United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop and implement a process for the expedited environmental review and approval of safety emergency highway construction or maintenance projects that correct or improve hazardous locations on a highway. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations that: (1) allow the use of the process for any project correcting or improving hazardous locations on a highway within a State where the motor vehicle accident rate is at least 50 percent higher than the statewide average for similar classes of highways, if the project only includes roadway safety improvements that have a high potential to reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents; and (2) establish criteria for approving deviations from procedures established in regulations issued by the Secretary implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Requires each Federal agency that has jurisdiction over environmental issues that may be affected by such a project and the analysis of which would be part of any environmental document required by NEPA, or that may be required by Federal law to independently conduct an environmental review or analysis for such project, determine whether to issue a permit, license, or approval of the project, or render an opinion or recommendation on the project's environmental impact, to issue regulations providing for the expedited processing of, and approval of deviations for, the project. Exempts a Federal agency approving such a deviation from the requirement to consult with the Council on Environmental Quality.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Stability and Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize appropriations from the U.S. Treasury to the Combined Fund to: (1) pay any benefit or administrative costs of unassigned beneficiaries of the Combined Fund remaining after the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund transfers; and (2) eliminate any annual deficit in any premium account of the Combined Fund as certified by the Trustees of the Combined Fund. Requires an annual audit of the Combined Fund by the Comptroller General. Provides for the appointment of two trustees by the Secretary of the Treasury to the board of the Fund. Makes other related revisions, including: (1) modifying premiums; (2) providing for refunds to certain operators; and (3) reductions in annual health benefit premiums to the Fund in the event of a surplus. Redefines a coal wage agreement as: (1) the 1988 agreement, meaning the collective bargaining agreement between the settlors which became effective on February 1, 1988; and (2) the coal wage agreement, meaning the 1988 agreement and any predecessor to the 1988 agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, with respect to abatement actions because of the release of recycled oil and liability for costs or damages resulting from such oil's release in the course of disposal or transport, to limit liability of a service station dealer with respect to any period between November 8, 1986, and the effective date of certain corrective action regulations or standards promulgated under the Solid Waste Disposal Act if the dealer had complied with all applicable laws and regulations relating to such oil's disposal.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Makes it in order at any time on November 21, 2003, for the Speaker of the House of Representatives to entertain motions that the House suspend the rules.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Deplores the development by Iran of a nuclear weapons program and the failure of the Government of Iran to report material, facilities, and activities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in contravention of its obligations under the safeguards convention it signed in connection with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Treaty). Concurs with the conclusion of the Department of State that Iran is pursuing a program to develop nuclear weapons. Calls on the President to use all appropriate means to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, with particular attention to the needs of the IAEA for information and access, including information concerning gas centrifuges and the conduct of uranium conversion experiments. Calls on Russia to suspend all nuclear cooperation with Iran until Iran fully complies with a specified IAEA resolution, with particular attention to spent fuel. Calls on the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of the Treaty. Calls on the United Nations Security Council to consider immediately the passage of a Security Council resolution or the taking of other actions that may be necessary to impose diplomatic and economic sanctions against Iran if it fails to meet its obligations to the IAEA. Calls on the Government of Iran to cease all efforts to acquire nuclear fuel cycle capabilities and to end the enrichment and processing of uranium until it is able to provide specific, verifiable assurances that it is not engaged in a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2003
David "Davy" Crockett Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue not more than 100,000 five dollar gold coins and 500,000 one dollar coins emblematic of David Crockett's legacy and his importance to Tennessee, Texas, and the history of the United States; and (2) pay surcharges received from the sale of such coins to the East Tennessee Historical Society to fund capital improvements for the Society and its museum and to establish an endowment as a permanent source of support for the Society and its mission of preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of Tennessee.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Visitor Information and Security Accountability (VISA) Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) establish an executive body to advise and direct the US-VISIT program; and (2) require the US-VISIT program Director to expeditiously establish an effective program management capability. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit, with discretionary waiver, use of an insecure document by an alien for: (1) U.S. entry or departure; or (2) identification purposes by public or private conveyance in interstate commerce. (Defines insecure document as a driver's license, identification card, or other document issued by a State or subdivision, or a foreign consular representative in the United States, that may be issued to an alien who has overstayed his or her visa, or is present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.) Requires in-person consular interviews with all visa applicants. Requires a Customs and Border Protection Agency FY 2003 and 2004 staffing report by a specified date. Provides specified funding for the (border) air program. Amends Federal law to authorize border use of the Army and Air Force. Amends the Act: (1) to increase alien smuggling penalties; (2) to provide the Secretary with administrative authority to remove aliens on security or terrorist grounds; and (3) with respect to release of aliens in removal proceedings, and detention of aliens delivered by bondsmen. Requires foreign student (F-1 visa), business (B-1 visa), and tourist (B-2 visa) nonimmigrant aliens from countries with the highest overstay rates to post a maintenance of status/departure bond (as provided for by this Act) with a guaranteeing bonding agent or surety before such visas may be issued. Provides that: (1) the bond shall be returned in full to a complying alien upon return to his or her home country; (2) a bonding agent or surety shall be responsible for surrendering a non-complying alien to the Department of Homeland Security, or pay a penalty. Sets forth bond renewal provisions for such aliens seeking adjustment of status. Requires aliens arrested and detained pending a removal decision to post a delivery bond (guaranteeing delivery of an alien against whom the Department has issued an order to show cause or a notice to appear) of at least $10,000 in order to be released from custody, unless an immigration judge orders such alien's release on his or her own recognizance. Provides that a bonding agent or surety shall be responsible for surrendering a non-complying alien to the Department, or pay a penalty.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
RU-486 Suspension and Review Act of 2003 - Deems the approved application for the drug mifepristone (marketed as Mifeprex, commonly known as RU-486, and used for the chemically induced termination of intrauterine pregnancy) to have been suspended. Directs the Comptroller General to review and report on the process by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone. Provides for the contingent reinstatement of such drug if the report determines the approval to have been in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Veterans Eye Treatment Safety (VETS) Act of 2003 - Allows eye surgery at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility, or facility under contract with the Department, to be performed only by a licensed medical doctor or licensed doctor of osteopathy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of amounts available for financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian people until the perpetrators of the killings of U.S. citizens in Gaza on October 15, 2003, are surrendered to the U.S. Government.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2003
State Assistance Accountability Act - Amends title VI (Temporary State Fiscal Relief) of the Social Security Act to revise the provision concerning the limitation on temporary State fiscal relief, to permit the use of such funds only for types of expenditure authorized under: (1) the budget of the State for the fiscal year for which the funds are to be expended that, as of May 28, 2003, was most recently approved by the State legislature; or (2) in the absence of such a budget, the budget of the State for the fiscal year for which the funds are to be expended that, as of May 28, 2003, was at the furthest stage of development by the State legislature. Requires the Secretary to: (1) audit a State's use of such funds; and (2) require remittance of all inappropriately expended funds, plus a penalty and interest. Defines an "essential government service" as reduction in the amount of debt held or planned to be held by a State, and not any activity that was not funded by a State in its previous fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Family Budget Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require, within 15 days after the end of each congressional session, a sequestration to eliminate any deficit that exceeds the excess margin (maximum permissible deficit). Requires half of the required outlay reductions to come from non-exempt defense accounts and half to come from non-exempt non-defense accounts. Provides decreasing maximum deficit amounts for FY 2005 and thereafter, with a zero balance for FY 2012 and beyond. Requires adjustment of the maximum deficit in the event of negative Federal revenue growth. Provides discretionary spending limits for FY 2005 through 2013. Repeals the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act expiration date. Directs the Chairman of the House Budget Committee to maintain the Family Budget Protection Discretionary Account, to be debited and credited by new budget increases and reductions. Provides spending caps on the growth of entitlements and mandatory budget outlays. Excludes benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act and Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits from required reductions under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, along with specified Government accounts and activities. Provides other exceptions, limitations, and special rules with respect to sequestration exemptions. Directs the Chairman to maintain the Family Budget Protection Mandatory Account, to be debited and credited by increases or decreases in mandatory budget authority. Freezes at current levels spending authority for each unearned entitlement, high-cost discretionary spending program and authorized and unauthorized discretionary spending programs. Requires: (1) joint (currently, concurrent) and biennial (currently, annual) budget resolutions; (2) biennial appropriations Acts; and (3) biennial Government strategic and performance plans. Requires the appropriation of funds out of any available Treasury amounts to continue in a new fiscal year any previously-authorized Government project or activity in the event that a regular appropriations bill does not become law by the beginning of that fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Directs the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish and carry out a program to provide for the efficient use of geospatial information, which shall include: (1) providing such geospatial information as may be necessary to implement the critical infrastructure protection programs; (2) providing leadership in meeting the requirements of, and populating the databases used by, those responsible for planning, prevention, mitigation, assessment and response to emergencies, critical infrastructure and other DHS functions; and (3) assuring interoperability and preventing unnecessary duplication of geospatial information among all users. Includes among the Chief Information Officer's responsibilities: (1) managing DHS geospatial information needs and activities; (2) establishing standards to assure the interoperability of geospatial information pertaining to homeland security among all users of such information within DHS, other agencies, State and local government, and the private sector; (3) coordinating with and providing liaison to the Federal Geographic Data Committee and carrying out DHS's responsibilities pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular A-16 and Executive Order 12906; (4) providing grants to fund data creation and to execute information sharing agreements with State, local, and tribal governments; and (5) ensuring that DHS utilizes available commercial geospatial data and services by awarding contracts to entities in the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Repudiates the anti-Semitic rhetoric of the outgoing prime minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Calls upon other governments and international bodies, notably the European Union, to condemn these remarks as dangerous incitement. Deplores the tacit acquiescence of those in attendance at the October 2003 Organization of the Islamic Conference.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Marriage Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny Federal courts jurisdiction to hear or determine any question pertaining to the interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act or the Federal statute defining marriage.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to convert the dairy forward pricing program from a pilot program to a permanent program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2003
Stop Terrorism of Property Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit intentionally, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, damaging the property of another with the intent to influence the public with regard to conduct the offender considers harmful to the environment (eco-terrorism).
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Financial Literacy Enhancement Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to develop, implement, and conduct a pilot national public service multimedia campaign to enhance the state of financial literacy in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Offers the warmest welcome of Congress to President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan upon his visit to the United States on October 31, 2003, and recognizes the broadening and deepening friendship and cooperation between the United States and Taiwan and their respective peoples. Congratulates President Chen Shui-bian on his receiving the Human Rights Award from the International League for Human Rights. Thanks the President, government, and people of Taiwan for their humanitarian and medical assistance in Afghanistan and post-war Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2003
Authorizes the President to award congressional gold medals posthumously, to their next of kin, on behalf of Reverend Joseph A. DeLaine, Harry and Eliza Briggs, and Levi Pearson, in recognition of their contributions to the Nation as pioneers in South Carolina in the effort to desegregate public schools that led directly to the landmark desegregation case of Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. Directs that amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals be deposited in the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 one dollar coins which shall be emblematic of the warrior ethos of the United States Marine Corps. Requires all surcharges from the sale of the coins to be paid to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for construction of the Marine Corps Heritage Center.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2003 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a State and Regional First Responder Grant Program under which the Secretary may make grants to States and eligible regional entities on the basis of the threat to a State or region's population and critical infrastructure, as determined by the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, to evaluate and prioritize grant applications, considering factors such as threats to the population, specific economic sectors, major communications nodes and transportation systems, specific elements of the food supply, the water and energy supplies, civic infrastructure and emergency response capabilities, and specific structures of symbolic national importance. Bars the use of grant funds to supplant State or local funds that would otherwise be available for homeland security or first responder projects. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish the Advisory Council on First Responders, which shall report to the Secretary through the head of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination; and (2) revise the Homeland Security Advisory System to require that any designation of a threat level or other warning be accompanied by a designation of the geographic regions and economic sectors to which it applies. Directs the Under Secretary for Science and Technology to conduct a study of whether there is a need to assign additional bands of frequencies of electromagnetic spectrum to assist first responders.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate the La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor in Texas as a high priority corridor on the National Highway System.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Mobile Machinery Tax Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the treatment of certain mobile machinery as a highway vehicle, thereby exempting such machinery from federal highway excise taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act - Establishes the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies to: (1) evaluate executive agencies and their programs; and (2) submit to Congress a plan recommending agencies and programs that should be realigned or eliminated and proposing implementing legislation. Directs the President to: (1) establish a systematic method for assessing the effectiveness and accountability of agency programs; and (2) submit to the Commission assessments of not less than half of the programs that use such method. Prohibits the implementation of such method until it has been reviewed and accepted by the Commission. Requires the Commission to consider submitted assessments in evaluating programs. Requires the President to identify common performance measures for programs having similar functions and provide the Commission with data on such measures.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2003 - Amends Federal law concerning the taxation of interstate commerce to expand the scope of the protections prohibiting taxation by jurisdictions of the income of out-of-state corporations whose in-state presence is nominal from just tangible personal property to include intangible property and services. Requires an out-of-state company to have a physical presence in a State before the State can impose franchise taxes, business license taxes, and other business activity taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2003
Tax Reform Action Commission Act of 2003 - Establishes in the legislative branch a Tax Reform Action Commission to make specific recommendations to Congress for the reform of the internal revenue laws in a manner that produces a system that is: (1) simple, transparent, and efficient; (2) fair and equitable to all Americans; and (3) neutral between different activities and between current consumption and future consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Directs the Secretary of Defense, in the case of a member of the armed forces serving outside the United States in Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom who is granted rest and recuperative leave and provided authorized travel and transportation allowances, to pay the member for transportation, or provide transportation for the member, not only between the overseas duty location and the currently authorized locations (a vacation site or a location in the United States), but, at the request of the member, between the currently authorized locations and the member's permanent duty station or home. Makes such allowance retroactive from September 20, 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - Amends the District of Columbia Code to provide that the D.C. Council's regulatory authority regarding firearms, explosives, and weapons in the District shall not be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise permitted to possess firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law nor regulated by the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on registration of pistols (handguns); (3) prohibition on possession of handgun ammunition; (4) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked; (5) related firearm registration requirements such as applicant qualifications and filing deadline. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends Federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2003
Health and Education Access for Students with Diabetes Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to prohibit a State or public or private entity from receiving funds under ESEA title IV part A, also known as the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, unless it has a policy in effect against hindering or restricting a student from engaging in diabetes treatment prescribed or recommended by a physician.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Amends the Head Start Act to require Head Start agencies to obtain written parental consent before administration of any non-emergency intrusive physical examination of a child in connection with participation in a Head Start program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Celia Cruz Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 300,000 one dollar silver coins and 500,000 half dollar clad coins emblematic of Celia Cruz (known as the "Queen of Salsa") and her legacy. Establishes surcharges of ten dollars per coin for the dollar coin and three dollars per coin for the half dollar coin, which shall be paid to the Celia Cruz Foundation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2003
Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act of 2003 - Prohibits appropriated funds from being used by any U.S. official to promote any action by the United Nations which advocates the taxation of firearms or any other abrogation of rights under the Second Amendment to the Constitution (the right to keep and bear arms). Condemms all proposals to tax or otherwise limit rights under the Second Amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2003
Clean Air and Water Investment and Infrastructure Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permit the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for certain air and water pollution control facilities; and (2) provide that the volume cap for private activity bonds shall not apply to bonds for such air and water pollution control facilities, facilities for the furnishing of water, and sewage facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2003
Recognizes: (1) the importance and contributions of sportsmen to American society; (2) the many economic benefits associated with outdoor sporting activities; and (3) the importance of encouraging the recruitment of, and teaching the traditions of hunting, trapping, and fishing to, future sportsmen. Supports the traditions and values of, and the many conservation programs implemented by, sportsmen.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2003
National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish an electronic system for practitioner monitoring of the dispensing of any schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance to patients. Directs dispensers to report the information required under this Act to the Secretary, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to specify the electronic format for information reporting. Allows the Secretary to provide monitoring system information to practitioners and specified government personnel under certain circumstances. States that this Act shall not preclude any authority from securing information as otherwise authorized by law. Directs the Secretary to make reasonable efforts to implement a real-time electronic system. Specifies the circumstances under which monitoring system information may be subsequently transmitted. Assesses civil monetary penalties for the failure to communicate information requested by the Secretary and for the unauthorized disclosure of information transmitted by the Secretary. Allows a State to have its own prescription monitoring system so long as such system provides the Federal program with the required information.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2003
Congratulates Lance Armstrong and the United States Postal Service Team on their victory in the 2003 Tour de France. Commends the unwavering commitment to cancer awareness and survivorship demonstrated by Armstrong.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to require any person who, in the course of committing a terrorist offense, engages in conduct that results in the death of a person, to be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or life. Includes "terrorist offenses resulting in death" among the aggravating factors for homicide which are used in determining whether a death sentence is justified. Denies Federal benefits to any individual who is convicted of a Federal crime of terrorism, for any term of years or for life.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Biotechnology Future Investment Expansion Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that in the case of a biomedical research corporation, any owner shift involving a five-percent shareholder which occurs as the result of a qualified investment during the testing period shall be treated as occurring before the testing period. (Thus not counting toward net operating loss and tax credit carryover limitations.) Defines: (1) "biomedical research corporation" as a domestic corporation not in bankruptcy which has a drug or biologic in certain clinical trials; and (2) "qualified investment" as a stock acquisition in a biomedical research corporation acquired in cash at its original issue. Requires a biomedical research corporation to meet a five-year expenditure test with respect to any qualified investment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to authorize licensed firearms dealers to conduct firearms transfers and business with other licensed dealers away from the business premises from which such a person is licensed to conduct business, without requiring the payment of a separate fee under the Act for doing so.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Multiemployer Pension Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 with respect to teamster plans and their funding. Defines a teamster plan as a plan: (1) to which more than one employer is required to contribute; and (2) which is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between The International Brotherhood Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America or its locals and more than one employer. Declares that a teamster plan shall not be treated as a multiemployer plan, and each employer that has an obligation to contribute to a teamster plan shall be treated as a contributing sponsor maintaining a separate single-employer plan, including with respect to partition and allocation of assets and liabilities. Requires the assets of a teamster plan to be invested by the trustees as one master trust, and each contributing employer's share of the plan assets to be adjusted annually according to master trust accounting principles for the employer's plan contributions, benefit payments with respect to its ongoing liability and transition liability (if any), and share of investment returns and administrative expenses. Requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to guarantee 100 percent of the transition liabilities of each teamster plan. Defines transition liabilities as the sum of the accrued benefit liabilities under a teamster plan (as a whole, as if it were treated as a single multiemployer plan rather than a collection of single-employer plans) attributable to: (1) participants who are not employed in credited service for any employer under the plan; and (2) the credited service of other participants with an employer that does not have an obligation to contribute to the teamster plan. Requires the premium rates for plan termination insurance charged by the Corporation for teamster plans to be the same as those charged for single-employer plans. States that each employer with an obligation to contribute to a teamster plan shall be responsible for paying the premiums attributable to the single-employer plan the employer is treated as maintaining. Requires any additional premium to phased in over ten plan years. Authorizes the Corporation to allow an employer to contribute all or part of such additional premium directly to the teamster plan, in lieu of payment to the Corporation. Authorizes an employer with an obligation to contribute to a teamster plan to terminate its participation in either a standard or a distress termination. Requires establishment of a funding standard account for each employer with an obligation to contribute to a teamster plan. Prescribes formulae for specified minimum funding of, and minimum contributions to, a teamster plan. Prohibits any increase in benefits unless a teamster plan is sufficiently funded.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal Subchapter B (Communications) of Chapter 33 (Facilities and Services) of Subtitle D (Miscellaneous Excise Taxes).
![Official portrait of Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-17]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_tx_32_sessions_pete_200.jpg)