United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
America's Better Classroom Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a limited credit for qualified public school modernization bonds (qualified school construction bonds and qualified zone academy bonds). Amends the General Education Provisions Act to provide for the application of certain labor standards to projects financed under this Act. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish provisions concerning employment and training activities related to the construction or reconstruction of public school facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to: (1) restrict the application of the windfall elimination provision to individuals whose combined monthly income from the individual's primary insurance amount under such title and the portion of the monthly periodic payment attributable to noncovered service performed after 1956 exceeds $2,000; and (2) provide for a graduated implementation of such provision by specified percentages with respect to incremental amounts above such threshold, up to 100 percent for combined amounts over $3,000.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Railroad Track Modernization Act of 2001 - Amends Federal rail transportation law to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program of capital grants to Class II and Class III railroads to rehabilitate, preserve, or improve railroad track (including roadbed, bridges, and related track structures) used primarily for freight transportation to a standard to accommodate 286,000 pound rail cars in a safe and efficient manner. Authorizes the Secretary to also make grants to supplement direct loans or loan guarantees (including for paying credit risk premiums, lowering rates of interest, or providing for a holiday on principal payments) for projects primarily benefitting non-Class I freight railroad carriers. Sets forth certain prevailing wage requirements with respect to projects financed by such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify qualified leasehold improvement property (defined as certain improvements made to an interior portion of nonresidential real property) as ten-year property for depreciation purposes under the Accelerated Cost Recovery System.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce; and (3) provisions for safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans) subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Consumer Assurance of Radiologic Excellence Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit certain payments to States for expenditures for medical imaging procedures or radiation therapy procedures, unless the State meets specified requirements for State medical radiation licenses, including minimum licensing standards the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to make optional the requirement that a State seek adjustment or recovery from an individual's estate of any medical assistance correctly paid on behalf of the individual under the State Medicaid plan.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Home Health Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000, to: (1) eliminate a specified 15 percent reduction in cost and per beneficiary limits with respect to payment rates for home health services under the Medicare prospective payment system for such services; and (2) provide for a permanent payment increase for such services furnished in a rural area. Makes this Act effective as if included in the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Good Samaritan Hunger Relief Tax Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth a special rule allowing a charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Resolution to Expand Access to Community Health Centers (REACH) Initiative - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that appropriations for consolidated health centers under the Public Health Service Act should be increased by 100 percent over the next five fiscal years in order to double the number of individuals who receive health care services at community, migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Heather French Henry Homeless Veterans Assistance Act - Encourages all Federal, State, and local departments and agencies and other entities and individuals to work toward the national goal of ending homelessness among veterans within a decade. Establishes within the Department of Veterans Affairs the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) support the continuation within the Department of at least one center to monitor the structure, process, and outcome of Department programs addressing homeless veterans; and (2) assign veterans receiving specified services provided in, or sponsored or coordinated by, the Department as being within the "complex care" category. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants to Department health care facilities and to grant and per diem providers for the development of programs targeted at meeting certain special needs of homeless veterans; (2) require certain officials to initiate a plan for joint outreach to veterans at risk of homelessness; (3) carry out two treatment trials in integrated mental health services delivery; (4) ensure that each Department primary care facility has a mental health treatment capacity; (5) carry out a program of transitional assistance grants to eligible homeless veterans; and (6) make technical assistance grants to aid nonprofit community-based groups in applying for homeless program grants. Extends through FY 2006 the homeless veterans reintegration program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to provide coverage for qualified individuals participating in approved cancer clinical trials if a group health plan or an issuer offering health insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan or in the individual market otherwise provides coverage to such an individual. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS), of Labor, and of the Treasury to: (1) analyze cancer clinical research and its cost implications for managed care; and (2) report to Congress an assessment of any incremental cost to group health plans resulting from this Act and any recommendations regarding action on other diseases. Requires the Secretaries of Labor, of the Treasury, and of HHS to ensure coordinated administration of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to restore the authority of States to transfer up to ten percent of TANF funds to carry out State programs pursuant to SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) for FY 2002. Amends SSA title XX to: (1) restore funds to States and territories for FY 2001 and 2002; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to compile information on State activities carried out under SSA title XX and report it annually to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2001 - 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 · 7 March 2001
Innocence Protection Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize a person convicted of a Federal crime to apply to the appropriate Federal court for DNA testing to support a claim that the person did not commit: (1) the Federal crime of which the person was convicted; or (2) any other offense that a sentencing authority may have relied upon when it sentenced the person with respect to such crime. Sets forth: (1) guidelines for the court to use in ordering DNA testing; (2) post-testing procedures; (3) provisions regarding preservation of evidence; (4) criminal penalties for destroying or altering DNA evidence; and (5) provisions regarding post-conviction DNA testing in State criminal justice systems. Prohibits a State from denying an application for DNA testing made by a prisoner in State custody who is under sentence of death if specified conditions apply. Provides grants to prosecutors for DNA testing programs. Establishes the National Commission on Capital Representation. Withholds funds from States not complying with standards for capital representation. Provides for capital defense incentive grants and resource grants. Increases compensation in Federal cases, and sets forth provisions regarding compensation in State cases, where an individual is unjustly sentenced to death. Adds a certification requirement in Federal death penalty prosecutions. Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the execution of juvenile offenders and the mentally retarded.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Sudan Peace Act - Declares that Congress: (1) condemns violations of human rights on all sides of the conflict in Sudan (including the Government of Sudan), the ongoing slave trade there, the Government's use and organization of "murahalliin" (or "mujahadeen"), Popular Defense Forces (PDF), and regular Sudanese Army units into raiding and slaving parties in Bahr al Ghazal, the Nuba Mountains, Upper Nile, and Blue Nile regions, and its aerial bombardment of civilian targets; and (2) recognizes that the use of raiding and slaving parties is a tool for creating food shortages as a systematic means to destroy the societies, culture, and economies of the Dinka, Nuer, and Nuba peoples in a policy of low-intensity ethnic cleansing. Authorizes the Secretary of State to utilize Department of State personnel for the support of ongoing negotiations, and eventual implementation of a peace settlement, between the Government of Sudan and opposition forces. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United Nations (UN) should be used as a tool to facilitate peace and recovery in Sudan. Directs the President to develop a contingency plan to provide, outside UN auspices, the greatest amount of U.S. Government and privately donated relief to all affected areas in Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains, Upper Nile, and the Blue Nile regions, in the event the Government of Sudan imposes a ban on Operation Lifeline Sudan air transport relief flights.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Clean Diamonds Act - Prohibits the import of diamonds into the United States unless the exporting country is implementing a system of controls on the export or import of rough diamonds that meets specified requirements, consistent with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 adopted on December 1, 2000, or a future international agreement which implements such controls and to which the United States is a signatory. Sets forth both civil and criminal penalties for violations of the requirements of this Act. Prohibits the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank from engaging in certain transactions in connection with projects or exports to countries violating the requirements of this Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should take steps to negotiate an international agreement to eliminate the trade in diamonds used to support conflict in the country or regions in which such diamonds are mined. Provides a waiver for the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2001
Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2001 - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to subject to the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) all nonbank affiliates of bank holding companies that engage in lending or offer banking products or services. Mandates reduction of the CRA rating of a regulated financial institution to reflect predatory or negative credit practices. Places an affirmative obligation upon each securities company, mortgage bank, and insurance company to meet the need for its respective services in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods . Requires bank holding company affiliates of securities, mortgage, and insurance companies to maintain satisfactory CRA ratings. Insurance Disclosure Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish noncommercial insurance data reporting requirements incumbent upon insurers in order to ascertain the availability and affordability of insurance in connection with: (1) census tract; (2) low- and moderate-income neighborhoods; (3) race and gender of policyholders; and (4) location of principal place of agents and their termination by race. Directs the Secretary of HUD to require each insurer that makes an investment in a property or business to submit annually data detailing direct loans and loan purchases in connection with: (1) commercial real estate loans; (2) single-family mortgages; (3) commercial and industrial loans; and (4) other investments. Requires regulated financial institutions to collect data regarding farm and small business loan applications that details: (1) applicant race and gender; (2) minority-owned and women-owned enterprises; (3) the revenue of such applicants; and (4) the actual census tract of the applicants' locale. Sets forth antiredlining requirements for financial holding companies. Revises the requirement that Federal banking agencies prohibit a financial holding company or insured depository institution from commencing certain new financial activities or acquiring control of a company engaged in any financial activity if any subsidiary or affiliate has received a CRA rating of less than "satisfactory record of meeting community credit needs" in its most recent examination. Extends such prohibition to continuing such activities or maintaining control of a company engaged in such activities if any subsidiary or affiliate has received such a less than satisfactory CRA rating.
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 · 6 March 2001
Women's Health and Cancer Rights Conforming Amendments of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require group health plans to provide coverage for post-mastectomy reconstructive surgery.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Social Security Benefits Restoration Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to eliminate provisions that reduce primary insurance amounts for individuals receiving pensions from noncovered employment.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Steel Revitalization Act of 2001 - Directs the President to impose quotas, tariff surcharges, or other measures on, and to negotiate enforceable voluntary export restraint agreements with respect to, imports of steel products in order to ensure that: (1) the tonnage of iron ore, coke and coke products, semifinished steel, and pig iron imported into the United States during any month does not exceed the average tonnage of each product that was imported monthly into the United States during the 36-month period preceding July 1997; and (2) the share of domestic consumption of any other applicable steel product in the United States derived from imports during any month does not exceed the average monthly share of domestic U.S. consumption of that steel product during any month in the 36-month period preceding July 1997. Authorizes the Customs Service to refuse entry into the U.S. customs territory for a five-year period of any steel products that exceed their allowable levels. Establishes: (1) the Steel Retiree Health Care Board in the Department of Labor; (2) the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund; and (3) the Health Care Benefit Costs Assistance Program. Sets forth the functions of the Board, including to: (1) provide, under the Health Care Benefit Costs Assistance Program, for payments to designated steelworker group health plans to assist in the funding of qualified retiree health benefits under such plans; and (2) establish policies for the investment and management of the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund that provides for prudent investments and low administrative costs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on steel sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer (such taxes to be deposited into the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund). Amends the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to increase the aggregate amount of loans guaranteed and outstanding (including additional costs of such loans) at any one time under Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program or with respect to a single qualified steel company. Requires the Loan Guarantee Board to approve or deny an application for a guarantee within 45 days after its receipt. Authorizes any person who acquires another person that produces any of the specified categories of steel products contained in this Act to apply to the Secretary of Commerce for a grant to defray the costs necessary to bring, and maintain, the resulting entity into compliance with U.S. environmental laws. Requires the Secretary to make a determination whether or not such mergers will promote the retention of at least 80 percent of the jobs of the steel workers and production of capacity of such steel products. Sets forth penalties for failure to achieve such retention levels.
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 · 1 March 2001
Ukrainian American Veterans Charter Act - Grants a Federal charter to the Ukrainian American Veterans, Incorporated (a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of New York).
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a deduction (based on years of continuous coverage) for eligible long-term care insurance premiums for a taxpayer, spouse, and dependents, including accelerated deduction percentages for persons who are 55 years old; and (2) long-term care insurance to be offered under cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements. Allows an income-adjusted (limited) credit for eligible individuals with long-term care needs. Sets forth specified requirements for qualifying long-term care insurance contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish, for a limited time period, deductions and credits for commercial and residential properties using specified energy efficient construction or reconstruction materials or technologies, including solar energy. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) allocation of deductions for public property; and (2) property financed by subsidized energy financing. Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish specified certification and compliance procedures.
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
Equity in Access to Education for Veterans Act of 2001 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to provide, in making determinations for student financial assistance under HEA, that the amount of a student's veterans' educational benefits to be taken into consideration shall be reduced by the amount contributed from that individual's basic pay for such benefit eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2001
Mandatory IDEA Full Funding Act of 2001 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to require specified minimum levels of Federal grant payments to States for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.
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 · 27 February 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth provisions for: (1) a small employer (100 or fewer employees) retirement plan; (2) a credit for the expenses of establishing such a plan; and (3) a model small employer retirement plan.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2001
Calls for the United States, at the 57th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, to solicit co-sponsorship for, and take the lead in organizing multilateral support to obtain passage of, a resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to end its human rights abuses in China and Tibet.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Conservation and Reinvestment Act - Establishes the Conservation and Reinvestment Act Fund (CRAF). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit into the CRAF certain Outer Continental Shelf revenues, undisbursed impact assistance and coastal conservation amounts, and interest earned on CRAF investments. Allocates CRAF funds among coastal States for impact assistance and coastal conservation, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and Federal aid to a certain wildlife restoration fund. Provides for CRAF funding of the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994, Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Agreements, and a specified program for payments in lieu of taxes and refuge revenue sharing. Expresses the intent of Congress that amounts made available under this Act are to supplement, and not to detract from, annual appropriations for the National Park Service. Prohibits the expenditure of funds under this Act if such an expenditure diminishes benefit obligations of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Truthfulness, Responsibility, and Accountability in Contracting Act - Prohibits any Federal agency from making a decision to privatize, outsource, contract out, or contract for the performance of a function currently performed by the agency or to conduct a study to convert a function from Federal to contractor performance. Allows an agency to contract out a function not then performed by Federal employees if such function would be performed under contract by the blind or handicapped. Authorizes any agency to apply to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for a waiver of such prohibition on specified grounds. Requires each agency to establish a centralized system for reporting on its contracting efforts during the preceding and current fiscal years. Requires any agency decision to privatize, outsource, or contract out for the performance of a function, after expiration of the prohibition enacted by this Act, to be based on the results of a public-private competition process meeting specified requirements. Requires an agency either to conduct a new public-private competition or to convert a function to performance by Federal employees if a report indicates that: (1) contracting out costs exceed costs of performance by Federal employees; or (2) contracting out fails to meet quality control standards. Directs the Secretary of Labor to survey and report to specified congressional committees on the wages and quantifiable benefits provided by contractors to non-Federal personnel working under contract.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Oil Region National Heritage Area Act - Establishes the Oil Region National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania. Requires the Oil Heritage Region, Inc., a locally based, private nonprofit management corporation, to be the management entity for the Area. Bars the use of funds under this Act to acquire real property. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Historic American Building Survey and the Historic American Engineering Record, to conduct studies to document the industrial, engineering, building, and architectural history of the Area. Limits the Federal assistance match to 50 percent of any activity's total cost.
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
Men's Health Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an office to be known as the Office of Men's Health. Requires a report.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2001 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise student guaranteed and direct loan forgiveness programs for teachers. Extends program eligibility to any borrower by eliminating requirements allowing only certain new borrowers to participate. Expands eligible teaching locations and subjects. Eliminates a service requirement that an individual teach at least five consecutive complete school years before being eligible for program benefits. Increases from $5,000 to $10,000 the aggregate amount of an individual teacher's student loan obligation which may be forgiven, and revises the rate of repayment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Education for Democracy Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise and reauthorize provisions for Civic Education. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to or contracts with: (1) the Center for Civic Education (CCE) to carry out civic education activities under the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution program and The Project Citizen program, and under Cooperative Educational Exchange programs; and (2) the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) to carry out economic education activities under Cooperative Educational Exchange programs. Revises requirements for CCE implementation of the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution program and The Project Citizen program. Sets forth requirements for the Cooperative Educational Exchange programs of civic education by CCE and economic education by NCEE. Makes eligible for such programs Central European countries, an Eastern European country, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the independent states of the former Soviet Union. Allows such program eligibility also for the Republic of Ireland, the province of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and any developing country as defined under the Education for the Deaf Act. Amends the Goals 2000: Educate America Act to repeal provisions for an International Education Program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the National Academy of Sciences, to report regarding the safety, monitoring, and approval of genetically engineered foods.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
WISEWOMAN Expansion Act of 2001- Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to permit the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through a competitive review process, to award grants to States to provide additional specified preventive health services, screenings, education, and referrals under PHSA provisions concerning preventive health measures with respect to breast and cervical cancers. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to modify the formula for determining the amount of reduced monthly OASDI benefits payable to a spouse, surviving spouse, or parent receiving monthly payments from a Federal or State pension plan. Declares that such benefit reductions shall be equal to the lesser of: (1) the amount by which the total amount of the combined monthly benefit (before reduction) and monthly pension exceeds $1,200, adjusted for inflation; or (2) an amount equal to two-thirds of the amount of any such monthly pension plan payment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Foreign Truck Safety Act - Amends Federal transportation law to prohibit foreign commercial motor vehicles that enter the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border from operation in the United States by a foreign motor carrier or a foreign motor private carrier unless such vehicles have passed, in the 12-month period preceding entry into the United States, a federally-ordered safety equipment inspection. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation or a State to impose and collect a fee on such carriers to cover the costs of such inspections.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Survivor Benefits Tax Fairness Act - Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to extend to survivors of public safety officers killed in the line of duty before December 31, 1996, the same tax benefits available to the survivors of such officers killed after such date.