104th Congress > Senate > Vote 655
Clerk session vote number: 42
Description: A bill making appropriations for fiscal year 1996 to make a further downpayment toward a balanced budget, and for other purposes.
Bill summary: TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Omnibus Appropriations
Title I (sic): Department of Justice
Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies
Title III: The Judiciary
Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies
Title V: Related Agencies
Title VI: General Provisions
Title VII: Rescissions
Title VIII: Prison Litigation Reform
Title I (sic): Fiscal Year 1996 Appropriations
Title II: District of Columbia School Reform
Title I (sic): Department of the Interior
Title II: Related
(...show more)
Agencies
Title III: General Provisions
Title I (sic): Department of Labor
Title II: Department of Health and Human Services
Title III: Department of Education
Title IV: Related Agencies
Title V: General Provisions
Title VI: Additional Appropriations
Title VII: Amendments to the Goals 2000: Educate America
Act
Title I (sic): Department of Veterans Affairs
Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Title III: Independent Agencies
Title IV: Corporations
Title V: General Provisions
Title II (sic): Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal
Year Ending September 30, 1996
Title III: Rescissions and Offsets
Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 - Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 -
Title I: Omnibus Appropriations
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Title I: Department of Justice
- Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes FY 1996 appropriations to the Department of Justice, including funding for the Community Relations Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Federal Prison System.
Makes funding available for: (1) the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department; and (2) Boys & Girls Clubs of America for the establishment of such Boys & Girls Clubs in public housing facilities and other areas.
(Sec. 114) Revises provisions of subtitle A (Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth in Sentencing Incentive Grants) of title II (Prisons) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to eligible States to build or expand: (1) correctional facilities to increase the prison bed capacity for the confinement of persons convicted of a "part 1 violent crime" (murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) or adjudicated delinquent for an act which, if committed by an adult, would be a part 1 violent crime; (2) temporary or permanent correctional facilities, including facilities on military bases, prison barges, and boot camps, for the confinement of convicted nonviolent offenders and criminal aliens for the purpose of freeing suitable existing prison space for the confinement of persons convicted of a part 1 violent crime; and (3) jails.
Authorizes States to enter into regional compacts to carry out such provisions, subject to specified limitations. Specifies that an eligible State may receive either a general grant or a truth-in-sentencing incentive grant, with an exception. Sets forth general eligibility requirements.
Requires a State, to be eligible for a general grant, to submit an application to the Attorney General that provides assurances that such State has: (1), implemented, or will implement, correctional policies and programs, including truth-in-sentencing laws that ensure that violent offenders, including violent juvenile offenders, serve a substantial portion of the sentences imposed, that are designed to provide sufficiently severe punishment for violent offenders, including violent juvenile offenders; and (2) that the prison time served is appropriately related to the determination that the inmate is a violent offender and for a period of time is deemed necessary to protect the public. Requires a State, to be eligible for a truth-in-sentencing incentive grant, to submit such an application demonstrating that: (1) such State has implemented truth-in-sentencing laws that require (or has enacted but has not yet implemented such laws that, within three years, will require) persons convicted of a part 1 violent crime to serve not less than 85 percent of the sentence imposed; or (2) if the State practices indeterminate sentencing, the average time served equals not less than 85 percent of the sentences established for such crimes under the State's sentencing and release guidelines (with exceptions for geriatric prisoners or those whose medical condition precludes them from posing a threat to the public after a public hearing in which representatives of the public and the prisoner's victims have had an opportunity to be heard regarding a proposed release).
Sets forth special rules regarding State: (1) sharing of funds with counties and other units of local government; (2) policies providing for the recognition of the rights and needs of crime victims; (3) use of funds to build or expand juvenile correctional facilities or pretrial detention facilities for juvenile offenders; and (4) use of funds for the privatization of correctional facilities.
Sets forth: (1) formulas for the Attorney General to apply in determining the amount of funds that may be granted to each eligible State; and (2) accountability requirements.
Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions regarding the distribution, limitations on the use of, and matching requirements with respect to, grant funds.
Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) payments for incarceration on tribal lands; (2) payments to eligible States for incarceration of criminal aliens (and authorizes appropriations); (3) support of Federal prisoners in non-Federal institutions (and authorizes appropriations); and (4) reports by the Attorney General to the Congress.
(Sec. 120) Extends the pilot debt collection project through September 30, 1997.
Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies
- Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for the Department of Commerce (Department) and related agencies and activities, including: (1) the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; (2) the International Trade Commission and international trade activities; (3) export administration; (4) the Economic Development Administration; (5) minority business development; (6) economic and statistical analysis and administration; (7) the Bureau of the Census and related activities; (8) the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; (9) public broadcasting facilities, planning, and construction; (10) the Patent and Trademark Office; (11) the National Institute of Standards and Technology and related services and activities; (12) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (including a transfer of funds); (13) various government trust funds related to ocean and water resources development and activities; (14) technology policy and administration; and (15) the Office of the Inspector General.
Rescinds $75 million of amounts available to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the construction of research facilities.
(Sec. 201) Allows advance payments to be made for authorized Department activities only upon certification by Department officials that such payments are in the public interest.
(Sec. 206) Directs the Secretary or other appropriate agency head, if legislation is enacted to dismantle or reorganize the Department, to report to the appropriations committees within 90 days thereafter a plan for transferring funds provided to the Department in this Act to the appropriate successor organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to use any available funds to carry out the legislation, including voluntary separation incentives if duly authorized.
(Sec. 207) States that the transfer of title of the Rutland City Industrial Complex to Hilinex, Vermont, shall not require compensation to the Government for its share of such property.
(Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to: (1) commence and complete a demolition of existing structures and an environmental cleanup of the Central Foundry Property in Holt, Alabama; and (2) transfer such property to the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority.
(Sec. 209) Requires any costs incurred by a department or agency funded under this title resulting from personnel actions taken in response to funding reductions included in this title to be absorbed within the total budgetary resources available to such department or agency.
(Sec. 210) Prohibits funds to develop new fishery management plans approved by a Regional Fishery Management Council until the payment of specified offsetting fees.
Title III: The Judiciary
- Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1996 - Appropriates FY 1996 funds for activities of the Judiciary, including: (1) the Supreme Court; (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; (3) the U.S. Court of International Trade; (4) the Courts of Appeals, district courts, and other judicial services; (5) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (Administrative Office); (6) the Federal Judicial Center; (7) Judicial Retirement Funds; and (8) the United States Sentencing Commission.
(Sec. 305) Revises provisions regarding judicial conferences of the circuits to allow (current law requires) the chief judge to summon judges to and preside at, and every judge to attend and remain throughout, such conferences.
Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies
- Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 - Appropriates funds for FY 1996 for the Department of State and related agencies, activities, and programs, including: (1) diplomatic and consular programs; (2) the Capital Investment Fund; (3) the Office of the Inspector General; (4) payments to the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (5) contributions to international organizations, peacekeeping activities, conferences and commissions; (6) a grant to the Asia Foundation; (7) the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA); (8) the United States Information Agency (USIA); (9) the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship Program Trust Fund; (10) the Israeli Arab Scholarship Program; (11) the American Studies Collections Endowment Fund; (12) international broadcasting operations, including broadcasting to Cuba; and (13) the National Endowment for Democracy.
Sets forth limitations with respect to the contributions by the U.S. for necessary expenses to pay assessed and other expenses of international peacekeeping activities directed to the maintenance or restoration of international peace and security. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds for any new or expanded United Nations peacekeeping mission, except under specified circumstances.
(Sec. 401) Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds appropriated under this Act.
(Sec. 404) Requires the Secretary of State and the Directors of USIA and ACDA, within 90 days after the enactment of legislation consolidating, reorganizing, or downsizing the functions of such department and agencies, to submit to the appropriations committees a proposal for transferring or rescinding funds appropriated herein for such consolidated functions. Authorizes such officials to use any available funds to cover the consolidation costs required by such legislation, including voluntary separation incentives duly authorized.
(Sec. 407) Repeals Federal provisions limiting the use of endowment trust income under the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship Act.
(Sec. 409) Expresses the sense of the Senate that no funds made available under this Act should be used for the deployment of combat-equipped U.S. military personnel for any ground operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, except in specific limited circumstances.
(Sec. 409) Requires costs incurred by a department or agency funded under this title resulting from personnel actions taken in response to funding reductions included in this title to be absorbed within the total budgetary resources available to such department or agency.
(Sec. 410) Amends the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 to authorize the Director of USIA to enter into a contract for the construction of the Voice of America Tinian.
Title V: Related Agencies
- Appropriates funds for FY 1996 for: (1) the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation; (2) the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; (3) the Commission on Civil Rights; (4) the Commission on Immigration Reform; (5) the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (6) the Competitiveness Policy Council; (7) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (8) the Federal Communications Commission; (9) the Federal Maritime Commission; (10) the Federal Trade Commission; (11) the Japan-United States Friendship Commission; (12) the Legal Services Corporation; (13) the Marine Mammal Commission; (14) the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission; (15) the Ounce of Prevention Council; (16) the Securities and Exchange Commission; (17) the Small Business Administration; (18) certain accounts and revolving funds; and (19) the State Justice Institute.
Provides funding for the Legal Services Corporation to: (1) carry out the purposes of the Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974.
(Sec. 501) Places limitations on the use of funds by the Legal Services Corporation. Directs the Corporation to: (1) implement a system of competitive awards of grants and contracts that will apply to all contracts for the delivery of legal assistance awarded by the Corporation after March 31, 1996; and (2) promulgate regulations to implement a competitive selection process for the recipients of such grants and contracts. Prohibits the Corporation from: (1) engaging in litigation that is in any way intended to or has the effect of altering or revising any legislative, judicial, or elective district; (2) attempting in any way to influence the issuance of any executive order or regulation or the passage or defeat of any legislation; (3) bringing a class action suit against the Federal Government or any State; (4) providing assistance to any alien unless the alien is lawfully present in this country or meets other specified requirements; (5) supporting or conducting programs to advocate particular public policies or encourage political activities; or (6) participating in any litigation with respect to abortion or any prisoner. Sets forth prohibited uses of funds appropriated to the Corporation.
Directs that a recipient shall not be prohibited from: (1) using funds derived from a source other than the Legal Services Corporation to comment on public rulemaking; or (2) to respond to a written request for information or testimony from a Federal, State or local agency, legislative body or committee, so long as the response is made only to the parties that make the request and the recipient does not arrange for the request to be made.
Directs the Corporation to report every 60 days to the appropriations committees setting forth the status of certain legal assistance cases and matters brought through the Corporation. Requires an audit (containing specified information) to be conducted of each person or entity receiving financial assistance from the Corporation. Allows the Corporation access to appropriate legal and financial documents for purposes of such audits, while requiring appropriate confidentiality. Requires such audits for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 1996.
(Sec. 510) Provides authorized funds transfers, and transfer limits, for appropriations made to the Small Business Administration.
Title VI: General Provisions
- Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds appropriated by this Act.
(Sec. 607) Expresses the sense of the Congress that equipment and products purchased with funds from this Act should be American-made.
(Sec. 609) Prohibits funds from this Act from being used to pay for costs incurred for: (1) opening or operating any U.S. diplomatic or consular post (post) in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that was not operating on July 11, 1995; (2) expanding any such post that was in operation on such date; or (3) increasing the number of personnel assigned to such post above the level existing on such date, unless the President certifies that the Vietnamese Government is fully cooperating with the United States in activities relating to the investigation and recovery of missing U.S. military personnel from the Vietnam area.
(Sec. 610) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to be used for any United Nations undertaking when: (1) the United Nations undertaking is a peacekeeping mission; (2) such undertaking will involve U.S. armed forces under the command or operation of a foreign national; and (3) the President's military advisors have not submitted to the President a recommendation that such involvement is in U.S. national security interests and the President has not submitted to the Congress such a recommendation.
(Sec. 611) Prohibits the use of funds from this Act to provide specified amenities or personal comforts in the Federal prison system.
(Sec. 613) Prohibits the use of funds for the "USIA Television Marti Program" under the Television Broadcasting to Cuba Act or any other program of U.S. television broadcasts to Cuba.
(Sec. 614) Amends the Federal criminal code to terminate the Advisory Corrections Council.
(Sec. 615) Requires costs incurred by a department or agency funded under this title resulting from personnel actions taken in response to funding reductions included in this title to be absorbed within the total budgetary resources available to such department or agency.
Title VII: Rescissions
- Rescinds specified funds from unobligated balances within certain accounts of: (1) the Department of Justice; (2) the State Department; and (3) USIA.
Title VIII: Prison Litigation Reform
- Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 - Revises Federal criminal code provisions regarding remedies for prison crowding to substitute provisions regarding remedies for prison conditions.
Prohibits: (1) prospective relief in any civil action regarding prison conditions from extending further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right of particular plaintiffs; and (2) the court from granting or approving any such relief unless that relief is narrowly drawn, extends no further than necessary to correct the violation of the Federal right, and is the least intrusive means necessary to correct the violation. Directs the court to give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or the operation of a criminal justice system caused by the relief.
Prohibits the court from ordering prospective relief that requires or permits a government official to exceed his or her authority under, or that otherwise violates, State or local law, unless: (1) Federal law permits such relief to be ordered in violation of State or local law; (2) the relief is necessary to correct the violation of a Federal right; and (3) no other relief will correct the violation of the Federal right.
Authorizes the court to enter a temporary restraining order or an order for preliminary injunctive relief, which shall automatically expire 90 days after its entry, with exceptions. Directs the court to give substantial weight to any adverse impact on public safety or operation of a criminal justice system caused by the preliminary relief, and to respect principles of comity in tailoring any such relief.
Prohibits a prisoner release order from being entered unless: (1) a court has previously entered an order for less intrusive relief that has failed to remedy the deprivation of the Federal right and the defendant has had a reasonable amount of time to comply with the previous court orders; and (2) it is entered by a three-judge court, which finds by clear and convincing evidence that crowding is the primary cause of the violation and no other relief will remedy it.
Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) termination or modification of relief; (2) settlements; (3) State law remedies; (4) procedure for motions affecting prospective relief; and (5) the use of special masters.
(Sec. 803) Amends the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act to require the Attorney General to personally sign any complaint filed, or any certification or motion to intervene made, to initiate a civil action under the Act.
Revises provisions of the Act to prohibit any action from being brought by a prisoner with respect to prison conditions until available administrative remedies are exhausted. Specifies that the failure of a State to adopt or adhere to an administrative grievance procedure shall not constitute the basis for an action. Directs the court to dismiss any such action if satisfied that the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief (and authorizes the court, in such instances, to dismiss the underlying claim without first requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies).
Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) limits on the award of attorney fees; (2) limits on recovery; (3) hearings; and (4) waiver of reply.
(Sec. 804) Amends the Federal judicial code to require a prisoner: (1) of a Federal, State, or local institution seeking to bring a civil action or appeal a judgment in a civil action or proceeding without prepayment of fees or security to submit a certified copy of the prisoner's trust fund account statement for the six-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of appeal, obtained from the appropriate official of each institution at which the prisoner is or was confined; and (2) who brings a civil action or files an appeal in forma pauperis to pay the full amount of a filing fee (and directs the court to assess and, when funds exist, to collect, as a partial payment of any court fees required by law, an initial partial filing fee of 20 percent of the greater of the average monthly deposits to the prisoner's account or the average monthly balance in the prisoner's account for such six-month period).
Sets forth similar provisions regarding the payment of costs by the prisoner.
Revises provisions regarding the appointment of counsel in forma pauperis proceedings to require the court to dismiss the case at any time if the allegation of poverty is untrue or if the action or appeal is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.
Makes an exception to the discharge of debt in a bankruptcy proceeding for a fee imposed by a court for the filing of a case, motion, complaint, or appeal, or for other costs and expenses assessed with respect to such filing, regardless of an assertion of poverty by the debtor or the debtor's status as a prisoner. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) successive claims; (2) judicial screening of complaints in civil actions brought by prisoners against governmental entities; and (3) limits of Federal tort claims by prisoners.
(Sec. 807) Requires any compensatory damages award to a prisoner in connection with a civil action brought against any Federal, State, or local correctional facility or official or agent thereof to be paid directly to satisfy any outstanding restitution orders pending against the prisoner, with the remainder forwarded to the prisoner.
(Sec. 808) Provides for notice to crime victims of pending damage awards.
(Sec. 809) Authorizes the court to revoke earned release credit under specified circumstances.
Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) direct the Bureau of Prisons, in awarding credit towards service of sentence for satisfactory behavior, to consider whether the prisoner has earned or is making satisfactory progress toward earning a high school diploma or an equivalent degree; and (2) provide that credit awarded after the date of enactment of this Act shall vest on the date the prisoner is released from custody.
Title I (sic): Fiscal Year 1996 Appropriations
- District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes appropriations for the District of Columbia Government for FY 1996, including funds for: (1) the Federal payment ($660 million); and (2) the Federal contribution to the Police Officers and Fire Fighters', Teachers', and Judges' Retirement Funds ($52.07 million).
Appropriates specified sums for the District of Columbia out of the District of Columbia general fund for the current fiscal year for: (1) governmental direction and support; (2) economic development and regulation; (3) public safety and justice; (4) the public education system; (5) education reform; (6) human support services; (7) public works; (8) Washington Convention Center Fund transfer payment; (9) repayment of specified loans and interest; (10) repayment of the general fund recovery debt; (11) repayment of interest on short-term borrowing; (12) the Rainy Day Fund; (13) the incentive buyout program; (14) outplacement services; (15) capital outlay (including rescissions); (16) the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund and construction projects; (17) the Lottery and Charitable Games Enterprise Fund; (18) the Cable Television Enterprise Fund; (19) the Starplex Fund; (20) D.C. General Hospital; (21) the D.C. Retirement Board; (22) the Correctional Industries Fund; (23) the Washington Convention Center Enterprise Fund; and (24) the D.C. Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority (Authority). Prohibits the use of revenues from Federal sources to support the Statehood Commission and Statehood Compact Commission. Requires the District to operate a free, 24-hour telephone information service where residents of the area surrounding Lorton prison can obtain information about all prison disturbances.
Requires the Mayor of the District to reduce appropriations and expenditures in specified amounts for: (1) nonpersonal services and personal services, including by decreasing rates of compensation for District government employees through the renegotiation of existing collective bargaining agreements and otherwise, if necessary; and (2) boards and commissions. Requires the Chief Financial Officer of the District, on behalf of the Mayor, to adjust appropriations and expenditures for personal and nonpersonal services, together with the related full-time equivalent positions, in accordance with the direction of the Authority to obtain a specified net reduction within or among one or several of the various appropriation headings in this Act.
(Sec. 101) Sets forth certain uses of and restrictions on the expenditure of appropriations made by this Act.
(Sec. 110) Requires that the annual budget for the District of Columbia government for FY 1997 be transmitted to the Congress by April 15, 1996, or as provided under the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995.
(Sec. 123) Directs the Mayor to submit to the D.C. Council, within 30 days after the end of the first quarter of FY 1996, the FY 1996 revenue estimates.
(Sec. 130) Prohibits: (1) Federal funds provided under this Act from being used by the District to provide for salaries, expenses, or other costs associated with the offices of U.S. Senator or U.S. Representatives under the District of Columbia Statehood Constitutional Convention Initiatives of 1979; (2) any funds appropriated under this from being expended for any abortion unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother or if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (3) any funds made available pursuant to this Act from being used to implement or enforce the District Domestic Partner Act (also called the District of Columbia Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992) or any registration system for unmarried, cohabitating couples whether they are homosexual, lesbian, or heterosexual, including registration for the extension of employment, health, or governmental benefits to such couples on the same basis that such benefits are extended to legally married couples.
(Sec. 135) Amends the District of Columbia Real Property Tax Revision Act of 1974 to require the D.C. Council, if it extends the time to establish rates of taxation on real property for a tax year, to establish such rates by permanent legislation. Changes the date by which the Council should establish the rates from July 15 to October 15. Applies, during a tax year, the rates of taxation for the prior year if the rates are not established and the Council does not extend the time.
Makes the real property tax rates for taxable real property in the District for FY 1996 the same rates in effect for FY 1994. Repeals provisions of the Act which require such rates to be those submitted by the Mayor or the D.C. Council.
(Sec. 137) Specifies reporting requirements for: (1) the Mayor (with respect to actions to effect the directives of the Council in this Act with respect to certain spending reductions); (2) the Board of Education; and (3) the University of the District of Columbia.
(Sec. 144) Prohibits an agency from filling a position wholly funded by appropriations authorized by this Act which is vacant on October 1, 1995, or which becomes vacant during FY 1996, unless the Mayor or the independent agency submits a proposed resolution of intent to fill the vacant position to the D.C. Council for approval or disapproval. Prohibits any reduction in the number of full-time equivalent positions or any reduction-in-force due to privatization or contracting out if the Authority disallows the full-time equivalent position reduction provided in this Act in meeting the specified ceiling of 35,984 for FY 1996. Allows the appropriate personnel authority to fill a vacant position with a District government employee currently occupying a position that is funded with appropriated funds. Exempts local school-based teachers, officers, teachers' aides, or certain D.C. court personnel.
(Sec. 147) Precludes the use of the funds provided in this Act for the renovation of property at 227 7th Street Southeast, Washington, D.C. (commonly known as Eastern Market), except for the regular maintenance and upkeep of its current structure and grounds.
(Sec. 149) Modifies D.C. reductions-in-force procedures to allow a personnel authority to establish lesser competitive areas within an agency on the basis of all or a clearly identifiable segment of an agency's mission or a division or major subdivision of an agency. Authorizes each agency head to identify positions for abolishment. Outlines procedures for abolishment of such positions for FY 1996.
(Sec. 150) Prohibits the total amount appropriated in this Act under the caption "Division of Expenses" for District operating expenses for FY 1996 from exceeding $4.994 billion, of which $165.339 million shall be from intra-District funds. Allows the Mayor to accept, obligate, and expend Federal, private, and other grants received by the District government that are not reflected in the amounts appropriated in this Act. Prohibits acceptance, obligation, and expenditure of such grants until: (1) the Chief Financial Officer submits to the Authority a report setting forth detailed information regarding such grant; and (2) the Authority reviews and approves such action. Prohibits obligation or expenditure from the general fund or other funds of the District government in anticipation of approval or receipt of such grants not subject to this Act. Requires the Chief Financial Officer to report monthly to the D.C. Council and specified congressional committees on detailed information regarding all of such grants subject to this Act.
(Sec. 151) Requires the District, by March 15, 1996, to develop a series of alternative plans for the use and operation of the Lorton Correctional Complex, including plans under which the Complex will be closed, will remain in operation under the District's management, or will be operated under Federal or private management.
(Sec. 152) Prohibits a person from joining in a petition to a District court for a decree of adoption unless the person is the petitioner's spouse. Allows an unmarried person to file a petition for adoption when no other person joins in the petition or where the co-petitioner is the natural parent of the child.
(Sec. 154) Establishes in the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund: (1) the Operation and Maintenance Account to be used solely for funding the operation and maintenance of the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Facility and related waste water treatment works; and (2) an Environmental Protection Agency Grant Account to be used solely for purposes specified under the terms of the grants and appropriations involved.
Title II: District of Columbia School Reform
- District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 -
Subtitle A: District of Columbia Reform Plan
- Requires the Superintendent of the District of Columbia public schools, with the approval of the Board of Education, to submit a long-term reform plan for the District's school system to the Mayor, the D.C. Council, the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, the Commission on Consensus Reform in the District of Columbia public schools (established under subtitle L), and the appropriate congressional committees within 90 days after this Act's enactment and each February 15 thereafter. Requires each plan to be consistent with the financial plan and budget for the District for FY 1996 and each subsequent fiscal year, as the case may be, required under the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995. Specifies areas to be addressed, measurement and deadline requirements, and goals for the plans, including: (1) improving the health and safety of students; and (2) providing after-school programs offering such activities as arts classes, physical fitness programs, and community service.
Subtitle B: Public Charter Schools
- Prescribes the process for filing charter petitions with respect to an eligible applicant seeking to: (1) convert an existing District public, private, or independent school into a public charter school; or (2) establish a public charter school in the District.
(Sec. 2202) Lists the contents of public charter school petitions, including a description of the proposed scope and size of the school's program, any special area of focus for the school, the employment relationship between the school and its employees, and assurances that the school will seek and maintain accreditation and licensing. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the process for approving or denying petitions (permits approval of up to ten petitions for the 1996-1997 academic year and up to five for each year thereafter); (2) duties, powers, and other requirements of such schools (prohibits the schools from charging tuition, fees, or other mandatory payments, except to nonresident students or for field trips or similar activities and requires the schools to be nonsectarian and unaffiliated with a sectarian school or religious institution); (3) the Boards of Trustees of such schools; (4) student admission, enrollment, and withdrawal; (5) transfers, creditable service, and retirement concerns of District public school employees who work for public charter schools; (6) reduced fares on public transportation for the schools' students; and (7) the provision of services, such as facilities maintenance, to public charter schools by the Superintendent of D.C. schools.
(Sec. 2210) Considers a public charter school, for any fiscal year, to be a local educational agency (LEA) for purposes of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and makes the school eligible for assistance under ESEA if the ratio of low-income students to all students in the school equals or exceeds the lowest of such ratio for an eligible public school. Provides for the allocation of ESEA assistance between eligible District public charter schools and public schools for FY 1996 through 1998. Requires the Secretary of Education to calculate such allocations for FY 1999 and there after according to a specified formula based on the numbers of low-income students served. Prohibits the Board of Education from directing a public charter school in the school's use of such funds. Exempts the public charter schools from specified ESEA provisions and from District property and sales taxes.
Directs each public charter school to elect to be treated as an LEA or a District public school for purposes of specified provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
(Sec. 2211) Outlines the powers and duties of eligible chartering authorities.
(Sec. 2212) Requires a charter granted to a public charter school to be in force for a five-year period. Allows renewal of such charter for an unlimited number of times (each for a five-year period).
(Sec. 2213) Permits an eligible chartering authority that has granted a charter to a public charter school to revoke the charter if the authority determines that the school has committed a violation of applicable laws or a material violation of the conditions, terms, standards, or procedures set forth in the charter.
(Sec. 2214) Establishes a Public Charter School Board within the District government.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996 through 2000.
(Sec. 2215) Encourages the following Federal agencies and federally established entities to explore whether it is feasible for the agency or entity to establish one or more public charter schools and to report such determination on the feasibility to the appropriate congressional committees: (1) the Library of Congress; (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Museum; (3) the Drug Enforcement Administration; (4) the National Science Foundation; (5) the Department of Justice; (6) the Department of Defense; (7) the Department of Education; and (8) the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Zoological Park, the National Museum of American History, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the National Gallery of Art.
Subtitle C: World Class Schools Task Force, Core Curriculum, Content Standards, Assessments, and Promotion Gates
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Part 1: World Class Schools Task Force, Core Curriculum, Content Standards, and Assessments
- Authorizes the Superintendent to award a grant to a World Class Schools Task Force to enable the Task Force to recommend to the Superintendent, the Board of Education, and the District of Columbia Goals Panel: (1) content standards in the core academic subjects that are developed by working with the District community (requires such standards to be developed within 12 months after this Act's enactment); (2) a core curriculum (which includes the teaching of computer skills) developed by working with the D.C. community; (3) district-wide assessments for measuring student achievement in accordance with such content standards; and (4) model professional development programs for teachers using the standards and curriculum.
Encourages the Task Force, to the extent practicable, to develop district-wide assessments that permit comparison among: (1) individual D.C. public schools and public charter schools and individual students attending such schools; and (2) students of other nations.
(Sec. 2415) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996.
Part 2: Promotion Gates
- Requires the Superintendent, within one year of the adoption of the assessments, to establish and implement promotion gates: (1) for mathematics, reading, and writing for at least one grade level from kindergarten through grade four, including at least grade four, and to establish dates for establishing such other promotion gates for other subject areas; (2) with respect to at least one grade level from grade five through grade eight, including at least grade eight; and (3) with respect to at least one grade level from grade nine through 12, including grade 12.
Subtitle D: Per Capita District of Columbia Public School and Public Charter School Funding
- Requires the Mayor, for FY 1997 and each fiscal year thereafter, to make annual payments to the Board of Education for the operating expenses of the District public schools and charter schools from the general fund of the District in accordance with a specified formula based on the number of students in public schools and public charter schools.
(Sec. 2502) Sets forth provisions which require reports by: (1) each public school and charter school to the Mayor and the Board of Education of the calculation of the number of students enrolled in each grade from kindergarten through grade 12; (2) the Board of Education to the Authority, the Mayor, the D.C. Council, the Consensus Commission, the Comptroller General of the United States, and appropriate congressional committees which summarize the most recent calculations; and (3) the Authority on an independent audit of such initial calculations.
(Sec. 2503) Sets forth provisions providing for transition funding for District public charter schools.
Subtitle E: School Facilities Repair and Improvement - Part 1: School Facilities
- Requires the Administrator of the General Services Administration to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement or Understanding with the Superintendent regarding the terms under which the Administrator will provide technical assistance and related services with respect to District public schools facilities management.
Authorizes the Administrator to accept and use a conditioned gift made for the express purpose of repairing or improving the District public schools, except that the Administrator shall not be required to carry out such repairs or improvements unless he or she accepts a donation sufficient to cover the costs of the repairs or improvements.
(Sec. 2552) Requires the Mayor and the D.C. Council, within 24 months after the Agreement is signed and in consultation with the Administrator, the Authority, the Board of Education, and the Superintendent to: (1) design and implement a comprehensive long-term program for the repair and improvement, and maintenance and management, of the District public school facilities; and (2) designate a new or existing agency or authority within the District government to administer the program.
Part 2: Waivers
- Allows voluntary donation of materials and services for the repair and improvement of District school facilities.
Waives, with respect to any contractor, subcontractor, and any other group, entity, or individual who donates materials and services for the repair or improvement of a District public school facility, all District fees and all requirements contained in the document entitled "District of Columbia Public Schools Standard Contract Provisions" published by the District public schools for use with construction or maintenance projects for purposes of repair and improvement of such facilities for a period beginning on this Act's enactment date and ending 24 months after such date.
Part 3: Gifts, Donations, Bequests, and Devises
- Allows a District public school or public charter school to accept directly from any person a gift, donation, bequest, or devise of any property, real or personal, without regard to any District law or regulation.
Subtitle F: Partnerships with Business
- Requires the Superintendent to provide a grant to a private, nonprofit corporation which shall: (1) establish the District Education and Learning Technologies Advancement Council; (2) in conjunction with the Superintendent, students, parents, and teachers, implement strategies to ensure access to state-of-the-art educational technology within the District public schools and public charter schools; (3) assist the Superintendent in acquiring the necessary equipment, including computer hardware and software, to establish an electronic data transfer system and in training District public school employees in using such equipment; (4) establish the District Employment and Learning Center to serve as a regional institute providing job training and employment assistance; (5) establish initiatives with the District public schools and public charter schools, appropriate governmental agencies, and businesses and other private entities to facilitate the integration of rigorous academic studies with workforce preparation programs in District public schools and public charter schools; (6) establish a consortium for the purpose of establishing a program for the professional development of teachers and school administrators employed by the District public schools and public charter schools; (7) provide matching funds, or in-kind contributions, or a combination thereof, for the purposes of carrying out such duties; and (8) establish the Jobs for District of Columbia Graduates Program to assist District public schools and public charter schools in organizing and implementing a school-to-work transition system to give priority to providing assistance to at-risk and disadvantaged youths.
(Sec. 2705) Requires the corporation, to the extent practicable, to provide matching funds, or in-kind contributions, or a combination thereof, for the purposes of carrying out such duties.
(Sec. 2708) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996 through 1998.
(Sec. 2709) Terminates on October 1, 1998, the authority to provide assistance to the corporation or any other entity established by it. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the corporation's activities under this Act should continue to be carried out after such date with resources made available from the private sector; and (2) the corporation should provide oversight and coordination for such activities after such date.
Subtitle G: Management and Fiscal Accountability; Preservation of School-Based Resources
- Requires the Board of Education: (1) to enter into a contract for academic year 1995 through 1996 and each succeeding academic year for the provision of all food services operations and security services for District public schools, unless the Superintendent determines that it is not feasible and provides such reasons in writing to the Board and to the Authority; and (2) for academic year 1995 through 1996, to consult with the Authority on the development of new management and data systems, as well as training of personnel to use and manage the systems in areas of budget, finance, personnel and human resources, management information services, procurement, supply management, and other systems recommended by the Authority.
(Sec. 2752) Sets forth provisions with respect to the Board of Education regarding: (1) annual budgets and budget revisions; (2) read-only access to its internal financial management systems and all other data bases to designated staff of the Mayor, the Council, the Authority, and appropriate congressional committees; and (3) development of its FY 1997 budget request.
Subtitle H: Establishment and Organization of the Commission on Consensus Reform in the District of Columbia Public Schools
- Establishes within the District government a Commission on Consensus Reform in the District of Columbia Public Schools to: (1) identify and suggest ways to remove obstacles to implementation of the long-term reform plan; (2) assist in developing programs that lower the dropout rate and that ensure that public school students achieve basic literacy, critical thinking, and communication skills; (3) assist in developing district-wide skills assessments; (4) make recommendations to improve community, parent, and business involvement in public schools; (5) recommend ways to increase student involvement and attention; and (6) assist in establishing procedures that ensure that every student is provided necessary employment skills, including the development of individual career paths.
(Sec. 2854) Requires any student who is required to serve a suspension from classes at a District public school outside the school, to perform community service.
(Sec. 2855) Allows the Commission to examine and request the Inspector General of the District of Columbia or the Authority to audit: (1) Board of Education records to ensure, monitor, and evaluate the Board's performance with respect to compliance with the long-term reform plan and such plan's overall educational achievement; and (2) records of any public charter school to assure, monitor and evaluate the performance of the school with respect to the content standards and district-wide assessment.
Subtitle I: Parent Attendance at Parent-Teacher Conferences
- Authorizes the Mayor to implement a policy which encourages all District residents with children attending a District public school to attend and participate in at least one parent-teacher conference every 90 days during the academic year.
Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 -
Title I (sic): Department of the Interior
- Makes appropriations for the FY 1996 operations of the Department of the Interior.
Makes available funding for activities respecting the determination of endangered species and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Directs that no monies appropriated under this Act or any other law shall be used by the Secretary of the Interior to issue final determinations until such time as legislation reauthorizing such Act is enacted or until the end of FY 1996, whichever is earlier, except that monies appropriated under this Act may be used to: (1) delist or classify species; and (2) issue emergency listings.
Prohibits this Act's funds being spent by the National Park Service for activities in direct response to the United Nations Biodiversity Initiative in the United States.
Authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to transfer NPS funds to State, local, and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations to carry out NPS programs.
Directs the National Park Service to conduct a Feasibility Study for a northern access route into Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Restricts or regulates: (1) the use of this Act's research resources funds regarding the Endangered Species Act; and (2) activities and funding relating to the National Biological Survey.
Provides funding for the closure of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, transferring specified functions to the Secretary of Energy.
Sets forth the uses and limitations for such appropriations, including use of Bureau of Indian Affairs school system funds.
Provides for a report concerning Indian tribes and their compliance with provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
(Sec. 109) Repeals the Outer Banks Protection Act.
(Sec. 118) Sets forth provisions affecting the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands concerning infrastructure assistance.
Title II: Related Agencies
- Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service. Prohibits the use of funds to implement any reorganization or "reinvention" of the Forest Service.
Makes appropriations for the Department of Energy for, among other things, fossil energy research and development, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and the SPR Account.
Makes appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service for Indian health services and facilities.
Appropriates funds to: (1) the Department of Education for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education for Indian Education; (2) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation; (3) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (4) the Smithsonian Institution; (5) construction and improvements at the National Zoological Park; (6) restoration and repair of buildings owned or occupied by the Smithsonian Institution; (7) the National Gallery of Art; (8) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and (9) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Makes appropriations for: (1) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (2) the Institute of Museum Services; (3) the Commission of Fine Arts; (4) National Capital arts and cultural affairs; (5) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (6) the National Capital Planning Commission; (7) the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission; and (8) the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Requires that funds made available in previous years for the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation be available for operating and administrative expenses and for the orderly closure of the Corporation.
Sets forth uses and prohibitions on such funds.
Title III: General Provisions
- Sets forth uses and limitations of funds appropriated by this Act.
(Sec. 307) Requires expenditures under this Act to comply with the Buy American Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that entities receiving Federal assistance should purchase only American-made equipment and products. Prohibits Federal contracts with persons found to have falsely labeled a product with a "Made in America" inscription.
(Sec. 312) Prohibits any funds from this Act from being used for the AmeriCorps program.
(Sec. 313) Mandates dissolution of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation.
(Sec. 314) Regulates use of any Act's funds for the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project.
(Sec. 315) Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a fee program to demonstrate the feasibility of user-generated cost recovery for the operation and maintenance of recreation areas or sites and habitat enhancement projects on Federal lands.
(Sec. 322) Prohibits, with exceptions, use of this Act's funds to accept or process applications for a patent for any mining or mill site claim located under the general mining laws.
(Sec. 324) Prohibits funding the Office of Forestry and Economic Development after December 31, 1995.
(Sec. 325) Provides for a one year continuation of the Tongass Land Management Plan.
(Sec. 326) Provides for a land exchange in Washington State. Authorizes appropriations as necessary to carry out this Act.
(Sec. 327) Provides for the establishment of the Timber Sales Pipeline Restoration Fund.
(Sec. 328) Places limitations on the type of grant awards that can be made by the National Endowment for the Arts.
(Sec. 329) Delays the implementation of regulations concerning livestock grazing on lands administered by the Forest Service.
(Sec. 330) Increases penalties for the use of a hazardous or injurious device on Federal or Indian lands.
(Sec. 331) Prohibits, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the use of funds available to the National Endowment for the Arts pursuant to this Act to promote, disseminate, sponsor, or produce any material or performance that: (1) denigrates the religious objects or religious beliefs of the adherents of a particular religion; or (2) depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual or excretory activities or organs. Requires that this prohibition be strictly applied without regard to the content or viewpoint of the material or performance.
(Sec. 333) Prohibits using this Act's funds to review or modify sourcing areas previously approved under specified provisions of the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 or to enforce or implement specified Federal regulations. Prohibits adoption of policies that would restrain domestic transportation or processing of timber from private lands or impose additional accountability requirements on any timber.
(Sec. 336) Prohibits funds made available to the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture by this or any other act to be used to issue or implement regulations, rules, or policies pursuant to Title VII of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to assert jurisdiction, management, or control over navigable waters transferred to the State of Alaska.
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 -
Title I (sic): Department of Labor
- Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for agencies within the Department of Labor. Rescinds unobligated advances to the Employment Security Administration account of the Unemployment Trust Fund.
Provides funding for employment-related activities of the 1996 Paralympic Games for the period July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996.
Prohibits the use of funds: (1) for the participation of the Solicitor of Labor in a review in any U.S. Court of Appeals of any decision made by the Benefits Review Board under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act; and (2) by the Secretary of Labor after September 12, 1996, to review a decision under such Act that has been appealed and that has been pending for more than 12 months.
(Sec. 102) Prohibits the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from using funds to promulgate or issue any proposed or final standard or guideline regarding ergonomic protection.
Title II: Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services. Authorizes the Secretary to use amounts available for grants based on relative need of area (section 2603 grants) as necessary to ensure that FY 1996 grant awards made to eligible areas that received such grants in FY 1995 are not less than 99 percent of the FY 1995 level.
Rescinds appropriations for low income home energy assistance. Makes FY 1997 appropriations for such assistance. Provides a supplemental appropriation of $300 million for low income energy assistance and makes such funds available only after the President submits a formal budget request to the Congress that includes designation of the entire amount as an emergency requirement.
Provides limitations on the use of appropriated funds.
Permits expenses from the public health and social services emergency fund to be used for clinical trials in applying imaging technology used for missile guidance and target recognition to new uses improving the early detection of breast cancer.
(Sec. 207) Requires a transfer of funds for the security protection of the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(Sec. 208) Makes available appropriations for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention available for FY 1996.
(Sec. 212) Permits the Director of the Office of AIDS Research, National Institutes of Health, in consultation with the Director, National Institutes of Health, to transfer up to three percent among Institutes from the total amounts identified in each Institute for AIDS research.
(Sec. 214) Provides for the reimbursement of certain claims where: (1) payment has been made by a State to a State-operated psychiatric hospital for services provided directly by the hospital or by providers under contract or agreement with the hospital under the Medicaid Program; and (2) the Secretary has notified the State that the Secretary intends to defer the determination of claims for reimbursement related to such payment.
Title III: Department of Education
- Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1996 - Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for agencies and programs within the Department of Education, including certain activities authorized by the Educate America Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of the Goals 2000. Authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Education to grant up to six additional State educational agencies authority to waive Federal statutory or regulatory requirements for FY 1996 and for succeeding fiscal years.
Requires that funds made available under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for regional resource and Federal centers shall be distributed among each of the regional centers and the Federal center in proportion to the amount that each such center received in FY 1995.
Provides funding to carry out literacy programs for incarcerated individuals under the National Literacy Act of 1991.
Requires that certain scholarships made under the Higher Education Act shall be prorated to maintain the same number of new scholarships in FY 1996 as in FY 1995.
Permits Howard University, at its discretion, to use funds for the endowment program.
Requires that funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act be used for: (1) elementary mathematics and science equipment projects under the fund for the improvement of education; and (2) to extend star schools partnership projects that received continuation grants in FY 1995.
Provides funding to carry out titles I, II, III, and IV of the Library Services and Construction Act. Continues funding of an existing demonstration project making information available for public use by connecting the Internet to a multistate consortium.
Sets forth general provisions relating to the use of appropriated funds.
(Sec. 301) Prohibits appropriated funds from being used to transport teachers or students in order to: (1) overcome racial imbalance in any school or school system; or (2) carry out a racial desegregation plan.
(Sec. 303) Prohibits the use of funds to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in the public schools.
(Sec. 306) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award any unobligated funds that remain unobligated to local educational agencies for the construction of public elementary or secondary schools on Indian reservations or in school districts.
Title IV: Related Agencies
- Makes appropriations for FY 1996 for the following agencies or programs: (1) Armed Forces Retirement Home; (2) Corporation for National and Community Service; (3) Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (4) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (5) Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (6) National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (7) National Council on Disability; (8) National Education Goals Panel; (9) National Labor Relations Board; (10) National Mediation Board; (11) Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (12) Physician Payment Review Commission; (13) Prospective Payment Assessment Commission; (14) Social Security Administration; (15) Railroad Retirement Board; and (16) United States Institute of Peace.
Provides funding for expenses necessary for the Corporation for National and Community Service to carry out the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973.
Provides funding for a demonstration program to foster economic independence among people with disabilities through disability sport, in connection with the Tenth Paralympic Games.
Title V: General Provisions
- Sets forth provisions on the use of the appropriated funds.
(Sec. 505) Prohibits the use of funds to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug unless the Surgeon General determines that such programs are effective in preventing the spread of HIV and do not encourage the use of illegal drugs.
(Sec. 506) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and funds purchased under this Act should be American-made.
(Sec. 507) Imposes a disclosure requirement on grantees receiving Federal funds.
(Sec. 508) Prohibits the use of funds to perform abortions except to save the life of the mother or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
(Sec. 510) Sets forth limitations on the use of appropriated funds.
(Sec. 513) Cancels a specified amount which is to be allocated by the Office of Management and Budget and is to be available to Agencies during FY 1996 for salaries and expenses, except the foregoing shall not apply to the Food and Drug Administration and the Indian Health Service.
(Sec. 519) Provides for an optional, alternative Medicaid payment method.
Requires the compilation of data concerning female genital mutilation.
Title VI: Additional Appropriations
- Makes supplemental appropriations for the Health Care Financing Administration and the Office of the Secretary.
Title VII: Amendments to the Goals 2000: Educate America Act
- Amends the Goals 2000: Educate America Act to eliminate the National Education Standards and Improvement Council and opportunity-to-learn standards.
Provides for direct grants to local educational agencies (LEA).
Prohibits the Act from being construed to require an LEA or school, as a condition of receiving assistance, to: (1) provide outcomes-based education; or (2) provide school-based health clinics or any other health or social service.
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 -
Title I (sic): Department of Veterans Affairs
- Makes appropriations for FY 1996 to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Provides for the use of such appropriations. Sets forth various administrative provisions, including specified limitations, with respect to availability, transfers, and use of such appropriations.
(Sec. 103) Prohibits availability of such appropriations for: (1) purchase of any site for or toward the construction of any new hospital or home (except the appropriations for construction of major or minor projects or the parking revolving fund); and (2) hospitalization or examination of any persons except beneficiaries entitled under the laws bestowing such benefits to veterans, unless reimbursement is made to the appropriation at rates fixed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(Sec. 107) Authorizes the Secretary to transfer jurisdiction and control of certain land in Wichita, Kansas, to the Secretary of Transportation.
(Sec. 108) Authorizes four major medical facility projects.
Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Makes appropriations for FY 1996 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Provides for the use of such appropriations.
(Sec. 201) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA), as amended by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Additional Disaster Assistance, for Anti-terrorism Initiatives, for Assistance in the Recovery from the Tragedy that Occurred at Oklahoma City, and Rescissions Act, 1995, to authorize public housing agencies to provide modernization assistance to mixed-income developments.
(Sec. 202) Provides for conversion of certain public housing to vouchers.
Requires each PHA to: (1) identify any distressed public housing developments that meet specified criteria; and (2) develop and carry out a plan in conjunction with the Secretary for their removal from the PHA inventory and the annual contributions contract, over a period of up to five years (with possible extensions for up to another five years in certain circumstances).
Directs the Secretary to make authority available to a PHA to provide section 8 tenant-based assistance to families residing in any development that is removed from the PHA inventory and the annual contributions contract.
Requires each conversion plan to require the PHA to notify and counsel families residing in such a development, and ensure that they are offered tenant-based or project-based assistance and relocated, as necessary, to other decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable housing which is, to the maximum extent practicable, housing of their choice.
(Sec. 203) Repeals a "take one-take all" requirement under USHA that a housing owner who accepts a Section 8 voucher holder as a tenant must accept all others. Exempts housing unit owners participating in the certificate and voucher programs from certain notice requirements relating to rent increases or termination of their assistance payment contracts with a PHA. Limits certain requirements to the duration of a lease.
(Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary to conduct a demonstration program under which up to 30 selected PHAs (including Indian housing authorities) may administer the public or Indian housing program and the section 8 housing assistance payments program in ways which are designed to reduce costs and achieve greater cost-effectiveness in Federal expenditures, provide incentives for heads of households to become economically self-sufficient, and increase housing choices for lower-income families.
(Sec. 205) Amends the Multifamily Housing Finance Improvement Act, under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, to extend the risk-sharing and housing finance agency pilot demonstration programs but reduce the number of units involved in such programs during FY 1996.
(Sec. 206) Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to delegate, during FY 1996, to one or more entities the authority to carry out some or all of the Secretary's responsibilities and functions in connection with the foreclosure of HUD-held mortgages under the National Housing Act (NHA).
(Sec. 207) Authorizes the Secretary, during FY 1996, to sell or otherwise transfer multifamily mortgages held by the Secretary under the National Housing Act to State housing finance agencies, in connection with the risk-sharing or the housing finance agency pilot demonstration program under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, without regard to certain unit limitations.
(Sec. 208) Amends section 8 of the USHA to provide for the transfer of budget authority. Directs the Secretary, if a section 8 assistance contract, other than a contract for tenant-based assistance, is terminated, not renewed, or expires, to transfer any budget authority remaining in that contract to another contract, in order to provide continued assistance to eligible families, including those receiving the benefit of the project-based assistance at the time of the termination.
(Sec. 209) Makes certain amendments (made by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995) relating to documentation of multifamily refinancings under the National Housing Act effective during FY 1996 and thereafter.
(Sec. 210) Directs the Secretary, in FY 1996 and 1997, to initiate a demonstration program with respect to multifamily projects: (1) whose owners agree to participate; (2) whose mortgages are insured under the NHA and assisted under section 8 of the USHA; and (3) whose present section 8 rents are, in the aggregate, exceed the fair market rent of the locality in which the project is located. Requires these programs to be designed to test the feasibility and desirability of the goal of ensuring, to the maximum extent practicable, that the debt service and operating expenses, including adequate reserves, attributable to such multifamily projects can be supported with or without mortgage insurance under the NHA and with or without above-market rents and utilizing project-based assistance or, with the consent of the property owner, tenant-based assistance, while taking into account the need for assistance of low and very low-income families in such projects. Authorizes the Secretary to use arrangements with third parties, under which the Secretary may provide for their assumption of some or all of the Secretary's functions, obligations, and benefits. Sets forth goals and demonstration approaches for such programs.
Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) manage and dispose of multifamily properties and multifamily mortgages for properties assisted under section 8 with rents above 110 percent of fair market rents; and (2) delegate to one or more entities the authority to carry out some or all of the Secretary's functions and responsibilities in connection with the foreclosure of mortgages held under the NHA.
Authorizes the Secretary, subject to the consent of specified parties, to: (1) remove, relinquish, extinguish, modify, or agree to the removal of any mortgage, regulatory agreement, project-based assistance contract, use agreement, or restriction that had been imposed or required by the Secretary, including restrictions on distributions of income which would interfere with the ability of the project to operate without above market rents; (2) require an owner of a property assisted under the section 8 new construction-substantial rehabilitation program to apply any accumulated residual receipts toward effecting program purposes; (3) enter into contracts to purchase reinsurance, or enter into participations or otherwise transfer economic interest in contracts of insurance or in the premiums paid, or due to be paid, on such insurance to third parties; (4) offer project-based assistance with rents at or below fair market rents for the locality and negotiate other terms acceptable to the Secretary and the project owner; (5) offer to pay all or a portion of the project's debt service, including payments monthly from the appropriate Insurance Fund, for the full remaining term of the insured mortgage; (6) forgive and cancel any mortgage debt insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that a demonstration program property cannot carry at market rents while bearing full operating costs; and (7) for demonstration program properties that cannot carry full operating costs (excluding debt service) at market rents, approve project-based rents sufficient to carry such full operating costs (and offer to pay the full debt service in the specified manner).
Directs the Secretary to develop procedures to provide appropriate and timely notice to local government officials, the community, and the tenants of the project.
Limits such demonstration program authority with respect to mortgages to not more than 15,000 units. Prohibits the expansion of such demonstration until specified reports are submitted to the Congress.
Appropriates funds for the cost of modifying loans held or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
(Sec. 212) Requires all remaining obligated and unobligated balances in the Renewal of Expiring Section 8 Subsidy Contracts account on September 30, 1995, to be transferred to and merged with the obligated and unobligated balances, respectively, of the Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing account.
(Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary to cancel the indebtedness of the Hubbard Hospital Authority of Hubbard, Texas, of the Groveton Texas Hospital Authority, and of the Hepzibah Public Service District of Hepzibah, West Virginia, relating to specified public facilities loans under title II of the Housing Amendments of 1955.
(Sec. 214) Determines the Paul Mirabile Center, San Diego, California, to satisfy HUD continuum care requirements. Treats such Center as entirely residential rental property consisting solely of residential units used exclusively to facilitate the transition of homeless individuals to independent living within 24 months.
(Sec. 215) Limits to no more than eight Assistant Secretaries and 77 schedule C and 20 non-career senior executive service employees the number of such Assistant Secretaries and employees in HUD by the end of FY 1996.
(Sec. 216) Requires specified funds to be made available to: (1) the County of San Bernardino in California to assist with the expansion of the Los Padrinos Gang Intervention Program and the Unity Home Domestic Violence Shelter (from remaining funds made available to Bethlehem House in Highland, California, for site planning and loan acquisition); and (2) the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, for the renovation and rehabilitation of an industrial building (from specified funds for removal of asbestos from an abandoned public school building in that city).
(Sec. 217) Amends the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992 to revise eligibility criteria to determine which housing qualifies for lead-based paint abatement grants.
(Sec. 218) Amends USHA to repeal the six-year limitation on the extension period for Federal sharing of utility cost savings with PHAs under the program of annual contributions for operation of low-income housing.
(Sec. 219) Amends NHA, with respect to the housing program for moderate income and displaced families, to extend through FY 1997 the period for mortgage note sales.
(Sec. 220) Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1988 to repeal the prohibition (Frost-Leland) against the use of funds for demolishing certain historic buildings in Dallas and Houston, Texas.
(Sec. 222) Prohibits the use of any funds in this Act: from being used: (1) by the Secretary to impose any sanction or penalty because of the enactment of any State or local law or regulation declaring English as the official language; or (2) for lobbying activities as prohibited by law.
(Sec. 223) Prohibits the use of any funds provided in this Act during FY 1996 to investigate or prosecute under the Fair Housing Act any otherwise lawful activity engaged in by one or more persons, including the filing or maintaining of non-frivolous legal action, that is engaged in solely for the purposes of achieving or preventing action by a Government official, entity, or court of competent jurisdiction.
(Sec. 224) Prohibits the use of any funds provided in this Act to take any enforcement action with respect to a complaint of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act on the basis of familial status and which involves an occupancy standard established by the housing provider, except to the extent that it is found that there has been discrimination in contravention of the standards provided a specified HUD Memorandum, or until such time that HUD issues a final rule.
(Sec. 225) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 with respect to the eligibility of housing reconstruction costs for expenditure of Community Development Block Grant funds.
Title III: Independent Agencies
- Makes appropriations for FY 1996 to the: (1) American Battle Monuments Commission; (2) Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; (3) Consumer Product Safety Commission; (4) Corporation for National and Community Service; (5) Court of Veterans Appeals; (6) Department of Defense-Civil for cemeterial expenses, Army; (7) Environmental Protection Agency; (8) Executive Office of the President for the Office of Science and Technology Policy; (9) Council on Environmental Quality and Office of Environmental Quality; (10) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); (11) General Services Administration for the Consumer Information Center; (12) Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Consumer Affairs; (13) National Aeronautics and Space Administration; (14) National Credit Union Administration for the obligations of the Central Liquidity Facility; (15) National Science Foundation; (16) Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation; and (17) Selective Service System.
Authorizes exemption from categorical pretreatment standards under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, if specified conditions are met, of an industrial discharger that is a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility which discharged to the Kalamazoo Water Reclamation Plant (an advanced wastewater treatment plant with activated carbon) before enactment of this Act.
Requires the Director of FEMA to promulgate a methodology, based on specified criteria, for assessment and collection of fees applicable to persons subject to the FEMA radiological emergency preparedness regulations. Authorizes such fee assessment and collection only during FY 1996.
(Sec. 301) Prohibits EPA use of any funds provided in this Act to: (1) carry out any final action by the EPA Administrator or delegate for promulgation of a rule concerning any new standard for radon in drinking water; (2) sign, promulgate, implement or enforce a proposed regulation relating to individual foreign refinery baseline requirements for reformulated gasoline; or (3) implement specified requirements of the Clean Air Act with respect to any moderate nonattainment area in which the average daily winter temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Declares that this last prohibition does not preclude EPA assistance to the State of Alaska to make progress toward meeting the carbon monoxide standard in such areas and to resolve remaining issues regarding the use of oxygenated fuels in such areas.
Title IV: Corporations
- Authorizes certain corporations and agencies of HUD to make commitments without regard to fiscal year limitations as necessary to carry out provisions under the Government Corporation Control Act. Allows any collections by such corporations and agencies to be used for new loan or mortgage purchase commitments to the extent provided under this Act, with specified exceptions.
Makes funds available for the Office of Inspector General of the Resolution Trust Corporation.
Title V: General Provisions
- Specifies certain uses, limitations, and prohibitions on uses of funds appropriated by this Act.
(Sec. 514) Requires FY 1996 pay raises to be absorbed within the levels appropriated in this Act.
(Sec. 516) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds made available under this Act should be American-made.
(Sec. 517) Prohibits the use of funds to implement any cap on reimbursements to grantees for indirect costs, except as published in a specified Office of Management and Budget Circular.
(Sec. 519) Requires the Director of FEMA to sell the disaster housing inventory of mobile homes and trailers, and deposit the proceeds in the Treasury.
(Sec. 520) Requires that funds necessary to terminate the Office of Consumer Affairs be made available from funds appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services for FY 1996.
Title II (sic): Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 1996
- Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1996 -
Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Agriculture for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Consolidated Farm Service Agency, the Rural Housing and Community Development Service, and the Rural Utilities Service.
Prescribes that if the Secretary of Agriculture determines that the cost of land and farm structures restoration exceeds the fair market value of an affected cropland, the Secretary may use sufficient amounts from funds provided to the Natural Resources Conservation Service to accept bids from willing sellers to provide conservation easements for such cropland inundated by floods as provided by the Wetlands Reserve Program.
Chapter 1A: Food and Drug Export Reform
- FDA Export Reform and Enhancement Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to revise requirements regarding the importing and exporting of any component of a drug, biological product (including a partially processed biological product), device, food additive, color additive, or dietary supplement.
Chapter 2: Departments of Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
- Makes supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Commerce for the Economic Development Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (for "construction" for emergency expenses resulting from flooding in the Pacific Northwest); and (2) the Small Business Administration for the Disaster Loans Program Account.
Chapter 3: Department of Defense-Civil Department of the Army
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the: (1) Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers-Civil for operations and maintenance and for flood control and coastal emergencies; (2) the Department of the Interior for the Bureau of Reclamation; and (3) Department of Energy.
Chapter 4: Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the President for: (1) the unanticipated needs for defense of Israel against terrorism; and (2) grants to Jordan under the Foreign Military Financing Program.
Chapter 5: Department of the Interior and Related Agencies
- Makes supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of the Interior for the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for technical assistance to the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies on fish and wildlife habitat issues related to damage caused by floods, storms, and other acts of nature, and to repair damage caused by hurricanes, floods, and other acts of nature and to protect natural resources in the Devils Lake Basin; (2) the National Park Service; (3) the U.S. Geological Survey; (4) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and (5) for territorial and international affairs.
Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service.
Chapter 6: Department of Defense
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Defense for military construction for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program.
(Sec. 2601) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to convey, without consideration, specified lands to Hale County, Alabama.
Chapter 7: Department of Defense-Military
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Defense for military personnel, operation and maintenance, and other procurement (for the Air Force). Provides for the transfer of funds.
(Sec. 2703) Sets forth provisions concerning C-17 aircraft.
(Sec. 2707) Repeals provisions relating to the mandatory discharge or retirement of members of the armed forces who are infected with the HIV-1 virus.
Chapter 8: Department of Transportation
- Makes supplemental appropriations to the Department of Transportation for the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration.
Limits funds from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for the Payments to the Air Carriers program in FY 1996.
Makes supplemental appropriations to the Panama Canal Commission.
Chapter 9: Treasury, Postal Service and General Government, Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President
- Makes supplemental appropriations for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Chapter 10: Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies
- Makes supplemental appropriations: (1) for community development grants for emergency expenses and repairs related to recent presidentially declared disaster areas, including grants for rental subsidy contracts under the section 8 existing housing certificate program and the housing voucher program of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; and (2) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief.
(Sec. 21101) Permits the Secretary of any Department, in administering funds provided for domestic assistance to waive or specify alternative requirements for any provision of any statute or regulation that the Secretary administers in connection with the obligation by the Secretary or any use of the receipt of these funds if such waiver is required to facilitate the use of such funds, except for requirements related to civil rights, fair housing and nondiscrimination, the environment, and labor standards.
Title III: Rescissions and Offsets - Chapter 1: Energy and Water Development - Subchapter A: United States Enrichment Corporation Privatization
- USEC Privatization Act - Directs the Board of Directors of the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) to transfer USEC ownership to a private corporation established under this Act. Mandates the inclusion of sale proceeds in the budget baseline required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), and its inclusion as an offset to direct spending.
(Sec. 3105) Requires USEC directors to establish a private for-profit corporation for the purpose of receiving the assets and obligations of USEC at privatization and continuing USEC business operations following privatization.
(Sec. 3107) Directs USEC to transfer the lease of gaseous diffusion plants and related property at Paducah, Kentucky, and Piketon, Ohio, to the private corporation concurrent with such privatization. Prohibits the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) from leasing to the private corporation facilities necessary for the production of highly enriched uranium.
(Sec. 3108) Prescribes procedural guidelines for: (1) transfer of contracts to the private corporation, including the right to purchase power from the Secretary under previous power purchase contracts for the gaseous diffusion plants; (2) assignment of USEC liabilities; (3) pension, post-retirement health benefit, and collective bargaining agreement protections for contractor employees at the two gaseous diffusion plants; and (4) retention of Federal retirement and health benefits by former Federal employees.
(Sec. 3111) Prohibits USEC directors, officers, or employees from acquiring any securities (or rights to acquire any securities) of the private corporation on terms more favorable than those offered to the general public in specified circumstances. Prohibits any person, immediately following the consummation of the transaction or series of transactions to which 100 percent of the Corporation ownership is transferred to private investors, and for a period of three years thereafter, from acquiring, directly or indirectly, beneficial ownership of securities representing more than ten percent of the total votes of all outstanding voting securities of the Corporation, with specified exceptions.
(Sec. 3112) Requires the U.S. Executive Agent under the Russian HEU Agreement to transfer to the Secretary without charge title to an amount of uranium hexafluoride (based on a tails assay of 0.30 U235) equivalent to the natural uranium component of low-enriched uranium derived from at least 18 metric tons of highly enriched uranium purchased from the Russian Executive Agent under such Agreement. Deems such uranium hexafluoride to be of Russian origin. Requires the Secretary to sell, and receive payment for, the transferred uranium hexafluoride for: (1) overfeeding in the operations of enrichment facilities in the United States; (2) end use outside the United States; or (3) consumption by end users in the United States after January 1, 2002, according to a specified schedule beginning in 1998. Requires the U.S. Executive Agent, upon request of the Russian Executive Agent, to deliver concurrently to such Agent, an amount of uranium hexafluoride equivalent to the natural uranium component of such low-enriched uranium.
Provides for auction of such uranium hexafluoride, or U308 (in the event that the conversion component of such hexafluoride has previously been sold), if the Russian Executive Agent does not exercise its right to agree to take delivery of the natural uranium component of any low-enriched uranium within 90 days after delivery of such low-enriched uranium to the U.S. Executive Agent.
Grants the Secretary of Commerce responsibility for administration and enforcement of the limitations set forth in this section.
Requires the Secretary of Energy to transfer to USEC without charge up to 50 metric tons of enriched uranium and up to 7,000 metric tons of natural uranium from the Department of Energy (DOE) stockpile. Prohibits USEC from delivering for commercial end use in the United States: (1) any of such uranium before January 1, 1998; (2) more than ten percent of such uranium or more than 4 million pounds, whichever is less, in any calendar year after 1997; or (3) more than 800,000 separative work units contained in low-enriched uranium transferred in any calendar year.
Authorizes the Secretary to sell natural and low-enriched uranium from the DOE stockpile, subject to specified conditions. Permits DOE transfer or sale of enriched uranium to: (1) Federal agencies; (2) any person for national security purposes; or (3) any State or local agency or non-profit, charitable, or educational institution for use other than the commercial generation of electricity.
(Sec. 3113) Prescribes guidelines under which the Secretary shall accept low-level radioactive waste (including depleted uranium if ultimately determined to be such waste) for disposal at the request and expense (by reimbursement) of the generator.
(Sec. 3114) Grants USEC exclusive commercial rights to deploy and use any federally owned or controlled Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) patents, processes, and technical information, upon completion of a royalty agreement with the Secretary.
Instructs the President to transfer related AVLIS property (except those related to the gaseous diffusion, gas centrifuge, and uranium enrichment programs) to USEC upon its request.
(Sec. 3116) Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to: (1) repeal the mandate and authority of USEC as of the privatization date; and (2) exclude from the definition of "production facility" the construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility using AVLIS technology, and make such a facility eligible for one-step licensing.
Prohibits issuance of any license or certificate of compliance to USEC or its successor if its issuance would, in the opinion of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), be inimical to: (1) the common defense and security of the United States: or (2) maintenance of a reliable and economical domestic source of enrichment services because of the nature and extent of USEC ownership, control or domination by a foreign corporation or government or any other relevant factors or circumstances.
Provides for periodic application of USEC for NRC certification at least once every five years (instead of annually). Revises the purview of judicial review of NRC actions to include: (1) any final order establishing standards to govern DOE gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facilities, including facilities leased to a corporation established under this Act; and (2) any final determination relating to whether such facilities comply with such standards.
Provides for civil money penalties for violations of licensing or certification requirements.
Subchapter B: Bonneville Power Administration Refinancing
- Sets forth provisions concerning Bonneville Power Administration refinancing.
Chapter 2: Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs
- Rescinds funds appropriated to the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Chapter 3: Department of the Interior and Related Agencies
- Provides for the drawdown and sale of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil from the Weeks Island site.
Chapter 4: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
- Rescinds funds for the Administration for Children and Families. Reduces Department of Education funds for student financial assistance.
Chapter 5: Military Construction
- Rescinds funds for military construction.
Chapter 6: Department of Defense-Military Procurement
- Rescinds funds for military procurement and research, development, test, and evaluation.
Chapter 7: Department of Transportation
- Rescinds funds for: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund; (2) the Federal Highway Administration for highway related safety grants; (3) motor carrier safety grants; and (4) highway traffic safety grants.
Chapter 8: Treasury, Postal Service and General Government
- Rescinds funds for the General Services Administration for the Federal Buildings Fund.
Chapter 9: Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies
- Rescinds funds for the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief.
Chapter 10: Debt Collection Improvements
- Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends Chapter 37 (Claims) of Title 31 (Money and Finance) of the United States Code, the Internal Revenue Code, the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, the Federal Financial Management Act of 1994, and title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide for, among other things: (1) offsets from social security payments; (2) Treasury check withholding; (3) barring delinquent Federal debtors from obtaining Federal loans or loan insurance guarantees; (4) garnishment by Federal agencies of nontax debts owed to such agencies; (5) the dissemination of information regarding the identity of delinquent debtors; and (6) the establishment of the Debt Collection Improvement Account.
(Sec. 31002) Rescinds from administrative and personal services and contractual services and supplies accounts, on a pro rata basis, $500 million of the funds available to agencies of the Federal Government.
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Bill titles: Making appropriations for fiscal year 1996 to make a further downpayment toward a balanced budget, and for other purposes.; Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996; Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996; District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1996; District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995; FDA Export Reform and Enhancement Act of 1996; Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1996; Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995; Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1996; USEC Privatization Act
Links for more info on the vote: congress.gov
