United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Occupational Safety and Health Small Business Day in Court Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to exempt employers from a 15-day deadline for notifying the Secretary of Labor of their intent to contest OSHA citations, notices of uncorrected violations, and proposed penalties, if their failure to meet such deadline results from mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission Efficiency Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to increase the membership of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission from three to five.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Government Accountability and Streamlining Act of 2003 - Requires the Comptroller General, to the extent practicable, to prepare for public bills and joint resolutions (measures) reported by congressional subcommittees or committees, and submit to such subcommittees or committees, determinations of whether: (1) new Federal entities, programs, or functions are authorized by the measure; and (2) an existing entity or program carries out functions that are similar to those authorized by the measure and such existing entity or program may more effectively and efficiently perform the functions and carry out the purposes of the measure than the proposed entity or program. Requires such statements to accompany reports on legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Home School Non-Discrimination Act of 2003 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that parents who choose private home education should be encouraged within the framework provided by the Constitution. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) with respect to: (1) student aid eligibility of home-schooled students who have satisfied certain secondary education standards; and (2) institutional aid eligibility of the higher education institutions that such students attend. Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide, if a parent does not consent to an initial evaluation or special education or related services for a child with a disability, the local educational agency shall not be required to convene an individualized education program (IEP) meeting or develop an IEP for such child. Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (the Coverdell Education Savings Account) to include home schools if they are treated as a home school or private school under State law. Amends the part of the General Education Provisions Act known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to prohibit release of certain information on and educational records of students in non-public education, including any student educated at home or in a private school in accordance with State law, without written parental consent. Amends HEA to include students at home schools, whether treated as a home school or a private school under State law, among those prospective secondary school graduates eligible to apply for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program for higher education. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to direct the Secretary of Labor to extend the hours and periods of permissible employment of employees between the ages of 14 and 16 years who are privately educated at a home school, whether the home school is treated as a home school or a private school under State Law, beyond those hours and periods applicable to employees of such ages who are educated in traditional public schools. (Thus allows home-school students to be employed during the traditional school day.)
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Occupational Safety and Health Independent Review of OSHA Citations Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) to revise judicial review provisions to require deference to be given to conclusions of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), if reasonable, with respect to all questions of law relating to citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) against businesses for violations of the OSH Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2003
Occupational Safety and Health Small Employer Access to Justice Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to provide for the award of attorney's fees and costs to certain small employers when they prevail in specified administrative or court proceedings. Requires such awards to prevailing employers if they had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of not more than $1.5 million at the respective time of: (1) the initiation of the administrative proceedings (adversary adjudication); or (2) the filing of the action addressed in the court proceedings (judicial review of action). Provides for such awards without regard to whether the position of the Secretary of Labor or the Federal Government was substantially justified or whether special circumstances make an award unjust.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2003
Air Line Pension Act of 2003 - Sets forth special funding requirements for certain pension plans maintained by commercial passenger air carriers (plans), notwithstanding any contrary provisions of the Internal Revenue Code or of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Provides for such plans, if they have a funded percentage of less than 80 percent as of January 1, 2003, the following: (1) modifications of funding rules, including funded percentage, assumed interest rate for determining current liability, and estimation of current liability; (2) a moratorium on the deficit reduction contribution, under specified conditions; (3) a one-time amortization of 2008 unfunded current liability; and (4) recognition of a waiver in the deficit reduction contribution. Provides for such plans, if they are maintained for benefit of the carrier's employees pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement and if they terminated during calendar year 2003, the following: (1) restoration by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to the plan's pre-termination status and transfer of control of plan assets and liabilities to the employer, unless the collective bargaining agreement provides that the plan should not be restored; (2) exclusion of any expected increase in current liability due to benefits accruing during each plan year; (3) amortization of unfunded amounts under the restoration payment schedule; (4) inapplicability of certain contribution requirements to a restored plan until a plan year beginning on the initial post-restoration valuation date, with modified required annual payments; and (5) resetting of funding standard account balances. Limits PBGC liability with respect to certain plans under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2003
Terminates a provision that requires the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors on the construction work performed on Federal-aid highway projects are paid prevailing rate wages. Permits a State to enact a law to provide for continued enforcement of the requirements of such provision in that State.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2003
Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2003 or the CLEAR Act of 2003 - States that: (1) State and local law enforcement personnel are fully authorized to investigate, apprehend, or remove aliens in the United States (including interstate transportation of such aliens to detention centers) in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws; and (2) a State that does not have a statute permitting enforcement of Federal immigration laws within two years of enactment of this Act shall not receive certain Federal incarceration assistance. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to illegal aliens to: (1) establish criminal penalties and forfeiture for aliens unlawfully present in the United States; (2) increase specified criminal and civil penalties for illegal entry and failure to depart violations; and (3) provide for payment of funds from certain civil penalties to State and local law enforcement agencies for apprehension of such aliens. Provides for the listing of immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center database. Requires States and localities to provide the Department of Homeland Security with specified information about apprehended illegal aliens. Eliminates certain Federal incarceration assistance for noncompliance. Directs the Attorney General to make grants to local police agencies for equipment and facilities related to housing and processing illegal aliens. Amends the Act to provide for Federal custody and State or local compensation of State or locally apprehended illegal aliens. Establishes a process for State and local claims against the Federal Government for failure to cooperate in enforcing immigration laws. Directs the Secretary or the Attorney General to establish immigration-related training for State and local personnel. Provides: (1) personal liability immunity for Federal, State, or local personnel enforcing immigration laws within the scope of their duties; and (2) civil rights money damage immunity for Federal, State, or local agencies enforcing immigration laws unless their personnel violated criminal law in such enforcement. States that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security shall continue to operate the Institutional Removal Program, which shall be expanded to all States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2003
United States Agricultural Products Market Access Act of 2003 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify those foreign countries that: (1) deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. agricultural products or apply standards for the importation of U.S. agricultural products that are not related to public health concerns or cannot be substantiated by reliable analytical methods; and (2) are determined by the USTR to be priority foreign countries. Limits the identification of priority foreign countries to those that engage in the most onerous or egregious acts which have the greatest adverse impact on the relevant U.S. products. Provides that if available information indicates that such action is appropriate, the USTR may at any time: (1) revoke the identification of any foreign country as a priority foreign country; or (2) identify any foreign country as a priority foreign country. Provides funding for additional staff for the Office of the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Agricultural Affairs and Office of the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Monitoring and Enforcement. Requires the U.S. Trade Representative to initiate an investigation (without waiting for a petition by an interested person) regarding any act, policy, or practice of a priority foreign country identified under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2003
Women and Children in Conflict Protection Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) develop a strategy for the protection of women and children who are affected by a complex humanitarian emergency (a situation occurring outside the United States and caused by armed conflict, natural disaster, food shortage, or state-sponsored harassment or persecution, which results in a significant number of refugees, internally displaced persons, or other civilians requiring urgent basic humanitarian assistance) (emergency); and (2) designate coordinators to implement such strategy. Requires such coordinators to: (1) maintain and disseminate a database of information on gender-based violence or exploitation of children during an emergency; (2) assist embassies and consular posts in responding to such risks; and (3) establish a gender-based violence or exploitation reporting and monitoring system for U.S. diplomatic missions and consular posts. Prohibits any State Department refugee or migration assistance from being provided to an organization that has failed to adopt a code of conduct regarding the protection of beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance that incorporates six core principles (established herein) against sexual exploitation and abuse as recommended by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Requests all national, multilateral, and nongovernmental agencies to review and revise their administrative, management, and employment practices in refugee and displaced persons camps. Requires each coordinator to: (1) ensure that U.S.-funded organizations that respond to an emergency have the necessary resources to address the specific health needs of women affected by the emergency; and (2) identify an organization or individual to facilitate the coordination and implementation of such activities. Directs the Secretary to urge the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to work with nongovernmental organizations to design and implement a model whistleblower system under which humanitarian workers, refugees, and internally displaced persons can report instances of gender-based violence or exploitation of children. Requires: (1) the State Department to work with certain entities to ensure that, in situations of long-term displacement, refugees and internally displaced persons are granted work permits and other documentation to enable them to generate legitimate income; and (2) a report from the Secretary on the development of protection initiatives for the prevention of gender-based violence and exploitation of children. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement programs to assist communities that have been affected by an emergency and former combatants (women or children affiliated with an armed group); and (2) report on all current programs to assist nations to reconstitute civilian police authority and capability following an emergency. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to promote the security of, provide equal access to basic services for, and safeguard the human rights and dignity of civilian women and children who are refugees, displaced persons, or inhabitants of areas affected by an emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2003
Millennium Challenge Account Authorization and Peace Corps Expansion Act of 2003 - Authorizes the President, acting through the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, to provide assistance to eligible low income and lower middle income countries to support policies and programs that advance their progress in: (1) achieving lasting economic growth and poverty reduction; and (2) promoting specified objectives fostering democratic societies, human rights, the rule of law, investment in education and health infrastructure and systems, economic freedom, broad-based economic growth, and free market systems. Requires recipient contries to enter into a Millenium Challenge Compact with the United States establishing a multi-year plan for achieving shared development objectives. Specifies conditions for suspension or termination of assistance. Establishes the Millenium Challenge Corporation to carry out such assistance program, and a Millenium Challenge Advisory Council. Sets forth elements of a framework for U.S. economic assistance. Reauthorizes the Peace Corps through FY 2007. Makes the Peace Corps responsible for recruiting all of its volunteers. Urges the Director to utilize the services of returned Peace Corps volunteers and former Peace Corps staff who have relevant language and cultural experience and may have served previously in countries with substantial Muslim populations, in order to open or reopen Peace Corps programs in such countries. Requires the Director to expand the training program for Peace Corps volunteers in the areas of education, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases prevalent in host countries in order to ensure that the Peace Corps increases its contribution to the global campaign against such diseases. Urges the Director to designate a Peace Corps officer or employee located in the United States to coordinate all HIV/AIDS activities within the Peace Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2003
Establishes the Federal Interagency Task Force to Promote the Benefits, Safety, and Potential Uses of Agricultural Biotechnology to improve interagency cooperation and to disseminate scientific information on the benefits, safety, and potential uses of biotechnology.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2003
Theodore Roosevelt Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than: (1) 500,000 $1 coins with the image of Theodore Roosevelt as a Rough Rider on one side and an eagle design on the other side; and (2) 500,000 $1 coins with the image of Roosevelt on horseback on one side and a flaming sword of righteousness on the other side. Calls for the coins to be struck at the U.S. Mint at West Point, New York. Authorizes the Secretary to issue such minted coins beginning on January 1, 2006, and to initiate coin sales before such date (2006 will mark the 100th anniversary of Roosevelt receiving the Nobel Peace Prize). Requires surcharges from the sale of the coins to be paid to the Theodore Roosevelt Association to be used exclusively for educational programs at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, including for construction and maintenance of a visitor's center.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2003
Basic Pilot Extension Act of 2003 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend: (1) the "basic" employment verification system pilot program; (2) the citizen attestation pilot program; and (3) the machine-readable-document pilot program. Authorizes use of the employment eligibility confirmation system for Government agency inquiries, including provision of citizenship or immigration status information in addition to identity and employment eligibility information. (Current law prohibits such access except as provided for under a pilot program.)
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2003
Health Savings Account Availability Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction to individuals (both itemizers and nonitemizers) in high deductible health plans for contributions to health savings accounts. Limits monthly contributions to an account to one-twelfth of the annual deductible. Defines a high deductible plan and a health savings account. States that a plan or other arrangement shall not fail to be treated as a cafeteria plan solely because qualified benefits under such plan include a health flexible spending arrangement under which not more than $500 of unused health benefits may be: (1) carried forward to the succeeding plan year of such health flexible spending arrangement; or (2) contributed on behalf of an employee to a qualified retirement plan, an eligible deferred compensation plan, or a health savings account.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2003
Trade Law Reform Act of 2003 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to revise various factors that the International Trade Commission (ITC) must consider in making material injury determinations in countervailing duty and antidumping duty proceedings. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to change the standard for determining if an imported product is harming domestic producers by requiring a showing that the product causes or threatens to cause serious injury. (Current law requires a product to be a substantial cause of injury). Amends the Trade Act of 2002 to: (1) direct the U.S. Trade Representative to reject any trade agreement proposal whether through the World Trade Organization (WTO) or with any country if such agreement would weaken existing U.S. trade remedy laws; and (2) expand the President's reporting duties under such Act. Congressional Advisory Commission on WTO Dispute Settlement Act - Establishes the Congressional Advisory Commission on WTO Dispute Settlement to review all decisions made by a WTO appellate body or dispute settlement panel adversely affecting the United States to determine if such entity acted properly under existing law. Authorizes the Commission to hold public hearings to solicit views concerning a report of such an entity. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) a private U.S. person who is supportive of a U.S. position in a trade matter before such an entity should be permitted to observe and have access to the proceedings; (2) the U.S. Trade Representative should provide such person with all pertinent information, and (3) the U.S. Trade Representative should consult with such person and involve such person in dispute settlement proceedings. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish and implement a steel import licensing and surge monitoring program. Requires a person to have a steel import license before entering certain steel products into the United States. Applies the amendments made by this Act to goods from Canada and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2003
Expresses gratitude and appreciation to the people and Governments of Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar for their generous and steadfast support of the U.S.-led coalition in Operation Iraqi Freedom and their active partnership with the United States in the global war on terrorism following the terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11, 2001. Commends them for pledging their assistance to rebuilding a free, democratic, and unified Iraq. Supports them in their pursuit of democratic reforms and urges a further strengthening of relations between them and the United States on issues of mutual concern.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2003
Government Labor Neutrality Act of 2003 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit Federal, State, and local governments from either requiring or prohibiting an agreement with a labor organization by an employer in the construction industry in connection with any construction, alteration, painting, or repair work. Applies such prohibition to Federal agencies or departments, agents acting on the Federal Government's behalf, recipients of Federal grants or financial assistance, persons who have entered into cooperative agreements with the Federal Government, and State or local governments.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2003
Highway Funding Equity Act of 2003 - Revises Federal highway funding minimum guarantee provisions. Requires the Secretary of Transportation, for each of FY 2004 through 2009, to allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that: (1) the percentage for each State of the total apportionments for the fiscal year for the National Highway System (NHS), the high priority projects program, the Interstate maintenance program, the surface transportation program, metropolitan planning, the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program, the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program, the recreational trails program, the Appalachian development highway system, and the basic minimum guarantee equals or exceeds 95 percent of the ratio that the estimated tax payments to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) (other than the Mass Transit Account) attributable to highway users in the State bears to such payments attributable to highway users in all States (with a specified exception for any State having a population density of less than 50 individuals per square mile); and (2) when HTF allocations (other than from the Mass Transit Account, for such programs, emergency relief, and the discretionary minimum guarantee) for the fiscal year have been identified, the percentage for each State of all of those allocations for the fiscal year equals or exceeds the percentage that is equal to 95 percent of such tax payments ratio. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the programmatic distribution of NHS funds exceeding $2.8 billion; (2) the apportionment of the remainder of funds to the States; and (3) required adjustments where the sum of State percentages exceeds 100.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2003
School Readiness Act of 2003 - Amends the Head Start Act to revise provisions and reauthorize appropriations for Head Start programs. Includes outreach to homeless families among activities for which quality improvement funds are to be used. Directs (currently authorizes) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to assist collaboration among State early childhood education activities under Head Start and other activities carried out in and by the State to benefit low-income children and families, and by Head Start agencies with other State and local planning, resource, and referral agencies. Includes community-based or faith-based organizations among the entities that may be designated as Head Start agencies. Requires Head Start grantees to establish and demonstrate they have met their own goals for: (1) educational instruction in prereading, premathematical, and language skills; and (2) providing health, educational, nutritional, social, and other services. Revises the additional educational performance standards included as program quality standards, and performance measures for program monitoring. Exempts military housing from being counted as family income in determining a child's eligibility to enroll in a Head Start program. Requires all Head Start teachers hired in center-based programs after enactment of this Act, within three years after such enactment, to: (1) have an associate, baccalaureate, or advanced degree in early childhood education; (2) have such a degree in a field related to early childhood education, with experience in teaching preschool children; or (3) be enrolled in study program for an associate degree in early childhood education, to be completed within three years of their hiring. Requires Head Start teachers who have received financial assistance under the Act to teach in a Head Start Center for an amount of time equal to the time period in which they received financial assistance. Allows qualifying States to participate in State demonstration programs in which their allocation of Federal Head Start funding would be administered by those States through grants to coordinate Head Start with State early education programs. (Current law provides direct Federal funds to local grantees.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2003
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Prohibits the Constitution or any State constitution, or State or Federal law from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2003
Offers the condolences and deepest sympathy of the House of Representatives to the families of the victims of the terrorist suicide bombing attacks that occurred on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. Expresses its hopes for a quick recovery to those individuals who were injured in the attacks. Supports the provision of appropriate U.S. assistance to the people of Morocco in this time of sorrow and grief. Calls on the Federal Government to continue to work with the Kingdom of Morocco as an ally in the fight against terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2003
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to lease to North Carolina certain Federal lands, improvements, equipment, and resource materials at the Oxford Research Station in Granville County, North Carolina.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2003
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to President Jose Maria Aznar of Spain in recognition of his contributions to maintaining the security of all freedom-loving nations. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to strike such medal and authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2003
Preservation of Localism, Program Diversity, and Competition in Television Broadcast Service Act of 2003 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from permitting any license for a commercial television broadcast station to be granted, transferred, or assigned to any party if such action would result in that party owning, operating, controlling, or having a cognizable interest in stations which have an aggregate national audience reach exceeding 35 percent. Requires any party currently having licenses in excess of such limit to divest as necessary to comply with such limit within one year.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Pledge Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any court established by Act of Congress to hear or determine any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the first amendment of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2003 or Laci and Conner's Law - Provides that: (1) whoever engages in conduct that violates specified provisions of the Federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, or specified articles the Uniform Code of Military Justice (conduct constituting certain Federal violent crimes) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero, shall be guilty of a separate offense; and (2) the punishment for that separate offense shall be the same as that provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother. Specifies that a violation of such provisions does not require proof that: (1) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or (2) the defendant (or accused) intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child. Prohibits imposition of the death penalty for an offense under this Act. Bars prosecution under this Act: (1) of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law; (2) for conduct relating to any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or (3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) the United Nations should immediately act to lift the economic sanctions imposed by UN Security Council Resolutions 661 and 687; and (2) UN member states should allow and encourage their nationals to trade with Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins, which shall be emblematic of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia (the first permanent English settlement in America). Provides for a $35 per coin surcharge for the $5 dollar coins and $10 per coin for the $1 dollar coins. Directs that: (1) half of the surcharges be used to support programs to promote the understanding of the legacies of Jamestown (to be paid to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation); and (2) half be used to sustain the ongoing mission of preserving Jamestown, to enhance national and international educational programs relating to Jamestown, to improve infrastructure and archeological research activities relating to Jamestown, and conduct other programs to support the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown (to be distributed by the Secretary in equal shares to the Secretary of the Interior, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation).
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 - Permits the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, to plan and conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects (fuels projects) on specified types of Federal lands. Directs the Secretary concerned to give priority to fuels projects that provide for the protection of communities and watersheds. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to make grants: (1) to improve the commercial value of forest biomass to produce electric energy, sensible heat, transportation fuels, or substitutes for petroleum-based products; and (2) to offset the cost of projects to add value to biomass. Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to permit the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Forest Service, to provide assistance to State foresters and officials for the purpose of expanding State forest capacities and activities to address watershed issues on non-Federal forested lands and potentially forested lands. Directs the Secretary concerned to establish an accelerated program to plan, conduct, and promote comprehensive and systematic information gathering on bark beetles. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the healthy forests reserve program within the Forest Service for the purpose of protecting, restoring, and enhancing degraded forest ecosystems to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species as well as improve biodiversity and enhance carbon sequestration. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a comprehensive plan to inventory, monitor, characterize, assess, and identify forest stands and potential forest stands in specified locations. States that issues to be addressed shall include: (1) the early detection, identification, and assessment of environmental threats; and (2) the loss or degradation of forests.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt from certain child labor restrictions the employment, inside or outside of businesses where machinery is used to process wood products, of individuals between ages 14 and 18 who are members of religious sects that do not permit formal education beyond the eighth grade. Permits such youth employment if the individual: (1) is supervised by an adult relative or by an adult member of the same religious sect or division; (2) does not operate or assist in the operation of power-driven woodworking machines; (3) is protected from wood particles or other flying debris within the workplace by a barrier appropriate to such potential hazard or by maintaining a sufficient distance from machinery in operation; and (4) is required to use personal protective equipment to prevent exposure to excessive levels of noise and sawdust.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat certain full-time firefighters under contract with a local political subdivision who elect to participate in a qualifying governmental pension plan as employees (rather than self-employed individuals) of such subdivision for pension plan purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2003
Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 - Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) the Government of Syria should immediately and unconditionally halt support for terrorism, permanently and openly declare its total renunciation of all forms of terrorism, and close all terrorist offices and facilities in Syria, including the offices of Hamas, Hizballah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command; (2) the Government of Syria should take other specified steps to withdraw its armed forces from Lebanon, halt development of certain weapons, halt illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil and illegal sales and supplies of weapons and military-related equipment to Iraq; (3) the Government of Lebanon should deploy the Lebanese armed forces to all areas of Lebanon, including South Lebanon, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (September 17, 1982) (Security Council Resolution 520); (4) the Governments of Lebanon and Syria should enter into serious unconditional bilateral negotiations with the Government of Israel in order to realize a full and permanent peace; (5) the United States should continue to provide humanitarian and educational assistance to the people of Lebanon only through appropriate private, nongovernmental organizations and appropriate international organizations, until such time as the Government of Lebanon asserts sovereignty and control over all of its territory and borders and achieves full political independence; and (6) being in violation of several key United Nations Security Council resolutions and pursuing policies which undermine international peace and security, Syria should not have been permitted to join the United Nations Security Council or serve as the Security Council's President, and should be removed from the Security Council. Declares that it is U.S. policy: (1) Syria will be held responsible for attacks committed by Hizballah and other terrorist groups with offices or other facilities in Syria, or bases in areas of Lebanon occupied by Syria; (2) the United States shall impede Syria's ability to support acts of international terrorism and efforts to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction; (3) the Secretary of State will continue to list Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism until it ends support for terrorism, including its support of Hizballah and other terrorist groups in Lebanon and its hosting of terrorist groups in Damascus, and comes into full compliance with U.S. law relating to terrorism and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (September 28, 2001); (4) efforts against Hizballah will be expanded given the recognition that Hizballah is equally or more capable than al Qaeda; (5) the full restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity is in the U.S. national security interest; (6) Syria is in violation of Security Council Resolution 520 through its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and its encroachment upon its political independence; (7) Syria's obligation to withdraw from Lebanon is not conditioned upon progress in the Israeli-Syrian or Israeli-Lebanese peace process but derives from Syria's obligation under Security Council Resolution 520; (8) Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs threaten the security of the Middle East and U.S. national security interests; (9) Syria is in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 (August 6, 1990) and subsequent relevant resolutions through its continued purchase of oil from Iraq and shipments of weapons and other military equipment to Iraq; (10) Syria will be held accountable for any harm to Coalition armed forces of Operation Iraqi Freedom caused by shipments of military supplies from Syria to Iraq; and (11) the United States will not provide any assistance to Syria and will oppose multilateral assistance for Syria until Syria withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon, halts the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction and medium and long range surface to surface ballistic missiles, and complies with Security Council Resolution 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions. Sets forth the following penalties against Syria until the President determines and certifies to Congress that Syria meets the requirements of this Act. Directs the President to prohibit the export to Syria of any item, including the issuance of an export license, on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations. Requires the President, at the same time, to impose two or more of the following sanctions: (1) prohibit the export to Syria of U.S. products (other than food and medicine); (2) prohibit U.S. businesses from investing or operating in Syria; (3) restrict Syrian diplomats in Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations in New York City, to travel only within a 25-mile radius of Washington, D.C., or the United Nations headquarters building, respectively; (4) prohibit aircraft of any air carrier owned or controlled by Syria to take off from, land in, or overfly the United States; (5) reduce U.S. diplomatic contacts with Syria (other than those required to protect U.S. interests or carry out the purposes of this Act); and (6) block transactions in any property in which the Government of Syria has any interest, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Authorizes the President to waive such sanctions for one or more six-month periods if the President determines that it is in the vital national security interest of the United States to do so and reports his reasons to Congress. Authorizes the President to provide development assistance to Syria and Lebanon under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 if he certifies to Congress that: (1) Syria meets the requirements of this Act; (2) substantial progress has been made both in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Syria and in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon; and (3) the Government of Syria is strictly respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese army throughout Lebanon, as required under Security Council Resolution 520. Requires annual reports to the appropriate congressional committees on Syria's progress in complying with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2003
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to replace provisions regarding the purchase of prison-made products by Federal departments with provisions establishing a Government-wide procurement policy relating to purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI), which shall generally require the use of competitive procedures. Requires that an analysis of the probable impact of a proposed expansion of sales within the Federal market by FPI on private sector firms and their non-inmate workers be made whenever FPI proposes to authorize the sale of a new specific product or service or to expand production of a current product or service. Authorizes FPI to enter into a contract with a Federal contractor to produce products as a subcontractor or supplier in the performance of a Federal procurement contract. Establishes within the Bureau of Prisons: (1) the Enhanced In-Prison Educational and Vocational Assessment and Training Program; and (2) the Cognitive Abilities Assessment Demonstration Program. Directs: (1) the Chief Operating Officer of FPI to develop proposals to have FPI donate products and services to eligible entities that provide goods or services to low-income individuals who would likely otherwise have difficulty purchasing such products or services; (2) the Director of the Bureau to afford to inmates opportunities to participate in programs and activities designed to help prepare such inmates to obtain employment upon release; (3) the Attorney General to establish the Federal Reentry Center Demonstration Project; and (4) the Comptroller General to undertake to have an independent study conducted on the effects of eliminating FPI's mandatory source authority.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Truth in Employment Act of 2003 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that nothing in specified prohibitions against unfair labor practices by employers shall be construed as requiring an employer to employ any person who seeks or has sought employment with the employer in furtherance of other employment or agency status.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Directs the President to establish a Presidential Commission on Employee Ownership to study and report on all issues that affect ownership of businesses in the United States, with a primary focus on the issues that affect employee ownership of such businesses. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on Federal regulations and policies that might impact the creation and operation of an employee-owned corporation, identifying those regulations and policies that are barriers to employee ownership.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Job Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income (FSC/ETI) exclusion, with an exemption for certain binding contracts in effect before the date of enactment of this Act. Permits a foreign corporation that elected to be treated as a domestic corporation to revoke such election and be treated as a domestic corporation transferring its property to a foreign corporation with no gain recognized on such transfer. Provides: (1) a transitional 2004 through 2008 sliding-scale deduction for an FSC/ETI beneficiary based on the corporation's 2001 FSC/ETI benefit; and (2) special rules for 2003 and for fiscal year taxpayers. Defines "FSC/ETI benefit." Allows a deduction for income attributable to U.S. production activities equal to ten percent of qualified production activities. Provides a 2006 through 2009 phase-in period. Defines "qualified production activities" as: (1) the portion of the modified taxable income attributable to domestic activities; and (2) the domestic/foreign fraction. Sets forth related provisions with respect to: (1) determination of income attributable to domestic production activities; (2) domestic production gross receipts; (3) qualifying production property; (4) domestic/foreign fraction; and (5) special rules.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Teaching Fellows Act of 2003 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to States for Teaching and Partnership Fellows programs of scholarships for prospective public school teachers. Provides for scholarships: (1) under the Teaching program for high school seniors and second-year college students to encourage them to enter the teaching field and become career educators; and (2) under the Partnership program for individuals, such as teaching assistants and others currently in the education field, to complete a bachelor's degree with a State license or certification in education through partnerships among associate-and-bachelor-degree-granting institutions. Requires scholarship recipients to repay specified amounts if they do not fulfill certain obligations to teach in their State's public elementary or secondary schools, under such Federal Teaching and Partnership Fellows program.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that France, Germany, and Russia should: (1) work with the World Bank, the European Union, and other multilateral organizations to create a debt forgiveness program to assist Iraq in its reconstruction; and (2) recognize the responsibility that they bear for the transfer of military technology to a terrorist regime in Iraq and work to build stronger internal export controls so that such technology will no longer be exported to terrorist regimes, thus creating similar future debts.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Act of 2003 - Establishes the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in North Carolina and designates the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership as its management entity. Directs the Partnership to submit for approval by the Secretary of the Interior a management plan, which shall contain recommendations and strategies for the conservation, funding, management, and development of the Area. Prohibits the Partnership from using Federal funds to acquire real property. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance and financial assistance to the Partnership for developing and implementing the management plan.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, based on recommendations from the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Advisory Panel (established by this Act), to make grants, after a process of peer review and programmatic review, to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Constitutional Amendment - Requires that any bill, resolution, or other legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of that House voting and present, unless the bill is determined at the time of adoption not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for purposes of determining any increase, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Requires journal entry of any vote. Permits the waiver of such requirement, for up to two years, if there is a declaration of war or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security, and is so declared by a joint resolution which becomes law.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Constitutional Amendment - States that people retain the right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including schools. States that the United States and the States shall not establish any official religion nor require any person to join in prayer or religious activity.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Condemns the brutal crackdown of the Cuban Government on the island's peaceful pro-democracy movement. Calls for the immediate release of all Cuban political prisoners. Supports the right of the Cuban people to exercise fundamental political and civil liberties, including freedom of expression, assembly, association, movement, press, and the right to multiparty elections. Calls on the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, to work with the member countries of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to ensure a resolution that includes the strongest possible condemnation of the current crackdown of dissidents and of the gross human rights violations committed by the Cuban Government. Calls on the Latin American and Caribbean group (GRULAC) at the Commission to exclude Cuba from its slate of candidates for the Commission, and urges all member nations to oppose renewing Cuba's membership on the Commission until the Government of Cuba adheres to international human rights standards, such as those delineated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Viet Nam Human Rights Act of 2003 - Prohibits U.S. nonhumanitarian assistance to the Government of Viet Nam (except for any program assisted in FY 2003) unless the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the Government of Viet Nam has made substantial progress toward releasing all political and religious prisoners from imprisonment, including respecting freedom of religion and the human rights of members of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands or elsewhere in Viet Nam; and (2) neither any official of the Government of Viet Nam nor any entity owned by such Government was complicit in a severe form of trafficking in persons (or the Government of Viet Nam took appropriate steps to end such complicity). Authorizes the President to waive such requirements if increased U.S. nonhumanitarian assistance would promote the purposes of this Act or is otherwise in the U.S. national interest. Requires the President to ensure that certain human rights requirements are applied to multilateral nonhumanitarian assistance to Viet Nam by specified international financial institutions. Authorizes the President to provide U.S. assistance, through appropriate nongovernmental organizations, for the support of individuals and organizations to promote human rights and nonviolent democratic change in Viet Nam. Declares it is U.S. policy: (1) to take such measures as are necessary to overcome the jamming of Radio Free Asia by the Government of Viet Nam; and (2) that educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet Nam should promote progress toward freedom and democracy. Declares it is U.S. policy to offer refugee resettlement to Viet Nam nationals (including members of the Montagnard ethnic minority groups) who are eligible for the Orderly Departure Program or any other U.S. refugee program, but who were deemed ineligible for reasons of administrative error or certain circumstances beyond their control. Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to Congress on: (1) whether requirements in the President's determination and certification have been met, or on the President's waiver of such requirements; (2) U.S. efforts to secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in countries close to Viet Nam; (3) efforts to ensure that educational and cultural exchange programs with Viet Nam promote certain participation policies; (4) U.S. steps to offer refugee resettlement to certain Viet Nam nationals; (5) actions of the Government of Viet Nam reflecting compliance with or violation of human rights; (6) lists of persons believed to be persecuted by the Government of Viet Nam for their pursuit of human rights; and (7) a description of projects funded by multilateral organizations operating in Viet Nam.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Occupational Safety and Health Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to revise requirements relating to enforcing, contesting, reviewing, and adjudicating citations, failures to correct violations, and assessments of penalties. Exempts employers from a 15-day deadline for notifying the Secretary of Labor of their intent to contest OSHA citations, notices of uncorrected violations, and proposed penalties, if their failure to meet such deadline results from mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Limits what may be considered willful violations under OSHA. Requires the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) to give de novo consideration to evidence of the penalty's appropriateness with respect to these factors: (1) size and financial condition of the business of the employer; (2) gravity of the violation, considering probability of harm, nature and extent of the harm, number of affected employees, and other relevant factors; (3) employer's good faith, including efforts to comply or abate; (4) history and recentness of substantially similar previous violations of the cited employer at the same nonconstruction worksite and construction worksites in the same State; and (5) the employer's, employees', or other persons' degree of responsibility or culpability for the violation. Increases OSHRC membership from three to five. Awards attorney's fees and costs to a prevailing employer in an administrative adversary adjudication, or a judicial review of an action, instituted under OSHA, if at the time such adjudication was initiated or such action filed the employer had not more than: (1) 100 employees; and (2) $1,500,000 net worth. Revises judicial review provisions to require deference to be given to reasonable OSHRC conclusions with respect to all questions of law.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ballenger, Cass [R-NC-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000104_200.jpg)