United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
National Collegiate and Amateur Athletic Protection Act of 2001 - Directs the Attorney General to establish a prosecutorial task force on illegal wagering on amateur and collegiate sporting events. Increases penalties for illegal sports gambling. Requires: (1) the Director of the National Institute of Justice to study the extent to which minors participate in illegal sports gambling activities; and (2) the Attorney General to establish a panel to a study illegal college sports gambling. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to: (1) require each institution of higher education to designate one or more full-time senior officers of the institution to coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive program to reduce illegal gambling and gambling control disorders by students and employees; (2) condition receipt of financial aid on compliance with this Act; (3) specify that a recipient of athletically related student aid shall cease to be eligible for such aid upon a determination by either the institution of higher education or the applicable amateur sports organization that the recipient has engaged in illegal gambling activity, including sports bribery, in violation of the policies or by-laws of the institution or organization; and (4) require an institution of higher education that provides athletically related student aid to report annually to the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education. Expresses the sense of Congress that illegal sports gambling poses a significant threat to youth.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Quality Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program of student loan forgiveness in exchange for the borrower's commitment to three consecutive years of full-time teaching in low-income schools or special education teaching.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Persian Gulf War Illness Compensation Act of 2001 - Amends a veterans' benefits program of compensation for disabilities occurring in veterans of the Persian Gulf War to: (1) require such disabilities, to be compensable, to occur before December 31, 2011, or such later date as prescribed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (2) define an "undiagnosed illness" in such veterans as one manifested by specified symptoms or signs the cause, etiology, or origin of which cannot be specifically and definitely identified; and (3) include an undiagnosed illness having such a symptom or sign within the presumption of being service-connected and therefore treatable as a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a multistate comparative study for a report to Congress on mortality and adverse outcome rates of Medicare patients by providers of anesthesia services and by type of such providers. Requires the Secretary to revise any regulations establishing conditions of Medicare participation for hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers relating to anesthesia services to provide that nurse anesthetists may furnish such services under: (1) the medical direction of an immediately available anesthesiologist; (2) the supervision of an immediately available physician; or (3) a written collaboration agreement with an immediately available physician or physician group experienced in anesthesia administration and credentialed by the hospital and ambulatory surgical center to participate in such collaboration.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Establishes an Office of Management (OM) in the Executive Office of the President to improve Federal management and organization and to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of the Federal Government. Abolishes the following offices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and transfers their functions and authorities to the OM Director: (1) the Office of Federal Procurement Policy; (2) the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; (3) the Office of Federal Financial Management; (4) the Office of the Deputy Director for Management; and (5) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Redesignates OMB as the Office of the Federal Budget.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2001
Medicare Osteoporosis Measurement Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to define a qualified individual, for purposes of coverage of bone mass measurement, as any individual (currently, estrogen-deficient women) at clinical risk of osteoporosis.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2001
Deposit Insurance Fairness and Economic Opportunity Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth a schedule under which the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall transfer annually to the Financing Corporation (FICO), for payment of FICO interest obligations, such amounts as exceed 1.40 percent of the total estimated deposits insured by the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund, respectively, when amounts in both Funds exceed that percentage.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Franked Mail Savings Act of 2001 - Amends Federal postal law relating to franked mail to: (1) identify mass mailings as mailings of 250 (currently 500) pieces or more; and (2) prohibit a Member of the House of Representatives who is a candidate for reelection to mail a mass mailing postmarked fewer than 180 (currently 90) days before the date of the primary election involved. Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997 to require publication in the Congressional Record of the amount expended from the Members Representational Allowance of each Member of the House for mass mailings during the previous quarter.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Congratulates Ariel Sharon on his election as Israeli Prime Minister. Urges: (1) Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat to use his influence and resources to see that violence in the Middle East is brought to an end; and (2) countries that neighbor Israel and the international community to respect the freely expressed will of the Israeli people and to be prepared to engage in constructive relations with the new Israeli Government. Restates the U.S. commitment to a secure peace for Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Blind Empowerment Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) purchase the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Complex in Dixon, Illinois, and related personal property; (2) designate the Complex as the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site; (3) enter into a cooperative agreement with the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation for the management, operation, and use of the Site; and (4) complete a general management plan for the Site.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
School and Library Construction Affordability Act - Makes inapplicable to contracts for the construction and repair of schools and libraries the requirements of: (1) the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works); and (2) the Copeland Act (which requires the Secretary of Labor to regulate contractors and subcontractors engaged in the construction or repair of public buildings, public works, or federally-financed or federally-assisted buildings or works).
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Uniformed Services Tax Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that a member of the uniformed services shall be treated as using a principal residence while away from home on qualified official extended duty (in excess of 90 days or for an indefinite period) in determining the exclusion of gain from the sale of such residence, but only if the taxpayer owned and used the property as a principal residence for any period before such extended duty.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001 - Permits retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Repeals a special compensation program for certain severely disabled military retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Armed Services Absentee Ballot Act of 2001 - Prohibits a State from refusing to count a ballot submitted in an election for Federal office by an absent uniformed services voter on the grounds that the ballot was improperly or fraudulently cast, unless the State finds clear and convincing evidence of fraud in the preparation or casting of the ballot by the voter. Directs the Secretary of Defense to prepare and submit to Congress a plan for establishing a uniform electronic voting system for the use of absent uniformed services voters in elections for Federal office.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Broadband Internet Access Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the broadband credit which shall be the sum of: (1) the current generation broadband credit; plus (2) the next generation broadband credit. Defines terms.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Postmasters Fairness and Rights Act of 2001 - Amends Federal law to prescribe guidelines within which the Postal Service shall propose changes in pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefit programs affecting postmasters which are to be in effect during the period covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the Postal Service and certain recognized bargaining representatives. Grants certain qualified postmasters' organizations the right to participate in program planning and development pertaining to pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Keeping Our Promises to Special Education Act of 2001 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to authorize funding to reach the Federal Government's goal of providing 40 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure to assist States and local educational agencies with the excess costs of educating children with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations for IDEA part B programs of assistance for education of all children with disabilities, in specified amounts for FY 2002 through 2006, and as necessary thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Open Competition and Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit discrimination against any bidder on a prime contract for a federally funded project on the basis of a requirement that such person enter into or adhere to a collective bargaining agreement or any similar agreement as a condition of performing work on such contract.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Self-Employed Health Affordability Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction allowed for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to 100 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the wholesale distributor of certain drugs who is not the manufacturer or an authorized distributor of record for a calendar year (currently, the language "for a calendar year" is not in the Act) of a drug to provide to the recipient of the drug a statement identifying each prior sale, purchase, or trade of such drug.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude, subject to a $3,000 maximum exclusion (double for a joint return), from gross income a capital gain dividend which is: (1) distributed by a regulated investment company; and (2) automatically reinvested by the company in the stock of such company with respect to which the dividend is distributed.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2000
Armed Services Vote Rescue Act - Prohibits a State from refusing to count a ballot submitted in a Federal election by an absent uniformed services voter on the grounds that the ballot was improperly or fraudulently cast, unless the State finds clear and convincing evidence of fraud in the preparation or casting of the ballot by the voter.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2000
Establishes an Office of Management (OM) in the Executive Office of the President to improve Federal management and organization and to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of the Federal Government. Abolishes the following offices of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and transfers their functions and authorities to the OM Director: (1) the Office of Federal Procurement Policy; (2) the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs; (3) the Office of Federal Financial Management; (4) the Office of the Deputy Director for Management; and (5) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Redesignates OMB as the Office of the Federal Budget.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2000
Calls upon the President to: (1) take all appropriate action to provide relief from injury caused by steel imports; and (2) immediately request the U.S. Trade Commission to commence an expedited investigation for positive adjustment of such steel imports under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2000
Taxpayers' Choice Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual to designate three dollars on his or her income tax return (six dollars on a joint return) to be used to reduce the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act - Revises the bloodborne pathogens standard, in effect under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA), to include safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needleless systems, as examples of engineering controls designed to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens through needlestick and other percutaneous injuries. Requires certain employers to: (1) review and update exposure control plans to reflect changes in technology that eliminate or reduce such exposure, and document their consideration and implementation of appropriate commercially available and effective safer medical devices for such purpose; (2) maintain a sharps injury log, noting the type and brand of device used, where the injury occurred, and an explanation of the incident (exempting employers who are not required to maintain specified OSHA logs); and (3) seek input on such engineering and work practice controls from the affected health care workers (exempting employers who are not required to establish exposure control plans). Requires such modifications of the standard to: (1) be in force until superseded by regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor under OSHA; and (2) take effect without regard to specified procedural requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2000
Recognizes the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Acknowledges the contributions of children with disabilities, their parents, teachers, related services personnel, and administrators. Reaffirms support for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so that all children with disabilities have access to a free public education.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Parents' Empowerment Act - Authorizes a minor, through a person acting on the minor's behalf, to obtain relief in a civil action in U.S. district court against anyone who knowingly sells or distributes in interstate or foreign commerce an entertainment product containing material that is harmful to minors if: (1) a reasonable person would expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material; and (2) the minor, as a result of exposure to that material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare. Declares it to be an affirmative defense to such action that an act of a parent or guardian who owned the entertainment product was the proximate cause of the minor's exposure to the harmful material.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow a State to preempt the Federal minimum wage if the State: (1) sets a minimum wage rate of at least $5.15 per hour (the current Federal minimum wage); and (2) applies that rate to as many workers in the State as would otherwise be covered by the Federal minimum wage rate. Exempts employers in such a State from Federal minimum wage rate requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2000
Scientifically Based Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information Act of 2000 - Requires that a specified portion of amounts for discretionary programs of the Department of Education (ED) be made available for FY 2002 through 2006 to carry out certain programs under titles I and II of this Act. Title I: National Academy for Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information - Establishes a National Academy for Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information (the Academy) as an independent agency in the executive branch, whose Director shall: (1) coordinate with the Secretary of Education to ensure that ED and each of the Centers within the Academy use common sources of data in standardized formats; and (2) ensure that the Commissioner of each Center (under title II, subtitle A) establishes and maintains a regular schedule of data releases for all of the information it collects, with such data to be archived in electronic format and made accessible to the public in a timely fashion. (Sec. 102) Provides for the Academy's board of directors, which is to be known as the National Board for Education Research, Statistics, Evaluation, and Information. (Sec. 103) Establishes within the Academy a National Education Library and Clearinghouse Office (Library), to be headed by a Deputy Director appointed by the Director. Title II: National Centers for Education Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; National Assessment Governing Board - Subtitle A: National Centers for Education Research, Evaluation, and Information - Chapter 1: National Center for Education Research - Establishes within the Academy a National Center for Education Research (NCER). (Sec. 203) Requires the President to appoint a Commissioner of Educational Research (CER), who will head NCER and appoint a Senior Scientist and staff. (Sec. 204) Requires NCER to oversee and support the conduct of an evaluative summary of the primary education priority areas of each of the National Research and Development Centers (NRDCs) which are eligible grantees. Directs CER, on the basis of an NRDC's priorities and research plan, and the extent to which its work has met the standards of scientifically valid research, to: (1) extend or renegotiate any existing grant, contract, or cooperative agreement for a period not to extend beyond FY 2005; or (2) terminate it or prohibit its renewal. (Sec. 205) Establishes within NCER a Committee for Education Research. (Sec. 208) Requires NCER to: (1) ensure that research under its direction follows scientific standards, is published in peer-reviewed journals, and comply with Federal guidelines regarding research misconduct; (2) develop other necessary standards for research conduct and evaluation; (3) review procedures of other Federal agencies engaged in research and development, and solicit recommendations from research organizations and the public; and (4) use specified minimum standards with regard to awarding of funds and evaluation of applicants and recipients of such funds. Chapter 2: National Center for Program Evaluation - Establishes within the Academy a National Center for Program Evaluation (NCPE). (Sec. 212) Requires the President to appoint a Commissioner for Program Evaluation (CPE). (Sec. 213) Requires NCPE to: (1) evaluate programs under title I (Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), other Federal education programs as determined by the Director, and education programs on a contractual basis for other Federal or State agencies; and (2) administer all operations and contracts associated with evaluations under ESEA title I (which are currently administered by ED), including the national assessment, a longitudinal evaluation of the effectiveness of school interventions, and national longitudinal surveys of schools. Sets forth quality standards and other requirements for such evaluations. (Sec. 214) Authorizes CPE to establish one or more independent review panels for each evaluation, or set of evaluations, to assist NCPE. Chapter 3: National Center for Education Statistics - National Education Statistics Act of 2000 - Reauthorizes, revises, and establishes within the Academy the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). (Sec. 224) Requires the President to appoint the Commissioner for Education Statistics (CES), who heads NCES and appoints a Deputy Commissioner, Associate Commissioners, and staff. Extends the term of CES to six years. (Sec. 225) Requires NCES to collect, analyze, and disseminate statistics and other information related to education in the United States and in other nations, including specified types of data. Directs CES to make customer service a priority and ensure customer satisfaction through certain means. Authorizes CES to establish: (1) a program to train employees of public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in the use of NCES's standard statistical procedures and concepts; and (2) a fellows program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows to assist NCES. (Sec. 226) Authorizes CES to award grants, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements, on a competitive basis, for a maximum five-year period, and to renew such grants for an additional maximum five-year period. Gives CES final authority within the Academy with respect to decisions regarding the implementation of data collection activities, including the appropriateness of specific collection methodologies, except with respect to the National Assessment of Educational Progress under subtitle B of this title. Authorizes CES to use: (1) the statistical sampling method; (2) information collected from specified types of sources; and (3) interagency agreements or other arrangements with any agencies, organizations, or institutions for collection of information. Directs CES to: (1) provide technical assistance to ED offices that gather data for statistical purposes; (2) coordinate closely with other ED offices in the collection of data; and (3) notify sources of information, at least six months advance, of hardware and software requirements for new collection activities for which electronic submission will be required, and of any other new requirements for data collection and submission. (Sec. 227) Directs CES to submit to the President and the appropriate congressional committees, an annual statistical report on the condition and progress of education in the United States, and to issue regular statistical reports on appropriate education topics. (Sec. 228) Establishes within NCES an Advisory Council for Education Statistics. (Sec. 229) Requires NCES to develop and enforce confidentiality standards. Prohibits use of individually identifiable information for any purpose other than statistical. Sets forth confidentiality provisions relating to NCES administration, employees, staff, temporary staff, and penalties. Allows access to NCES records, including individual identifiers, by the Academy Director, the U.S. Comptroller General, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Librarian of Congress; but makes disclosure restrictions applicable to such officials. (Sec. 230) Directs NCES to: (1) provide State and local educational agencies (SEAs and LEAs) opportunities to suggest development of particular compilations of statistics, surveys, and analyses that would assist those agencies; (2) furnish special statistical compilations and surveys at the request of appropriate congressional committees; (3) provide access to other Federal agencies needing educational data it receives; and (4) provide all interested parties, for research and statistical information purposes, direct access to data it collects. Allows NCES to: (1) furnish copies of statistical records; and (2) make special statistical compilations and surveys for various entities and to charge fees for such work or services. Authorizes CES to engage in joint statistical projects with various entities. (Sec. 231) Authorizes CES to establish and provide grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and technical assistance for one or more: (1) national cooperative education statistics systems; and (2) postsecondary education data advisory groups. Subtitle B: National Assessment Governing Board and National Assessment of Educational Progress - Chapter 1: National Assessment Governing Board - Establishes within the Academy the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), which shall have full authority to formulate policy and carry out the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Sets forth requirements for establishment of policy for NAEP. Makes NAGB independent of the Director and the other offices and officers of the Academy. (Sec. 252) Directs NAGB to establish policy for the NAEP (which collectively refers to a long-term trend assessment, national assessment, and State assessments), and carry it out through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with one or more qualified entities or consortia. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) the schedule for such assessments, including frequency, student ages, grades, and subject areas; (2) prohibited data; (3) public access and confidentiality; (4) voluntary participation by SEAs and LEAs; (5) non-Federal share; (6) student performance levels; (7) reviews and reports; and (8) coverage agreements with schools operated by the Department of Defense or operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. (Sec. 253) Prohibits use of funds by ED, NAGB, the Academy, or an applicable program for activities related to any federally sponsored national test in reading, mathematics, or any other subject that is not specifically and explicitly provided for in authorizing legislation enacted into law. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study or other international comparative assessments developed under the authority of specified provisions of this Act and administered only to a representative sample of pupils in the United States and in foreign nations. Repeals specified provisions of the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 1999 (Public Law 105-277) relating to the authority of the NAGB over the direction and all policies and guidelines for developing voluntary national tests. Title III: Activities Within the Department of Education - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to replace provisions for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Establishes the Office of Planning, Performance Measurement, and Technical Assistance. Requires the Office Director to provide: (1) assistance for planning and program performance measurement; (2) assistance to SEAs and LEAs in developing and maintaining management information systems; (3) technical assistance and information dissemination for the regional comprehensive technical assistance and reform initiatives which the Office Director establishes and coordinates, and (4) technical assistance and information dissemination for a school-based customer driven technical assistance program under which the Secretary shall award competitive grants to States. (Sec. 302) Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget provide for a transition of the activities described in this Act previously administered through the Department of Education (ED) and transferred under this Act. (Sec. 402) Repeals: (1) the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994; (2) the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (which is title IV of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994); and (3) specified provisions relating to educational research, Federal evaluations, demonstrations, and transition projects, or national education statistics under the Department of Education Organization Act, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, ESEA, and the General Education Provisions Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2000
Great Smoky Mountains Clean Air Act of 2000 - Amends the Clean Air Act to identify aggregate emission reduction objectives in connection with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) powerplants. Sets a modernization deadline for outdated TVA powerplants. Prohibits TVA from increasing hydroelectric energy generation in order to achieve such mandated objectives if the increase would require a drawdown of any contiguous lake or reservoir between Memorial Day and August 1.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2000
Congratulates: (1) the people and Government of the United Mexican States for the successful completion of the democratic multiparty elections for president and the legislature; and (2) President-elect Vincente Fox for his election victory and his commitment to democracy and a free-market oriented economy. Commends all Mexican citizens and political parties for their participation in the democratic process and their support for the strengthening of their democracy. Reaffirms the United States friendship with Mexico and our unequivocal commitment to encouraging democracy throughout Latin America.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2000
Retirement Security Advice Act of 2000 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to allow prohibited transaction exemptions under specified conditions to: (1) a fiduciary adviser's providing certain investment advice to an employee benefit plan or to a participant or beneficiary of such plan; (2) sale, acquisition, or holding of securities or other property (including any extension of credit associated with these) pursuant to such advice; and (3) direct or indirect receipt of fees or other compensation by the fiduciary adviser or an affiliate in connection with providing such advice.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) reiterates its condemnation of the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and honors the victims; and (2) desires a lasting, warm relationship between the United States and Argentina built on mutual abhorrence of terrorism and commitments to peace, stability, and democracy in the Western Hemisphere. Urges the Government of Argentina to pursue the local and international connections to such terrorist act and to duly punish all those who were involved. Calls on the President to: (1) raise this issue in bilateral discussions with Argentine officials and to underscore U.S. concern regarding the six-year delay in the resolution of this case; and (2) direct U.S. law enforcement agencies to provide support and cooperation to such Government, if requested, for purposes of the investigation into this bombing and terrorist activities in the tri-border area. Recommends that the United States Representative to the Organization of American States seek support from countries comprising the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism to assist, if required by that Government, in the investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude, subject to a $3,000 maximum exclusion (double for a joint return), from gross income a capital gain dividend: (1) which is distributed by a regulated investment company; and (2) which is automatically reinvested by the company in the stock of such company with respect to which the dividend is distributed.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2000
Broadband Internet Access Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the broadband credit which shall be the sum of: (1) the current generation broadband credit; plus; (2) the next generation broadband credit. Defines terms. Requires a study and report.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Health Care Access and Rural Equality Act of 2000 - Title I: Increase in Market Basket Percentage Adjustment for Rural Hospitals - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for an increase in the market basket percentage adjustment for rural hospitals. Title II: Capital Relief for Rural Health Care Infrastructure - Amends part A (Determination of Benefits) of SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to establish a Capital Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services may make loans up to a specified amount from the loan and loan guarantee fund to any rural entity for projects for capital improvements. Title III: Refinement of the Medicare Dependent, Small Rural Hospital Program - Amends SSA title XVIII to make the Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital program permanent and to give any hospital under such program the option of basing eligibility for payment on discharges during any of the three most recent audited cost reporting periods in lieu of the current basing of eligibility for payment on discharges during the cost reporting period beginning in FY 1987. Title IV: Exemption for Medicare Swing Bed Hospitals - Amends SSA title XVIII to exempt Medicare swing bed hospitals from the prospective payment system for skilled nursing facilities. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 to make January 1, 2001, the effective date of the elimination of certain restrictions with respect to the hospital swing bed program. Title V: Treatment of Physician Pathology Services - Provides for the treatment of certain physician pathology services under Medicare. Title VI: Medicaid Payment Correction for Certain Rural Health Clinics - Prohibits a State plan approved under SSA title XIX (Medicaid) from recouping or denying certain alleged plan overpayments for rural health clinic services furnished on or after January 1, 1998, and before October 1, 2000. Prohibits the Secretary from withholding, suspending, disallowing, or denying Federal financial participation under Medicaid with respect to such overpayments. Requires the State or the Secretary, as the case may be, to pay to the rural health clinic or the State, as the case may be, any amounts recouped, denied, withheld, suspended, or disallowed. Title VII: Technical Corrections to the Balanced Budget Refinement Act - Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to: (1) payments to critical access hospitals for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests; (2) the all-inclusive payment option for outpatient critical access hospital services; and (3) the option to use rebased target amounts to all sole community hospitals. Makes technical corrections to the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 with regard to clinical diagnostic laboratory services furnished by a critical access hospital and other specified matters. Amends Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to authorize the Secretary to make grants of up to a specified amount to applicant hospitals to assist eligible small rural hospitals in meeting the costs of establish data systems required to meet requirements established under Medicare pursuant to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2000
Recognizes that the Birmingham Pledge has made a significant contribution in fostering racial harmony and reconciliation in the United States and around the world. Commends the people involved with the Pledge's creation and signatories to it for the steps they are taking to make the Nation and the world a better place for all people. Expresses the sense of Congress that a National Birmingham Pledge Week should be established.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Agricultural Opportunities Act - Title I: Agricultural Worker Registries - Directs the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to establish a database system of U.S. worker and eligible alien agricultural worker registries to provide temporary and seasonal agricultural job opportunity and referral information. States that such registries may be established as part of the "America's Job Bank" and "America's Talent Bank" databases. Bases registry coverage on job opportunities in a single State, except for the New England States which may be represented by a single registry. Requires prospective employers of H-2C visa agricultural workers to first apply for registry workers before a petition to import H-2C workers may be approved. Sets forth individual registrant requirements. States that an agricultural worker may apply for registry inclusion in the State of his or her residency. Grants referral preference to U.S. workers. Directs the Attorney General to establish an employment eligibility verification system. Title II: H-2C Program - Sets forth registry application requirements for H-2C employers and employer associations, including assurances: (1) that the job opportunity is not the result of a labor dispute, and is temporary or seasonal; (2) respecting required wages and benefits, and compliance with labor laws; (3) respecting advertising in the registry and other labor market sources, and contact of former employees; and (4) respecting provision of workers compensation. Provides that: (1) the Secretary, upon application approval, shall complete a registry search and notify an employer of available registered workers within seven days of the beginning work date; (2) if insufficient workers are available, the Secretary shall so notify an employer, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State; (3) an employer shall pay a user fee for each admitted alien worker; (4) an employer may apply directly to the Secretary of State for alien worker admissions if such worker referral has not been received within the seven-day period; and (5) an employer may file a request for redetermination of need. (Sec. 204) Sets forth employment requirements with respect to: (1) wages; (2) housing; (3) transportation reimbursement; and (4) obligation to employ U.S. workers. (Sec. 205) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an alternative agricultural temporary worker program (H-2C visa) for admission of aliens who are outside the United States. Sets forth program provisions. States that nothing in this title shall preclude the Secretary and the Attorney General from continuing to apply special procedures to alien employment in the range production of livestock. Directs the Attorney General to establish an H-2C departure verification program. . Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary to establish a process to receive and enforce complaints against employers by aggrieved persons or third party organizations (including bargaining representatives). Sets forth related provisions respecting: (1) expedited investigation of housing, wage, and child labor violations; (2) written notice of findings and opportunity for appeal; (3) ability of alien workers to change employers; and (4) remedies. Establishes the Commission on Housing Migrant Agricultural Workers which shall study the problem of in-season housing for migrant agricultural workers. Directs the Secretaries of Labor, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services to conduct a study of migrant worker child care, including the relationship between such child care and child labor violations in agriculture. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture to conduct a study of agricultural field sanitation conditions. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of persistent and serious agricultural labor standards violations. (Sec. 302) Authorizes and requests the Attorney General to establish bilateral commissions between the United States and each country having specified numbers of H-2C workers in the United States. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to establish registry user and alien employment user fee schedules and related collection processes. (Sec. 305) States that additional funds for agricultural worker registry startup costs may be taken from amounts available to Federal or State entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act. (Sec. 308) Sets forth the termination date for the this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2000
Designates the United States Postal Service facility located at 114 Ridge Street in Lenoir, North Carolina, as the James T. Broyhill Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2000
Cuban Internal Opposition Assistance Act of 2000 - Instructs the President to: (1) use specified funds to implement assistance for victims of the most extreme political repression and to assist independent nongovernmental opposition organizations inside Cuba; (2) ensure adequate verification and monitoring of such funds' destination; and (3) authorize issuance of licenses to independent nongovernmental organizations to send monetary remittances to independent nongovernmental opposition organizations to implement specified activities under the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Historically Women's Public Colleges or Universities Historic Building Restoration and Preservation Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to historically women's public colleges or universities (institutions) for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and structures on their campuses. Requires such grants to be awarded from appropriations for FY 2001 through 2005 under the National Historic Preservation Act. Sets forth: (1) grant conditions; (2) a 20 percent non-Federal funds matching requirement; and (3) a limitation on the total amount of such grants in a fiscal year. Requires such amount for FY 2001 to be distributed equally among the following institutions: (1) Mississippi University for Women; (2) Georgia College and State University; (3) University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina; (4) Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina; (5) University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama; (6) Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas; and (7) University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Requires such amounts for FY 2002 through 2005 also to be distributed among such institutions if they remain eligible and wish to participate, on a uniform basis, for such fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Prosecution Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison Act of 2000 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to State or local prosecutors for the purpose of developing, implementing, or expanding drug treatment alternative to prison programs. Sets forth provisions regarding permissible uses of grant funds, the Federal cost share (75 percent), program and application requirements, geographic distribution of grant awards, reports, and evaluations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Amends Federal law to direct the Postal Service to establish a special (semipostal) postage rate for first-class mail in order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial. Expresses the sense of Congress that nothing in this Act should: (1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total funds received by the American Battle Monuments Commission below the level that would otherwise have been received but for the enactment of this section; or (2) affect regular first-class rates of postage or any other regular rates of postage.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Fairness in Textile Trade Act of 2000 - Declares that it shall be U.S. policy to negotiate, within the World Trade Organization (WTO), reciprocal market access in trade in textile and apparel goods, with no concessions in addition to those in effect upon enactment of this Act, unless and until the United States has negotiated substantially similar market access with each WTO member country. Directs the President to determine annually whether each WTO member country allows access in its markets to U.S. textile and apparel goods substantially similar to the access provided in U.S. markets to that country's textile and apparel goods. Requires the President to impose quotas, tariffs, or other measures on the textile and apparel products of any such country whose access allowance for U.S. textile and apparel goods is less favorable than that provided by the United States to that country's textile and apparel goods, in order to make access in the markets of both countries substantially similar. Requires the President to: (1) seek to negotiate agreements with any such country to remove the tariff and nontariff barriers to trade in textile and apparel goods that were the basis of the less favorable access determination; and (2) adjust the measures imposed, if such agreements are reached, to make the reciprocal market access substantially similar. Authorizes civil actions in Federal court by textile and apparel goods producers, distributors, or retailers for damages arising from the fraudulent acts of importers. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend from 26 to 52 weeks the benefit period (including any additional period) for trade readjustment allowances for adversely affected workers enrolled in training programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a tax credit equal to 50 percent of the amount paid for coverage for the taxpayer and family under qualified health insurance during a period that the taxpayer or spouse is receiving trade adjustment assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2000
Training and Education for American Workers Act of 2000 - Amends the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (as contained in title IV of division C of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277)) to revise provisions for the use of amounts deposited into the H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account for demonstration programs and projects to provide technical skills training for employed and unemployed workers. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) use 75 percent of such funds to award grants to provide such training for any skill shortage related to a specialty occupation, as defined under the Immigration and Nationality Act; and (2) transfer 25 percent of such funds to the Secretary of Education for a student loan forgiveness program for mathematics, science, and reading teachers. Revises such training grant eligibility provisions for local boards and local, regional, or multi-State consortia. Requires 25 percent matching funds from grantees. Gives priority for such training grants to programs or projects that train employed and unemployed workers in skills that are in shortage in the high technology, information technology, and biotechnology fields, including software and communications services, telecommunications, systems installation and integration, computers and communications hardware, health care technology, biotechnology, and biomedical research, manufacturing, and innovation services. Requires grantees to make active efforts to recruit and train individuals traditionally underrepresented in information technology occupations, such as minorities, women, low-wage workers, workers residing in empowerment zones and enterprise communities, and individuals with a disability. Establishes such student loan forgiveness program, for specified loans made under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), for new borrowers after October 1, 1998, who have been employed as full-time teachers of mathematics, science, or a related field, or have been full-time teachers responsible for providing reading instruction in any of grades kindergarten through third grade, for three consecutive complete school years in schools that qualify under specified HEA provisions.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ballenger, Cass [R-NC-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000104_200.jpg)