and treatment. Repeals the authority of the Secretary to furnish tobacco to veterans receiving hospital or domiciliary care. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force to recommend policies and legislation for the elimination of inconsistencies among provisions of law relating to veterans' eligibility for certain health-care benefits. Directs the Secretary to review the report submitted by the task force and either approve the recommendations for legislation contained therein or prepare alternative legislative proposals appropriate for the elimination of the inconsistencies identified by the task force. Requires a report to the veterans' committees concerning the recommendation of such legislative proposals. Directs the Secretary to provide Department-furnished outpatient medical services to any former prisoner of war for any disability. Part C: Health-Care Personnel - Veterans Health-Care Personnel Act of 1991 - Authorizes the payment of special pay on the same basis as that given to registered nurses to those health-care professionals who are furnishing direct care to patients or services incident to direct patient care. Increases the limitation on the amount authorized to be paid as special pay to certain individuals in the HSRA of the VA. Requires increases in such pay of a specified amount or more to be reported by the Secretary to the veterans' committees. Includes coverage of HSRA personnel under Federal employees' collective bargaining rights and procedures. Revises provisions concerning disciplinary actions and grievances within the HSRA. Directs the Secretary to establish and conduct a dependent care assistance program, which meets certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the care of dependents of employees of the HSRA. Requires such program to be implemented no later than June 1, 1991. Requires current representatives of the field of paramedics to assist in the establishment of cooperative arrangements to provide for the training of health and paramedical personnel in order to improve the manpower utilization of such personnel. Requires such arrangements to be implemented no later than February 1, 1991. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1994 for making grants for such cooperative programs. Directs the CMD of the VA to conduct a pilot program at no less than five VA medical facilities during FY 1991 through 1993 in order to determine the effect on employees of VA pay and personnel management practices. Requires the CMD to establish certain alternative pay and personnel management practices, such as increasing certain pay differentials for day versus evening duty, utilizing registered nurses in new ways for the furnishing of direct patient care, and establishing a collaborative practice committee involving physicians, nurses, and other direct health-care personnel. Requires various reports between the CMD, the Secretary, and the veterans' committees relating to the results of such pilot program. Directs the Secretary to pay special incentive pay to psychologists employed within the HSRA. Requires psychologists receiving such special pay to hold diplomas in psychology from a recognized institution unless the Secretary determines that such psychologists are not needed to furnish appropriate psychological services for veterans. Outlines the educational and licensure requirements for social workers employed in the HSRA of the Department. Exempts individuals already employed by the Department of such capacity before the enactment of this Act from such requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to convert donated space in Department facilities for use as a child care center without reimbursement. Directs the Secretary to require each director of a Department medical center to: (1) assess the need of employees at such center for child-care services; and (2) submit an annual report to the Secretary containing the director's findings concerning such needs and a proposal of how such needs could be met. Requires the directors to consult with appropriate employee representatives in making such assessment. Part D: Special Pay for Physicians and Dentists - Department of Veterans Affairs Physicians' and Dentists' Compensation Act of 1991 - Revises provisions of Federal law relating to special pay for VA physicians and dentists. Authorizes the Secretary of VA, in order to recruit and retain highly qualified physicians and dentists, to provide special pay to such individuals under regulations prescribed by the Secretary after the Secretary has received the recommendations of the CMD. Conditions such special pay on the execution of a written agreement by the physician or dentist to perform a period of obligated service within the HSRA. Provides that such individual is not entitled to such special pay during the first three years of such service, except at the discretion of the CMD for full-time services. Prohibits special pay for those physician and dentist positions for which there is no significant recruitment and retention problem. Sets forth requirements of a written agreement, including provisions providing for: (1) a covered period of one to four years; (2) refunding of special pay for unfulfilled services; (3) the waiver of such refund requirement due to circumstances beyond the control of the physician or dentist; and (4) terms under which the Secretary and the physician or dentist may terminate the agreement. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to eligible full-time physicians based upon specified factors, including: (1) tenure within the HSRA; (2) service in a medical specialty for which it is extremely difficult to recruit and retain qualified professionals; (3) service in certain executive positions; (4) specialty or board certifications; (5) service in a geographic location for which there are extraordinary difficulties in the recruitment or retention of qualified personnel; and (6) service by a physician with exceptional qualifications within a specialty. Requires all special pay for such full-time physicians to be personally approved by the CMD on a case-by-case basis. Sets forth conditions and limitations to the payment of such special pay. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to part-time eligible physicians based upon similar factors. Requires the Secretary to pay each such physician an amount of special pay equal to the proportion of full-time service that physician performs. Directs the Secretary to provide special pay to eligible full-time and part-time dentists based upon similar factors. Prohibits a physician from receiving such special pay while also receiving special pay for serving in certain executive positions. Allows scarce specialty pay (another form of special pay that rewards scarce specialty areas of practice) for a physician or dentist serving as a chief of staff only if it is necessary to recruit or retain qualified physicians or dentists for such position and only if the CMD personally approves such specialty pay. Requires, with regard to the payment of special pay, determinations: (1) that there are extraordinary difficulties in recruitment or retention; and (2) of whether there are extraordinary difficulties in a specific geographic location in the recruitment or retention of qualified physicians or dentists. Sets forth considerations for determinations with respect to extraordinary recruitment and retention difficulties and the payment of special pay for individual medical facilities of the VA. Requires the director of an individual facility, in such a case, to recommend the payment of such special pay to the CMD and wait 45 days after which such pay would become effective unless disapproved by the CMD. Provides for delegation of the approval power of the CMD. Prohibits special pay from being paid to a physician or dentist who: (1) is employed on a less than half-time basis or on an intermittent basis unless the CMD determines it is the most cost-effective way of providing needed medical or dental services at a VA facility; (2) occupies an internship or residency training position; or (3) is a reemployed annuitant. Reinstates the payment of special pay under this Act for full-time physicians or dentists of the HSRA who had been receiving special pay under primary, full-time, and tenure categories before the authority for the payment of that special pay was repealed. Reinstates similarly the payment of special pay under the primary and tenure categories for part-time physicians and dentists of the HSRA. Outlines the manner in which special pay is to be considered for purposes of other benefits laws for Federal employees. States that it is the policy of the Congress to assure that total pay for HSRA physicians and dentists is comparable to total pay of other Government physicians and dentists and to the income of non-Federal physicians and dentists. Directs the Secretary: (1) in order to assist in implementing such policy, to obtain measures of income of such non-VA physicians and dentists and to define the bases for pay distinctions; (2) to report to the President quadrennially on appropriate amounts of special pay to HSRA physicians and dentists to carry out such policy; and (3) to report to specified congressional committees annually on the use of authorities under this title. Directs the Secretary to reimburse any full-time board-certified physician or dentist appointed in the HSRA for expenses incurred, up to $1,000 per year, for continuing professional education. Allows a physician or dentist within the HSRA who had previously received special pay under the full-time, primary, or tenure categories (repealed by this Act) and had elected not to have such pay treated as basic pay for purposes of retirement and annuity amounts to elect to treat the special pay provided under this Act as basic pay for such purposes. Title III: Education and Employment - Extends through 1993 the period in which a Vietnam era veteran will be considered as such for purposes of eligibility for job training, counseling, and placement services. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to expand an employment and training program implemented under the Veterans' Benefits Amendments of 1989 in order to furnish employment and training information and services under such program in more than ten geographically dispersed areas of the United States. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations with regard to the success of such program before undertaking such expansion. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on such expansion. Requires the Secretary to utilize disabled veterans' outreach program specialists or local veterans' employment representatives and other resources in implementing such expansion. Makes persons receiving outpatient medical care or services pending discharge from active military service eligible for veterans' vocational rehabilitation if such persons are being treated at a hospital under contract or agreement with the Secretary of Defense. Extends by one year the period of automatic disenrollment for veterans' educational assistance benefits to allow for the filing of a claim for such benefits. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with an individual whereby the individual agrees to perform work-study service and the Secretary deducts the allowance otherwise payable to such individual from indebtedness resulting from any overpayment received by such individual under VA-administered education, rehabilitation, or training benefits. Authorizes the Secretary, in order to reduce or eliminate such individual's indebtedness, to waive certain work-study program eligibility requirements and limitations, as well as certain debt collection requirements. Prohibits such an agreement from continuing in force after the individual's debt has been liquidated. Requires the Secretary to compensate such an individual for work-study services performed after such debt has been liquidated. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the pursuit of flight training for an individual entitled to post-Vietnam era veterans' educational assistance if: (1) such training is necessary for the attainment of the individual's vocational objective; (2) the individual possesses a valid pilot's license and meets all medical requirements necessary for a commercial pilot's license; and (3) the flight school courses are approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and the State. Sets forth the amount of assistance and other conditions for such flight training, including receipt by the Secretary of a certificate from the individual and institution involved of the flight training completed and the tuition and other fees. Establishes within the Department of Labor the Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment and Training to: (1) assess the employment and training needs of veterans; (2) determine the extent to which programs and activities of the Department of Labor are meeting such needs; and (3) carry out necessary activities to make certain reports and recommendations required in this section. Directs the Secretary of Labor to consult with and seek the advice of the advisory committee with respect to the employment and training needs of veterans. Requires the advisory committee to report annually to the Secretary of Labor on the employment and training needs of veterans, including recommendations for legislation or administrative or other appropriate action. Requires the Secretary to transmit such annual reports to the Congress together with comments. Requires advisory committee appointments to be made within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Title IV: Housing - Makes permanent (currently ends September 30, 1990) the requirement for the VA to notify and counsel veterans about the impact of, and alternatives to, foreclosure when the veterans default on a VA-guaranteed home loan. Allows the VA to sell vendee loan assets (collateral) either: (1) with recourse; or (2) without recourse only if the amount received by the Department is at least equal to the unpaid balance of the loan. Extends through FY 1992 the authority for certain home loan lenders to review appraisals. Makes permanent certain current Federal provisions concerning default procedures and property management with regard to home loans guaranteed by the VA. Exempts individuals obtaining VA-guaranteed home loans from the requirement that individuals obtaining federally guaranteed loans of over $150,000 disclose their lobbying activities. Directs the VA, at the request of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to issue certificates of veteran status to veterans seeking certain benefits under laws administered by HUD. Authorizes the VA to issue such certificates without reimbursement. Limits the time during which a veteran may apply for waiver of a home-loan debt to the one-year period following the date on which the VA notified the debtor of the indebtedness. Requires that debt notices for home-loan and non-home-loan debts inform the recipient of his or her right to apply for a waiver and the procedures for such application. Title V: Insurance - Increases from $10,000 to $20,000 the maximum amount of Service Disabled Veterans' Insurance available to those veterans who are eligible for a waiver of premiums due to total and permanent disability. Increases from $40,000 to $90,000 the maximum amount of Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance available to veterans who have received a specially-adapted housing grant. Title VI: Minority Affairs - Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to assign as one of the functions of the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs the review and assessment of the effects of policies, programs, and activities of the VA on minority veterans and the monitoring of access of such veterans to services and benefits under laws administered by the VA. Defines "minority veterans" as veterans who are black, Native-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, Pacific Islander-American, or women. Reestablishes, as of October 1, 1990, the Advisory Committee on Native Americans. Requires reports from such Committee concerning the plight of Native Americans and their access to services and benefits of the VA. Terminates such Committee 90 days after their second report is transferred to the veterans' committees. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Defines "minor child" for purposes of eligibility for burial in national cemeteries as a child under 21 years of age or under 23 if the person is pursuing a course of instruction at an educational institution. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for flat grave markers in a section of the Florida National Cemetery that had installed preplaced grave liners as of a specified date. States that the prohibition on the payment of attorneys' fees in connection with VA benefits proceedings applies only where the individual is applying for such benefits, and not when the Government is proceeding against a person to collect an indebtedness or in cases in which other attorneys' fees statutes apply. Modifies certain administrative reorganization requirements within the VA. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into enhanced use agreements (a written agreement for the use of a VA facility consistent with the Department's mission in return for the payment of consideration to the VA) with respect to designated property and to direct the disposal of such property. Provides lease terms and other conditions with respect to such agreements. Requires the Secretary, before designating a property for an enhanced-use lease, to conduct local hearings to consider the proposed lease and its possible effects on the local community. Requires the veterans' committees to be notified of any such designation. Requires a specified notice to be published in the Federal Register. Allows the Secretary to initiate action for the disposal of leased property no longer needed by the VA to the lessee by requesting the Administrator of General Services to carry out a special disposition of such property. Requires notice of a special disposition to be provided to the veterans' committees and published in the Federal Register. Requires funds received by the VA under an enhanced-use agreement to be deposited into the nursing home revolving fund and administered as part of that fund. Outlines provisions concerning construction standards, exemption from State and local taxes, and limitations on the number of enhanced-use agreements. Terminates the authority to enter into such leases as of September 30, 1994. Makes standards relating to disqualification of Federal judges applicable to judges serving on the Court of Veterans Appeals. Makes all funds in the Department's Medical Care account exempt from sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Extends from three to 12 months the period during which a veteran with no spouse or dependent children may be furnished domiciliary or nursing home care by the VA before such veteran's pension is reduced. Provides that, when a veteran's pension payments are so reduced, up to $10,000 of the benefits withheld shall be repaid to the veteran upon discharge. Increases from $1,500 to $6,000 the value of the estate allowed a hospitalized incompetent veteran without dependents before the VA suspends the veteran's compensation or benefits. Increases from $500 to $2,000 the amount to which an estate must be reduced before such benefits may be resumed. Prohibits the Secretary from delegating the functional and technical supervision of the performance of security and law enforcement functions within the VA to any official outside the Office of the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees concerning security and law enforcement matters with the VA. Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to increase the number of people authorized to be appointed by the Secretary to a commission formed for the purpose of selecting individuals for the position of the CMD whenever a vacancy in such position occurs.
Bill· SS. 6 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform and Ethics Act of 1991 - Title I: Senate Election Flexible Fundraising Targets - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to establish a new title V, Senate Election Flexible Fundraising Targets. Provides for voluntary acceptance of such targets, in return for specified benefits. Entitles candidates for the Senate to the reduced broadcast rates under specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 if they file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), at any time prior to the general election, a statement that they have not exceeded the specified fundraising targets for any primary or runoff election and will not exceed such targets for the general election. Sets forth formulas for determining such fundraising targets for primary, runoff, and general elections to the Senate. Sets the target for the general election at not more than the lesser of: (1) $5,500,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $950,000; or (b) $400,000 plus 30 cents for each person in the voting age population up to 4,000,000 and 25 cents for each such person above that number. Sets the primary election target at not more than the lesser of: (1) 67 percent of the general election target; or (2) $2,750,000. Sets the runoff election target at not more than 20 percent of the general election target. Exempts from being counted against such targets contributions by: (1) individuals who are not residents of the candidate's State; and (2) individuals who are not such State residents but who make contributions of no more than $250 in the aggregate to any one candidate. Provides for yearly indexing of such targets on the basis of increases in the price index. Directs the FEC to: (1) issue regulations implementing this title within 180 days; and (2) provide eligible candidates advisory opinions concerning application of this title within 30 days after their request. Directs specified congressional officials to appoint members of a bipartisan commission to: (1) study the effects of this title on Senate election campaign spending and costs during primary and general elections in 1994 and 1996; and (2) report its findings to those congressional officials by November 7, 1997. Authorizes appropriations to the FEC and the bipartisan commission to carry out this title. Makes this title effective with respect to Senate candidates in 1994, 1996, and 1998. Exempts contributions made to or received by an eligible candidate on or prior to the date of enactment of this title from being counted against the specified targets. Provides that FECA title I through IV shall remain in effect with respect to Senate election campaigns affected by this title except insofar as those provisions are inconsistent with this title. Title II: Ethics in Government - Requires public disclosure of all congressional interventions, whether by unwritten or written contracts, in Federal department and agency enforcement action or contract awards. Directs each executive department and agency to compile a monthly list of all unwritten communications received from congressional Members, employees, or agents with respect to enforcement matters or contract awards. Sets forth required details of such lists. Requires that such lists be filed monthly with the appropriate congressional committees and published biennially in the Congressional Record. Directs each executive department and agency to create a public file containing all written communications received from congressional Members, employees, or agents with respect to enforcement matters or contract awards. Requires such information to be included in an appropriate existing public file. Title III: Reduction of Special Interest Influence - Subtitle A: Ban on Political Action Committees - Amends title III of FECA to ban Federal election activities by political action committees (PACs), by prohibiting any person other than an individual or a political committee to make contributions, solicit or receive contributions, or make expenditures to influence a Federal election. Redefines political committee (thus eliminating references to PACs) to mean: (1) the principal campaign committee of a candidate; (2) any national State, or district committee of a political party, including subordinate committees; (3) any local committee of a political party which receives contributions, makes certain exempted payments, or makes contributions or expenditures exceeding specified levels; and (4) any committee jointly established by a principal campaign committee and such national, state, district, or local committees of a political party to conduct joint fundraising activities. Provides, for purposes of specified FECA limitations on contributions and expenditures, that any political committee which is established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any candidate or Federal officeholder shall be deemed to be an authorized committee of such candidate or officeholder. Prohibits any political committee that supports or has supported more than one candidate from being designated as an authorized committee, with the following exceptions: (1) Presidential nominees may designate their political party's national committee as their principal campaign committee if such national committee maintains separate account books for its functions as principal campaign committee; and (2) candidates may designate a political committee established solely for joint fundraising by such candidates as an authorized committee. Sets forth rules applicable when the ban on PACs is not in effect (i.e. if the Supreme Court rules such ban unconstitutional). Prohibits (when the PAC ban is not in effect) any non-connected PAC (i.e. one which is not directly or indirectly established, administered by a connected organization which is a corporation, labor organization, or trade association) from making aggregated contributions of more than $1,000 to any candidate or candidate's authorized committee. Subtitle B: Ban on Soft Money in Federal Elections - Amends FECA to make it unlawful to influence any Federal election by soliciting or receiving any soft money or by making any payments from soft money. Defines soft money as any amount which, in terms of specified FECA provisions, is: (1) solicited or received from a prohibited source; (2) contributed, solicited, or received in excess of contribution limits; or (3) not subject to recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirements. Sets forth certain restrictions on national, State, and local political committees of political parties. Requires the treasurer of each such committee to keep an account of and report on each account maintained by such committee (including Federal and non-Federal accounts), and deposits into and disbursements from each such account. Directs the FEC to issue regulations providing for a method of allocating the contributions and expenditures for any mixed activity (one affecting both a Federal and a non-Federal election) between Federal and non-Federal accounts of political party committees. Sets forth required guidelines for such allocation. Includes political committees among the entities to which national banks, corporations, and labor organizations are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures for purposes of certain political elections. Permits a labor organization to make political communications and establish and solicit contributions for a separate segregated political fund only if it provides the employees it represents with written notification of specified information, including that they cannot be obligated to pay for the political activities of the labor organization. Requires a labor organization which does not provide employees with such notification to finance those political activities which are not considered contributions or expenditures with funds collected for its separate, segregated political fund. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny tax-exempt status to any organization that participates or intervenes in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for Federal office. Denies tax-exempt status for any organization: (1) which devotes any of its operating budget to voter registration, get-out-the-vote campaigns, or participation in political campaign activities; and (2) on whose behalf a candidate or an authorized committee thereof solicits contributions. Amends FECA to impose Federal limits on contributions to political organizations maintained by a candidate for Federal office which are not political committees of a national, State, or local political party. Makes it unlawful for national banks, corporations, and labor organizations to make campaign contributions or expenditures to a political organization of a candidate (unless it is an authorized committee). Subtitle C: Other Activities - Amends FECA to reduce the maximum allowable contribution by individuals residing outside a candidate's State from $1,000 to $500. Provides for increases in the maximum allowable individual contribution ($1,000 in-State and $500 out-of-State) by adjusting such limits in relation to increases in the Consumer Price Index. Exempts certain national (as well as State and local) political party committee activities (such as campaign materials, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote activities) from treatment as contributions or expenditures. Includes general research activities among such exempted activities. Increases the limit on individual contributions to political party committees from $25,000 to $50,000 in any calendar year. Prohibits a conduit or intermediary from delivering or arranging to have delivered contributions from more than two persons who are employees of the same employer or members of the same labor organization. Prohibits registered lobbyists or their officers, employees, or agents from acting as a conduit or intermediary with respect to contribution to a candidate for Federal office. Sets forth disclosure requirements for independent expenditures through broadcast communications on any radio or television station. Provides that an expenditure is not an independent expenditure where the person making an expenditure is in coordination, consultation, or concert with a candidate. Requires the Commission to provide a hearing within three days after receiving a complaint alleging that an independent expenditure was made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with a candidate. Requires expedited judicial review of matters related to the making or alleged making of an independent expenditure. Title IV: Increases of Competition in Politics - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Allows seed money for challengers. Permits political party committees to use specified limited funds to match pre-primary, in-State contributions for challengers. Allows congressional and senatorial campaign committees to establish an opposition research fund, limited to a specified amount, for a challenger to conduct research into the voting and other public records of the incumbent. Sets forth requirements for use of surplus campaign funds. Allows surplus campaign funds to be: (1) transferred to specified types of tax-exempt organizations; (2) refunded to contributors on a pro rata basis; or (3) paid into the Treasury to reduce the public debt. Makes it unlawful for any political committee or its agent to utilize or dispose of surplus campaign funds except as specified or for any person to accept or receive surplus campaign funds for purposes other than those specified. Requires all dispositions of surplus campaign funds to be reported through an itemization of such expenditures on the post-election semiannual report. Allows the following amounts of surplus campaign funds existing on November 9, 1994, and thereafter to be rolled-over: (1) $50,000, for a candidate for the House of Representatives; and (2) $100,000, in the case of a candidate for the Senate. Prohibits rolling-over of State or local campaign funds for use in a Federal election, except within the above limits for House and Senate candidates. Provides that certain radio and television expenditures by a State or local committee of a political party made for the purpose of publicizing, before a primary election, the voting or other public record of an incumbent who is not a member of such party will not be considered an expenditure in connection with the general election campaign of a candidate. Sets forth requirements relating to campaign expenditures from personal funds. Requires a candidate, within 15 days of qualifying for a primary election ballot, to file with the Commission and each other qualifying candidate a declaration stating whether or not such candidate intends to expend funds and incur personal loans for the primary and general election in the aggregate of $250,000 or more from the following sources; (1) personal funds; (2) family funds; and (3) personal loans incurred in connection with the campaign for office. Allows the opponents of such candidate to accept larger contribution amounts from individuals. Requires a candidate who files a declaration of intent not to expend more than $250,000 and who subsequently does exceed such amount, to file an amended declaration within 24 hours after exceeding such amount. Allows a candidate to repay a personal loan in connection with the candidate's campaign from contributions made to such candidate or any authorized committee of such candidate. Prohibits the repayment of any interest on the principal amount of such loan. Amends Federal law to prescribe guidelines for the reapportionment of Representatives and the establishment of congressional districts. Provides that nothing in such provisions shall be construed to supersede any provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Revises provisions with respect to congressional reapportionment and redistricting so that the number of persons in congressional districts within each State shall be as nearly equal as practicable, as determined under the most recent decennial census. Prohibits congressional districts from being established with the intent and effect of diluting the voting strength of any persons or members of any political party. Requires district boundaries to avoid the division of counties and minimize the division of cities and other political subdivisions. Establishes expedited Federal judicial review procedures of the redistricting process, giving Federal district courts exclusive jurisdiction. Amends Federal law to set forth prohibitions and criminal penalties against election fraud and other public corruption and fraud in interstate or foreign commerce. Subtitle B: Congressional Mass Mailings - Sets forth procedural guidelines under which Members of Congress shall receive a statement of costs and related expenses of congressional mass mailings. Requires quarterly publication of such expenses in the Congressional Record. Prohibits Members from sending franked mass mailing which exceed appropriated funds. Prohibits Members or Members-elect from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail: (1) during the calendar year of any primary or general election in which the Member is a candidate for reelection; or (2) in the case of a House Member or Member-elect who is a candidate for any other public office if the mailing is postmarked during the year of the election (currently, fewer than 60 days before the election). Sets forth requirements for reporting and publication of franked mass mailings by Members. Prohibits a congressional office from transferring any of its allocated official mail costs (franking privileges) to the office of a Member who is a candidate for Federal office. Sets forth requirements for reporting and publication of any such transfers between congressional offices. Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973 to eliminate provisions for reimbursement from the contingent fund of the Senate to each Senator for official expenses incurred in the preparation of required official reports, and the acquisition of mailing lists to be used for official purposes, and in the mailing, delivery, or transmitting of matters relating to official business. Title V: Broadcast Discount Rates - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) prohibit a broadcast licensee from denying or preempting use of the broadcast station to a candidate during certain periods preceding a primary or general elections; and (2) require such licensee to certify under penalty of perjury that the charges made for such broadcast station use are at the lowest unit charge for the same amount of time for the same period. Requires the Commission to monitor compliance with these and other specified requirements with timely auditing of licensees' records relating to the use, and requests for use, of broadcast stations by candidates. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Federal Election Commission Enforcement Authority - Amends FECA to revise the enforcement provisions. Changes the determination the Federal Election Commission (FEC) must make upon receiving a compliant, before notifying the person of an alleged violation. Authorizes the FEC to seek an injunction if: (1) it believes that there is a substantial likelihood that a violation of the Federal election laws is occurring or about to occur; (2) the failure to act expeditiously will result in irreparable harm; (3) such expeditious action will not cause undue harm or prejudice to the interests of others; and (4) the public interest would be best served by such an injunction. Reduces the period provided for the FEC to attempt informally to prevent or correct a violation of such Act from 90 to 60 days. Requires the FEC to make such an attempt for a period of no more than 15 days, if the violation occurs during the 45 days prior to an election. Provides greater penalties for knowing and willful violations committed during the 15-day period immediately preceding any election. Requires the FEC, upon an affirmative vote of four of its members, to institute a civil action if it is unable to correct or prevent a violation of such Act. Requires a court in such civil action to grant a specified remedy upon a showing that the person involved has committed or is about to commit a violation of such Act. Provides a private right of action if, by a tie vote, the FEC does not vote to institute a civil action. Requires a court to impose a specified civil penalty for a knowing and willful violation of such Act. Reduces the time which an aggrieved party must wait before seeking judicial redress because the FEC dismissed, or failed to reasonably pursue, a complaint filed by such party. Allows the aggrieved party to file an action in any U.S. district court having jurisdiction. Increases the penalties for violation of the confidentiality requirement with respect to any notification or investigation made under such Act. Removes the ceiling on the fine for any person who willfully and knowingly commits a violation of such Act which involves any contribution or expenditure aggregating $2,000 or more during a calendar year. Requires the FEC to: (1) establish time limitations for investigations; and (2) publish an index for all investigations and update that index quarterly. Revises FEC enforcement procedures for initial determinations and probable cause determinations. Eliminates a requirement for an en banc hearing, under judicial review provisions. Repeals the three-year statute of limitations for violations of FECA. Allows the Federal Election Commission to make information contained in compliance files available to the Attorney General, at the Attorney General's request. Subtitle B: Telephone Voting by Persons with Disabilities - Directs the FEC to: (1) study the feasibility of developing systems to permit persons with disabilities to vote by telephone; and (2) submit such study to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Revises requirements relating to campaign credit to require disclosures of debt settlement and loan security agreements. Includes under the definition of contribution contributions made for drafting or encouraging an individual to become a candidate for Federal office. Treats such contributions as candidate contributions.
Bill· SS. 143 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Reduction of Special Interest Influence - Subtitle A: Elimination of Political Action Committees from Federal Election Activities - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) revise the definition of a "political committee" to delete references to any separate segregated fund and any committee, club, association, or group which receives contributions or makes expenditures annually totaling over $1,000 and to include any national, State, or district committee of a political party, including any subordinate committee thereof, and any committee jointly established by such committees or by any local committee as defined under current law for joint fundraising activities; (2) repeal provisions excluding nonpartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns and the establishment of, and solicitation of contributions for, a separate segregated fund from the definition of a "contribution or expenditure" by a national bank, corporation, or labor organization; and (3) prohibit making, soliciting, or receiving contributions or making expenditures to influence a Federal election by any person other than an individual or a political committee. Specifies that if such prohibition is not in effect: (1) it and the other amendments made by this Act to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 regarding such definitions shall not be in effect and prior law will be reinstated; and (2) political action committees not connected to corporations, labor organizations, or trade associations will be subject to a $1,000 contribution limit. Deems any political committee which is established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any candidate or Federal officeholder to be an authorized committee of such candidate or officeholder for purposes of limitations on contributions to a candidate's committees. Subtitle B: Ban on Soft Money in Federal Elections - Bans the use of soft money (any amount raised or contributed outside of source restrictions, contribution limits, and disclosure requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971) to influence any Federal election. Requires the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to issue regulations providing a method for allocating the contributions and expenditures for any mixed activity between Federal and non-Federal accounts. Sets forth guidelines for such allocation which include the establishment of minimum percentages of Federal funds for activities designed to contact voters in connection with elections for Federal and non-Federal office. Requires each treasurer of a political committee to keep an account of, and file reports disclosing, each account maintained by such committee. Includes political committees among those entities eligible to receive contributions or expenditures by national banks, corporations, or labor organizations. Permits a labor organization, upon reinstatement of prior law regarding certain political activities not considered to be contributions or expenditures, to make political communications and establish and solicit contributions for a separate segregated political fund if it: (1) provides the employees it represents with written notification of specified information at least once annually; (2) provides such employees with an annual examination by an independent certified public accountant of its financial statements which verify its costs for representation services; and (3) maintains certain procedures regarding the cost of such representation. Requires a labor organization which does not follow such requirements to finance those communications expressly advocating the election or defeat of any clearly identified candidate for elective public office as well as the other political activities not considered to be contributions or expenditures with funds legally collected under this Act for its separate segregated fund. Imposes Federal limits on contributions to: (1) political organizations maintained by a candidate for Federal office which are not political committees of a national, State, or local party; and (2) State and local party committees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny tax-exempt status for an organization: (1) which devotes any of its operating budget to voter registration, get-out-the-vote campaigns, or participation in political campaign activities; (2) on whose behalf a candidate or an authorized committee thereof solicits contributions; or (3) which intervenes or participates in any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for Federal office. Subtitle C: Other Activities - Reduces from $1,000 to $500 the maximum contribution allowed to any candidate for Federal office (other than a candidate for President or Vice President) by a person residing outside the State with respect to which such candidate seeks Federal office. Maintains the current $1,000 limitation for contributions to any candidate for President or Vice President or to any candidate for Federal office by a person residing within the State with respect to which such candidate seeks Federal office. Provides for periodic indexing of such limitations according to the consumer price index. Excludes costs of campaign materials and general research activities paid by national committees of a political party from the definition of "expenditure and contribution" under the same conditions currently provided for such payments by State or local committees of a political party. Exempts contributions to political party committees from the $25,000 annual limit. Prohibits: (1) any intermediary or conduit from delivering or arranging to have delivered contributions from more than two persons who are employees of the same employer or members of the same labor organization; and (2) lobbyists from acting as an intermediary or conduit with respect to a contribution to a candidate for Federal office. Sets forth disclosure requirements for independent expenditures through broadcast communications on any radio or television station. Provides that an expenditure is not an independent expenditure where the person making an expenditure is in coordination, consultation, or concert with a candidate. Requires the FEC to provide a hearing within three days after receiving a complaint alleging that an independent expenditure was made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with a candidate. Provides for expedited judicial review for any matter relating to the making of an independent expenditure. Title II: Increase of Competition in Politics - Allows the congressional campaign committee or the senatorial campaign committee of a national political party to make contributions to a candidate for Federal office (other than President or Vice President) who does not hold Federal office which in the aggregate do not exceed the lesser of: (1) $100,000; or (2) the aggregate contributions made during the election cycle preceding the primary election by an individual who, at the time such contributions are made, is a resident of the State in which the election with respect to which such contributions are made is to be held. Prohibits such a contribution from being treated as an expenditure by a national committee, State committee, or subordinate committee, of a State committee in connection with the general election campaign of a candidate for Federal office. Prohibits a holder of Federal office from transferring any amounts received as contributions or other campaign funds to any account maintained for purposes of defraying ordinary and necessary expenses in connection with the duties of such office. Requires a candidate, within 15 days of qualifying for a primary election ballot, to file with the FEC and each other qualifying candidate a declaration stating whether or not such candidate intends to expend for the primary and general election an amount exceeding $250,000 from: (1) personal funds; (2) family funds; and (3) personal loans incurred in connection with the campaign for election. Allows the opponents of such candidate to accept larger contribution amounts from individuals. Requires a candidate who files a declaration of intent not to expend more than $250,000 and who subsequently does exceed such amount, to file an amended declaration within 24 hours after exceeding such amount. Allows a candidate to repay any expenditure or personal loan incurred in connection with the candidate's election to Federal office from contributions made to such candidate or any authorized committee of such candidate. Prohibits: (1) repayment of any interest on the principal of such loan or the amount of such expenditure; and (2) repayment from any such contributions received after the general election to which the expenditure or loan relates. Prohibits franked mass mailings by: (1) Members of Congress during the year in which they are candidates for reelection; (2) Members of, or Members-elect to, the House during the year in which they are candidates for any other public office; or (3) Members of the Senate during the year in which they are candidates for any other public office. Requires Members of Congress using franked mass mailings to register such mailings annually with the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House of Representatives who shall make such mailing available for public inspection along with a description of the persons to whom the mass mailing was mailed. Amends rule XL of the Standing Rules of the Senate to prohibit the use of franked mass mail by a Senator or an individual who is a candidate for nomination for election, or election, to the Senate during the year in which the Senator is a candidate for public office or the individual is a candidate for the Senate. Revises provisions with respect to congressional reapportionment and redistricting so that the number of persons in congressional districts within each State shall be as nearly equal as practicable, as determined under the most recent decennial census. Prohibits congressional districts from being established with the intent and effect of diluting the voting strength of any persons or members of any political party. Requires district boundaries to avoid the division of counties and minimize the division of cities and other political subdivisions. Establishes expedited Federal judicial review procedures of the redistricting process, giving Federal district courts exclusive jurisdiction. Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who uses any facility of, or affects, interstate or foreign commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of a State or political subdivision of: (1) the honest services of a government official or employee; or (2) a fair and impartially conducted election process through the use of fraudulent ballots or voter registration forms or the filing of fraudulent campaign reports to secure the election of an official who, if elected, would have authority over the administration of funds derived from an Act of the Congress totalling $10,000 or more for a year before or after the election or offense. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who deprives or defrauds the inhabitants of the United States of the honest services of a public official. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed upon any official who: (1) uses interstate commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of any State or political subdivision of the right to have government affairs conducted on the basis of complete, true, and accurate information; or (2) in order to carry out or conceal any scheme or artifice to defraud, discriminates, harasses, or takes adverse action against any employee or official of the United States or any State or political subdivision. Authorizes such an adversely affected employee or official to obtain relief through a civil action, providing such person did not participate in the scheme or artifice. Amends mail fraud provisions to prohibit the use of any facility of interstate or foreign commerce in the execution of a scheme or artifice to defraud. Title III: Reduction of Campaign Costs - Sets forth congressional findings regarding discounts for political broadcasts. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) limit the cost to qualified candidates of broadcasting time for pre-election political advertising to the lowest rate charged for any time in the same period; and (2) prohibit any broadcast licensee from preempting the use of any such time purchased by a qualified candidate. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Federal Election Commission Enforcement Authority - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to revise the enforcement provisions. Changes the determination the FEC must make upon receiving a complaint, before notifying the person of an alleged violation. Authorizes the FEC to seek an injunction if: (1) it believes that there is a substantial likelihood that a violation of Federal election laws is occurring or about to occur; (2) the failure to act expeditiously will result in irreparable harm; (3) such expeditious action will not cause undue harm or prejudice to the interests of others; and (4) the public interest would be best served by such an injunction. Reduces the period provided for the FEC to attempt informally to prevent or correct a violation of such Act from 90 to 60 days. Requires the FEC to make such an attempt for a period of no more than 15 days, if the violation occurs within 45 days of an election. Provides greater penalties for knowing and willful violations committed within 15 days of any election. Changes from discretionary to mandatory the requirement that the FEC, upon an affirmative vote of four of its members, institute a civil action if it is unable to correct or prevent a violation of such Act. Requires a court in such civil action to grant a specified remedy upon a showing that the person involved has committed or is about to commit a violation of such Act. Provides a private right of action if, by a tie vote, the FEC does not vote to institute a civil action. Requires a court to impose a specified civil penalty for a knowing and willful violation of such Act. Expedites from 120 days to 60 days the time which an aggrieved party must wait before seeking judicial redress because the FEC dismissed, or failed to reasonably pursue, a complaint filed by such party. Allows the aggrieved party to file an action in any U.S. district court having jurisdiction. Requires that any monetary award under such action be paid to the United States. Provides for a mandatory award of attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party. Increases the penalties for violation of the confidentiality requirement with respect to any notification or investigation made under such Act. Removes the ceiling on the fine for any person who willfully and knowingly commits a violation of such Act which involves any contribution or expenditure aggregating $2,000 or more during a calendar year. Directs the FEC to establish time limitations for its investigation and to publish an index of all of its investigations. Establishes procedures for initial determinations and probable cause determinations by the FEC. Eliminates the en banc hearing requirement for constitutional questions regarding such Act. Subtitle B: Other Provisions - Requires each treasurer of a political committee to file reports disclosing for the reporting period the terms of any settlement agreement or any security or collateral agreement entered into with respect to a loan or other debt as evidenced by a copy of such agreement filed as part of the report. Includes any gift subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money made for the purpose of drafting a clearly identified individual as a candidate for Federal office or encouraging a clearly identified individual to become a candidate for Federal office within the definition of "contribution." Requires such a contribution to be treated, with respect to the individual involved, as a contribution to a candidate, whether or not the individual becomes a candidate for purposes of limitations on contributions and expenditures.
Bill· SS. 128 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Senate Election Campaign Ethics Act of 1991 - Sets forth congressional declarations relating to the necessity for: (1) Senate campaign spending limits; (2) limits on political action committees (PACs); and (3) attributing cooperative expenditures to candidates. Title I: Senate Election Campaign Spending Limits and Benefits - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to provide for spending limits and to establish eligibility requirements for benefits for Senate primary, general, and runoff elections. Requires an individual who files as a candidate for the primary election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a declaration with the Secretary of the Senate indicating that the candidate and his or her authorized committees will comply with such limits. Requires a candidate for the general election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a certification with the Secretary of the Senate that: (1) the candidate and his or her authorized committees comply with the primary and runoff election expenditure limits and the threshold contribution requirement; (2) they will abide by additional spending and contribution limits and other requirements set forth by this Act; (3) at least one other candidate has qualified for the same general election ballot under the law of the State involved; and (4) the candidate intends to make use of the benefits to which an eligible candidate is entitled under FECA, as amended by this Act (i.e. specified broadcast media rates and mailing rates, payments from the Senate Election Campaign Fund, and voter communication vouchers). Limits a candidate's or a candidate's authorized committees' expenditures for the primary election and any runoff election to, respectively: (1) the lesser of 67 percent of the general election expenditure limits or $2,750,000; and (2) 20 percent of such limit. Sets forth a threshold contribution requirement for general election candidates according to specified criteria. Disallows, for purposes of satisfying such requirement, contributions by: (1) an individual, if it is not pursuant to a written instrument identifying such individual as the contributor; (2) an intermediary or conduit; or (3) an individual during the applicable period to the extent such contributions exceed $250; and (4) an individual residing outside the candidate's State which contributions exceed 50 percent of the aggregate allowable contributions received by the candidate during the applicable period. Provides for increasing threshold amounts under this Act in accordance with increases in the price index. Increases such primary and runoff election spending limits by the aggregate amount of independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 made against, or on behalf of any opponent of, such candidate during the applicable period. Limits personal expenditures during an election cycle to $250,000 and aggregate expenditures for a general election to the lesser of: (1) $5,550,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $950,000; or (b) $400,000 plus 30 cents for each voter up to 4,000,000 and 25 cents for each voter above that number. Establishes spending limitations for a candidate in a State with no more than one transmitter for a commercial VHF television station. Allows a candidate or Federal officeholder to establish a fund with amounts subject to the requirements of this Act up to a certain amount to defray the costs of legal and accounting services provided to ensure compliance with this Act or in connection with the activities as a Federal officeholder other than costs for the purpose of influencing the election of such candidate to Federal office. Permits the candidate to petition the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for a waiver of such limitation if such costs exceed the limitation. Requires, upon termination of the fund, that remaining amounts be transferred to: (1) another fund to be used for such purposes during the next general election; (2) an authorized committee of the candidate as contributions allocable to the next such election; or (3) the Senate Election Campaign Fund. Exempts any expenditure by the candidate or the candidate's authorized committees for Federal, State, or local taxes on earnings allocable to contributions from the general expenditure limit. Establishes formulae for determining entitlements of candidates of a major party and for those not of a major party. Entitles candidates to certain broadcast media rates and mailing rates and to voter communication vouchers to purchase broadcast time during the general election period. Provides for additional payments and suspension of spending limits in cases where non-participating candidates exceed spending limitations. Permits candidates to use such payments to defray expenditures in the general election. Prohibits the use of such payments to: (1) make any payments directly or indirectly to the candidate or the candidate's immediate family, except to repay any loan used to further the general election of such candidate; (2) make any expenditure other than expenditures to further the general election; (3) make any expenditures in violation of State or Federal law; or (4) repay any loan except to the extent the proceeds of such loan were used to further the general election. Requires the FEC to certify the eligibility of candidates to the Secretary of the Treasury in order for such candidates to receive benefits. Establishes in the Treasury the Senate Election Campaign Fund for the deposit of funds for payments to eligible candidates and for voter communication vouchers. Directs the Secretary to maintain such accounts in the Fund as appropriate. Provides for prorating payments when monies in such Fund are insufficient. Provides for increasing the amount of the eligible candidate's contribution limit under this title by the pro rata reduction in payments. Directs the FEC, after each general election, to audit the campaign expenses of publicly financed candidates. Makes candidates liable for repayment to the Secretary for excess payments and vouchers. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations of this title. Subjects FEC actions under this Act to judicial review by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Authorizes appropriations to the FEC as necessary. Declares that if any of such provisions are held to be invalid all other provisions shall be treated as valid. Bans contributions to Senate candidates by political action committees (PACs). Provides that no contributions may be made to a Senate candidate or such candidate's authorized committees other than contributions made by: (1) individuals; or (2) a political committee of the political party with which the candidate is affiliated. Allows a candidate to receive other PAC contributions after the effective date of this candidate only to make up for the candidate's receiving a lesser amount from PACs on or before such effective date, thereby making equal their total contributions from PACs. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) prohibit the charges made for the use of any broadcasting station by a candidate for Federal office during specified periods from exceeding the lowest unit charge of the station for the same amount of time for the same period and, in the case of any eligible candidate for the Senate, to provide that such reduced rates shall apply to any broadcast during the general election period rather than the 60-day period preceding such election; (2) provide that if the broadcast time of a candidate for Federal office exceeds 30 seconds, the lowest unit cost for such time shall not be greater than the rates for broadcasts of 30 seconds; (3) prohibit any broadcast licensee from preempting, during any such specified period when the lowest rate charged for any time in such a period is in effect, the use of a broadcasting station by such candidate who has purchased such use during such period unless the program during which the candidate's broadcast was to air is unavoidably preempted. Outlines the responsibilities of broadcast licensees in providing broadcast time to eligible candidates pursuant to voter communications vouchers. Provides for reduced postal rates for eligible Senate candidates. Requires communications paid for or authorized by a candidate in a Senate general election who is not an eligible candidate under this Act to contain a specified message indicating that the candidate has not agreed to abide by the spending limits set forth in this Act. Sets forth reporting requirements for Senate candidates relating to spending limitations, candidate eligibility, and independent expenditures. Requires any candidate for the Senate who, during the election cycle, expends more than $250,000 from personal funds, the funds of the candidate's immediate family, and personal loans incurred by the candidate and the candidate's immediate family, to report to the Secretary of the Senate within 24 hours after such expenditures have been made or loans incurred. Requires the FEC to notify eligible candidates of such reports. Provides that when two or more persons make independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 in concert during any general, primary, or runoff election period for the office of Senator, each person shall report to the Secretary of the Senate on such expenditures. Title II: Expenditures and Contributions - Subtitle A: Independent Expenditures - Defines "cooperative expenditure" as any expenditure which is made: (1) with the cooperation of, or in consultation with, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate; or (2) in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate. Specifies the conditions under which an expenditure will be included within such definition. Provides that a cooperative expenditure shall be treated as: (1) an expenditure made by the candidate on whose behalf it was made; and (2) a contribution from the person making the expenditure to the candidate on whose behalf it was made. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require a person who reserves broadcast time the payment for which would constitute an independent expenditure to inform the licensee of the nature of the payment and the names of all candidates for the office to which the proposed broadcast relates and to provide the licensee with a statement that identifies the candidate whom such independent expenditure is intended to affect. Outlines the responsibilities of a broadcast licensee who is informed and who endorses a candidate for Federal office in an editorial. Amends FECA to set forth disclosure requirements for independent expenditures through television and audio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Subtitle B: Expenditures - Part I: Personal Loans; Credit - Provides that if a candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family made any loans to the candidate or to the candidate's authorized committees during any election cycle no contributions after the date of the general election for such election cycle may be used to repay such loans. Provides that no contribution by a candidate or member of the candidate's immediate family may be returned to the candidate or member other than as part of a pro rata distribution of excess contributions to all contributors. Includes within the definition of "contribution" any extension of credit for goods or services relating to advertising if such extension of credit exceeds $1,000 and is for a certain period with respect to a candidate for the Senate. Part II: Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties - Establishes limitations of $20,000 and $15,000, respectively, on individuals and multicandidate committee contributions to State committees of a political party with respect to any calendar year. Provides for increasing the current $25,000 annual limitation on individual contributions by the amount of contributions made by an individual during a calendar year to such a committee. Limits such increase to $5,000. Prohibits a State committee of a political party from making expenditures which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to four cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State for such activities with respect to the general election campaign of a candidate for President who is affiliated with such party. Revises provisions regarding certain payments to State and local committees of a political party to cover the costs incurred with respect to printed slate cards or sample ballots to provide that such provisions shall not apply to the costs incurred by such committees with respect to the mass mailing of such a printed listing. Repeals provisions excluding certain payments to State or local committees of a political party from the definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" to subject such payments to the limitations and reporting requirements of the Federal Campaign Act of 1971. Subjects to Federal limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements any amount solicited, received, or expended directly or indirectly by a national, State, or local committee of a political party with respect to an activity to influence a Federal election (soft money). Specifies the activities during a Federal election period to be treated as influencing a Federal election for purposes of such provisions. Applies the limitations on contributions under FECA to transfers between and among the political committees described in the provisions setting forth such limitations except that a national committee may not solicit or accept contributions not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of that Act. Prohibits such provisions from applying to contributions that are to be: (1) transferred to a State committee for activities which are not for influencing an election for Federal office; or (2) used by the committee primarily to support such activities. Prohibits the national committee of a political party, the congressional campaign committees of a political party, and a State or local committee of a political party from making expenditures during any calendar year for the activities specified under this part with respect to such State which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to 30 cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State. Defines "generic campaign activity" as a campaign activity the preponderant purpose or effect of which is to promote a political party rather than any particular Federal or non-Federal candidate. Subjects fundraising by a candidate for Federal office and by an individual holding Federal office for Federal or non-Federal elections to the limitations, prohibitions, and requirements of the FECA. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising contributions from any person of more than $5,000 on behalf of any tax-exempt organization which they have established or which they maintain or control. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising any contributions on behalf of tax-exempt organizations if a significant portion of the activities of such organization include voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns. Sets forth additional reporting requirements for national, State, district, or local committees of a political party with respect to receipts and disbursements for activities to influence a Federal election (soft money). Requires national committees of a political party and any congressional campaign committee and any subordinate committee of either to report all receipts and disbursements during the reporting period whether or not they are used to influence a Federal election. Requires other types of political committees covered by specified provisions to report all receipts and disbursements in connection with a Federal election. Requires such reports to include the amounts and reasons for specified types of transfers of funds. Requires any political committee to which the specified provisions do not apply to report any receipts or disbursements which are used in connection with a Federal election (as determined by the FEC). Requires identification of the person from whom, or to whom, any such reported receipt or disbursement which exceeds $200 was made. Requires certain exempt expenditures that are in excess of $200 to be reported (applies to payments by State or local committees of a political party for distributing certain printed listings of three or more candidates for any public office, such as sample ballots). Provides, for purposes of the definition of "political committee," that the FEC shall determine the receipt of contributions or the making or obligating to make expenditures on the basis of facts and circumstances, in whatever combination, demonstrating a purpose of influencing any election for Federal office. Includes among such facts and circumstances: (1) representations made by any person soliciting funds about their intended uses; (2) the identification by name of individuals who are candidates for Federal office or of any political party, in general public political advertising; and (3) the proximity to any primary, runoff, or general election of general public political advertising designed or reasonably calculated to influence voter choice in that election. Provides that, in lieu of any report required to be filed under FECA the FEC may allow a State committee of a political party to file a report required under State law if such report contains substantially the same information. Requires any individual who makes contributions in excess of $10,000 to any candidate for Federal office or to any political committee that are subject to the limitations of the FECA to report to the FEC within seven days after making such contributions and thereafter each time such individual makes contributions in excess of $5,000. Requires any candidate for Federal office, any authorized committee of a candidate, or any political committee soliciting contributions subject to such limitation to include with such solicitation notice of such requirement to report and the annual individual limitation on such contributions to them. Subtitle C: Contributions - Prohibits a congressional campaign committee of a political party, during an election cycle, from accepting, from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds, contributions which exceed 30 percent of the total expenditures which such committee may make during that election cycle. Prohibits a national committee of a political party during an election cycle from accepting, from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds, contributions which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to two cents multiplied by the voting age population of the United States. Subjects any expenditure made by a national or State committee of a political party or a congressional campaign committee or their subordinate committees for general public political advertising which clearly identifies a candidate for Federal office by name to the limitations on expenditures by national and State committees of a political party under FECA. Prohibits such provisions from applying to expenditures for mass mailings designed primarily for fundraising purposes which make only incidental references to any one or more Federal candidates. Defines "congressional campaign committee" as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Provides for the accountability of contributions made by intermediaries or conduits. Prohibits excess campaign contributions from being used to defray the expenditures of Senators with respect to ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in connection with their duties as Federal officeholders. Provides that ordinary and necessary expenses for the travel of the spouse or children of a Senator between Washington, D.C., and the State from which the Senator is elected shall be treated as expenses incurred in connection with the Senator's duties as a Federal officeholder. Prohibits a political committee (other than the principal campaign committee of a Federal officeholder) from making any contribution, expenditure, or disbursement or transferring any amount for the purpose of defraying expenses incurred by the Federal officeholder in connection with his or her duties. Provides that any contribution by an individual who is not of voting age and who is a dependent of another individual shall be treated as having been made by such other individual. Subtitle D: Reporting Requirements - Revises reporting requirements under FECA. Title III: Federal Election Commission - Revises provisions regarding the organization of political committees to prohibit a political committee that is not an authorized committee from including the name of any candidate in its name in such a context as to suggest that it is an authorized committee of the candidate or that the use of the candidate's name has been authorized by the candidate. Revises reporting requirements to give a political committee which is the principal campaign committee of a House or Senate candidate the option of filing monthly reports in all calendar years in lieu of the reports currently required to be filed with the FEC, except with respect to the general election reports. Revises provisions relating to the general counsel of the FEC. Repeals the requirement that all FEC decisions with respect to the exercise of its duties and powers under FECA be made by a majority vote of its members. Subjects such decisions to an affirmative vote of four FEC members, except with respect to certain questions including the above mentioned determination in which case the general counsel is required to make a recommendation for action. Requires such action to be taken upon an affirmative vote of three FEC members. Provides that in the event of a vacancy in the office of general counsel, the next highest ranking enforcement official in that office shall serve as acting general counsel with full powers of the general counsel until a successor is appointed. Increases the rate of basic pay of the general counsel to the rate for the FEC staff director. Provides that fees collected by the FEC for copying and certification of records and for the provision of other materials to the public shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, but shall be kept in a separate account and shall be available to the FEC to carry out FECA. Revises enforcement provisions. Changes the determination the FEC must make upon receiving a complaint and before notifying a person of an alleged violation. Grants the FEC the authority to seek an injunction under specified circumstances. Revises provisions regarding penalties prescribed in conciliation agreements and penalties for violations which are adjudicated in court. Authorizes the FEC to conduct random audits and investigations to ensure voluntary compliance with this Act. Sets forth disclosure requirements for expenditures and independent expenditures through television and radio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Declares that no person shall: (1) make a fraudulent misrepresentation that the person is authorized to solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee; or (2) solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee unless the person intends to, and does, pay over to the candidate or political committee any contribution received and informs the candidate or political committee of the name of the contributor. Title IV: Provisions Relating to Congressional Mass Mailings - Prohibits franked mass mailings for a Member whose postage expenses have exhausted appropriated funds. Prohibits congressional franked mass mailings within one year before an election (currently, 60 days before an election). Provides for the reporting and publication of congressional mass mailings. Prohibits the transfer of funds by a Senate or House office to the office of a Member of the Senate or House who is a candidate for Federal office during any fiscal year in which appropriations for official mail costs for the Senate or House are allocated among individual Senate or House offices. Provides for the reporting and publication of official mail cost allocation transfers. Repeals provisions authorizing payment from the Senate contingent funds for postage on franked mail in excess of amounts provided from funds for official mail costs. Defines "mass mailing" as newsletters and similar mailings of more than 100 pieces in which the content of the matter mailed is substantially identical, excluding: (1) mailings made in direct response to communications from persons to whom the matter is mailed; (2) mailings to Federal, State, or local government officials; and (3) news releases to the communications media. Title V: Miscellaneous - Prohibits an incumbent in, or candidate for, Federal office from establishing, maintaining, or controlling a political committee other than an authorized committee of the candidate or a committee of a political party. Requires a contribution of polling data to a candidate for the Senate to be valued at the fair market value of the data on the date the poll was completed, depreciated at a rate not more than one per day from such date to the date on which the contribution was made.
Bill· SS. 7 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Fairness in Politics Act of 1991 - Title I: Ban on Political Action Committees - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to declare that only an individual or a political committee may make contributions or expenditures for the purpose of influencing an election for Federal office. Declares that any political committee established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a candidate or Federal officeholder shall be deemed to be an authorized committee of such individual. Prohibits Federal election activities by any multicandidate political committee (PAC), except a political party national committee when designated by its presidential nominee, or a committee established solely for joint fundraising by several candidates. Limits to an aggregate of $1,000 any contribution to a candidate by a committee otherwise banned by this Act at any time the ban no longer has effect. Title II: Seed Money - Subtitle A: Challengers - States the maximum contributions which may be made by the congressional or senatorial campaign committee of a national political party. Subtitle B: Research - Permits national party congressional or senatorial campaign committees to make certain additional maximum contributions to an opposition research fund for the sole purpose of conducting research into the voting and other public records of the candidate's (incumbent) opponent. Title III: Truth in Incumbency - Provides that certain radio and television expenditures by a State or local committee of a political party made for the purpose of publicizing, before a primary election, the voting or other public record of an incumbent who is not a member of such party will not be considered an expenditure in connection with the general election campaign of a candidate. Title IV: Ban on Rollover of Campaign Funds - Provides that surplus campaign funds received as contributions by a candidate for either House of the Congress may be: (1) transferred to certain tax-exempt organizations; (2) refunded to contributors on a pro rata basis; or (3) paid into the Treasury to reduce the public debt. Requires that the disposition of surplus campaign funds be included on a specified semiannual post-election report. Prohibits a candidate for Federal office from transferring to the Federal office campaign funds raised in connection with a former State or local office campaign. Exempts specified maximum amounts from such proscription. Title V: Broadcast Provisions - Subtitle A: Free Time - Mandates that broadcast licensees make free broadcast time available to Senate candidates during a two-year Senate election cycle. Sets forth procedural guidelines. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to report to the Congress on the effects of such free broadcast time. Subtitle B: Broadcast Discount - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) prohibit a broadcast licensee from denying or preempting use of the broadcast station to a candidate during certain periods preceding a primary or general election; and (2) require such licensee to certify under penalty of perjury that the charges made for such broadcast station use are at the lowest unit charge for the same amount of time for the same period. Title VI: Congressional Mass Mailings - Amends Federal postal law to set forth procedural guidelines under which Members of Congress shall receive a statement of costs and related expenses of congressional mass mailings. Requires quarterly publication of such expenses in the Congressional Record. Prohibits Members from sending franked mass mailings which exceed appropriated funds. Prohibits Members or Members-elect from mailing any mass mailing as franked mail: (1) during the calendar year of any primary or general election in which the Member is a candidate for reelection; or (2) in the case of a House Member or Member-elect who is a candidate for any other public office if the mailing is postmarked during the year (currently, fewer than 60 days before the election). Prohibits a congressional office from transferring any of its allocated official mail costs (franking privileges) to the office of a Member who is a candidate for Federal office. Title VII: Gerrymandering - Amends Federal law to prescribe guidelines for the reapportionment of Representatives and the establishment of congressional districts. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for the severability of this Act if any provision is declared invalid.
Bill· SS. 8 (102nd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that any individual who performed Desert Shield services (and the individual's spouse) shall be entitled to an extension of time for performing certain tax-related acts by reason of service in a combat zone. Allows the payment of interest on any overpayments due such individuals starting April 15. (Generally, interest will be paid only on refunds made more than 45 days after a return is filed.) Applies the time extension granted by this Act to individuals during any period of continuous hospitalization.
Bill· SS. 152 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $2,000 to $4,000 the personal exemption amount and update its inflation adjustment.
Bill· SS. 74 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for the cost of purchasing a child restraint system for use in a motor vehicle.
Bill· SS. 89 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) increase the allowable deduction from 25 percent to 100 percent; and (2) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1991).
Bill· SS. 155 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate intangible drilling costs as preference items in the alternative minimum tax.
Bill· SS. 85 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $2,000, adjusted for inflation, of distributions from an individual retirement plan if: (1) the payee has attained age 59 1/2 on or before the date of distribution; and (2) the distribution is used during the taxable year to pay premiums for a long-term health care insurance policy covering necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or personal care services for the payee or a spouse meeting the same 59 1/2 year age requirement.
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