The world's political record
Person
United States · Official source
3,665 records where David Scott is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2004 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of providing Medicaid coverage for certain low-income HIV-infected individuals. Provides States taking advantage of this option with an enhanced Federal Medicaid match.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
Extended Deployment Pay Increase Act of 2004 - Entitles a member of the armed forces who completes a period of 180 days of continuous duty on deployment away from the member's permanent station (or home of record, in the case of a reserve member) to an increase in basic pay of $1,000 for each month thereafter during which the member continues such deployment. Provides for retroactive application of such entitlement for duty performed in connection with a deployment commenced or completed before the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Homeland Security should: (1) designate Haiti as a country the return to which would jeopardize the safety of nationals thereof; and (2) grant temporary protected status to Haitian nationals in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2004
Clean Airport Bus Act of 2003 (sic) - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a pilot program for: (1) awarding grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for facilitating the use of natural gas buses at public airports through airport bus replacement and fleet expansion programs; and (2) entering into cooperative agreements with private sector developers for the development of fuel cell-powered airport buses, and subsequently with public agencies using natural gas-powered airport buses and such private sector fuel cell bus developers to demonstrate the use of fuel cell-powered airport buses. Prescribes implementation guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2004
Expresses the sense of Congress that negotiations on access to critical segments of the U.S. automobile market should not take place on a piecemeal basis, but only as part of: (1) negotiations that include all major automobile producing nations; and (2) comprehensive negotiations that address both tariff and nontariff barriers specific to the automobile industry, with progress on eliminating tariff barriers explicitly linked to concrete progress on eliminating nontariff barriers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2004
Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 to set forth requirements for: (1) establishing discrimination based on disparate impact; and (2) rights of action and recovery for unlawful discrimination (intentional or based on disparate impact) and harassment. Amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide that a State's receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for a State program or activity shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity to a suit under such Acts by a program employee. Amends the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 to authorize civil actions in Federal court for discrimination based on disability. Settlement Encouragement and Fairness Act - Modifies the definition of "prevailing party" for purposes of provisions governing the recovery of attorney's fees to include a party whose pursuit of a non-frivolous claim or defense was a catalyst for a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the opposing party that provides any significant part of the relief sought. Preservation of Civil Rights Protections Act of 2004 - Makes arbitration clauses in employment contracts unenforceable, with exceptions. Authorizes recovery of expert fees by prevailing parties in civil rights actions. Equal Remedies Act of 2004 - Repeals provisions limiting the amount of compensatory and punitive damages that may be awarded in cases of intentional discrimination in employment. Paycheck Fairness in Employment - Amends FLSA to revise provisions governing discrimination in the payment of wages, including equal pay requirements. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit denying back-pay or other monetary relief for unlawful employment practices against undocumented immigrant workers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2004
Repairing Young Women's Lives Around the World Act - Authorizes appropriations to be used only for U.S. voluntary contributions to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for prevention, remedy, and repair of obstetric fistula.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2004
Calls upon the Government of France to respect the right of individuals to practice their religion freely and to display insignia of their faith. Joins the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in recommending that the U.S. Government urge the Government of France to reassess its initiative banning conspicuous religious articles and symbols in state schools.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2004
Authorizes the Secretary of State to: (1) initiate, and instruct the U.S. delegation to implement, a plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual World Health Assembly summit in May 2004, in Geneva, Switzerland; and (2) introduce a resolution in support of observer status for Taiwan at such summit.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2004
Calls on the Department of Justice to investigate the murder of Emmett Till in 1955 and the acquittal of J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2004
Safeguarding Schoolchildren of Deployed Soldiers Act of 2004 - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to require a State or local educational agency, for the duration of the military service on which a child's change of residence is based and at the request of a parent, to treat a child who changes residence based on such service as if the child has the residence held before the change of residence, for purposes of enrollment in elementary or secondary school.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2004
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months before October 2005; (2) 40 percent for months after September 2005 and before October 2008; (3) 45 percent for months after September 2008 and before October 2014; and (4) 55 percent for months after September 2014 . Adjusts similarly percentage amounts with respect to survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty. Provides a corresponding phased elimination of the SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided to such surviving spouses. Requires periodic recomputation of: (1) annuity amounts beginning in October 2005; and (2) retired pay reductions for supplemental survivor annuities. Provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, commencing October 1, 2005, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage, and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to require appropriate premiums for SBP participation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2004
Zero Downpayment Act of 2004 - Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure zero-downpayment mortgages for one-family residences.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2004
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (in which the Court determined that segregated schools are not equal, a decision that led to the desegregation of public schools).
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2004
Directs the Secretary of Defense to reimburse members of the armed forces who participated in the Department of Defense Rest and Recuperation Leave program during the period beginning on September 15, 2003, and ending on December 18, 2003, for travel expenses incurred by the member (or family members on behalf of the member) to travel to or from a designated embarkation point before the program was expanded to include a domestic travel component.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2004
Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that, if the violator of the terms and conditions of any Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license, permit, or certificate is either a broadcast station licensee or permittee or an applicant for a broadcast license, permit, or certificate, and such violator is determined by the FCC to have broadcast obscene, indecent, or profane language, the amount of forfeiture penalty shall not exceed $275,000 for each violation or day of such violation, to a maximum of $3 million for any single act or failure to act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Stock Option Accounting Reform Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require an issuer of registered securities to show as an expense in its mandatory annual report the fair value of all stock purchase options granted to certain of its senior executive officers after December 31, 2004. Exempts small business issuers from such requirement. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to require reporting of: (1) stock option expenses as a reduction of the total expense in the fiscal year in which they expire or are forfeited; and (2) as income any excess by which such reduction exceeds total option expenses for any fiscal year. Requires any accounting principle recognized as "generally accepted" by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the expensing of stock purchase options to comply with this Act. Denies recognition to any such accounting principle until the Secretaries of Commerce and of Labor complete a joint study on the economic impact of mandatory expensing of all employee stock options.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Employee Free Choice Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees have authorized designation of the representative and there is no other individual or labor organization currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit. Sets forth special procedural requirements for reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement following certification or recognition. Revises enforcement requirements with respect to unfair labor practices during union organizing drives. Provides, under injunction provisions, for priority to be given to preliminary investigation of charges of violations by employers or other entities. Adds to remedies for such violations: (1) back pay plus liquidated damages; and (2) additional civil penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Rural Healthcare Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to services in rural areas, inpatient hospital services, physician services, physician updates, home health services, and the Office of Rural Health Policy. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to provide for a special, temporary increase in disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments on a one-time, non-cumulative basis, and an increase in the floor for treatment as a low DSH State. Provides for allotment adjustments for FY 2004 and 2005 for States without a DSH allotment owing to revocation or termination of a certain waiver. (The Medicare provisions of H.R. 3549 are identical to title I of S. 1926, the Support Our Health Care Providers Act of 2003, which in turn is identical, except with respect to any provider cuts or premium increases, to title IV of the conference report of H.R. 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003, which became Public Law 108-173 on December 8, 2003. The Medicaid provision is very similar to one in title VI, subtitle A of H.R. 3549.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Deplores the development by Iran of a nuclear weapons program and the failure of the Government of Iran to report material, facilities, and activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in contravention of its obligations under the safeguards convention it signed in connection with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Treaty). Concurs with the conclusion of the Department of State that Iran is pursuing a program to develop nuclear weapons. Calls on the President to use all appropriate means to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, with particular attention to the needs of the IAEA for information and access, including information concerning gas centrifuges and the conduct of uranium conversion experiments. Calls on Russia to suspend all nuclear cooperation with Iran until Iran fully complies with a specified IAEA resolution, with particular attention to spent fuel. Calls on the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of the Treaty. Calls on the United Nations Security Council to consider immediately the passage of a Security Council resolution or the taking of other actions that may be necessary to impose diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran if it fails to meet its obligations to the IAEA. Calls on the Government of Iran to cease all efforts to acquire nuclear fuel cycle capabilities and to end the enrichment and processing of uranium until it is able to provide specific, verifiable assurances that it is not engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2003
States that the House of Representatives: (1) recognizes the horrific effects of obstetric fistulas on the lives of women who experience them as they seek to become mothers; and (2) urges the appropriate Federal agencies to work with foreign agencies and organizations to implement programs to provide maternal health care, especially the prevention and treatment of obstetric fistulas.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2003
Memorial to Noncitizen Patriots Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army to construct within Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, a memorial marker honoring the service and sacrifice of noncitizens killed in the line of duty while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to accept gifts and donations for such purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member. Directs the Secretary to reimburse such eligible persons for pharmacy benefits received from a pharmacy that is not a TRICARE (Department of Defense managed health care plan) network pharmacy in the same manner as the Secretary would reimburse such person for such benefits received from a TRICARE network pharmacy. Requires such persons, in order to receive such reimbursement, to submit a certification from their physician stating that the person does not have access to a TRICARE network pharmacy due to physical or medical constraints. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to waive the monthly part B premium (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) with respect to: (1) an individual who is entitled to military retired or retainer pay based upon service that began before December 7, 1956; and (2) the spouse, widow, or widower of such individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to improve minority health and healthcare and to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare. FamilyCare Act of 2003 - Amends the Social Security Act respecting: (1) family care; (2) Medicaid coverage for all residents with poverty level incomes; and (3) funding for the territories. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide for optional coverage of legal immigrants under Medicaid and SCHIP (State children's health insurance program). Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to revise provisions respecting program operations and funding. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration project to strengthen Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for migrant workers and farmworkers. Establishes the National Commission for Expanded Access to Health Care. Amends the Public Service Health Act to improve limited English speakers' access to health care. Directs the Secretary to establish a Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Healthcare. Provides for health workforce diversity, including provisions respecting: (1) career training and support; (2) data collection; (3) cultural training; (4) Hispanic-serving health professions schools; (5) student assistance, including online degree programs; (6) the Louis Stokes public health scholars program; (7) the Patsy Mink health and gender research fellowship program; (8) the Paul David Wellstone international health fellowship program; and (9) the Edward R. Roybal Healthcare scholar program. Environmental Justice Act of 2003 - Establishes: (1) the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice which shall provide guidance to Federal agencies for identifying disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental effects on minority, low-income, and Native American populations; and (2) the Federal Environmental Justice Advisory Committee which shall advise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Working Group on areas environmental justice. Border Health Security Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary, through the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, to award grants to eligible entities to improve the health of border area residents that are established by: (1) the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission; (2) the State border health offices; and (3) the Secretary. Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to make permanent authorizations of appropriations for activities under such Act. Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private health centers (including Indian Health Service Centers, tribal governments, urban Indian organizations, tribal organizations, clinics serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Alaska Natives, and rural health clinics) for model programs that provide health disparity populations with: (1) cancer and chronic disease prevention and treatment; (2) patient navigators to manage the care of individuals within such groups; and (3) outreach services. Authorizes similar grant programs through: (1) the National Cancer Institute; and (2) the Indian Health Service. Community Health Workers Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States or local or tribal units to promote positive health behaviors for women in target populations, especially racial and ethnic minority women in medically underserved communities. Extends funding for breast and cervical cancer preventive health measures. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to qualifying health centers, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions for cancer treatment and prevention programs for underserved minority and other populations, with consideration given to such population's language and cultural context. Provides for grants and activities respecting: (1) health empowerment zone programs in health disparity communities; (2) the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative; (3) infant mortality and sudden infant death syndrome rates in minority communities; (4) fetal alcohol syndrome treatment and diagnosis; (5) diabetes prevention and treatment activities with Indian tribes, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians; (6) diabetes programs, including youth and children's programs; (7) heart disease; (8) a national stroke education campaign; and (9) obesity treatment and prevention in underserved minority populations; (10) tuberculosis control and prevention; (11) asthma; (12) sickle cell disease; (13) autoimmune disease in minority populations; (14) sexually transmitted diseases; (15) children's dental disease coverage under Medicaid or SCHIP, and dental health services in underserved areas; (16) demonstration projects to reduce violence; (17) uterine fibroid research and education; (18) disease screening; (19) community outreach; (20) immunizations; (21) chronic disease management; and (22) racial and ethnic approaches to community health. Requires HHS funded or operated programs to collect race, ethnicity, and language data to detect ethnic and racial health care disparities. Authorizes demonstration program grants for health plan, health center, and hospital data collection. Amends the Social Security Act to require the Social Security Administration to collect similar data. Directs the Secretary to fund epidemiology centers in Indian health areas lacking such centers. Extends funding for the National Center for Health Statistics. Minority Health and Genomics Act of 2003 - Establishes the Minority Health and Genomics Commission, which shall conduct a study of, and develop recommendations on, issues relating to genomic research as applied to minority groups. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) civil rights compliance offices within each HHS agency that administers a health program; and (2) an Office of Minority Health within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Establishes the Indian Health Service as an agency of the Public Health Service. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the Office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants for demonstration programs to improve minority healthcare access and quality. Directs the Secretary to: (1) designate centers of excellence at hospitals and other health systems serving large numbers of minority patients; (2) provide financial assistance to designated healthcare providers and community health centers for facility and service improvements in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii; and (3) provide grants and loan guarantees from the Health Safety Net Infrastructure Trust Fund (established by this Act) for capital financing assistance to eligible healthcare facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Veterans Eye Treatment Safety (VETS) Act of 2003 - Allows eye surgery at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility, or facility under contract with the Department, to be performed only by a licensed medical doctor or licensed doctor of osteopathy.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2003
Domestic Violence Courts Assistance Act - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (relating to grants to combat violent crimes against women) to allow such grants to be used to provide the resources to establish and maintain a court system dedicated to the adjudication of domestic violence cases. Requires a State to certify that at least five percent of grant funds shall be allocated for specialized domestic violence courts. Amends the State Justice Institute Act of 1984 to allow funds available pursuant to grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts awarded under the Act to be used to: (1) implement and evaluate court-based approaches to adjudicating domestic violence cases in State courts; and (2) provide technical assistance to State courts to facilitate the development and adoption of improved practices in such adjudication.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2003
Permanent Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to use Commodity Credit Corporation funds for emergency financial assistance to: (1) crop producers who have suffered qualifying weather-caused crop losses in 2001, 2002, or 2003; and (2) livestock producers for losses in 2001, 2002, or 2003, including livestock under the American Indian livestock program, in a disaster-designated county. Reduces (other than crop insurance) other agricultural assistance by amounts received under this Act. Directs the Secretary to make emergency financial assistance available after 2003 to producers with specified crop insurance coverage who have suffered qualifying weather-caused crop damage in a disaster-designated area.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Federal Government has a responsibility to further research on von Willebrand's disease, improve access to treatment centers for all individuals with bleeding disorders, and increase funding for research; (2) the Director of the National Institutes of Health should develop a 5-year research plan concerning women with bleeding disorders; (3) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should continue to improve outreach, treatment, and prevention of the complications of women's bleeding disorders; (4) physicians should screen all adolescents and all adult women presenting with severe menorrhagia for von Willebrand's disease; (5) hysterectomy for excessive menstrual bleeding should not be performed without the consideration of a bleeding disorder; (6) referral of women with bleeding disorders to a federally sponsored hemophilia treatment center is critical to comprehensive treatment; (7) physicians should be encouraged to conduct clotting factor assays for carrier diagnosis and to facilitate genotyping of the disorder and patients should be referred for genetic counseling when appropriate; and (8) patient advocate organizations and medical specialty societies should continue to collaborate on public education campaigns to educate women about bleeding disorders.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Designates the building located at 493 Auburn Avenue, N.E., in Atlanta, Georgia, as the John Lewis Civil Rights Institute.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to convert the dairy forward pricing program from a pilot program to a permanent program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Financial Literacy Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to develop, implement, and conduct a pilot national public service multimedia campaign to enhance the state of financial literacy in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Commission to Establish the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2003 - Establishes the Commission to Establish a National Museum of the American Latino. Directs the Commission to: (1) report to the President and Congress with recommendations on a plan of action to establish and maintain, in Washington, DC, the National Museum of the American Latino; (2) develop a fundraising plan, examine specified issues (including whether the Museum should be within the Smithsonian Institution), and make legislative recommendations; and (3) convene a national conference on the Museum. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide administrative services, facilities, and funds necessary for performance of Commission functions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2003
Authorizes the President to award congressional gold medals posthumously, to their next of kin, on behalf of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson, in recognition of their contributions to the Nation as pioneers in South Carolina in the effort to desegregate public schools that led directly to the landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. Directs that amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals be deposited in the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2003 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities (including employment agencies, labor organizations, and training programs). Prohibits related retaliation and coercion. Declares this Act inapplicable to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's domestic partner. Prohibits the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from: (1) collecting statistics on sexual orientation from covered entities; and (2) compelling covered entities to collect such statistics. Prohibits: (1) quotas and preferential treatment; and (2) an order or consent decree for a violation of this Act that includes a quota or preferential treatment. Declares that this Act is inapplicable to: (1) religious organizations; (2) the relationship between the United States and members of the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Prohibits the imposition of affirmative action for a violation of this Act. Disallows State immunity. Makes the United States or a State liable for remedies to the same extent as under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Calls for vigorous enforcement of Federal obscenity laws.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2003 - Defines "specialty crop" as all agricultural crops, except wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, and tobacco. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to States to enhance specialty crop competitiveness. Bases grant amounts on specialty crop production value. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase fruit or vegetable producer operating loan limits. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to provide for marketing order specialty crop food safety programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State or local educational agencies for school garden programs that permit children to learn about specialty crops' dietary importance. Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to: (1) increase maximum orchardist assistance under the tree assistance program; and (2) increase and extend specialty crop technical assistance. Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to provide restitution to licensed specialty crop shippers for economic losses resulting from the preparation of false inspection certificates by Department of Agriculture graders at Hunts Point Terminal Market, Bronx, New York. Authorizes appropriations for the maintenance of the Agricultural Marketing Service inspection training center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Directs the United States Trade Representative to establish at least one position in the Office of the United States Trade Representative for specialty crop trade matters. Directs: (1) the General Accounting Office to conduct a study on why and to what extent U.S. specialty crops have not benefited from the Uruguay Round; and (2) the Secretary to prepare a foreign market access strategy plan aimed at increasing such exports. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department, the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Export Petition Division to process petitions for reducing sanitary and phytosanitary export barriers; and (2) in the Department an office to develop and protect intellectual property rights in plants and plant materials. Provides for a Foreign Agricultural Service study of supplier credit guarantee program modifications in order to increase specialty crop exports. Directs the Secretary to transfer the Office of Pest Management Policy of the Department from the Agricultural Research Service to the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture for administrative and funding purposes. Provides for additional research initiatives respecting: (1) methyl bromide alternatives; (2) specialty crop clean air benefits; (3) produce quality improvement; (4) new crop protection tools and integrated pest management; (5) foreign invasive pests and diseases; and (6) national specialty crop development initiative grants. Establishes in the Treasury the Invasive Pest and Disease Response Fund to support emergency eradication and research activities of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in response to economic and health threats posed by invasive pests and agricultural disease. Directs the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide for independent scientific advice and peer review with regard to specialty crop import and export requests, including risk and mitigation assessments. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a food safety education program to reduce contamination from: (1) microbial pathogens; and (2) unsanitary handling practices. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to remove the income limitation from the environmental quality incentives program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to States to establish systems of individualized mental health treatment and family support services for children who are in custody or in danger of entering the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires eligible States to: (1) have laws or policies in effect that ensure that children receive appropriate mental health services so that parents do not have to relinquish legal custody of such children; (2) provide matching funds; (3) establish infrastructure for interagency cooperation and cross system financing; and (4) expand public health insurance programs to cover these services after the grant expires. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children and youths as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA) to: (1) extend the TEUC program; (2) provide for additional weeks of TEUC benefits; (3) revise unemployment rate triggers for TEUC benefit periods; and (4) provide for regular unemployment compensation for certain individuals based on part-time work or an alternative base period. Extends the TEUC program through weeks of unemployment ending before July 1, 2004. Provides a phase-out period for individual payments up to weeks beginning after December 31, 2004. Increases to 26 weeks an eligible individual's TEUC payments. Provides for an additional seven weeks of payments, for a total of 33 weeks, for individuals in high-unemployment States (TEUC-X). (Current law provides 13 weeks of regular TEUC payments, with an additional 13 and total 26 in TEUC-X States.) Revises requirements for determining TEUC-X States, using certain triggers based on insured unemployment rates and on total unemployment rates. Establishes a program of payments to States to provide regular unemployment compensation benefits for individuals who otherwise would be ineligible because: (1) the base period does not count wages earned in the most recently completed calendar quarter; or (2) the individuals seek or are available for less than full-time work.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Recognizes the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama. Honors the victims (Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley) and commends the efforts of the law enforcement personnel who worked to bring those responsible to justice.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003 - Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act of 2003 - Amends: (1) the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to reauthorize the Act; (2) the DNA Identification Act of 1994 (Identification Act) to expand the scope of DNA samples to be included in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS); and (3) the Violence Against Women Act to authorize grants to increase the availability of legal assistance to victims of dating violence. DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2003 - Amends the Identification Act to require that CODIS include only information on DNA identification records and analyses that are prepared by laboratories that: (1) have been accredited by a nationally recognized nonprofit professional association of forensic scientists within two years; and (2) undergo external audits at least every two years that demonstrate compliance with specified standards. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants for: (1) DNA training and education; (2) sexual assault forensic examination programs; (3) research and development; (4) using DNA technology to identify missing persons; and (5) tribal domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions. Expands and reauthorizes the Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement Grant Program. Innocence Protection Act of 2003 - Sets forth conditions under which a Federal prisoner may obtain post-conviction DNA testing of specific evidence. Directs the Attorney General to award grants to States to improve the quality of legal representation in State capital cases.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Honors the life and accomplishments of Althea Gibson, who broke the color barrier in the sport of tennis in the 1950s, who was the first black woman to win the Wimbledon and United States national tennis titles, and who helped pave the way for future generations of black athletes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Rest and Recuperation Leave program for members of the armed forces serving in combat zones in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom should cover all travel and transportation costs necessary to return members granted leave to their homes. (Currently, such program covers transportation to only an approved point of debarkation in the United States.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Benjamin Franklin Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue one dollar coins emblematic of the life and legacy of Benjamin Franklin (not more than 250,000 bearing his image as a young statesman and not more than 250,000 with his image as an older numismatist). Directs that all sales include a $10 per coin surcharge, which shall be paid by the Secretary to the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission, to be used to educate people about Franklin's legacy.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Directs the Secretary of Defense, in the case of a member of the armed forces serving outside the United States in Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom who is granted rest and recuperative leave and provided authorized travel and transportation allowances, to pay the member for transportation, or provide transportation for the member, not only between the overseas duty location and the currently authorized locations (a vacation site or a location in the United States), but, at the request of the member, between the currently authorized locations and the member's permanent duty station or home. Makes such allowance retroactive from September 20, 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2003
Tobacco Reduction, Accountability, and Community Enhancement Act of 2003 - Amends, and repeals, specified agricultural Acts to eliminate tobacco quota and price support programs, including no net cost provisions. Adds a new subtitle, Subtitle E: Tobacco Assistance, to title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make transition payments to each tobacco quota holder (generally, an owner of a farm, as of July 1, 2002, for which a basic tobacco marketing or farm acreage allotment for quota tobacco was established for the 2002 tobacco marketing year under a marketing quota program). Requires the Secretary to make direct payments to a traditional producer of tobacco (a person that, for at least one of the 2000, 2001, or 2002 tobacco marketing years, was actively engaged in the production of tobacco marketed, or considered planted, under a marketing quota and shared in the risk of producing the tobacco). Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a permanent Tobacco Advisory Board for each kind of tobacco; and (2) a poundage limitation program for each crop of each kind of tobacco. Directs the Secretary, during any marketing year period in which the insured price for the crop of a kind of tobacco exceeds the average domestic price for such tobacco, to make market stability payments available to active producers of such tobacco. Directs the Secretary to make research grants to colleges and universities in eligible States to: (1) assist tobacco producers reduce or eliminate reliance on tobacco production through crop diversification, or to promote alternative tobacco uses or enhance tobacco quality; and (2) foster development of economically viable new agricultural technologies and enterprises for rural communities. Establishes in the Commodity Credit Corporation a revolving Tobacco Trust Fund to carry this subtitle. Deposits into the Fund a quarterly assessment (imposed by this Act) on each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product importer that sells tobacco products in domestic U.S. commerce. Sets forth tobacco stocks and no net cost transition provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2003
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott (founder of Haymarket Center, the largest drug abuse treatment center in Chicago) in recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community and his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to award a grant to each State to carry out a program for making available throughout that State the 2-1-1 telephone service for information and referral on human services. Requires a participating State to ensure that at least 50 percent of the resources of the program funded by the grant will be derived from other sources. Requires a State seeking a grant to carry out its activities through a lead entity to be known as a 2-1-1 Collaborative. Requires grant amounts to be used solely to make available to a State 2-1-1 telephone service for community information and referral on human services, including telephone connections between families and individuals seeking services and the service providers. Requires grant recipients to: (1) abide by the Key Standards for 2-1-1 Centers; and (2) collaborate with human service organizations to provide an exhaustive database of services with which to provide information or referral to individuals utilizing the 2-1-1 service.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Extension Act of 2003 - Amends the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 to extend the deadline for filing a claim to December 31, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2003
Recognizes the 100th anniversary of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2003
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 255 North Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia, as the S. Truett Cathy Post Office Building.