United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2002
Aeronautics Research and Development Revitalization Act of 2002 - Establishes an Office of Aeronautics responsible for planning, budgeting, and managing all aeronautics research, development, and demonstration activities undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Directs the NASA Administrator to establish certain initiatives to develop technologies that would: (1) significantly reduce aircraft noise, harmful emissions, and fuel consumption; (2) make certain performance improvements to existing rotorcraft; and (3) enable overland flight of supersonic civil transport aircraft with certain performance characteristics. Directs the NASA Administrator to provide specified congressional committees a plan for the implementation of such initiatives. Directs the NASA Administrator to: (1) award grants to establish university-based Centers for Research on Aviation Training; and (2) establish NASA aeronautics scholarships for U.S. citizens enrolled in accredited Masters degree programs in aeronautical engineering at institutions of higher education. Authorizes appropriations for certain Federal Aviation Administration research and development projects and activities. Requires certain aviation-related studies and assessments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
National Cancer Act of 2002 - Provides a comprehensive Federal effort relating to treatments for and the prevention of cancer. Amends the Public Health Service Act to fund prevention and treatment programs of the National Cancer Institute, including translational cancer research (research needed to transform scientific discoveries into approaches and products to treat and cure cancer). Addresses issues of cancer care, including: (1) clinical trial participation; (2) workforce needs; (3) Medicare coverage; (4) protocols and guidelines; (5) National Program of Comprehensive Cancer Control Plans; (5) the supply of researchers; (6) environmental risk factors research; and (7) a colorectal cancer screening demonstration program. Requires health insurance plans covered by the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide: (1) coverage for clinical trials; (2) coverage of cancer screening, including tobacco and nutrition counseling and genetic testing; and (3) patient access to benefit information. Addresses issues of managing physicians and quality of care for cancer patients covered by such plans, including designating a lead managing physician. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate tobacco products. Sets forth requirements pertaining to: (1) adulteration; (2) misbranding; (3) the submission of health information; (4) annual registration and biennial inspection of processors; (5) biannual reporting of product list changes; (6) good manufacturing practices; (7) product performance standards; (8) information, notification, and other remedies; (9) records and reports; (10) premarket review; (11) judicial review; (12) postmarket surveillance; (13) reduced risk tobacco products; (14) preservation of State and local authority; and (15) equal treatment of retail outlets. Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to: (1) revise cigarette labeling, advertising, and marketing requirements; and (2) authorize the Secretary to require disclosure of tar, nicotine, and other smoke constituents on package labels and/or advertisements. Amends the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to revise smokeless tobacco warning label and advertising requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Declares the sense of the Congress that: (1) a National Minority Health and Health Disparities Month should be established to promote educational efforts on the health problems currently facing minorities and other health disparity populations; (2) the Secretary of Health and Human services should present public service announcements on health promotion and disease prevention among minorities and other health disparity populations in the United States, and educate the public and health care professionals about health disparities; (3) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality should continue to collect and report data on health care access and utilization on patients by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and, where possible, primary language to monitor the Nation's progress toward the elimination of health care disparities; and (4) the information gained should be disseminated to all health care professionals so that they may better communicate with all patients, regardless of race or ethnicity, without bias or prejudice.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2002
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act respecting naturalization through service in the Armed Forces to: (1) reduce the required service from three years to two years; and (2) prohibit the imposition of a naturalization fee. Provides, and sets forth the conditions, for naturalization through enlistment in the Armed Forces and service with an eligibility for access to classified information. Provides for overseas naturalization proceedings for members of the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Authorizes the President to award to Dr. Dorothy Height, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Urges the President to: (1) end any embargo against Haiti and to no longer require, as a condition of providing humanitarian and development assistance to Haiti, the resolution of the political impasse in Haiti resulting from the legislative elections of May 2000; (2) direct the Secretary of State to intervene to mediate the political impasse, provide constructive guarantees to any resolution to the crisis, and recruit positive support from the Organization of American States (OAS) and other international bodies to sustain any negotiated settlement; and (3) direct the Secretary to review of U.S. policy toward Haiti. Calls on the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank to convene a meeting of all donors and potential donors to Haiti to launch a new and sustainable humanitarian initiative, including a lending program to bolster Haiti's economic base. Supports the expansion of the OAS mission to Haiti and calls on the President to urge that the mission work constructively with the Government and people of Haiti to advance their goals and aspirations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2002
American Dream Downpayment Act - Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to participating jurisdictions for downpayment assistance to low-income, first-time home buyers; and (2) make the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 inapplicable to such assistance. Amends the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 to authorize appropriations for the self-help housing provider program. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize appropriations for the public housing agency grant program for project demolition, revitalization, and replacement, and tenant-based assistance. Extends the program sunset date to September 30, 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2002
Keep America Working Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the circumstances under which employment compensation is available to provide coverage due to the following, among other, circumstances, part-time employment, seasonal work, loss of employment due to sexual harassment, loss of child care, leaving work due to domestic violence, and base period employment of less than 20 hours per week. Redefines the term "wages" for purposes of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Repeals provisions: (1) allowing past Internal Revenue Service audits to act as the basis for current employment status determinations; (2) prohibiting regulations and rulings on employment status; and (3) outlining the determination of an employer's liability for certain employment taxes. Permits unemployment compensation where separation from work is due to a spouse or domestic partner's change in residence. Specifies manner for computation of wage replacement ratios. Amends the Social Security Act to require increases and decreases in the earnings allocated to State accounts when States meet or fail to meet funding goals. Lowers the threshold for triggering an extended benefit period. Eliminates special Federal eligibility requirements for individuals seeking compensation in an extended benefit period. Defines contents of unemployment compensation reports submitted by States. Establishes a review panel to compare States' unemployment compensation systems.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2002
Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam eligible for: (1) the TANF supplemental grant for population increases; (2) the TANF contingency fund; and (3) child care entitlement funds. Amends SSA title XI to: (1) disregard foster care payments to Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam for purposes of the limitation of total payments to each territory; and (2) exempt Medicaid (SSA title XIX) transitional medical assistance in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam from the current Medicaid cap on spending.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2002
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an increased low-income housing credit for property which is contiguous to a qualified census tract and which meets qualified allocation plan criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2002
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States concerning clocks, watches, and parts thereof that are products of U.S. insular possessions. Extends and revises the incentive certificate program through calendar year 2015. Authorizes the refund of duties collected on jewelry if the Secretary of the Treasury determines there is an insufficient level of duties from watch and watch-related tariffs. Treats jewelry assembled in the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa as a product of such possessions, as specified.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2002
Provides additional funding for translation and interpretation services for patients with limited English-speaking ability at community and other health centers funded under the rural health services outreach demonstration grant program under the Public Health Service Act. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that such funds are expended to increase and not supplant amounts already expended by such centers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
Adult Education Instructor Recruitment and Retention Act of 2002 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish student loan forgiveness programs for adult education instructors.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
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.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for: (1) destroying, altering, or falsifying records in Federal investigations or in bankruptcy; (2) failure of an accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities to maintain all documents sent, received, or created in connection with the audit for a five year period; and (3) executing a scheme to defraud in connection with a registered security, or to obtain by false pretenses money or property in connection with its purchase or sale. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review the Federal sentencing guidelines for obstruction of justice, and for fraud when the number of victims adversely involved is significantly greater than 50 or when it endangers the solvency or financial security of multiple victims. Amends: (1) Federal bankruptcy law to make certain debts incurred in violation of Federal or State securities laws, or common law fraud in connection with the purchase or sale of any security, non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, and to increase the amount of employees' wages protected under chapter 11 proceedings; and (2) the Federal judicial code to authorize a private right of action that involves a securities fraud-related claim to be brought by the earlier of five years after the date of the alleged violation or three years after its discovery. Authorizes a civil action to protect whistle-blowing employees against retaliation in fraud cases involving publicly traded companies. Amends the judicial code to direct the Attorney General to establish within the Department of Justice a Retirement Security Fraud Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
Multi-Cultural Domestic Violence Minority Education Campaigns Act - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States and public or private nonprofit entities to carry out public information campaigns for the purpose of educating racial and ethnic minorities about domestic violence, including its effects, prevention or reduction methods, and victim services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
Small Business Investment in Growth Act of 2002 - Increases to $40,000 the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense certain property (Section 179 business property) as a tax deduction for a taxable year. Increases from $200,000 to $325,000 the amount of property triggering the phaseout of such maximum.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2002 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain employee group health plans or related insurances providing both medical-surgical and mental health benefits from imposing mental health treatment limitations or financial requirements unless comparable limitations and requirements are imposed upon medical-surgical benefits. States that the foregoing shall not be construed as requiring a group health plan (or related insurances) to: (1) provide any mental health benefits; (2) prevent the medical management of mental health benefits; or (3) require the provision of specific mental health services, except to the extent that failure to provide such services would result in a disparity between the coverage of mental health and medical-surgical benefits. Exempts specified small employers from such requirements. Requires that, in the case of a group health plan that offers a participant or beneficiary two or more benefit package options, the coverage requirements shall be applied separately with respect to each such option. Provides that, in the case of a plan or insurance providing in-network mental health benefits, out-of-network mental health benefits need not be provided at parity to medical-surgical benefits, as long as in-network mental health benefits are provided at parity with medical-surgical benefits and the plan or insurance provides reasonable access to in-network providers and facilities. Requires a General Accounting Office study of such requirements' effects upon health insurance costs, access, and quality and a cost estimation of extending such requirements to the treatment of substance abuse and chemical dependency.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Military Standards for Airport Security Screeners Act - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to: (1) require the Immigration and Naturalization Service, upon a Federal agency airport security screener-related inquiry, to verify whether an alien has an immigration status that would render such alien eligible to serve in the United States Armed Forces; and (2) state that such an alien's immigration status would not would make him or her ineligible for an airport security screener's position. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for naturalization through active-duty service during: (1) Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia (such period to begin as of December 1995); (2) Operation Allied Force in Kosovo (such operation to begin as of March 1999); or (3) Operation Enduring Freedom in Southwest Asia (such period to begin as of September 2001).
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Homeowners' Insurance Availability Act of 2002 - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to implement a reinsurance coverage program available only through contracts for reinsurance coverage purchased at regional auctions. States that the purpose of the program is to improve: (1) the availability of homeowners' insurance for the purpose of facilitating the pooling, and spreading the risk, of catastrophic financial losses from disasters; and (2) the solvency of the homeowners' insurance markets. Prescribes implementation guidelines that include establishment: (1) in the Treasury of the Disaster Reinsurance Fund; and (2) of a National Commission on Catastrophe Risks and Insurance Loss Costs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Domestic Violence Screening and Treatment Act of 2002 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require that health benefits provided include coverage of domestic violence screening and treatment. Amends Federal civil service law to require the Office of Personal Management to require all contracted carriers of health coverage for Federal employees to include coverage for domestic violence screening and treatment services. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to require States to set aside a reasonable portion of maternal and child health services block grant funds to provide for domestic violence screening and treatment services. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with respect to such funds retained for certain projects, to provide preference to State applicants who include training of providers in how to screen for, and treat, domestic violence. Requires the Secretary to allot funds to States to provide for a separate program for domestic violence screening and treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Nationwide Health Tracking Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) develop Nationwide and State Health Tracking Networks to monitor, investigate, and prevent increases in the incidence of certain chronic diseases and relevant environmental risk factors; and (2) establish within the Epidemic Intelligence Service a National Environmental Health Rapid Response Service. Direct the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to jointly establish the Commission on Nationwide Health Tracking. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director, to support State Health Tracking Networks through: (1) pilot programs; (2) awarding grants; and (3) providing technical assistance. Makes States, political subdivisions of States, territories, and Indian tribes eligible for participation, subject to an approved application. Requires such Networks to: (1) conduct surveillance activities; (2) collect and analyze data; (3) establish an early warning system and response capacity; (4) recruit and train public health employees; and (5) expand and integrate existing systems and activities to the extent practicable. Requires the Nationwide Health Tracking Network to coordinate State Networks and existing Federal public health and environmental surveillance systems and activities. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for research and demonstration centers concerning chronic conditions and relevant environmental factors. Directs the Secretary to: (1) expand the scope of biomonitoring data collection; (2) publish a Nationwide Network report; and (3) award John H. Chafee Public Health Scholarships for advanced training in chronic conditions and environmental epidemiology and health sciences.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2002
Medicare Safety Net Access Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the payment for certain Federally qualified health center (FQHC) services furnished to an individual enrolled with a Medicare+Choice organization under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice), allowing for supplemental reimbursement, among other changes. Amends Medicare+Choice to add additional Medicare+Choice contract requirements. Amends SSA title XI with respect to criminal penalties for acts involving Federal health care programs, particularly illegal remunerations (kickbacks). Exempts from the prohibition against such remunerations any remuneration: (1) between a FQHC (or an entity controlled by such a health center) and a Medicare+Choice organization pursuant to a specified written agreement; and (2) between a certain kind of public or nonprofit private health center entity and any individual or entity providing goods, items, services, donations, loans, or a combination, to such health center entity pursuant to an agreement, if such agreement produces a community benefit that will be used by the health center entity to maintain or increase the availability or accessibility, or enhance the quality, of services provided to a medically underserved population served by the health center entity. Amends Medicare to provide for coverage of additional FQHC services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards relating to the exception for health center entity arrangements to described anti-kickback penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2002
District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program Act - Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue during 2009 redesigned quarter dollars commemorating the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2002
Community Economic Development Expertise Enhancement Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to increase the capacity and expertise of qualifying community-based economic development organizations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct an assessment of such organizations' capability needs; and (2) establish the Advisory Council on Community Economic Development. Directs the President to include with each annual budget request a report regarding Federal financial support for community economic development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2002
Caribbean National Forest Wilderness Act of 2002 - Designates approximately 10,000 acres of land in the Caribbean National Forest/Luquillo Experimental Forest in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as the El Toro Wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Provides that designation of the Wilderness shall not be construed to prevent within the area's boundaries: (1) installation and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data collection and transmission facilities when they are essential to the scientific research purposes of the Luquillo Experimental Forest; (2) construction and maintenance of nesting structures, observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for threatened and endangered species; or (3) construction and maintenance of trails to such facilities as necessary for research purposes and the recovery of such species.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2002
Commends the great work that the Pentagon Renovation Program and its contractors have completed thus far, in reconstructing the portion of the Pentagon that was destroyed by the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2002
Declares that Congress supports the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) in condemning the sexual exploitation of children by humanitarian aid workers. Urges the UN Office of Investigative Oversight Services to investigate sexual exploitation of refugees by such workers of both non-governmental organizations and government-sponsored agencies. Urges the President to: (1) affirm the U.S. commitment to protecting the well-being and human rights of women and girls; and (2) instruct the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Secretary of Agriculture to review the distribution of food assistance to refugee communities to ensure that the provision of U.S. humanitarian assistance is respectful of the human rights of women and girls and supports young girls identified as victims of sexual exploitation.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2002
Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should use its influence with the Government of Turkey and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to suggest that the Turkish Government: (1) assure that steps are taken to reopen the Theological School of Halki; (2) provide for the protection and safety of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Patriarchate personnel, and visitors; and (3) establish conditions to ensure that the Patriarchate is free to carry out its religious mission.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Capital Construction Fund Qualified Withdrawal Act of 2002 - Amends the Merchant Marine Act and the Internal Revenue Code to permit as qualified withdrawals from fishing capital construction funds money used by retiring fishermen for the following purposes: (1) retiring an owner's commercial fishing vessels and related commercial fishing permits; (2) making a rollover contribution into an owner's individual retirement plan; and (3) making a payment of an industry fee authorized by the fishing capacity reduction program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Includes coverage of: (1) certain mental health services provided in rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers; and (2) certain marriage and family therapist services provided in hospices.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Nullifies discretionary spending limit adjustments made by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to the highway category and to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (which limits obligation levels for such category) when the President submitted the budget for FY 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Congratulates the people of Utah, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the United States Olympic Team, and the athletes of the world for an outstanding and inspiring 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and thanks the thousands of law enforcement and public safety personnel, military servicemen and women, and volunteers who contributed so much to ensure the Winter Olympics were safe, secure, and friendly.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code by determining that acquiring corporations in"corporate expatriation transactions" shall be considered domestic corporations. Defines a "corporate expatriation transaction" as, with certain exceptions, one in which a "nominally foreign corporation" acquires substantially all of the properties held by a domestic corporation and in which, immediately after the transaction, more than 80 percent of the stock of the acquiring corporation is held by former shareholders of the domestic corporation. Lowers the 80 percent threshold to 50 percent when the acquiring "nominally foreign corporation" lacks substantial business activities in the foreign country in which it was created and organized compared to the total activities of the "expanded affiliated group" and the stock is publicly traded, with the principal market of trading being the United States. Defines the terms "nominally foreign corporation" and "expanded affiliated group." Applies similar rules to partnership transactions. Establishes that a series of related transactions relevant to the Act shall be handled as a single transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the Medicare physician payment update system, to: (1) specify the update to the single conversion factor for 2003; (2) prescribe an update for years beginning with 2004; (3) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an index that reflects the weighted-average input prices for physicians' services for a year; and (4) require the Secretary to estimate annually a productivity adjustment factor reflecting estimated growth in multifactor productivity attributable to both labor and nonlabor factors. (Thus eliminates the sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment update system).
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2002
Battered Immigrant Family Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to make qualifying battered alien spouses and children eligible for specified public benefits. Redefines "qualified alien" for such purposes. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify procedures and provide special rules for battered aliens with respect to: (1) public charge inadmissibility (2) immigrant petitions, including self-petitioning petitions; (3) implementation of immigration provisions in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); (4) fiancee conditional residency requirement; (5) removal and inadmissibility; (6) adjustment of status; and (7) access to VAWA for visa waivers. Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 to provide that requirements and restrictions placed upon Legal Services Corporation funding shall not be construed to prohibit a recipient from providing related legal assistance to certain aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Violence Against Women Grants Office in the Department of Justice to report on services for underserved populations. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to include alienage status within the scope of underserved populations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2002
Former Prisoners of War Equitable Dental Benefits Act - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions with respect to former prisoners of war to repeal the 90-day minimum period of internment required for eligibility for dental care furnished through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2002
Presidential Historic Site Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study and report to specified congressional committees on the suitability and feasibility of designating the William Jefferson Clinton birthplace home located in Hope, Arkansas, as a national historic site.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2002
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims' Housing Act - Increases a specified authorization of appropriations under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to be used to provide housing assistance for individuals or families victimized by domestic violence, stalking, or adult or child sexual assault.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2002
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien seeking nonimmigrant U.S. entry for a brief stay occasioned by the serious illness or death of an immediate family member (as defined by this Act) shall be presumed to be entitled to nonimmigrant status unless the consular or immigration officer makes a fact- based determination that the alien: (1) is inadmissible; or (2) does not intend to leave the United States. (Current law presumes an alien to be an immigrant unless he or she establishes entitlement to nonimmigrant status.) Provides for an expedited consular appeal (based upon an alien having a U.S. sponsor) under specified circumstances. Directs the Attorney General to establish tracking procedures respecting the admission and departure of such aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2002
Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for an enhanced Federal Medicaid medical assistance percentage for States that elect to continuously enroll infants during the first year of life without regard to the child's membership in the woman's household or the mother's eligibility status. Amends SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) to permit a State child health plan, implemented under either SCHIP or Medicaid, to provide for coverage of pregnancy-related assistance for targeted low-income pregnant women under specified conditions. Provides for SCHIP and Medicaid coordination with SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services). Increases the SCHIP income eligibility level with respect to a low-income child. Amends: (1) SSA title XIX to provide for an enhanced Federal Medicaid medical assistance percentage for increased expenditures for medical assistance for children; (2) SSA title XXI to increase SCHIP appropriations; and (3) SSA titles XIX and XXI to permit a State to elect to provide Medicaid and SCHIP coverage of children age 20 or 21.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2002
Highway Funding Restoration Act - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to require that obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for FY 2003: (1) meet a specified minimum level; and (2) be distributed in accordance with that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2002
Improved Maternal and Children's Health Coverage Act of 2002 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require a State child health plan, among other things, to provide for: (1) development and use of a uniform, simplified application form for establishing SCHIP- and Medicaid-eligibility under SSA title XIX (Medicaid); (2) an enrollment process coordinated with that under Medicaid so that a family need only interact with a single agency to determine whether a child is SCHIP- or Medicaid-eligible; (3) acceptance and timely response to inquiries received through the national toll-free system established by this Act; (4) methods to ensure that children within a family eligible for SCHIP assistance are allowed to be seen by the same pediatric provider or group of pediatric providers in a manner that permits coordinated receipt of care by children in the same family to the extent a State child health plan provides coverage other than through providing benefits under the State's Medicaid plan; and (5) responsibility of the State and its contractors for assuring compliance with limitations on cost-sharing. Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to provide for automatic reassessment of eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP benefits for children losing Medicaid or SCHIP eligibility. Amends SSA title XXI to provide for optional coverage of low-income, uninsured pregnant women under a State child health plan. Amends SSA title XIX to grant States the option of: (1) using enhanced Federal medical assistance percentage for coverage of additional pregnant women under Medicaid; and (2) covering qualified alien children under Medicaid and SCHIP programs. Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to provide for program coordination with the Maternal and Child Health program under SSA title V.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2002
Employee Pension Freedom Act of 2002 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth requirements for disclosure, diversification, account access, and accountability under defined contribution plans that are individual account plans (401(k) and similar plans). Requires pension plan administrators to provide certain benefit information to participants or beneficiaries periodically. Requires plan sponsors (employers) and plan administrators to provide all material investment information to participants and beneficiaries, in an accurate form, as required to be disclosed to investors under applicable securities laws, and treats misleading investment information as a violation. Requires individual account plans that permit participants or beneficiaries to exercise control over their account assets to grant them the right to allocate all their nonforfeitable accrued benefits which are readily tradable employer securities to any investment option provided under the plan. Reduces, from three years to one year, the maximum vesting period for individual account plans (so that an employee who has completed at least one year of service has a nonforfeitable right to all of the employee's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions). Requires individual account plan fiduciaries to give 30 days notice to plan participants and beneficiaries before a lockdown limiting their control over their account assets, and limits the maximum duration of any such lockdown to ten business days. Requires each fiduciary of an individual account plan to be bonded or insured in an amount sufficient to ensure coverage of financial losses due to failures to meet certain ERISA requirements. Requires joint boards of trustees, representing interests of employers and those of employee participants and beneficiaries, to hold in trust the assets of single-employer plans which are individual account plans with some or all assets derived from employee contributions. Makes liable anyone who participates in or conceals certain breaches of fiduciary duty. Provides that rights or claims under ERISA may not be waived, with specified exceptions. Establishes an Office of Pension Participant Advocacy in the Department of Labor. Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to study and report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of and options for developing an insurance system for individual account plans.
![Official portrait of Del. Christensen, Donna M. [D-VI-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000380_200.jpg)