MISUSE OF SYMBOLS, EMBLEMS, OR NAMES IN REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OR DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.

SEC. 312. MISUSE OF SYMBOLS, EMBLEMS, OR NAMES IN REFERENCE TO SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OR DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. (a) Prohibition of Unauthorized Reproduction, Reprinting, or Distribution for Fee of Certain Official Publications.— Section 1140(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(a)) is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; (2) by inserting “(1)” after “(a)”; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(2) No person may, for a fee, reproduce, reprint, or distribute any item consisting of a form, application, or other publication of the Social Security Administration or of the Department of Health and Human Services unless such person has obtained specific, written authorization for such activity in accordance with regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe.”. (b) Addition to Prohibited Words, Letters, Symbols, and Emblems.— Paragraph (1) of section 1140(a) of such Act (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is further amended— (1) in subparagraph (A) (as redesignated), by striking “‘Administration’, the letters ‘SSA’ or ‘HCFA’,“ and inserting “‘Administration’, ‘Department of Health and Human Services’, ‘Health and Human Services’, ‘Supplemental Security Income Program’, or ‘Medicaid’, the letters ‘SSA’, ‘HCFA’, ‘DHHS’, ‘HHS’, or ‘SSI’,”; and (2) in subparagraph (B) (as amended by section 304 and as redesignated), by striking “Social Security Administration” each place it appears and inserting “Social Security Administration, Health Care Financing Administration, or Department of Health and Human Services”, by striking “or of the Health Care Financing Administration”, and by inserting “or the Medicare card,” after “205(c)(2)(F)”. (c) Exemption for Use of Words, Letters, Symbols, and Emblems of State and Local Government Agencies by Such Agencies.— Paragraph (1) of section 1140(a) of such Act (as redesignated by subsection (a)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “The preceding provisions of this subsection shall not apply with respect to the use by any agency or instrumentality of a State or political subdivision of a State of any words or letters which identify an agency or instrumentality of such State or of a political subdivision of such State or the use by any such agency or instrumentality of any s3anbol or emblem of an agency or instrumentality of such State or a political subdivision of such State.”. (d) Inclusion of Reasonableness Standard.— Section 1140(a)(1) of such Act (as amended by the preceding provisions of this section) is further amended, in the matter following subparagraph (B) (as redesignated), by striking “convey” and inserting “convey, or in a manner which reasonably could be interpreted or construed as conveying,”. (e) Ineffectiveness of Disclaimers.— Subsection (a) of section 1140 of such Act (as amended by the preceding provisions of this108 STAT. 1527 section) is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(3) Any determination of whether the use of one or more words, letters, symbols, or emblems (or any combination or variation thereof) in connection with an item described in paragraph (1) or the reproduction, reprinting, or distribution of an item described in paragraph (2) is a violation of this subsection shall be made without regard to any inclusion in such item (or any so reproduced, reprinted, or distributed copy thereof) of a disclaimer of affiliation with the United States Government or any particular agency or instrumentality thereof.”, (f) Violations With Respect to Individual Items.— Section 1140(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(b)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “In the case of any items referred to in subsection (a)(1) consisting of pieces of mail, each such piece of mail which contains one or more words, letters, symbols, or emblems in violation of subsection (a) shall represent a separate violation. In the case of any item referred to in subsection (a)(2), the reproduction, reprinting, or distribution of such item shall be treated as a separate violation with respect to each copy thereof so reproduced, reprinted, or distributed.”. (g) Elimination of Cap on Aggregate Liability Amount.— (1) Repeal.— Paragraph (2) of section 1140(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(b)(2)) is repealed. (2) Conforming amendments.— Section 1140(b) of such Act is further amended— (A) by striking “(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the” and inserting “The”; (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and (C) in paragraph (1) (as redesignated), by striking “subparagraph (B)” and inserting “paragraph (2)”. (h) Removal of Formal Declination Requirement.— Section 1140(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(c)(1)) is amended by inserting “and the first sentence of subsection (c)” after “and (i)”. (i) Penalties Relating to Social Security Administration Deposited in OASI Trust Fund, and Penalties Related to Health Care Financing Administration Deposited in the HI and SMI Trust Funds.— Section 1140(c)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-10(c)(2)) is amended in the second sentence by striking “United States.” and inserting “United States, except that (A) to the extent that such amounts are recovered under this section as penalties imposed for misuse of words, letters, symbols, or emblems relating to the Social Security Administration, such amounts shall be deposited into the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, and (B) to the extent that such amounts are recovered under this section as penalties imposed for misuse of words, letters, symbols, or emblems relating to the Department of Health and Human Services, such amounts shall be deposited into the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, as appropriate.”. (j) Enforcement.— Section 1140 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b- 10) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(d) The preceding provisions of this section may be enforced through the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.”. (k) Reports.— 108 STAT. 1528 (1) In general.— The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Commissioner of Social Security shall each submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate 3 reports on the operation of section 1140 of the Social Security Act with respect to the Social Security Administration or the Department of Health and Human Services during the period covered by the report, which shall specify— (A) the number of complaints of violations of such section received by the Social Security Administration or the Department of Health and Human Services during the period, (B) the number of cases in which the Social Security Administration or the Department, during the period, sent a notice of violation of such section requesting that an individual cease activities in violation of such section, (C) the number of cases in which the Social Security Administration or the Department formally proposed a civil money penalty in a demand letter during the period, (D) the total amount of civil money penalties assessed by the Social Security Administration or the Department under this section during the period, (E) the number of requests for hearings filed during the period by the Social Security Administration or the Department pursuant to sections 1140(c)(1) and 1128A(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, (F) the disposition during the period of hearings filed pursuant to sections 1140(c)(1) and 1128A(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, and (G) the total amount of civil money penalties collected under this section and deposited into the Federal Old- Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Health Insurance and Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, as applicable, during the period. (2) When due.— The reports required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted not later than December 1, 1995, not later than December 1, 1997, and not later than December 1, 1999, respectively. (l) Prohibition of Misuse of Department of the Treasury Names, Symbols, Etc.— (1) General rule.— Subchapter II of chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: