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United States · Official source
4,473 records where Rep. Abercrombie, Neil [D-HI-1] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress respecting steps to be taken to address the investigation and prosecution of so-called "honor crimes," to provide refuge and rehabilitation for victimized women and their children, and to encourage public awareness and education of human rights and women's rights.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2005
Veterans Outreach Improvement Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish, maintain, and modify as necessary procedures for ensuring the effective coordination of outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs between and among the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Public Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. Directs the Secretary to ensure that state and local outreach assistance is provided in locations that: (1) have relatively large concentrations of veterans; or (2) are experiencing growth in veteran populations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to state veterans agencies for state and local outreach services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2005
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 55) requiring the President to develop and implement a plan for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2005
Veterans' Right to Know Act - Establishes the Veterans' Right to Know Commission to: (1) investigate chemical or biological warfare tests or projects, especially those carried out between 1954 and 1973, placing particular emphasis on actions or conditions that could have contributed to health risks to any civilian or military personnel who participated in such a test or project or were otherwise potentially exposed to a biological or chemical agent as a result; and (2) report to Congress on its findings and recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2005
Conveys to the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands submerged lands surrounding such Islands and extending three geographical miles outward from their coastlines. States that Public Law 93-435 is intended to be applied in a consistent manner to Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, except to the extent that there is a specific and express exception regarding its application to one or more of these territories.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2005
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend, and the United States Postal Service to issue, a commemorative postage stamp honoring the late Rosa Parks.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2005
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to carry out a small dam removal or rehabilitation project, including one relating to a privately-owned dam that does not generate hydropower, upon determining that the project will enhance public safety or improve the quality of the environment, or is in the public interest. Directs a non-federal interest to provide 35% of removal or remediation costs. Permits construction to be commenced only after a non-federal interest has entered into a binding agreement with the Secretary to pay: (1) the non-federal share of construction costs; and (2) 100% of any operation and maintenance costs. Limits to $5 million in federal funds the amount that may be allotted for a project at any single location.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2005
Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Reclamation. Restoration, Reconstruction and Reunion Act of 2005 - Hurricane Katrina Victim Restoration Fund of 2005 - Provides for the determination of eligibility for compensation for any individual (or relatives of a deceased individual) who sustained economic or noneconomic losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina so that the individual (or relatives) are restored as nearly as possible to their condition before Hurricane Katrina. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a Comprehensive Environmental Sampling and Toxicity Assessment Plan. Provides for federal and state government to notify hurricane survivors of health risks they may face upon returning to their domiciles. Provides for the offer of alternative land and/or housing as compensation to residents whose homes or businesses have been destroyed or terminally compromised. Revises the TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005 to provide for reimbursement of states for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) benefits provided under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to families from other states affected by Hurricane Katrina. Sets forth requirements relating to emergency extended unemployment compensation. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program of emergency health coverage continuation relief. Sets forth housing and education requirements. Displaced Citizens Voter Protection Provisions of 2005 - Prescribes requirements for the protection of voting rights of Katrina evacuees. Prescribes requirements for: (1) regulatory relief for financial services; and (2) disaster loans and small business relief. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for: (1) a tax credit for an eligible homebuyer who purchases a principal residence in the Hurricane Katrina disaster area; (2) an increase in the housing credit dollar amount; and (3) tax-exempt bonds for qualified Gulf Coast recovery projects. Hurricane Katrina Bankruptcy Relief and Community Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the federal bankruptcy code to exempt victims of natural disasters, including small businesses, from certain requirements for debtors seeking relief. Directs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish a temporary flood insurance buy-in program. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should present, within six months, a plan to eradicate poverty in the United States by 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2005
Expresses support for the goal and mission of America Recycles Day. Encourages all federal employees to participate in promoting the social, environmental, and economic benefits of recycling and buying recycled-content products.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2005
Internet Anti-Corruption and Free Speech Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exclude from coverage by the Act as a public communication any communication over the Internet, except one placed on another person's website for a fee, or made by: (1) any national bank, corporation (other than a web log operator), or labor organization; (2) a state, district, or local committee of a political party; or (3) any political committee.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2005
Recognition of Forgotten Atomic Veterans and their Surviving Spouses Act of 2005 - Directs the Attorney General (AG) to: (1) obtain from files of the Operations Office of the Department of Energy in Nevada records showing the identity of all atomic veterans (those exposed to ionizing radiation or fallout from the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device); (2) locate such veterans; and (3) advise them of the provisions of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, including the right to file a claim thereunder. Requires the AG, with respect to each identified veteran who is deceased, to locate and advise his or her surviving spouse of such Act and their right to file a claim. Directs the AG to assist each such veteran or surviving spouse in filing such a claim. Expands the number of diseases considered service-connected when appearing in radiation-exposed veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2005
Honors the memory of, and identifies, 2,249 members of the Armed Forces who died in service to the United States in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom as of October 25, 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2005
Trade Adjustment Assistance Improvement Act - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend trade adjustment assistance (TAA) to workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency. Revises group eligibility requirements for TAA to cover: (1) a shift, by a public agency to a foreign country, of production of articles or in provision of services, like or directly competitive with articles which are produced, or services which are provided by the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency; and (2) the situation where the workers' firm, subdivision, or public agency obtains or is likely to obtain such services from a foreign country. Requires the Secretary of Labor to certify as eligible to apply for TAA any adversely affected secondary workers in a service sector firm, its subdivision, or a public agency. Specifies criteria for determination of the existence of increased imports of like or directly competitive articles or services. Increases the amount of payments for training of adversely affected workers under the Act. Authorizes the Secretary to waive training requirements for an individual receiving TAA if he or she has an advanced degree or postgraduate certification in a specialized field and there is a reasonable expectation of employment at equivalent wages in the foreseeable future. Permits as a training program for an adversely affected worker continued enrollment for up to 104 weeks at an institution of higher education to obtain a degree, if there is a reasonable expectation of employment at equivalent wages in the foreseeable future. Modifies the demonstration project for alternative TAA for older workers. Directs the Secretary to implement a system to collect data on all adversely affected workers applying for or receiving TAA. Provides for industry-wide certification of workers, including agricultural commodity producers, for TAA where bilateral or other safeguard provisions are invoked or antidumping or countervailing duties have been imposed. Extends the TAA program through FY2012. Establishes the Office of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Advisor in the Department of Labor. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the credit for health insurance costs of certain TAA recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase the period of authorized stay under the Guam visa waiver program from 15 days to 90 days.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks and to place the statue in the Capitol in a suitable permanent location in National Statuary Hall.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2005
Requests the President to provide to the House of Representatives certain federal agency documents in his possession on the effects of climate change on the coastal regions of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2005
Ensuring Ballott Access for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Victims Act of 2005 - Directs the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to states to restore and replace election administratiion supplies, materials, and equipment which were damaged as a result of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2005
Requests the President and directs the Secretary of State to provide to the House of Representatives: (1) all documents from 2003 pertaining to the taskforce organized by Andrew Card, consisting of Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, Nicholas E. Calio, James R. Wilkinson, Condoleezza Rice, Stephen Hadley and I. Lewis Libby, known as the White House Iraq Group; (2) all drafts of all white papers concerning Iraq's nuclear threat assembled in 2003 by the Group; and (3) all documents, including notes from meetings, memos, telephone and electronic mail records, logs and calendars, and records of internal discussions in the possession of the President or the Secretary relating to the Group.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2005
Honors the life and accomplishments of Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman appointed as a federal judge and the former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and recognizes her as a symbol of hope and inspiration.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 2005
Pakistani Temporary Protected Status Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the extraordinary and temporary conditions caused by the earthquake in Pakistan qualifies Pakistan for designation under the Immigration and Nationality Act pursuant to which its nationals would be eligible for temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States (for an initial 12-month period). Sets forth related TPS eligibility requirements, including continuous U.S. presence since October 8, 2005. Requires the Secretary to give prior consent to such aliens for temporary trips abroad in emergency and extenuating circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2005
Pandemic Preparedness and Response Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the President to appoint a National Director of Pandemic Preparedness and Response to strengthen, expand, and coordinate domestic pandemic influenza preparedness activities. Establishes the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Policy Coordinating Committee to develop an Interagency Preparedness Plan. Requires states to have an approved state preparedness plan as a condition of receiving certain funds related to bioterrorism. Provides for the integration and coordination of public and private influenza surveillance activities. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) procure antivirals, developed vaccines, and essential medications for the Strategic National Stockpile; (2) develop a national system for tracking and distributing antiviral medications and vaccines; and (3) assist other counties in preparation for, and response to, pandemic influenza. Provides for the expansion and intensification of influenza research. Directs the Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine to study topics related to the pandemic influenza. Establishes the National Pandemic Influenza Economics Advisory Committee. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to expand and intensify efforts to prevent pandemic influenza. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) enter into contracts with manufacturers to produce additional necessary doses of the influenza vaccine; and (2) develop a national plan for responding to potential influenza vaccine shortages. Sets forth prohibitions against charging excessive prices during a public health emergency for, reporting false pricing information to the Secretary about, or employing a manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in connection with the purchase or sale of, drugs, devices, or biologics for the prevention or treatment of influenza at wholesale.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2005
Business Travel Incentives Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the 50% limitation on the tax deduction for meals and entertainment expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Early Pest Detection and Surveillance Improvement Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into a cooperative agreement with any state department of agriculture for assisting early pest (plant pest) detection and surveillance efforts by such department through an array of methods, including survey, pest trapping, sampling or surveillance of domestic shipments, specimen collection, and modeling and mapping of pest populations. Requires the Secretary, in determining whether to enter into such an agreement, to consider specified factors, including: (1) the potential economic risk to the state's people, plants, livestock, property, economy, and environment due to the introduction of a pest; and (2) the likelihood that the early pest detection and surveillance activity will prevent the introduction or facilitate the eradication of a pest.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
ALS Registry Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to: (1) develop a system to collect data on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); and (2) establish a national registry for the collection and storage of ALS data. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to establish the Advisory Committee on the National ALS Registry to study and make recommendations to the Secretary concerning: (1) the development and maintenance of the registry; (2) the type of information to be included; (3) the manner in which data is to be collected; (4) the use and availability of such data; and (5) the collection of information about diseases and disorders that primarily affect motor neurons that are considered essential to furthering the study and cure of ALS. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Director, to award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on ALS. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to: (1) identify, build upon, expand, and coordinate among existing data and surveillance systems, surveys, registries, and other federal public health and environmental infrastructure wherever possible; and (2) provide for public access to an electronic national database that accepts data from state registries, health care professionals, and others as recommended by the Advisory Committee in a manner that protects personal privacy. Requires the Secretary to ensure that epidemiological and other types of information is made available to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Disabled Veterans Fairness Act - Eliminates a $3 per round trip deductible charged by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in connection with the veterans beneficiary travel program (a program authorizing a travel allowance or reimbursement for beneficiaries providing transportation for veterans to obtain medical care). Directs the Secretary, in determining the amount of such allowance or reimbursement, to use the mileage reimbursement rates for the use of privately owned vehicles by government employees traveling on official business.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2005
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of a Korean American Day. Urges all Americans to observe Korean American Day so as to have a greater appreciation of Korean Americans' contributions to the United States. Honors the 103rd anniversary of the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2005
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to the next of kin or personal representative of each passenger or crew member on board United Airlines Flight 93 who is identified by the Attorney General as having aided in the effort to resist the hijackers on board the plane, in recognition of heroic service to the Nation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions. Authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such gold medal. Declares such medals to be national medals. Requires that proceeds from the sale of duplicate bronze medals be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2005
Expresses support for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (October 15, 2005). Salutes Latino AIDS survivors, volunteers, and professionals who combat AIDS every day. Recognizes national and community organizations for promoting AIDS awareness and offering AIDS treatment. Urges organizations and health practitioners to promote AIDS awareness and encourage yearly testing.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2005
Social Security COLA Protection Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to limit increases in the monthly Medicare premium, including the Medicare Advantage prescription drug program premium, to 25% of any Social Security cost of living increase.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2005
Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Personnel Job Protection Act - Prohibits any person from being terminated, demoted, or discriminated against in the terms or conditions of employment because the employee is absent or late as a result of responding as a volunteer firefighter or performing volunteer emergency medical services. Limits applicable absences to 14 days per calendar year. Allows employers to: (1) withhold the employee's regular pay for such time as the employee is absent; and (2) request the employee to provide written verification from the supervising Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), state, or local official that such employee responded in an official capacity at a specified time and date. Requires such an employee to make a reasonable effort to notify his or her employer that he or she may be absent or late. Gives such an employee a private cause of action for discrimination which violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2005
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) Hurricane Katrina and other such disasters should not be used to weaken, waive, or roll back federal public health, environmental, and environmental justice laws and regulations; (2) state, local, and regional authorities must retain their authority for compliance and permitting of industrial and other facilities and their role in monitoring and cleanup; (3) testing, monitoring, cleanup, and recovery in areas of national emergency should be completed in a manner designed to protect public health and the environment, ensure habitability, and mitigate against the effects of future storms and in compliance with Executive Order 12898 (requires federal actions to address environmental justice in minority and low-income populations); and (4) the federal rebuilding of the Gulf Region communities and economy should be a model of an integrated, diverse, and sustainable society.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2005
Recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the world's great religions. Acknowledges the onset of Ramadan and expresses deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world on this significant occasion.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2005
Downed Animal Protection Act - States that it is U.S. policy that all nonambulatory livestock in interstate and foreign commerce be immediately and humanely euthanized when such livestock become nonambulatory. Amends the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations providing for the humane treatment, handling, and disposition of nonambulatory livestock by a covered entity, including a requirement that nonambulatory livestock be humanely euthanized. Requires an entity to: (1) humanely euthanize nonambulatory livestock (while not limiting the Secretary's ability to test nonambulatory livestock for disease, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy); and (2) not move nonambulatory livestock while such livestock is conscious, and ensure that such livestock remains unconscious until death. Prohibits an inspector at an establishment covered by the Federal Meat Inspection Act to pass nonambulatory livestock, carcass, or carcass parts through inspection. Requires an inspector or other employee at such establishment to label such material as "inspected and condemned." Defines "covered entity," "nonambulatory livestock," and "humanely euthanize."
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2005
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Flood Insurance Buy-In Act of 2005 - Establishes a temporary flood insurance buy-in program. Instructs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make flood insurance coverage available under such program for eligible structures (but not their contents) for flooding resulting from Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. Limits eligibility to structures located in an area not subject to the mandatory purchase requirements of the national flood insurance program, and which were not covered by such insurance at the time of the hurricanes. Prescribes a formula for determination of premiums, which may be paid by deduction from the amount of any claims payable under coverage by the buy-in program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2005
Outer Continental Shelf Energy Relief Act - Declares that all provisions of existing federal law prohibiting the spending of appropriated funds to conduct natural gas leasing and preleasing activities for any area of the Outer Continental Shelf have no force or effect. Revokes all existing withdrawals made by the President under the authority of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). States such withdrawals are no longer in effect with respect to natural gas leasing, exploration, development or production. Amends the OCSLA leasing program to instruct the Secretary, in each five-year program, to include lease sales that when viewed as a whole propose to offer for gas leasing at least 75% of the available unleased acreage within each OCS Planning Area. Prescribes guidelines for sharing with certain coastal states bonus bid and royalty revenues received from existing and future federal gas leases on lands located within state seaward boundaries. Authorizes the Secretary to issue leases for development and production only of natural gas and associated condensate (natural gas-only leasing).
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2005
Recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the world's great religions. Acknowledges the onset of Ramadan and expresses deepest respect to Muslims in the United States and throughout the world on this significant occasion.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2005 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that state and local emergency preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with household pets and service animals following a major disaster or emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
HOPE VI Reauthorization Act of 2005 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend and authorize appropriations for the HOPE VI revitalization program through FY2011.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to: (1) reduce the retail sales threshold for the sale of products containing pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine from nine grams to 3.6 grams in a single transaction; (2) eliminate the "regulated transaction" exemption for any over-the-counter sale of such products (including blister packs) by retail distributors; (3) grant authority to establish production quotas for pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine; and (4) penalize violators of such quotas. Amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to: (1) restrict the importation of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine, with an exception; and (2) require a registered person importing such chemicals to include all information known regarding the chain of distribution. Authorizes the Attorney General to prohibit the importation of such chemicals in cases where a distributor refuses to provide such information. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to: (1) require the President, annually, to identify the countries that are the five largest exporters of methamphetamine precursor chemicals and the five largest importers with the highest rate of diversion of such chemicals to the illicit production of methamphetamine; and (2) include those countries among drug-producing or drug-transit countries from which foreign assistance funds may be withheld. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) submit to Congress a comprehensive plan to address such diversion; and (2) take steps to prevent methamphetamine smuggling into the United States from Mexico. Amends CSA to lower the threshold for amounts of methamphetamine the manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession, importation, or exportation of which is subject to specified penalties. Directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate as hazardous materials or hazardous waste specified byproducts of the methamphetamine production process. Expands the scope of provisions regarding restitution for the cleanup of clandestine laboratory sites.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
Medicare Informed Choice Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for an extended period of open enrollment during all of 2006 without late enrollment penalty; (2) give Medicare beneficiaries the opportunity to make a one-time change in prescription drug plan enrollment at any point in 2006; and (3) provide protection from loss of employment-based retiree health coverage upon enrollment for Medicare prescription drug benefit, including a Medicare Advantage-Prescription Drug benefit, during 2006.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem hospitals, emergency rooms, physicians, and physicians groups that provide emergency care to uninsured individuals to be employees of the Public Health Service for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to items and services furnished. Requires the Attorney General to make separate estimates as to the cost of claims expected to arise under this Act and to establish separate funds for such claims. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to limit the total amount of payments under this Act to the amounts appropriated in advance for such purposes. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide additional payments from the Federal Supplementary Insurance Trust Fund for physicians' services in the emergency department of a hospital or critical access hospital to a Medicare recipient. Provides for incentive payments to hospitals that certify to the Secretary that they meet established standards for prompt admission by a hospital of individuals presenting to the emergency department that need inpatient hospital services. Requires the Comptroller General to submit to the relevant congressional committees a report that evaluates whether such standards will achieve the stated objectives and recommends any changes. Sets forth civil monetary penalties for filing a false certification and engaging in a pattern or practice of failing to meet established standards.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2005
Timber Tax Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction (available to taxpayers whether or not they itemize deductions) for up to 60% of gains from certain sales or exchanges of timber.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2005
Credit Card Minimum Payment Warning Act of 2005 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to include among the mandatory disclosures at each billing cycle of open end consumer credit plans: (1) the words "Minimum Payment Warning: Making only the minimum payment will increase the amount of interest that you pay and the time it will take to repay your outstanding balance;" (2) the number of years and months it would take the consumer to pay the entire amount of the balance if the consumer pays only the required minimum monthly payments; (3) the total cost to the consumer, as well as a breakdown in principal and interest payments, of paying that balance in full if the consumer pays only the required minimum monthly payments, and if no further advances are made; (4) the monthly payment amount that would be required to eliminate the outstanding balance in 36 months if no further advances are made; and (5) a toll-free telephone number for information about accessing credit counseling and debt management services. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission to issue jointly guidelines for creditors to establish and maintain a toll-free telephone number for such disclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2005
National Ocean Exploration Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a coordinated national ocean exploration program that promotes collaboration with existing NOAA programs, including those authorized under this Act. Directs the NOAA Administrator to: (1) conduct interdisciplinary exploration voyages or other scientific activities to survey, inventory, observe, and assess little-known areas of the marine environment; (2) give priority to deep ocean regions, focusing on marine systems holding potential for important scientific discoveries; and (3) promote development of improved oceanographic research, communication, navigation, and data collection systems. Requires NOAA to convene an ocean exploration technology and infrastructure task force to develop and implement a strategy to: (1) facilitate the transfer of new exploration technology to the program; (2) improve the availability of communications infrastructure (including satellite) to the program; (3) develop a data management information processing system for information obtained under the program; and (4) conduct public education and outreach activities that improve the public understanding of ocean science, resources, and processes. Authorizes NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies to participate in interagency financing in carrying out program activities. NOAA Undersea Research Program Act of 2005 - Directs the Administrator of NOAA to establish and maintain an undersea research program conducted through a national headquarters, a network of regional undersea research centers, and a national technology institute.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2005
Military Victims of Violence Confidentiality Act of 2005 - Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to provide that a client has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent any other person from disclosing, a confidential communication made between the client and a victim service organization, or between the client and a health care professional, in a case arising under the UCMJ, if such communication was made for securing advice, counseling, treatment, or assistance concerning the client's mental, physical, or emotional condition caused by domestic violence, family violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault. Provides privilege exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2005
Disapproves the recommendations of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission as submitted by the President on September 15, 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2005
Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act - Establishes a Department of Peace and Nonviolence, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace and Nonviolence appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict. Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace and Nonviolence, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various federal agencies. Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace and Nonviolence. Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2005
Establishes in the legislative branch a bipartisan Katrina Commission to: (1) examine and report upon the federal, state, and local response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and other affected areas; (2) evaluate and report on the information developed by all relevant governmental agencies related to Hurricane Katrina before it struck the United States and in the days and weeks following; (3) make a complete accounting of the circumstances surrounding the approach of Hurricane Katrina to the Gulf states, and the extent of the Government's preparedness for and response to it; (4) examine planning necessary for future cataclysmic events that will require a significant marshaling of federal resources, mitigation, response, and recovery to avoid significant loss of life; (5) analyze whether any decisions differed with respect to response and recovery for different communities and what problems occurred as a result of a lack of a common plan, communication structure, and centralized command structure; and (6) investigate and report to the President and Congress on immediate corrective measures that can be taken to prevent problems with federal response to future cataclysmic events.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2005
Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims Act - Reinstates the application of the wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act to all federal contracts in counties affected by Hurricane Katrina, notwithstanding the President's proclamation dated September 8, 2005, or any other provision of law.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2005
Amends federal transportation law to direct the Secretary of Transportation by regulation to prescribe (corporate) average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for automobiles manufactured after 2008 that ensure that the CAFE achieved by automobiles manufactured after 2015 is at least 33 miles per gallon, and meets other specified criteria. Authorizes the Secretary to establish separate standards for different classes of automobiles according to size. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a CAFE credit trading program to allow a manufacturer that exceeds fuel economy standards to sell credits to another manufacturer.