United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act - Designates specified National Forest System lands, National Park System lands, and public lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness and as components or additions to existing components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). Sets forth provisions for the management of the lands designated as wilderness by this Act, including regarding water rights, tribal rights, fish and wildlife, and grazing permits and leases. Authorizes the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture (USDA) to take necessary measures for the control of fire, insects, and disease on such lands. Establishes a Northern Rockies Fish and Wildlife Habitat and Corridors Information Program. Requires the development of a Northern Rockies Habitat and Corridors Information System. Sets forth specified additional provisions with regard to Indian tribes. Permits provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to be applied, as appropriate, in the implementation of this Act. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of specified rivers and creeks in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that any action taken by the Department of Justice should be consistent with the following goals: (1) the mortgage servicers who engage in fraudulent behavior should not be granted criminal or civil immunity for potential wrongdoing related to illegal mortgage and foreclosure practices; (2) the federal government and state attorneys general should proceed with full investigation into claims of fraudulent behavior by mortgage servicers; and (3) any financial settlement reached with mortgage servicers should appropriately compensate for, and accurately reflect, the extent of harm to all victims, including homeowners and state pension beneficiaries, caused by the mortgage servicer's fraudulent behavior.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Livable Communities Act of 2011 - Establishes in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) an Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities (OSHC). Requires the OSHC Director to establish a program to make comprehensive planning grants to eligible entities (partnerships between a consortium of units of general local government and an eligible partner or an Indian tribe that meets specified requirements). Defines "eligible partner" as a metropolitan planning organization, a rural planning organization, or a regional council, or one of these and a state, an Indian tribe, a state and an Indian tribe, or an institution of higher education. Requires the use of a comprehensive planning grant to carry out a project to: (1) coordinate locally defined planning processes, across jurisdictions and agencies; (2) identify regional partnerships for developing and implementing a comprehensive regional plan; (3) conduct or update assessments to determine regional needs and promote economic and community development; (4) develop or update a comprehensive regional plan or goals and strategies to implement an existing comprehensive regional plan and other related activities; and (5) identify local zoning and other code changes necessary to implement a comprehensive regional plan and promote sustainable development. Requires the use of a community challenge grant to: (1) promote integrated planning and investments across policy and governmental jurisdictions, and (2) implement projects identified in a comprehensive regional plan. Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to make or guarantee (up to 75% of) loans to eligible governmental, corporate, or partnership borrowers for infrastructure development projects used to support transit-oriented development. Requires the Director of the Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control to lead the federal initiative to support healthy housing and eradicate housing-related health hazards. Requires the Secretary to study how sustainable building features in housing, such as energy efficiency, affect: (1) the quality of the indoor environment, (2) the prevalence of housing-related health hazards, and (3) the health of such occupants. States that no housing assisted using a grant under this Act may be made available to an individual who is not lawfully present in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2011 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award competitive grants to enable eligible entities to carry out programs to provide adolescents with comprehensive sex education that: (1) replicate evidence-based sex education programs, (2) substantially incorporate elements of evidence-based sex education programs, or (3) create a demonstration project based on generally accepted characteristics of effective sex education programs. Sets forth provisions regarding evaluation of such programs. Requires the Secretary to establish a common set of performance measures to assess the implementation and impact of grant programs funded under this Act. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to: (1) enable institutions of higher education to provide young people with comprehensive sex education with an emphasis on reducing HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancy; and (2) eligible entities to train targeted faculty and staff in order to increase effective teaching of comprehensive sex education for elementary and secondary school students. Prohibits programs funded under this Act from discriminating on the basis of actual or perceived sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. Prohibits federal funds provided under this Act from being used for health education programs that: (1) deliberately withhold life-saving information about HIV; (2) are medically inaccurate or have been scientifically shown to be ineffective; (3) promote gender stereotypes; (4) are insensitive and unresponsive to the needs of sexually active youth or lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth; or (5) are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives of medicine and public health. Amends the Public Health Service Act to repeal a provision that prohibits the use of funds appropriated for the prevention of AIDS to provide education or information designed to promote or encourage, directly, homosexual or heterosexual activity or intravenous substance abuse. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to repeal a provision that prohibits the use of funds authorized under such Act to operate a program of contraceptive distribution in schools.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2011
Homes for Heroes Act of 2011 - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs to: (1) ensure veterans fair access to HUD housing and homeless assistance programs, (2) coordinate all HUD programs and activities relating to veterans, and (3) serve as a HUD liaison with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Directs the Secretaries of HUD and VA to report annually to Congress with respect to veterans homelessness and housing assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2011
Haitian Emergency Life Protection Act of 2011 or the H.E.L.P. Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to V-visa nonimmigrants (spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents who come to the United States to wait for completion of the immigrant visa process) to include certain Haitian nationals whose petition for a family-sponsored immigrant visa was approved on or before January 12, 2010. Authorizes the Secretary of State to use secondary evidence to verify eligibility for such status or for immediate relative status. Sunsets the provisions of this Act two years after its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2011
Half in Ten Act of 2011 - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty, which shall develop a National Plan or Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty in America in half within 10 years after release of the 2011 Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 2011
Marketplace Equity Act of 2011 - Authorizes states to require all sellers making remote sales to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to such sales into the state, without regard to the location of the seller, if such states implement a simplified system for administration of sales and use tax collection for remote sellers. Requires such a system to include, at a minimum: (1) an exception for remote sellers with gross annual receipts in the preceding calendar year from remote sales not exceeding $1 million in the United States or not exceeding $100,000 in the state, (2) a single sales and use tax return for use by remote sellers and a single revenue authority within the state with which remote sellers are required to file a tax return, and (3) a uniform tax base throughout the state. Defines "remote sale" as a sale of goods or services attributed to a state with respect to which a seller does not have adequate physical presence to establish a nexus so as to allow such state to require such seller to collect and remit taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 2011
Local Flexibility for Transit Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to make urbanized area formula grants for the operating costs of equipment and facilities for use in public transportation in an urbanized area with a population over 200,000 to a designated recipient, direct recipient, or subrecipient that provides public transportation in the area operating less than 100 buses in fixed-route service in the area during peak service hours. Authorizes a designated recipient or direct recipient that operates at least 100 buses in fixed-route service during peak service hours in an urbanized area with a population of more than 200,000 to use grant funds for the operating costs of public transportation equipment and facilities in such projects if: (1) the recipients are certified by the Secretary as being in a crisis period; and (2) the recipients' percentage of revenue for the operating costs of public transportation equipment and facilities from non-federal sources (excluding system-generated revenue) is equal to the previous fiscal year's revenue, or the revenue is derived from dedicated sources. Specifies percentage limitations on the use of funds for urbanized areas with populations between 200,000 and 500,000, between 500,000 and 1 million, and over 1 million. Defines "crisis period" to mean that: (1) the unemployment rate within the recipients' service area is 7% or higher for the preceding month, or (2) the national average retail price of regular gasoline during a quarter has increased by more than 10%.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 2011
Amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 to repeal: (1) establishment of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction; and (2) the mandatory reduction in discretionary appropriations and direct spending unless a joint committee bill achieving more than $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction is enacted by January 15, 2012 (enforcement of the budget goal).
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2011
Honors Reverend Fred Lee Shuttlesworth (established the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, helped organize the march from Selma to Montgomery to protest voting discrimination in Alabama, and worked with the Congress of Racial Equality to organize the Freedom Rides) for his efforts in the fight against segregation and commitment to the civil rights of all people.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2011
Honors the Cultural Initiative, Inc. on the 20th anniversary of the first hip hop conference at Howard University in the District of Columbia. (The Cultural Initiative, Inc. is a Howard University student-run corporation established to produce hip hop conferences and related projects.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2011
Freedom and Mobility in Consumer Banking Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to prohibit an insured depository institution from: (1) prohibiting any person from closing a checking or savings account, regardless of its balance; or (2) charging a fee to close such an account. Requires a depository institution to close an account within 48 hours after receiving a request from the customer to do so. Permits an account holder to request that the account be closed in person, over the phone, or by other electronic or remote means, as may be prescribed by regulation. Sets forth financial institution procedures for closing large accounts and repaying balances, as well as notice and opportunity for accountholder repayment of overdrafts. Prohibits a depository institution from: (1) imposing fees or charges after receiving a request to close an account, or (2) reopening an account without express account holder request.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2011
Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act of 2011 - Directs the President to establish the Commission to Accelerate the End of Breast Cancer to help end breast cancer by January 1, 2020. Directs the Commission to: (1) identify opportunities and ideas within government and the private sector that are key components in achieving the end of breast cancer and which have been overlooked, yet are ripe for collaboration and investment; (2) recommend projects to leverage such opportunities and ideas in the areas of the primary prevention of breast cancer and the causes and prevention of breast cancer metastasis; and (3) ensure that its activities are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories of other government agencies. Directs the President to enter into an agreement with the Institute of Medicine for an evaluation of the Commission's progress. Terminates the Commission on June 1, 2020.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2011
Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal HIV Discrimination Act, the REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act, or the REPEAL Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that federal and state laws, policies, and regulations regarding people living with HIV/AIDS should: (1) not place unique or additional burdens on such individuals solely as a result of their HIV status; and (2) demonstrate a public health-oriented, evidence-based, medically accurate, and contemporary understanding of HIV transmission, health implications, treatment, and the impact of punitive HIV-specific laws and policies on affected people, families, and communities. Directs: (1) the Attorney General (AG), Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Secretary of Defense (DOD) to initiate a national review of federal (including military) and state laws, policies, regulations, and judicial precedents and decisions regarding criminal and related civil commitment cases involving people living with HIV/AIDS; and (2) the AG to transmit to Congress and make publicly available the results of such review with related recommendations. Requires the AG and HHS Secretary to: (1) develop and publicly release guidance and best practice recommendations for states, and (2) establish an integrated monitoring and evaluation system to measure state progress. Directs the AG and HHS and DOD Secretaries to transmit to the President and Congress any proposals necessary to implement adjustments to federal laws, policies, or regulations. Authorizes grants to eligible state and local entities, nongovernmental organizations, and public health departments to incorporate best practice recommendations within state laws, policies, regulations, and judicial decisions. Requires that such entities, departments, or organizations agree to abide with the sense of Congress statements set forth above as a condition of receiving such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2011
Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act of 2011 - Authorizes the Secretary of State to carry out, in cooperation with the government of India, the Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative comprised of educational, scholarly, and professional exchange programs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2011
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 260 California Drive in Yountville, California, as the "Private First Class Alejandro R. Ruiz Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2011
American Jobs Act of 2011 - Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in such project are produced in the United States (Buy American). Waives such prohibition in cases where: (1) the prohibition would be inconsistent with the public interest; (2) iron, steel, and the relevant manufactured goods are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities of a satisfactory quality; or (3) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufactured goods produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%. Requires all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on federally-assisted projects to be paid wages at the locally prevailing rates (Davis-Bacon Act). Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reduce employment and self-employment tax rates in 2012 to 3.1%; (2) allow employers a tax credit for payroll increases in the last quarter of 2011 and in 2012; (3) extend the 100% bonus depreciation allowance through 2012; (4) delay until 2014 the 3% withholding requirement on payments due to vendors who provide services to federal, state, and local governmental entities; and (5) increase the work opportunity tax credit for hiring unemployed veterans. Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase from $2 million to $5 million the limit on the guarantee for contract surety bonds and on the liability for bonds obtained by fraud or misrepresentation. Directs the Secretary of Education to allocate grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the costs of retaining, recalling, rehiring, or hiring employees to provide early childhood, elementary, or secondary education and related services. Requires LEAs and state-funded early learning programs to obligate such funding by September 30, 2013. Prohibits the use of such grants to supplant state funding for education. Directs the Attorney General to carry out a competitive grant program pursuant to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 for the hiring, rehiring, or retention of career law enforcement officers. Makes appropriations to the Community Oriented Policing Stabilization Fund to carry out such program and for transfer to a First Responder Stabilization Fund from which the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) shall make competitive grants for hiring additional firefighters pursuant to the Federal Fire Prevention Control Act of 1974. Directs the Secretary of Education to allocate grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to modernize, renovate, or repair early learning or elementary or secondary education facilities. Requires the Secretary to allocate grants directly to the 100 LEAs with the largest numbers of children aged 5-17 living in poverty. Requires states to give subgrant priority to projects that comply with certain green building standards. Prohibits the use of such grants for new construction, routine maintenance costs, or on facilities used for events for which the public is charged admission. Allows private, nonprofit elementary or secondary schools with a rate of child poverty of at least 40% to participate in the program on a limited basis. Directs the Secretary to allocate grants to states to modernize, renovate, or repair existing facilities at community colleges. Prohibits the use of such grants: (1) for routine maintenance costs, (2) on facilities used for events for which the public is charged admission, or (3) on facilities which are used for sectarian purposes. Requires states, in providing assistance to community college projects, to consider the extent to which the project complies with certain green building standards. Makes specified funds available to the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) for: (1) grants-in-aid for airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning projects under the airport improvement program (AIP); (2) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Next Generation air traffic control system advancements; (3) highway and bridge restoration, repair, and construction projects and for passenger and freight rail transportation and port infrastructure projects; (4) grants for high-speed rail projects, capital investment grants for intercity passenger rail service, and grants to reduce congestion on intercity rail passenger transportation; (5) capital grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak); (6) transit capital assistance grants; (7) capital projects for existing fixed guideway system modernization, replacement and repair of buses and bus-related equipment, and construction of bus-related facilities; and (8) discretionary capital investment grants for surface transportation infrastructure. Authorizes the Secretary to establish standards under which contracts for construction projects contain requirements for the local hiring of individuals to perform construction work under such contracts. Requires projects to comply with Buy American requirements. Building and Upgrading Infrastructure for Long-Term Development Act - Establishes the American Infrastructure Financing Authority (AIFA) as a wholly-owned government corporation to make direct loans and loan guarantees to facilitate transportation, water, or energy infrastructure projects. Requires infrastructure projects assisted under this Act to have costs that are reasonably anticipated to equal or exceed $100 million ($25 million for rural infrastructure projects). Sets forth special requirements for infrastructure projects in rural areas. Requires the AIFA Chief Lending Officer to establish: (1) an Office of Rural Assistance to provide technical assistance in the development and financing of rural infrastructure projects, and (2) a Center for Excellence to provide such assistance to public sector borrowers for the same purpose. Establishes an Office of Special Inspector General to audit and investigate the business activities of AIFA. Makes private projects for which no public benefit is created ineligible for financial assistance. Sets forth terms for loans or loan guarantees for infrastructure projects. Requires the Chief Executive Officer of AIFA to establish and collect fees sufficient to cover AIFA administrative costs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2012 the exemption from the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for certain tax-exempt private activity bonds. Appropriates funds for assistance to eligible entities including state and local governments, and qualified nonprofit organizations, businesses or eligible consortia for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed-upon properties and for stabilization of affected neighborhoods (Project Rebuild). Allows the use of funds to: (1) establish financing mechanisms for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed-upon properties; (2) purchase and rehabilitate such properties; (3) establish and operate land banks for them; (4) demolish blighted structures (except public housing); and (5) redevelop abandoned, foreclosed, demolished, or vacant properties. Requires each state to receive at least $20 million of formula funds, all of which shall be used with respect to low and moderate-income individuals and families. Requires each state and local government grantee to establish procedures to create preferences for development of affordable rental housing. Allows a grantee to use up to 10% to create jobs by establishing and operating a program to maintain eligible neighborhood properties. Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to permit: (1) payments from the Spectrum Relocation Fund to reimburse certain federal entities for relocation or sharing costs incurred by planning for a potential or planned auction of spectrum frequencies or the reallocation of spectrum from federal use to exclusive nonfederal (currently, required) or shared federal and nonfederal use, and (2) federal entities to allow nonfederal entities access to frequency assignments with National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approval. Revises the categories of relocation and sharing costs. Authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), if it is consistent with the public interest in spectrum utilization for a licensee to voluntarily relinquish licensed spectrum usage rights in order to permit the assignment of new initial licenses through a competitive bidding process subject to new service rules, or to permit the designation of new spectrum for unlicensed use, to pay to such licensee a portion of any auction proceeds attributable to the licensee's relinquished spectrum usage rights. Permits the FCC, if it is in the public interest to modify the spectrum usage rights of any incumbent licensee to facilitate such new assignments and designations, to pay a portion of auction proceeds to incumbent licensees relocating to designated alternative frequencies or locations. Requires the FCC to: (1) notify Congress of the methodology (considering the value of spectrum vacated in its current use and the timeliness of clearing) for calculating such payments to licensees at least three months before the relevant auction, and (2) assign at least the first 84 megahertz from certain specified bands through a competitive bidding process. Extends permanently (currently, expires on September 30, 2012) the FCC's authority to grant a license or permit under applicable competitive bidding provisions. Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) terrestrial broadband rights on spectrum primarily licensed for mobile satellite services, and (2) domestic satellite communications services licenses. Directs: (1) the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and the FCC or the President to identify specified frequencies for competitive bidding or other reallocation or sharing, and (2) the FCC to auction specified frequency ranges. Modifies competitive bidding system design requirements. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize the FCC to establish and collect annual user fees for: (1) initial spectrum licenses or construction permits that are not granted through competitive bidding; and (2) renewals or modifications of initial licenses or other authorizations, whether or not granted through competitive bidding. Sets forth required minimum collection amounts for FY2012-FY2021. Requires that all such proceeds be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. Directs the FCC to: (1) establish, by regulation, a fee-collection methodology and schedule; and (2) exempt broadcast television and public safety services licensees from such fees. Increases the allocation of electromagnetic spectrum for public safety entities by: (1) directing the FCC to reallocate to such entities specified frequencies of the 700 MHz D block spectrum; and (2) amending the Communications Act of 1934 to increase public safety services allocation and reduce commercial use allocation by 10 megahertz within a specified range. Authorizes flexible use of narrowband spectrum, including for public safety broadband communications, subject to exceptions. Establishes the Public Safety Broadband Corporation as a private, nonprofit corporation required to: (1) hold the single public safety wireless license (a license to be reallocated and granted by the FCC for an initial 10-year term renewable, upon application, for subsequent terms, each term a maximum of 15 years) for the 700 MHz D block and existing public safety broadband spectrums; and (2) build, deploy, and operate a nationwide public safety interoperable broadband network. Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (SSA, 2008) with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through January 3, 2013. Postpones the termination of the program until June 8, 2013. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until January 4, 2013, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 9, 2013, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 with respect to a state's authority to apply certain requirements of the FSEUCA of 1970, with specified substitutions, for determining an extended unemployment compensation period. Requires the state's "on" and "off" indicators to be based on its rate of insured unemployment and rate of total unemployment for the period beginning on the enactment of the FSEUCA of 1970 (or, if later, the date established pursuant to state law) and ending on or before December 31, 2012 (currently, December 31, 2011). Amends the SSA, 2008 to include in a federal-state agreement under the EUC program a requirement that a state provide reemployment services and reemployment eligibility assessment activities to certain recipients of EUC. Conditions an individual's continuing eligibility for EUC for any week on whether such individual has been referred to such services or activities and participated, or has completed such participation, unless there is justifiable cause for failure to do so. Authorizes the federal-state agreement to require that a state agency administering EUC establish a self-employment assistance program to provide for the payment of EUC for up to 26 weeks as self-employment assistance allowances to individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Allows a participant in a self-employment assistance program to opt to discontinue such participation. Requires any state that establishes a Bridge to Work program under the Supporting Unemployment Workers Act of 2011 to deduct from an individual's EUC account necessary sums to pay wages for such individual. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and as amended by the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, to extend through December 31, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10. Establishes the Reemployment NOW program to facilitate the reemployment of individuals receiving emergency unemployment compensation (EUC claimants). Requires a state to submit for approval by the Secretary of Labor a state plan meeting certain minimum requirements in order to be eligible for an allotment of federal funds under the program. Authorizes a state to use its allotted funds to establish a Bridge to Work program to provide EUC claimants with short-term work experience placements with eligible employers to increase opportunities for such individuals to move to permanent employment. Authorizes a state to use its allotted funds to provide a wage insurance program to pay, for up to two years, an EUC claimant who obtains reemployment up to 50% of the difference between the wages received by the worker at the time of work separation and the wages the worker received for reemployment. Authorizes a state to its allotted funds to provide: (1) a program of enhanced reemployment services to EUC claimants, including unemployed individuals who have exhausted their EUC rights; (2) for the administrative costs associated with starting up certain self-employment assistance programs; and (3) for additional innovative programs designed to facilitate the reemployment of EUC claimants. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth requirements relating to short-time compensation programs to allow employers to reduce the workweek of their employees in lieu of layoffs. Provides for federal financing of state short-time compensation programs. Requires the Secretary of Labor to: (1) award grants to states that enact such programs; (2) develop model legislative language for use by states in developing, enacting, and implementing such programs; and (3) report to Congress and the President on the implementation of such programs. Allows an increased work opportunity tax credit for long-term unemployed individuals (individuals who are unemployed and receiving unemployment compensation for six months or more). Pathways Back to Work Act of 2011 - Establishes the Pathways Back to Work Fund, with an initial appropriation of $5 billion. Requires the Secretary of Labor to make certain Fund allocations to states with approved plans, qualifying outlying areas (U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau), and Native American program grantees to provide: (1) subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults; and (2) summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to local entities for work-based training and other work-related and educational strategies and activities of demonstrated effectiveness to provide unemployed, low-income adults and low-income youths with skills that will lead to employment. Subjects activities funded under this Act to federal labor standards and nondiscrimination protections. Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 - Makes it an unlawful practice for certain employers to: (1) publish an advertisement or announcement for a job with provisions indicating that an individual's status as unemployed disqualifies the individual for employment, or that the employer will not consider or hire an individual for employment based on such status; (2) fail or refuse to consider or hire an individual because of such status; or (3) direct or request that an employment agency take an individual's status into account to disqualify an applicant for consideration for employment, or when screening or referring employees. Makes it an unlawful practice for an employment agency to commit similar acts, including to: (1) screen, or fail or refuse to consider or refer, an individual for employment because of the individual's unemployed status; or (2) limit, segregate, or classify any individual in any manner that would limit access to job information, or consideration, screening, or referral for jobs. Makes it unlawful for any employer or employment agency to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under this Act; or (2) fail or refuse to hire, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against an employee because such individual opposed any practice made unlawful by this Act or asserted any right under it. Prescribes enforcement authorities with respect to violations of this Act. Authorizes an individual, or any person acting on the individual's behalf, who files a claim in the appropriate U.S. court alleging violation of the prohibitions of this Act to receive: (1) an order enjoining the unlawful employment practice, (2) the reimbursement of costs expended as a result of such practice, (3) liquidated damages of at least $1,000 for each day of the violation, and (4) reasonable attorney's fees (including expert fees) and court costs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) limit tax deductions and other tax exclusions for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return), (2) treat income received by a partner from an investment services partnership interest as ordinary income for income tax purposes, and (3) treat all general aviation aircraft (including corporate jets) as seven-year property for depreciation purposes. Repeals, after 2012, certain tax expenditures for the oil and gas industry, including: (1) the tax deduction for intangible drilling and development costs for oil and gas wells; (2) the tax deduction for tertiary injectant expenditures; (3) percentage depletion for oil and gas wells; (4) the tax deduction for income from activities relating to oil, natural gas, or any primary product thereof; (5) the exemption from limitations on passive activity losses; and (6) the tax credits for enhanced oil recovery and for producing oil and gas from marginal wells. Increases the amortization period for geological and geophysical expenditures. Denies the foreign tax credit for amounts paid or accrued by a dual capacity taxpayer to a foreign country or U.S. possession. Defines "dual capacity taxpayer" as a person who is subject to a levy of a foreign country or U.S. possession and who receives a specific economic benefit from such country or possession. Sets forth a special rule for the treatment of taxes paid on foreign oil and gas income for purposes of the foreign tax credit. Amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 to: (1) increase the deficit reduction target of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction from $1.5 trillion to $1.95 trillion, and (2) provide that the revenue enhancement provisions of this Act will not take effect if a Committee bill achieving greater than $1.65 trillion in deficit reduction is enacted by January 15, 2012. Amends the Budget Control Act of 2011 to increase the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction's targeted deficit reduction goal from $1.5 trillion to $1.95 trillion or more over FY2012-FY2021. States that if a joint committee bill achieving an amount greater than $1.65 trillion in deficit reduction (as provided for in the Act) is enacted by January 15, 2012, then the amendments to the Internal Revenue Code made by subtitles A through E of title IV of this Act, shall not be in effect for any taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2011
Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Social Security Act, and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to expand the collection and analysis of data in programs of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Sets forth provisions to improve cultural competence in federal health care programs and services, including by establishing the Robert T. Matsui Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Health Care. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to engage in activities to improve health workforce diversity, including by: (1) establishing a working group, a technical clearinghouse, and an advisory committee; (2) awarding grants to academic institutions, (3) establishing a health and health care disparities education program, and (4) providing for scholarships, loan repayment and loan forgiveness, and research fellowships. Health Empowerment Zone Act of 2011 - Provides for the establishment of health empowerment zones in communities that experience disproportionate disparities in health status and health care. Requires the Secretary to engage in activities to improve the quality of and access to health care, including by expanding access to health care and health care insurance for immigrants, increasing Medicaid payments to territories and to Native Hawaiian health centers, and providing for border health grants. Sets forth programs to reduce health disparities affecting minorities and rural residents. Establishes an Office of Minority Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs Sets forth provisions to improve health for women and children, including by expanding access to federal programs for immigrant women and children, creating public awareness campaigns, engaging in activities to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes, and establishing programs to reduce teenage pregnancies. Expands Medicare coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services. Provides for community mental health services to be offered through federally-qualified behavioral health centers. Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2011 - Requires the Secretary to implement the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Program to achieve a reduction of at least 25% in the mortality rate of lung cancer by 2017. Prostate Research, Outreach, Screening, Testing, Access, and Treatment Effectiveness Act of 2011 or the PROSTATE Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take action to address prostate cancer, including by establishing the Interagency Prostate Cancer Coordination and Education Task Force. Viral Hepatitis and Liver Cancer Control and Prevention Act of 2011 - Requires the Secretary to implement programs to address hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Bone Marrow Failure Disease Research and Treatment Act of 2011 - Requires the Secretary to establish the National Acquired Bone Marrow Failure Disease Registry. Requires the Secretary to carry out activities to expand the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative. National Black Clergy for the Elimination of HIV/AIDS Act of 2011 - Provides for a program of grants to public health agencies and faith-based organizations to address HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. Justice for the Unprotected Against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act or the JUSTICE Act - Permits community organizations to distribute sexual barrier protection devices (e.g., condoms) and to engage in sexually transmitted infection counseling and prevention education in federal correctional facilities. Stop AIDS in Prison Act of 2011 - Requires the Bureau of Prisons to develop a comprehensive policy to provide HIV testing, treatment, and prevention for inmates. Minority Diabetes Initiative Act - Requires the Secretary to conduct research and other activities with respect to diabetes in minority populations. Sets forth provisions regarding the use of health information technology to reduce health disparities. Prohibits discrimination in federal health programs or activities. Requires the Secretary to establish the Office of Health Disparities in the Office for Civil Rights and to establish civil rights compliance offices in each HHS agency that administers health programs. Directs the President to enforce Executive Order 12898 (requires federal agencies to take actions to achieve environmental justice) as federal law. Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish in the Department of Agriculture (USDA) a Healthy Food Financing Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2011
Fix America's Schools Today (FAST) Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Education to allocate grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to modernize, renovate, or repair early learning or elementary or secondary education facilities. Requires the Secretary to allocate grants directly to the 100 LEAs with the largest numbers of children aged 5-17 living in poverty to modernize, renovate, or repair such facilities. Requires allocation of such funds among these LEAs in proportion to each LEA's respective share of school improvement funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Requires states to give subgrant priority to projects that comply with certain green building standards. Prohibits the use of such grants for new construction or routine maintenance costs. Reserves funds for a survey, by the National Center for Education Statistics, of nationwide public school construction, modernization, renovation, and repair needs. Directs the Secretary to allocate grants to states to modernize, renovate, or repair existing facilities at community colleges. Prohibits the use of such grants: (1) for routine maintenance costs, (2) on facilities used for events for which the public is charged admission, or (3) on facilities which are used for sectarian purposes. Requires states, in providing assistance to community college projects, to consider the extent to which the project complies with certain green building standards. Limits the amount of time states and LEAs have to obligate this Act's grants and subgrants. Requires, with certain exceptions, the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in projects funded by this Act to be domestic. Applies the prevailing wage rate requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act to projects assisted pursuant to this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2011
Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act - Requires the Secretary of Education to make grants to states for the modernization, renovation, or repair of public schools, including early learning facilities and charter schools, to make them safe, healthy, high-performing, and technologically up-to-date. Allocates grant funds among states on the basis of the relative portion of school improvement funds provided to local educational agencies (LEAs) in each state under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Reserves 2% of the grant funds for assistance to outlying areas and Indian schools. Reserves 5% of the grant funds for LEAs serving geographic areas: (1) with significant economic distress, (2) recovering from a natural disaster, or (3) containing a military installation selected for closure. Requires states to reallocate such grant funds to LEAs on the basis of each LEA's share of school improvement funds received by LEAs in the state for the previous fiscal year. Allows LEAs to give priority to projects involving the abatement, removal, or interim control of asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, mold, mildew, lead-based hazards, or a proven carcinogen. Requires the iron and steel used in projects funded under this Act to have been produced in the United States, subject to specified exceptions. Directs LEA grantees to use their grants for public school modernization, renovation, repairs, construction, or maintenance that meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System standards, Energy Star standards, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) criteria, Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating standards (Green Globes), or equivalent standards adopted by the entities that have jurisdiction over such LEAs. Requires the Secretary to work with grant recipients to promote appropriate opportunities for individuals enrolled in YouthBuild, Job Corps, junior or community college, or preapprenticeship programs to gain employment experience on projects funded under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) grants to institutions of higher education to provide an additional 250,000 part-time work-study jobs; (2) creation of an additional 100,000 Public Lands Corps positions; (3) the retention, rehiring, and hiring of 300,000 education jobs; (4) grants to state, local, and Indian tribal governments to hire and rehire overall an additional 40,000 career law enforcement officers; and (5) the hiring and rehiring of an additional 12,000 firefighters. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to eligible health care and long-term care (LTC) providers to hire and retain 40,000 health care and LTC professionals. Authorizes appropriations for state and local government units to establish a Community Corps to create an additional 750,000 jobs for unemployed individuals to carry out specified activities. Amends the Head Start Act to authorize appropriations to employ an additional 100,000 full-time infant and toddler Head Start specialists.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2011
Foreign Service Line of Duty Death Gratuity Act of 2011 - Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to provide increased group life insurance benefits for a Foreign Service or government executive branch employee killed in a location designated as a danger pay post. Directs the Secretary of State to provide a specified death gratuity payment to the surviving dependents of a Foreign Service or a government executive branch employee serving at a U.S. diplomatic or consular mission abroad without a regular salary who was killed in the August 7, 1998, bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Authorizes appropriations for such payments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2011
Repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force - States that the Authorization for Use of Military Force (P.L. 107-40) has been used to justify an open-ended authorization for the use of military force and such an interpretation is inconsistent with the authority of Congress to declare war and make all laws for executing powers vested by the Constitution in the U.S. government. Repeals the Authorization for Use of Military Force (P.L. 107-40), effective 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2011
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require that, if for FY2012-FY2021 appropriations for discretionary accounts are enacted that Congress and the President designate as being for emergency job creation, the adjustment to discretionary spending limits for a fiscal year shall be the total of such appropriations for the fiscal year in discretionary accounts designated for emergency job creation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 2011
Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization of 2011 - Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program through FY2018 and to revise program requirements to: (1) provide for competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist in locating missing patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; (2) expand such program to include locating other missing elderly individuals; (3) require the Attorney General to solicit grants for program applications in the Federal Register and on the Department of Justice (DOJ) website; and (4) establish a preference in awarding grants to national nonprofit organizations that have a direct link to patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and their families (currently, grants may be awarded to only such organizations).
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 2011
Minority Diabetes Initiative Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to public and nonprofit private health care providers to provide treatment for diabetes in minority communities. Requires the Secretary to ensure that such grants cover a variety of diabetes-related health care services, including routine care for diabetic patients, public education on diabetes prevention and control, eye care, foot care, and treatment for kidney disease and other complications of diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 2011
Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to public and nonprofit private health care providers to expand training and support services for families and caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2011
Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support, and Education Act or the Youth Promise Act - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish a PROMISE Advisory Panel to assist the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in: (1) assessing and developing standards and evidence-based practices to prevent juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity, and (2) collecting data in designated geographic areas to assess the needs and existing resources for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention. Authorizes the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to award grants to local governments and Indian tribes to: (1) plan and assess evidence-based and promising practices for juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity prevention and intervention, especially for at-risk youth; and (2) implement PROMISE plans, developed by local PROMISE Coordinating Councils (PCCs), for coordinating and supporting the delivery of juvenile delinquency and gang prevention and intervention programs in local communities. Establishes a National Research Center for Proven Juvenile Justice Practices to provide PCCs and the public with research and other information about evidence-based practices related to juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang prevention and intervention. Directs the Administrator to award grants to institutions of higher education to serve as regional research partners with PCCs that are located in the same geographic region as the educational institution.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2011
Iraq Withdrawal Accountability Act of 2011 - Declares that it is the policy of the United States to withdraw all U.S. Armed Forces and military contractors from Iraq by December 31, 2011. Prohibits any agreement between the United States and Iraq amending the timeline for such withdrawal in a manner obligating the United States to a security commitment to respond to internal or external threats against Iraq after such date from being in force with respect to the United States unless the agreement is in the form of a treaty requiring advice and consent of the Senate (or is intended to take that form in the case of an agreement under negotiation) or is specifically authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after enactment of this Act. Prohibits, except for protection of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the use of funds to: (1) maintain U.S. Armed Forces or military contractors in Iraq after December 31, 2011; and (2) establish any military installation or base for the permanent stationing of such forces in Iraq. Prohibits the use of funds to exercise U.S. control over any oil resource of Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2011
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) any deficit reduction plan put forward by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction should not balance the budget by eroding America's hard-earned retirement plan and social safety net; (2) Medicare's ability to deliver high quality health care in a cost-efficient manner should be strengthened and its benefits should be preserved for current and future retirees; (3) appropriate reform to strengthen Social Security's long-term outlook should ensure that it remains a critical source of protection for the people of the United States and their families without further increasing the retirement age or otherwise decreasing benefits; and (4) federal funding for the Medicaid program should be maintained so that senior citizens, poor and disabled children, and others with disabilities are able to gain and retain access to affordable health care.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2011
Stop Abuse for Every Teen Act or SAFE Teen Act - Amends title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to include dating violence prevention among the drug and violence prevention efforts funded under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program. Authorizes local educational agencies (LEAs) to use program funds for peer support groups that provide an emotionally safe and confidential setting for youth to learn and practice healthy relationship skills under the supervision of school personnel or community organizations specializing in domestic and sexual violence prevention. Allows perpetrators of dating violence to participate in such groups, but not in the same groups as victims of such violence. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to use program funds to: (1) develop and disseminate innovative and high-quality healthy relationship skill-building programs as a way to reduce unhealthy or abusive teen relationships; and (2) disseminate information on dating violence education and prevention, and data on the incidence of dating violence in the school environment and relevant behavioral indicators of exposure to violence. Directs the Secretary to collect and publicly disseminate among individuals aged 11-19 data on the incidence of dating violence, sexual violence, emotional abuse, and relevant behavioral indicators of exposure to such types of violence. Requires states to provide technical assistance to LEAs and schools in their efforts to prevent and appropriately respond to incidents of dating violence. Directs the Secretary to establish the Innovation Fund to replicate, refine, and test model strategies and projects to prevent and respond to dating violence for youth.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2011
Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers who deliver Infants Early Reauthorization Act or the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH activities with respect to research on the causes of preterm labor and delivery, tools to detect, prevent, or reduce prevalence of preterm labor and delivery, and the care and treatment of preterm infants. Establishes within NIH a multicenter clinical program to investigate problems in clinical obstetrics, improve the care and outcomes of neonates, and enhance the understanding of DNA and proteins as they relate to the underlying processes that lead to preterm birth. Requires the Director to award grants for planning, establishing, improving, and providing basic operating support for transdisciplinary research centers for prematurity. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Surgeon General, to establish and implement a national science-based provider and consumer education campaign on promoting healthy pregnancies and preventing preterm birth. Reauthorizes provisions related to research on prematurity and preterm births and sets forth specific areas for such research. Requires the Director of the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth to award grants to establish demonstration projects for: (1) obstetrical services for high risk women of child bearing age remotely using telehealth; and (2) educational activities regarding risk factors for preterm birth. Expands a demonstration project to inform health care providers and the public and improve treatment and outcome for babies born preterm. Requires the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality. Requires a study on hospital readmissions of preterm births.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2011
Access to Birth Control Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to contraceptives, including: (1) providing a customer a contraceptive without delay if it is in stock; (2) immediately informing a customer if the contraceptive is not in stock and either transferring the prescription to a pharmacy that has the contraceptive in stock or expediting the ordering of the contraceptive and notifying the customer when it arrives, based on customer preference, except for pharmacies that do not ordinarily stock contraceptives in the normal course of business; and (3) ensuring that pharmacy employees do not take certain actions relating to a request for contraception, including intimidating, threatening, or harassing customers, interfering with or obstructing the delivery of services, intentionally misrepresenting or deceiving customers about the availability of contraception or its mechanism of action, breaching or threatening to breach medical confidentiality, or refusing to return a valid, lawful prescription. Provides that a pharmacy is not prohibited from refusing to provide a contraceptive to a customer if: (1) it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented; (2) the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive; or (3) the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment. Provides that this Act does not preempt state law or any professional obligation of a state board that provides greater protections for customers. Sets forth civil penalties and establishes a a private cause of action for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2011
Aviation Jobs and Safety Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through September 30, 2011, increased excise taxes on aviation fuels, the excise tax on air transportation of persons and property, and the expenditure authority for the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Extends through September 30, 2011: (1) the authorization of appropriations for airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning projects (known as airport improvement projects [AIPs]), and (2) the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to make new AIP grants. Extends until October 1, 2011: (1) the pilot program for passenger facility fee authorizations at non-hub airports, and (2) disclosure requirements for large and medium hub airports applying for AIP grants. Directs the Secretary to extend through September 30, 2011, the termination date of insurance coverage for domestic or foreign-flag aircraft. Grants the Secretary discretionary authority to further extend such coverage through December 31, 2011. Extends through December 31, 2011, the authority of the Secretary to limit air carrier liability for claims arising out of acts of terrorism. Extends through September 30, 2011: (1) grant eligibility for airports located in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau; (2) grants to state and local governments for land use compatibility AIPs; and (3) authority for approving an application of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority for an airport development grant or for permission to impose a passenger facility fee. Amends the Vision 100 - Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to extend through September 30, 2011: (1) the temporary increase to 95% of the federal government's share of certain AIP costs, and (2) funding for airport development at Midway Island Airport.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2011
Global Democracy Promotion Act - States that in determining eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not: (1) be ineligible for such assistance solely on the basis of health or medical services provided by such organizations 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) 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 assistance under part I of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2011
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of the fourth annual National Clinicians HIV/AIDS Testing and Awareness Day. Encourages: (1) primary care physicians and other clinicians nationwide to become actively involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, testing, treatment, and referral services; and (2) individuals to get tested for HIV and educate themselves about the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2011
Commends: (1) the Administration for providing assistance in response to the drought and famine-like conditions in the Horn of Africa, and (2) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for providing assistance in Somalia in order to mitigate conflict and promote stability. Encourages international humanitarian organizations to continue to provide food and humanitarian assistance to the regions in need, mindful of the need for relief workers' safety. Calls on: (1) the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and other local Somali authorities to make additional efforts to provide support and humanitarian relief to the people of Somalia; and (2) the U.S. government and the international community to remain focused on those most vulnerable to the current drought and famine-like conditions, especially women and children. Encourages increased water conservation. Reaffirms the commitment of the United States to promoting the safety, health, and well-being of refugees around the world.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2011
Applauds the U.N. General Assembly for uniting to honor Nelson Mandela's contribution to international peace and freedom. Recognizes the global impact of President Mandela's legacy and commitment to nonviolence, respect, and dialogue. Supports the international community's recognition of Nelson Mandela International Day. Urges all U.S. citizens to reflect on the importance of peace, tolerance, democracy, human rights, and reconciliation in honor of Nelson Mandela International Day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2011
National Youth Summer Jobs Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to award 5-year competitive grants to eligible local government units to provide summer employment, including job readiness activities, work experiences, and job placement, for out-of-school youths age 14 to 21 who are enrolled in a public or private secondary school or have received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent but are basic-skills deficient, unemployed, or underemployed. Allows eligible entities that operate existing youth summer jobs programs to use grants to expand their programs, in lieu of establishing new job placement programs, by providing job training and support services, including health and nutrition referral, housing referral, financial literacy, and instruction on basic daily living skills.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2011
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service (USPS) should: (1) issue a semipostal stamp to support medical research relating to Alzheimer's disease, and (2) transfer to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for that purpose any amounts becoming available from the sale of that stamp.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2011
Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Revises the definition of "useful article" to include an article of apparel (clothing, handbags, purses, wallets, tote bags, belts, and eyeglass frames). Excludes from protection designs embodied in a useful article made public by the designer or owner: (1) more than two years before the date of the application for registration in the case of a vessel hull design, and (2) more than three years before the date upon which protection of the design is asserted in the case of a fashion design. Prohibits considering the presence or absence of a particular color or of a pictorial or graphic work imprinted on fabric when determining the protection of a fashion design. Sets the term of protection at 3 years for a fashion design and 10 years for a design of a vessel hull. Revises provisions concerning acting without knowledge to state that it is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, offer for sale, advertise, or distribute any article embodying a design which was created without knowledge, either actual or reasonably inferred from the totality of the circumstances, that a design was protected and was copied from such protected design. Prohibits deeming a vessel hull design to have been copied from a protected design if it is original and not substantially similar in appearance to a protected design. Prohibits deeming a fashion design to have been copied from a protected design if it: (1) is not substantially identical in overall visual appearance to and as to the original elements of a protected design, or (2) is the result of independent creation. Rewrites the remedy for infringement to state, in general, that: (1) in the case of a vessel hull, the owner of a design is entitled, after issuance of a certificate of registration of the design, to institute an action for any infringement of the design; and (2) in the case of a fashion design, the owner of a design is entitled to institute an action for any infringement of the design after the design is made public. Increases the penalty for false representation. Excludes protected fashion designs from: (1) importation enforcement regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Postal Service, and (2) seizure and forfeiture provisions. Limits the applicability of such regulations and provisions to specified vessel hulls.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2011
Shareholder Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require that any solicitation of a proxy, consent, or authorization with respect to any security of an issuer: (1) describe the specific nature (to the extent known) and total amount of expenditures proposed for political activities for the forthcoming fiscal year but not yet authorized by a vote of the issuer's shareholders, and (2) provide for a separate shareholder vote to authorize such proposed expenditures. Prohibits an issuer from making an expenditure for political activities in any fiscal year unless: (1) such expenditure is of the nature of those proposed by the issuer according to the requirements of this Act; and (2) authorization for such expenditure has been granted by votes representing a majority of outstanding shares. Deems a violation of this requirement to be a breach of the fiduciary duty of the officers and directors who authorized such expenditure. Subjects officers and directors who authorize the expenditure without prior shareholder authorization to joint and several liability to any shareholder or class of shareholders for the amount of such expenditure. Requires certain institutional investment managers to disclose annually in mandatory reports how they voted (proxies) in certain shareholder votes. Prohibits any person from bringing any civil, criminal, or administrative action against an institutional investment manager, or any of its employees, officers, or directors, based solely upon the investment manager's decision to divest from, or not to invest in, securities of an issuer because of expenditures for political activities made by that issuer. Requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to direct the national securities exchanges and national securities associations to prohibit the listing of any equity security of an issuer whose corporate bylaws do not expressly provide for a vote of the issuer's directors on any individual expenditure for political activities in excess of $50,000. Requires an issuer to make public, within 48 hours, the individual votes of the directors regarding any such expenditure. Directs the SEC to: (1) require issuers to disclose expenditures for political activities made during the preceding quarter and the individual votes by board members authorizing such expenditures; and (2) make such reports publicly available through the SEC website. Requires the SEC to make annual assessments of the compliance by public corporations and their management with the reporting and disclosure requirements of this Act, and the Comptroller General (GAO) to evaluate periodically the effectiveness of SEC oversight of these requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2011
Declares that, for mortgages originated during FY2012 and FY2013, if the dollar amount limit on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that may be purchased by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) for any size residence for any area is less than the limit in effect for 2008 under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, the maximum dollar amount limit on the principal obligation of such a mortgage shall be such maximum limit in effect for 2008 (in effect, an increase in the limit on the maximum original mortgage principal obligation from the FY2012 or FY2013 level to the 2008 level). Makes a similar declaration (and mortgage principal limit increase), for mortgages for which the mortgagee issues credit approval during FY2012 and FY2013, about the dollar amount limit on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that may be insured by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2011
Calls for Congress to consider and pass critical jobs legislation to address: (1) the crisis facing communities of color disproportionately, and (2) the nationwide economic crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2011
Expresses the sense of Congress that appropriate reform to strengthen Social Security's long-term outlook should happen in a bipartisan fashion and should ensure that Social Security remains a critical source of protection for the people of the United States and their families without further increasing the retirement age or otherwise decreasing benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2011
Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins and $1 silver coins emblematic of the life and legacy of Mark Twain. Limits issuance of such coins to calendar year 2016. Requires specified surcharges in the sale of such coins, which shall be promptly paid, in specified percentages, to: (1) the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, to support the continued restoration of the house and grounds, and ensure continuing growth and innovation in museum programming to research, promote, and educate on the legacy of Mark Twain; (2) the Mark Twain Project at the Bancroft Library of University of California, Berkeley, California, to support programs to study and promote Mark Twain's legacy; (3) the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira College, New York, for the same purposes; and (4) the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri, to preserve historical sites related to Mark Twain and help support study and promotion programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2011
Authorizes the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to collectively honor the Montford Point Marines, U.S. Marine Corps, in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II. (Camp Montford Point, North Carolina, was the site for the training of the first African-American Marines.) Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2011
Rebuilding America's Schools Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through 2015 the qualified school construction bond program and the national limitation amounts for bonds issued under the qualified zone academy bond (QZAB) program, (2) allow the issuer of a QZAB to receive a direct payment in lieu of the tax credit for interest payments with respect to such bonds, (3) permit private entities to waive the 10% matching requirement for QZABs, and (4) permit QZAB proceeds to be used for constructing a public school facility in which such an academy is established.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2011
Authorizes the American Legion under its federal charter to provide guidance and leadership to the individual Departments and Posts. Prohibits it from controlling or otherwise influencing the specific activities and conduct of independent, autonomous Departments and Posts.
![Official portrait of Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000187_200.jpg)