The Nineties in America Legislation: Major U.S. Legislation 985
Year Legislation Significance
1992 Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental
Health Administration
Reorganization Act
Disbanded the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration
and placed its three research branches in the National Institutes of
Health.1992 Nuclear Test Explosions Ban Banned underground nuclear weapons tests for a year and permitted a
limited number of tests for three years thereafter.
1993 Brady Handgun Violence
Prevention Act
Mandated a five-day waiting period before purchase of a handgun;
required gun dealers to notify policy of multiple gun purchases by the
same individual.1993 Resolution Trust Corporation
Competition Act
Set the end of 1995 as the termination date for the Resolution Trust
Corporation (RTC); appropriated $18.3 billion for the RTC to cover
depositor losses at savings and loan institutions under its control.1993 North American Free Trade
Agreement Implementation Act
Enacted the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between
the United States, Canada, and Mexico; revised previous trade
agreements to adhere to NAFTA.1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act Passed in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1990 ruling inOregon v.
Smith, this law renewed stringent standards for limiting freedom of
religion.
1993 Homosexuals in the Armed Forces Referred to as the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, this law maintained the
prohibition against homosexuality in the military but forbade recruiters
from asking about the sexual preference of enlistees.
1993 Assignment of Women in the Armed
Forces
Repealed the combat exclusion law barring assignment of women to
combat ships.1993 Family and Medical Leave Act Required large businesses to permit three months of unpaid leave to
employees to deal with childbirth or care for an ill relative.
1993 National Voter Registration Reform
Act
Required states to permit citizens to register to vote when applying for
or renewing a driver’s license.1993 National and Community Service
Trust Act
Established a Corporation for National and Community Service to
administer an educational award program for individuals who
performed community service; authorized $1.5 billion over three years
to fund the program.1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act Furnished a plan for a five-year, $500 billion reduction in the federal
deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.
1993 Communications Licensing and
Spectrum Allocation Improvement
Act
This law required the chair of the Federal Communications Commission
and the assistant secretary of commerce to plan to meet biannually to
plan for management of radio spectrum licenses.1993 Assistance to New Independent
States of the Former Soviet Union
Approved $2.5 billion in technical and economic aid to former states
of the Soviet Union that had recently become independent.1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade Implementation Act
Implemented the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),
which was designed to reduce tariffs globally; revised U.S. laws to
adhere to GATT’s terms.1994 Bankruptcy Reform Act Revised three main sections of the federal bankruptcy code; created a
federal National Bankruptcy Review Commission to recommend
changes in the aforementioned code.