Health and Human Services FY2000 Appropriations bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Department of Labor

Title II: Department of Health and Human Services

Title III: Department of Education

Title IV: Related Agencies

Title V: General Provisions

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 - Makes appropriations for FY 2000 for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and related agencies.

Title I: Department of Labor - Makes appropriations for FY 2000 to the Department of Labor for: (1) training and employment services; (2) community service employment for older Americans; (3) Federal unemployment benefits and allowances; (4) State unemployment insurance and employment service operations; (5) advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund and other trust funds; (6) employment and training program administration; (7) the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; (8) the Employment Standards Administration; (9) certain special benefits; (10) the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund; (11) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (12) the Mine Safety and Health Administration; (13) the Bureau of Labor Statistics; (14) departmental management; (15) the Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training; and (16) the Office of Inspector General.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title.

Title II: Department of Health and Human Services - Makes appropriations for FY 2000 to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for: (1) the Health Resources and Services Administration; (2) the Medical Facilities Guarantee and Loan Fund for Federal interest subsidies for medical facilities; (3) health education assistance loans; (4) the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Trust Fund; (5) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (6) the National Institutes of Health, including amounts for the John E. Fogarty International Center, the National Library of Medicine, the Office of the Director, and buildings and facilities; (7) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; (8) retirement pay and medical benefits for Public Health Service commissioned officers; (9) the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; (10) the Health Care Financing Administration for grants to States for Medicaid, payments to health care trust funds, program management, and the Health Maintenance Organization Loan and Loan Guarantee Fund; (11) the Administration for Children and Families for family support payments to States; (12) low income home energy assistance; (13) refugee and entrant assistance; (14) the child care and development block grant; (15) the social services block grant; (16) children and families services programs; (17) promoting safe and stable families pursuant to a specified provision of the Social Security Act; (18) payments to States for foster care and adoption assistance; (19) the Administration on Aging; (20) the Office of the Secretary for general departmental management; (21) the Office of Inspector General; (22) the Office for Civil Rights; (23) policy research; and (24) activities related to countering potential biological, disease, and chemical threats to civilian populations.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title.

(Sec. 209) Prohibits funds appropriated in this Act from being made available under title X (population research and voluntary family planning) of the Public Health Service Act unless the award applicant certifies to the Secretary of HHS that it encourages family participation in the decision of minors to seek family planning services and provides counseling to minors on resisting attempts to coerce them into engaging in sexual activities.

(Sec. 210) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to carry out the Medicare+Choice program if the Secretary of HHS denies participation in such program to an otherwise eligible entity (including a Provider Sponsored Organization) because the entity informs the Secretary that it will not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or provide referrals for abortions.

(Sec. 211) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require State allotments under block grants for community health services for FY 2000 to be at least the amount the State received for FY 1998. Provides a specified minimum State allotment for FY 2000 under block grants for substance abuse prevention and treatment as well.

(Sec. 213) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 2000 the authorization of admission into the United States of a specified number of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania based on religious persecution owing to participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches.

Makes September 30, 2000, the latest allowable entry date for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status.

(Sec. 214) Prohibits the use of funds provided in any Act making FY 2000 appropriations for the implementation in Arizona or in Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas, of the Medicare Competitive Pricing Demonstration Project operated by the Secretary of HHS under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

(Sec. 216) Increases the amount appropriated under this title for the social services block grant.

(Sec. 217) Expresses the sense of the Senate with respect to promoting awareness and treatment of, and increasing NIH research funding for, diabetes.

(Sec. 218) Directs the Secretary of HHS to study and report to Congress on: (1) the reasons why, and the appropriateness of the fact that, the geographic adjustment factor used in determining the amount of payment for physicians' services under Medicare is less for services provided in New Mexico than for those provided in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas; and (2) the effect that the level of the geographic cost-of-practice adjustment factor has on the recruitment and retention of physicians in small rural States.

(Sec. 219) Makes funds available from amounts appropriated for the Health Resources and Services Administration to the Maternal Child Health Bureau for the establishment of a multi-State preventive dentistry demonstration program to improve the oral health of low- income children and increase the access of children to dental sealants.

(Sec. 220) Prohibits funds appropriated by this Act from being used to withhold substance abuse funding from a State pursuant to Public Health Service Act provisions for withholding funds from States that are not in compliance with specified requirements prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors if a State certifies to the Secretary of HHS that it will commit additional State funds to ensure compliance with State laws prohibiting such sales.

(Sec. 221) Makes additional funds available to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for grants to local communities for screening, treatment, and education relating to childhood asthma.

Title III: Department of Education - Makes appropriations for FY 2000 to the Department of Education for: (1) education reform; (2) education for the disadvantaged; (3) impact aid; (4) school improvement activities; (5) reading excellence; (6) Indian education; (7) bilingual and immigrant education; (8) special education; (9) rehabilitation services and disability research; (10) special institutions for persons with disabilities, including the American Printing House for the Blind, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, and Gallaudet University; (11) vocational and adult education; (12) student financial assistance; (13) the Federal Family Education Loan program account; (14) higher education; (15) Howard University; (16) the college housing and academic facilities loans program; (17) the historically Black college and university capital financing program account; (18) education research, statistics, and improvement; (19) departmental management; (20) the Office for Civil Rights; and (21) the Office of the Inspector General.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title.

(Sec. 301) Prohibits funds appropriated in this Act from being used to: (1) transport teachers or students in order to overcome racial imbalance in any school or to carry out a racial desegregation plan; or (2) prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in public schools.

(Sec. 305) Amends the General Education Provisions Act to bar the use of funds provided to the Department of Education or to an applicable program to field or pilot test, implement, administer, or distribute national tests. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study or other international assessments developed under the authority of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 that are administered only to a representative sample of U.S. and foreign pupils.

Provides that exclusive authority over the direction and all policies for developing voluntary national tests shall continue to be vested in the National Assessment Governing Board.

(Sec. 307) Increases funds appropriated in this title to carry out the leveraging educational assistance partnership program under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 2000 to the: (1) Corporation for National and Community Service; (2) Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (3) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (4) Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (5) Office of Library Services; (6) Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; (7) National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (8) National Council on Disability; (9) National Education Goals Panel; (10) National Labor Relations Board; (11) National Mediation Board; (12) Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (13) Railroad Retirement Board for the dual benefits payments account, Federal payments to the railroad retirement accounts, administration, and the Office of Inspector General; (14) Social Security Administration for payments to the social security trust funds, special benefits for disabled coal miners, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program, administrative expenses, and the Office of Inspector General; and (15) U.S. Institute of Peace.

Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title.

Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this Act.

(Sec. 505) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated under this Act for programs to distribute sterile needles or syringes for the injection of illegal drugs.

(Sec. 506) Sets forth Buy American requirements.

(Sec. 508) Prohibits funds appropriated under this Act from being expended for abortions or for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion, except in cases where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or where a woman suffers from a physical condition that would, as certified by a physician, place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed.

(Sec. 510) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for: (1) the creation of a human embryo for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo is destroyed or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under Federal regulations and the Public Health Service Act.

(Sec. 511) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for activities to promote the legalization of a controlled substance unless there is significant medical evidence of a therapeutic advantage to the use of such substance or that federally-sponsored trials are being conducted to determine such advantage.

(Sec. 513) Bars the use of funds made available in this Act to promulgate a final standard under the Social Security Act providing for a unique health identifier for an individual (except in an individual's capacity as an employer or health care provider) until legislation is enacted specifically approving the standard.

(Sec. 514) Amends the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to extend the availability of certain voluntary separation incentives for employees of the Railroad Retirement Board and its Office of Inspector General.

(Sec. 515) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the conferees on the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 (H.R. 2466) shall include language prohibiting funds from being used for the Brooklyn Museum of Art unless the Museum cancels the exhibit entitled "Sensation."

(Sec. 516) Expresses the sense of the Senate with respect to: (1) the prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department services under Medicare; (2) the economic status of former recipients of the temporary assistance to needy families (TANF) program; (3) a study of the scientific validity of polygraphy as a screening tool for Federal and Federal contractor personnel; and (4) treatment of, and increased research funding for, prostate cancer.

(Sec. 520) Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to require the President to appoint the U.S. members of the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission and to attempt to conclude an agreement with Mexico providing for the establishment of such Commission. Eliminates a Commission duty to formulate recommendations regarding a method by which the government of one country could reimburse an entity in the other country for the cost of a health care service provided by the entity to a citizen of the first country who is unable to pay for the service.

(Sec. 521) Expresses the sense of the Senate regarding: (1) direct access by women to a participating health provider who specializes in obstetrics and gynecological services without obtaining a referral from a primary care provider; and (2) public education reform.

(Sec. 523) Provides that the applicable time limitations with respect to the giving of notice of injury and the filing of a claim for compensation for disability or death under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act for injuries sustained as a result of exposure to a nitrogen or sulfur mustard agent in the performance of official duties as an employee at the Department of the Army's Edgewood Arsenal before March 20, 1944, shall not begin to run until this Act's enactment date.

(Sec. 525) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Senate should pass legislation that would minimize the risk of needlestick injury to health care workers.

(Sec. 526) Designates the: (1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the Thomas R. Harkin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and (2) National Library of Medicine building as the Arlen Specter National Library of Medicine.