United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2005
Responsible Education About Life Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for family life education, including education on abstinence and contraception, to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Expresses the sense of Congress that States are encouraged but not required to provide matching funds. Requires the Secretary to provide for a national evaluation of a representative sample of such programs for effectiveness in changing adolescent sexual behavior, including delaying sexual and high-risk activity, preventing pregnancy and disease (including HIV/AIDS), and increasing contraceptive knowledge. Requires States receiving such grants to provide for an individual evaluation of the State's program by an external, independent entity.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2005
Combating Autism Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish: (1) a program to provide information and education on autism and its risk factors to health professionals and the general public; and (2) the Autism Coordinating Committee to coordinate autism related activities within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award grants or cooperative agreements to develop statewide autism screening, diagnosis, and intervention programs and systems. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants or cooperative agreements to provide technical assistance to state agencies to conduct applied autism research.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2005
Commends orchestras for their artistic and educational contribution to U.S. communities. Congratulates the American Symphony Orchestra League on the occasion of its 60th national conference.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Child Support Reinvestment Act of 2005 - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act with respect to the administrative penalty incurred by a state for failure of its plan for child and spousal support to have in effect an automated data processing and information retrieval system meeting all federal requirements. Modifies the formula for calculation of the child support automation penalty to provide for specified reductions of the penalty for a state making a good faith effort to comply with a corrective compliance plan by making increased expenditures under (reinvesting in) the general state child and spousal support plan by the equivalent of the original, unreduced penalty amount.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005 - Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require: (1) quarterly instead of semiannual filing of lobbying disclosures reports; (2) electronic filing; (3) maintenance of certain lobbying disclosure information in an electronic data base, available to the public free of charge over the Internet; (4) identification of each executive official and Member of Congress with whom lobbying contacts are made; (5) disclosure by registered lobbyists of all past executive and congressional employment; and (6) disclosure of grassroots lobbying communications by paid lobbyists. Extends from one to two years the ban on lobbying contacts by former senior and very senior executive personnel, former Members of Congress, and officers and employees of the legislative branch with any officer or employee of the entity in which such person served before his or her tenure terminated. Requires public disclosure by Members of Congress of employment negotiations. Subjects to fines and penalties a Member of Congress or an employee of the House who wrongfully influences, on a partisan basis, an entity's employment decisions or practices. Amends the Code of Official Conduct in the House to prohibit favoritism. Requires certification that congressional travel meets certain conditions, and establishes civil fines for false certifications. Requires the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to develop and revise guidelines on reasonable expenses or expenditures for official government travel. Calls for reviews and semiannual reports by the Comptroller General on activities carried out by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate under the Act, subject to congressional committee hearings. Increases the penalty for failure to comply with lobbying disclosure requirements. Requires appointment of a bipartisan ethics task force to make recommendations on: (1) strengthening ethics oversight and enforcement in the House; and (2) providing the resources necessary to accomplish this goal.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Medical Malpractice Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business tax credit for taxable years beginning in 2005 or 2006 for expenditures for medical professional malpractice insurance. Allows a credit for: (1) 30 percent of the malpractice insurance expenditures of a physician who practices in any surgical specialty or subspecialty, emergency medicine, obstetrics, or anesthesiology or who does intervention work that is reflected in medical malpractice insurance expenditures; and (2) 20 percent of such expenditures of a physician who practices in general medicine, allergy, dermatology, pathology, or other specialty and of any hospital, clinic, or long-term care provider. Limits the amount of expenditures that may be taken into account to twice the average of costs of medical malpractice insurance for similarly situated health care providers. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to make grants to certain nonprofit hospitals, clinics, and long-term care providers to assist such entities in defraying their medical malpractice insurance expenditures. Limits the amount of such grants to 15 percent of the medical malpractice insurance expenditures incurred by such entities in any year.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
COLI Best Practices Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the tax exclusion for benefits paid by employer-owned life insurance contracts upon the death of an insured employee, with certain exceptions for directors and highly compensated employees and for proceeds paid to the heirs of an insured employee. Requires employers to provide written notice to employees of intent to insure their lives and obtain written consent from such employees to being insured under a company-owned life insurance contract. Imposes certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements for employer-owned life insurance contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers to conduct multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each such center to: (1) be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence; (2) establish ongoing collaborations with community organizations; (3) be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions; (4) be supported under this Act for a period of not more than five years with additional periods allowed after review and recommendation; and (5) use innovative approaches to study unexplored areas of the environment and breast cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel to make recommendations for and to review grants awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2005
Veterinary Workforce Expansion Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to improve public health preparedness through increasing the number of veterinarians in the workforce. Defines "eligible entities" as accredited public or nonprofit schools of veterinary medicine, departments of comparative medicine, departments of veterinary science, schools of public health, or schools of medicine that offer training for veterinarians in a public health practice area. Requires the Secretary to give preference to applicants that demonstrate a comprehensive approach by involving more than one eligible entity. Allows grantees to use funds to: (1) pay the costs associated with construction, the acquisition of equipment, and other capital costs relating to the expansion of existing schools or departments; and (2) pay the capital costs associated with the expansion of academic programs that offer postgraduate training for veterinarians or concurrent training for veterinary students in specific areas of specialization
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2005
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each state's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final federal or state court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act - Transfers marijuana from schedule I to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. Provides that the Controlled Substances Act and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall not, in a state in which marijuana may legally be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use, prohibit or otherwise restrict: (1) a physician from prescribing or recommending marijuana for medical use; (2) an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a prescription or recommendation by a physician for medical use; (3) a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for such a prescription or recommendation; and (4) an entity established by a state from producing and distributing marijuana for such a prescription or recommendation.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Medicare Ambulance Payment Reform and Rural Equity Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) revise ambulance payment rates; and (2) provide additional payments for providers furnishing ambulance services in rural areas. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the system for adjusting payments for rural ambulance services to determine their adequacy and appropriateness. Amends SSA title XVIII with respect to a Secretary-specified uniform coding system identifying furnished ambulance services for purposes of a fee schedule. Directs the Secretary to establish a system or systems for the coding of claims for ambulance services for which payment is made, including a code set specifying the medical condition of the individual who is transported and the level of service that is appropriate for the transportation of an individual with that medical condition. Requires the code set to take into account the list of medical conditions developed in the course of the negotiated rulemaking process. (Current law authorizes the Secretary to require the claim for any ambulance services to include a code (or codes) under a uniform coding system specified by the Secretary, but does not require the establishment of such a coding system.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the San Francisco Old Mint Building, its importance to California and U.S. history, and its role in rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Requires that all surcharges received by the Secretary from such coin sales be promptly paid to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society for purposes of rehabilitating the Historic Old Mint in San Francisco as a city museum and an American Coin and Gold Rush Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
Export Freedom to Cuba Act of 2005 - Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting, directly or indirectly, travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of specified transactions incident to such travel. Declares that: (1) this prohibition does not authorize the importation into the United States of any goods for personal consumption acquired in Cuba; and (2) the restrictions on authority contained in this Act do not apply in a case in which the United States is at war with Cuba, armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress, or there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Action of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan or a health issuer offering group health insurance coverage that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Prohibits such a plan or issuer from: (1) restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection; or (2) requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan or issuer for prescribing any such length of stay. Requires such a plan or issuer to: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this Act; and (2) ensure that full coverage is provided for secondary consultations by specialists in the appropriate medical fields to confirm or refute a diagnosis of cancer. Applies such requirements to health insurance issuers offering coverage in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2005 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase and the Escalante Canyons; (4) Moab-LaSal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Clean Water Investment and Infrastructure Security Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from State volume caps private facility bonds for sewage and water supply facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act - Declares it is U.S. policy to protect and preserve living and other resources of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (Farallones NMS) and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Cordell Bank NMS) marine environments. Makes certain adjustments to expand the boundaries of the Farallones NMS and the Cordell NMS. Prohibits within the Farallones NMS and the Cordell Bank NMS: (1) the leasing, exploration, development, production, or transporting by pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons; (2) the conduct of aquaculture (with exceptions); and (3) the discharge of materials and substances or a change in the salinity. Prohibits the conduct of aquaculture within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete an interim supplemental management plan for each sanctuary that focuses on protective resource management in the areas added by this Act. Requires the Secretary to review the operations of the Farallones NMS to determine whether area added to it by this Act shall be designated as a new and separate NMS.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Employee Free Choice Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a bargaining representative without directing an election if a majority of the bargaining unit employees have authorized designation of the representative and there is no other individual or labor organization currently certified or recognized as the exclusive representative of any of the employees in the unit. Sets forth special procedural requirements for reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement following certification or recognition. Revises enforcement requirements with respect to unfair labor practices during union organizing drives. Provides, under injunction provisions, for priority to be given to preliminary investigation of charges of violations by employers or other entities. Adds to remedies for such violations: (1) back pay plus liquidated damages; and (2) additional civil penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Recognizes America's Blood Centers and its members for providing blood to patients, ensuring the safety of the blood supply, and promoting blood donor initiatives.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require any pharmacy receiving prescription drugs or prescription devices in interstate commerce to: (1) ensure that any in stock prescription that one pharmacist refuses to fill on the basis of a personal belief is filled by another pharmacist employed by the pharmacy without delay; (2) ensure that any individual who presents a prescription for an item that is not in stock which one pharmacist refuses to order on the basis of a personal belief is immediately informed that the product can be ordered by the pharmacy and to order such product without delay; and (3) not employ any pharmacist who engages in any conduct with the intent to prevent or deter an individual from filling a valid prescription, including refusing to return a prescription form, refusing to transfer a prescription, or subjecting the individual to humiliation or harassment. Provides that this Act does not require the pharmacy to keep any particular product in stock nor does it apply with respect to a product for a health condition if the pharmacy does not keep in stock any product for such condition. Sets forth civil penalties. Allows a private cause of action for a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Homeland Emergency Response Operations Act or HERO Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from granting any extension beyond December 31, 2006, for the reassignment of the frequencies assigned for public safety services. Directs the FCC to complete assignment of the electromagnetic spectrum between 764 and 776 megahertz and between 794 and 806 megahertz for public safety services and to permit operations by public safety services on those frequencies no later than January 1, 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2005 - Prohibits cruise vessels entering U.S. ports from discharging sewage, graywater, or bilge water into the waters of the United States, with specified exceptions, including when in compliance with effluent limits and management standards. Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations establishing effluent limits for sewage and graywater discharged by cruise vessels. Requires the Commandant to issue regulations implementing an inspection, sampling, and testing program sufficient to verify compliance with this Act and other specified laws. Prohibits employment discrimination against persons who institute or testify in proceedings under this Act. Authorizes interested persons to file a petition in U.S. circuit court requesting review of the Commandant's action in promulgating effluent limits or carrying out inspections, sampling, or testing under this Act. Establishes administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Authorizes rewards for information leading to the payment of such penalties. Establishes in rem liability for cruise vessels violating this Act. Authorizes citizen suits in the U.S. district courts against those who violate this Act or related regulations and orders, or against the Administrator or Commandant for an alleged failure to perform. Establishes special compliance deadlines for Alaskan cruise vessels with advanced treatment systems. Establishes the Cruise Vessel Pollution Control Fund. Requires the Commandant to establish and collect fees from cruise vessels to carry out this Act and to deposit fees in the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Estate Tax Repeal for Family-Owned Farms and Businesses Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the estate tax exclusion for family-owned business interests. Repeals the maximum $675,000 deduction for such interests and allows heirs of qualified interests to exclude the adjusted value of such interests from the gross estate. Defines "qualified family-owned business interests" and revises ownership requirements and material participation rules applicable to family-owned business interests qualifying for the estate tax exclusion. Provides that qualified family-owned business interests and spousal property acquired from a decedent shall be treated as transferred by gift and that the basis of such property shall be the lesser of the adjusted basis of the decedent, or the fair market value of such property at the date of the decedent's death (thus eliminating estate tax on such property).
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and to establish penalties for knowingly making available a computer-assisted remote hunt (i.e., using a computer or other device, equipment, or software to allow a person remotely to control the aiming and discharge of a weapon to kill or injure an animal while not in the targeted animal's physical presence).
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Real Estate Investment Thrift Savings Act - Amends Federal law relating to the Federal Employees' Retirement System to provide for the establishment of a Real Estate Stock Investment Fund under the Thrift Savings Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Renewing the Dream Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow homebuilders and investors a general business tax credit for building or substantially rehabilitating residences for low and moderate-income individuals in certain areas, including a rural area, an Indian reservation, or an area of chronic economic distress. Sets forth rules for the calculation of such credit and its administration and allocation by the States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2005
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to make grants and create a program within the National Park Service to support and work in partnership with citizens, governmental and tribal organizations, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations for the purpose of identifying, protecting, and acquiring historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II in order to gain inspiration from these sites and to demonstrate the Nation's commitment to equal justice. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Japanese American National Heritage Coalition, to make grants to citizens, States, local, and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations to assist in carrying out the actions described above. Provides for the Secretary to require a 25 percent non-Federal match for funds provided under this Act. Terminates the force and effect of this Act two years after the disbursement to grantees of the total amount of funds authorized to be appropriated under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Fisheries Science and Management Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to revise requirements for the appointment and training of the voting members of the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils. Requires each science and statistical committee established by a Council to include a fishery and marine science subcommittee. Sets forth subcommittee functions, primarily to determine for the Council biological catch limits that will prevent overfishing in a fishery and any protections required for threatened or endangered species. Revises requirements regarding the disclosure of financial interests by and recusal of members with respect to voting on Council decisions. Revises provisions required to be in a fishery management plan to require such a plan to allocate any quotas or other conservation and management measures fairly and equitably among the commercial, recreational, and charter fishing sectors in the fishery, and allow fishery sectors to develop allocation plans subject to Council approval. Provides for peer review of fishery and marine science subcommittee determinations to the Council. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to carry out a cooperative research, data collection, and gear modification program to conduct conservation projects to minimize the mortality of unavoidable bycatch or fishery impacts on essential fish habitat through modifications of fishing gear and practices. Amends the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act to make certain funds available to implement the cooperative research, data collection, and gear modification program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Darfur Genocide Accountability Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide. Directs the President to: (1) block the property and assets of civil and military officials of the Government of Sudan and their family members implicated in the Darfur atrocities, and property and assets controlled by the National Congress Party; and (2) prohibit an entity engaged in any commercial activity in Sudan from raising capital in the United States, or from trading its securities in any capital market in the United States. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) prohibit visas for civil and military officials of the Government of Sudan, and militia members and others implicated in the Darfur atrocities; (2) reduce the Sudanese diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C., and restrict or control the remaining staff's movement within the United States; and (3) instruct the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) to oppose any UN or other international conference from being held in Sudan. Authorizes the President to: (1) use force to stop the Darfur genocide, including establishment of a no-fly zone and use of unmanned armed planes; and (2) deny U.S. port entry to ships doing business in the Sudan oil sector and /or with the Sudan armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Clean Smokestacks Act of 2005 - Amends the Clean Air Act (CAA) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations to achieve specified reductions in aggregate emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, and mercury from powerplants (electric generation facilities with a nameplate capacity of 15 megawatts or more that use a combustion device to generate electricity for sale) by January 1, 2010. States that regulations promulgated under this Act may require additional emissions reductions if the Administrator determines that the specified reductions are not reasonably anticipated to protect public health or welfare. Directs the Administrator to coordinate with other Federal and State agencies to increase energy efficiency, to increase the use of renewable energy, and to implement cost saving advanced demand and supply side policies. Requires powerplants, on the later of the date 30 years after the powerplant commenced operation or five years after this Act's enactment, to comply with the most recent new source performance standards under CAA provisions regarding air quality and emissions limitations and with specified requirements for modified sources.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan or group health coverage that provides both medical and surgical benefits and mental health benefits from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on the mental health benefits unless comparable limitations or requirements are imposed on medical and surgical benefits. Excludes such requirements for plans and coverage for small employers. Allows a plan or coverage that provides in-network mental health benefits to provide out-of-network mental health benefits using treatment limitations or financial requirements that are not comparable to those applied to medical-surgical benefits if the in-network mental health benefits are provided at parity with medical-surgical benefits and with reasonable access. Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to: (1) study the effects of this Act on health insurance costs and access and quality of health care; and (2) provide a cost estimation of extending such requirements to the treatment of substance abuse and chemical dependency.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Cesar E. Chavez Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to the next of kin or other personal representative of Cesar E. Chavez in recognition of his service to the Nation. (Chavez organized farm workers to campaign for safe and fair working conditions, founded the National Farm Workers Association-- predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America-- and was a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.)
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to replace the term "navigable waters," throughout the Act, with the term "waters of the United States," defined to mean all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting them, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2005
Veterans Employment and Respect Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a work opportunity tax credit for hiring certain: (1) veterans of military service in Afghanistan or Iraq; and (2) dependents of deceased members of the Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2005
Kidney Care Quality and Improvement Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) grant full coverage of dialysis access procedures in the ambulatory surgical center setting for individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled under Medicare part B (Hospital Insurance); and (2) structure the relative value units applicable to physicians' services for vascular access procedures to encourage clinically appropriate placement of natural vascular access for dialysis patients. Directs the Secretary to establish demonstration projects for an outcomes-based ESRD financial incentives reimbursement system to evaluate methods that improve the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease. Sets forth required training for patient care dialysis technicians. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for the: (1) establishment of annual update framework for the Medicare end stage renal disease composite rate; and (2) extension of Medicare as secondary payer. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the impact of the temporary codes (G-codes) for nephrologists' services applicable under the Medicare fee schedule for physician's services. Requires the Secretary to establish demonstration projects to: (1) increase public awareness about chronic kidney disease; (2) enhance surveillance systems and expand chronic kidney disease research; and (3) enable individuals with ESRD to develop self-management skills. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for Medicare coverage of kidney disease patient education services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish blood flow monitoring demonstration projects; (2) provide for appropriate incentives to improve the Medicare home dialysis benefit; (3) arrange with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the barriers to increasing the number of individuals with ESRD who elect to receive home dialysis services under Medicare; and (4) establish an independent, multidisciplinary, nonpartisan End-Stage Renal Disease Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2005
Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of 2005 - Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to redefine the term "client" with respect to coalitions and associations on whose behalf a lobbyist must file a registration. Provides that, in the case of a coalition or association that employs or retains other persons to conduct lobbying activities, each of the individual members of the coalition or association, and not the coalition or association itself as under current law, is the client for whom a registration must be filed. Makes an exception for certain tax-exempt associations and for certain members of a coalition or association if the amount reasonably expected to be contributed by such member toward specific legislation-influencing activities of the coalition or association is less than $1,000 per any semiannual period.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2005
North Bay Water Reuse Program Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the planning, design, and construction of water reclamation and reuse projects with eligible entities in the North San Pablo Bay watershed located in Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and Solano Counties, California. Requires: (1) the Secretary, in carrying out such reclamation and reuse projects, to build upon the design work and environmental evaluation undertaken by non-Federal entities and by the Corps of Engineers to the greatest degree practicable; and (2) all planning, design, and construction of recycled water projects to be undertaken in accordance with cooperative agreements between the Secretary and eligible entities. Limits the Federal share of projects funded under this Act to 65 percent of the total cost of project planning, environmental evaluation, and construction. Requires the Secretary to make grants and other funds available to eligible entities for the initial development of environmental improvement and enhancement components of the North Bay Water Reuse Program. States that nothing in this Act: (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or interstate compacts governing water; (2) alters the rights of States to appropriated shares of surface or groundwater; (3) preempts or modifies State or Federal laws or interstate compacts governing water quality or disposal; or (4) confers on nonfederal entities the ability to exercise Federal water rights.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2005
Constitutional Amendment - States that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005 or Johanna's Law - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a national campaign to increase the awareness and knowledge of women with respect to gynecologic cancers, which shall include: (1) maintaining a supply of written materials to provide information to the public on gynecologic cancers; and (2) developing and placing public service announcements to encourage women to discuss their risks of gynecologic cancers with their physicians. Requires the Secretary to award grants to nonprofit private entities to test different outreach and education strategies for increasing such awareness among women and health professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to expand the prohibition against discrimination by group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets on the basis of genetic information or services to prohibit: (1) enrollment and premium discrimination based on information about a request for or receipt of genetic services; and (2) requiring genetic testing. Sets forth penalties for violations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit issuers of Medicare supplemental policies from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. Extends medical privacy and confidentiality rules to the disclosure of genetic information. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate against an individual or deprive such individual of employment opportunities because of genetic information. Prohibits the collection and disclosure of genetic information, with certain exceptions. Establishes a Genetic Nondiscrimination Study Commission to review the developing science of genetics and advise Congress on the advisability of providing for a disparate impact cause of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Children's Hospitals Education Equity and Research (CHEER) Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments through FY 2010 (currently, through FY 2005) to children's hospitals for expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs. Excludes reductions for unused resident positions when calculating the number of full-time residents in a children's hospital's approved training program for purposes of reimbursing direct expenses. Requires the Secretary to adjust the proportion of such a hospital's costs attributable to wages for differences in hospital wage levels by geographic area. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2010 for direct and indirect expenses associated with operating such programs. Requires that funds appropriated for such programs for a fiscal year remain available for obligation through the end of the succeeding fiscal year. Limits the ability to recoup funds unless a demand for recoupment is made by the end of the fiscal year. Sets forth an appeals procedure and limitations on retroactivity for decisions affecting the amount of payments to a hospital for such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2005
Rockies Prosperity Act - Designates the following lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (System): (1) Greater Glacier/Northern Continental Divide ecosystem; (2) Greater Yellowstone ecosystem; (3) Greater Salmon/Selway ecosystem; (4) Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk ecosystem; (5) Islands in the Sky Wilderness; and (6) Blackfeet Wilderness. Designates: (1) specified wild land areas as Biological Connecting Corridors to protect the life flow of the Northern Rockies Bioregion; (2) the inventoried roadless areas identified as part of the Corridors as components of the System; and (3) certain biological connecting corridors as special corridor management areas. Establishes the Hells Canyon/Chief Joseph National Park and Preserve as a National Park System unit. Repeals Federal law provisions that establish the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) implement a program of ecosystem restoration in the Preserve; and (2) study the feasibility of creating a Flathead National Park and Preserve in the area generally known as the Glacier View Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest. 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. Establishes the National Wildland Restoration and Recovery System and the National Wildland Recovery Corps. Requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to assure nonexclusive access to the specified areas and corridors designated by this Act by Native Americans for traditional cultural and religious purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to provide that no application by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to a U.S. court for an order requiring the production of tangible things for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information from a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism may be made for the sole purpose of searching for, or seizing from, a bookseller or library documentary materials that contain personally identifiable information concerning a patron. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to preclude a physical search for documentary materials (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) under other provisions of law. Defines "personally identifiable information" as information that identifies a person as having used, requested, or obtained specific reading materials or services from a bookseller or library. Revises congressional reporting requirements under FISA to require the Attorney General, in informing Congress with respect to applications for orders approving requests for the production of tangible things, to: (1) describe the specific purpose of each order application; (2) analyze the effectiveness of each application that was granted or modified in protecting U.S. citizens against terrorism; and (3) make public such information provided in a manner consistent with the national security of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income disaster mitigation payments paid pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act or the National Flood Insurance Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
National Park Centennial Act - Establishes the National Park Centennial Fund in the Treasury. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers to designate overpayments and contributions for the benefit of the National Park System. Allocates such amounts to the Fund (along with necessary amounts from the General Fund to the extent that such amounts are inadequate in any fiscal year) for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior. Authorizes appropriations for a public awareness campaign about the Fund and the ability of taxpayers to make tax-related contributions. Requires a specified percentage of Fund deposits to be used: (1) for the elimination of the backlog of unmet needs in the national parks as identified in the Facility Condition Index of the National Park Service (NPS); (2) to protect natural resources within the parks; and (3) to protect cultural resources within the parks. Requires a majority of such percentages to be distributed to those national parks that have completed comprehensive business plans under the Business Plan Initiative of the NPS. Directs the Government Accountability Office annually to submit a report on the National Park System to specified congressional committees. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to provide grants to elementary and secondary schools for cooperative agreements with the NPS providing distance learning and onsite education programs.
![Official portrait of Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_ca_5_thompson_mike_200.jpg)