datamatters24/research-document-archive huggingface dataset:
I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1081
To provide for protection of the flag of the United States.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. BOUCHER (for himself, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. PETRI, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr.
TANNER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, and Mr. FROST) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for protection of the flag of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flag Protection Act
of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF THE FLAG OF THE UNITED
STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 700 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 700. Protection of the flag of the United States
‘‘(a) ACTIONS PROMOTING VIOLENCE.—Any person
who destroys or damages a flag of the United States with
intent to provoke imminent violence or a breach of the
peace, and in circumstances reasonably likely to produce
imminent violence or a breach of the peace, shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or
both.
‘‘(b) DAMAGING
A
FLAG
BELONGING
TO
THE
UNITED STATES.—Any person who steals or knowingly
converts to his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag
of the United States belonging to the United States and
intentionally destroys or damages that flag shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than two years,
or both.
‘‘(c) DAMAGING A FLAG OF ANOTHER ON FEDERAL
LAND.—Any person who, within any lands reserved for
the use of the United States, or under the exclusive or
concurrent jurisdiction thereof, steals or knowingly con-
verts to his or her use, or to the use of another, a flag
of the United States belonging to another person and in-
tentionally destroys or damages that flag shall be fined
under this title or imprisoned not more than two years,
or both.
‘‘(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall
be construed as indicating an intent on the part of Con-
gress to deprive any State, territory, possession, or the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of jurisdiction over any of-
fense over which it would have jurisdiction in the absence
of this section.
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
‘flag of the United States’ means any flag of the United
States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any
size, in a form that is commonly displayed as a flag and
would taken to be a flag by the reasonable observer.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for chapter 33 of title 18, United States Code, is amended
by striking out the item relating to section 700 and insert-
ing in lieu thereof the following new item:
‘‘700. Protection of the flag of the United States.’’.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the States should
enact prohibitions similar to the provisions of this Act in
an order to provide the maximum protection to the flag
of the United States.
Æ
(B) by striking ‘‘seventy years of age’’ and
inserting ‘‘having attained retirement age (as
defined in section 216(l))’’.
SEC. 112. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS ELIMINATING THE
SPECIAL EXEMPT AMOUNT FOR INDIVIDUALS
WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIREMENT AGE.
(a) 
UNIFORM
EXEMPT
AMOUNT.—Section
203(f)(8)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
403(f)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the new exempt
amounts (separately stated for individuals described in
subparagraph (D) and for other individuals) which are to
be applicable’’ and inserting ‘‘a new exempt amount which
shall be applicable’’.
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section
203(f)(8)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
403(f)(8)(B)) is amended—
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik-
ing ‘‘Except’’ and all that follows through ‘‘which-
ever’’ and inserting ‘‘The exempt amount which is
applicable for each month of a particular taxable
year shall be whichever’’;
(2) in clauses (i) and (ii), by striking ‘‘cor-
responding’’ each place it appears; and
(3) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘an exempt
amount’’ and inserting ‘‘the exempt amount’’.
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to sales or exchanges after
December 31, 1998.
SEC. 3. AMORTIZATION OF REFORESTATION EXPENDI-
TURES AND REFORESTATION TAX CREDIT.
(a) DECREASE IN AMORTIZATION PERIOD.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 194(a) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking
‘‘84 months’’ and inserting ‘‘60 months’’.
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section
194(a) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘84-
month period’’ and inserting ‘‘60-month period’’.
(b) REMOVAL OF CAP ON AMORTIZABLE BASIS.—
(1) Section 194 of such Code is amended by
striking subsection (b) and by redesignating sub-
sections (c) and (d) as subsections (b) and (c), re-
spectively.
(2) Subsection (b) of section 194 of such Code
(as redesignated by paragraph (1)) is amended by
striking paragraph (4).
(3) Paragraph (1) of section 48(b) of such Code
is amended by striking ‘‘(after the application of sec-
tion 194(b)(1))’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to additions to capital account
made after December 31, 1998.
Æ
I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1084
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax relief, to
encourage savings and investment, and to provide incentives for public
school construction, and to amend the Social Security Act to provide
relief from the earnings test.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Ms. DUNN (for herself, Mr. WELLER, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. HILL of Montana,
Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. SPENCE,
Mr. CUNNINGHAM, and Mrs. BIGGERT) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide
tax relief, to encourage savings and investment, and to
provide incentives for public school construction, and to
amend the Social Security Act to provide relief from
the earnings test.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Lifetime Tax Relief Act of 1999’’.
(b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other-
wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment
made by section 103 shall be treated as a change in a
rate of tax for purposes of section 15 of the Internal Reve-
nue Code of 1986 .
(d) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title.
TITLE I—FAMILY RELIEF
Subtitle A—Tax Relief
Sec. 101. Basic standard deduction for married individuals to be twice the de-
duction for unmarried individuals.
Sec. 102. Increase in personal exemption.
Sec. 103. Reduction of individual income taxes by increasing amounts of income
subject to tax at the 15 percent rate.
Sec. 104. Nonrefundable personal credits fully allowed against regular tax li-
ability during 1999 and 2000.
Subtitle B—Relief From Social Security Earning Test
Sec. 111. Elimination of earnings test for individuals who have attained retire-
ment age.
Sec. 112. Conforming amendments eliminating the special exempt amount for
individuals who have attained retirement age.
Sec. 113. Additional conforming amendments.
Sec. 114. Effective date.
TITLE II—BUSINESS RELIEF
Sec. 201. Phaseout of estate and gift taxes.
Sec. 202. Modification and permanent extension of research credit.
Sec. 203. Work opportunity credit made permanent.
Sec. 204. Permanent subpart F exemption for active financing income.
Sec. 205. Deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals in-
creased to 100 percent.
Sec. 206. Increased exclusion and other modifications applicable to qualified
small business stock.
277
‘‘(B) CLASSIFICATION
LIMITED.—Classi-
fication of a particular contract as a derivative
instrument pursuant to this paragraph shall not
be construed as finding or implying that such
instrument is or is not a security for any pur-
pose under the securities laws, or is or is not
an account, agreement, contract, or transaction
for any purpose under the Commodity Ex-
change Act.
‘‘(55) QUALIFIED INVESTOR.—
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this
title, the term ‘qualified investor’ means—
‘‘(i) any investment company reg-
istered with the Commission under section
8 of the Investment Company Act of 1940;
‘‘(ii) any issuer eligible for an exclu-
sion from the definition of investment com-
pany pursuant to section 3(c)(7) of the In-
vestment Company Act of 1940;
‘‘(iii) any bank (as defined in para-
graph (6) of this subsection), savings asso-
ciation (as defined in section 3(b) of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Act), broker,
dealer, insurance company (as defined in
section 2(a)(13) of the Securities Act of
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF BUDGET NEUTRALITY ADJUST-
MENT FACTOR IN CALCULATING THE BLEND-
ED 
CAPITATION 
RATE 
FOR
MEDICARE+CHOICE ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1853(c) of the Social Se-
curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–23(c)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking the comma
at the end of clause (ii) and all that follows before
the period at the end; and
(2) by striking paragraph (5) and redesignating
paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs (5) and (6)
respectively.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 1853(c) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1395w–23(c)) is amended—
(A) in paragraph (1) in the matter pro-
ceeding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(6)(C)
and (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5)(C) and (6)’’; and
(B) in paragraphs (1)(B)(ii) and (3)(A)(i),
by striking ‘‘(6)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(5)(A)’’.
(2) Subsections (b)(3)(B)(ii) and (c)(3) of sec-
tion 1859 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–29) are
each amended by striking ‘‘1853(c)(6).’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘1853(c)(5).’’
(c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 20
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-
I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1088
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the budget
neutrality adjustment factor used in calculating the blended capitation
rate for Medicare+Choice organizations and to accelerate the transition
to the 50:50 blended rate in 2000.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. GILCHREST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Com-
merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate
the budget neutrality adjustment factor used in calculat-
ing the blended capitation rate for Medicare Choice orga-
nizations and to accelerate the transition to the 50:50
blended rate in 2000.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare+Choice Pay-
ment Fairness Act of 1999’’.
which jurisdiction may recover Federal damages under
this section on behalf of a certain area in the State, only
the first jurisdiction to file an action described in sub-
section (a) may recover those Federal damages.
(e) FEDERAL RIGHT TO DAMAGES IN OTHER AC-
TIONS.—The recovery of Federal damages by a State or
unit of local government under this section may not be
construed to waive any right of the Federal Government
to recover other Federal damages in an action by the At-
torney General.
(f) DISMISSAL OR COMPROMISE.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In an action for Federal
damages brought by a State or unit of local govern-
ment under this section—
(A) the action may not be dismissed or
compromised without the approval of the court;
and
(B) notice of the proposed dismissal or
compromise shall be given to the Attorney Gen-
eral in such manner as the court directs.
(2) COURT APPROVAL.—In approving the dis-
missal or compromise of an action described in para-
graph (1), the court shall—
(A) state whether the dismissal or com-
promise is with or without prejudice to the
right of the Federal Government to bring an ac-
tion for the Federal damages at issue; and
(B) determine the percentage of any
amount recovered by the State or unit of local
government that represents Federal damages.
(g) DISTRIBUTION AND USE OF FEDERAL DAMAGES
RECOVERED.—Of the total amount of Federal damages
recovered by a State or local government under this sec-
tion (including any amount recovered pursuant to a dis-
missal or compromise under subsection (f))—
(1) 1⁄3 shall be paid to the Federal Government,
to be used for crime prevention, mentoring pro-
grams, and firearm injury prevention research and
activities; and
(2) 2⁄3 shall be retained by the State or unit of
local government, of which—
(A) 1⁄3 shall be used for—
(i) law enforcement activities;
(ii) families of law enforcement offi-
cers injured or killed in the line of duty as
a result of gun violence; and
(iii) a compensation fund for the vic-
tims of gun violence; and
(B) 1⁄3 shall be used for education (reduce
class size, school modernization, after school,
summer school, and tutoring), child care, or
children’s health care; and
(C) 1⁄3 may be used by the State or unit
of local government in the discretion of the
State or unit of local government.
(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),
this section only applies to an action described in
subsection (a) that is filed on or after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(2) AMENDMENT OF COMPLAINT IN PENDING
ACTIONS.—This section applies to an action de-
scribed in subsection (a) that is filed before the date
of enactment of this Act, if—
(A) as of such date of enactment, there
has been no dismissal, compromise, or other
final disposition of the action; and
(B) after such date of enactment, the
State or unit of local government amends the
complaint to include relief for Federal damages
pursuant to this section.
Æ
I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1087
To require the relocation of a National Weather Service radar tower which
is on Sulphur Mountain near Ojai, California.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. GALLEGLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science
A BILL
To require the relocation of a National Weather Service
radar tower which is on Sulphur Mountain near Ojai,
California.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RELOCATION OF RADAR TOWER.
(a) REQUIREMENT TO RELOCATE RADAR TOWER.—
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall relocate the National
Weather Service radar tower which is located on Sulphur
Mountain near Ojai, California, to a site which complies
with the criteria listed in subsection (b).
(b) CRITERIA FOR NEW SITE.—The new site for the
radar tower referred to in subsection (a) shall be selected
so that the relocation—
(1) will not result in degradation of service; and
(2) will minimize the negative impacts of the
radar tower and its emissions on residential areas.
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit
a report to Congress that includes—
(1) an identification of the new site selected for
the radar tower; and
(2) evidence which was considered in reaching
the conclusion that relocation of the radar tower to
the site selected meets the criteria listed in sub-
section (b).
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘degradation of service’’ means
any decrease in or failure to maintain the quality
and type of weather services provided by the Na-
tional Weather Service to the public; and
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Commerce.
Æ
retary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Con-
gress a legislative proposal that provides for aggregate de-
creases in Federal expenditures under the Medicare pro-
gram under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) that are equal to the aggregate in-
creases in such expenditures under such program resulting
from the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b).
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to payments made for periods be-
ginning on or after January 1, 2000.
SEC. 3. ACCELERATING TRANSITION TO 50:50 BLEND IN
2000.
Section 1853(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395w–23(c)(2)) is amended—
(1) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (B); and
(2) by striking subparagraphs (C) through (F)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(F) for a year after 1999, the ‘area-spe-
cific percentage’ is 50 percent and the ‘national
percentage’ is 50 percent.’’.
Æ
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 1089
AN ACT
To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to re-
quire the improved disclosure of after-tax returns regard-
ing mutual fund performance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mutual Fund Tax
Awareness Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Taxes can be the single biggest cost associ-
ated with mutual funds. The average stock fund in-
vestor has lost up to 3 percentage points of return
every year to taxes.
(2) The average portfolio turnover rate for an
actively managed (nonindex) fund has increased
from 30 percent 20 years ago to almost 90 percent
today, and average capital gains distributions of
growth funds, per share, have more than doubled in
the last 10 years.
(3) If a fund’s performance is based mostly on
short-term gains, investors can lose a significant
part of their return to taxes.
(4) Performance figures that mutual funds gen-
erally disclose to their shareholders are net of fees
and expenses, but not taxes, and therefore do not
represent the impact taxes have on an investor’s re-
turn.
(5) This disclosure focuses on how much money
investors made before taxes, and not on how much
money investors actually got to keep.
(6) Improved disclosure of the effect of taxes on
mutual fund performance would allow shareholders
to compare after-tax returns to raw performance,
and would permit the investors to determine whether
the fund manager tries to minimize tax con-
sequences for shareholders.
(7) While the mutual fund prospectus details
the average annual portfolio turnover rate, the pro-
spectus may not expressly inform shareholders about
the impact the portfolio turnover rate has on total
returns.
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS IN DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.
Within 18 months after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall
revise regulations under the Securities Act of 1933 and
the Investment Company Act of 1940 to require, con-
sistent with the protection of investors and the public in-
terest, improved disclosure in investment company
prospectuses or annual reports of after-tax returns to in-
vestors.
Passed the House of Representatives April 3, 2000.
Attest:
Clerk.
I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1089
To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to require the improved
disclosure of after-tax returns regarding mutual fund performance, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 11, 1999
Mr. GILLMOR (for himself, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.
WHITFIELD, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr.
BURR of North Carolina, Mr. TAUZIN, and Mr. HALL of Texas) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Com-
merce
A BILL
To require the Securities and Exchange Commission to re-
quire the improved disclosure of after-tax returns regard-
ing mutual fund performance, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mutual Fund Tax
Awareness Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Taxes can be the single biggest cost associ-
ated with mutual funds. The average stock fund in-
vestor has lost up to 3 percentage points of return
every year to taxes.
(2) The average portfolio turnover rate for an
actively managed (nonindex) fund has increased
from 30 percent 20 years ago to almost 90 percent
today, and average capital gains distributions of
growth funds, per share, have more than doubled in
the last 10 years.
(3) If a fund’s performance is based mostly on
short-term gains, investors can lose a significant
part of their return to taxes.
(4) Performance figures that investment compa-
nies generally disclose to their shareholders are net
of fees and expenses, but not taxes, and therefore do
not represent the impact taxes have on an investor’s
return.
(5) This disclosure focuses on how much money
investors made before taxes, and not on how much
money investors actually got to keep.
(6) Improved disclosure of tax efficiency would
allow shareholders to compare after-tax returns to
raw performance, and would permit the investors to
determine whether the fund manager tries to mini-
mize tax consequences for shareholders.
(7) While the investment company prospectus
details the average annual portfolio turnover rate,
the prospectus may not expressly inform sharehold-
ers about the impact the portfolio turnover rate has
on total returns.
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS IN DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.
Within 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Securities and Exchange Commission shall revise reg-
ulations under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to
require, consistent with the protection of investors and the
public interest, improved methods of disclosing in invest-
ment company prospectuses and annual reports the after-
tax effects of portfolio turnover on investment company
returns to investors.
Æ