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Bill· HRH.R. 3497 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
El Salvador Peace, Security, and Justice Act of 1991 - Limits the amount of military assistance for El Salvador for FY 1992. Prohibits the provision of such assistance if the President reports to the appropriate congressional committees that: (1) the Salvadoran Government has rejected or ceased to support an active role for the United Nations Secretary General in mediating a permanent settlement and cease-fire to the armed conflict; (2) the Salvadoran Government has failed to negotiate in good faith to achieve a permanent settlement and cease-fire; (3) the Salvadoran Government has not acted in good faith to carry out the United Nations-brokered agreement of September 25, 1991; (4) the Salvadoran Government has failed to conduct an investigation into, and prosecution of those responsible for, the murders at the University of Central America; or (5) the Salvadoran military and security forces are engaging in violent acts against civilians, or are failing to control such activities by elements subject to their control. Provides for the resumption of such assistance pursuant to a law enacted by the Congress. Withholds 50 percent of military assistance allocated for FY 1992 and of unobligated assistance for prior fiscal years. Releases such assistance only if: (1) the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) has failed to negotiate in good faith for a settlement, or has rejected or ceased to support the Secretary General's role in such settlement; (2) the survival of the Salvadoran Government is being jeopardized by FMLN actions; (3) proof exists that the FMLN is continuing to acquire significant shipments of lethal military assistance from outside El Salvador; or (4) the FMLN is engaging in violent acts against civilians or is failing to control such activities by elements subject to its control. Conditions the provision of military assistance to El Salvador on the prior notification of the appropriate congressional committees. Prohibits U.S. assistance to El Salvador if the elected head of the government is deposed by military coup or decree. Provides for the resumption of such assistance pursuant to a law enacted by the Congress. Establishes the Demobilization and Transition Fund to assist in monitoring a settlement of the conflict and in demobilizing combatants in such conflict and aiding their transition to peaceful pursuits. Makes amounts in the Fund available only if the President notifies the appropriate congressional committees that a permanent settlement of the conflict has been reached. Transfers withheld military assistance to the Fund on the date of such notification or on September 30, 1992, if no notification has occurred. Authorizes the delivery of U.S. military assistance to the Salvadoran armed forces only with the prior approval of the elected president of El Salvador. Directs the Secretary of State, through agreement with the National Endowment for Democracy or other qualified organizations, to continue programs to strengthen democratic, political, and legal institutions in El Salvador. Makes available economic support fund (ESF) assistance for such program. Authorizes the Secretary to cooperate with the United Nations to implement the Human Rights Accord agreed to by the Salvadoran Government and the FMLN and to provide assistance in support of the United Nations Observer Force in El Salvador. Makes ESF assistance available for such purposes. Withholds a specified amount of military assistance for El Salvador until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the Salvadoran Government has pursued all legal avenues to investigate, bring to trial, and obtain verdicts against those responsible for the murders of certain land reformers, peasants, priests, and unionists. Repeals provisions of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991 concerning military assistance for El Salvador.
Bill· HRH.R. 3506 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 13 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
Bill· HRH.R. 3493 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child or certain other relatives at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $150,000 for all taxable years (adjusted for inflation) for each account. Disallows the deduction for contributions to an account maintained for any individual aged 19 or older. Requires any account balance to be distributed after the beneficiary attains age 30. Permits an exclusion from the gross income of the contributor or the beneficiary of account distributions: (1) used to pay educational expenses of the beneficiary; or (2) contributed to the individual retirement plan (IRA) of the contributor. Exempts an account from taxation (except for the tax on unrelated business income of a charitable organization), unless a contributor or the beneficiary engages in specified prohibited transactions in connection with it. Imposes a ten percent surtax on distributions not used for educational purposes. Requires the account trustee to report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary concerning the account. Imposes a penalty for failure to report. Allows taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize deductions to deduct for contributions to an education savings account. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account. Exempts from annual contribution limitations any distributions from education savings accounts into IRA's. Excludes from gross income any distributions from IRA's into education savings accounts.
Bill· HRH.R. 3485 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code regarding estates and trusts to provide rules for the gratuitous transfer of qualified employer securities to an employee stock ownership plan from charitable remainder trusts.
Bill· HRH.R. 3496 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Carryover Basis Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (relating to the gain or loss on disposition of property) to provide for determining the carryover basis for property acquired from a decedent dying after December 31, 1991, and valued at $600,000 or more. Describes carryover basis property as that which is acquired from or passed from a decedent who died after December 31, 1991, and which is not excluded under this Act. Permits the limited recognition of gain when the executor of an estate uses certain appreciated carryover basis property to satisfy the right of a person to receive a pecuniary bequest. Establishes a procedure for the binding determination of the initial basis of carryover basis property. Requires estate executors to: (1) file information returns in connection with carryover basis property; and (2) provide written notice to recipients of such property. Prescribes penalties for failure to report.
Bill· HRH.R. 3488 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize an employee to enter into a new salary reduction agreement with an employer under an annuity plan purchased by a tax-exempt organization or public school due to the impairment or insolvency of the issuer of such plan.
Bill· HRH.R. 3487 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Small Business Jobs and Tax Benefits Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for one year the following expiring provisions: (1) the credit for increasing research activities; (2) the targeted jobs credit; (3) the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance; (4) the authority to issue qualified small issue bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property; and (5) the itemized deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals.
Resolution· SCONRESS.Con.Res. 67 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is inappropriate for the Federal Government to take actions that have the effect of preempting the tax decisions of State governments. Protects the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prohibit Federal payments under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) relating to State Medicaid expenditures that are made from revenues derived from provider-specific taxes. Urges the Secretary to drop the proposed rule implementing his decision.
Bill· HRH.R. 3470 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
High Skills, Competitive Workforce Act of 1991 - Title I: Findings and National Policy - Sets forth findings and purposes of this Act. Makes national policy declarations involving: (1) Federal encouragement of a voluntary system of educational and occupational standards of proficiency to be used in design and evaluation of worker training programs; (2) increased attention and resources to provide adequate educational resources to students of all backgrounds, school-to-work transition programs, and adult education and training; (3) technical assistance and diagnostic services for employers and labor unions to implement changes to high performance forms of work organization; (4) workforce training, education, and other activities emphasizing increasing education, skills, and direct authority and autonomy of front-line workers; (5) the Federal role as a guide and catalyst, providing incentives, establishing broad strategic goals, sponsoring research and pilot projects, disseminating information and knowledge, and simplifying and coordinating existing Federal resources; and (6) the private sector lead role and the involvement of business, labor educational institutions, State and local governments, and community organizations. Sets forth nondiscrimination provisions and prohibitions against State use of funds under this Act to attract existing businesses to relocate from another State. Title II: Standards of Excellence in Education and Training - Establishes a National Board for Professional and Technical Standards (the National Board) for occupational training. Directs the National Board to establish advisory committees for each major industry and for major occupations that involve more than one industry. Requires the National Board: (1) by December 1, 1993, to have identified at least 20 occupational categories and developed recommendations for occupational standards, curricula, and certifications for such occupations; and (2) develop a program to ensure that standards, curricula, and certifications for all remaining identified occupational categories are completed by January 1, 2000. Requires that such developed occupational proficiency standards be applied so that their attainment is likely to meet requirements for transferable credit and enable students to continue their education. Requires that such developed occupational standards, curricula, and certification systems for an industry or occupation be made available for voluntary use by postsecondary education institutions offering professional and technical education labor organizations, trade and technical associations, employers providing formalized training, and other organizations. Authorizes appropriations for the National Board and the industry committees and their development of professional and technical standards for occupational training. Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to make a national declaration of policy with respect to encouraging and promoting research relative to internationally competitive standards in academic achievement. Includes among priority resource and development needs, for which the Office of Education and Research and Improvement (OERI) is to concentrate its resources under GEPA: (1) research to develop a system of academic achievement and proficiency standards in specific subjects at appropriate age/grade levels; (2) research to develop curricula to facilitate academic achievement in specific subjects; and (3) development of multiple assessment tools, such as assessment of student performance, proficiency, projects, and portfolios of work in and across specific subject areas. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants under GEPA for pilot projects to design, develop, and evaluate State or multi-State assessment systems for elementary, middle, and high school students, leading to an assessment system to assist both educators and policymakers to improve instruction and learning. Sets forth requirements for such pilot projects, including wide dissemination of evaluation findings. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add to requirements for student aid program participation agreements that the higher education institution certify that it will release to the public information (confirmed by independent audit) concerning each program it offers, including number of students enrolled, costs to students, characteristics of students participating, student completion rate, and other outcomes, including, where appropriate, job placement rates and employment status of graduates for the two years following program completion. Title III: School-to-Work Transition - Subtitle A: Career Preparation - Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to award grants for career preparation demonstration program (to the extent appropriations are available). Requires such career preparation programs to: (1) involve students in 7th through 10th grades seven through ten who are prospective program participants; through career awareness and counseling programs; (2) give 11th and 12th grade students the opportunity to voluntarily enter into such programs that integrate academic and workplace instruction leading to a high school diploma, community college degree, or occupational certificate of mastery; (3) if the program is for two years, require participants to receive in-school training in a high school, vocational educational institution, Youth Opportunity Center, or alternative State-approved institution; and (4) if the program is for three or four years, require in-school training for the first two years in a high school, vocational educational institution, or Youth Opportunity Center, and for the third or fourth years in a community college, technology college, vocational educational institution, or other State-approved institution. Requires maximum flexibility to be afforded to participants to transfer from career preparation to a conventional academic program or from one field to another. Requires coordination with the Regional Employment and Training Board. Directs the Secretary of Labor to designate a wide variety of occupations for such grants, but prohibit such awards for occupations with existing registered apprenticeships programs. Sets forth requirements for eligible entities, applications, and regional distribution. Requires priority consideration for applications approved by the approriate Regional Employment and Training Board that include specified assurances. Directs the Secretary of Labor, by January 15, 1996, to: (1) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of such career preparation demonstration program; and (2) report, with recommendations, to specified congressional committees. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Director of the National Science Foundation, to make grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for career information materials, including videos and softwares. Requires such materials to be designated to convey to 7th through 12th grade students an awareness and realistic understanding of a wide variety of career options, utilizing advanced educational technologies. Sets forth requirments for eligible entities and applications. Requires the Secretary of Education to provide such developed career information materials to all States and encourage their use in programs in all school districts. Requires career awareness programs to also include work site trips, career days, workshops, and demonstrations. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Community Youth Employment Compacts - Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to award incentive grants to establish collaborative public-private Community Youth Employment Compacts (to the extent appropriations are available). Requires such Compacts to: (1) organize the community's youth labor markets; and (2) provide youth who are attending high school or alternative education programs with job coaching services and access to private sector work experience and jobs upon graduation. Requires promulgation of program guidelines and criteria for equitable distribution of grants. Sets forth requirements for eligible entities, applications, uses of grants, individual participants, and State and local contributions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Youth Opportunity Centers - Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to award grants to States to provide incentives to local communities to establish Youth Opportunity Centers (to the extent appropriations are available). Requires such Centers to provide comprehensive alternative education and school-to-work transition services to high school dropouts under age 21. Requires promulgation of guidelines for such Centers and criteria for equitable distribution of grants. Sets forth requirements for State applications, uses of grants, eligible entities, individual participants, services to participants, contracts for provision of services, and administrative procedures. Allows waivers of certain other Federal program requirements, under specified conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: High Performance Work Organization - Directs the Secretary of Labor to award grants for encouraging adoption and utilization of high performance forms of work organization, to stimulate high productivity and quality (to the extent appropriations are available). Sets forth requirements for eligible entities, use of grants, grant terms and non-Federal share. Requires priority consideration for applications emphasizing small businesses and involving State economic development agencies and employer, trade, or industry associations. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: High Skills Training Consortia - High Skills Training Consortium Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to: (1) make planning grants to companies or trade associations to plan for establishment of high skills training consortia of companies operating within the same industry or utilizing similar technologies; and (2) pay up to 50 percent of start-up grants to such newly established consortia to pay their initial organization costs. Requires priority consideration for consortia which: (1) emphasize training for participation in high performance work organization; (2) include employees and their representatives in design and implementation of training programs; (3) encourage membership of firms that are not technologically advanced; and (4) provide incentives for participation by small businesses. Sets forth requirements for consortia, programs, and shared investment in training. Sets forth provisions relating to application of antitrust laws, antitrust limitation on recovery, and antitrust attorney's fees. Sets forth requirments for high skills training consortia disclosure to the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: State and Regional Employment and Training Systems - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to award start-up grants to States to establish statewide systems to provide coordinated employment and training services. Sets forth requirements for applications and uses of funds. Requires a State to use grant funds for specified activities, and also for establishing regional employment and training boards to coordinate delivery of all employment and training services in regional labor market areas (including services delivered through Youth Opportunity Centers, provision of labor market information, job placement services, job counseling, and skill training). Sets forth requirements for composition of such boards, strategic plans, board review and approval of applications for grants and loans from a High Skills Training Trust Fund, and annual independent evaluation of board activities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of all Federal employment and training programs: (1) including a specified inventory and determination; and (2) report with recommendations to the appropriate congressional committees, by January 1, 1993. Title VII: Private Sector Investment in High Skills Workforce Training - Subtitle A: High Skills Training - Requires each employer who employs 20 or more employees to: (1) assemble information on that employer's qualified education and training expenditures during 1993, by December 31, 1993; and (2) provide such information to the Secretary of Labor, by January 31, 1994. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) publish proposed regulations for comment within 60 days after enactment of this Act; and (2) promulgate final regulations within six months after such enactment. Defines qualified education and training expenditures as amounts paid or incurred for: (1) employee training that meets or is consistent with relevant certification standards established under title II; (2) training provided through an apprenticeship program with specified Federal or State registration; or (3) prior to establishment of title II certification standards, tuition and instructional costs for organized instruction of front-line employees in occupationally-related skills. High Skills Training Assessment Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to employment taxes to establish a new chapter, the Work Force Training Assessment Act (which may be cited as the High Skills Training Assessment Act). Imposes an assessment on each employer for any calendar year in an amount equal to one percent (one-half of one percent in 1994) of the total wages paid to their employees. Makes such assessment inapplicable to any employer with less than 20 employees on a normal business day during the preceding year. Reduces such assessment for employers with training programs, by their average qualified education and training expenditures during the immediately preceding three-year period. Sets forth a transition rule, definitions, special rules, and administrative provisions. Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the trust fund code to establish in the Treasury a High Skills Training Trust Fund. Transfers to such Fund amounts equivalent to taxes received under the high skills training assessment. Requires that amounts in such Fund be available, as provided by appropriation Acts, to carry out programs established under this entire Act. Subtitle B: High Skills Training Trust Fund - Establishes in the Treasury the High Skills Training Trust Fund (the Fund) to be administered by the Secretary of Labor. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to accept and transfer to the Fund amounts equal to: (1) amounts collected under the high skills training assessment; and (2) amounts of income earned from specified investments of funds from the Fund. Authorizes obligation of funds from the Fund to States for training grant and loan programs, in amounts based on the relative size of contributions from employers in the State under the high skills training assessment. Requires States to use such amounts received from the Fund to establish statewide programs to award grants and loans to eligible entities to provide: (1) skill training, literacy and basic skills instruction, and other services to retrain such entities workforce; and (2) training for the implementation of high performance work organizations. Requires the Governor of any State receiving such funds to establish an independent High Skills Training Panel to administer such State grant and loan program. Sets forth provisions for: (1) Panel functions; (2) administration of such grants and loans by existing State agencies; (3) eligible entities; and (4) applications and assurances (including that up to 15 percent of the grant or loan will be used for high performance work organization). Requires that an eligible entity be an employer or group of employers operating within the State, and allows it to also include one or more community colleges, training institutions, industry associations, labor organizations, Private Industry Councils, State economic development, training, or industrial modernization agencies, or High Skills Training Consortia (and also allows small business employers with fewer than 20 employees to apply for such grants or loans, even though they are exempt from the high skills training assessment). Sets forth the required training and instruction activities to be provided to employees by grant or loan recipient. Requires States, in awarding such grants or loans, to give priority consideration to applications for programs that: (1) use world-class occupational standards; (2) serve small businesses or underserved sectors of industry; (3) involve labor organizations or other means of involving the workforce; (4) leverage other public employment and training resources (such as providing job openings for referrals from the Job Training Partnership Act system when training has upgraded existing employees' skills); or (5) show the employers' commitment to develop their own training capacity and invest further resources in on-going training. Limits the amount which may be expended on administrative costs. Subtitle C: Educational Assistance to Employees - Amends the Internal Revenue to make permanent the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance to employees, in order to foster increased worker participation in educational programs. (Provides that employer-provided educational assistance which receives such tax exclusion shall not be deemed qualified education and training expenditures for purposes of reducing the high skills training assessment.)
Bill· HRH.R. 3478 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Working Americans Access to Health Care Act of 1991 - Title I: Increase in Small Employer Access to Affordable Health Insurance - Provides for the development by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) of model standards regarding certain requirements of this Act. Allows more stringent State standards. Preempts State law concerning a small employer health benefit plan that meets portions of those standards relating to initial writing, premium increases, and market reentry. Requires each small employer carrier to offer a MedEquity plan, defined as: (1) providing only basic benefits; (2) being guaranteed issue; (3) meeting initial writing, premium increase, and market reentry standards; and (4) providing for cost containment. Sets forth special rules for health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Requires each MedEquity plan to: (1) accept every small employer that applies; (2) enroll every full time employee that applies and their spouse and dependents. Sets forth special rules for HMOs. Provides for development by NAIC of models for cost containment features in MedEquity plans, including a managed care plan. Requires each State to specify the model that will be applied to MedEquity plans in the State. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) initial writing of policies (including regarding pre-existing conditions, premiums, disclosures of rating practices, actuarial certification, requirements to register with the State, and minimum participation); and (2) renewal (including renewability, premium increases, and market reentry). Provides for development by NAIC of models for reinsurance mechanisms for individuals and small employers. Requires establishment in each State of one or more mechanisms. Allows each State insurance commissioner to require each employer health benefit plan to be registered with that official. Defines "small employer" as having three to 49 employees. Title II: Equalization Tax Benefits for Self-Employed Persons Under Certain Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the percentage of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals which are deductible. Removes provisions ending, on a specified date, such deductibility. Allows the deductions only if the insurance meets MedEquity standards. Title III: Managed Care Rights - Preempts State law relating to reimbursement rates, selective contracting, differential financial incentives, and utilization review methods. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the benefits and cost effectiveness of managed care. Title IV: Study and Report - Mandates a report to the Congress on the impact of this Act on access to health care, the number of employees of small employers without health coverage, small employer health plan costs, and MedEquity plan effectiveness.
Bill· HRH.R. 3481 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for health insurance premiums up to $3,000.
Bill· SS. 1787 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Asset Disposition and Revitalization Credit Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a general business tax credit for property purchased from the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) based upon an applicable percentage of the qualified basis of such property. Allows the determination of such credit for the year in which the property is acquired and the four years thereafter. Limits the aggregate credit amount to $1,000,000,000. Sets forth restrictions on the use of such credit. Limits such credit to property purchased from the RTC after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 1994, or after December 31, 1993, pursuant to a binding contract in effect on such date. Allows such credit against the regular tax and the alternative minimum tax. Excepts such credit from passive loss restrictions.
Bill· SS. 1789 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the armed forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under JTPA in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments. Title VI: Deficit Reduction Requirement - Sets forth the congressional funding that provisions contained in titles I through V of this Act would lead to a reduction in the deficit. Declares that the Congress designates all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases) provided by such titles (for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under specified provisions of the Balance Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires, as a condition for any provisions of this Act to take effect, that the President: (1) make a determination and notify the Congress that this Act would reduce the deficit cumulatively for FY 1991 through 1996; and (2) submits a written designation of all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases provided by titles I through V of this Act (for all fiscal years)) as emergency requirements under such specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Bill· SS. 1786 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Semiconductor Investment Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify the depreciable life for semiconductor manufacturing equipment as three-year property.
Bill· SS. 1791 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Deficit-Neutral Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately preceding 12 weeks is at least five percent); and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the armed forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 50MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish for eligible dislocated workers: (1) a program of readjustment allowances; (2) a program for job training and related services substantially similar to the program under specified provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); and (3) a program for job search and relocation allowances substantially similar to the program under specified JTPA provisions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Labor to carry out such programs, for each of FY 1993 through 1995, in an amount equal to the revenues raised in such fiscal year by the provisions of and amendments made by titles II, III, and IV of this Act which are in excess of the expenditures made in such fiscal year under title I of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under JTPA in FY 1991 and 1992. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress on the feasibility and utility of using a total unemployment rate versus an insured unemployment rate, adjusted to include those claimants who have exhausted their benefits, for purposes of triggering extended benefits and, if appropriate, revising the foregoing measures of unemployment to include seasonal adjustments.
Bill· HRH.R. 3458 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Educational Research, Development, and Dissemination Excellence Act - Title I: General Provisions Regarding Office of Educational Research and Improvement - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement (the Assistant Secretary) to administer the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) in accordance with the policies and priorities established by the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board (the Board, established under title II of this Act). Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to act through OERI in administering the Secretary's functions concerning research, development, demonstration, dissemination, evaluation, and assessment activities. Requires that the Assistant Secretary be appointed for a term of six years from among individuals who have significant experience or expertise in educational research and development. Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to revise certain provisions relating to the purpose, administration, functions, and structure of OERI. Eliminates provisions for the National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement. Directs the Secretary, acting through OERI, to carry out specified policies, in accordance with the policies and priorities established by the Board. Requires that OERI consist of programs and units in accordance with specified current GEPA provisions, as well as those added under this Act. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees data on OERI, including numbers of current personnel, broken down by sex, race, and civil service classification, current vacancies, and projections of future personnel needs. Eliminates a specified exception (for small amounts or urgent situations) to the use of peer review procedures established by OERI in awarding competitive grants or contracts. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for OERI programs and units (both current ones and ones added by this Act). Allocates specified portions of such funds for certain purposes. Title II: National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board - Amends GEPA to establish within OERI a National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board (the Board). Makes the Board, acting through the Assistant Secretary, responsible for: (1) determining priorities for OERI expenditures on education research and development; (2) establishing basic policies for conduct and evaluation of all research, development, and dissemination carried out under auspices of the Department of Education (the Department); (3) making periodic recommendations to the President, the Congress, and the Secretary on administrative and statutory changes both to improve coordination of education research, development, and dissemination carried out by the Federal Government, and to develop a comprehensive and integrated system for dissemination of results of education research and developments; and (4) regularly review and evaluate implementation of its recommended priorities and policies by the Department and the Congress. Directs the Board to develop a research priorities program. Requires the Board to survey and assess the state of knowledge in education research and development to identify disciplines and areas of inquiry where knowledge is insufficient and which warrant further investigation, taking into account the views of both education researchers and practicing educators. Requires the Board to consult with the National Goals Panel and other authorities on education to identify national priorities for the improvement of education. Requires that such research priorities program recommend priorities for investment of OERI resources over the next five-, ten-, and 15-year periods. Requires including as priorities those areas of inquiry in which further research and development: (1) is necessary to attain the identified goals for improvement of education; (2) promises to yield the greatest practical benefits to teachers and other educators in improving education; and (3) will not be undertaken in sufficient scope or intensity by other Federal and non-Fedeal entities engaged in education research and development. Sets forth required contents of such program, including goals for OERI expenditures within recommended priority areas, specific objectives expected to be achieved by such expenditures, and recommendations as to relative distribution of resources within each priority area among the various entities engaged in such education research and development. Requires the Secretary to publish a biennial report, and submit such report and any public comment and suggestions to the President and the Congress, on the Board's proposed research priorities. Directs the Board to establish and maintain an ongoing program to improve coordination of education research, development, and dissemination activities within the Department and the Federal Government generally. Requires specified inventories and reports in connection with such coordination program. Directs the Board to develop (after soliciting and giving due consideration to public comments) policies and procedures for the conduct and evaluation of all OERI research, development, and dissemination activities, to assure that such activities meet the highest standards of professional excellence. Requires such policies to include standardized procedures (including peer review) for evaluation of applications for, and periodic review and evaluation of, all grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements by OERI. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations implementing such policies and procedures within 60 days of their transmittal by the Board. Authorizes the Board to establish subcommittees, convene workshops and conferences, and collect data. Requires equitable representation of education researchers, educators, school administrators, and other practitioners on each subcommittee. Sets forth Board powers and membership qualifications, in general. Requires that the 24 Board voting members be appointed by the President, by and with Senate's advice and consent, with specified numbers representing educational researchers, classroom teachers, State and local school teachers and officials, librarians, parents, nonprofit foundations, and business and industry. Designates specified Federal officials as ex-officio, nonvoting members. Requires that the Board be chaired by the Chair of the National Goals Panel. Sets forth provisions for terms of office and meetings. Title III: District Education Agent Program - Subtitle A: District Education Agent Program - Amends GEPA to direct OERI to establish a District Education Agent Program. Requires such Program, by creating an entity at the congressional district level to meet the National Education Goals, to: (1) speedily provide high quality, useful information and technical assistance to increase participation of parents and business and community leaders in partnership with teachers and education leaders; (2) provide an interactive and responsive delivery system for research, development, and dissemination, to assist school improvement efforts; (3) provide a local level intervention agent to guide application of tested, effective models and techniques for solving education-related problems; (4) identify gaps in Federal information, and launch new initiatives to address specific problems; (5) track past and present Federal grants to the district, to evaluate and improve their effectiveness; (6) channel information, materials, and technical assistance to the Learning Grant Institutions and other Federal research and development entities in the district; (7) use Federal agencies and instruments to disseminate useful information as quickly as possible; and (8) channel responses and feedback of practitioners back to the research and development community. Authorizes OERI to conduct a competitive grants program to establish 50 Learning Grant Institutions (LGIs) within 50 of the poorest congressional districts. Directs OERI to make competitive grants to not more than one LGI for each congressional district. Sets forth types of educational research entities eligible to receive such assistance. Requires LGI applicants to have: (1) developed an advisory board that meets certain requirements; and (2) appointed a district education agent to provide information and other education services in that district. Subtitle B: Bureau of Education and Extension - Amends GEPA to direct OERI to establish, within three months after enactment of this Act, a Bureau of Education Extension (the Bureau) to make grants to LGIs to establish the District Education Agent Program (DEAP). Directs the Bureau, acting within OERI, to: (1) develop and establish a competition for designation of LGIs to implement the Intensified District Education Agent Program (IDEAP) in the 50 poorest congressional districts, and prepare for the long-term establishment of DEAPs in the remaining congressional districts;' (2) provide technical assistance to congressional districts (Research and Development Districts or RDDs) to prepare for the IDEAP competition (allows RDDs to be the entire district or at least 250,000 residents, with the remainder of the district as a control for the educational improvement experiment); (3) respond to the assessed needs of each of the 50 IDEAPs, with access to research information, coordination of interagency services to develop programs for parent and school board member training, curricula, and continuing education for teachers and administrators; (4) develop a system to disseminate exemplary educational models, methods, techniques, and technologies to LGIs; (5) develop and support educational research seminars, training programs, teleconferences, and workshops for RDDs; (6) manage such grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements; (7) supervise, monitor, and evaluate the IDEAP; and (8) collect annual reports from each District Education Agent and deliver these to the Secretary, OERI, and appropriate congressional committees. Provides for a Bureau Director and staff of from ten to 15 full-time equivalent employees. Title IV: America on Line: National Education Dissemination Network - Subtitle A: National Education Research Library - Amends GEPA to establish within OERI a National Education Research Library (the Library), to be maintained as a governmental activity, to: (1) provide a central location within the Federal Government for information about education; (2) provide comprehensive reference services on education-related matters; and (3) promote greater cooperation and resource-sharing among education information providers and repositories in the United States. Requires the Library to establish and maintain a one-stop central information and referral service to respond to inquires from the public concerning: (1) Department of Education (Department) programs and activities; (2) Department and other Federal agency education-related publications; (3) OERI services and resources available to the public, including the ERIC Clearinghouses, the National Research and Development Centers, and the Regional Laboratories; (4) statistics and other information produced by the National Center for Education Statistics; and (5) referrals to additional sources of information and expertise about educational issues. Directs the Library to maintain and publicize a toll-free telephone number for public inquiries. Directs the Library to deliver comprehensive reference services of various types on education-related subjects to Department employees, other Federal employees, and members of the general public, with first priority to Department employees' requests. Directs the Library to promote greater cooperation and resource-sharing among libraries and archives with significant collections in the area of education, through various means. Requires the Library to be administered by an Executive Director appointed by the Secretary from among persons with significant training or experience in library and information science. Transfers to the Library all functions of the Department's: (1) Research Library; (2) Reference Section; (3) Information Branch; and (4) Information Technology Branch (except those relating to automatic data processing and other electronic equipment used for Department internal administrative purposes). Directs the Library, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to promulgate a comprehensive collection development policy to govern its operations, acquisitions, and services to users. Sets forth required components of such policy. Directs the Executive Director, on the basis of such policy, to develop a multiyear plan for elimination of cataloging arrearages and for response to preservation needs. Subtitle B: Education Networks and Telecommunication Division - Amends GEPA to establish within OERI a National Networks and Telecommunications Division (the Division). Requires OERI, acting through the Division, to develop an interactive electronic network to: (1) link all Department entities to share information and resources; (2) be extended to libraries, schools, universities, colleges, and homes; and (3) linked to any electronic online dissemination system operated by the Government Printing Office. Requires OERI, acting through the Division, to establish a demonstration program to provide matching grant or contract dollars on a four-to-one ratio for private nonprofit entities (in conjunction with one or more Regional Education Laboratories, State or local education agencies, and universities) to support developing and extending a user-friendly dissemination network to support school and classroom improvement. Requires that a wide range of technologies be tested, including specified types. Requires priority to be given to demonstrations in high poverty areas. Requires both formative and summative evaluations. Requires biennial reports to the appropriate congressional authorizing committees. Title V: National Institute for Education of At-Risk Students - Amends GEPA to direct OERI to provide grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to establish and operate a National Institute for the Education of At-Risk Students (the Institute). Requires the Institute's Director to appoint Assistant Directors to head each of the following Institute Divisions: (1) Innercity Educational Improvement; (2) Rural Educational Improvement; and (3) Minority Language Educational Improvement. Sets forth the Institute's purposes, and requires it to supplement, not supplant, other Federal activities. Charges it with specific responsibility for developing model programs, and gives examples of such programs. Authorizes the Institute to: (1) carry out various activities to improve learning conditions for at-risk students; and (2) assist Federal, State, and local agencies in developing, implementing, and evaluating policy with respect to the education of at-risk students. Directs the Institute to fund collaborative and coordinated program efforts, program evaluation, and replication of exemplary programs. Requires the Institute to perform specified functions for such purposes. Establishes an educational leadership fellowship program. Authorizes the Institute to award fellowships for outstanding researchers and practitioners with special expertise and experience in the education of rural, bilingual, African-American, and other minorities as well as persons of poverty. Requires such fellowships to be for postdoctoral students as well as those with a distinguished record of work in the field of the education of at-risk students. Sets forth provisions for the Institute's Board and Director. Sets forth administrative provisions. Title VI: National Institute for Innovation in Governance and Management - Amends GEPA to direct OERI to provide grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to establish and operate a National Institute for Innovation in Governance and Management (the Institute), to be administered by a Director and Board. Sets forth functions and duties of such Board, including establishing standards for all proposals it funds. Authorizes the Institute to provide grants to eligible entities for research, planning, development, and implementation of promising models of innovation in school governance and management (including programs for open enrollment, magnet schools, parent selection of schools and programs, financial and other incentives for improved student achievement, regulatory flexibility for school restructuring and innovation, school-based management, expanded teacher role in policy-making and administration, and increased parental involvement in school management and governance, and other innovations to improve school excellence and student achievement). Sets forth requirements for applications, evaluations, and dissemination of results. Directs the Institute to: (1) sponsor national seminars for personnel from regional educational laboratories and research and development centers, to inform them of its recent findings; and (2) make available funding for cooperative research projects by two or more such centers and laboratories. Sets forth provisions for the Institute Board's composition, executive committee, and member qualifications. Sets forth provisions relating to the Director of the Institute. Title VII: National Research and Development Centers, Regional Educational Laboratories, and Public-Private Research and Development Partnerships - Amends GEPA to direct the Secretary, in carrying out the functions of OERI, to support public-private partnerships between OERI and private organizations to conduct authorized education research, development, dissemination, and technical assistance activities. Requires participation of a State or local educational agency and an education research team in each such partnership. Limits the OERI contribution to no more than 50 percent of the total cost of the project. Revises provisions for support of regional educational laboratories and research and development centers (as well as such public-private partnerships) to require: (1) preparation of a mission statement; (2) coordination with the National Education Dissemination Network; and (3) compliance with evaluation procedures established by the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board. Sets certain minimum amount requirements for OERI grants and contracts to such laboratories and centers. Directs OERI to require, where appropriate, recipients of all grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under specified provisions to prepare reports on their procedures, findings, and other relevant information in a form to maximize dissemination and use of such information. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits the Secretary from exceeding specified limits in the amount of Federal assistance in any fiscal year to the New American Schools Development Corporation (a nonprofit private organization incorporated in Virginia).
Bill· HRH.R. 3465 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer who has attained age 45 to compute a maximum one-time exclusion from the sale of a principal residence based on the increase in equity in the new residence. (Current provisions govern the one-time exclusion from sale of a principal residence by an individual who has attained age 55.)
Bill· HRH.R. 3464 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Cancer Screening Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for expenditures (not paid by insurance or otherwise) incurred by the taxpayer for qualified cancer screening tests.
Bill· HRH.R. 3443 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Employee Benefits and Job Security Act of 1991 - Entitles eligible individuals to certain reemployment rights if they leave employment for specified legitimate personal purposes involving family, health, or education. Makes individuals eligible for such reemployment if they: (1) were employed by the employer (from whom reemployment is sought) for at least 2,000 hours of continuous employment during the 14-month period preceding provision of specified notice; (2) left a currently held position with the employer for a period of time for specified legitimate personal purposes; (3) did not accept intervening employment exceeding 17 1/2 hours per week with any employer during the period (unless they applied for reemployment and have been notified that the original or a similar position is not currently available); (4) have provided specified notice and documentation; (5) have applied for reemployment in a specified manner; and (6) were not subject to formal or informal disciplinary action by the employer before delivery of such notices. Requires the employer, with specified exceptions, to: (1) restore an eligible individual to employment in an available similar position at the time of application with any benefits and seniority accrued during prior service with the same employer; or (2) if such a similar position is not available when the individual applies, notify the individual of such situation and any subsequent availability of such a position that occurs within one year after the application date in accordance with specified notification procedures, and restore the individual to employment. Allows the employer and the eligible individual to agree that the individual shall be employed in any available position of lesser status, benefits, or pay until the same or a similar position becomes available. Includes as a period of time for a legitimate family purpose a period: (1) preceding the birth of a child, because of a serious health condition or on the advice of a physician and for purposes directly related to the birth of the child; (2) not exceeding six years, taken by a parent, following the birth of a child, to care and nurture that child; (3) not exceeding six years after placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care; (4) not exceeding two years, and taken because of a serious health conditionof the employee, or because of a serious health condition of an immediate family member, to provide necessary medical and personal care to that family member; or (5) not exceeding one year, for the employee to be enrolled in a qualified educational program. Requires individuals, in order to be eligible for such reemployment, to provide the employer with specified types of notice of leaving and documentation and to demonstrate in the reemployment application that they remain qualified to perform the duties and responsibilities of the original position. Grants a prior right of reemployment to the individual who first makes application for reemployment, in any case in which two or more individuals seek to exercise such rights in conflict, but provides that restoration of an eligible individual to employment shall not otherwise affect the reemployment rights of other individuals wishing to be similarly restored. Sets forth an exemption from reemployment requirements of this Act in the case of certain highly compensated employees under specified conditions involving substantial and grievous economic harm to the employer's operations. Exempts an employer from the requirements of this Act with respect to an eligible individual if circumstances have so changed, between the times of notice and application, as to make reemployment unreasonable. Allows joint waivers, by the employer and employee and absent coercion by either, to: (1) vary the requirements and conditions of such reemployment rights; or (2) substitute another arrangement or employment benefit or package for such rights. Requires that the employee receive a written explanation of rights and remedies under this Act before signing such a waiver. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to prepare and publish a model explanation. Allows an employer to legibly reproduce such model explanation and generally distribute it annually, or post it permanently in a conspicuous place in the workplace, in order to satisfy the requirement of providing it to the employee. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer an additional tax deduction for 50 percent of the qualified employee leave expenses paid or incurred by such employer during the taxable year. Defines such qualified employee leave, and written plan requirements for restoration to employment, in terms similar to those used under this Act. Sets forth provisions for enforcement of this Act by the Secretary and by an eligible individual through informal conferences or civil actions. Allows a court to order payment of lost wages or benefits, and to order payment of attorney's fees to the prevailing party. Declares that specified provisions of this Act do not: (1) grant any rights to seniority, status, benefits, or rates of pay beyond those possessed at the time of notice of leaving; or (2) impose on an employer any obligation to provide training of any type, or to offer reemployment in any position, or at any other location, other than that specifically stated in this Act. Applies the rights, protections, and requirements in this Act to any employee and employing authority of any agency of the Congress or of the House of Representatives.
Bill· HRH.R. 3452 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers the targeted jobs credit for hiring unemployment compensation recipients (if such recipients work for at least six months). Describes such individuals as those who: (1) have received unemployment compensation for a period of not less than 90 days ending during the 180-day period ending on the hiring date; (2) would have received such compensation for such period but for exhausting benefits; or (3) on application, would have been eligible to receive such compensation for such period.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 232 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Waives all points of order against consideration of the conference report on H.R. 2508 (foreign assistance authorization).
Bill· SS. 1775 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1991
Domestic Corporation Taxation Equality Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit, with specified exceptions, the States from imposing tax on corporate taxpayers on a worldwide unitary basis, unless a taxpayer unconditionally elects to be taxed that way. Includes an express prohibition against the unitary method with respect to a domestic corporation whose average U.S. payroll, property, and sales represent less than 20 percent of its total payroll, property, and sales. Permits a State to tax dividends received by domestic corporations from their foreign affiliates only to the extent that the State excludes from the tax base of the U.S. corporation: (1) at least 85 percent of such dividends; or (2) the portion of such dividends that effectively bears no Federal income tax after application of the foreign tax credit.
Bill· SS. 1768 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1991
Working Families College Cost Relief Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to: (1) increase the amount of non-loan Federal student aid available to low- and middle-income students; (2) make additional Federal loans available to middle-income families; and (3) simplify Federal student financial aid application forms and procedures. Revises provisions relating to the amount of Pell Grants. Provides that the amount of such grant shall be the student's cost of attendance minus the expected family contribution. Retains the provision for proportional reduction of a grant for students attending on less than a full-time basis. Prohibits any such grant from being awarded to a student attending on less than a half-time basis. Increases the maximum amount of a Pell Grant to $4,500 for award year 1992-1993 and succeeding award years. Revises provisions relating to the contribution from parents' assets, for purposes of Pell Grant award determinations, to provide for: (1) a deduction of up to $80,000 from any business assets; and (2) exclusion of assets from a small business (one with assets of less than $1,000,000). Revises the Pell Grant program definition of: (1) cost of attendance; (2) determination of employment expense offset; (3) independent student; and (4) unusual medical and dental expenses (exceeding five, rather than 20, percent of the parents' income). Adds definitions of: (1) allowance for social security taxes; and (2) displaced homemaker. Revises provisions relating to Federal payments to reduce student loan interest costs under the Stafford Student Loan Program. Requires a mandatory self-help amount of $500 to be subtracted from the cost of attendance in estimating a student's need under such program. Makes a student or parent eligible to borrow under the Stafford program if the total family income of a student is not more than $75,000. Revises provisions for work-study program grants to refer to need-based employment for purposes of determining whether a student's income from such employment exceeds need by a specified amount so as to no longer warrant continued subsidization under such program. Directs the Secretary of the Education (the Secretary) to annually publish inflation-adjusted updated tables of revised adjusted gross income levels for eligibility for specified simplified needs test provisions for all Federal student assistance programs. Revises provisions for the simplified needs test to make eligible families who have adjusted gross incomes of $30,000 or less (currently, $15,000 or less), who file specified Federal income tax forms or who are not required to file any such forms. Provides for special treatment, which sets the expected family contribution at zero, for: (1) certain low-income dependent students (whose parents adjusted gross income is $15,000 or less); and (2) recipients of assistance under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Includes, as an example of what is to be considered a necessary adjustment within the scope of a student financial aid administrator's discretionary authority, a determination that the cost of attendance, for purposes of need analysis under student assistance programs, should include costs of food and shelter for dependent care when the income for independent students with dependents is less than a specified standard maintenance allowance. Directs the Secretary to develop: (1) a streamlined process for applicants who reapply for financial aid funds in academic years subsequent to their initial year application; and (2) appropriate mechanisms to support such reapplication. Directs the Secretary to determine those data elements that may be updated from the previous academic year's application. Declares that nothing in HEA title IV (Student Assistance) shall be interpreted as limiting the Secretary's authority to reduce the number of data elements required of reapplicants.
Bill· SS. 1769 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income Federal Government payments which are accounted for by a State, political subdivision, or placement agency in determining State foster care payments. Makes such amendment effective as if included in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Waives the statute of limitations for claiming a credit or refund of any overpayment of tax resulting from this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3430 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Authorizes any Indian group that is indigenous and ethnically and culturally identifiable to petition the Secretary of the Interior for recognition as an Indian tribe. Requires a petition to contain: (1) a statement of facts establishing that the petitioner has been identified as Indian or aboriginal and maintained tribal political influence over its members as an autonomous entity throughout history until the present (including the specific territory); (2) evidence that a substantial portion of the membership of the petitioner lives in a community viewed as Indian and distinct from other populations, is a descendant from an Indian group which historically inhabited a specific area, and is composed of persons who are not members of any other Indian tribe; (3) a copy of the present governing document or a statement describing membership criteria and the procedures governing affairs and members; and (4) a list of current and former members who have established descendency from historic Indian groups which combined and functioned as a single autonomous entity. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) send an acknowledgement of receipt to the petitioner; and (2) publish a notice of receipt and a notice of opportunity for other parties to submit arguments in support of, or in opposition to, a petition. Provides the petitioner with an opportunity to respond to such submissions prior to a determination on a petition by the Assistant Secretary. Sets forth review and appeal procedures. Provides for expedited review for petitions submitted by Indian groups whose relationship with the Federal Government was terminated by statute. Establishes a time limit for action by the Interior Department. Makes recognized Indian tribes eligible for Federal services and benefits that are available to other tribes. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a current list of recognized Indian tribes receiving Bureau of Indian Affairs services within 90 days of this Act's enactment and annually thereafter. Directs the: (1) Secretary to make available suggested format guidelines; and (2) Assistant Secretary to advise petitioners, upon request, on their historical background and Indian identity research. Authorizes the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans of the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to enable Indian groups seeking Federal recognition to both conduct and prepare research and documentation necessary to substantiate and submit petitions under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted and for the next 12 succeeding fiscal years.
Bill· HRH.R. 3432 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Pacific Northwest Forest Community Recovery and Ecosystem Conservation Act of 1991 - Title I: Worker Adjustment Assistance Program for Certain Dislocated Workers - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Provides adjustment assistance, including extended unemployment benefits, for certain dislocated timber and related industry workers. Subtitle B: Financing Provisions - Amends title IX of the Social Security Act to establish in the Unemployment Trust Fund a worker adjustment assistance account. Title II: Community Economic Diversification - Establishes in the Treasury a special economic adjustment fund funded by a portion of Federal forest land timber sales to: (1) assist forest-dependent communities in Washington, Oregon and California diversify economically; and (2) retrain workers. Establishes a Community Economic Diversification Commission. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Wood Products Incentives - Subtitle A: Rural Economic Development Magnet Centers - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize grants to establish rural economic development magnet centers. Authorizes FY 1992 appropriations. Subtitle B: Export Financing - Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to establish a wood products export program as part of the working capital guarantee program. Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to include "wood" within the definition of "agricultural commodity" for export assistance purposes under such Act. Subtitle C: Report - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress with respect to the short supply of logs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. Title IV: Reforestation Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish reforestation tax incentives, including: (1) a two percent credit for domestically processed timber; and (2) a five-year class life for timber cutting and saving equipment. Title V: Ecosystem Conservation - Establishes ecosystem natural areas within specified Federal forest lands in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Sets forth related management and protection provisions. Establishes interim watershed study areas on such lands. States that all Pacific Northwest Federal forest lands not within either of such designations shall be managed in accordance with the recommendations of the Interagency Scientific Committee for lands outside habitat conservation areas. Establishes a three-year Forest Ecosystem Advisory Committee to develop specified ecosystem management objectives for the Pacific Northwest. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a Pacific Northwest forest ecosystem research program.
Bill· HRH.R. 3427 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Defense Manufacturing and Critical Technologies Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a program providing for the establishment of cooperative arrangements (partnerships) between the Department of Defense (DOD) and certain entities in order to encourage and provide for R&D of dual-use critical technologies (technologies having both military and nonmilitary commercial applications). Allows such entities (at least two participating jointly with DOD) to include one or more Federal laboratories, institutions of higher education, State governmental agencies, and other appropriate participants, as determined by the Secretary. Requires the joint participants to have a lead institution other than DOD to direct the activities of the partnership. Requires the non-DOD participants to contribute at least 50 percent of the total cost of the partnership activities. Provides for the protection of information disclosed concerning the R&D activities of the participants. Requires the Secretary to evaluate proposals for partnerships on a merit basis using a competitive selection process. Outlines selection criteria. Directs the Secretary, in consultation and coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, to conduct a program to provide assistance for the activities of eligible regional critical technology application centers (centers) in the United States. Outlines provisions concerning eligible centers, program participants, and assistance authorized, including financial and technical assistance for authorized center activities. Limits such assistance period to six years. Requires: (1) the sponsoring agency of a center to pay at least 30 percent of the total costs incurred for center activities; and (2) the eligible firms participating in a center to pay at least 40 percent of such costs. Requires a center to operate under a management plan that requires participating firms to have the primary responsibility for directing the activities of the center and to exercise such responsibility through majority voting membership of such firms on the board of directors of the center. Outlines provisions concerning program administration as well as selection criteria for centers receiving such assistance. Establishes within the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering the Clearinghouse of Foreign Defense Technology Monitoring and Assessment (Clearinghouse) to: (1) maintain within DOD a central library for the compilation and dissemination of information and assessments regarding significant foreign activities in the R&D and applications of defense critical technologies; (2) establish and maintain data bases on such information and assessments; (3) perform certain liaison activities; (4) provide for public availability of such information and assessments; and (5) cooperate with the Department of Commerce in the dissemination of information and assessments regarding defense critical technologies having potential commercial uses. Directs the Secretary to establish a foreign critical technology monitoring and assessment grant program for the awarding of grants to participating organizations for the establishment of foreign critical technology monitoring and assessment offices in Europe, Pacific Ocean border foreign countries, and other countries as considered appropriate by the Secretary. Makes eligible for such grants any nonprofit industrial or professional organization that has economic and scientific interests in R&D and applications of commercial critical technologies. Requires each grantee to collect, evaluate, and disseminate to its organization and to the Departments of Defense and Commerce assessments of significant activities in R&D and applications of critical technologies that are conducted in the geographic area in which the office is located. Provides funding for FY 1992 and 1993 for critical technology programs and activities. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress at least biennially a multiyear strategic road map for each critical technology. Requires each road map to: (1) cover at least four fiscal years; (2) provide an assessment of current strengths and weaknesses in the national capability to develop and apply the technologies covered in the road map, and the sources of such strengths and weaknesses which enhance or hinder the development and application of such technologies; (3) ensure that results of federally-funded and conducted R&D of national critical technologies covered by the road map are appropriately disseminated to U.S. industry; and (4) include a discussion of the achievements of the activities conducted pursuant to the road map. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish one or more national critical technologies advisory committees. Directs the President to establish a schedule for the submission of such road maps at regular intervals between the enactment of this Act and October 1, 1996. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative arrangements (partnerships) with certain entities to encourage and provide for R&D of advanced manufacturing technologies with the potential for having a broad range of applications. Requires each partnership to be composed of participants from two or more eligible firms. Allows the inclusion of one or more Federal laboratories, institutions of higher education, State entities, and other participants as deemed appropriate by the Secretary. Outlines provisions concerning program administration and participant selection criteria. Requires the Secretary to establish three or more partnerships within one year after the enactment of this Act. Provides FY 1992 and 1993 funding for such partnerships. Directs the Secretary to establish a program: (1) to support manufacturing extension programs of States, local governments, and private, non-profit organizations; (2) to promote the development of a broad range of such extension programs, including programs that provide for productivity and quality improvement activities; and (3) to increase the involvement of appropriate segments of the private sector in such programs. Establishes a Council on Manufacturing Extension to: (1) prescribe policies and procedures for the implementation of the program; (2) serve as a means for coordinating such program with related programs conducted by various Federal departments and agencies; and (3) develop a long-range strategic plan for the manufacturing extension activities of the Federal Government. Outlines application procedures for persons wishing to receive financial assistance for participation in the program, as well as criteria for choosing program participants. Limits the amount of financial assistance awarded to 50 percent of the cost of the program for the period in which the assistance is provided. Provides such assistance for at least five years, unless it is terminated earlier for good cause as determined by the Secretary. Allows a program participant to reapply after a terminated period of assistance. Provides FY 1992 and 1993 funding for such program. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Directors of the National Science Foundation (NSC) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to establish a program for making grants to institutions of higher education to support the: (1) enhancement of existing programs in manufacturing engineering education that are conducted by grantee institutions and meet specified requirements; and (2) establishment of new programs in manufacturing engineering education that meet such requirements. Requires at least one-third of the grants to be awarded for the latter purpose. Directs the Secretary to avoid geographical concentration of such awards. Directs the Secretary and the Director of NSC to enter into an agreement for carrying out the grant program. Outlines grant program requirements. Directs the Secretary to solicit from institutions of higher education proposals for grants to be awarded for the support of programs of manufacturing engineering education. Requires applications to be evaluated on a merit basis under competitive procedures. Outlines grantee selection criteria. Limits the Federal contribution of such assistance to 50 percent of the estimated cost of the activities involved. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, to conduct a program to support specified activities of one or more manufacturing managers and experts at the institution of higher education involved. Outlines provisions concerning program administration and applicant selection criteria. Limits the Federal support of such program to 50 percent of the costs of activities to be supported by such assistance. Requires the Secretary to award at least ten such grants within one year after enactment of this Act. Provides FY 1992 and 1993 funding. Allows the Secretary to authorize the Secretaries of the military departments to enter into cooperative agreements and other transactions for advanced research projects. (Currently, only the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is authorized to enter into such agreements or transactions.) Makes permanent (currently expires September 30, 1991) the authority to enter into such agreements. Directs the Secretary to report to the defense committees a plan for collecting and assessing information on the extent to which the defense industrial base of the United States: (1) procures weapons systems, subsystems, and components of such systems from foreign sources; and (2) is dependent upon such foreign sources for such procurement. Directs the Secretary to report to the defense committees a plan for the removal of barriers to the effective integration of the commercial and defense sectors of the U.S. industrial base. Requires the Secretary to designate an official within his Office to develop the plan. Requires annual development and submission to the Congress by the Secretary of a National Defense Manufacturing Technology Plan. Places FY 1992 and 1993 funding limitations on manufacturing technology-related R&D not specifically included in such annual Plan. Directs the Secretary to conduct a program for the development and use of advanced flexible computer integrated manufacturing capabilities in each of the military departments and the U.S. defense industrial base. Requires the continued development of Rapid Acquisition of Manufactured Parts technologies and applications as part of such program. Provides FY 1992 and 1993 funding for such program, with a specified capabilities-duplication prohibition within the military departments. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, to establish a program to award grants on a competitive basis to U.S. institutions of higher education and other nonprofit organizations for the conduct of programs for U.S. scientists, engineers, and managers to learn Japanese language and culture.
Bill· SS. 1752 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Indian Tribal Courts Act of 1991 - Declares that nothing in this Act shall: (1) encroach upon or diminish in any way the inherent sovereign authority of tribal governments to enact and enforce tribal laws or to appoint personnel; or (2) imply that a tribal court is a U.S. instrumentality. Title I: Tribal Judicial Conference; Office of Indian Tribal Courts - Establishes the Tribal Judicial Conference (Conference) composed of the chief judge of each tribal court to: (1) appoint the Director of the Office of Indian Tribal Courts (established by this Act); and (2) provide for the development, enhancement, and recognition of such courts. Authorizes the Conference to establish an executive committee from among its members to monitor daily operations of the Office of Indian Tribal Courts. Establishes the Office of Indian Tribal Courts (Office) within the Conference. Directs the Conference to establish a formula for funding tribal courts and intertribal appellate courts, under specified conditions. Sets forth guidelines for establishing such formula. Requires the Director to distribute funds appropriated under this Act to Indian tribal governments for the sole use of Indian tribal courts and intertribal appellate courts. Directs the Conference to provide grants (including competitive ones) to tribal governments, tribal consortiums, tribal courts, intertribal appellate courts, and national tribal judicial organizations for training, automation, code development, and recordkeeping. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Tribal Justice Institute - Establishes the Tribal Justice Institute (Institute) within the Tribal Judicial Conference to assist it in developing and improving judicial administration in U.S. tribal courts. Exempts the Institute from Federal taxation and makes it eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Prohibits consideration of: (1) the Institute as a department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government; or (2) its officers or employees as U.S. officers or employees (except for certain purposes). Authorizes the Institute to award grants and to enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with tribal, public, private, Federal, or State entities for the improvement of tribal court programs. Prohibits the use of funds from such grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements: (1) for political activities, with specified exceptions; (2) for programs training individuals to advocate particular nonjudicial public policies or encouraging nonjudicial political activities; or (3) to supplant Federal or tribal funds currently supporting a tribal court program or activity. Places restrictions on litigation, judiciary, lobbying, and financial activities of the Institute. Prohibits recipients from identifying the Institute or a recipient of funds from it with any partisan or nonpartisan political activity or with the campaign of any candidate for public or party office. Sets forth administrative procedures for the Institute. Authorizes the President to direct that appropriate support functions of the Federal Government be made available to the Institute to carry out its functions. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3410 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Health Access and Affordability Today Act of 1991 - Title I: Improvements in Access to Health Care - Subtitle A: Improvements in Medicaid Eligibility - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to mandate Medicaid eligibility for eligible persons with incomes below 133 percent of a State-adjusted poverty level. Allows each State Medicaid plan to elect to make eligible for medical assistance: (1) students in schools at which at least 70 percent of the students are eligible for assistance under specified programs; and (2) a younger sibling of the students being made eligible by these provisions. Mandates availability under these provisions of assistance for medical services required to terminate a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. Adjusts payments to States. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate references to the health insurance credit in provisions relating to: (1) the earned income credit; and (2) deductions for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Subtitle B: Improvements in Access to Providers Under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on any health care provider (payable by a hospital, nursing facility, or individual provider) who discriminates against or denies treatment to any individual covered under title XIX (Medicaid) or parts A (Hospital Insurance) or B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Sets forth circumstances in which a hospital or nursing facility shall be treated as discriminating. Applies certain deficiency procedures to these provisions. Sets forth requirements regarding minimum Medicaid payment rates. Subtitle C: Improving Access of All Workers to Employer Health Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the providing of a group health plan unless: (1) all employees are eligible to participate in the plan (or another group plan of the employer meeting these requirements); and (2) the employer-provided benefit received by all employees is either the same dollar amount or the same percentage of the value of the coverage provided to each employee under the plan. Provides for part-time employees, small employers, and plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements. Subtitle D: Improved Provision of Services through Community Health Centers - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to add physicians coming to the United States to provide full-time medical services in a medically underserved area to the list of nonimmigrant aliens excluded from the definition of "immigrant." Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) health professions schools should require clinical experience in outpatient facilities that are principal sources of primary health services for medically underserved populations and offer courses that prepare students to practice at such facilities; (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services should issue, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget should cooperate in the issuance of, specified regulations regarding assignment of members of the National Health Service Corps; and (3) the Secretary should ensure the equitable allocation of assignments among urban and rural areas. Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a grant for the establishment of a nationwide risk retention group to provide professional liability insurance and other approved types of profitable insurance to the migrant and community health centers. Requires all centers receiving funds under specified provisions and centers and clinics under certain other provisions to become members in the group. Makes all professional staff members of such centers eligible to obtain the insurance offered by the group. Authorizes appropriations for the grant and for capitalization of the group. Subtitle E: Continuation of Access through College and University Health Plans - Prohibits any State or the District of Columbia from establishing or enforcing any law or regulation that prevents a college or university health plan from offering students enrolled in the plan continuation coverage after graduation. Title II: Improvements in Affordability of Health Care - Preempts State laws and regulations dealing with: (1) health insurance under a health benefit plan; or (2) managed care. Mandates adoption of a specified standard (known as the X12 Standard) for electronic data interchange of health care related transactions as a standard under: (1) titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; (2) the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); and (3) veterans health programs and the Federal employees health benefit program under specified provisions of Federal law. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow deduction of the full amount (currently, 25 percent of the amount) of health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Removes provisions ending the deduction on a specified date. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to waive programmatic restrictions in title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act that hinder implementation of managed care plans under Medicare. Mandates a study of fraud in the health care industry and its impact on health care costs. Establishes the National Advisory Council on Access to Health Care. Requires data collection on: (1) rates and patterns of use of health services, collected through data on hospital discharges, including medical records and hospital bills; and (2) State efforts in health care reform. Authorizes the provision of funds to selected States to demonstrate innovative approaches of using existing data systems to evaluate State-based health care reform efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Medicaid Financial Incentive for State Comprehensive Reform Package to Improve Access to Health Care and Reduce Costs of Health Care - Deems the Federal medical assistance percentage, if a State complies with this title, to be 100 percent of the expenditures attributable to: (1) individuals eligible for assistance only because of this title; or (2) the amount by which payments for medical assistance are increased by specified provisions relating to minimum Medicaid payment rates. Requires a State to enact a small employer health insurance market reform program including: (1) guaranteed access by each small employer group to private health insurance coverage, with a reinsurance mechanism mandated; (2) coverage of whole groups, with neither the employer nor the insurer able to exclude a high risk individual; (3) renewability of coverage; (4) continuity of coverage when an employee changes jobs or when an employer changes carriers; (5) rate and rate change limits; and (6) disclosure of rating practices and annual rating certification. Requires a State to enact laws requiring juveniles riding motorcycles to wear helmets, front seat passengers to wear a safety belt, and children under the age of four to be in a child restraint system. Requires a State to establish an alternative dispute resolution system for health care negligence and provide for malpractice liability reforms at least as stringent as specified requirements regarding future damages, collateral payment, noneconomic losses, attorney's fees, and statutes of limitations. Requires a State to establish one or more managed care plans for the provision of Medicaid services. Authorizes waiver of Medicaid programmatic restrictions that hinder implementation of managed care plans. Requires that there be in operation in a State a qualified pooling association, defined as an organization which: (1) is a nonprofit corporation; (2) permits health insurers, hospital and medical service plan corporations, health maintenance organizations, and employers and other health financing entities to be members; (3) makes specified levels of health insurance available, without regard to health, to all State residents not eligible for benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; (4) charges a pool premium rate; and (5) assesses pool losses equitably among members. Specifies the levels of insurance covered. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to exclude such pools from provisions preempting State law.
Bill· HRH.R. 3413 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Title I: Authority to Impose Export Tax on Unprocessed Timber - Allows a State to impose a tax of up to ten percent on the export value of unprocessed timber which is harvested from private lands in that State and is exported into foreign commerce from that State or any other State. Provides that such tax may be imposed at the time the timber is exported. Requires the deposit of such tax revenues in the U.S. Treasury. Establishes the Timber Trust Fund consisting of 75 percent of revenues generated by the State tax and investment proceeds. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, at the end of each fiscal year, to make amounts in such Trust Fund available to a State in the same proportion to the revenues deposited by such State. Allows a State to use such amounts only for: (1) economic development in timber dependent communities; (2) retraining of workers who have lost jobs in timber harvesting or in primary or secondary wood products industries; (3) developing secondary wood products industries; (4) developing markets for finished wood products; (5) providing funds to counties that are adversely affected by the loss of revenues from timber harvested from State lands that has resulted from export restrictions imposed on such timber; and (6) reforestation and intensive management of private, non-industrial, forest lands. Requires a State to submit a plan on the programs for which the funds will be used, including a definition of "export value" applied in imposing the export tax. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to require each exporter of unprocessed timber, at the time of exportation, to verify that all State taxes on such timber have been paid. Title II: Credit for Domestically Processed Timber - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business tax credit for two percent of qualified timber receipts for domestically processed timber. Provides that if the taxpayer processed qualified timber within the United States before the first sale of such timber, then such processing shall be treated as a sale.
Bill· HRH.R. 3417 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Provides, in applying certain Treasury regulations for taxable years after December 31, 1991, for determining the value of a flight by an individual who is not flying primarily for an employer's business on the basis of the percentage of seats occupied by individuals (other than crew) whose flights are primarily for the employer's business rather than the percentage of seating capacity.
Bill· SS. 1749 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Apprenticeship Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the National Apprenticeship Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to establish and maintain a national information collection system for apprenticeships and apprenticeship programs. Requires the Secretary to assure that, from the amounts appropriated to carry out such Act in each fiscal year, at least one percent shall be available to establish outreach recruitment activities to increase the participation of women and minorities, handicapped individuals, displaced workers, and disadvantaged individuals in the apprenticeship programs. Establishes the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (the Bureau) in the Department of Labor, under the direction of the Administrator of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. Transfers to the Bureau all functions of the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Administration with respect to the promotion of labor standards of apprenticeship, including research, information, and publications. Transfers to the Bureau all functions related to apprenticeship, including appropriate administrative and program support services, together with necessary personnel and related funds. Authorizes the Secretary to appoint necessary employees for the administration of this Act. Directs the Secretary to increase the force within the Bureau to a specified number of full-time employees by January 1, 1990. Limits the authority to conduct reductions in force within the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within six months on whether the apprenticeship program complies with regulations governing equal opportunity.
Bill· SS. 1748 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Investment Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow regulated investment companies (RICs) to distribute to shareholders: (1) taxable-interest dividends to be treated by shareholders as interest; (2) qualifying-interest dividends which are exempt from withholding taxes imposed on nonresident aliens and foreign corporations; and (3) short-term capital gains dividends to be treated by shareholders as includable in gross income (and by foreign shareholders as short-term capital gains). Requires notices of such dividends to be mailed to shareholders not later than 60 days after the close of a RIC's taxable year. Permits the establishment of international regulated investment companies (IRICs) which are domestic corporations which: (1) are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940; (2) hold only permitted assets; (3) permit their stock to be owned only by qualified foreign persons; and (4) elect to be treated as IRICs. Describes permitted assets as: (1) stock of a single registered investment company or a single regulated investment company; (2) deposits and debt securities with financial institutions with maturities of not more than 30 days that are reasonable necessary for the company to conduct its normal business affairs; and (3) certain other assets which are incidental to the conduct of normal affairs. Allows the Secretary of the Treasury to treat as an IRIC a domestic corporation that substantially, but not completely, satisfies the criteria for such status, if such failure to satisfy the criteria is or was de minimis, inadvertent, or beyond the control of the corporation. Provides for taxing an IRIC at the rate of tax on nonresident aliens (30 percent). Provides for taxing an IRIC at half such rate if the IRIC elects to market its shares only to residents of countries with which the United States has a tax treaty.
Bill· HRH.R. 3393 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Children and Pregnant Women Health Insurance Act of 1991 - Title I: Requiring Employers To Provide Health Insurance Coverage For Pregnant Women And Children - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) add a new title XXI under which employers are required to either enroll their employees and family members in a qualified employer health plan or provide information to the State in which such individuals reside for enrollment instead in the new universal State health insurance plan (the State plan) created below. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) impose a premium tax on employers who fail to enroll their employees and family members in a qualified employer health plan and on such employers' employees, with employers paying as their portion of such tax 3.2 percent of each individual employee's wages and employees paying as their portion one percent of their wages for coverage provided under the State plan; (2) impose an excise tax (set at $100 per day) on those employers who fail to provide to the applicable State the information for enrollment under the State plan; and (3) set forth special rules and exceptions applicable in the imposition of such premium and excise taxes. Sets forth, under new title XXI of the Social Security Act, the rules for the enrollment of full- and part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees, including rules applicable in cases of families with more than one worker and where both employers offer enrollment under a qualified employer health plan. Phases in implementation of enrollment requirements and tax payments beginning on January 1, 1993 for employers with more than 100 employees. Requires that as of January 1, 1996 all employers must provide coverage or pay the premium tax for coverage under the State plan. Allows the qualified employer health plan under which the employer must provide coverage to be either a private health plan or a self-insured plan, dependent upon the employer's size. Outlines requirements for qualified employer health plan premiums and cost-sharing, including limitations on the amount that may be charged for premiums. Sets forth in the next two paragraphs below the requirements for which the Secretary must develop standards to certify a health plan as a qualified employer health plan. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish procedures for the periodic review and recertification of plans as qualified employer health plans; and (2) terminate the certification of any such plan that no longer meets such requirements. Requires employers to provide their employees and family members with a health benefit package that at least mirrors the services mandated under the State plan. Outlines plan requirements respecting: (1) treatment of employee families; (2) period of coverage; (3) health plan cards; (4) limits on pre-existing condition exclusions and coverage standards for required health services; (5) limits on cost-sharing; (6) payment rates; (7) coordination and portability of health insurance coverage; (8) notification of premium subsidies for low-income individuals and other disclosures for consumers; (9) expense accounting; (10) grievance procedures; (11) certain physician incentive plans; (12) enrollee financial protection; and (13) use of uniform claims forms. Prohibits certain State benefit and coverage rules under a qualified employer health plan. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title. Makes the provisions of this title inapplicable to an employee who is not a resident of one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Title II: Provision of Health Insurance For Pregnant Women And Children Through State Children And Pregnant Women Health Plans - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXII under which each State is required to establish and maintain a health insurance plan (the State plan) under which pregnant women and children and other individuals lawfully residing in the State who have not already been enrolled as a result of their connection to the work force or are not already covered under a qualified employer or Federal health plan are eligible to enroll for the health and other services outlined below. Requires each State to also establish and maintain a program under which low-income individuals enrolled in any of the health plans mentioned above will be eligible to apply for assistance to limit or eliminate their financial obligations for premiums, deductibles, and co-payments, depending upon the type of plan in which such individuals are enrolled. Provides that if a State fails to establish and maintain the plan mandated above under new title XXII, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish and maintain one for it and the State shall be liable to the Secretary for a specified portion of the amount the Secretary determines the State would have been required to expend to establish and maintain such a health insurance plan. Sets forth provisions detailing the application process for enrollment under the State plan. Requires the State plan to provide for a coverage period that mirrors the coverage period specified for qualified employer health plans. Requires individuals who are eligible to enroll in the State plan but have not applied for enrollment by January 1, 1996 to be automatically enrolled on a retroactive basis and subjected to a penalty of twice any premiums otherwise due. Requires the State plan to provide for payments for the following services: (1) specified preventive care services, including routine immunizations and prenatal care, for children and pregnant women, furnished in accordance with applicable periodicity schedules to be established by the Secretary and without application of deductibles or co-payments; (2) specified major medical services, subject to such deductibles and co-payments as the State may impose in accordance with specified limitations; (3) specified extended medical services, including mental health services, provided only in accordance with a plan of care and subject to such deductibles and co-payments as the State may impose in accordance with specified limitations; (4) outreach services to link low-income enrolled individuals with such required health services without application of deductibles or copayments; and (5) at the option of the State, social services without application of deductibles or co-payments. Directs the Secretary to establish standards with respect to such required health services for application under new titles XXI and XXII of the Social Security Act. Prohibits a State from imposing any limitation on the amount, duration, or scope for such required health services. Allows individuals covered under the State plan to choose any qualified plan provider or practitioner to obtain such required health services. Incorporates the use of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payment rates for reimbursing providers for required health services and requires the Secretary to adjust such rates to take into account differences in the Medicare population and the population receiving benefits under State or qualified employer plans. Provides that in the case of required health services for which payment may not be made under Medicare, the Secretary shall establish payment rules similar to those used under Medicare for application under State plans. Requires each State to establish adequate payment rates with respect to outreach and social services. Sets the maximum annual deductible and co-payment amount for major medical services and extended medical services. Sets an overall annual limit on cost-sharing for such medical services. Applies new title XXI qualified employer health plan requirements relating to the treatment of family members, coverage period, health plan cards, and coordination and portability of health care coverage to State plans in the same manner as they apply to qualified employer plans. Sets forth provisions for: (1) determining the amount of premiums to be charged individuals not connected to the work force and individuals who are employed on a part-time, seasonal, or temporary basis; and (2) collecting current and delinquent premium payments. Creates in the Treasury the Federal Children and Pregnant Women Health Insurance Trust Fund (the Fund) to receive the funds generated from the premium and excise taxes imposed above as well as from other specified revenues dedicated to the support of the State plan. Outlines provisions regarding Fund transfer payments in the case of multiple employers. Requires each State plan to provide for submission of claims based on uniform forms developed by the Secretary. Requires that payments from the Fund to reimburse States for health and other service and administrative expenditures be made in accordance with rules similar to those used for reimbursement under Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act). Details the assistance mentioned above to be provided to low-income individuals and the application process to obtain such assistance. Sets forth administrative provisions applicable to the State plan, including provisions authorizing States, subject to the approval of the Secretary, to conduct demonstration projects to: (1) improve the delivery and quality of health care services under new title XXII; and (2) increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the methods for paying for such services. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title. Makes the provisions of this title inapplicable to an individual who is not a resident of one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Amends the Medicaid program to provide for coordination between State plans and Medicaid plans. Title III: Health Insurance Reform For Small Employers - Amends the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code to, respectively: (1) add a new title XXIII under which health insurance plans provided by small employers (small employer plans) must be ascertained as meeting the standards established below in order to be issued, avoid loss of their qualified status under new title XXI, and escape disqualification from State plan administration under new title XXII; and (2) impose an excise tax (set at 50 percent of all gross health plan premiums received during the taxable year) on the issuer of a small employer plan which fails to meet such standard, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to: (1) develop specific standards to implement the requirements set forth in the next paragraph below which small employer plans must be certified by the Secretary as meeting if the State has not established a regulatory program for applying such standards to such plans (program); and (2) report to the Secretary on such development. Provides that if NAIC fails to develop and report on such standards or the Secretary finds that such standards do not implement such requirements, the Secretary must develop such standards. Specifies additional program elements. Subjects programs to periodic review by the Secretary for determining their compliance with such elements and in applying such NAIC standards. Requires periodic program audits by the General Accounting Office. Requires any carrier which offers a small employer plan to register with the applicable State regulatory authority. Requires that such carriers offer the same plans to all small employers within their individual service areas. Details separate requirements with respect to the treatment of health maintenance organizations. Prohibits a carrier from offering to, or issuing with respect to, a small employer a small employer plan with a term of less than 12 months. Requires that small employer plans be guaranteed renewable, with specified exceptions. Details notice and other requirements applicable to renewals, including the requirement that the period of renewal for each small employer plan shall be for a period of not less than 12 months. Declares that no small employer plans may discriminate on the basis of health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability of an individual. Requires that the premiums for all small employer plans of the same entity be: (1) established based on a single cohesive rating system which is applied consistently for all employer groups and is designed not to treat groups differently based on health or risk status; and (2) actuarially certified each year. Requires small employer plan premiums within a block of business to be community-rated for a given geographical area. Sets limits on premium reference rate variation among blocks of business, with specified exceptions. Allows a small employer plan carrier, for purposes of establishing premiums for small employer plans with similar coverage, to establish blocks of business only on the basis of specified criteria. States that no small employer plan may be issued unless it: (1) provides for a minimum benefit package that mirrors the health services required under new title XXII; (2) prohibits cost-sharing with respect to such benefits in excess of allowable limits; and (3) includes such additional items and services as the carrier can demonstrate will facilitate appropriate hospital discharges or avoid unnecessary hospitalization. Sets forth miscellaneous disclosure and recordkeeping requirements for small employer health plans. Makes this title inapplicable outside the 50 States or the District of Columbia. Sets forth the definitions of terms used in this title.
Bill· HRH.R. 3400 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) ten weeks during a five-percent period (triggered if the adjusted rate of insured unemployment for such week and the immediately perceding 12 weeks is at least five percent; and (2) six weeks for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 1, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after June 30, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the extended unemployment compensation account of sums necessary to pay emergency unemployment compensation payable: (1) under specified provisions for former members of the Armed Forces; and (2) on the basis of certain services performed for nonprofit organizations or governmental entities, to which certain Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to State unemployment compensation law apply. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the individual eligibility period under this Act. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes for such payment, if the reservist served on active duty in the Persian Gulf area of operations in connection with Operation Desert Storm. Title II: Collection of Nontax Debts - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to provide for permanent extension of provisions relating to collection of nontax debts owed to Federal agencies. Title III: Guaranteed Student Loans - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise provisions relating to the Stafford student loan program (including guaranteed student loans and federally-insured student loans). Requires, in the case of such student loan applicants over age 21, that the lender: (1) obtain a credit report; and (2) require a cosigner for such applicants who have adverse credit histories. Allows the lender to charge such applicants for the actual cost of such credit reports, up to $25. Requires the lender to obtain the borrower's driver's license number, if any, at the time of application for such a student loan. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers of any student loan under HEA to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their expected permanent address after leaving the institution; (2) the name and address of their expected employer; and (3) the name and address of their next of kin. Requires student loan interest-subsidy insurance program agreements to require the lender to obtain the borrower's authorization for entry of judgment against the borrower in the event of default. Provides for wage garnishment for student loan collection. Authorizes a guaranty agency, or the Secretary where appropriate, to garnish the disposable pay of an individual to collect the amount owed or the required repayment, subject to certain conditions. Provides for data matching. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to obtain from Federal agencies specified information relating to an individual for student loan collection purposes. Title IV: Electromagnetic Spectrum Function - Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct biannual joint electromagnetic spectrum planning meetings with respect to: (1) future spectrum needs and the allocation actions to accommodate those needs; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Requires an open process and joint annual reports to the President. Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the President that identify frequency bands that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future Government needs; (3) can be made available for use under the Act for non-Government users; (4) are likely to have significant value for such users; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment or sharing, such frequency bands. Requires such reports to make an initial identification of 30MHz of spectrum for immediate reallocation and distribution by the FCC pursuant to competitive bidding procedures, and preliminary and final identifications of additional reallocable frequency bands. Directs the Secretary to convene a private sector advisory committee to: (1) review frequency bands identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to those bands which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of allocating the spectrum between Government and non-Government users. Directs the President to: (1) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the initial identification report for rellocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency recommended in the final report for reallocation or mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) publish in the Federal Register a notice and description of such actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interests of national security, important Government needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Provides that any Government licensee, or non-Government entity operating on behalf of a Government licensee, that is displaced from a frequency pursuant to this Act may be reimbursed not more than the incremental costs it incurs, in such amounts as provided in advance in appropriation Acts, that are directly attributable to the loss of the use of the frequency pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations to affected licensee agencies to cover such costs. Directs the FCC to form a plan to assign the spectrum identified in the initial report pursuant to competitive bidding procedures during FY 1994 through 1996. Directs the FCC to submit to the President a plan for the distribution of the remaining reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reallocated frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Amends the Act to require the FCC to use competitive bidding for awarding all initial licenses and new construction permits, subject to specified exclusions. Outlines criteria for awarding licenses and permits under competitive bidding procedures. Prohibits licensing by lottery when competitive bidding is required. Title V: Dislocated Workers - Directs the Secretary of Labor to give special consideration to providing services to dislocated workers in the timber industry in the State of Washington, in determining specified programs and activities to be funded under the Job Training Partnership Act in FY 1991 and 1992. Title VI: Deficit Reduction Requirement - Set forth the congressional finding that provisions contained in titles I through V of this Act would lead to a reduction in the deficit. Declares that the Congress designates all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases) provided by such titles (for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires, as a condition for any provisions of this Act to take effect, that the President: (1) make a determination and notify the Congress that this Act would reduce the deficit cumulatively for FY 1991 through 1996; and (2) submits a written designation of all direct spending amounts (both increases and decreases provided by titles I through V of this Act for all fiscal years) as emergency requirements under such specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
Bill· HRH.R. 3399 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Drug Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 1991 - Adds a new title XXI to the Social Security Act: Addiction Treatment Services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make no fewer than ten five-year grants to organizations for establishing and operating a comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment program (CDAAT Program). Requires that no less than 50 percent of a CDAAT Program's participants be individuals whose family gross income does not exceed 200 percent of the Federal poverty line and that any charges for services be based upon an individual's ability to pay for such services. Directs grantees to arrange for a participant's receipt of a preliminary needs assessment, case management services, and treatment which is designed to reduce or eliminate physical or psychological dependence on controlled substances, alcohol, or prescription drugs and includes psychotherapy or counseling as an integral part of the treatment. Requires that family or marriage counseling and training in social or vocational skills be included as Program services where available on a reasonable cost basis and essential to the achievement or maintenance of successful treatment. Requires an evaluation unit to compile information on CDAAT Program participants and treatment services provided to such participants and transfer such information each quarter to the grantee and the Secretary at the grantee's expense. Provides payments to grantees on the basis of their actual costs during the first two years of the Program and pursuant to a prospective payment system during the three remaining years of the Program. Creates the Addiction Treatment Services Trust Fund and appropriates to it amounts which are attributable to this Act's increase of excise taxes on alcohol and certain tobacco products. Requires an annual estimate of the fund's surplus or deficit. Provides for the use of copayment and reductions in payment limits and the use of the annual or cumulative surpluses to eliminate any deficits. Establishes in the fund a separate cumulative account of surpluses and deficits. Provides for confidentiality of records of patients under this title. Prohibits the use of records for criminal investigative or prosecutorial purposes except under court order. Makes special provision for coordination of regulations regarding records of veterans suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Requires grantees to submit annual reports on the effectiveness of their CDAAT Programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase alcohol and tobacco excise taxes. Directs the Secretary to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the clinical and cost effectiveness of various drug and alcohol addiction treatment methods and services. Requires a study and report to the Congress on the costs and benefits of expanding CDAAT Programs to provide funding for treatment services for nicotine addiction. Directs the Secretary to establish a national uniform drug and alcohol abuse data collection system within one year of this Act's enactment.
Bill· HRH.R. 3395 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to detail members of the armed forces to a State or local correctional agency for temporary duty as advisors and instructors at a correctional facility operated as a military-style boot camp if the Secretary determines that such personnel could contribute to the rehabilitative purposes of such facility. Credits such military personnel for all service performed during such detail. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 and other Federal provisions relating to actions taken in conjunction with defense base closures and realignments to authorize the Secretary to transfer to the State or local government in which the military installation is located such appropriate property or facilities for conversion and use in conjunction with military-style boot camp operations at a correctional facility.
Bill· HRH.R. 3388 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to foreign companies carrying on insurance business in the United States. Requires the use of domestic company tax return data from the same taxable year as the year for which minimum effectively connected net investment income calculations are made. Requires the use of a carryover account for year-to-year income comparisons. Allows a foreign company to elect to use the individualized company yield method for determining such company's minimum effectively connected net investment income. Bases such method on United States dollar-denominated assets.
Bill· HRH.R. 3376 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Congressional Pay For Performance Act - Provides that if the Congress has not passed all general appropriation bills before the beginning of a fiscal year, then the permanent appropriation for the compensation of Members of Congress shall not be effective for such fiscal year. Prohibits the House of Representatives or the Senate from considering the legislative branch appropriation bill for any fiscal year until other general appropriation bills for such fiscal year have been presented to the President.
Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 333 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Authorizes the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission to issue bonds to provide funds for: (1) the acquisition or construction of bridges; (2) the repair, expansion, and replacement of bridges; (3) the payment of interest on, and refunding of, bonds; and (4) working capital and all other expenditures and deposits for carrying out the Commission's purposes. Sets forth authorities with respect to the issuance of bonds to be sold at prices determined by the Commission. Provides that toll rates for bridge use shall be adjusted to provide funds for: (1) a reasonable reserve or allowance for bridge maintenance and repair; (2) the improvement and expansion of bridges; (3) deposit to a sinking fund to pay interest and principal on bonds; (4) the price of bonds redeemed or repurchased before maturity; and (5) other amounts required to be paid or deposited by agreement with bondholders or specified providers of contracts or arrangements. Applies the remainder of tolls to extraordinary capital costs incurred in connection with the bridges and to the redemption of bonds or payment of other costs in connection with such contracts or agreements. Deems the Commission to be a public authority of the State of New York for purposes of Federal law. Removes a provision concerning the taxation of bondholders. Entitles Commission members to compensation for official duties.
Law· HJRESH.J.Res. 332 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Makes continuing appropriations for projects or activities including the costs of direct loans and loan guarantees provided for in the following Acts: (1) the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (2) the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (3) the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1992; (4) the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1992; (5) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1992; (6) the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (7) the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (8) the Military Construction Appropriations Act, 1992; (9) the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992; (10) the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Act, 1992; and (11) the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1992. Sets forth limitations on the use of such funds. Requires the following activities to be maintained at the current rate of operations: (1) the National Science Foundation's United States Antarctic Logistical Support Activities; and (2) the Federal Communications Commission's Salaries and Expenses account.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 208 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is inappropriate for the Federal Government to take actions that have the effect of preempting the tax decisions of State governments. Protests the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to prohibit Federal payments under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) relating to State Medicaid expenditures that are made from revenues derived from provider-specific taxes. Urges the Secretary to drop the proposed rule implementing his decision.
Bill· HRH.R. 3371 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1991
Violent Crime Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Community Policing; Cop on the Beat - Community Policing; Cop on the Beat Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants to units of general local government and community groups to establish or expand cooperative efforts between police and the community to increase the police presence in the community. Requires the Director to develop a written model that informs community members regarding: (1) how to identify the existence of a drug or gang house; (2) what civil remedies are available; and (3) what mediation techniques are available between community members and individuals who have established a drug or gang house in such community. Sets forth application requirements. Requires each application to include a comprehensive plan containing: (1) a description of the crime problems within the areas targeted for assistance, the projects to be developed, community resources and gaps in the plan that cannot be filled with existing resources, and the system the applicant will establish to prevent and reduce crime; (2) an explanation of how the requested grant will be used to fill such gaps; and (3) an evaluation component. Requires the Director to allocate not less than 75 percent of the funds available to units of local government or combinations of such units and not more than 20 percent to community groups. Provides for grant renewal. Limits: (1) costs of administration, technical assistance, and evaluation to five percent of available funds; and (2) the Federal share to 75 percent of total project costs. Requires the Director, in awarding grants, to consider: (1) demonstrated need and ability to provide the services described in the plan; (2) evidence of the ability to coordinate a community-wide response to crime; (3) ability to maintain the program after funding is no longer available; and (4) geographic distribution of grant awards. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Drug Treatment in Federal Prisons - Drug Treatment in Federal Prisons Act of 1991 - Directs the Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) to provide residential substance abuse treatment for: (1) not less than 50 percent of eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1993; (2) not less than 75 percent of eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1994; and (3) all eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1995. Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize a change in the conditions of confinement, a reduction of up to one year from the prisoner's sentence, or both, with respect to any prisoner who, in the judgment of the Director of the Bureau, has successfully completed a residential substance abuse treatment program. Specifies that, if such conditions are changed, the Bureau shall periodically test the prisoner for drug abuse and discontinue such changes upon determining that drug abuse has recurred. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Substance Abuse Treatment in State Prisons - Substance Abuse Treatment in State Prisons Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants for use by States in developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs within State correctional facilities. Sets forth application requirements, including: (1) assurances that Federal funds received will be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds; and (2) agreement by the State to implement or continue to require urinalysis or similar testing of individuals in correctional residential substance abuse programs, including testing of individuals released from such programs who remain in State custody. Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) duties of the designated State office under the Omnibus Act (application preparation and grant administration); (2) the review of State applications by the Bureau; (3) the allocation and distribution of funds; and (4) evaluation. Limits the Federal share to 75 percent of total project costs. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Safe Schools - Safe Schools Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Act to: (1) authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide assistance to such agencies most directly affected by crime and violence; and (2) require the Director to develop a written safe schools model in a timely fashion and make such model available to any LEA that requests such information. Earmarks such grants: (1) to fund anticrime and safety measures, and to develop education and training programs for the prevention of crime, violence, illegal drugs, and alcohol; and (2) for counseling programs for victims of crime within schools, crime prevention equipment, and the prevention and reduction of youth participation in organized crime and drug- and gang-related activities in schools. Sets forth application requirements, provisions with respect to limits on administrative costs and grant renewal, factors in the Director's consideration in awarding grants, and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Crime Victims - Victims Justice Act of 1991 - Repeals: (1) the current $150,000,000 cap on the Crime Victims Fund under the Victims of Crime Act of 1984; and (2) sunset provisions under such Act. Modifies the formula for the distribution of sums deposited into the Fund to provide that: (1) the first $10,000,000 of the total funds deposited in a fiscal year shall be available for child abuse prevention and treatment grants; (2) the next sums deposited, up to the reserved portion (specified below), shall be made available to the judicial branch for administration costs; (3) of the sums remaining, four percent shall be available for training and technical services to victim assistance programs and for financial support of services to victims of crime by victim assistance programs, and 96 percent shall be available for crime victim compensation and victim assistance programs. (Current law provides a complex formula for the distribution of funds depending on the amount deposited in the Fund.) Authorizes the Director of the Office for Victims of Crime to retain any amount in excess of 110 percent of the total deposited in the previous fiscal year as a reserve for those years in which there is a shortfall in the Fund, provided that the reserve shall not exceed $20,000,000. Specifies that: (1) the reserved portion shall be $6,200,000 in each of FY 1992 through 1995 and $3,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter; and (2) sums awarded as part of a grant under this Act that remain unspent at the end of a fiscal year in which such grant is made may be expended for the grant's purpose at any time during the two succeeding fiscal years (under current law, during the succeeding fiscal year). Increases the Federal share of victim compensation programs from 40 to 45 percent of the amounts awarded by each program during the preceding fiscal year. Specifies that if the compensation paid by an eligible crime victim compensation program would cover costs that a Federal program, or a federally financed State or local program, would otherwise pay: (1) such victim compensation program shall not pay such compensation; and (2) the other program shall make its payments without regard to the existence of the crime victim compensation program. Authorizes the Director to use unspent compensation funds for assistance programs in either the year such funds are not spent or in the following year. Requires crime victim assistance chief executives to give particular attention to children who are victims of violent street crime. Authorizes the use of grants under this Act for demonstration projects. Allows the Director to permit up to five percent of a victim assistance program grant to be used by the chief executive of each State for administrative costs. Makes biannual reports under such Act due on May 31 (currently, such reports are due December 31). Requires grantees to certify that no grant funds will be used to supplant State and local funds, but rather will supplement those otherwise available funds. Delays the effective date for specified provisions to make the allocations required by such provisions without reducing the funding levels of programs supported by the Victim Assistance Fund and the Victims Compensation Fund. Title VI: The Certainty of Punishment for Young Offenders - Certainty of Punishment for Young Offenders Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Act to require the Director of the BJA to make grants to States, for use by States and units of local governments, to develop alternatives to incarceration and probation for young offenders which promote reduced recidivism, crime prevention, and victim assistance, including boot camp prison programs, community service programs, and demonstration restitution projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) State and local applications; (2) application review; (3) the allocation and distribution of funds to State and local governmental units; (4) evaluation; and (5) limitations on administrative costs. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Drug-Testing of Arrested Individuals - Authorizes the Director of the BJA to make grants to States, for use by States and units of local government, to develop, implement, or continue drug testing projects when individuals are arrested and during the pretrial period. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) State applications, including a requirement that the State agree to develop or maintain programs of urinalysis or similar drug testing of individuals upon arrest and on a regular basis pending trial for the purpose of making pretrial detention decisions; (2) local applications; (3) the allocation and distribution of funds to State and local governmental units; and (4) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Drug Emergency Areas Act of 1991 - Drug Emergency Areas Act of 1991 - Amends the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to replace language with respect to the designation of high intensity drug trafficking areas with provisions authorizing the President to declare a State or part of a State to be a drug emergency area. Requires requests for such a declaration to be made, in writing, by the Governor or chief executive officer of any affected State or local government and forwarded to the President through the Director of National Drug Control Policy. Allows cities, counties, or States to submit a joint request. Requires requests to be based on a written finding that the emergency is of such severity and magnitude that Federal assistance is necessary to assure an effective response to save lives and to protect property, public health, and safety. Prohibits the President from limiting declarations made under this Act to highly-populated centers of drug trafficking, drug use, or drug-related violence. Requires the President to consider applications from governments of less populated areas where the magnitude and severity of such activities is beyond the capability of the State or local government to respond. Requires each Governor or chief executive officer, as part of such requests and as a prerequisite to such assistance, to: (1) take appropriate action under State or local law to respond to the crisis and furnish information on the nature and amount of State and local resources which have been or will be committed to alleviating the emergency; (2) certify that State and local government obligations and expenditures will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements; and (3) submit a detailed plan outlining that government's short- and long-term plans to respond to the emergency. Requires the Director to review requests submitted and forward the application to the President, along with a recommendation. Authorizes the President to make grants to State or local governments of up to $50,000,000 for any single emergency. Limits the Federal share to 75 percent of the costs necessary to implement the short- and long-term plan. Limits the duration of assistance to a drug disaster area to one year, after which the Governors or chief executive officers may apply for an extension of up to 180 days. Requires any State or local government receiving Federal assistance to balance the allocation of such assistance evenly between drug supply and demand reduction efforts, unless State or local conditions dictate otherwise. Authorizes the President to: (1) direct any Federal agency to utilize its authorities and resources to support State and local efforts; and (2) provide technical and advisory assistance. Makes assistance under this title subject to an annual audit by the Comptroller General. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Coerced Confessions - Specifies that the admission into evidence of a coerced confession (i.e., one elicited in violation of the fifth or fourteenth amendments to the Constitution) shall not be considered harmless error. Title X: DNA Records - DNA Identification Act of 1991 - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the use of drug control and system improvement grants to develop or improve in a forensic laboratory a capability to analyze DNA for identification purposes. Requires State applications for grant funds to certify, if any part of such grant is to be used to develop or improve a DNA analysis capability in a forensic laboratory, that: (1) DNA analyses performed at such laboratory will satisfy or exceed then current standards for a quality assurance program for DNA analysis issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); (2) DNA samples obtained by, and DNA analyses performed at, such laboratory will be accessible only to criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes, to any defendant for criminal defense purposes, and if identifiable information is removed, for a population statistics database, for identification research and protocol development purposes, or for quality control purposes; and (3) such laboratory and each analyst performing DNA analyses at such laboratory will undergo, at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days, external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting the standards issued under this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of: (1) the National Research Council to appoint an advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods to develop and periodically monitor recommended standards for quality assurance, including standards for testing the proficiency of forensic analysis in conducting DNA analyses; and (2) the FBI, after taking into consideration such recommended standards, to issue standards for quality assurance including standards for testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories in conducting such analyses. Mandates that such standards: (1) specify criteria for quality assurance and proficiency tests to be applied to each procedure used by forensic laboratories to conduct such analyses; and (2) include a system for grading proficiency testing performance to determine whether a laboratory is performing acceptably. Authorizes the Director of the FBI to establish an index of DNA identification records of persons convicted of crimes punishable by more than one year's imprisonment and analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes. Specifies that such index may include only information on DNA identification records and analyses that are: (1) based on analyses performed in accordance with publicly available standards that satisfy or exceed specified guidelines for the quality assurance program for DNA analysis; (2) prepared by labs and DNA analysts that undergo regular external proficiency testing; and (3) maintained by Federal, State, and local criminal justice agencies pursuant to rules that restrict disclosure of stored DNA samples and analyses. Makes the exchange of DNA identification records subject to cancellation if the quality control and privacy requirements of this Act are not met. Requires: (1) FBI personnel who perform DNA analyses to undergo, at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days, external proficiency proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting the standards issued pursuant to this Act; and (2) the Director of the FBI to submit an annual report on the results of such tests to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for five years after enactment of this Act and to arrange for periodic blind external tests to determine the proficiency of DNA analysis performed at the FBI laboratory within one year. Restricts disclosure of DNA tests performed for a Federal law enforcement agency to: (1) criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes; and (2) any defendant for criminal defense purposes. Authorizes disclosure of test results for a population statistics database, for identification research and protocol development purposes, or for quality control purposes if personally identifiable information is removed. Sets fines of up to $100,000 for individuals: (1) having access to individually identifiable DNA information indexed in a database created or maintained by Federal law enforcement agency by virtue of employment or official position who willfully disclose such information to any person or agency not entitled to receive it; and (2) who, without authorization, willfully obtain DNA samples or such individually identifiable DNA information. Authorizes appropriations. Title XI: Habeas Corpus - Habeas Corpus Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal judicial code to revise provisions governing habeas corpus procedures, particularly in capital cases. Establishes a statute of limitations of one year for the filing of an application for habeas corpus relief from a sentence of death. Prescribes periods during which such time requirement shall be tolled, including any period during which the applicant is not represented by counsel. Provides for dismissal of an application for failure to comply with such time requirement, except where the waiver of such requirement is warranted by exceptional circumstances. Specifies requirements for stays of execution in capital cases. Bars the court from applying a new rule representing a sharp break from precedent announced by the U.S. Supreme Court that could not reasonably have been anticipated at the time the claimant's sentence became final in State court. Requires a State in which capital punishment may be imposed to provide legal services to indigents: (1) charged with offenses for which capital punishment is sought; (2) who have been sentenced to death and who seek appellate, collateral, or unitary review in State court; and (3) who have been sentenced to death and who seek certiorari review of State court judgments in the U.S. Supreme Court. Directs the State to establish an appointing authority which shall be a statewide defender organization, a resource center, or a committee appointed by the highest State court, comprised of bar members with substantial experience in, or commitment to, criminal justice. Requires the appointing authority to: (1) publish a roster of attorneys qualified to be appointed in capital cases, procedures by which attorneys are appointed, and standards governing qualifications and performance of counsel (including knowledge and understanding of pertinent legal authorities regarding issues in capital cases; skills in the conduct of negotiations and litigation in capital cases, the investigation of capital cases and the psychiatric history and current condition of capital clients, and the preparation and writing of legal papers in capital cases; and five years of specified felony trial or other experience); (2) monitor the performance of attorneys appointed and delete from the roster any attorney who fails to meet qualification and performance standards; and (3) appoint a defense team, including at least two attorneys, to represent a client at the relevant stage of proceedings, promptly upon receiving notice of the need for the appointment from the relevant State court. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to the appointment of counsel. Requires that, in the case of an applicant for Federal habeas corpus relief under sentence of death, a claim presented in a second or successive application shall be dismissed unless the applicant shows that: (1) the basis of the claim could not have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence before the applicant filed the prior application, or the failure to raise the claim in the prior application was due to action by State officials in violation of the U.S. Constitution; and (2) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient, if proven, to undermine the court's confidence in the applicant's guilt of the offense for which the capital sentence was imposed or in the validity of that sentence under Federal law. Grants an applicant under sentence of death the right to appeal without a certification of probable cause, except after denial of a second or successive application. Title XII: Provisions Relating to Police Officers - Subtitle A: Police Accountability - Police Accountability Act of 1991 - Makes it unlawful for any governmental authority to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives persons of their constitutional or statutory rights, privileges, or immunities. Authorizes: (1) civil actions by the Attorney General and by any injured person to obtain equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate any such pattern or practice; and (2) the court to allow the prevailing plaintiff (in the case of an action by an injured person) reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation fees and costs, including expert's fees. Specifies that a governmental body shall be liable for such fees and costs to the same extent as a private individual. Establishes penalties for police brutality (excessive force), including a fine and imprisonment for any term of years or life if death results, for not more than ten years if bodily injury other than death results, and for not to exceed one year in any other case. Directs the Attorney General to acquire and publish an annual summary of data about complaints to criminal justice authorities about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. Requires State applications for justice system improvement grants (under the Omnibus Act) to include a certification that the State and its units of local government are providing such data to the Attorney General. Subtitle B: Retired Public Safety Officer Death Benefits - Amends the Omnibus Act to provide death benefits to retired public safety officers who become permanently and totally disabled as the direct result of a catastrophic injury sustained while responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency. Title XIII: Fraud - Amends the Federal criminal code to include within mail fraud provisions depositing specified matter to be sent by any private or commercial interstate carrier (current law applies only to matter sent by the Postal Service). Establishes penalties for knowingly and with intent to defraud: (1) affecting transactions with one or more access devices (ADs) issued to another person to receive any thing of value aggregating $1,000 or more during any one-year period; (2) without the authorization of the issuer of the AD, soliciting a person for the purpose of offering an AD, or selling information regarding, or an application to obtain, an AD; or (3) without the authorization of the credit card system member or its agent, causing or arranging for another person to present to the member or its agent for payment evidence or records of transactions made by an AD. Establishes penalties for persons engaged in the business of insurance whose activities affect commerce, who: (1) knowingly make a materially false statement or report or willfully overvalue land, property, or security in connection with reports or documents presented to an insurance regulatory official or agency, or to any agent or examiner (official) appointed to examine the affairs of such person for the purpose of influencing in any way the actions of such official; (2) embezzle or willfully misappropriate funds or property while acting as an officer, director, agent, or employee (officer) of such person; (3) knowingly make a false entry of material fact in any book, report, or statement of such person with intent to deceive any person about the financial condition or solvency of such business or to deceive any officer of such person or any insurance regulatory official; and (4) by threats or force, corruptly influences, obstructs, or endeavors corruptly to influence or obstruct the proper administration of the law under which a proceeding (involving the business of insurance whose activities affect interstate commerce) is pending before an insurance regulatory official to examine the affairs of such person. Authorizes the Attorney General to seek civil penalties and injunctions for violations of this title. Sets penalties for obstructing criminal investigations with respect to the prosecution of cases of insurance fraud. Title XIV: Protection of Youth - Subtitle A: Crimes Against Children - Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Registration Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish a State program and guidelines requiring persons convicted of a criminal offense against a minor to register a current address with a designated State law enforcement agency (LEA) for ten years after release from prison or after being placed on parole or supervised release. Sets forth requirements for an approved State registration program, including: (1) requirements that a State prison officer inform a released person of the duty to register and provide a designated State LEA with any new address in writing within ten days, obtain a fingerprint card and photograph if not already obtained, require the person to read and sign a form stating that the duty to register has been explained, and forward such information to a designated State LEA (which shall immediately enter the information into the appropriate State law enforcement record system, notify the appropriate LEA having jurisdiction where the person expects to live, and transmit the conviction data and fingerprints to the Identification Division of the FBI); (2) annual address verification by the designated State LEA; and (3) notification of LEAs having jurisdiction over a released person's new address. Provides that: (1) a person required to register who violates any requirement of a State program established by this Act shall be subject to criminal penalties in such State (recommends at least six months' imprisonment); and (2) the information provided under this Act is private and may be used for law enforcement purposes and confidential background checks conducted with fingerprints for child care services providers. Specifies that the allocation of BJA grant funds (under the Omnibus Act) received by a State not complying with the provisions of this Act three years after the enactment of this Act shall be reduced by 25 percent. Requires such unallocated funds to be reallocated to the States in compliance with this Act. Subtitle B: Parental Kidnapping - International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for removing a child from, or retaining a child outside, the United States with intent to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights. Authorizes appropriations to carry out (under the State Justice Institute Act of 1984) national, regional, and in-State training and educational programs dealing with criminal and civil aspects of interstate and international parental child abduction. Subtitle C: Sexual Abuse Amendments - Amends the Federal criminal code to include within the definition of "sexual act" the intentional touching, not through the clothing, of the genitalia of another person who has not attained age 16 with intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. Title XV: Miscellaneous Drug Control - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to establish penalties for any physical trainer or adviser who persuades or induces an individual to possess or use anabolic steroids in violation of such Act. Amends: (1) the CSA to make enhanced penalty provisions with respect to the distribution of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of specified schools and other facilities applicable to public housing projects; and (2) the Public and Assisted Housing Drug Elimination Act of 1990 to authorize the use of grants in public housing projects for the determination of boundaries and the posting of signs identifying the property of the projects as drug-free zones. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to require each public housing agency to post notices regarding the penalty imposed in common areas and at other appropriate locations in public housing projects of the agency. Authorizes the Attorney General, for calendar years 1992, 1993, and 1994, to reserve not more than 70, 60, and 50 percent, respectively, of the total narcotic raw materials imports for materials having Turkey or India as their original source if the Attorney General determines that such materials are in adequate supply and are priced competitively with other authorized suppliers. Provides for enhanced penalties for drug trafficking in prisons. Title XVI: Fairness in Death Sentencing Act of 1991 - Fairness in Death Sentencing Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the implementation of a sentence of death that was imposed based on race. Specifies that an inference that race was the basis of a death sentence is established if valid evidence is presented demonstrating that, at the time such sentence was imposed, race was a statistically significant factor in decisions to seek or to impose the death sentence in the jurisdiction in question. Provides that evidence relevant to establishing such inference may include evidence that death sentences were, at the pertinent time, being imposed in the jurisdiction in question significantly more frequently upon persons of one race or as punishment for capital offenses against persons of one race. Directs the court to determine the validity of any statistical evidence presented to establish such inference and if it provides a basis for such inference. Specifies that such evidence must take into account, to the extent it is compiled and made publicly available, evidence of the statutory aggravating factors of the crimes involved and must include comparisons of similar cases involving persons of different races. Bars the implementation of the death sentence unless the Government rebuts such inference by a preponderance of the evidence. Requires that the data collected by public officials concerning factors relevant to the imposition of the death sentence be made publicly available. Sets forth provisions with respect to the enforcement of this Act. Specifies that no person shall be barred from raising any claim under this Act on the ground of having failed to raise or prosecute the same or a similar claim before the enactment of this Act, nor by reason of any adjudication rendered before such enactment. Title XVII: Miscellaneous Crime Control - Subtitle A: General - Establishes penalties for receiving the proceeds of: (1) extortion; (2) kidnapping; and (3) postal robbery. Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties, in addition to the punishment otherwise provided for a crime, for the commission of a felony crime of violence or specified drug-related felonies in or for any criminal street gang, subject to specified conditions. Specifies that any term of imprisonment imposed under this subtitle shall run consecutively to any other sentence imposed for the underlying crime. Provides that an element of an offense that the defendant knew that property was stolen or counterfeit may be established by proof that the defendant, as a result of an official representation as to the nature of the property, believed the property to be stolen or counterfeit. Amends the CSA to increase penalties for the distribution of controlled substances in or near schools. Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Director of the FBI or his designee in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant Director to request: (1) the name, address, length of service, and toll billing records of a person or entity (person) if the Director certifies in writing to the wire or electronic communication service provider that such records are relevant to an authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation and there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person to whom the information pertains is a foreign power or a foreign agent; and (2) the name, address, and length of service of a person if the Director certifies in writing to such provider that the information is relevant to such an investigation and there are specific articulable facts giving reason to believe that communication facilities registered in the name of the person have been used in communication with an individual who is or has engaged in international terrorism or clandestine activities that involve or may involve a violation of U.S. criminal statutes or a foreign power or foreign agent concerning international terrorism or such clandestine activities. Requires that the House and Senate Judiciary Committees be informed regarding all such requests for certification. (Current law authorizes the Director or his designee to request telephone toll and transactional records upon written certification to the provider that the information sought is relevant to an authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation and there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person is a foreign power or foreign agent.) Extends the protection under civil rights statutes with respect to conspiracy against rights and deprivation of rights under color of law to any person in (currently, any inhabitant of) any State territory, or district. Increases penalties under the Travel Act for crime involving violence. Eliminates the $10,000 cap on fines under such Act. Provides penalties for misuse of the words "Drug Enforcement Administration" or the initials "DEA." Defines: (1) "savings and loan association" for purposes of the bank robbery statute to mean any Federal or State savings association having accounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and any corporation described in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act which is operating under U.S. law; and (2) "livestock" to mean any domestic animals raised for home use, consumption, or profit. Subtitle B: Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention - Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Act - Directs the Attorney General to develop a national voluntary motor vehicle theft prevention program under which: (1) the owner of a motor vehicle may voluntarily sign a consent form with a participating State or locality in which the motor vehicle owner states that the vehicle is not normally operated under specified conditions and agrees to display program decals or devices on the owner's vehicle and permit law enforcement officials in any State to stop the vehicle and take reasonable steps to determine whether such vehicle is being operated by the owner or with the owner's permission, if the vehicle is being operated under such conditions; (2) participating States and localities authorize law enforcement officials in the State or locality to stop motor vehicles displaying program decals or devices under such conditions and take reasonable steps to determine whether the vehicle is being operated by or with the permission of the owner; and (3) Federal law enforcement officials are authorized to stop such vehicles under such conditions and make such determination. Requires such program to include a uniform design or designs for decals or other devices to be displayed by motor vehicles participating in the program which shall: (1) be highly visible; and (2) explicitly state that the motor vehicle to which it is affixed may be stopped under the specified conditions without additional grounds for establishing a reasonable suspicion that the vehicle is being operated unlawfully. Sets forth requirements with respect to the voluntary consent form. Directs the Attorney General to promulgate rules establishing the conditions under which participating motor vehicles may be authorized to be stopped under this Act, such as the operation of the vehicle during certain hours of the day or under circumstances that would provide a sufficient basis for establishing a reasonable suspicion that the vehicle was not being operated by, or with the consent of, the owner. Sets forth provisions with respect to the establishment of more than one set of conditions under which participating motor vehicles may be stopped. Requires the notification of lessees of motor vehicles for hire of participation in the program, as specified. Sets penalties for failure to comply with such notice provisions. Authorizes a State or locality to participate in the program by filing an agreement to comply with the terms and conditions of the program with the Attorney General. Specifies that, as a condition of participation, a State or locality must agree to take reasonable steps to ensure that law enforcement officials throughout the State or locality are familiar with the program and with the conditions under which motor vehicles may be stopped under the program. Authorizes appropriations. Includes within the scope of a provision setting penalties for the removal of or tampering with an identification number for a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, removal of or tampering with a decal or device affixed pursuant to this Act with intent to further the theft of a vehicle, with exceptions. Sets forth penalties for the unauthorized application of a theft prevention decal or device, or a replica thereof. Title XVIII: Miscellaneous Funding Provisions - Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the Drug Enforcement Agency; and (2) the justice system improvement program under the Omnibus Act. Amends: (1) the Federal judicial code to make available sums from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Assets Forfeiture fund for alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grants under the Public Health Service Act, subject to specified limitations; and (2) the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, specified non-Federal public or private entities (current law does not specify non-Federal). Title XIX: Miscellaneous Criminal Procedure and Correction - Subtitle A: Revocation of Probation and Supervised Release - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) require the court, in sentencing a defendant for a violation of probation or supervised release, to consider applicable guidelines or policy statements issued by the U.S. Sentencing Commission; and (2) permit the court, if a defendant violates a condition of probation, to resentence the defendant (under current law, the court may impose any other sentence that was available at the time of the initial sentencing). Provides for the mandatory revocation of probation for possession of a controlled substance or firearm (currently, applies only to actual possession of a firearm). Requires the court, under such circumstances, to resentence the defendant to a sentence that includes a term of imprisonment (current law directs the court to impose any other sentence that was available at the time of the initial sentencing). Directs the court to require, as an explicit condition of probation or supervised release, that the defendant not unlawfully possess a controlled substance. (Current law specifies that the defendant not possess illegal controlled substances.) Specifies that a defendant whose term of supervised release is revoked may not be required to serve more than five years in prison if the offense that resulted in the term of release is a class A felony, more than three years if such offense is a class B felony, more than two years for a class C or D felony, or more than one year in any other case. (Current law specifies only no more than three years for a class B felony or more than two years for a class C or D felony.) Requires the court to revoke the term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve a term of imprisonment not to exceed the maximum authorized if the defendant possesses a controlled substance in violation of a condition of supervised release or possesses a firearm in violation of Federal law or otherwise violates a condition of supervised release prohibiting the defendant from possessing a firearm. (Current law states that if the defendant is found to be in possession of a controlled substance, the court shall terminate the term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve in prison not less than one-third of the term of release.) Provides that: (1) when a term of supervised release is revoked and the defendant is required to serve a term of imprisonment less than the maximum authorized, the court may require that the defendant be placed on a term of supervised release after imprisonment (for a length of time not to exceed the term of release authorized by statute for the offense that resulted in the original term of supervised release, less any term of imprisonment imposed upon revocation of such release); and (2) the power of the court to revoke a term of supervised release for violation of a condition of such release and to order the defendant to serve a term of imprisonment and a further term of such release extends beyond the expiration of the term of such release for any period reasonably necessary for the adjudication of matters arising before its expiration, subject to specified conditions. Subtitle B: List of Veniremen - Provides that a person charged with treason or another capital offense shall, a reasonable time (currently, at least three days) before trial, be furnished with: (1) a copy of the indictment (as under current law); (2) a list of veniremen and witnesses to be produced at trial (as under current law) and at the sentencing hearing; (3) the relevant written or recorded statements of such witnesses, relevant portions of memoranda containing reports of their statements, and copies of documents and the opportunity to examine tangible objects that the Government intends to use in the trial or sentencing hearing; and (4) such other reports, statements, or information as the court may order. Provides that the list of veniremen and the name, address, and other information identifying a witness need not be furnished if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that providing the list or the name or address may jeopardize the life or safety of any person. Subtitle C: Immunity - Permits a U.S. attorney to request an order requiring an individual to give testimony or provide other information which such individual refuses to give or provide based on the privilege against self-incrimination under specified circumstances with the approval of an officer or employee of the Criminal Division of DOJ designated by the Attorney General (currently, only with the approval of specified officials). Subtitle D: Clarification of 18 U.S.C. 5032's Requirement That Any Record of a Juvenile be Produced Before the Commencement of Juvenile Proceedings - Specifies that a juvenile shall not be transferred to adult prosecution nor shall a hearing be held under section 5037 (disposition after a finding of juvenile delinquency) until any prior juvenile court records have been received by the court or other specified conditions are met. (Current law states that "any proceedings against a juvenile under this chapter or as an adult shall not be commenced" until such conditions are met.) Subtitle E: Petty Offenses - Authorizes probation for a petty offense if the defendant has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment at the same time for another such offense. Provides for trial by a magistrate in petty offense cases. Grants a magistrate judge who has sentenced a person to a term of supervised release the power to revoke or modify the terms or conditions of such release. Subtitle F: Optional Venue for Espionage and Related Offenses - Provides for venue in the District of Columbia or in any other district authorized by law for the trial of specified espionage and related offenses. Title XX: Firearms and Related Amendments - Subtitle A: Firearms and Related Amendments - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the transfer of firearms to non-residents of the State in which the transferor resides. Provides for enhanced penalties for: (1) the use of a semiautomatic firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense, with exceptions; and (2) possession of a firearm or explosive during the commission of such offenses. Sets forth penalties for smuggling firearms in aid of drug trafficking and for theft of firearms and explosives. Increases penalties for: (1) making knowingly false, material statements in connection with the acquisition of a firearm from a licensed dealer; and (2) a second offense of using an explosive to commit a Federal felony. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to: (1) change from six to five years the statute of limitations for certain firearms offenses; and (2) provide for the summary forfeiture of unregistered National Firearms Act weapons, with provision for reimbursement for innocent owners. Authorizes the summary destruction of explosives subject to forfeiture under specified circumstances. Sets forth requirements for reimbursement of the value of destroyed property. Adds using a firearm in the commission of counterfeiting or forgery among offenses which, if the offender uses or carries a firearm, will subject such person to an enhanced sentence. Provides for a mandatory five-year penalty for firearms possession by violent felons and serious drug offenders. Modifies provisions regarding the reporting of multiple firearms sales to: (1) cover sales during any 30 consecutive days (currently, during any five consecutive business days); and (2) require each licensee to forward a copy of the report to the chief law enforcement officer of the place of residence of the unlicensed person not later than the close of business on the date that the multiple sale or disposition occurs. Subjects individuals who conspire to commit a firearms or explosives offense to the same penalties as prescribed for the underlying offense. Provides for a fine or up to ten years' imprisonment, or both, for stealing a firearm or explosive from specified individuals, such as a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer. Makes it unlawful for any person (current law specifies licensee) to distribute explosive materials to specified classes of individuals. Subtitle B: Assault Weapons - Prohibits the possession or transfer of assault weapons, with exceptions. Defines "assault weapon" to mean all firearms so designated under this Act, including Kalashnikov, Uzi, and AR-15 semiautomatic firearms. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to recommend modifications to the list of designated assault weapons. Repeals a provision setting penalties (a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years' imprisonment, or both) for knowingly possessing a firearm in a school zone. Applies such penalties to persons who: (1) assemble from imported parts any semiautomatic rifle or shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation as not being particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes, with exceptions; and (2) possess or transfer an assault weapon in violation of this subtitle. Provides for an enhanced penalty for possession or use of an assault weapon during a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations governing the transfer of assault weapons. Establishes a fine of up to $500 for the transfer in violation of any such regulation of an assault weapon that has been lawfully and continuously possessed by the person since before the date the weapon was included in the list under this subtitle. Subtitle C: Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Devices - Prohibits the possession or transfer of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, with exceptions. Defines "large capacity ammunition feeding device" to mean: (1) a detachable magazine or similar device which has, or which can be readily converted to have, a capacity of more than seven rounds of ammunition; and (2) any part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a detachable magazine or similar device. Excludes from such definition any attached tubular device designed to accept and capable of operating with, only .22 rimfire caliber ammunition. Sets penalties for the possession or transfer of large capacity ammunition feeding devices in violation of this subtitle. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations requiring manufacturers of large capacity ammunition feeding devices to stamp each such device manufactured after the date of the enactment of this Act with a permanent distinguishing mark selected in accordance with such regulations. Subtitle D: Possession of Stolen Firearms, Etc. - Prohibits the possession of: (1) stolen firearms or ammunition; and (2) explosives by felons and specified other individuals. Title XXI: Sports Lotteries - Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit a government entity from sponsoring, operating, advertising, promoting, licensing, or authorizing by law, or a person from sponsoring, operating, advertising, or promoting, pursuant to the law of a governmental entity, a lottery, sweepstakes, or other gambling scheme based on competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate, with exceptions. Authorizes the Attorney General, or a professional or amateur sports organization whose competitive game is alleged to be the basis of the violation, to enjoin a violation of this title. Title XXII: Technical Corrections - Makes technical corrections to the Omnibus Act, CSA, Federal criminal code, and other statutes. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Corrections to give priority, in making correction options grants, to public agencies (currently, States) that demonstrate that the capacity of their correctional facilities is inadequate to accommodate the number of individuals who are convicted of offenses punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year. Modifies the definition of "firefighter" to include an officially recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew (currently, who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency). Title XXIII: Death Penalty Procedures - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for specified Federal crimes, including: (1) delivering defense information to aid a foreign government; (2) treason; (3) specified CSA offenses committed as part of a continuing criminal enterprise; (4) felony violations of the CSA, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act where the defendant knowingly or intentionally causes the death of another individual in the course of the violation or from the use of the controlled substance involved in the violation; (5) certain offenses relating to drive-by shooting; (6) specified offenses under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958; and (7) any other offense for which a death sentence is provided by law and in which the defendant, as determined beyond a reasonable doubt at a sentencing proceeding under this title, intentionally or knowingly caused the death of another individual. Requires the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea, that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits evidence to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Sets forth special aggravating factors for: (1) espionage, treason, homicide, and the attempted murder of the President; and (2) drug offenses punishable by the death penalty (such factors include previous serious drug felony convictions, use of a firearm in committing or furthering certain continuing criminal enterprises, use of minors in trafficking, and lethal adulteration of controlled substances). Directs the court, or the jury by unanimous vote, to impose the death penalty upon a finding of at least one aggravating and no mitigating factor, or one or more aggravating factors which outweigh any mitigating factors. States that no person who was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense may be sentenced to death. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, religion, national origin, or sex of the defendant or victim in its consideration of the sentence. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon consideration of the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor; (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors; and (3) the proceedings did not involve any other prejudicial error requiring reversal of the sentence that was properly preserved for and raised on appeal. Specifies that if any reviewing court determines that an aggravating factor was not supported by the evidence or is not a proper aggravating factor, the sentence shall be affirmed if the court finds that a remaining aggravating factor found to exist is one allowed under this title and that the remaining aggravating factors substantially outweigh any mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Sets forth procedures for the implementation of the sentence of death. Limits the circumstances under which a person subject to the criminal jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government may be executed under this Act. Prohibits a sentence of death from being carried out upon: (1) a woman while she is pregnant; (2) a person who is mentally retarded; (3) a person who, as a result of mental disability, cannot understand the nature of the proceedings, what such person was tried for, or the reason for or nature of the punishment; or (4) a person who lacks the capacity to recognize or understand facts which would make the punishment unjust or unlawful or the ability to convey such information to counsel or to the court. Provides for appointment of counsel in Federal cases for a defendant or applicant (defendant) charged with a crime with respect to which a sentence of death may be sought or on whom a sentence of death has been imposed, for an offense against the United States, and for any defendant seeking to vacate or set aside a death sentence in a State or Federal habeas corpus proceeding, where the defendant is or becomes financially unable to obtain adequate representation or investigative, expert, or other reasonably necessary services. Entitles such defendant to such other services. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) representation before and after review of judgment; (2) standards for competence of counsel; (3) ancillary services; (4) rates of compensation; and (5) claims of ineffectiveness of counsel. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) deadlines for collateral attacks on judgements imposing a sentence of death; and (2) stays of execution. Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to require the court, in death penalty cases, to permit the defendant or his attorney and the attorney for the Government to conduct direct, oral examination of any of the prospective jurors. Title XXIV: Death Penalty - Federal Death Penalty Act of 1991 - Provides for the imposition of the death penalty for: (1) murder committed by prisoners in Federal prisons; (2) kidnappings which result in the death of any person; (3) hostage takings which result in the death of any person; (4) attempting to kill the President of the United States (if such attempt results in serious bodily injury or comes dangerously close to causing the President's death); (5) murder for hire; (6) murder in the aid of a racketeering activity; (7) international terrorism (where a death is the result of first-degree murder or conduct that constitutes a reckless disregard of human life); (8) genocide; (9) murder of Federal law enforcement officials; (10) murder of specified persons aiding such officials; (11) torture; (12) using, or attempting or conspiring to use, a weapon of mass destruction, if death results; (13) first-degree murders involving the use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility; (14) civil rights murders; (15) intentionally killing a Federal witness in the Witness Protection Program; and (16) drive-by-shootings that result in death. Increases penalties for obstruction of justice offenses against court officers and jurors and for retaliatory killings of witnesses, victims, and informants. Sets forth penalties for: (1) performing or attempting an act of violence against a person at an airport serving international civil aviation which causes or is likely to cause serious injury or death; (2) destroying or seriously damaging the facilities of, or a civil aircraft not in service at, such airport; or (3) disrupting the services of such airport, if such an act endangers or is likely to endanger safety. Amends the Federal Aviation Act to delete a limitation on the applicability of aircraft piracy provisions to situations where the place of takeoff or of actual landing of the aircraft on board which the offense is committed is situated outside the territory of the State of registration of such aircraft. Establishes penalties for acts of violence against maritime navigation, such as seizing control of a ship by force, threat, or intimidation, performing acts of violence against persons on board a ship that are likely to endanger safe navigation, and destroying or seriously damaging maritime navigational facilities that are likely to endanger safe navigation. Sets forth analogous provisions with respect to maritime fixed platforms. Sets forth provisions with respect to U.S. jurisdiction over the territorial sea and over crimes against U.S. nationals on foreign vessels.
Bill· SS. 1733 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Subpart F Tax Simplification Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the tax imposed on a U.S. corporation for a foreign subsidiary's income attributable to the issuance of an insurance contract in connection with an activity in any country other than the subsidiary's home country. Reduces the exception to such tax for certain income subject to high foreign taxes for controlled foreign corporations from 90 percent of the U.S. tax rate to 80 percent. Provides for computing such tax without regard to any net operating losses (including adjustments allowable with respect to depreciation deductions) arising under the laws of the foreign country in years ending before December 3, 1991. Declares that the countries comprising the European Community shall constitute a single country for purposes of computing the income tax of controlled foreign corporations. (Specifies such countries as: Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portgual, Spain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United Kingdom.) Excludes from foreign personal holding company income certain income derived in the active conduct of insurance business.
Bill· SS. 1732 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "leased employee" for pension plan purposes to require: (1) a contract for such services pursuant to which payments are made, directly or indirectly, by the recipient to the leasing organization; (2) the leased employee to perform at least 1,000 hours during a plan year for the recipient; and (3) the leased employee to be under the control of the recipient. Allows a recipient to elect not to treat a leased employee as such an employee for a plan year if such employee performs services for less than 501 hours during such plan year. Provides an alternative safe harbor for organizations that are not principally formed to lease employees.
Bill· SS. 1724 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to take such actions as are necessary to encourage all employers who periodically provide social security payroll withholding statements to separately designate withholdings for the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program (title II of the Social Security Act) as "Social Security" and withholdings for the Hospital Insurance program (part A of the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act) as "Medicare."
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 183 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Urges the Congress to immediately repeal the luxury excise tax on automobiles, aircraft, jewelry, and furs.
Bill· SS. 1722 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor, in a period of a seven or eight percent total unemployment rate in that State (as defined under this Act), to elect to trigger off an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent six calendar months with available data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; (3) seven for a six-percent period; and (4) four for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period of at least 13 weeks. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 6, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligible period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes of such payment. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by Feburuary 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Requires the first Council report to include findings and recommendations on determining eligibility for extended unemployment benefits on the basis of unemployment statistics for regions, States, or subdivisions of States. Designates as emergency requirements, pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), all direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized by this Act (for all fiscal years). Provides that this Act shall not take effect unless, by its enactment date, the President submits to the Congress a written designation of all such direct spending amounts and authorized appropriations as such emergency requirements.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 181 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Declares that the Congress should immediately adopt legislation to repeal the luxury excise tax on boats.
Bill· HRH.R. 3355 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Tax Equity and Antirecession Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to restore the ten-percent investment tax credit. Allows individuals and corporations a deduction of 50 percent of the net capital gain from assets held for at least one year. Increases the deduction for health insurance costs for self-employed individuals from 25 percent to 100 percent. Makes such deduction permanent. Repeals the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to restore IRC provisions relating to income averaging. Modifies the corporate income tax rate by increasing the dollar thresholds per bracket and creating a 40% and 46% bracket for incomes in excess of $500,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. Increases the income tax rate for certain high-income individuals. Removes the ceiling on wages subject to social security taxes and provides a reduction in such taxes.