United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2009 or the ABLE Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish tax-exempt ABLE accounts for individuals with a disability to pay certain expenses of such individuals, including expenses for education, housing, transportation, employment support, medical care, and certain life necessities. Defines "individual with a disability" as an individual who is eligible to receive certain supplemental security income benefits under the Social Security Act. Allows individual taxpayers a tax deduction, up to $2,000 per year, for contributions to an ABLE account. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to Congress on the use of ABLE accounts and the effect of the tax deduction for contributions to such accounts. Requires ABLE accounts to be disregarded in determining eligibility for Medicaid benefits and for purposes of determining eligibility for other means-tested federal programs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 - Repeals the authority of the Comptroller General to carry out an onsite examination of an open insured bank or bank holding company only if the appropriate federal regulatory agency has consented in writing. (Retains the authority of the Comptroller General to audit a federal agency.) Directs the Comptroller General to complete, before the end of 2010, an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the federal reserve banks, followed by a detailed report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
National Language Act of 2009 - Makes English the official language of the U.S. government. Requires the government to: (1) conduct its official business in English, including publications, income tax forms, and informational materials; and (2) preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the United States of America. Provides that no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the government act, communicate, perform, or provide services or materials in any other language, unless specifically stated in applicable law. Provides that this Act shall not apply to the use of a language other than English for religious purposes, for training in foreign languages for international communication, or in school programs designed to encourage students to learn foreign languages. States that this does not prevent the U.S. government from providing interpreters for persons over age 62. Repeals provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 regarding bilingual election requirements and regarding congressional findings of voting discrimination against language minorities, prohibition of English-only elections, and other remedial measures. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that all public ceremonies in which the oath of allegiance is administered pursuant to such Act be conducted solely in English. Specifies that this Act shall not preempt any state law.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2009 - Amends the Iran Freedom Support Act to maintain specified U.S. sanctions with respect to Iran until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that Iran has verifiably dismantled its weapons of mass destruction programs and ceased its support for international terrorism. Amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to: (1) include transshipment among sanctionable activities; and (2) exclude from the United States an alien who is a senior government official of a foreign government or a corporate principal or significant shareholder of a foreign person involved in proliferation activities relating to Iran. Expands: (1) the scope of sanctionable "persons" to include any business organization and any foreign subsidiary or affiliate; and (2) the definition of "petroleum resources" to include petroleum byproducts, oil or liquefied natural gas or liquefied natural gas tankers, and products used to construct or maintain pipelines used to transport oil or compressed or liquefied natural gas. Prohibits, with a discretionary waiver, U.S. importation of Iranian products other than information materials. Subjects an entity to penalties for violations of certain sanctions committed by a subsidiary established by such entity outside of the United States that would be subject to prohibitions if committed inside the United States or by a U.S. person. Authorizes the President to impose sanctions on principal executive officers of sanctioned persons. Amends the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act to include within the scope of such Act persons involved in the transshipment of certain goods, services, or technology. Prohibits service module payments to the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Sets forth provisions regarding divestment from Iran's energy sector. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) deny a foreign tax credit to a taxpayer engaged in business activity with Iran that is prohibited by U.S. law; and (2) set forth income tax provisions respecting a foreign corporation engaged in business activity with Iran that is prohibited by U.S. law. Establishes the Compensation for Former United States Hostages in Iran Fund. Identifies claims to be paid. Establishes restrictions on nuclear cooperation with a country that is assisting the nuclear program of, or transferring advanced conventional weapons or missiles to, Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Syria Accountability and Liberation Act - Maintains U.S. restrictions against Syria until the President certifies that Syria: (1) has ceased support for terrorism; (2) has dismantled biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons programs and has committed to combat their proliferation; (3) respects the boundaries and sovereignty of all neighboring countries; and (4) upholds human rights and civil liberties. Imposes specified trade, assistance, admissions, and military sanctions, as appropriate, on persons or countries that transfer goods or technology contributing to Syria's biological, chemical, nuclear, or advanced conventional weapons programs. Imposes specified sanctions aimed at Syria's energy sector. Sets forth diplomatic measures intended to isolate the government of Syria. Authorizes the President to provide assistance to support a democratic transition in Syria.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Declares Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency," to be null and void. Prohibits the use of funds for the promulgation or enforcement of an executive order that creates an entitlement to services provided in a language other than English.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Sustain, Support and Defend Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of the Army, by the end of FY2011, to expand the First Sergeants Barracks Initiative (FSBI) to include all Army installations. (The FSBI transfers responsibility for daily maintenance operations of barracks from their occupying units to a maintenance team working for the post command.)
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2009
Expresses the deepest appreciation to the families of members of the Armed Forces who serve or have served in defense of the United States. Recognizes the contributions that military families make, and encourages the people of the United States to share in appreciation for the sacrifices of military families. Urges the President to designate a "Year of the Military Family" and encourage the people of the United States and the Department of Defense (DOD) to observe it.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify automatic fire sprinkler systems as five-year depreciable property. Makes this Act applicable to property placed in service after April 11, 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins in recognition of five United States Army Five-Star Generals: George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Henry "Hap" Arnold, and Omar Bradley, alumni of the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Requires the design of the coins to include portraits of the generals. Restricts the issuance of such coins to calendar 2013. Requires specified surcharges in the sale of such coins, which shall be paid promptly to the Command and General Staff College Foundation to help finance its support of the College.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
Secret Ballot Protection Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for: (1) an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a labor organization that has not been selected by a majority of the employees in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board; and (2) a labor organization to cause or attempt to cause an employer to recognize or bargain collectively with a representative that has not been selected in such manner.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2009 - Establishes the United States Bipartisan Commission on Access to Emergency Medical Services to: (1) identify and examine factors in the health care delivery, financing, and legal systems that affect the effective delivery of screening and stabilization services furnished in hospitals that have emergency departments pursuant to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA); and (2) make specific recommendations to Congress with respect to federal programs, policies, and financing needed to assure the availability of such screening and stabilization services and the coordination of state, local, and federal programs for responding to disasters and emergencies. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for additional payments for certain physicians' emergency services furnished pursuant to EMTALA. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to convene a working group that includes experts in emergency care, inpatient critical care, hospital operations management, nursing, and other relevant disciplines to develop boarding and diversion standards for hospitals and guidelines, measures, and incentives for implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of such standards. Requires the CMS working group to: (1) identify barriers contributing to delays in timely processing of patients requiring admission as inpatients who initially sought care through the hospital's emergency department; (2) identify best practices to improve patient flow within hospitals; and (3) report to Congress and the Secretary a detailed description of the standards, guidelines, measures, and incentives developed, as well as identified barriers and best practices. Directs the Secretary to establish a mechanism to make public information regarding any hospital that fails to report information requested by the CMS working group.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
Military Spouses Residency Relief Act - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to prohibit, for purposes of voting for a federal, state, or local office, deeming a person to have lost a residence or domicile in a state, acquired a residence or domicile in any other state, or become a resident in or of any other state solely because the person is absent from a state because the person is accompanying the person's spouse who is absent from the state in compliance with military or naval orders. Prohibits a servicemember's spouse from either losing or acquiring a residence or domicile for purposes of taxation because of being absent or present in any U.S. tax jurisdiction solely to be with the servicemember in compliance with the servicemember's military orders if the residence or domicile is the same for the servicemember and the spouse. Prohibits a spouse's income from being considered income earned in a tax jurisdiction if the spouse is not a resident or domiciliary of such jurisdiction when the spouse is in that jurisdiction solely to be with a servicemember serving under military orders. Suspends land rights residency requirements for spouses accompanying servicemembers serving under military orders.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
Expresses support for the observance of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to provide a special opportunity to offer education on the importance of early detection and screening.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2009
Local Community Radio Act of 2009 - Repeals provisions in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 that required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) modify rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations to prescribe minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels; (2) prohibit applicants who have engaged in the unlicensed operation of any station from obtaining a low-power FM license; and (3) conduct a program to test whether low-power FM radio stations will result in harmful interference to existing FM radio stations if minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels are not required. Requires the FCC to modify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between specified stations. Requires the FCC to retain rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power noncommercial FM stations that broadcast radio reading services via a subcarrier frequency from potential low-power FM station interference. Requires the FCC, when licensing FM translator stations, to ensure that: (1) licenses are available to both FM translator stations and low-power FM stations; and (2) such decisions are made based on the needs of the local community.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2009
Biogas Production Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business-related tax credit for the production, sale, or use of biogas. Defines "biogas" as a gas that is derived by processing qualified energy feedstock (i.e., manure of agricultural livestock and other organic agricultural or food industry byproduct waste material) in an anaerobic digester and that contains at least 52% methane and carbon dioxide and trace gases. Provides an increased credit for biogas produced from qualified cellulosic energy feedstock.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2009
E-2 Nonimmigrant Investor Adjustment Act of 2009 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make certain nonimmigrant investors (E-2 visa) who have resided in the United States for at least five years immediately eligible to adjust to permanent resident status.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 2009
Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2009 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt certain returning H-2B aliens (temporary nonagricultural worker) from annual numerical limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 2009
Health Care Choices for Seniors Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivor's and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a procedure under which an individual otherwise entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of SSA title XVIII (Medicare) may waive such entitlement and be automatically enrolled in the Medicare Alternative Voucher Program (MAV Program). Directs the Secretary to establish the MAV Program, under which a voucher may be used as a contribution into a health savings account and for the payment of enrollment premiums under a high deductible health plan. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the amount of the itemized deduction for health savings accounts by the amount of the MAV that is contributed to an individual's health savings account. Suspends Medicare late enrollment penalties for an individual between ages 65 and 70.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the allowable amount of the railroad track maintenance tax credit; (2) revise the types of expenditures eligible for such credit; and (3) extend such credit through 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) allow licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors (licensees) to sell or deliver any firearm (currently, rifles or shotguns) to a resident of a state other than the state in which the licensee is located or temporarily located if the licensee meets with the purchaser to complete the sale or delivery and the transaction complies with the laws of the state in which the transfer is conducted and the purchaser's state of residence; and (2) eliminate the requirement that a licensee must conduct business at a gun show only in the state that is specified on the licensee's license. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition: (1) between licensed firearms dealers at any location in any state; or (2) by a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to an unlicensed person at a temporary location in any state.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (under current law, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2009 - Expands the federal prohibition against state taxation of interstate commerce to: (1) include taxation of out-of-state transactions involving all forms of property, including intangible personal property and services (currently, only sales of tangible personal property are protected); and (2) prohibit state taxation of an out-of-state entity unless such entity has a physical presence in the taxing state. Sets forth criteria for determining that a person has a physical presence in a state.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2009 - Sets conditions for lawsuits arising from health care liability claims regarding health care goods or services or any medical product affecting interstate commerce. Sets a statute of limitations of three years after the date of manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers the injury, with certain exceptions. Provides that nothing in this Act limits recovery of the full amount of available economic damages. Limits noneconomic damages to $250,000. Makes each party liable only for the amount of damages directly proportional to such party's percentage of responsibility. Allows the court to restrict the payment of attorney contingency fees. Limits the fees to a decreasing percentage based on the increasing value of the amount awarded. Allows the introduction of collateral source benefits and the amount paid to secure such benefits as evidence. Prohibits a provider of such benefits from recovering any amount from an award in a health care lawsuit involving injury or wrongful death. Authorizes the award of punitive damages only where: (1) it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a person acted with malicious intent to injure the claimant or deliberately failed to avoid unnecessary injury the claimant was substantially certain to suffer; and (2) compensatory damages are awarded. Limits punitive damages to the greater of two times the amount of economic damages or $250,000. Denies punitive damages in the case of products approved, cleared, or licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or otherwise considered in compliance with FDA standards. Provides for periodic payments of future damages.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Notch Fairness Act of 2009 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise the formula for the computation of minimum Old Age Insurance benefits for individuals who reached age 65 in or after 1979, and to whom applies the 15-year transition period for the changes in benefit computation rules enacted in the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Sets forth a schedule of additional benefit increases for such beneficiaries (and related beneficiaries), with percentages declining from 55% to 5% and keyed to the year an individual became eligible for such benefits between 1979 and 1988. Allows such beneficiaries, in the alternative, to receive lump sum payments over four years totaling $5,000.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
United States Foreign Assistance Partner Vetting System Act of 2009 - States that it is U.S. policy to protect the people, property, and territory of the United States against acts of international terrorism through the implementation of a system to verify that persons who receive U.S. foreign assistance funds do not commit or support acts of international terrorism. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the Secretary of State to: (1) establish a system to verify that persons receiving U.S. foreign assistance funds are not affiliated with or supporting foreign terrorist organizations, or otherwise commiting or supporting acts of international terrorism; and (2) ensure that persons denied assistance pursuant to such vetting system are provided specified information and afforded specified procedural safeguards. Sets forth system elements. Prohibits providing foreign assistance funds to persons determined, pursuant to such system, to be affiliated with or supporting such organizations or commit or support international terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2009
Condemns the government of Iran for its state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. Calls on the government of Iran to release the seven leaders and all other prisoners held solely on account of their religion, including: Mrs. Fariba Kamalabadi, Mr. Jamaloddin Khanjani, Mr. Afif Naeimi, Mr. Saeid Rezaie, Mr. Behrouz Tavakkoli, Mrs. Mahvash Sabet, Mr. Vahid Tizfahm, Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taqva, and Ms. Haleh Roohi.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Designates the Honor and Remember Flag, created by Honor and Remember, Inc., as the official symbol of our country's concern and commitment to honoring and remembering all members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives in the line of duty. Provides days of the year, and memorials and other locations, on or at which the Flag shall be displayed.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Access to America's Orthopaedic Services Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish criteria for accounting and reporting the effort expended by researchers on musculoskeletal research funded with certain grants. Sets forth reporting requirements related to musculoskeletal health, including on: (1) research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); (2) federal programs and activities relating to musculoskeletal trauma care; (3) a standard unit for the measurement of bone mass under the Medicare program; (4) access to orthopaedic services by certain federal health program beneficiaries; and (5) childhood musculoskeletal diseases, conditions, and injuries in the United States. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to establish the Transplantation Transmission Sentinel Network to track disease transmission from organ, tissue, or eye transplants. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations relating to the accreditation of: (1) establishments engaged in the manufacture of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products; and (2) personnel who participate in related activities. Requires the Secretary to conduct studies related to: (1) a national registry of artificial joint replacements in Medicare beneficiaries; (2) severe trauma to extremities resulting from motor vehicle crashes; (3) workplace-related musculoskeletal injuries and conditions; (4) funding available for graduate medical education in orthopaedics; (5) methods for measuring bone mass in Medicare beneficiaries; and (6) aging in the United States. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a national public awareness program on musculoskeletal health; and (2) award grants for certain health and aging activities for seniors. Provides for musculoskeletal diseases and conditions to be treated as a priority within the Office of Minority Health.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Prohibits an enemy combatant detained by the United States at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from receiving medical treatment at: (1) a military medical facility of the Department of Defense (DOD) that provides medical treatment to members of the Armed Forces; or (2) a medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Declares that it is U.S. policy to commit a minimum of 4% of the nation's gross domestic product to the base defense budget in order to meet the fundamental U.S. national security requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Supports the goals and ideals of Campus Fire Safety Month. Encourages administrators and municipalities across the country to: (1) provide educational programs to all students during September and throughout the school year; (2) evaluate the level of fire safety being provided in both on- and off-campus student housing; and (3) take the necessary steps to ensure fire-safe living environments through fire safety education, installation of fire suppression and detection systems, and the development and enforcement of applicable codes relating to fire safety.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Recognizes that the Antarctic Treaty has ensured Antarctica's peaceful use and the continuance of international harmony for the past half century. Encourages international and interdisciplinary collaboration in the Antarctic Treaty Summit.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2009
Declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2009
English Language Unity Act of 2009 - Makes English the official language of the United States. Requires, subject to exceptions and rules of construction, that: (1) official functions of the United States be conducted in English; and (2) all naturalization ceremonies be conducted in English. Establishes a uniform English language rule for naturalization. Makes English language requirements and workplace policies, whether in the public or private sector, presumptively consistent with the laws of the United States. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform testing of English language ability of candidates for naturalization based upon the principles that: (1) all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States; and (2) any exceptions to this standard should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asylum.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2009
Government Neutrality in Contracting Act - Directs the head of any federal agency that awards or obligates funds for any construction contract, or that awards grants, provides financial assistance, or enters into cooperative agreements for construction projects, to ensure that bid specifications, project agreements, or other controlling documents do not: (1) require or prohibit a bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor from entering into, or adhering to, agreements with a labor organization, with respect to that construction project or another related construction project; or (2) otherwise discriminate against such a party because it did or did not become a signatory or otherwise adhere to such an agreement. Allows exemptions to avert an imminent threat to public health or safety or to serve national security. Allows additional exemptions for certain projects. Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act with respect to the applicable federal contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2009
Physical Therapist Student Loan Repayment Eligibility Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include physical therapy within the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of provisions concerning the National Health Service Corps. Makes physical therapists eligible for repayment of their educational loans in order to ensure an adequate supply of physical therapists.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2009
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 28 Washington Street in Mount Holly, New Jersey, as the "Jim Saxton Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2009
Tax Code Termination Act - Terminates the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 after December 31, 2012, except for self-employment taxes, Federal Insurance Contributions Act taxes, and railroad retirement taxes. Requires a two-thirds majority vote in Congress to change such termination date. Declares that any new federal tax system should be a simple and fair system that: (1) applies a low rate to all Americans; (2) provides tax relief for working Americans; (3) protects the rights of taxpayers and reduces tax collection abuses; (4) eliminates the bias against savings and investment; (5) promotes economic growth and job creation; and (6) does not penalize marriage or families. Requires that the new federal tax system be approved by Congress in its final form by July 4, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2009
Family-Friendly Workplace Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize private employers to provide compensatory time off to private employees at a rate of 1 1/2 hours per hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required. Authorizes an employer to provide compensatory time only if it is in accordance with an applicable collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of such an agreement, an agreement between the employer and employee. Prohibits an employee from accruing more than 160 hours of compensatory time. Requires an employee's employer to provide monetary compensation, after the end of a calendar year, for any unused compensatory time off accrued during the preceding year. Requires an employer to give employees 30-day notice before discontinuing compensatory time off. Prohibits an employer from intimidating, threatening, or coercing an employee in order to: (1) interfere with the employee's right to request or not to request compensatory time off in lieu of payment of monetary overtime compensation; or (2) require an employee to use such compensatory time. Makes an employer who violates such requirements liable to the affected employee in the amount of the compensation rate for each hour of compensatory time accrued, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, reduced for each hour of compensatory time used.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2009
Eliminates the requirement that a member or former member of the Armed Forces entitled to retired pay for non-regular (reserve) service be at least 60 years of age before being eligible for medical and dental care in a military health care facility.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2009
IRA Equity for Seniors Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who received a mandatory distribution from their pension plan or individual retirement account (IRA) in 2008 to recontribute such amounts to their retirement plans without tax or penalty.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2009
Expresses: (1) gratitude to Paul M. Weyrich for his contributions to the conservative movement and for promoting a capitalist, democratic vision for the world; and (2) condolences on his passing.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2009
Amends the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed care program) to require that, when a member of the Armed Forces dies on or after September 11, 2001, because of a combat-related injury incurred while on active duty for a period of more than 30 days, the member's dependents receiving benefits under a contract for medical and dental care shall continue to be eligible for benefits under TRICARE Prime.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2009
Physician Workforce Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish a loan program that provides loans to eligible hospitals to establish residency training programs. Requires that such program be an allopathic or osteopathic physician residency training program in family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics or gynecology, general surgery, preventive medicine, pediatrics, and behavioral and mental health. Requires the Administrator to give preference to hospitals in a rural area or an urban area that is not a large urban area.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2009
Right to Life Act - Declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being beginning at the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Prohibits construing this Act to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2009
Enhancing Safety in Medicine Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes Now Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to conduct and support research, evaluations, initiatives, and demonstration projects, and provide grants or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements, to enhance the deployment of medical simulation technologies and the incorporation of such technologies and equipment into medical, nursing, allied health, podiatric, osteopathic, and dental education and training protocols. Requires the Director to: (1) establish medical simulation centers of excellence; (2) promote innovation by conducting and supporting research on complex or challenging medical simulation and interdisciplinary simulation technologies and developing an electronic clearinghouse of such technologies; and (3) award grants for purchasing, incorporating, and deploying such technologies for training of physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and qualified students. Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the Federal Medical Simulation Coordinating Council. Requires the Director to establish an advisory panel to make recommendations on how to structure programs established by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2009
Requires the President to designate not less than three closed military installations (or portions of them) that are appropriate for siting a refinery for gasoline or other fuel. Designates the Department of Energy as the lead agency for coordinating applicable federal refinery authorizations and related environmental reviews with respect to a designated refinery. Gives the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions relating to federal refinery authorizations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_sc_2_wilson_joe_200.jpg)