United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2001
Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) concerning: (1) prospective application only of certain regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); and (2) certain requirements for judicial and regulatory challenges of regulations. Requires the Secretary, with respect to Medicare audits, except when clear and convincing evidence exists of fraud or similar fault, to give a physician, provider of services, or provider of ambulance services (physicians or providers) the option of entering into: (1) an arrangement to offset alleged overpayments against future payments; or (2) a repayment plan with its carrier or fiscal intermediary to recoup such an overpayment. Prohibits the Secretary from taking any action to recoup an overpayment or to impose a penalty during the period in which a physician or provider is appealing a determination that such an overpayment has been made or the amount of the overpayment. Prohibits carriers, absent cause, from demanding the production of records or documentation before paying a Medicare claim. Amends SSA title XI with respect to prohibited extensions of remuneration to a Medicare-eligible individual to influence a choice of provider, practitioner, or supplier. Excludes from the meaning of remuneration any waiver of copayment made in a written, mailed communication with existing patients. Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to: (1) construction of hearing rights related to decisions to deny or not renew a physician enrollment agreement; (2) the post-payment audit process; (3) definitions relating to physicians or providers; and (4) the right to appeal on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. Amends SSA title XVIII to require carriers, fiscal intermediaries, and contractors to conduct education programs (funded from the Medicare Integrity Program) for physicians and providers on billing, coding, cost reporting, and documentation regulations and procedures. Outlines provisions with regard to certain information requests from physicians and providers. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for the inclusion of regulatory costs in the calculation of the sustainable growth rate with respect to the costs of physicians' services. Prohibits the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) from implementing any new evaluation and management documentation guidelines under Medicare, unless it: (1) has provided for an assessment of the proposed guidelines by organizations representing physicians; (2) has established a plan that contains specific goals, including a schedule, for improving use of such guidelines; (3) has completed a minimum of four pilot projects to test such guidelines; and (4) finds that specified objectives will be met in the implementation of such guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Military Home School Children Equal Access Act of 2001 - Amends the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 to allow home school students who are eligible for enrollment in a school of the overseas defense dependents' education system to use or receive auxiliary services of such schools without enrolling or registering for a minimum number of courses.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Veterans' Hospital Emergency Repair Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out major medical facility projects at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers for improving, renovating, and updating patient care facilities. Requires the Secretary to use FY 2002 or 2003 appropriated funds for such purpose. Limits to $25 million the cost of any single project. Requires an independent board within the Department to review projects before their selection.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Medicaid Safety Net Hospital Continued Preservation Act of 2001 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal specified reductions after FY 2000 and thereby extend certain modifications to disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments provided under the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000. Increases the Medicaid DSH allotment for the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2001
Veterans' Opportunities Act of 2001 - Increases the maximum annual Reserve Officers' Training Corps award while continuing eligibility for benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill program. Includes certain outreach services within veterans' work-study opportunities. Includes as an "educational institution," for purposes of veterans' educational assistance, private entities teaching a profession or education in a technology occupation. Revises the incremental GI bill contributions required from active-duty personnel. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) provide increased transition assistance to members of the armed forces; and (2) maintain overseas veterans assistance offices. Requires veterans' pre-separation counseling to occur as soon as possible within 18 months preceding an anticipated retirement. Increases certain education and training outreach services available for separating military personnel and veterans. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the outreach needs of veterans' dependents are fully addressed, including through the use of the Internet and announcements in veterans publications and through the media. Increases the maximum available benefits for veterans' burial expenses, family coverage under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, automobile and adaptive assistance benefits for certain disabled veterans, and veterans' specially adapted housing. Allows real property used for farming, ranching, or similar agricultural purposes to be excluded from the value of a veteran's estate for purposes of pension eligibility for veterans who are permanently and totally disabled from a non-service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2001
Treatment of Children's Deformities Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to set standards requiring that group and individual health insurance and group health plans provide coverage for treatment of a minor child's congenital or developmental deformity or disorder due to trauma, infection, tumor, or disease.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2001
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Adjustment Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prescribe a formula for periodic adjustments to the maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage, including an inflation adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Hope for Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the expenses allowable towards the adoption credit. Renames such credit as the "Tom Bliley adoption credit."
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Childhood Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2001, or the DMD CARE Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to: (1) expand and intensify programs of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (the National Institutes) with respect to research and related activities concerning Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD); (2) award grants or contracts to public or nonprofit entities for at least three DMD research centers of excellence; and (3) provide for donation, collection, and preservation of tissues and genetic materials for such research. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee to coordinate all Federal DMD health programs and activities. Authorizes the Secretary, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants and cooperative agreements for the collection, analysis, and reporting of DMD data. Requires the establishment through the CDC of at least three regional centers of excellence in DMD epidemiology. Directs the Secretary to establish a DMD education and information program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for intentionally initiating the transmission of any unsolicited commercial electronic mail message (message) to a protected computer in the United States with the knowledge that any domain name or other initiator identifying information contained in or accompanying such message is false or inaccurate. Prohibits any person from sending such a message unless the message contains a valid e-mail address, conspicuously displayed, to which a recipient may send notice of a desire not to receive further messages. Prohibits a person from sending other unsolicited commercial e-mail messages after a reasonable period of time following such notice. Requires any such message to include information that: (1) identifies the message as unsolicited commercial e-mail; and (2) contains notice of the opportunity for the recipient to request to not receive further messages. Makes it unlawful for a person to initiate the transmission of such a message in violation of a policy regarding unsolicited commercial e-mail messages that complies with specified requirements. Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to notify violators under this Act, to prohibit further initiation of such messages, and to require the initiator to delete the names and e-mail addresses of the recipients and providers from all mailing lists. Requires the names and e-mail addresses of any children of the recipient to be included in such notification.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Amends Federal provisions relating to the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to change from October 1, 2008, to October 1, 2002, the effective date on or after which no reduction may be made in the retired pay of an SBP participant for any month after the later of: (1) the 360th month for which such pay was so reduced; and (2) the month during which the participant attains 70 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Straight Talk on Social Security Act of 2001 - Amends the Social Security Act to require Social Security account statements to contain additional information, such as a statement of the current Social Security tax rates applicable to wages and self-employment income, including an indication of the combined total of such rates of employee and employer taxes with respect to wages.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Directs the Secretary of the Army to terminate specified leases covering certain land at the Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake project, South Carolina, and enter into a single lease with the lessee, the South Carolina Department of Commerce, which shall not exceed 111 years, and shall allow for certain development activities that will enhance the recreational opportunities available on the Savannah River and at the project.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the exclusion of State or local government foster care payments from the gross income of foster care providers shall also apply to payments by qualifying placement agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 or over, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months beginning on or before the enactment of this Act; (2) 40 percent of such pay, for months beginning after enactment of this Act until October 2004; (3) 45 percent of such pay for months beginning after September 2004 and before October 2011; and (4) 55 percent of such pay for months after September 2011. Adjusts similarly the percentage amounts of SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided for such surviving spouses. Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate adjustments in the computation of retired pay reductions for such supplemental annuities.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box Act of 2001 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide a point of order against consideration of any: (1) budget resolution that sets forth a surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year; or (2) legislation that would cause any surplus to be less than the Fund surplus for the covered fiscal year. Makes the point of order described in (2) above inapplicable to social security or Medicare reform legislation. Requires any Federal budget submitted by the President that recommends an on-budget surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Fund for such year to include a proposal for social security or Medicare reform legislation. Makes this Act inapplicable upon the enactment of social security and Medicare reform legislation. Defines "social security reform legislation" and "Medicare reform legislation" as a bill or joint resolution to save social security or Medicare, respectively, that specifies that it constitutes reform legislation.
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
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Act - Authorizes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc., to construct a temporary education center for educating people about the Memorial. Requires the center to remain for ten years, after which Congress may reevaluate the continuing need for the center. Sets forth conditions for the use of excess coin funds under the United States Veterans Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 in the construction of such center, including that the Fund provide detailed information with respect to the use of such funds.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2001 - Deems certain service performed before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts as active military service for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Repeals certain provisions discounting such service as qualifying service.
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 · 6 February 2001
Tax Relief and Marriage Penalty Elimination Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the marriage penalty for couples filing a single return jointly with respect to both tax rates and the standard deduction; and (2) after 2004, reduce individual tax rates.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Amends the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency crop loss assistance to crop, poultry, and livestock producers, and greenhouse operators who have incurred economic losses due to increased energy prices in 2000 or 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
No Frills Prison Act of 2001 - Amends Federal criminal code provisions concerning the expenses of prisoners to prohibit the use of money from the Treasury to purchase cable television services or to rent or purchase videocassettes, videocassette recorders, or other audiovisual or electronic equipment used primarily for recreational purposes, with an exception for equipment for inmate training or educational programs.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2001 - Amends Federal bankruptcy law governing: (1) conversion of bankruptcy petitions; (2) abusive creditor practices; (3) debt reaffirmation and credit counseling; (4) domestic support obligations; (5) personal injury claims resulting from drug- or alcohol-impaired operation of a motor vehicle or vessel; (6) Federal criminal law enforcement with regard to abusive reaffirmations of debt; (7) fraudulent bankruptcy schedules; (8) education and retirement benefits; and (9) nondischarge from a debt for restitution or damages awarded in a civil action against the debtor for willful or malicious injury that caused personal injury or death of an individual. Prescribes guidelines regarding: (1) discouragement of bankruptcy abuse; (2) general and small business bankruptcy; (3) bankruptcy data dissemination and bankruptcy tax provisions; (4) ancillary and other cross-border cases to incorporate the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency; and (5) financial contracts and transfers entered into with an insolvent insured depository institution before its conservatorship or receivership. Reenacts Chapter 12, Adjustment of Debts of a Family Farmer with Regular Annual Income. Prescribes guidelines for insolvent health care businesses and related patients' rights. Mandates appointments and extensions for certain additional temporary bankruptcy judgeships. Prescribes additional consumer credit disclosures.
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
Social Security Lock-box Act of 2001 - Amends H. Con. Res. 290 (106th Congress) to replace a point of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate against consideration of any revision of such resolution or any concurrent budget resolution for FY 2002 that sets forth a deficit for any fiscal year with one that provides a point of order against consideration of: (1) any budget resolution that sets forth a surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund for such year; and (2) legislation that would cause the surplus for any fiscal year covered by the most recently agreed to budget resolution to be less than the surplus of the Fund for such year. Establishes the levels of surplus for purposes of enforcing the preceding points of order.
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
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
Education Empowerment Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable annual credit of up to $1,000 per qualifying child for specified public or private (including homeschooling) elementary and secondary school expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Amends Federal employee provisions to include the following as an employee, for purposes of authorized enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Amendments of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group and individual health plans from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on the coverage of mental health benefits, or substance abuse and chemical dependency benefits, if similar limitations or requirements are not imposed on medical and surgical benefits. Amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1986 to provide for coordination in implementation of such amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Arctic Coastal Plain Domestic Energy Security Act of 2001- Declares that it is the policy of the United States to permit exploration, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas resources in a designated area of the Coastal Plain Study Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Instructs the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 to repeal the prohibition against production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and any leasing or development leading to such production. States that Congress determines that the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program and activities authorized by this Act are compatible with the purposes for which the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was established, and that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination. States that this Act is the sole authority for Coastal Plain leasing. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) designate a maximum total of Coastal Plain acreage as "Special Areas" and close them to leasing if the Secretary determines that they require special management and regulatory protection; and (2) permit leasing in those Special Areas by setting lease terms that restrict surface use and occupancy but permit the use of horizontal drilling technology from lease sites located outside the Special Areas. Declares that this Act constitutes the Secretary's sole authority to close Coastal Plain lands to oil and gas leasing and to exploration, development, and production. Directs the Secretary to grant rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for oil and gas transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Declares that Congress has determined that a person born in the United States to a mother who is not a U.S. citizen, national, or immigrant, and is eligible to become or is a citizen or national of a country of which either of his or her natural parents is a citizen or national, shall not be a U.S. citizen solely by reason of U.S. birth.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Community Protection Act of 2001- Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers (including qualified retired officers) carrying the photographic identification issued by the governmental agency for which the individual is, or was, employed as a law enforcement officer, notwithstanding State or local laws, to carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Specifies that this Act shall not be construed to supersede or limit the laws of any State that: (1) permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or (2) prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property, installation, building, base, or park.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Citizens' Self-Defense Act of 2001 - Declares that a person not prohibited under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act from receiving a firearm shall have the right to obtain firearms for security and to use firearms in defense of: (1) self or family against a reasonably perceived threat of imminent and unlawful infliction of serious bodily injury; (2) self or family in the course of the commission by another person of a violent felony against the person or a member of the person's family; and (3) the person's home in the course of the commission of a felony by another person. Authorizes persons whose rights under this Act have been violated to bring an action in U.S. district court against the United States, any State, or any person for damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief as the court deems appropriate. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the award of attorney's fees; and (2) the statute of limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Armed Services Voting 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 · 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 · 3 January 2001
Social Security Benefits Tax Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the 85 percent (second tier) taxation of Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits. Appropriates, from the general fund, to the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund amounts equal to the reduction in revenue lost because of the repeal. Requires an annual report concerning the funds transferred from the general fund to the Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from individual gross income the discharge of certain qualified residential indebtedness.
![Official portrait of Rep. Brown, Henry E., Jr. [R-SC-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001235_200.jpg)