Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Supplemental Appropriations

Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture

Chapter 2: Department of State

Chapter 3: Department of Energy

Chapter 4: Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and

Related Programs

Chapter 5: Department of the Interior

Chapter 6: Department of Health and Human Services

Chapter 7: Legislative Branch

Chapter 8: Department of Transportation and Related

Agencies

Chapter 9: Department of the Treasury

Chapter 10: Department of Veterans Affairs

Chapter 11: Department of Defense - Military

Construction

Title II: Rescissions

Title III: General Provisions - This Act

1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act - Makes supplemental appropriations and rescissions for FY 1998.

Title I: Supplemental Appropriations - Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to compensate for economic losses of persons who had or will have wheat stored in a storage facility that was, or may be, subject to an emergency action notice relating to the presence of Karnal bunt.

Makes supplemental appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for: (1) departmental administration; (2) the Office of the General Counsel; and (3) the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund Program Account for direct and unsubsidized guaranteed farm ownership loans, direct and guaranteed subsidized farm operating loans, and boll weevil eradication program loans.

Makes additional funds available for salaries and expenses of the Food and Drug Administration.

Chapter 2: Department of State - Makes supplemental appropriations for the Department of State for arrearage payments for the United Nations and assessed expenses of international peacekeeping. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds for arrearages and international peacekeeping until the share of all assessed contributions for the regular United Nations budget does not exceed 22 percent (and 25 percent for each peacekeeping operation) for any single member.

Chapter 3: Department of Energy - Makes an additional amount available for Department of Energy (DOE) departmental administration to cover increases in the cost of work for others, provided such costs are offset by revenue increases derived from specified fees under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

(Sec. 301) Sets forth limitations on specified DOE projects.

Chapter 4: Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs - Makes supplemental appropriations for foreign operations, export financing, and related programs for: (1) an increase in the U.S. quota in the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and (2) loans to the IMF under the Bretton Woods Agreements Act pursuant to new arrangements to borrow.

Declares that a specified amount of bilateral economic assistance should be made available for Bolivia.

(Sec. 401) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated for the U.S. quota in the IMF until the Secretary of the Treasury reports to the appropriate congressional committees that it is IMF policy that arrangements in excess of $500 million involving the use of resources available to the IMF shall include provisions committing the borrowing country to: (1) comply with the terms of international trade agreements of which the country is a signatory; (2) eliminate the policy of Government-directed lending by financial institutions; and (3) guarantee nondiscriminatory treatment in debt resolution proceedings between domestic and foreign creditors and debtors and other concerned persons.

(Sec. 402) Requires the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) the implementation of IMF-led financial stabilization programs in countries in connection with which the United States has made a commitment to provide or has provided financing from the exchange stabilization fund; and (2) impending disbursements to such countries.

(Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary to establish an International Financial Institution Advisory Commission that shall report recommendations to the appropriate committees on the future role and responsibilities of the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

International Monetary Fund Reform and Authorization Act of 1998 - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreement Act to authorize the U.S. Governor of the IMF to consent, subject to appropriations, to a specified increase in the U.S. IMF quota of Special Drawing Rights.

Makes such amendment effective only if the Secretary certifies to certain congressional committees that the investors and banks have made a significant contribution in conjunction with a financing package that, in the context of an international financial crisis, might include taxpayer supported official financing.

(Sec. 406) Sets forth conforming amendments for Federal participation in new arrangements to borrow.

(Sec. 407) Amends the International Financial Institutions Act (the Act) to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to promote specified policies, including: (1) structuring programs and assistance so as to promote policies and actions that will contribute to exchange rate stability and avoid competitive devaluations; (2) promoting market-oriented reform, trade liberalization, economic growth, democratic governance, and social stability through certain measures; (3) strengthening financial systems in developing countries and encouraging the adoption of sound banking principles and practices; (4) facilitating the development and implementation of internationally acceptable domestic bankruptcy laws in developing countries; (5) promoting policies that aim at appropriate burden-sharing by the private sector so that investors and creditors bear more fully the consequences of their decisions; (6) fostering structural reforms, including procurement reform, that reduce opportunities for corruption, bribery, and drug-related money laundering; (7) designing IMF programs and assistance so that governments channel public funds away from unproductive purposes, including large showcase projects and excessive military spending, and toward investment in human and physical capital; (8) structuring IMF programs and assistance so that improvement of labor standards is incorporated as an integral goal in the policy dialogue with recipient countries; (9) discouraging practices which may promote ethnic or social strife in a recipient country; (10) promoting IMF recognition that macroeconomic developments and policies can affect and be affected by environmental conditions and policies; (11) facilitating greater IMF transparency and accountability; and (12) promoting structural reforms which facilitate credit to small businesses, including microenterprise lending, especially in the world's poorest, heavily indebted countries.

Directs the Secretary to establish an IMF Advisory Committee to advise the Secretary on the extent to which individual country IMF programs meet the policy goals set out in the Act.

(Sec. 408) Denies Federal funds to the IMF unless the Secretary certifies to specified congressional committees that the IMF has made certain meeting minutes and reviews of loan programs available for public inspection.

(Sec. 409) Instructs the Secretary to certify to certain congressional committees that the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF will oppose further fund disbursements to Indonesia unless its government complies with the terms of its IMF reform package.

(Sec. 410) Expresses the sense of the Congress that Japan should assume a greater regional leadership role, coinciding with its goal of promoting strong domestic demand-led growth and avoiding a significant increase in its external surplus with the United States and the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

(Sec. 412) Instructs the Secretary to submit status reports to certain congressional committees regarding progress made toward achieving specified objectives to strengthen safeguards in the global financial system, including measures to promote more efficient functions of global markets. Requires such a report also on progress the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF has made in influencing the IMF to adopt specified policies and reforms of its internal procedures.

(Sec. 414) Directs the Secretary to certify to certain congressional committees that the Secretary has instructed the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to facilitate timely access by the General Accounting Office (GAO) to IMF information and documents needed by GAO to perform financial reviews of the IMF that will facilitate the conduct of U.S. policy with respect to it. Instructs the Comptroller General to report annually to such congressional committees on IMF financial operations.

Chapter 5: Department of the Interior - Makes supplemental appropriations for the Department of the Interior for: (1) the Minerals Management Service for royalty and offshore minerals management to meet increased demand and workload requirements stemming from leasing activity in the Gulf of Mexico; (2) the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, to be derived from a transfer of funds; and (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for operation of Indian programs and the Office of Special Trustee for American Indians for Federal trust programs to support litigation involving individual Indian trust fund accounts.

Chapter 6: Department of Health and Human Services - Makes additional funds available for the Department of Health and Human Services for Health Care Financing Administration program management.

(Sec. 602) Authorizes the obligation of a limited amount of funds in FY 1998 for contracts with Utilization and Quality Control Peer Review Organizations pursuant to the Social Security Act.

Chapter 7: Legislative Branch - Makes supplemental appropriations for the legislative branch for: (1) payments to widows of specified Members of Congress; and (2) the Architect of the Capitol for Capitol building salaries and expenses and for the Capitol Square perimeter security plan.

Chapter 8: Department of Transportation and Related Agencies - Provides additional funds for the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the Amtrak Reform Council and for National Transportation Safety Board salaries and expenses for expenses resulting from the crash of TWA Flight 800.

Chapter 9: Department of the Treasury - Makes supplemental appropriations for the Department of the Treasury for: (1) automation enhancement; (2) Treasury building and annex repair and restoration; and (3) Financial Management Service salaries and expenses for year 2000 century date change conversion requirements.

Chapter 10: Department of Veterans Affairs - Provides additional funds for the Veterans Benefits Administration for compensation and pensions.

Prohibits requirements set forth in any carbon monoxide Federal implementation plan based on the Clean Air Act as in effect prior to the 1990 amendments from being imposed in Arizona.

Authorizes the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to transfer specified funds to the account for human space flight for the International Space Station program.

Chapter 11: Department of Defense - Military Construction - Directs the Secretary of the Navy to carry out beach replenishment in connection with the military construction project for North Island Naval Air Station, California.

Title II: Rescissions - Rescinds specified amounts of Department of Agriculture funds for: (1) the Agricultural Research Service; (2) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service salaries and expenses; (3) the Agricultural Marketing Service; (4) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration salaries and expenses; (5) the Food Safety and Inspection Service; (6) Farm Service Agency salaries and expenses; (7) unsubsidized guaranteed operating loans from the Agricultural Credit Insurance Fund; (8) Natural Resources Conservation Service operations; (9) Rural Housing Service salaries and expenses; and (10) Food and Nutrition Service food program administration.

Limits specified funds available for salaries and expenses of personnel to carry out a conservation farm options program.

Rescinds specified amounts of funds for the Department of the Interior for: (1) Bureau of Land Management management of lands and resources; (2) Oregon and California grant lands; (3) Fish and Wildlife Service resource management and construction; (4) National Park Service and BIA construction; and (5) the Bureau of Mines.

Rescinds specified amounts of Forest Service funds for: (1) forest and rangeland research; (2) State and private forestry; (3) the National Forest System; (4) wildland fire management; and (5) reconstruction and construction.

Rescinds specified amounts of DOT funds for: (1) payments to air carriers and small community air service; (2) the Federal Aviation Administration for facilities, engineering, and development and grants-in-aid for airports; and (3) the Federal Railroad Administration for Conrail labor protection.

Rescinds specified amounts of Department of Treasury funds for: (1) Treasury building and annex repair and restoration; (2) Customs Service salaries and expenses; and (3) Internal Revenue Service information technology investments.

Title III: General Provisions - This Act - Prohibits any part of an appropriation contained in this Act from remaining available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year unless provided otherwise.