United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Tohono O'odham Citizenship Act of 2003 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to recognize persons listed on the official membership roll of the Tohono O'odham Nation, a federally recognized American Indian nation located in Arizona, as U.S. citizens as of the date such listing occurs. Provides that the valid membership credential issued to such listed persons shall be considered, for all purposes subject to Federal law, equivalent to: (1) a certificate of citizenship; and (2) a State-issued birth certificate.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Expand and Rebuild America's Schools Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited credit to taxpayers holding school construction bonds. Defines such bonds. Sets a national school construction bond limit.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) commemorative postage stamps should be issued by the United States Postal Service honoring Americans who distinguished themselves by their service in the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, respectively; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such stamps be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Residential Solar Energy Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit, as specified, to holders of residential solar energy bonds. Defines such bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) - Establishes the United States National Health Insurance (USNHI ) Program (the Program), providing all individuals residing in the United States (including in U.S. territories) with health care. States benefits the Program shall offer, including: (1) primary care and prevention; (2) prescription drugs; (3) emergency care; and (4) mental health services. Prohibits institutions from participating as health providers in the Program unless they are a public or nonprofit institution, and provides for conversions of investor-owned providers with compensation for real property and equipment. Allows health maintenance organizations to participate in the Program under specified conditions. Permits patients to freedom of choice of participating physicians and other clinicians, hospitals, and inpatient care facilities. Prohibits a private health insurer from selling health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act. Declares that the Program shall establish a prescription drug formulary system, which shall encourage best practices in prescribing and shall be updated frequently. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint a Director for the Program, who in turn shall appoint a director for an Office of Quality Control. Requires the director of the Office of Quality Control to conduct an annual review on the adequacy of medically needed services. Establishes a National Board of Universal Quality and Access, which shall advise the Secretary and the Director to ensure quality, access, and affordability. Provides for the eventual integration of the health programs of the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Indian Health Service into the Program. Declares that this Act shall take effect on January 1, 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2003 - 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 · 11 February 2003
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to repeal provisions which make persons convicted of drug offenses ineligible to receive student financial assistance for a certain period.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Armed and Foreign Services Tax Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize a member of the uniformed services or the Foreign Service serving on "qualified official extended duty" (any duty in excess of 90 days while serving at a duty station which is at least 50 miles from the principal residence or while residing under Government orders in Government quarters), to extend for ten years the five-year period utilized in determining full exclusion of gain from the sale of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) urges men to understand the level of responsibility fathering a child requires, especially in the encouragement of the moral, academic, and spiritual development of children; (2) encourages active involvement of fathers in the rearing and development of their children, including the devotion of time, energy, and resources to children, recognizing that they need not only material support, but even more importantly, a secure and nurturing family environment; (3) urges mothers to encourage fathers to play an active role in child-rearing; (4) commends the millions of fathers who serve as wonderful, caring parents for their children; (5) calls on fathers across the Nation to use Father's Day to reconnect and rededicate themselves to their children's lives, to spend Father's Day with their children, and to express their love and support for their children; and (6) urges institutions and government entities at every level to promote public policies that encourage and support, and remove barriers to, responsible fatherhood.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be issued by the United States Postal Service on the subject of autism awareness; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a postage stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) pension offset provisions applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to Old-Age and Survivors insurance benefit payments; and (2) windfall elimination provisions with respect to computation of the primary insurance amount of an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Provides for the permanent resident status adjustment of certain nationals of Montserrat previously granted temporary protected status in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months before October 2004; (2) 40 percent for months during FY 2005; (3) 45 percent for months during FY 2006; (4) 50 percent for months during FY 2007; and (5) 55 percent for months after FY 2007. Adjusts similarly percentage amounts with respect to survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty. Provides a corresponding phased elimination of the SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided to such surviving spouses. Requires periodic recomputation of: (1) annuity amounts beginning in October 2004; and (2) retired pay reductions for supplemental survivor annuities. Provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, commencing October 1, 2004, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage, and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to require appropriate premiums for SBP participation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Debt Cancellation for the New Millennium Act - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to urge the President to commence immediately efforts within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, as well as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions, to accomplish certain modifications in the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, including requiring that: (1) the amount of debt relief provided by the IMF and the World Bank under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative for a HIPC be sufficient to completely cancel 100 percent of the HIPC's debt owed to such institutions; (2) no provision of debt relief under the Initiative be conditioned on any country's implementing a structural adjustment or stabilization program of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of the IMF or any other such program operated solely or jointly by the IMF or the World Bank; (3) all HIPCs that are working in good faith to develop and implement their Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) pursuant to the Initiative not be required to make service payments on their debts (ensuring that the savings from such debt relief will be invested in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, health care, education, and poverty reduction programs); and (4) the eligibility requirements of the Initiative be revised to make Bangladesh, Haiti, and Nigeria eligible. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide, upon request, for technical assistance to HIPCs regarding compliance with the conditions for debt relief pursuant to the Initiative, including the development and implementation of their PSRPs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Requires the Architect of the Capitol to enter into a contract to revise the statue commemorating women's suffrage located in the rotunda of the United States Capitol (known as the Portrait Monument) to include a likeness of Sojourner Truth.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the special rule for the redistribution and availability of unexpended FY 1998 and 1999 SCHIP allotments, including to: (1) extend the availability of FY 1998 and 1999 reallocated funds through FY 2004; and (2) permit 50 percent of the total amount of unexpended FY 2000 and 2001 SCHIP allotments that remain available to a State through the end of FY 2002 and 2003 to remain available for expenditure by the State through the end of FY 2004 and 2005, respectively.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
National Defense Oil Equity Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the sale of any crude oil or product of crude oil a tax equal to the applicable percentage of the windfall profit on such sale. Defines windfall profit to mean so much of the profit on such sale as exceeds a reasonable profit. Establishes the Reasonable Profits Board to make reasonable profit determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Recognizes the historical significance of February 19, 1942, the date Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, restricting the freedom of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans, and legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and internment. Supports recognizing those events on a National Day of Remembrance.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2003 - Allows the Representative (Member of Congress, including Delegate or Resident Commissioner to Congress) of the immediate family of a deceased fire fighter, law enforcement officer, emergency technician, or other rescue worker who died in the line of duty to provide the family, at their request, with a Capitol-flown flag, together with a certificate, signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Representative providing the flag, which contains an expression of sympathy for the family.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Authorizes the President to award a gold medal to each of the seven crew members who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband; Michael P. Anderson; Laurel Clark; David M. Brown; William C. McCool; Kapana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp on the subject of school safety awareness; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Investment in America Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the credit for increasing research activities. Increases the alternative incremental credit rates. Provides an alternative credit for qualified research expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code respecting the Hope Scholarship Credit to: (1) extend coverage to fees, books, supplies, and equipment, and exempt such expenses from information reporting requirements; and (2) not reduce such Credit by Federal Pell Grant and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Condemns the practice of execution by stoning, and calls upon the international community to recognize this practice as a gross violation of human rights. Requests that the President: (1) communicate this resolution to governments imposing this cruel punishment and urge the suspension of sentences of death by stoning; and (2) direct the Secretary of State to work with the international community to repeal stoning laws and adhere to international standards of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Violence Against Women Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2003 - Rewrites provisions of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 regarding remedies for civil rights violations. Makes a person who commits a crime of violence motivated by gender and thus deprives another of a prescribed right liable to the injured party where: (1) in connection with the offense, the defendant or the victim travels in interstate or foreign commerce, the defendant or the victim uses a facility or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce, or the defendant employs a weapon, a narcotic or drug listed under the Controlled Substances Act, or other noxious or dangerous substances that have traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) the offense interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged; or (3) the offense was committed with intent to interfere with the victim's commercial or other economic activity. Authorizes the Attorney General, whenever there is reasonable cause to believe that any State, political subdivision, official, employee, or agent thereof has discriminated on the basis of gender in the investigation or prosecution of gender-based crimes and that discrimination is pursuant to a pattern or practice of resistance to investigating or prosecuting gender-based crimes, to institute a civil action in U.S. district court for appropriate equitable relief.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2003 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national Coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Amends Federal civil service law to provide for the indexation of deferred annuities, including survivor annuities, under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), and for individuals becoming subject to FERS by election. Terminates for remarriage before age 55 (currently remarriage at any age) a survivor's entitlement to an annuity based on the service of a deferred annuitant who dies before establishing a valid claim for annuity under CSRS (conforms with requirements under FERS).
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that rates of compensation for U.S. civilian employees should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are such rates for members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act - Prohibits an athlete agent from: (1) recruiting or soliciting a student athlete to enter into an agency contract by giving false or misleading information, making a false promise or representation, or providing anything of value to the athlete or anyone associated with the athlete before entering into such contract; (2) entering into an agency contract with a student athlete without providing the required disclosure document; or (3) predating or postdating an agency contract. Requires an athlete agent, in conjunction with entering into an agency contract, to provide to the athlete (or, if the student athlete is under age 18, to such athlete's parent or legal guardian) a separate disclosure document that includes notice that if the athlete agrees orally or in writing to be represented by an agent, he or she may lose eligibility to compete as a student athlete. Requires both the student athlete and the agent, within 72 hours or before the athlete's next athletic event, whichever occurs first, to notify the athletic director of the athlete's educational institution that the athlete has entered into an agency contract. Treats a violation of this Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Authorizes civil actions by State attorneys general.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 2003 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions with respect to former prisoners of war to repeal the currently required: (1) 30-day minimum period of internment prior to the presumption of service connection for certain listed diseases, for purposes of the payment of veterans' disability compensation; and (2) 90-day minimum period of internment prior to eligibility for dental care furnished through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Adds the following to the listed diseases under (1), above: heart disease, stroke, liver disease, diabetes (type 2), and osteoporosis. Requires: (1) such presumption also with respect to any disease that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines warrants such presumption by reason of having a positive association with the experience of being a prisoner of war; and (2) the Secretary to make such a determination within 60 days after a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War that such presumption be established for a non-listed disease.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Tribal College or University Teacher Loan Forgiveness Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the cancellation of a specified percentage of the total amount of any Federal Perkins loan, Federal Family Education loan, or direct student loan for each year of employment (up to five) as a full-time teacher at a tribal college or university if the borrower is not in default on such loan. Prohibits a borrower from receiving, for the same service, such a benefit and a national service educational award. Provides that the amount of any loan forgiven under this Act shall not be treated as gross income for Federal tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Robin Danielson Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to provide for the conduct or support of research on the extent to which additives in feminine hygiene products pose any risks to the health of women or to the children of women who use those products during or before the pregnancies involved. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: (1) to establish a program to collect, analyze, and make available data on toxic shock syndrome, including data on the causes of such syndrome; and (2) in carrying out such program, to determine the national incidence and prevalence of such syndrome.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Attorney General of the United States should undertake to protect and expand equality of opportunity for qualified minorities, disabled persons, and women at every opportunity; (2) Affirmative action is a powerful, effective, and necessary tool for achieving such equal opportunity without quotas and should be utilized in the public and private sectors to increase diversity and correct patterns of past and current discrimination; and (3) the President should incorporate Affirmative action into the employment, contracting, granting, educational, and program activities of the United States and all its subcontractors and grantees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003 - Permits retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Repeals provisions providing for special compensation for certain severely disabled military retirees and certain combat-related disabled uniformed services retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Access to Hospitals Act of 2003 - 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 · 8 January 2003
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to expand activities addressing inflammatory bowel disease, emphasizing genetic, animal model, and clinical research. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a national program of prevention and epidemiology concerning such disease, addressing its prevalence and public and professional awareness. Directs the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science to study public and private insurance standards for coverage of inflammatory bowel therapies. Directs the General Accounting Office to study problems inflammatory bowel disease patients have applying for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the required use of certain principal repayments on mortgage subsidy bond financings to redeem bonds; (2) modify the purchase price limitation under mortgage subsidy bond rules based on median family income; and (3) define the term "area median gross income" for low-income housing credit projects.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Gun Show Background Check Act of 2003 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require registration of gun show promoters and to set forth the responsibilities of promoters, licensees, and other transferors. Provides that if any part of a firearm transaction takes place at a gun show, each licensed importer, manufacturer, and dealer who transfers one or more firearms to a person who is not licensed shall, within ten days after the transfer, submit a report of the transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury. Sets forth penalties for violations. Grants the Secretary authority to enter the place of business of any gun show promoter and any place where a gun show is held, during business hours and without a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant, for purposes of examining records and the inventory of licensees conducting business to determine compliance with this Act. Increases penalties for: (1) serious record-keeping violations by licensees; and (2) violations of criminal background check requirements. Modifies provisions regarding the national instant criminal background check system and the destruction of records in cases where receipt of a firearm would not violate the Brady Act or State law to provide for such destruction as soon as possible, consistent with the Attorney General's responsibility to ensure privacy and security of the system and to prevent system fraud and abuse, but in no event later than 90 days after the licensee first contacts the system.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each State's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final Federal or State court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its Federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in Federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act - Amends the Peace Corps Act to require all recruiting of volunteers to be carried out under the direction of the Director of the Peace Corps. Conditions the President's authority to detail or assign Peace Corps volunteers to certain Federal and State agencies and other entities upon a determination that such a detail or assignment does not contradict the standing of such volunteers as being independent from foreign policy-making and intelligence collection. Requires the Director of the Peace Corps to report to Congress on: (1) efforts undertaken to improve coordination of Peace Corps activities with activities of international voluntary service organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) volunteer program, and of host country voluntary service organizations; (2) any major new Peace Corps initiatives under review for the upcoming fiscal year or undertaken in the previous fiscal year; (3) the Peace Corp's plans for doubling the number of volunteers from 2002; (4) any standard or special security procedures for any country in which the Peace Corps operates programs or is considering doing so, including an assessment whether security conditions would be enhanced by colocating volunteers with international or local nongovernmental organizations or placing multiple volunteers in one location; (5) student loan forgiveness programs currently available to Peace Corps volunteers; and (6) initiatives the Peace Corps intends to pursue with eligible countries where the presence of volunteers would facilitate a greater understanding that there exists a universe of commonly shared human values and aspirations. Requires the Director to develop a training program for all Peace Corps volunteers in the education, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases. Increases Peace Corps volunteer readjustment allowances from $125 to $275 a month. Establishes a program to award grants to private nonprofit corporations to enable returned Peace Corps volunteers to use their knowledge and expertise to develop and carry out programs and projects that promote the goals of the Peace Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers (including certain qualified retired officers) carrying the photographic identification issued by their governmental agency, notwithstanding State or local laws, to carry a concealed firearm. Provides that such authorization shall not supersede State laws that: (1) permit private entities to prohibit the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or (2) prohibit the possession of firearms on State or local government property. Excludes from the definition of "firearm" any machine gun, firearm silencer, or destructive device.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Amends the Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 to make as one of its purposes that in implementation of this Act at least 50 percent of all microenterprise assistance be targeted to the very poor, that is, those persons living either in the bottom 50 percent below the poverty line or on less than the equivalent of one dollar per day. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1964 to authorize the President to provide assistance to increase the availability of financial services (not just credit) to microenterprise households lacking full access to credit, including through: (1) loans and guarantees to microfinance institutions to expand the availability of savings and credit to poor and low-income households; (2) training programs to enable such institutions to better meet the financial services needs of their clients; and (3) training programs to enable clients to make better use of credit, increase their financial literacy, and to better manage their enterprises to improve their quality of life. Declares that, in order to maximize the sustainable development impact of microenterprise development grant assistance authorized under the Act, the Administrator of the agency primarily responsible for administering such assistance shall establish a monitoring system that, among other things, adopts the widespread use of proven and effective poverty assessment tools to identify the poorest of the poor and ensure that they receive needed microenterprise credits, loans, and assistance. Requires the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to develop and certify no fewer than two low-cost methods for measuring the poverty levels of the current or prospective clients of microenterprise organizations for purposes of the provision of microenterprise development grant assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Small Business Expensing Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the annual amount of depreciable business assets (section 179 property) which may be expensed to $75,000.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to rename the Act as the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act and to revise provisions with respect to certain civil protections and rights afforded to servicemembers while on active-duty assignment. Authorizes any servicemember to waive any of such rights and protections, pursuant to written agreement. Provides certain protections of servicemembers against default judgments, including a minimum 90-day stay of proceedings, with respect to the payment of any tax, fine, penalty, insurance premium, or other civil obligation or liability. Prohibits an eviction or distress from being made against a servicemember or his or her dependents during a period of military service for a premise for which rent does not exceed $1,700 (currently $1,200), except by court order. Prohibits: (1) rescinding or terminating for breach of contract during a period of military service a contract for the purchase or lease of real or personal property entered into prior to such service; and (2) a person holding a lien on property or effects of a servicemember from foreclosing or otherwise enforcing such lien (with penalties and protection for materially affected dependents) during a period of service and 90 days thereafter. Increases the total amount of life insurance coverage protection provided under the Act to $250,000, or an amount equal to the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance maximum limit, whichever is greater. Allows findings of fact and conclusions of law made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in administering the life insurance provisions of the Act to be reviewed by the Board of Veterans Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (not reviewable under current law).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Bullet Tracing Act To Reduce Gun Violence - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit a licensed manufacturer or importer from transferring a firearm to any person before test firing it and preparing and transmitting ballistics records to the Attorney General. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations, including license suspension for up to five years. Directs the Attorney General to compile the ballistics records in electronic form for use in Federal, State, and local criminal investigations, arrests, indictments, and prosecutions. Directs the Attorney General to assist qualified firearms manufacturers and importers in: (1) obtaining use of new and upgraded computerized ballistics and bullet recovery equipment owned by the Government; (2) training personnel necessary to develop, maintain, research, and evaluate a firearms ballistics information database and to record and transmit to the Attorney General such information; and (3) implementing effective ballistics testing.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing 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 · 7 January 2003
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the Revised Statutes of the United States, to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
![Official portrait of Rep. Carson, Julia [D-IN-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000191_200.jpg)