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 · 7 September 2011
Recognizes September 11 as a day of solemn commemoration. Extends deepest sympathies to the innocent victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and their families, friends, and loved ones. Honors the heroism and sacrifices of U.S. military and civilian personnel and their families in defense of their country. Credits the heroism of first responders, law enforcement personnel, state and local officials, volunteers, and others who aided the victims of the attacks. Thanks the leaders and citizens of nations who have assisted and continue to stand in solidarity with the United States against terrorism in the aftermath of the attacks. Commends the military and intelligence personnel involved in the removal of Osama bin Laden. Reasserts a commitment to opposing violent extremism against American interests and to providing the U.S. military, intelligence, and law enforcement communities with the resources and support to do so. Vows to continue to identify, intercept, and disrupt terrorists and their activities. Reaffirms that the American people will never forget the sacrifices made on September 11, 2001, or bow to terrorist demands. Declares that Congress stands adjourned out of respect to the victims of the attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2011
National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins in recognition of the National Baseball Hall of Fame during the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2015. Directs the Secretary to hold a competition to design the obverse of the coins. Requires the design on the reverse side to depict a baseball similar to those used by Major League Baseball. Requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by the Secretary to the National Baseball Hall of Fame to help finance its operations.
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
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.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2011
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 14901 Adelfa Drive in La Mirada, California, as the "Wayne Grisham Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2011
States that the House of Representatives: (1) acknowledges that the framework of past anti-Chinese legislation, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, is incompatible with the basic founding principles of equality recognized in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; (2) regrets passing six decades of legislation targeting the Chinese people for physical and political exclusion; and (3) reaffirms its commitment to preserving the same civil rights and constitutional protections for people of Chinese or other Asian descent in the United States accorded to all others.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2011
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 281 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, as the "First Lieutenant Oliver Goodall Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2011
Reuniting Families Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to establish the fiscal year worldwide level of employment-based immigrants at 140,000 plus: (1) the previous year's unused visas, and (2) the number of unused visas from FY1992-FY2011. Establishes the fiscal year worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants at 480,000 plus: (1) the previous year's unused visas, and (2) the number of unused visas from FY1992-FY2011. Revises the definition of "immediate relative" to: (1) mean a child, spouse, or parent of a U.S. citizen or the spouse or child of a lawful permanent resident (and for each family member of a citizen or resident, such individual's accompanying spouse or child), except that in the case of parents such citizens shall be at least 21 years old; (2) permit a widow or widower of a U.S. citizen or resident to seek permanent resident status if married at least two years at the time of the citizen's or resident's death or, if married less than two years, by showing through a preponderance of the evidence that the marriage was entered into in good faith and not solely to obtain an immigration benefit; and (3) include an alien who was the child or parent of a U.S. citizen or resident at the time of the citizen's or resident's death if the alien files a petition within two years after such date or prior to reaching 21 years old. Increases immigration visas for: (1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and (2) brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Provides an 80,640 visa allocation for the unmarried sons and daughters of permanent resident aliens. Increases annual per country (10% of annual total) and dependent area (5% of annual total) limits for employment-based and family-sponsored immigrant visas. Expands specified family-unity exceptions to unlawful presence-based inadmissibility. Provides specified relief for orphans and spouses regarding: (1) petitions for immediate relative status, (2) parole eligibility, (3) permanent resident status adjustment, and (4) processing of immigrant visas. Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act - Exempts children of naturalized Filipino World War II veterans from worldwide or numerical immigrant limitations. Makes a minor child of an alien fiancee/fiance or of an alien spouse of a U.S. citizen eligible for derivative K-visa status provided that the child's age is determined using such child's age at the date that the petition to classify such child's parent as a K-visa alien is filed with the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS). Authorizes the Secretary or the Attorney General to adjust the status of a finacee/fiance or alien spouse and any minor children (K-visa) to conditional permanent resident status if such alien marries the petitioner within three months after U.S. admission. Redefines "child" for purposes of titles I and II of the Act to include a stepchild under 21 years old. (Current law includes a stepchild who has not reached 18 years old at the time the marriage creating the status of stepchild occurred.) Amends INA to include a "permanent partner" within the scope of such Act. Revises provisions regarding: (1) priority date retention; (2) false claims and misrepresentations; and (3) waiver eligibility for widows, widowers, and orphans. Defines "permanent partner" as an individual 18 or older who: (1) is in a committed, intimate relationship with another individual 18 or older in which both individuals intend a lifelong commitment; (2) is financially interdependent with the other individual; (3) is not married to, or in a permanent partnership with, anyone other than the individual; (4) is unable to contract with the other individual a marriage cognizable under this Act; and (5) is not a first, second, or third degree blood relation of the other individual. Defines "permanent partnership" as the relationship existing between two permanent partners. Defines "alien permanent partner" as the individual in a permanent partnership who is being sponsored for a visa.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2011
Every Child Deserves a Family Act - Prohibits an entity that receives federal assistance and is involved in adoption or foster care placements from discriminating against prospective adoptive or foster parents solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identification, or marital status or on the basis of the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child involved. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in order to ensure compliance with, and ensure understanding of the legal, practice, and culture changes required by this Act in making foster care and adoption placement decisions, to provide specified technical assistance to all entities covered by this Act. Requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of whether states have substantially complied with this Act in eliminating policies, practices, or statutes that deny adoption rights on the basis of these criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2011
Uniting American Families Act of 2011 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include a "permanent partner" within the scope of such Act. Defines a "permanent partner" as an individual 18 or older who: (1) is in a committed, intimate relationship with another individual 18 or older in which both individuals intend a lifelong commitment; (2) is financially interdependent with the other individual; (3) is not married to, or in a permanent partnership with, anyone other than the individual; (4) is unable to contract with the other individual a marriage cognizable under this Act; and (5) is not a first, second, or third degree blood relation of the other individual. Defines: (1) "permanent partnership" as the relationship existing between two permanent partners, and (2) "alien permanent partner" as the individual in a permanent partnership who is being sponsored for a visa.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2011
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages. Revises the exception to the prohibition for a wage rate differential based on any other factor other than sex. Limits such factors to bona fide factors, such as education, training, or experience. States that the bona fide factor defense shall apply only if the employer demonstrates that such factor: (1) is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in compensation, (2) is job-related with respect to the position in question, and (3) is consistent with business necessity. Makes such defense inapplicable where the employee demonstrates that: (1) an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential, and (2) the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice. Revises the prohibition against employer retaliation for employee complaints. Prohibits retaliation for inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee or another employee in response to a complaint or charge, or in furtherance of a sex discrimination investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, or an investigation conducted by the employer. Makes employers who violate sex discrimination prohibitions liable in a civil action for either compensatory or (except for the federal government) punitive damages. States that any action brought to enforce the prohibition against sex discrimination may be maintained as a class action in which individuals may be joined as party plaintiffs without their written consent. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in a sex discrimination action. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities for negotiation skills training programs for girls and women. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Education to issue regulations or policy guidance to integrate such training into certain programs under their Departments. Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public regarding the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect from employers pay information data regarding the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination. Directs: (1) the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to continue to collect data on woman workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey, (2) the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to use specified types of methods in investigating compensation discrimination and in enforcing pay equity, and (3) the Secretary to make accurate information on compensation discrimination readily available to the public. Directs the Secretary and the Commissioner [ sic ] of the EEOC jointly to develop technical assistance material to assist small businesses to comply with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2011
Recognizes the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis on the 50th anniversary of the Center's founding.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2011
Employment Non-Discrimination Act - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity by covered entities (employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, or joint labor-management committees). Prohibits preferential treatment or quotas. Allows only disparate treatment claims. Prohibits related retaliation. Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) religious organizations, and (2) the relationship between the United States and members of the Armed Forces. Declares that this Act does not repeal or modify any federal, state, territorial, or local law creating a special right or preference concerning employment for a veteran. Provides for the construction of this Act regarding: (1) enforcement by employers of rules and policies, (2) sexual harassment, (3) certain shared facilities such as showers or dressing facilities, (4) construction of new or additional facilities, (5) dress and grooming standards, and (6) provision of employee benefits to married vs. unmarried couples. Declares that, in this Act, "married" refers to marriage as that term is defined in the Defense of Marriage Act (a legal union between one man and one woman). Prohibits the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from collecting statistics from covered entities on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or compelling the collection by covered entities of such statistics. Provides for enforcement, including giving the EEOC, the Librarian of Congress, the Attorney General, and U.S. courts the same enforcement powers as they have under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, and other specified laws. Allows actions and proceedings, subject to exception, against the United States and the states.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2011
United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011 - Prescribes the "average pay" and the appropriate percentage thereof to be used in determining annuities for civilian employment with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for purposes of provisions relating to future benefits attributable to such employment in order to calculate the amount of any USPS surplus or supplemental liability under the Civil Service Retirement System. Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM): (1) within six months after enactment of this Act, to determine (or, if applicable, redetermine) the amount of such surplus or liability as of the close of the most recently ending fiscal year using the methodology required under this Act; and (2) if the result is a surplus, to transfer the surplus amount to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund within 15 days after the determination of a surplus. Provides for an alternate determination of an USPS surplus or supplemental liability for FY2016-FY2020. Requires transfer of certain surplus postal retirement contributions in FY2011 to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund or the Employees' Compensation Fund under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA). Expresses the intent of Congress that this Act shall apply to allocations of past, present, and future benefit liabilities between the USPS and the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2011
Respect for Marriage Act - Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2011
Student Non-Discrimination Act of 2011 - Prohibits public school students from being excluded from participating in, or subject to discrimination under, any federally-assisted educational program on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity or that of their associates. Considers harassment to be a form of discrimination. Prohibits retaliation against anyone for opposing conduct they reasonably believe to be unlawful under this Act. Authorizes federal departments and agencies to enforce these prohibitions by cutting off the educational assistance of recipients found to be violating them. Allows an aggrieved individual to assert a violation of this Act in a judicial proceeding and recover reasonable attorney's fees should they prevail. Deems a state's receipt of federal educational assistance for a program to constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity for conduct prohibited under this Act regarding such program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2011
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 12781 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Inverness, California, as the "Specialist Jake Robert Velloza Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2011
Honors the legacy of the late Honorable Barbara Charline Jordan (American politician, leader of the Civil Rights movement, first African-American elected to the Texas Senate, first southern black woman elected to the House of Representatives, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award) on the 75th anniversary of her birth.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2011
Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include as a "countervailable subsidy" requiring action under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding the benefit conferred on merchandise imported into the United States from foreign countries with fundamentally undervalued currency. Defines "benefit conferred," in cases where the currency of a foreign country is exchanged for foreign currency (i.e., U.S. dollars) obtained from export transactions, as the difference between: (1) the amount of currency provided by a foreign country in which the subject merchandise is produced; and (2) the amount of currency such country would have provided if the real effective exchange rate of its currency were not fundamentally undervalued. Declares that the fact that such a subsidy is also provided in circumstances not involving export shall not, for that reason alone, mean it cannot be considered export contingent and actionable under a countervailing duty and antidumping duty proceeding. Requires the administering authority to determine that the currency of a foreign country is fundamentally undervalued if for an 18-month period: (1) the government of the country engages in protracted, large-scale intervention in one or more foreign exchange markets; (2) the country's real effective exchange rate is undervalued by at least 5%; (3) the country has experienced significant and persistent global current account surpluses; and (4) the country's government has foreign asset reserves exceeding the amount necessary to repay all its debt obligations falling due within the coming 12 months, 20% percent of the country's money supply, and the value of the country's imports during the previous 4 months. Requires the use, for calculating a country's "real effective exchange rate undervaluation," of certain guidelines of the Consultative Group on Exchange Rate Issues of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or, if those guidelines are not available, generally accepted economic and econometric techniques and methodologies. Requires the use, also, of inflation-adjusted, trade-weighted exchange rates. Applies the amendments made by this Act to goods from Canada and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2011
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4110 Almeda Road in Houston, Texas, as the "George Thomas 'Mickey' Leland Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2010
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 337 West Clark Street in Eureka, California, as the "Sam Sacco Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2010
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 867 Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, as the "Tom Kongsgaard Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2010
Celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National Conference of Catholic Charities, now called Catholic Charities USA. Honors Catholic Charities USA for being a national leader in the efforts to fight poverty and to strengthen the United States in times of need and crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2010
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4285 Payne Avenue in San Jose, California, as the "Anthony J. Cortese Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs blind rehabilitation center in Long Beach, California, as the "Major Charles R. Soltes, Jr., O.D. Department of Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Center."
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Recognizes the 21st anniversary of observing World AIDS Day. Expresses support for: (1) the goals and ideals of such Day; (2) continued funding for prevention, care, treatment services, and research programs for persons living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; (3) the development of a national AIDS strategy to reduce new HIV infections, especially among vulnerable communities; (4) the goals of providing universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support programs and protecting human rights for all people, including vulnerable and marginalized populations; and (5) efforts to address the factors that make populations vulnerable to HIV/AIDS by decreasing poverty and hunger, expanding educational opportunities for children, and empowering women.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2009
Offers sympathy to the families of those servicemen who lost their lives fighting the Los Angeles County Station Fire in Southern California. Extends condolences to the individuals who lost their homes and property. Commends the firefighters and emergency responders who continue to risk their lives fighting California wildfires to protect threatened communities and businesses. Condemns the acts of arson perpetrated in igniting the Station Fire.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2009
Coordinated Environmental Public Health Network Act of 2009 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to: (1) establish and operate a Coordinated Environmental Public Health Network to provide for public access to an electronic national database on the incidence and prevalence of priority chronic conditions and health effects and relevant environmental and other factors; (2) award grants to states for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of state networks; (3) enter into a cooperative agreement with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to train and place applied epidemiology fellows in state and local health departments to enhance public health capacity in the areas of environmental health, chronic and other noninfectious diseases and conditions, and public health surveillance; and (4) enter into cooperative agreements with states or consortia of states to expand the scope and amount of biomonitoring data collected and analyzed by the CDC, state laboratories, and consortia of state laboratories in order to obtain robust information about a range of environmental exposures. Requires the Secretary to integrate the enactment of this Act with all funded environmental health tracking programs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2009
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 440 South Gulling Street in Portola, California, as the "Army Specialist Jeremiah Paul McCleery Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2009
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 867 Stockton Street in San Francisco, California, as the "Lim Poon Lee Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2009
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 - Requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), as soon as practicable after Congress completes action on any Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) legislation, to provide an estimate of its budgetary effects to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Requires OMB to maintain and make publicly available a document containing a PAYGO ledger and, within seven days (excluding weekends and legal holidays) after the enactment of any PAYGO legislation, record on such ledger its estimate of the legislation's budgetary effects in each fiscal year, applying the look-back and averaging requirements of this Act. Exempts from the requirements of this Act any PAYGO legislation designated as an emergency requirement by the President and enacted by Congress. (Requires OMB to display the budgetary effects of such legislation as an addendum in the document containing the PAYGO ledger but not record the budgetary effects in it.) Requires OMB: (1) to make publicly available an annual PAYGO report and publish a notice of it in the Federal Register, including information on how it can be obtained; and (2) if such report shows a debit on the PAYGO ledger for the budget year, to prepare and the President to issue a sequestration order for submission to Congress. Prescribes requirements for calculating a sequestration for certain nonexempt and Medicare mandatory programs. Sets forth a special temporary rule to address the scoring of legislation affecting current policy for: (1) payments made under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for physician services; (2) the Estate and Gift Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) under the Internal Revenue Code; and (3) provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 or the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2003 that amended the Code extending middle-class tax cuts for individuals (or provisions in later statutes further amending such amendments). Makes such rule effective through December 31, 2010, or, in specified circumstances, until December 31, 2011. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to modify the assumptions used to calculate the baseline. Requires: (1) temporary mandatory funding and tax provisions related to major natural or man-made disasters to be assumed to expire on schedule, and discretionary funding for them to not be projected; and (2) the baseline to include a disaster allowance that is not designated as mandatory or discretionary and is not allocated to any congressional committee. Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to specify additional Social Security, veterans, Tier I Railroad Retirement benefits and other programs and activities exempt from a sequestration order as well as certain economic recovery programs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2009
Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins and $1 silver coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner . Requires a coin design emblematic of the War of 1812, and in particular of, the Battle for Baltimore that formed the basis for the Star-Spangled Banner. Limits the period for coin issuance to calendar year 2012. Imposes a surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coins and $10 per coin for the $1 coins, which shall be distributed to the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission for the purpose of supporting bicentennial activities, educational outreach activities, and preservation and improvement activities pertaining to the sites and structures relating to the War of 1812.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2009
Accepts in the name of the United States the statue of Ronald Wilson Reagan furnished by the people of California for placement in the U.S. Capitol. Tenders the thanks of the Congress to the people of California for providing this commemoration. Authorizes the state of California to use the rotunda of the Capitol on June 3, 2009, for a presentation ceremony.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2009
Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act of 2009 or EARLY Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct a national evidence-based education campaign: (1) to increase public awareness regarding the threats posed by breast cancer to young women, including the particular risks faced by certain ethnic and cultural groups; and (2) focusing on awareness of risk factors and achieving early detection through community-centered informational forums, public service advertisements, and media campaigns. Directs the Secretary to award grants to entities to establish national multimedia campaigns that: (1) will encourage young women to be aware of their personal risk factors, strategies for increasing early detection and self awareness, evidence based preventative lifestyle changes, and other appropriate breast cancer early detection and risk reduction strategies; (2) will encourage young women of specific higher-risk populations to talk to their medical practitioners about those risks and methods for appropriate screening and surveillance; and (3) may include advertising through specified media. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to: (1) establish an advisory committee to assist in creating and conducting the public education campaign; (2) conduct an education campaign to increase awareness among health care professionals; and (3) conduct prevention research. Directs the Secretary to award grants to organizations and institutions to provide to young women diagnosed with breast cancer substantive assistance and health information from credible sources on: (1) education and counseling regarding fertility preservation; (2) social, emotional, psychosocial, financial, lifestyle, and caregiver support; (3) familial risk factors; and (4) risk reduction strategies to reduce recurrence or metastasis.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2009
Extends condolences to the families and loved ones of Oakland, California, Police Department Sergeant Mark Dunakin, Sergeant Ervin Romans, Sergeant Daniel Sakai, and Officer John Hege (killed in the line of duty).
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2009
Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2009 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give states the option of providing Medicaid coverage for certain low-income HIV-infected individuals. Provides states taking advantage of this option with an enhanced federal Medicaid match.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2009
5-Star Generals Commemorative Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins in recognition of five United States Army Five-Star Generals: George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Henry "Hap" Arnold, and Omar Bradley, alumni of the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Requires the design of the coins to include portraits of the generals. Restricts the issuance of such coins to calendar 2013. Requires specified surcharges in the sale of such coins, which shall be paid promptly to the Command and General Staff College Foundation to help finance its support of the College.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2009
Honors Chesley B. Sullenberger III as the "Hero of the Hudson" and commends him for his display of courage. Praises Chesley B. Sullenberger III, not only for his commitment to the safety of the passengers of US Airways Flight 1549, but for his safety-related efforts with respect to the airline industry.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pelosi, Nancy [D-CA-11]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000197_200.jpg)