United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2006
Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act of 2006 - Prohibits any person from obtaining or causing the disclosure of, or requesting another person to obtain, customer proprietary network information relating to another person by: (1) making a false statement to a telecommunications carrier; or (2) providing any information knowing that it is counterfeit, that it was obtained fraudulently or without the customer's consent, or that it contains a false statement. Prohibits a person from selling customer information relating to any other person knowing it was obtained in such manner. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require each telecommunications carrier to notify a customer when proprietary network information relating to such customer is disclosed in violation of such prohibitions. Treats a violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Gives all of the functions and powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under that Act to the FCC to enforce compliance. Prescribes penalties, which double for violations that are part of a pattern of illegal activity.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2006
Amends rule XXV (Limitations on Outside Earned Income and Acceptance of Gifts) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require Members, Delegates, Resident Commissioners, officers, or employees of the House, before accepting payment of travel expenses, to obtain a written certification from the sponsoring organization or person: (1) stating that no registered lobbyist has been invited to participate in the transportation, lodging, or any associated meetings; and (2) disclaiming specified lobbying activities and connections. Amends rule IV (The Hall of the House) to deny floor privileges to any former Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner, former Parliamentarian, former elected officer or former minority employee of the House, and to heads of departments and state governors, unless the individual signs a lobbying disclaimer each time he or she is admitted to such location. Amends rule XVIII (The Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union) to make it out of order to consider any reconciliation legislation which has the net effect of reducing the surplus or increasing the deficit compared to the most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate for any fiscal year. Amends rule XX (Voting and Quorum Calls) to limit recorded electronic votes to 20 minutes, except that the time may be extended with the consent of both the majority and minority floor managers of the legislation involved or both the majority and minority leaders. Amends rule XXIII (Code of Official Conduct) to prohibit a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner from conditioning the inclusion of language to provide funding for a district-oriented earmark, a particular project which will be carried out in a Member's congressional district, or a limited tax benefit in any bill or joint resolution (or accompanying report) or in any conference report on such measure (or accompanying joint statement of managers) on any vote such individual casts. Requires a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to disclose in writing to the chairman and ranking member of the relevant committee certain information about any district-oriented earmark such individual advocates in any measure or accompanying report or managers' joint statement. Requires each committee to make such information available to the general public for any earmark included in any reported measure. Requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to review any revenue measure, reconciliation bill, or joint resolution for limited tax benefits, and identify them and their beneficiaries, including their sponsors. Amends rule XV (Business in Order on Special Days) to make it out of order to consider a resolution providing for adjournment sine die unless, during at least 20 weeks of the session, a quorum call or recorded vote was taken on at least four of the weekdays (excluding legal public holidays). Amends rule XIII (Calendars and Committee Reports) to make it out of order, with certain exceptions, for the House to consider a bill or joint resolution until 24 hours, or in the case of legislation containing a district-oriented earmark or limited tax benefit, until three days after copies of such measure (and any accompanying report) are available (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays when the House is not in session). Makes a motion to request or agree to a conference on a general appropriation bill in order only if the Senate expresses its disagreements with the House in the form of numbered amendments. Requires all provisions on which the two chambers disagree to be open to discussion at any meeting of a conference committee. Amends rule XXV (Limitation on Outside Earned Income and Acceptance of Gifts) to exempt from the restrictions on gifts to Members of Congress or Senators, officers, or employees of the House the market value for a flight taken in connection with official duties (charter flight fair market value) on an airplane not licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate for compensation or hire. Requires the individual to publish certain flight related information in the Congressional Record within 10 days of such a flight.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 7320 Reseda Boulevard in Reseda, California, as the "Coach John Wooden Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2005
Thanks Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates for their charitable efforts. Congratulates each of them on their selection as Time Magazine's Persons of the Year.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2005
Pandemic and Seasonal Influenza Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to issue a pandemic influenza declaration putting into effect provisions relating to government liability and compensation for injuries with respect to specified countermeasures. Requires the Secretary to establish a compensation program for countermeasure-related injuries or deaths. Establishes the Pandemic Influenza Countermeasure Injury Compensation Fund. Establishes the liability of the United States for claims arising out of the administration of a covered countermeasure by a qualified person during the period of such declaration. Requires states to have an approved state pandemic influenza preparedness plan as a condition of receiving certain bioterrorism funds. Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide for the purchase of excess stocks of influenza vaccine; (2) establish minimum thresholds for state pandemic influenza surveillance; (3) procure antivirals, vaccines, essential medication, and other supplies related to a pandemic influenza for the Strategic National Stockpile; and (4) develop a national system for tracking and distributing antiviral medications and vaccines. Establishes a Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance. Provides for: (1) the development of an influenza public education campaign; (2) the expansion and intensification of influenza research; and (3) the development of best practices and social science research. Requires the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary to develop workplace standards to protect health care workers and first responders from workplace exposure to pandemic influenza. Authorizes the Secretary of State to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat the avian influenza virus. Requires the Secretary of State to: (1) designate a coordinator of U.S. assistance to combat the avian influenza virus; and (2) develop country strategies to prevent, mitigate, and respond to outbreaks in designated high-risk countries. Requires the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish an early warning system to prevent, mitigate, and respond to outbreaks of the avian influenza virus in foreign countries.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2005
Code Talkers Recognition Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal: (1) to persons, including specified individuals, who served as Sioux or Comanche Code Talkers during World War II; (2) honoring the Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I; and (3) to any other Native American member of the armed forces, identified by the Secretary of Defense, who served as a Code Talker in any foreign conflict in which the United States was involved during the 20th Century. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medals struck under this Act and to deposit the proceeds in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to pay for the costs of the medals awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2005
Sowing the Seeds Through Science and Engineering Research Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011 to: (1) the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for support of basic research activities in the physical sciences, mathematics and computer sciences, and engineering; and (2) the Department of Defense (DOD) for support of basic research activities. Makes at least 8% of such amounts available for high-risk, potentially high-payoff research. Authorizes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011 to the NSF, National Institutes of Health (NIH), DOE, DOD, and NASA for the support of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers program. Directs NSF to institute the Graduate Scholar Awards in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics program or GSA-STEM program, to award graduate fellowships in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Requires the NSF Director to establish an advisory board. Establishes a Presidential Innovation Award, which the President shall periodically award to individuals who develop one or more unique scientific or engineering ideas in the national interest. Directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish a National Coordination Office for Research Infrastructure to: (1) identify and prioritize deficiencies in research facilities and instrumentation in academic institutions and national laboratories; and (2) make recommendations for resource allocation. Authorizes appropriations for FY2007-FY2011 to NSF and DOE for construction and maintenance of research facilities at institutions of higher education or national laboratories and other physical resources for performing leading-edge research.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2005
The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro Tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in recognition of his many contributions to peace and religious understanding.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2005
Mammogram Availability Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group coverage, that provides coverage for diagnostic mammographies for any woman 40 years old or older to provide no less favorable coverage for annual screening mammographies for such a woman. Prohibits related enrollment and renewal discrimination, monetary incentives to women, and penalties or incentives to providers. Applies such requirements and prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2005
Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from issuing any final rule that would change the Department of Transportation's (DOT) interpretation of what constitutes "actual control" of an airline with respect to requirements prohibiting foreign interests from exercising actual control over all airline operations. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the impact of DOT's proposed change of allowing foreign interests to control economic and competitive decisions while requiring U.S. citizens to control decisions concerning commitments to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, transportation security, safety, and organizational documents. (Under current law, only an airline that qualifies as "a citizen of the United States" may provide service between U.S. cities or on international routes obtained by the United States through international agreements. Defines "a citizen of the United States" as an individual who is a citizen of the United States, a partnership each of whose partners is an individual who is a citizen of the United States, or a corporation or association in which at least 75% of the voting interest is owned or controlled by persons that are citizens of the United States).
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2005
Urges the President to issue annually a proclamation calling on state and local governments and the people of the United States to observe an American Jewish History Month.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2005
Directs the Joint Committee on the Library to accept the donation of a bust depicting Sojourner Truth and display it in a suitable permanent location in the rotunda of the Capitol. Expresses the sense of Congress that the most suitable location for the placement of the bust is one adjacent to the statue known as the Portrait Monument.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2005
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that the update to the single conversion factor in the formula for payment of physicians' services for 2006 and 2007 shall not be less than 1.5%. Directs the Medicare Payment Assessment Commission (MEDPAC) to report to Congress on approaches to controlling aggregage spending for physician services in order to maximize efficiency and maintain beneficiary access to high-quality care under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Repeals Medicare cost containment provisions under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2005
Energy Consumer Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to repeal oil and gas tax subsidies including: (1) the election to expense certain refineries; (2) treatment of natural gas distribution lines as 15-year property; (3) treatment of natural gas gathering lines as 7-year property; (4) the new rule for determining small refiner exception to oil depletion deduction; and (5) amortization of geological and geophysical expenditures. Repeals certain oil and gas production incentives, including those with respect to: (1) royalty relief for deep water production; (2) the Alaska offshore royalty suspension; (3) oil and gas leasing in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska; (4) management of federal oil and gas leasing programs; (5) oil and gas research programs); and (6) ultra-deepwater and unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources. Instructs the President to suspend royalty relief for production of crude oil or natural gas from federal lands during periods in which the average price has risen over specified amounts. Requires that specified increased revenues received in the Treasury as the result of the enactment of this Act be made directly available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for obligation and expenditure under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a refundable tax credit for energy cost assistance for farmers and ranchers. Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish an Energy Emergency Grant Program to make grants to small business concerns that have suffered substantial economic injury as a result of a significant increase in the price of heating oil, natural gas, gasoline, transportation fuel, propane, or kerosene.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2005
Leave All Blades Behind Act - Prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security Administration) from modifying the list of items prohibited aboard a passenger aircraft in interstate or intrastate air transportation in order to permit any item on the list as of December 1, 2005, to be carried aboard such an aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2005
Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2005 - Declares that foreign nongovernmental organizations: (1) shall not be ineligible for assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 solely on the basis of health or medical services (including counseling and referral services) provided by them with non-U.S. government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided, and would not violate U.S. federal law if provided in the United States; and (2) shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-U.S. government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to U.S. nongovernmental organizations receiving such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2005
10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act - Directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish programs of grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) undergraduate scholarships and academic programs to recruit and educate elementary and secondary school mathematics and science teachers; and (2) master's degree scholarships and part-time graduate programs for inservice mathematics and science teachers. Requires the NSF Director to: (1) increase the number of awards under the Teacher Institutes for the 21st Century program and allow its grantees to operate one- to two-week summer teacher institutes; (2) add to the Teacher Professional Continuum Program a grants component for preparing to teach Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate science and mathematics courses; and (3) with a national panel and the Secretary of Education, disseminate effective materials and support development of new materials for K-12 science and mathematics teaching. Authorizes, or extends the authorization of, appropriations for NSF programs established or revised under this Act, including NSF Instructional Materials Development, as well as for the Department of Energy's Laboratory Science Teacher Professional Development program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2005
Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy to reduce the amount of energy the United States imports from foreign sources by 20% over the next 10 years. Establishes the Energy Independence Acceleration Fund, administered by the ARPA-E Director for the award of competitive grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to institutions of higher education, companies, or consortia, including federally funded research and development centers, to achieve specified goals through targeted acceleration of: (1) energy-related research; (2) development of resultant techniques, processes, and technologies, and related testing and evaluation; and (3) demonstration and commercial application of the most promising technologies and research applications. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures and criteria for recoupment of the federal share of each project supported under this Act. Requires the President's Committee on Science and Technology to evaluate for Congress and the public how well ARPA-E is achieving its goals and mission.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2005
Reaffirms the House of Representatives' commitment to the security of Israel. Asserts that: (1) terrorist organizations, such as Hamas, should not be permitted to participate in Palestinian elections until such organizations recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, cease incitement, condemn terrorism, and disarm and dismantle their terrorist infrastructure; and (2) Hamas' or any other terrorist group's inclusion into the Palestinian governing structure will inevitably raise serious U.S. policy considerations, potentially undermining the ability of the United States to provide financial assistance and conduct normal relations with the PA. Calls on the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas before the election to declare openly his intention to dismantle the terrorist organizations. States that progress in the peace process requires sustained Palestinian effort to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2005
Rail Worker Emergency Training Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Transportation, to make grants to railroad carriers for costs incurred in instituting a rail worker emergency training program. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue detailed guidelines for a rail worker emergency training program to enhance rail worker training in preparation for and response to potential or actual terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other emergencies. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a letter of noncompliance to rail carriers that fail to comply with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2005
States that: (1) the deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq, by direction of Congress, is hereby terminated and the forces involved are to be redeployed at the earliest practicable date; (2) a quick-reaction U.S. force and an over-the-horizon presence of U.S. Marines shall be deployed in the region; and (3) the United States shall pursue security and stability in Iraq through diplomacy.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2005
Calls on the President to seek to convene an international conference on the threat of methamphetamine and synthetic drug precursor chemicals to intensify and coordinate an effective international response to prevent methamphetamine production. Calls on: (1) the countries in which the precursor chemicals and pharmaceutical products used in the manufacture of methamphetamine are produced and those most affected by methamphetamine trafficking to establish an effective international system to monitor and control these products to prevent their diversion to illegal purposes; and (2) the Secretary of State to take steps to establish such an international system by seeking to negotiate, draft, and ratify any necessary multilateral or bilateral agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2005
Iraq Contracting Fraud Review Act of 2005 - Directs The Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, to review of each covered contract to determine if the contract has been the subject of fraud or any other contracting impropriety. Defines a covered contract as a contract or subcontract entered into on or after March 1, 2003, by the Department of Defense (DOD), if the contract or subcontract: (1) relates to reconstruction or troop support in Iraq; and (2) involves any contractor, subcontractor, or federal employee that has been indicted or convicted for fraud with respect to another DOD contract relating to such reconstruction or troop support in Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2005
Declares that Congress honors the trail-blazing life and pioneering accomplishments of Congressman Edward Roybal from California and expresses its condolences on his passing.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2005
Veterans' Right to Know Act - Establishes the Veterans' Right to Know Commission to: (1) investigate chemical or biological warfare tests or projects, especially those carried out between 1954 and 1973, placing particular emphasis on actions or conditions that could have contributed to health risks to any civilian or military personnel who participated in such a test or project or were otherwise potentially exposed to a biological or chemical agent as a result; and (2) report to Congress on its findings and recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2005
Plan B for Plan B Act of 2005 - Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to approve or disapprove within 30 days the supplemental new drug application submitted by Women's Capital Corporation for Plan B (defined as .75 mg levonorgestrel tablets [commonly referred to as the morning-after pill]), as amended by a formal response to the Food and Drug Administration's non-approvable determination, that would switch the drug from prescription-only to nonprescription status for women 16 years or older. Deems the Commissioner as having approved the application if the deadline is not met and continues such approval unless the Commissioner publishes in the Federal Register a determination to approve or disapprove the application.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2005
Medicaid Preservation Act of 2005 - Prohibits reductions in authorized federal funding under the Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act until full consideration has been given to the recommendations of the Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid. Establishes the Bipartisan Commission to review and make recommendations about: (1) each of Medicaid's major functional responsibilities; (2) issues that either threaten or could improve the long-term financial condition of Medicaid; (3) the way Medicare payment policies impact Medicaid, and ways to address specific payment problems that such policies may create in service delivery to populations typically not covered by Medicare, such as children and pregnant women; and (5) payments to safety net providers. Requires each recommendation to include an analysis of its effect under Medicaid and, if applicable, Medicare and other federal health programs, on: (1) federal and state expenditures; (2) provider payment rates; (3) beneficiary out-of-pocket expenditures; (4) beneficiary access to covered items and services; and (5) coverage of items and services.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2005
Joseph E. Keane Federal Employees Freedom Act - Increases the amount of additional compensation payable to an employee who is disabled and requires the services of an attendant.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2005
Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation. Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005 - Hurricane Katrina Victim Restoration Fund of 2005 - Provides for the determination of eligibility for compensation for any individual (or relatives of a deceased individual) who sustained economic or noneconomic losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina so that the individual (or relatives) are restored as nearly as possible to their condition before Hurricane Katrina. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a Comprehensive Environmental Sampling and Toxicity Assessment Plan. Provides for federal and state government to notify hurricane survivors of health risks they may face upon returning to their domiciles. Provides for the offer of alternative land and/or housing as compensation to residents whose homes or businesses have been destroyed or terminally compromised. Revises the TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005 to provide for reimbursement of states for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits provided under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to families from other states affected by Hurricane Katrina. Sets forth requirements relating to emergency extended unemployment compensation. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program of emergency health coverage continuation relief. Sets forth housing and education requirements. Displaced Citizens Voter Protection Provisions of 2005 - Prescribes requirements for the protection of voting rights of Katrina evacuees. Prescribes requirements for: (1) regulatory relief for financial services; and (2) disaster loans and small business relief. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for: (1) a tax credit for an eligible homebuyer who purchases a principal residence in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area; (2) an increase in the housing credit dollar amount; and (3) tax-exempt bonds for qualified Gulf Coast recovery projects. Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the federal bankruptcy code to exempt victims of natural disasters, including small businesses, from certain requirements for debtors seeking relief. Directs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a temporary flood insurance buy-in program. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should present, within six months, a plan to eradicate poverty in the United States by 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2005
Safe at Work Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit the Secretary of Labor from agreeing to provide any person with notice prior to commencing investigations or inspections under the Act. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on child labor violations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2005
Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act of 2005 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to provide assistance for voluntary family planning programs in developing countries, including activities to: (1) improve public knowledge of voluntary family planning programs; (2) support public and private voluntary family planning programs, including networks for community-based and subsidized commercial distribution of contraceptives; (3) expand training for health care providers and educators; (4) provide improved coordination between voluntary family planning programs and programs that receive U.S. assistance for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections; and (5) strengthen supply chain logistics for the procurement and distribution of safe contraceptives, including coordination with the supply chain for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment. Gives priority to developing countries with acute family planning and maternal health needs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2005
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to create in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) the position of Chief Trade Prosecutor (CTP) to ensure that U.S. trading partners comply with trade agreements to which the United States is a party. Requires the CTP to assist the USTR in: (1) investigating and prosecuting disputes before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and pursuant to other trade agreements to which the United States is a party; and (2) carrying out USTR functions under the Act. Require the CTP to: (1) make recommendations with respect to administration of U.S. trade laws relating to foreign government barriers to U.S. goods, services, intellectual property, and other trade matters; and (4) perform such other functions as the USTR may direct.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2005
Condemns in the strongest terms Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's despicable threats, and demands that he repudiate them. Calls on the U.N. Security Council and all civilized nations to: (1) condemn these statements and to censure Iran for its statements and policies aimed at destroying Israel; and (2) consider measures to deny Iran the means to carry out its threats and to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Reaffirms the unwavering alliance between the United States and Israel and reasserts the U.S. commitment to defend Israel's right to exist as a free and democratic state.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2005
Honors the memory of, and identifies, 2,249 members of the Armed Forces who died in service to the United States in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom as of October 25, 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2005
Trade Adjustment Assistance Improvement Act - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend trade adjustment assistance (TAA) to workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency. Revises group eligibility requirements for TAA to cover: (1) a shift, by a public agency to a foreign country, of production of articles or in provision of services, like or directly competitive with articles which are produced, or services which are provided by the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency; and (2) the situation where the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency obtains or is likely to obtain such services from a foreign country. Requires the Secretary of Labor to certify as eligible to apply for TAA any adversely affected secondary workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency. Specifies criteria for determination of the existence of increased imports of like or directly competitive articles or services. Increases the amount of payments for training of adversely affected workers under the Act. Authorizes the Secretary to waive training requirements for an individual receiving TAA if he or she has an advanced degree or postgraduate certification in a specialized field and there is a reasonable expectation of employment at equivalent wages in the foreseeable future. Permits as a training program for an adversely affected worker continued enrollment for up to 104 weeks at an institution of higher education to obtain a degree, if there is a reasonable expectation of employment at equivalent wages in the foreseeable future. Modifies the demonstration project for alternative TAA for older workers. Directs the Secretary to implement a system to collect data on all adversely affected workers applying for or receiving TAA. Provides for industry-wide certification of workers, including agricultural commodity producers, for TAA where bilateral or other safeguard provisions are invoked or antidumping or countervailing duties have been imposed. Extends the TAA program through FY2012. Establishes the Office of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Advisor in the Department of Labor. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the credit for health insurance costs of certain TAA recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2005
Urges: (1) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to observe its 1995 Interim Accord obligations and take steps to halt the proliferation of negative propaganda toward Greece and review textbooks, maps, and teaching aids to ensure their accuracy; and (2) FYROM to work within the U.N. process to reach a mutually acceptable permanent name.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks and to place the statue in the Capitol in a suitable permanent location in National Statuary Hall.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Requests the President to provide to the House of Representatives certain federal agency documents in his possession on the effects of climate change on the coastal regions of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress that it should raise awareness about the importance of workplace safety for, and prevention of job-related violence against, social workers and case workers Encourages states and local agencies to adopt measures that would improve the safety of social service workers.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2005
Amends the Help AmericaVote Act of 2002 to permit any person otherwise qualified to vote in a federal election to use a national federal write-in absentee ballott to cast votes in such elections. Directs the Election Assistance Commission to: (1) establish a national federal write-in absentee ballot for use in federal elections; and (2) prescribe standards for distributing, processing, and submitting such ballots.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2005
Ensuring Ballott Access for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Victims Act of 2005 - Directs the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to states to restore and replace election administratiion supplies, materials, and equipment which were damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2005
Redistricting Reform Act of 2005 - Prohibits a state that has been redistricted after an apportionment from being redistricted again until after the next apportionment of Representatives, unless the state is ordered by a court to conduct such a subsequent redistricting in order to: (1) comply with the U.S. Constitution; or (2) enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Requires such redistricting to be conducted according to: (1) a plan developed by the independent redistricting commission established in the state; or (2) if such plan is not enacted into law, the redistricting plan selected by the state's highest court or developed by a U.S. district court. Provides for: (1) establishment of a state independent bi-partisan redistricting commission; (2) development of a redistricting plan; (3) its submission to the state legislature; (4) selection of a plan, under specified conditions, by the state's highest court or the U.S. district court; (5) special rules for redistricting conducted under a federal court order; (6) Election Assistance Commission payments to states for carrying out redistricting; (7) civil enforcement to carry out this Act; and (8) the right of action for a person who is aggrieved by a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2005
Advocates Dedicated to Older Child Parental Tax Credit (ADOPT) Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a $2,000 tax credit for costs associated with the adoption of a child who has reached nine years of age before the adoption decree becomes final. Allows the credit each year until such child attains the age of 19.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 545 North Rimsdale Avenue in Covina, California, as the "Lillian Kinkella Keil Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate final child-resistance product safety standards for closures on portable gasoline containers intended for use by consumers. Prescribes criteria for such standards.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Early Pest Detection and Surveillance Improvement Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into a cooperative agreement with any state department of agriculture for assisting early pest (plant pest) detection and surveillance efforts by such department through an array of methods, including survey, pest trapping, sampling or surveillance of domestic shipments, specimen collection, and modeling and mapping of pest populations. Requires the Secretary, in determining whether to enter into such an agreement, to consider specified factors, including: (1) the potential economic risk to the state's people, plants, livestock, property, economy, and environment due to the introduction of a pest; and (2) the likelihood that the early pest detection and surveillance activity will prevent the introduction or facilitate the eradication of a pest.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 2005 - Amends the the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to subject specified Class I milk handlers (including producer-handlers) to federal milk marketing order minimum and uniform price requirements applicable to the county in which the plant of the handler is located, at federal order class prices, if the handler has packaged fluid milk product route dispositions, or sales of packaged fluid milk products to other plants, in a marketing area located in a state that requires handlers to pay minimum prices for raw milk purchases. Exempts from such provision: (1) a handler operating a nonpool plant; (2) a producer-handler for any month during which packaged fluid milk route dispositions and sales to other plants are less than three million pounds of milk; or (3) specified handlers whose fluid milk products are disposed of as route dispositions or transfers, or whose dispositions or transfers are in states requiring minimum prices for raw milk purchases. Subjects a Class I milk handler in the Arizona-Las Vegas marketing area (Order 131) to minimum milk price requirements for any month in which the handler distributes in such area at least three million pounds of Class I products from his or her own production. Excludes Nevada from federal milk marketing orders.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
ALS Registry Act - 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 (CDC), to: (1) develop a system to collect data on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); and (2) establish a national registry for the collection and storage of ALS data. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to establish the Advisory Committee on the National ALS Registry to study and make recommendations to the Secretary concerning: (1) the development and maintenance of the registry; (2) the type of information to be included; (3) the manner in which data is to be collected; (4) the use and availability of such data; and (5) the collection of information about diseases and disorders that primarily affect motor neurons that are considered essential to furthering the study and cure of ALS. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Director, to award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on ALS. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to: (1) identify, build upon, expand, and coordinate among existing data and surveillance systems, surveys, registries, and other federal public health and environmental infrastructure wherever possible; and (2) provide for public access to an electronic national database that accepts data from state registries, health care professionals, and others as recommended by the Advisory Committee in a manner that protects personal privacy. Requires the Secretary to ensure that epidemiological and other types of information is made available to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
![Official portrait of Rep. Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001163_200.jpg)