United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
American Justice for Americans [sic] Citizens Act - Prohibits the Supreme Court and other Federal courts, in the purported exercise of judicial power to interpret and apply the Constitution, from employing the constitution, laws, administrative rules, executive orders, directives, policies, or judicial decisions of any international organization or foreign state, except for English constitutional and common law or other sources of law relied upon by the framers of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Community Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2005 - Provides that antitrust laws shall apply to negotiations between groups of independent pharmacies and health plans and health insurance issuers in the same manner as such laws apply to collective bargaining by labor organizations under the National Labor Relations Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Taxpayer Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal provisions enacted by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into contracts with private collection agencies for the collection of taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2005
Joins the Secretary of Defense in honoring the children of members of the Armed Forces and recognizes that they share in the burden of protecting the Nation. Urges Americans to join the military community in observing April as "National Month of the Military Child." Recognizes with great appreciation the contributions of private sector organizations in providing resources and assistance to military families and their communities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Real Estate Investment Thrift Savings Act - Amends Federal law relating to the Federal Employees' Retirement System to provide for the establishment of a Real Estate Stock Investment Fund under the Thrift Savings Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2005
Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations to make collegiate housing and infrastructure improvement grants to certain tax-exempt social clubs (e.g., college fraternities and sororities) so long as all of the active members of such clubs are full-time students at the college or university with which such clubs are associated. Defines "collegiate housing and infrastructure grants" to include grants to provide, improve, operate, or maintain collegiate housing.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2005
Realistic Roofing Tax Treatment Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify any roof system as 20-year property for depreciation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2005
Supports the organizers and participants of the historic meeting of the Assembly to Promote the Civil Society in Cuba in May 2005 in Havana. Urges: (1) the international community to support the Assembly's mission to bring democracy to Cuba; and (2) the Administration and international community to oppose any attempts by the Castro regime to repress Assembly organizers and participants. Shares the Assembly's pro-democracy ideals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2005
Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2005 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to establish: (1) the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which shall have supervisory and regulatory authority over the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), the Federal Home Loan Banks, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation; and (2) the Housing Finance Oversight Board. Sets forth operations and administrative provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) capital levels, classifications, and undercapitalized entities; (2) loan levels; (3) housing goals; and (4) enforcement and compliance. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to establish the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation, which shall: (1) issue and service the consolidated obligations of the Federal Home Loan Banks; and (2) perform all other necessary functions in relation to the issuance and service of such obligations as fiscal agent on behalf of the Federal Home Loan Banks. Transfers the functions of the Office of Finance of the Federal Home Loan Banks to the Corporation. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to increase total asset requirements for community financial institution members. Abolishes the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and transfers its functions, personnel, and property to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Firearm Commerce Modernization Act - Amends Federal firearms provisions to permit a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector to: (1) sell or deliver a firearm (currently, a rifle or shotgun) to a resident of a State other than a State in which the licensee's place of business is located or temporarily located if the transferee meets in person with the transferor to accomplish the transfer; and (2) conduct business temporarily at any gun show or event sponsored by any national, State, or local organization, or any affiliate devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms (currently, only at such a location in the State specified on the person's license). Provides that nothing in the Act shall be construed to diminish the right of a licensee to conduct firearms transfers (currently, "curios or relics" firearms transfers) with another licensee away from the transferor's business premises.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Combat-Related Special Compensation Act of 2005 - Authorizes monthly combat-related special compensation pay to any military retiree who is entitled to retired pay and has a combat-related disability. (Currently, a retiree must meet those requirements and also have completed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service.) Provides a special compensation rule with respect to retirees with less than 20 years of service.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from knowingly: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; (2) participating in such an attempt; (3) shipping or receiving an embryo produced by human cloning or any product derived from such embryo; or (4) importing such an embryo or derived product. Sets forth criminal and civil penalties. Provides that nothing in this Act restricts areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited above, including research in the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or animals other than humans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2005
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that marriage in the United States shall consist only of a legal union of a man and a woman. Prohibits any Federal or State court from having jurisdiction to determine whether the Constitution or any State constitution requires the legal incidents of marriage to be conferred upon any union other than a legal union between one man and one woman. Provides that no State shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State concerning a union between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage, or as having the legal incidents of marriage, under the laws of such other State.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2005
Veterans Employment and Respect Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a work opportunity tax credit for hiring certain: (1) veterans of military service in Afghanistan or Iraq; and (2) dependents of deceased members of the Armed Forces who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2005
Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize qualified physical therapists to provide services for Medicare beneficiaries without the requirement of a physician referral. Provides for treatment of outpatient speech-language pathology services separately from outpatient physical therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2005
Responsible Lending Act - Mortgage Lending Improvements and Uniform National Standards Act - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to define higher-cost mortgage. Sets forth related provisions with respect to: (1) requirements for higher-cost mortgages; (2) dispute and error resolution; (3) damages, rescission and liability; (4) State law coordination; (5) State enforcement authority; (6) prepayment penalties and late charges; and (7) consumer counseling. Expanding Housing Opportunities Through Education and Counseling Act - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish, in the Office of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Office of Housing Counseling. Directs the Office to carry out HUD homeownership and rental counseling functions, including related research, grant administration, public outreach, and development of policy and performance measures. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to direct the Secretary to: (1) establish homeownership and rental counseling procedures, and a related a toll-free telephone number and World Wide Web site; (2) certify computer software programs for consumer evaluation of residential mortgage loans; (3) establish a housing counseling multimedia outreach program for vulnerable populations; (4) assist States, local government, and non-profit organizations with consumer education programs about mortgage, refinancing, home equity, or home repair loans; and (5) make grants for State, local government, and nonprofit organization housing counseling assistance. Requires organizations to use HUD-certified counselors in order to qualify for specified HUD assistance. Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to: (1) revise the mortgage information booklet; (2) set forth prohibitions on a servicer of a federally related mortgage; and (3) prohibit a creditor from providing a higher-cost mortgage to any consumer without first obtaining a written appraisal of the property. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require a creditor in certain transactions secured by a residence to establish an escrow or impound account for taxes and hazard insurance payments. Directs: (1) the Secretary to conduct studies of mortgage servicing fraud, and home loan default and foreclosures; and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an appraisal process study. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a national mortgage broker database; and (2) Federal mortgage broker requirements. Sets forth uniform State mortgage broker law guidelines, and states that Federal requirements shall apply to those States that have not enacted uniform laws. Sets forth liability provisions for intentional unlawful disclosures, with a good faith exception.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2005
District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under Federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by Federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" to include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on possession of handgun restricted pistol bullets; and (3) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked. Repeals the definition of restricted pistol bullet as any bullet designed for use in a pistol which, when fired from a pistol with a barrel of five inches or less in length, is capable of penetrating commercially available body armor with a penetration resistance equal to or greater than that of 18 layers of kevlar. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends Federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person. Amends the District of Columbia Code to extend to firearms generally (currently, only to pistols) the prohibition against carrying such a weapon either openly or concealed within the District without a license issued pursuant to D.C. law. Specifies exceptions to the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in the District.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Cool and Efficient Buildings Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a 20-year depreciation recovery period, calculated on a straight line basis, for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, or commercial refrigeration systems installed in nonresidential buildings.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Security and Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2005 or the SAFE for America Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement (SAFE) Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed firearms in different States by persons who are not prohibited by Federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm and who are: (1) carrying a valid State license or permit for carrying a concealed firearm; or (2) otherwise entitled to carry a concealed firearm in their State of residence.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to expand the prohibition against discrimination by group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets on the basis of genetic information or services to prohibit: (1) enrollment and premium discrimination based on information about a request for or receipt of genetic services; and (2) requiring genetic testing. Sets forth penalties for violations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit issuers of Medicare supplemental policies from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. Extends medical privacy and confidentiality rules to the disclosure of genetic information. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate against an individual or deprive such individual of employment opportunities because of genetic information. Prohibits the collection and disclosure of genetic information, with certain exceptions. Establishes a Genetic Nondiscrimination Study Commission to review the developing science of genetics and advise Congress on the advisability of providing for a disparate impact cause of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2005
Children's Hospitals Education Equity and Research (CHEER) Act of 2005 - 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 expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs. Excludes reductions for unused resident positions when calculating the number of full-time residents in a children's hospital's approved training program for purposes of reimbursing direct expenses. Requires the Secretary to adjust the proportion of such a hospital's costs attributable to wages for differences in hospital wage levels by geographic area. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2010 for direct and indirect expenses associated with operating such programs. Requires that funds appropriated for such programs for a fiscal year remain available for obligation through the end of the succeeding fiscal year. Limits the ability to recoup funds unless a demand for recoupment is made by the end of the fiscal year. Sets forth an appeals procedure and limitations on retroactivity for decisions affecting the amount of payments to a hospital for such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2005
Condemns the ongoing abductions and murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City, Mexico, and expresses condolences to the victims' families. Urges the President and Secretary of State to: (1) incorporate the investigative efforts of the Mexican Government in the bilateral Mexico-U.S. agenda; and (2) continue to support the efforts of the victims' families to seek justice. Encourages the Secretary to: (1) include in the annual Country Report on Human Rights all instances of improper investigatory methods, threats against human rights activists, and the use of torture with respect to such cases; (2) urge the Government of Mexico and the State of Chihuahua to review the cases of murdered women in which the accused or convicted have credibly alleged they were tortured or forced by a state agent to confess; and (3) urge the Government of Mexico to ensure fair judicial proceedings. Supports the work of the special commissioner to prevent violence against women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua City. Expresses the solidarity of the people of the United States with the people of Mexico in the face of these tragic acts.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit an employer from employing a child model in exploitive child modeling. Defines "exploitive child modeling" as modeling involving the use of a child under 17 years old for financial gain without the purpose of marketing a product or service other than the child's image, regardless of whether the employment relationship of the child is direct or indirect, contractual or non-contractual, or is termed that of an independent contractor. Provides that such term does not apply to an image which, taken as a whole, has serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Sets penalties for violations. Includes employment of a minor in violation of such provision within the definition of "oppressive child labor." Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit displaying or offering to provide the image of an individual engaged in exploitive child modeling, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, with the intent to make a financial gain, except with respect to an image which has serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
State and Local Education Flexibility Act of 2005 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, to revise accountability requirements of title I part A assistance for basic programs operated by local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged (ESEA I-A). Provides for State and local flexibility, under specified conditions, to: (1) exclude from adequate yearly progress and academic assessments the performance of certain limited English proficient students; (2) modify academic content and achievement standards in the individual education plans of students with disabilities; (3) develop assessments locally and use multiple assessments; and (4) have alternative qualification requirements for special education teachers and rural teachers. Directs the Comptroller General to study the amounts LEAs and schools receive from ESEA I-A, and the costs to them in complying with it. Directs the Secretary of Education to arrange with an educational research entity to assess feasibility of measuring individual academic achievement.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
Incapacitated Persons Legal Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to extend habeas corpus protections to persons who are subject to a court order authorizing or directing the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain the person's life. Deems persons having custody in such cases to encompass parties so authorized or directed. States that there shall be no requirement to produce the body of the incapacitated person at the hearing. Exempts from this Act those cases in which the incapacitated person indisputably executed a written advance directive while having capacity that clearly authorized the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or necessary medical treatment. Defines "incapacitated person" to mean an individual presently incapable of making relevant decisions concerning the provision, withholding, or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment under applicable State law.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2005
American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2005 - Repeals the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 and other specified related laws. Directs the President to terminate U.S. participation in the United Nations (UN), including any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other affiliated body. Requires closure of the U.S. Mission to the UN. Prohibits: (1) the authorization of funds for the U.S. assessed or voluntary contribution to the UN; (2) the authorization of funds for any U.S. contribution to any UN military operation; and (3) the expenditure of funds to support the participation of U.S. Armed Forces as part of any UN military or peacekeeping operation. Bars U.S. Armed Forces from serving under UN command.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Marriage Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny Federal courts jurisdiction to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of: (1) the provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that provides that no State shall be required to give effect to any marriage between persons of the same sex under the laws of any other State; or (2) this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify automatic fire sprinkler systems as five-year depreciable property. .
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
RU-486 Suspension and Review Act of 2005 - Deems the approved application for the drug mifepristone (marketed as Mifeprex, commonly known as RU-486, and used for the chemically induced termination of intrauterine pregnancy) to have been withdrawn. Deems the drug misoprostol to be misbranded under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) if it bears labeling providing that the drug may be used for the medical termination of intrauterine pregnancy. Directs the Comptroller General to review and report on the process by which the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone. Provides for the reinstatement of the approved application for such drug if the report determines the approval to have been in accordance with FFDCA.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government should continue to insist that the People's Republic of China (PRC) respect its citizens' fundamental human rights; and (2) the U.S. representative should introduce a resolution at the 61st Session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, detailing the human rights situation in the PRC and urging it to abide by internationally recognized human rights standards. Urges the PRC to: (1) stop the persecution of religious practitioners and to safeguard fundamental human rights; (2) stop the forced return of North Korean refugees; (3) end its coercive one-child per family policy; (4) investigate the 1989 Tiananmen Square event, release all prisoners held in connection with that event, and compensate the families who lost their loved ones; (5) release all prisoners of conscience, persons held because of their religious activities, and persons of humanitarian concern; (6) release the 11th Panchen Lama identified by Dalai Lama and allow him to undertake his rightful role; and (7) allow visits to China by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Religious Intolerance and Torture, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit: (1) Federal civilian and military retirees to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis (i.e., exclude premiums from gross income); and (2) a tax deduction (available to itemizers and nonitemizers) for TRICARE supplemental premiums or enrollment fees. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the option of paying FEHBP and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis is available to Federal civilian and military retirees for the first open enrollment period beginning not less than 90 days after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2005 - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revise its regulations to provide that digital audio radio satellite service (DARSS): (1) licensees shall not provide services that are locally differentiated or that result in programming being delivered to consumers in one geographic market that is different from programming delivered in any other geographic market; and (2) repeaters shall be restricted to simultaneously retransmitting the programming transmitted by satellite directly to DARSS subscribers' receivers. Requires the FCC to complete a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether DARSS licensees should be permitted to provide locally oriented services on nationally distributed channels, taking into account, among other things, the ability of such licensees to afford listeners the same emergency and other information as is afforded listeners of local broadcast stations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
English Language Unity Act of 2005 - Declares English to be the official language of the United States. Establishes the affirmative obligation of the representatives of the Federal Government to preserve and enhance the role of the English language as the Government's official language. Requires the official functions of the Government to be conducted in English. Requires: (1) a uniform English language testing standard for U.S. naturalization; and (2) all naturalization ceremonies to be conducted in English. Sets forth exceptions to, and rules of construction for, such requirements. Authorizes persons injured by violations of this Act to obtain appropriate relief in civil actions. Declares, as a general rule of construction, that English language requirements and workplace policies, whether in the public or private sector, shall be presumptively consistent with the laws of the United States. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue for public notice and comment a proposed rule for uniform testing of the English language ability of candidates for naturalization based upon the principles that: (1) all citizens should be able to read and understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Laws of the United States; and (2) any exceptions to this standard should be limited to extraordinary circumstances, such as asylum.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2005
Critical Access to Clinical Lab Services Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that clinical diagnostic laboratory services furnished by a critical access hospital shall be treated as being furnished as part of outpatient critical access services without regard to whether: (1) the individual for whom the services are furnished is physically present in the critical access hospital at the time the specimen is collected; (2) such individual is registered as an outpatient on the records of, and receives such services directly from, the critical access hospital; or (3) payment is available for such services under the fee schedule established for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Amends Federal provisions relating to the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to change from October 1, 2008, to October 1, 2005, 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 · 17 February 2005
Reopen Reagan National to General Aviation Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement regulations permitting the resumption of non-scheduled, commercial air carrier (air charter) and general aviation operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Allows such regulations to provide reasonable requirements to ensure the security of airport operations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Mailing Support to Troops Act of 2005 - Authorizes free mailing privileges for mail matter sent by a family member from within an area served by a U.S. post office to members of the Armed Forces on active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan, or hospitalized at an Armed Forces facility as a result of such service.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Identification Integrity Act of 2005 - Prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for any official purpose an identification document for an individual issued by a foreign government. Creates an exception for foreign passports authorized by Federal law to be accepted for a specific official purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid Act of 2005 - Establishes the Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid to review: (1) each of Medicaid's major functional responsibilities; (2) issues that either threaten or improve the long-term financial condition of Medicaid; (3) Federal and State policies for Medicaid and Medicare enrollment (including enrollment sites), income eligibility, outreach, and documentation; (4) the operation and effectiveness of Medicaid premium assistance programs; and (5) Medicaid payment policies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the classification, for depreciation purposes, of any motorsports entertainment complex as seven year property.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Teacher Tax Credit Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an eligible educator an annual $2,000 tax credit. Defines: (1) "eligible educator" as an individual who is a kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide in an eligible elementary or secondary school for at least 900 hours during a school year; and (2) "eligible elementary or secondary school" as a school that is eligible for schoolwide assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005 - Declares that the sunset provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which terminate its application to estates of decedents dying, gifts made, or generation skipping transfers, after December 31, 2010, shall not in fact apply to title V of such Act, which repeals estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. (Thus makes the repeal of such taxes permanent.)
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2005
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act - Prohibits a qualified civil liability action from being brought in any state or federal court against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm, ammunition, or a component of a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce (or against a trade association of such manufacturers or sellers) for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, or penalties, or other relief, resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm. Requires pending actions to be dismissed. Excludes actions: (1) brought against a person who has been convicted of transferring a firearm knowing that it would be used to commit a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime, by a party directly harmed by such crime; (2) brought against a seller for negligent entrustment or negligence per se; (3) in which a manufacturer or seller of a firearm knowingly violated a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the firearm, if the violation was a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought; (4) for breach of contract or warranty in connection with the purchase of the firearm; or (5) for death, physical injuries, or property damage resulting directly from a defect in design or manufacture of the firearm when used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable manner, except that if the discharge was caused by a volitional act that constituted a criminal offense, such act shall be considered the sole proximate cause of any resulting death, personal injury, or property damage.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2005
Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) sponsoring or exhibiting a bird in a fighting venture in a State where it would not otherwise be in violation of the law, only if the person knew that any bird in the venture was knowingly bought, sold, delivered, transported, or received in interstate or foreign commerce for such purpose; or (2) knowingly sponsoring or exhibiting in an animal fighting venture any other animal that was moved in interstate or foreign commerce. Prohibits knowingly: (1) selling, buying, transporting, delivering, or receiving, for purposes of transportation in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog or other animal to participate in an animal fighting venture; (2) using interstate mail service for commercial speech promoting an animal fighting venture except as performed outside the limits of the States (with an exception for bird fights in States whose laws allow them); or (3) selling, buying, transporting, or delivering in interstate or foreign commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument to be attached to the leg of a bird for use in an animal fighting venture. Increases the penalties to a fine and up to two years' imprisonment for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2005
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that judicial interpretations of the U.S. Constitution should not be based on judgments, laws, or pronouncements of foreign institutions unless such judgments, laws, or pronouncements inform an understanding of the original meaning of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2005
Designates the segment of Interstate Route 86 between its interchange with New York State Route 15 in the vicinity of Painted Post, New York, and its interchange with New York State Route 352 in the vicinity of Corning, New York, as the "Amo Houghton Bypass."