United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Establishes the U.S. Office for Native Hawaiian Relations (Office) within the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. Establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group to: (1) coordinate Federal programs and policies or actions that may significantly or uniquely affect Native Hawaiian resources, rights, or lands; (2) assure that each Federal agency develops a policy on consultation with Native Hawaiians; and (3) assure the participation of such agencies in the development of an annual report to Congress. Recognizes the right of the Native Hawaiian people to adopt organic governing documents. Provides that following the organization and election of a Native Hawaiian government and the adoption of such documents, the duly elected Native Hawaiian government shall submit those documents to the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to certify that: (1) such documents meet specified certifications; and (2) the State of Hawaii supports the recognition of such Native Hawaiian government as evidenced by a resolution or act of the Hawaiian State legislature. Extends Federal recognition to the government as the representative governing body of the Native Hawaiian people upon election of officers and certification by the Secretary. Authorizes the United States, upon Federal recognition of the Native Hawaiian government, to enter into an agreement with the State and such government regarding the transfer of lands, resources, and assets dedicated to Native Hawaiian use.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Homeowners' Benefit Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for an annual inflation adjustment on the exclusion of the gain on the sale of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts attributable to the discharge of certain residential mortgage obligations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Expresses gratitude for and encourages States and localities to honor the courage and sacrifice of members of the U.S. armed forces, particularly Sam Johnson of Texas, who were held as prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. Calls for a full accounting of the 1,902 members of the armed forces who remain unaccounted for from that conflict. Honors all members of the armed forces who have fought and died in the defense of freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
Environmental Justice Act - Requires the head of each Federal agency in the Department of the Interior: (1) before authorizing, funding, or carrying out a action under any Federal law, to consider whether the action will have any disparate impact on any member of a racial, ethnic, or religious minority; and (2) in authorizing, funding, or carrying out a action under any Federal law, to seek to limit disparate impacts to the extent possible consistent with such law. Provides that this Act shall not apply to an agency action to the extent that there is involved a matter relating to agency management or personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
Homeowners' Escrow Payments Assurance Act - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to impose: (1) treble damages for noncompliance with statutory requirements pertaining to the servicing of federally related mortgage loans and escrow accounts administration; and (2) a civil penalty for each day of insurance coverage lapse that results from failure of a mortgage servicer to timely make payments from mortgagor's escrow account. Earmarks the fines thus collected for assistance to: (1) low-income families for the acquisition of a principal residence; and (2) nonprofit organizations that engage in legal advocacy relating to consumer rights' protection.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
Environmental Priorities Act of 2003 - Requires providers of retail electric services to contribute to the fiscal agent for the Environmental Priorities Board (established by this Act) ten percent of the total consumer savings for the consumer sector for that calendar year. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a National Environmental Priorities Board to establish regulations governing creation of an Environmental Priorities Program. Authorizes States in which retail electric service choice has been established for any consumer sector to establish public purpose programs and apply for matching funding to support environmental priorities programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
National Forest Ecosystem Protection Act of 2002 (sic) - Establishes a National Forest Ecosystem Protection Program composed of lands within existing units of the National Forest System that contain large wilderness areas as a core area and a Primitive Area extending outward from them, hereby designated Ecosystem Protection Areas. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, to manage the wilderness areas. Requires the Secretary to promote the reestablishment or protection of animal and plant species native to the designated Ecosystem Protection Areas. Requires the Secretary to strive to acquire private lands and mineral rights located within wilderness designated areas and eliminate, through phase out, commercial grazing in the Ecosystem Protection Areas. Requires the Secretary to provide forest plan revision assessments in specified areas. Specifies original Ecosystem Protection Areas and Primitive Areas. Requires the Secretary to provide technical and financial assistance to enable States to acquire Ecosystem Protection Areas on State-owned lands.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit certain married individuals filing separate returns to exclude income from United States savings bonds used for higher education tuition and fees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Parent-Child Privilege Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to provide that, in a civil or criminal proceeding, a parent shall not be compelled to testify against his or her child, and a child shall not be compelled to testify against his or her parent, unless the parent or child who is the witness voluntarily and knowingly waives the privilege to refrain from giving such adverse testimony. Provides that a parent shall not be compelled to divulge any confidential communication with his or her child during the course of their parent-child relationship, and a child shall not be compelled to divulge any confidential communication with his or her parent during the course of such relationship, unless both the child and the parent or parents who are privy to the confidential communication voluntarily and knowingly waive the privilege against the disclosure of the communication. Sets forth exceptions to the privilege, such as in civil actions by the child against the parent, or by the parent against the child, or in any action in which the custody, abuse, or neglect of the child, or the termination of parental rights with respect to the child, is at issue. Authorizes the court to appoint a guardian, attorney, or other legal representative to represent the child's interests with respect to the privilege when a child who appears to be the subject of the privilege is below the age of majority at the time of the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) pension offset provisions applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to Old-Age and Survivors insurance benefit payments; and (2) windfall elimination provisions with respect to computation of the primary insurance amount of an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
DNA Database Completion Act of 2003 - Amends the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to authorize $100 million for each of FY 2003 through 2007 for grants to eligible States for DNA analyses of samples taken from individuals convicted of a qualifying State offense, and of samples from crime scenes, for inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months before October 2004; (2) 40 percent for months during FY 2005; (3) 45 percent for months during FY 2006; (4) 50 percent for months during FY 2007; and (5) 55 percent for months after FY 2007. Adjusts similarly percentage amounts with respect to survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty. Provides a corresponding phased elimination of the SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided to such surviving spouses. Requires periodic recomputation of: (1) annuity amounts beginning in October 2004; and (2) retired pay reductions for supplemental survivor annuities. Provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, commencing October 1, 2004, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage, and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to require appropriate premiums for SBP participation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Increases the biweekly contribution payable by the Government for a Federal employee or annuitant enrolled in a Federal employee health insurance plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Debt Cancellation for the New Millennium Act - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to urge the President to commence immediately efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to accomplish certain modifications in the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, including requiring that: (1) the amount of debt relief provided by the IMF and the World Bank under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative for a HIPC be sufficient to completely cancel 100 percent of the HIPC's debt owed to such institutions; (2) no provision of debt relief under the Initiative be conditioned on any country's implementing a structural adjustment or stabilization program of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of the IMF or any other such program operated solely or jointly by the IMF or the World Bank; (3) all HIPCs that are working in good faith to develop and implement their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) pursuant to the Initiative not be required to make service payments on their debts (ensuring that the savings from such debt relief will be invested in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, health care, education, and poverty reduction programs); and (4) the eligibility requirements of the Initiative be revised to make Bangladesh, Haiti, and Nigeria eligible. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide, upon request, for technical assistance to HIPCs regarding compliance with the conditions for debt relief pursuant to the Initiative, including the development and implementation of their PSRPs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Medicare Fairness for Organ Transplant Recipients Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare program of immunosuppressive drugs for Medicare beneficiaries who receive an organ transplant without regard to whether Medicare paid for the transplant (or when the transplant was received).
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to state that employee benefit plans maintained by cooperative employing units shall be treated as single employer plans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Authorizes the use of arbitration to settle a dispute, notwithstanding an employment contract that provides for the use of arbitration to resolve a controversy arising out of or relating to the employment relationship, only if: (1) the employer or employee submits a written request after the dispute arises to the other party to use arbitration; and (2) the other party consents in writing within 60 days after receipt of the request. Prohibits an employer subject to Federal arbitration provisions from requiring an employee to arbitrate a dispute as a condition of employment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Fairness for State and Local Workers Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to provide for coverage under that Act of State and local government workers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Recognizes the historical significance of February 19, 1942, the date Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, restricting the freedom of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans, and legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and internment. Supports recognizing those events on a National Day of Remembrance.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area Act of 2003 - Establishes the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area in New Jersey. Designates the Crossroads of the American Revolution Association, Inc. as the Area's management entity. Directs the Association to submit, and to assist local governments, regional planning organizations, and nonprofit entities in implementing, an area management plan which includes strategies for conservation, funding, management, and development of the Area. Bars the Association from using Federal funds received under this Act to acquire real property, but permits the Association to use any other source of funding, including other Federal funding, intended for the acquisition of real property. Limits Federal funding to 50 percent of any assistance provided. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to: (1) the Area to develop and implement the management plan; and (2) State or local government or nonprofit organizations for treatment of historical objects or structures eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Authorizes the Superintendent of Morristown National Historical Park to provide operational assistance supporting implementation of the management plan to public and private organizations within the Area, including the Association.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Authorizes the President to award a gold medal to each of the seven crew members who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband; Michael P. Anderson; Laurel Clark; David M. Brown; William C. McCool; Kapana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Domestic Consumer Safety Act of 2003 - Directs the Federal Trade Commission to make rules to assure that businesses in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce perform adequate and appropriate background checks on employees they send into people's homes. Sets a civil penalty of up to $1 million for violating such a rule.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act - Requires any person producing hardrock minerals from a mine within an unpatented mining claim, or a mine on land that was patented under the general mining laws, to pay the Secretary of the Interior a percentage-based reclamation fee for deposit into the Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund. Establishes in the Treasury an interest-bearing Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund administered by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to use the Fund for reclamation and restoration of eligible areas, and approved State reclamation programs and Federal remediation activities. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue an abandoned or inactive mined land waste remediation permit to a remediating party for discharges associated with remediation activity at abandoned or inactive mined land under certain conditions. Prescribes guidelines for issuance of permits and application requirements. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate to the States the authority for issuance and review of reclamation permits. Authorizes enforcement actions against parties who fail to comply with permit conditions. Sunsets the authority to issue an abandoned or inactive mined land waste remediation permits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to designate New Jersey Task Force 1 as part of the National Urban Search and Rescue System.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code respecting the Hope Scholarship Credit to: (1) extend coverage to fees, books, supplies, and equipment, and exempt such expenses from information reporting requirements; and (2) not reduce such Credit by Federal Pell Grant and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary of State to initiate a U.S. plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual week-long summit of the World Health Assembly in May 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland, and to instruct the U.S. delegation there to implement such plan.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Nurse Loan Forgiveness Act of 2003 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to include, under HEA student loan forgiveness and cancellation programs, nurses who serve at least one calendar year in an approved health care facility or setting. Limits the maximum amount of such loan repayment by the Secretary of Education to not more than $2,000 after the first year of such a nurse's employment, with incremental increases after the second through fourth years, up to $5,000 after the fifth year of such employment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas. Includes Capitol Police as law enforcement officers under such Act. Eliminates the limitation on the aggregate of basic pay and premium pay with respect to availability pay for Federal criminal investigators.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Instructional Materials Accessibility Act of 2003 - Directs Secretary of Education to: (1) develop and publish instructional materials accessibility standards for the national electronic file format to be used by publishers of instructional materials in the preparation of electronic files suitable for efficient conversion into specialized formats; (2) establish a National Instructional Materials Accessibility Advisory Committee to provide technical expertise and guidance in creating such national electronic file format; (3) periodically review and amend such standards to reflect technological advances or changes; and (4) establish a National Instructional Materials Access Center. Requires State educational agencies, as a condition for receiving Federal financial assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to develop and implement statewide plans and make contracts with publishers to ensure that instructional materials for classroom use in elementary and secondary schools are made available in specialized formats to individuals who are blind or have other print disabilities at the same time such materials are provided to individuals without such disabilities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities to provide or improve their capacity to prepare or obtain instructional materials in specialized formats, including the national electronic format. Provides for enforcement of rights of children and parents under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act of 2003 - Deems service of a person as a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps between July 1, 1943, and December 15, 1945 (qualified service), to be active military service for purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge to each person whose qualified service warrants one; and (2) the discharge to be issued before the end of the one-year period beginning on the enactment of this Act. Prohibits benefits from being paid to persons as a result of such enactment for any period before the enactment date.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that, in the case of an electing individual, no gain shall be recognized on the receipt of a capital gain dividend distributed by a regulated investment company if such capital gain dividend is automatically reinvested in additional shares of the company pursuant to a dividend reinvestment plan.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp in remembrance of the victims of the 1983 Beirut peacekeeping mission; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Open Air Drug Market Penalty Act of 2003 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to impose an additional five years' imprisonment for knowingly committing a Federal offense, of which an element is the distribution of a controlled substance and for which the maximum term of imprisonment equals or exceeds five years, within 500 feet of the place where such an offense was committed within the preceding 48 hours. Prohibits: (1) the court from placing on probation or suspending the sentence of anyone convicted for such a violation; and (2) the term of imprisonment imposed from running concurrently with any other term of imprisonment.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Violence Against Women Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2003 - Rewrites provisions of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 regarding remedies for civil rights violations. Makes a person who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender and thus deprives another of a prescribed right liable to the injured party where: (1) in connection with the offense, the defendant or the victim travels in interstate or foreign commerce, the defendant or the victim uses a facility or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, or the defendant employs a weapon, a narcotic or drug listed under the Controlled Substances Act, or other noxious or dangerous substances that have traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) the offense interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged; or (3) the offense was committed with intent to interfere with the victim's commercial or other economic activity. Authorizes the Attorney General, whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any State, political subdivision, official, employee, or agent thereof has discriminated on the basis of gender in the investigation or prosecution of gender-based crimes and that discrimination is pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to investigating or prosecuting gender-based crimes, to institute a civil action in U.S. district court for appropriate equitable relief.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2003 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national Coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Koby Mandell Act of 2003 - Directs the President to establish within the Department of Justice an office which shall assume responsibility for administration of the Rewards for Justice program and its website to ensure that rewards are offered to capture all terrorists involved in harming American citizens overseas, regardless of the terrorists' country of origin or residence. Directs the office to take specified steps, including: (1) establishing a program which will update American victims of overseas terrorism or their families on the status of efforts to capture the terrorists; (2) undertaking a comprehensive assessment to determine the reasons for the absence of indictments of terrorists residing in some regions; (3) monitoring public actions pertaining to terrorists by governments and regimes overseas, such as naming schools, streets, or other public institutions or sites after terrorists who have harmed American citizens; (4) initiating negotiations to secure financial compensation for American citizens (or their families) who were harmed by terrorist acts overseas by an organization that subsequently became part of a governing regime with which the U.S. Government maintains diplomatic or official contacts; and (5) coordinating with other Government agencies to seek the transfer to the United States of terrorists released from incarceration abroad who are eligible for further prosecution in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Child Support Reserve Trust Act - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require a State plan for child and spousal support to provide that, as of January 1, 2001, the State agency will have in effect a State reserve trust system that requires: (1) the use of certain procedures; and (2) establishes a State reserve trust unit to implement them. Requires a State reserve unit to: (1) withhold the net proceeds from the sale or refinancing of real property in the State against which a lien exists for overdue child support by the seller or refinancer, without regard to whether such lien has ever been extinguished; (2) hold a certain amount of such proceeds (anticipated future child support) in trust for the benefit of the child or children for whom the person has a support obligation; and (3) apply such amounts to satisfy such overdue child support, if all other available remedies are insufficient to do so.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Auto Safety Assurance Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary of Transportation to prescribe an amendment to the Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 206 issued under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 requiring all passenger cars manufactured after December 31, 2005, to be fitted with equipment which automatically locks the vehicle's doors when the vehicle transmission is engaged or the vehicle reaches a specified rate of speed, and vehicle trunk lock mechanisms that permit unlatching from inside the trunk.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Establishes triple damages as the remedy for any person who brings a product liability action in a Federal or State court for injuries sustained from use of a product which is not in compliance with a voluntary or mandatory standard issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Directs the Commission to reissue, within 90 days, each voluntary and mandatory standard it has for a product with a notification to product manufacturers of such treble damages.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Brownfield Cleanup Enhancement Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited credit to holders of qualified brownfields cleanup bonds. Sets a national limit on the amount of such bonds and provides for allocation among the States.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Provides that, when the legislatures of an additional three States ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, the House of Representatives shall take any legislative action necessary to verify the ratification of such Amendment as a part of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that rates of compensation for U.S. civilian employees should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are such rates for members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that the embargo of Cuba should not be lifted until the Cuban Government agrees to decriminalize free speech, association, and movement, and other elements crucial to the development of democracy and the protection of fundamental human rights. Calls on the Cuban Government to: (1) immediately release all political prisoners in Cuba, including Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet; (2) eliminate all of Cuba's criminal laws that unnecessarily restrict the fundamental human rights to freedom of speech, association, and movement; and (3) respect fundamental human rights and free multiparty and internationally supervised elections in Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
National Naval Force Structure Policy Act - States that it is U.S. policy to rebuild as soon as possible the size of the U.S. Navy fleet to no fewer than 375 vessels in active service, including 15 aircraft carrier battle groups and 15 amphibious ready groups.
![Official portrait of Rep. Andrews, Robert E. [D-NJ-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/a000210_200.jpg)