United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Recognizes the special legal and political relationship the Indian tribes have with the United States and the solemn covenant with the land we share. Commends and honors the Native Peoples for the thousands of years that they have stewarded and protected this land. Acknowledges years of official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the Federal Government regarding Indian tribes. Apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on them by U.S. citizens. Expresses the regret of the United States for the ramifications of former offenses and its commitment to build on the positive relationships of the past and present to move toward reconciliation. Urges the President to acknowledge the offenses of the United States against Indian tribes in U.S. history. Commends the State governments that have begun reconciliation efforts with recognized Indian tribes located in their boundaries, and encourages all State governments to do the same. Declares that nothing in this Joint Resolution authorizes any claim against the United States or serves as a settlement of any claim against it.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2004
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) conduct a feasibility study to determine the most feasible method of meeting the present and future water supply and related storage requirements within the area served by the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado, including the potential enlargement of Fryingpan-Arkansas facilities; and (2) enter into contracts with any entity, private or public for the use of excess capacity in such Project for the purpose of diverting, storing, impounding, pumping, exchanging, or conveying nonproject water for irrigation, domestic, municipal and industrial, or any other beneficial purpose; and (3) enter into new and renewal contracts with the City of Aurora, Colorado, or an enterprise of the City, for a specified term, for the use of excess capacity in such Project for the purpose of diverting, storing, impounding, pumping, exchanging, or conveying nonproject water for irrigation, domestic, municipal and industrial, or any other beneficial purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2004
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4985 Moorhead Avenue in Boulder, Colorado, as the "Donald G. Brotzman Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2004
Provides that any retirement plan maintained by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Retirement Fund as of January 1, 2003, shall be treated as a church plan under provisions relating to tax-exempt pension and other employee benefit plans of the Internal Revenue Code. Exempts YMCA retirement plans from certain limitations applicable to church plans. Allows YMCA retirement plans to qualify for tax treatment as money purchase pension plans and church self-funded death benefit plans.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2004
Declares that Congress: (1) recognizes the 60th anniversary of the World War II Battle of the Bulge; (2) honors those who gave their lives during the battle; and (3) reaffirms the bonds of friendship between the United States and both Belgium and Luxembourg.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2004
Amends Federal transportation law to require the National Driver Registry to include information that specifies if an individual has been convicted in the previous ten years of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of, or impaired by, alcohol or a controlled substance. Authorizes a State or local prosecutor and district attorney to obtain from the State chief driver licensing official certain Registry information about a driver who is under investigation for a traffic related offense.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2004
Alcohol Without Liquid Machine Safety Act of 2004 - Prohibits the introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any alcohol without liquid machine without premarket approval by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs. Requires approval only if the applicant demonstrates that the machine is safe. Defines an "alcohol without liquid machine" as a device designated or marketed for the purpose of mixing alcohol with oxygen or another gas to produce a mist for inhalation for recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2004
Constitutional Amendment - Marriage Protection 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 from being construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred upon any union other than that of a man and a woman.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2004
Requires the Secretary of each military department, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, to establish a program as prescribed in this Act to provide educational assistance to members of the Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned. Makes eligible for such benefits on or after September 11, 2001, members of Reserve components who: (1) served on active duty in support of contingency operations for at least 90 consecutive days; or (2) in the case of an Army or Air National Guard member, performed full time duty for at least 90 consecutive days for the purpose of responding to a national emergency declared by the President and supported by Federal funds. Creates an exception to the 90-day requirement for members released from duty because of injury, illness, or disease incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. States that members remain entitled to such educational assistance if ordered to active duty while serving in the Selected Reserve or the Ready Reserve. Terminates educational assistance for disabled members 10 years from the date of entitlement. Requires educational assistance under this Act to be provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2004
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1001 Williams Street in Ignacio, Colorado, as the "Leonard C. Burch Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2004
American Heroes Act - Authorizes each State to provide one statue of an individual representing that State to be displayed in the Capitol Visitor Center. Specifies criteria for such statues. Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to assign jointly to one of their employees the post of the American Hero Administrator to prepare statue guidelines. Requires: (1) a State to establish an American Hero Commission to select the individual to represent that State; and (2) the Architect of the Capitol to procure and install a statue honoring the passengers of United Airlines flight number 93 who died on September 11, 2001, for their heroic role in protecting Washington, D.C. from attack.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2004
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 222 West 8th Street in Durango, Colorado, as the "Ben Nighthorse Campbell Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2004
Aviation Biometric Technology Utilization Act - Amends Federal transportation law to change from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue guidance for the use of biometrics or other technology that positively verifies the identity of each airport employee and law enforcement officer who enters a secure area of an airport. Prescribes minimum requirements for such guidance. Directs the Under Secretary to establish: (1) a law enforcement officer travel credential that incorporates biometrics and is uniform across all Federal, State, and local government law enforcement agencies; (2) a process by which the travel credential will be used to verify the identity of a Federal, State, or local government law enforcement officer seeking to carry a weapon on board an aircraft, without unnecessarily disclosing to the public that the individual is a law enforcement officer; and (3) related procedures. Requires the Under Secretary to begin issuance of the travel credential to each Federal, State, and local government law enforcement officer authorized to carry a weapon on board an aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2004
NASA and JPL 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to mint and issue: (1) ten dollar gold coins; (2) five dollar gold coins; (3) one dollar silver coins; and (4) half-dollar silver coins emblematic of the 50 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of NASA and JPL. Directs each Federal agency and U.S. instrumentality that has in its possession any craft or any part of a craft that flew in space to: (1) retrieve any gold, silver, copper, and other precious metal that may be used in the production of any coins under this Act from such craft or part; and (2) deposit such metals with the Director of the United States Mint. Requires that all sales of coins minted under this Act include a surcharge of : (1) $75 per coin for the ten dollar coin; (2) $35 per coin for the five dollar coin; (3) $10 per coin for the one dollar coin; and (4) $3 for the half-dollar coin, which shall be paid by the Secretary to the NASA Family Assistance Fund for the purposes of providing financial assistance to the families of NASA personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2004
Recognizes the importance of honoring the Nation's children. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that a National Children's Day should be established in honor of the Nation's children. Encourages adult citizens of the United States to set aside time to support, embrace, and listen to a child.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2004
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the actions of terrorists will never cause the date of any Presidential election to be postponed; and (2) no single individual or agency should be given the authority to postpone the date of such an election.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2004
Child Support Improvement Act of 2004 - Amends parts A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) and D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) modify the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF; (2) increase child support payments to families; (3) revise child support distribution rules; (4) ban the recovery of Medicaid (SSA title XIX) costs for the birth of children for whom support rights have been assigned; and (5) change from mandatory to discretionary the authority of States to retain certain support rights assignments after a certain date (thus giving them the option to discontinue such assignments), and allow to remain assigned any rights assigned before enactment of this Act to a State to support obligations accruing before the date a family first receives TANF (thus giving States the option to discontinue such assignments). Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to provide for: (1) a decrease in the amount of child support arrearage triggering passport denial; (2) use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors; (3) garnishment of compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities in order to enforce child support obligations; and (4) revised interstate enforcement. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to specified congressional committees on the procedures States use to locate custodial parents for whom child support has been collected but not yet distributed. Provides for the use of new hire information to assist in the administration of unemployment compensation programs under SSA title IV part D. Amends Federal money and finance law to modify Federal debt collection practices. Amends SSA title IV part D to provide for the maintenance of technical assistance and Federal Parent Locator Service funding. Provides for the electronic disbursement of child support payments to families. Allows States to expand their State disbursement unit to create a centralized payment location for all child support wage withholding. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to implement the medical support performance measure developed under the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998. Prohibits the Secretary from requiring the State of Texas to apply for a waiver from applicable requirements to continue to operate the State's program for monitoring and enforcement of a child support court order without the necessity of a written application.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2004
Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps Act of 2004 - Establishes A Healthy Forest Youth Conservation Corps to be composed of young adults enrolled as members of a service and conservation corps covered by a contract or cooperative agreement to work on projects to prevent fire and suppress fires, rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires, and provide disaster relief. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements directly with any service and conservation corps or State department of natural resources, agriculture, or forestry to carry out such projects. Directs the Secretaries to give priority to certain projects, including projects that will: (1) reduce hazardous fuels on public lands; (2) restore public land affected or threatened by disease or insect infestation; (3) rehabilitate public land affected or altered by fires; (4) assess public land at a high risk of reburn; and (5) address public land located near a municipal watershed and water supply.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2004
Veterans Medical Facilities Management Act of 2004 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into contracts for major medical facility leases at specified locations. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer real property to another department or agency of the United States, to a State, or to any public or private entity including Indian Tribes. Establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs Capital Asset Fund which may be used for costs associated with: (1) current or future real property transfers under this Act; (2) the improvement of patient care facilities for veterans; and (3) the transfer, lease, or adaptive use of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Terminates the nursing home revolving fund. Sets forth procedures for the transfer of real property. Requires the Secretary to submit reports on historic properties to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives. Authorizes the use of certain construction and maintenance project funds for the construction or relocation of surface parking lots incidental to such projects. Removes the congressional review requirement otherwise applicable to the obligation of funds for major medical facilities where funds have been authorized by law. Specifies that the construction, alteration, repair, remodeling, or improvement of property under an enhanced-use lease is not subject to State or local land use laws unless otherwise provided by the Secretary. Amends the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act to extend authority for the long-term care pilot programs established by that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2004
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a study to determine the most feasible method of meeting water supply and related storage requirements within the area served by the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado (the Project), including the potential enlargement of Fryingpan-Arkansas facilities. Directs the Secretary to take into consideration the Preferred Storage Options Plan Report published September 21, 2000, by the Southeastern Colorado Water and Storage Needs Assessment Enterprise and Final PSOP Implementation Committee Report dated April 19, 2001 (PSOP Reports), the intergovernmental agreement dated May 27, 2004 among the Cities of Pueblo, Aurora, Fountain, and Colorado Springs, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and the Board of Water Works of Pueblo, Colorado, and the need to ensure compliance with the Arkansas River Compact as executed by the States of Colorado and Kansas on December 14, 1948. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts with any entity, including those operating or participating in a water bank established pursuant to Colorado law, for the use of excess capacity in the Project for the purpose of diverting, storing, impounding, pumping, exchanging, or conveying non-project water for irrigation or domestic, municipal, or industrial purposes. Requires the Secretary to take into consideration the PSOP Reports and the need to ensure compliance with the Arkansas River Compact. Directs the Secretary to establish charges for the use of excess capacity. Sets forth provisions regarding the diversion, storage, impoundment, pumping, exchange, or conveyance of non-project water.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2004
Children's Hospitals Education Equity and Research (CHEER) Act of 2004 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments through FY 2010 (currently, through FY 2005) to children's hospitals for costs associated with operating approved graduate medical resident training programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2004
Post-Abortion Depression Research and Care Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to expand and intensify research and related activities of the Institute with respect to post-abortion depression and post-abortion psychosis. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to: (1) conduct or support research to expand the understanding of the causes of, and to find a cure for, post-abortion conditions; and (2) conduct a national longitudinal study to determine the incidence and prevalence of cases of post-abortion conditions and the symptoms, severity, and duration of such cases, toward the goal of more fully identifying the characteristics of such cases and developing diagnostic techniques. Requires the Secretary to make grants to establish, operate, and coordinate effective and cost-efficient systems for the delivery of essential services to individuals with post-abortion depression or post-abortion psychosis.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2004
Long-Term Care Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income distributions from an individual retirement account and other tax-exempt retirement plans used to pay long-term care insurance premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2004
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for the regulation of tobacco products by the Secretary of Health and Human Services through the Food and Drug Administration, including through disclosure, annual registration, inspection, recordkeeping, and user fee requirements. Sets forth criteria by which tobacco products are deemed adulterated or misbranded. Allows the Secretary to require prior approval of all label statements. Allows the Secretary to restrict the sale or distribution of tobacco products, including advertising and promotion, if the Secretary determines that such regulation would be appropriate for the protection of the public health. Prohibits such regulations from: (1) limiting product sales or distribution to authorization of a practitioner licensed to prescribe medical products; (2) prohibiting product sales in face-to-face transactions by a specific category of retail outlets; or (3) establishing a minimum age greater than 18 years of age for product purchases. Prohibits cigarettes from containing any artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, cinnamon, or coffee. Requires the Secretary to establish tobacco product standards to protect the public health, but reserves to Congress the power to ban any tobacco products or reduce the nicotine level to zero. Allows the Secretary to take specified actions, including public notification and recall, against unreasonably harmful products. Requires premarket approval of all new tobacco products. Sets forth standards for the sale of modified risk tobacco products. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) judicial review; (2) coordination with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); (3) congressional review of regulations; and (4) state and local authority. Requires the Secretary to establish a Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee. Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to change cigarette warning label and advertising requirements. Amends the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to change smokeless tobacco warning label and advertising requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2004
Legal Expense Equity Act of 2004 - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize parties in civil diversity litigation to serve written settlement offers on an adverse party at any time not less than 10 days before trial. Authorizes the court, at any time before judgment is entered, to exempt from settlement any claim that presents a novel and important question of law or fact that substantially affects nonparties. Voids all settlement offers made by the parties with respect to such exempted claims. Authorizes an offeror whose proposed settlement was declined by an offeree to file a petition with the court seeking payment by the offeree of costs and fees, including attorney's fees, from the date of the last settlement offer by either party if the ultimate judgment or order is not more favorable to the offeree than the proposed settlement. Requires the court to order payment by the offeree in such circumstances unless requiring payment would be manifestly unjust. Limits attorney's fees ordered under this Act to: (1) the actual attorney's fees incurred by the offeree in connection with the claim; or (2) if no such cost was incurred due to a contingency fee agreement, a reasonable cost that would have been incurred by the offeree absent a contingency fee agreement. States that this Act does not apply to claims seeking equitable remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2004
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2004 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require an abortion provider, before beginning any abortion of a pain-capable unborn child (defined as an unborn child who has reached a probable stage of development of 20 weeks after fertilization), to: (1) make a specified statement to the pregnant woman that Congress has determined that there is substantial evidence that the process will cause the unborn child pain, and that the mother has the option of having pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the child; (2) provide to the woman an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure (unless she waives receipt) and an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Decision Form; and (3) obtain on the form the woman's signature and her explicit request for or refusal of the administration of drugs to the child. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop the brochure and form. Makes such provisions inapplicable to a provider in the case of a medical emergency. Requires the provider to certify that a medical emergency exists. Sets penalties for false statements. Establishes penalties for willfully failing to comply with this Act, including civil penalties, medical license suspension, or both. Authorizes: (1) specified officials to bring suit in Federal court; and (2) private rights of action by a parent or guardian of a woman who is an unemancipated minor. Requires each State and State medical licensing authority to promulgate procedures for the revocation or suspension of a provider's license upon a court finding that the provider has violated this Act. Subjects a State that fails to implement such procedures to loss of Medicaid funding.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2004
Child Credit Preservation and Expansion Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the scheduled reductions in the amount of the child tax credit for taxable years beginning in 2005 through 2009 (from $1,000 to $700 in 2005 through 2008 and $800 in 2009). Makes the $1,000 credit amount permanent. Increases the income threshold amount for calculating reductions in the credit amount to $125,000 ($250,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return). Eliminates the reduction in the percentage of earned income for calculating the refundable portion of the credit (15 to 10 percent) for taxable years beginning before 2005. Includes in earned income for purposes of calculating the refundable portion of the credit otherwise tax excludable combat zone compensation of members of the armed forces. Exempts from the general termination date in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (December 31, 2010) provisions of that Act disregarding as income any refunds from the child tax credit for purposes of determining eligibility for federally funded assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2004
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government and Congress should condemn acts of anti-Semitism and intolerance; (2) officials and elected leaders of all Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) participating states, including all OSCE Mediterranean Partner for Cooperation countries, should also condemn acts of anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and discrimination; (3) the participating OSCE states should be commended for supporting the Berlin Declaration and for bringing increased attention to incidents of anti-Semitism and intolerance; (4) the U.S. Government should work with other OSCE participating states to encourage compliance with OSCE commitments and, if necessary, urge the creation of legal mechanisms to combat and track acts of anti-Semitism and intolerance; (5) all participating states should forward their respective laws and data on incidents of anti-Semitism and other hate crimes to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights; (6) the United States should encourage appointment of a high level "personal envoy" to ensure sustained attention to OSCE commitments on the reporting of anti-Semitic crimes; (7) the United States should urge OSCE participating states that have not already done so to join the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research; and (8) all OSCE participating states should renew efforts to implement their existing commitments to fight anti-Semitism and intolerance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2004
Small Business Jobs Creation Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer with annual gross receipts of less than $25 million a business tax credit for 50 percent of the excess of unemployment insurance wages paid in the current year over 102 percent of such wages paid during the preceding calendar year. Limits the annual amount of such credit to $100,000. Terminates the credit after 2009.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2004
United Nations Oil-for-Food Accountability Act of 2004 - Requires the withholding of certain FY 2005 and 2006 U.S. contributions to the United Nations (UN) until the President certifies that the UN is cooperating in the investigation of the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2004
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the increased upper limit amounts for the ten percent income tax rate bracket for individual taxpayers ($14,000 for married taxpayers filing joint tax returns and surviving spouses, $10,000 for heads of household, and $7,000 for unmarried individuals and married individuals filing separately). Allows an inflation adjustment to such amounts for married taxpayers filing joint tax returns, surviving spouses, and heads of household for taxable years beginning after 2003 based on the difference from the Consumer Price Index for 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2004
Honors the extraordinary contributions of the women whose dedicated service on the home front during World War II was instrumental in achieving an Allied victory. Recognizes the lasting legacy of equal employment opportunity and support for child care and health care that developed during the "Rosie the Riveter" era. Calls on the people of the United States to study, reflect on, and celebrate the stories and accomplishments of women who served the Nation as "Rosies" during that war.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2004
Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit a U.S. court from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating the assertion of rights, including treaty rights, by an individual (currently, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated unless the original owner of such mark or name, or their bona fide successor, has expressly consented thereto. Makes such prohibition applicable only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2004
Middle-Class Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the increased alternative minimum tax exemption amounts for individual taxpayers to taxable year 2005 (currently available for 2003 and 2004). Provides for an inflation adjustment to such amounts for taxable year 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2004
Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States Government should continue to support efforts to combat anti-Semitism worldwide through bilateral relationships and interaction with international organizations; and (2) the Department of State should document anti-Semitic acts around the world. Directs the Secretary of State to report on anti-Semitic acts around the world, including governmental responses to such acts.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2004
Idling Reduction Tax Credit Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business tax credit for 50 percent of the cost of a qualifying idling reduction device, up to $3,500. Defines "qualifying idling reduction device" as any device that is: (1) installed on a heavy-duty diesel-powered on-highway vehicle to provide services that would otherwise require the operation of the main drive engine while the vehicle is temporarily parked or stationary; and (2) certified by the Secretary of Energy to reduce long-duration idling. Directs the Secretary to publish standards for certifying such devices.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2004
Congratulates the University of Denver men's hockey team for winning the 2004 NCAA men's hockey national championship, recognizes the achievements of all the team's players, coaches, and support staff, and invites them to the U.S. Capitol Building to be honored. Requests that the President recognize the achievements of the University of Denver men's hockey team and invite the team members to the White House for an appropriate ceremony honoring a national championship team.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2004
Brian Lykins Human Tissue Transplant Safety Act of 2004 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for oversight by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs of entities engaged in activities relating to human tissue or human tissue-based products, requiring their registration and authorizing their inspection. Requires the reporting of any adverse incidents. Requires the Commissioner to develop a reporting mechanism and a database to store such information. Allows the Commissioner, in an instance in which this Act is violated, to: (1) issue an order requiring any distributor of a human cell, tissue, or cellular or tissue-based product to recall or destroy such product; (2) condemn, seize, and destroy such product; (3) require a covered entity to cease the activity that resulted in the violation; or (4) suspend or revoke the registration and listing of the covered entity involved.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2004
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction from gross income for premiums paid under a high deductible health plan by an individual eligible for a deduction for amounts paid into a health savings account, for months when such taxpayer is not covered under any other plan.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation Act of 2004 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) allow pancreata procured for use in islet cell transplantation or research to be counted for certification purposes for qualified organ procurement organization grants; and (2) require the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee to include in its annual report an assessment of the Federal activities and programs related to pancreatic islet cell transplantation.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
National Trails System Willing Seller Act - Amends the National Trails System Act to: (1) prohibit the Government acquisition of lands outside the exterior boundaries of any federally administered area, except with the owner's consent, for the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, Lewis and Clark, Iditarod, and Nez Perce National Historic Trails and the Continental Divide, North Country, Ice Age, and Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trails; and (2) provide that the Government's authority to acquire fee title shall be limited to an average of not more than one-quarter mile on either side of such national historic trails and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2004
Declares that Congress: (1) supports Israel's construction of a security fence to prevent Palestinian terrorist attacks; and (2) condemns the United Nations General Assembly's decision to request the International Court of Justice to render an opinion on the legality of the fence.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2004
Rocky Flats Special Exposure Cohort Act - Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to provide compensation for employees of the Department of Energy (DOE) or of a DOE contractor employed for an aggregate number of at least 250 work days before January 1, 2006, at the Rocky Flats site in Colorado.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2004
Family Budget Protection Act of 2004 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to eliminate the May 15 deadline for consideration of annual appropriations measures. Requires annual joint (currently, concurrent) budget resolutions signed by the President. Provides for an amendment to change the statutory limit on the public debt. Requires consideration of budget-related legislation before the budget resolution becomes law. Sets forth provisions regarding the establishment of a reserve fund for emergencies. Requires: (1) biennial (currently, annual) budget resolutions; (2) biennial appropriations Acts; and (3) biennial Government strategic and performance plans. Provides spending caps on the growth of entitlements and mandatory budget outlays. Excludes benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSA), Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, and benefits payable under part A of title XVIII (relating to part A Medicare hospital insurance benefits) of SSA and part C of such title (relating to the Medicare Advantage program) from required reductions under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, along with specified Government accounts and activities. Provides other exceptions, limitations, and special rules with respect to sequestration exemptions. Directs the Chairman to maintain the Family Budget Protection Mandatory Account and the Family Budget Protection Discretionary Account. Freezes at current levels spending authority for each unearned entitlement, high-cost discretionary spending program, and authorized and unauthorized discretionary spending programs. Establishes the Commission to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. Provides for accrual funding of the: (1) Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (2) Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System; and (3) Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Retirement Fund; (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Retirement System; and (3) the Coast Guard Military Retirement Fund. Changes the name of the Department of Defense Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund to Uniformed Services Health Care Fund (thus, providing health care programs for all uniformed service retirees, under certain conditions). (Currently, such programs are for Department of Defense Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.) Decreases the limit on the public debt from $6.4 trillion to $4.393 trillion. Prohibits consideration of extraneous appropriations in omnibus appropriations measures.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2004
Taxpayer Rebate and Responsibility Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for refunds or credits to individual taxpayers of a portion of their income tax for any year in which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget certifies that there is a surplus in the U.S. budget.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2004
Help Establish Access to Local Timely Healthcare for Your Vets (HEALTHY Vets) Act of 2004 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in the case of a veteran for whom Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities are geographically inaccessible, to use current authority for contracting out veterans' medical care to non-Department facilities in order to provide the following care to such veterans: (1) primary care; (2) acute or chronic symptom management; (3) nontherapeutic medical services; and (4) other medical services determined appropriate by the director of that geographic service region, after consultation with the Department physician responsible for the primary care of the veteran. Outlines conditions under which Department facilities shall be deemed geographically inaccessible. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the requirement of geographic inaccessibility, on a case-by-case basis, if the Secretary determines that the costs to the Department of providing such care significantly outweigh the benefits of localized health care for the veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2004
Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission Act of 2004 - Establishes an independent Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission to: (1) identify Federal programs and laws that provide inequitable Federal subsidies; (2) review such subsidies; (3) conduct public hearings on agency recommendations regarding inequitable subsidies; and (4) report to Congress recommendations for termination, modification, or retention of each subsidy reviewed. Requires each Federal agency to include in budget documents submitted in FY 2005 a list of programs or laws within that agency that provide inequitable Federal subsidies, together with recommendations for appropriate action. Expresses the sense of Congress that, following submission of the Commission's report, the House of Representatives and the Senate should promptly consider legislation that would enact changes in Federal statutes necessary to implement the Commission's recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2004
Program Reform Commission Act of 2004 - Establishes an independent Program Reform Commission to: (1) identify unnecessary Federal programs; (2) review such programs; (3) conduct public hearings on agency recommendations regarding unnecessary programs; and (4) report to Congress recommendations for termination, modification, or retention of each program reviewed. Requires each Federal agency to include in budget documents submitted in FY 2005 a list of programs within that agency that are unnecessary, together with recommendations for appropriate action. Expresses the sense of Congress that, following submission of the Commission's report, the House of Representatives and the Senate should promptly consider legislation that would enact changes in Federal statutes necessary to implement the Commission's recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2004
Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2004 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that, if the violator of the terms and conditions of any Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license, permit, or certificate is either a broadcast station licensee or permittee or an applicant for a broadcast license, permit, or certificate, and such violator is determined by the FCC to have broadcast obscene, indecent, or profane language, the amount of forfeiture penalty shall not exceed $275,000 for each violation or day of such violation, to a maximum of $3 million for any single act or failure to act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Beauprez, Bob [R-CO-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001240_200.jpg)