United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2012
Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an individual taxpayer whose adjusted gross income exceeds $1 million to pay a minimum tax rate of 30% of the excess of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income over the taxpayer's modified charitable contribution deduction for the taxable year (tentative fair share tax). Establishes the amount of such tax as the excess (if any) of the tentative fair share tax over the excess of: (1) the sum of the taxpayer's regular tax liability, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) amount, and the payroll tax for the taxable year; over (2) certain tax credits. Provides for a phase-in of such tax. Requires an inflation adjustment to the $1 million income threshold for taxable years beginning after 2013. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should enact tax reform that repeals unfair and unnecessary tax loopholes and expenditures, simplifies the tax system, and makes sure that the wealthiest taxpayers pay a fair share of taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2012
Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to collectively honor the pioneers and participants of the civil rights movement in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their country. Directs that the Medal be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian should make the Medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations associated with the civil rights movement.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2012
Childcare Accountability and Responsibility Act of 2012 or the CARE for Kids Act of 2012 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to require a national criminal background check for an individual who is a child care staff member, a family child care provider, or an adult who resides in the home of a family child care provider in any state that receives funds from the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program. Requires that such background check include: (1) a search of the national Sex Offender Registry, the National Crime Information Center, state criminal registries, and state-based abuse and neglect registries and databases; and (2) a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fingerprint check. Makes a child care provider ineligible for Program funds if the criminal background check reveals an adult felony conviction of any such individual for: (1) child abuse or neglect; (2) spousal abuse; (3) a crime against children (including child pornography); (4) a violent crime; or (5) distribution, possession with intent to distribute, or importation of a controlled substance committed within the previous five years. Allows: (1) a child care provider or an individual subject to a background check to appeal the results to the appropriate designated state agency, and (2) a state to collect a fee from providers for such background checks to defray costs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2012
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make the 3.4% interest rate on Direct Stafford loans first disbursed to undergraduate students between July 1, 2011, and July 1, 2012, applicable to Direct Stafford loans first disbursed to undergraduate students on or after July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2012
Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012 - Amends the Egg Products Inspection Act to revise housing and treatment of egg-laying hens and related enforcement provisions. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to delegate to the California Department of Food and Agriculture certain enforcement authority with respect to eggs produced, shipped, handled, transported or received in California prior to the date that is 18 years after the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2012
Sympathizes with the families of women and children victimized by sexual and other forms of gender-based violence in Haiti. Urges treatment of the issue of violence against women and children as a priority for U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Supports passage of Haiti's first comprehensive law on the prevention, punishment, and elimination of gender-based violence.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2012
Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act or OPEN Act - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to establish a violation for operating or maintaining an Internet site dedicated to infringing activity (ISDIA). Defines ISDIA as an Internet site that is accessed through a nondomestic domain name, conducts business directed to U.S. residents, has only limited purpose or use other than engaging in infringing activity, and whose owner or operator primarily uses the site to: (1) willfully commit specified criminal copyright offenses or circumvent technological measures controlling access to protected work, or (2) use counterfeit trademarks in a manner punishable under specified provisions of the Lanham Act. Defines a “nondomestic domain name” as a domain name for which the domain name registry that issued the domain name and operates the relevant top level domain, the domain name registrar for the domain name, and the owner and the operator of the Internet site associated with the domain name, are not located in the United States. Sets forth procedures under which the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is: (1) authorized to investigate alleged violations of this Act on its own initiative, or (2) required to investigate any such alleged violation upon receiving a complaint by the owner of a copyright or trademark that is the subject of the infringing activity. Directs the USITC to terminate, or not initiate, an investigation with respect to a complaint if it has reason to believe, based on information before the USITC, that the domain name associated with the Internet site is not a nondomestic domain name. Requires that such matters be referred to the Attorney General (AG) for further proceedings as the AG determines appropriate. Directs the USITC to terminate, or not initiate, an investigation with respect to a domain name if the operator of the Internet site associated with the domain name provides in a legal notice on the site: (1) contact information of a person authorized to receive service of process, and (2) consent to jurisdiction and venue of the U.S. district courts and acceptance of service of process from the AG with respect to specified criminal copyright and trafficking in counterfeit goods or services offenses and violations. Conditions such termination or non-initiation on the operator also accepting service and waiving objections to jurisdiction in the event of the filing of a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court based on copyright infringement, circumvention of copyright protection systems, or the use or reproduction of counterfeit registered marks in commerce. Requires complainants to identify any financial transaction provider or Internet advertising service that may be required to take specified measures upon receiving a copy of a USITC order with respect to an ISDIA. Directs the USITC to submit ISDIA violation determinations to the President along with any order issued pursuant to the determination. Requires that the determination and order shall cease to have force or effect if the President disapproves of the determination for policy reasons and notifies the USITC. Authorizes the USITC to: (1) issue a cease and desist order against an Internet site (and its owner and operator) determined to be an ISDIA operated or maintained in violation of this Act, and (2) permit complainants to serve a copy of the order on financial transaction providers and Internet advertising services supplying services to the site. Requires, upon receiving a copy of such an order and subject to specified limitations: (1) a financial transaction provider to take reasonable measures designed to prevent or prohibit the completion of payment transactions by the provider that involve customers located in the United States and the ISDIA, and (2) an Internet advertising service to take technically feasible measures intended to cease serving advertisements to the ISDIA in situations in which the service would directly share revenues generated by the advertisements with the ISDIA operator. Provides immunity from liability and civil suits to financial transaction providers and Internet advertising services for certain actions designed to comply with such an order. Allows the AG to bring an action for injunctive relief against: (1) any person subject to such a cease and desist order, or (2) a financial transaction provider or Internet advertising service on which an order is served that knowingly and willfully fails to comply with the order. Permits a defendant to establish an affirmative defense by showing that it does not have the technical means to comply without incurring an unreasonable economic burden or that the order is inconsistent with this Act. Authorizes a financial transaction provider or Internet advertising service, acting in good faith and based on credible evidence, to cease or refuse to provide services to an Internet site the provider or service determines to be an Internet site that endangers the public health. Defines an “Internet site that endangers the public health” as an Internet site that is primarily designed or operated for the purpose of, has only limited purpose or use other than, or is marketed by its operator or another person acting in concert with that operator for use in offering, selling, dispensing, or distributing any prescription medication, and does so regularly without a valid prescription. Authorizes the USITC to appoint hearing officers for specified proceedings. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), if the Commissioner responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection suspects that imported merchandise violates provisions of the Lanham Act prohibiting the importation of goods bearing infringing marks or names, to share with the holder of the trademark suspected of being infringed for purposes of determining whether such a violation is occurring: (1) information about the merchandise, packaging, or labels; or (2) unredacted samples or photographs of such items. Authorizes the Secretary to notify the appropriate copyright owner if the Commissioner seizes merchandise suspected of being imported into the United States in violation of federal copyright laws prohibiting persons from manufacturing, importing, offering to the public, providing, or otherwise trafficking products or services that circumvent: (1) a technological measure that controls access to a protected work, or (2) protection afforded by a technological measure that protects a right of a copyright owner. Directs the USITC to prescribe regulatory: (1) procedures for receiving information from the public about ISDIAs, and (2) guidance to rights holders on initiating investigations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2012
Improving Cancer Treatment Education Act of 2012 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, to provide for Medicare coverage of comprehensive cancer patient treatment education services. Expresses the sense of Congress wih respect to continued support by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the area of symptom management and the role of nurses in providing those interventions. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the NIH Director to expand, intensify, and coordinate programs for the conduct and support of research with respect to: (1) improving the treatment and management of symptoms and side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatment, and (2) evaluating the role of nursing interventions in the amelioration of such symptoms and side effects.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2011
Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 - Title I: Temporary Payroll Tax Relief - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to: (1) extend through 2012 the 2% reduction in the self-employment tax rate for self-employment income not exceeding the excess of $18,350 over any wages and compensation paid to a self-employed taxpayer, and (2) extend through February 29, 2012, the 2% reduction in employment tax rates for employee wages and compensation not exceeding $18,350. Title II: Temporary Extension of Unemployment Compensation Provisions - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through March 6, 2012. Postpones the termination of the program until August 15, 2012. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until March 7, 2012, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and August 15, 2012, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2011, to February 29, 2012, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, to extend through February 29, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10 years. Title III: Temporary Extension of Health Provisions -Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set the update to the single conversion factor in the formula for the physicians' fee schedules for the first two months of 2012 at zero (thus freezing the physician payment update for the first two months of 2012). Requires the conversion factor for the remaining portion of 2012 and subsequent years to be computed as if the zero update for the first two months of 2012 had never applied. Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, as modified by other federal law, to extend section 508 hospital reclassifications for two months through November 30, 2011. ("Section 508" refers to Section 508 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 [MMA], which allows the temporary reclassification of a hospital with a low Medicare area wage index, for reimbursement purposes, to a nearby location with a higher Medicare area wage index, so that the "Section 508 hospital" will receive the higher Medicare reimbursement rate.) Extends through February 29, 2012, the 1.0 floor on geographic indexing adjustments to the work portion of the physician fee schedule. Extends through February 29, 2012, the process allowing exceptions to limitations on medically necessary therapy caps. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to extend until February 29, 2012, an exception to a payment rule that permits laboratories to receive direct Medicare reimbursement when providing the technical component of certain physician pathology services that had been outsourced by certain (rural) hospitals. Amends SSA title XVIII to extend the bonus and increased payments for ground ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) to extend the payment of certain urban air ambulance services until February 29, 2012. Extends increased payments for super rural ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends MIPPA to extend the physician fee schedule mental health add-on payment provision through February 29, 2012. Extends through February 29, 2012, hold harmless provisions under the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services. Extends the minimum payment for bone mass measurement through the first two months of 2012. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the Qualifying Individual (QI) Program through February 29, 2012, at specified allocations. xtends the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Program through February 29, 2012. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of SSA title IV to extend the TANF program through February 29, 2012. Title IV: Mortgage Fees and Premiums - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require each government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) (the Federal National Mortgage Association [Fannie Mae] and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation [Freddie Mac]) to charge a guarantee fee in connection with any guarantee of the timely payment of principal and interest on securities, notes, and other obligations based on or backed by mortgages on residential real properties designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families. Requires the FHFA Director to prohibit a GSE from consummating any offer for a guarantee to a lender for mortgage-backed securities if: (1) the guarantee is inconsistent with the requirements of this Act; or (2) the risk of loss is allowed to increase, through the lowering of the underwriting standards or other means, for the primary purpose of meeting the requirements of this Act. Requires direct deposit into the Treasury of any amounts received from fee increases imposed by this Act that are necessary to comply with the minimum increase required by this Act. Requires the Director to require each GSE, as part of its annual report, to: (1) describe changes made to up-front fees and annual fees as part of the guarantee fees negotiated with lenders, changes to the riskiness of the new borrowers compared to previous origination years or book years, and any adjustments required to improve for future origination years or book years, in order to be in complete compliance with guarantee fee requirements; and (2) assess how the changes in such guarantee fees met the requirements of this title. Amends the National Housing Act with respect to requirements for each mortgage secured by a 1- to 4-family dwelling that is an obligation of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in addition to other required or authorized premiums, to establish and collect through FY2021 annual premium payments of up to 10 basis points of the remaining insured principal balance for any mortgage for which the Secretary collects an annual premium on the remaining insured principal balance. Title V: Other Provisions - Subtitle A: Keystone XL Pipeline - Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State, to grant a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project application filed on September 19, 2008. Waives such requirement if the President determines that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest. Requires the President, in that case, to report to certain congressional committees and officials a justification for his determination, including consideration of economic, employment, energy security, foreign policy, trade, and environmental factors. Declares that a permit for such pipeline shall take effect by operation of law if after 60 days following enactment of this Act the President fails to: (1) determine that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest, or (2) grant the permit. Subtitle B: Budgetary Provisions - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the Senate to consider a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that includes an emergency designation. Permits waiver or suspension of such prohibition, or successful appeals from a ruling of the Chair, only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths (60 votes) of the Senate. Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Act from being entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2011
Riya Wilson Act - Amends title IV (Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children and for Child-Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act to require an approved state plan that is required in order to be eligible for federal payments for foster care and adoption assistance to provide that such state has in effect procedures that require the state child welfare agency to promptly report information on missing or abducted children to law enforcement authorities for entry into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require a state reporting a missing child under the age of 21 to the NCIC to: (1) require the state law enforcement agency that entered the report to include a recent photograph in information updating a record, and (2) notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of each report received relating to a child reported missing from a foster care family home or childcare institution.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2011
Collaborative Academic Research Efforts for Tourette Syndrome Act of 2011 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH programs and activities regarding Tourette syndrome. Requires the Director to develop a system to collect data on Tourette syndrome, including epidemiological information regarding its incidence and prevalence in the United States, primary data, and data on the availability of medical and social services for individuals with Tourette syndrome and their families. Requires the Director to award grants and contracts to public or nonprofit private entities to pay costs of planning, establishing, improving, and providing basic operating support for between four and six centers of excellence in different regions of the United States to conduct basic and clinical research on Tourette syndrome. Requires the Secretary to designate a portion of the amounts made available to carry out NIH programs and activities for a fiscal year to carry out programs and activities with respect to Tourette syndrome.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2011
Due Process Guarantee Act of 2011 - Amends the federal criminal code to specify that an authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident apprehended in the United States, unless an Act of Congress expressly authorizes such detention. Applies this Act to any such authorizations or declarations enacted before, on, or after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011
National Cooperative Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) establish a National Cooperative Development Program to create jobs and increase economic development in underserved areas by promoting cooperative development; and (2) select, through a competitive process and enter into a grant agreement with, a national cooperative development center. Defines "cooperative organization" as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Defines "cooperative development" as specified technical assistance for the establishment of cooperative organizations. Requires the national center to select local cooperative development centers. Authorizes the national center to establish up to three local cooperative development centers in each of FY2012-FY2016.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011
Senior Medicare Fairness Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for plan year 2013 and subsequent plan years with respect to payments to Medicare + Choice organizations for original fee-for-service benefits under a specialized Medicare Advantage plan for special needs individuals that: (1) offers integrated Medicare and Medicaid services under contract with the state agency under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; and (2) is offered by a Medicare Advantage organization that as of January 1, 2010, had a contract with such state Medicaid agency that participated in the "Demonstrations Serving Those Dually-Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid." Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to apply the frailty adjustment under payment rules for programs of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) rather than those which would otherwise apply for plan enrollees.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011
Modifies the Coast Guard Academy cadet nomination process by requiring that half of each incoming class be composed of cadets nominated by: (1) the Vice President or, if there is no Vice President, the President pro tempore of the Senate; (2) a Senator; (3) a Member of the House of Representatives; and (4) the various delegates to Congress, including a Resident Commissioner and Resident Representative. Entitles each Senator, House Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, and Resident Representative to nominate three persons each year. Requires nominees to be citizens or nationals of the United States and meet any minimum requirements established by the Secretary of the respective department in which the Coast Guard is operating. Directs the Superintendent of the Academy to furnish any Member of Congress, upon written request, the name of the nominating authority responsible for the nomination of any named or identified person for appointment to the Academy.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2011
Wall Street Accountability through Sustainable Funding Act - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to impose a fee on each agreement, contract, or transaction that is a contract of sale of a commodity for future delivery, an option on such a contract, or a swap to recover the government's cost of the annual CFTC appropriation for the fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2011
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the low-income housing tax rate for new buildings that are not federally subsidized, and (2) establish a minimum 4% low-income tax credit rate for existing buildings that are not federally subsidized.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2011
Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2012 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct: (1) the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to designate a Global Water Coordinator to coordinate and oversee water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance, and (2) the Secretary of State to designate a Special Advisor for Water Resources to coordinate and oversee policy relating to water and sanitation assistance. Sets forth principles to ensure that water, sanitation, and hygiene projects carried out under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 achieve maximum impact. Amends the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 regarding the strategy to further the U.S. foreign assistance objective to provide access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries to: (1) transfer primary authority from the Secretary to USAID, (2) include hygiene, and (3) include designation of high priority countries. Directs the Administrator to maintain a webpage for information on U.S. water, sanitation, and hygiene foreign assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2011
Restore the American Dream for the 99% Act or Act for the 99% - Title I: Emergency Job Creation to Rebuild America - Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to states for: (1) subgrants to local education agencies (LEAs) to modernize, renovate, or repair public school facilities; and (3) grants to pay maintenance costs. Requires LEAs to use such funds, to the maximum extent practicable, for green schools. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for grants to institutions of higher education for an additional 250,000 part-time work-study jobs for students (Student Jobs Corps). Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Agriculture and to the Secretary of the Interior to create additional 100,000 positions in the Public Lands Corps. Authorizes the President to establish a Civilian Conservation Corps for specified activities in federal or state lands. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) a Teacher Corps in elementary and secondary schools; (2) a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to hire an additional 40,000 state, local, and tribal career law enforcement officers; (3) a Firefighters Corps program to hire an additional 12,000 firefighters; and (4) a Community Corps to create an additional 750,000 jobs to perform energy audits, conservation upgrades, recycling, initial demanufacturing activities, urban land reclamation, rural conservation, public property maintenance and beautification, housing rehabilitation, and new housing construction. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to grant financial assistance to health care or long-term care (LTC) providers to pay the costs of hiring and retaining additional health care or LTC professionals (Health Care Corps). Amends the Head Start Act to direct the Secretary of HHS to provide funds to Early Head Start programs to hire additional infant and toddler specialists. Makes appropriations to the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor solely for on-the-job training. Buy American Enhancement Act of 2011 - Prescribes Buy American requirements for items purchased under this Act. Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2011 - Amends the Small Business Act to redefine independently owned and operated small business concerns to exclude publicly traded business concerns and subsidiaries as well as foreign-owned business concerns and subsidiaries. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to report annually on prime federal contracts awarded to small business concerns for the purposes of achieving specified small business contracting goals of the federal government. National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2011 - Establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank (NIDB) as a wholly owned government corporation to provide financial assistance for transportation, environmental, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure projects of regional or national significance contributing to economic growth and job creation. Wounded Veteran Job Security Act - Amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) to include as service in the uniformed services any period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment for a service-connected injury or illness or one for which a "line of duty" document has been granted by the Secretary of Defense (DOD). Prescribes documentation requirements for an applicant for reemployment due to an absence for the purpose of obtaining such medical treatment. Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend until January 4, 2013, any federal-state agreement to make emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until January 4, 2013, full federal funding of extended unemployment compensation. Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to authorize a state, if implementation of first-tier EUC would unduly delay the prompt EUC payments, to elect to pay second-tier, third-tier, or fourth-tier EUC. Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include as a "countervailable subsidy" requiring action under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding the benefit conferred on merchandise imported into the United States from foreign countries with fundamentally undervalued currency. Prioritize Emergency Job Creation Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to the designation of FY2012-FY2021 appropriations for discretionary accounts for emergency job creation. Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 - Declares it an unlawful practice for certain employers with at least 15 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year to: (1) refuse to consider or offer employment to an individual based on present or past unemployment regardless of the length of time such individual was unemployed; (2) publish an advertisement or announcement for any job with provisions indicating that such an unemployed status disqualifies an individual and that an employer will not consider an applicant based on such status; and (3) direct or request that an employment agency account for such status when screening or referring applicants. Prohibits an employment agency (including agents and persons maintaining a website publishing job advertisements or announcements), based on such an individual's status as unemployed, from: (1) refusing to consider or refer an individual for employment; (2) limiting, segregating, or classifying individuals in any manner limiting access to job information; or (3) publishing an advertisement or announcement for any job vacancy that includes provisions indicating that such an individual is disqualified and that an employer will not consider such individuals. New Jobs for America Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Labor, subject to the availability of appropriations, to make grants to state and local governments and Indian tribes to carry out employment training programs to aid unemployed individuals in securing employment in a new area of expertise, particularly in emerging markets and industries (such as green technologies). Makes certain funds available to the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) for restoration, repair, construction, and other eligible surface transportation activities as well as for passenger and freight rail transportation and port infrastructure projects. Jobs NOW Act - Amends title IV part A (Grants to States for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish in the Treasury the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs. Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to repeal new discretionary spending limits. Title II: Responsible Savings and Fair Taxation - Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act - Limits the obligation and expenditure of funds for operations of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan to the safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan of all members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense (DOD) contractor personnel. Defense and Deficit Reduction Act - Freezes the aggregate amount of funds made available for DOD-administered military functions (other than military personnel pay, health benefits, and drug interdiction and counter-drug activities) at: (1) the FY2008 level for FY2011, and (2) the previous fiscal year level for each of FY2012-FY2016. Places a permanent ceiling of 30,000 per fiscal year (with certain exceptions) on the end strength level of members of the Armed Forces assigned to permanent onshore duty in Europe and corresponding general end strength reductions. Specifies the breakdown of end strength levels for each of the services. Terminates the V-22 Osprey aircraft program as of FY2012. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the basic range of income taxed at: (1) 15% from a maximum of $36,900 to a maximum of $69,000, (2) 28% from $36,900-$89,150 to $69,000-$139,350, (3) 31% from S89,150-$140,000 to $212,300-$379,150, (4) from $140,000-$ 250,000 to $379,150-$1 million, and (5) $39.6% from $250,000-and-over to $1 million-$10 million. Prescribes new tax rates of 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, and 49% for specified income levels above $10 million to $1 billion-and-over. Specifies the breakdown of such tax rates for heads of households, unmarried individuals, and married individuals filing separate returns. Prescribes a special rule for recapture of lower capital gains rates for individuals subject to at least a 45% rate bracket. End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act of 2011 - Revises requirements for the amortization of geological and geophysical expenditures to convert the special tax rule for major integrated oil companies into a special rule for covered large oil companies (a major integrated oil company or a taxpayer with taxable year gross receipts exceeding $50 million. Denies taxpayers who are not small, independent oil and gas companies: (1) the tax credit for production of oil and gas from marginal wells, (2) the enhanced oil recovering tax credit, (3) the deduction for the intangible drilling and development costs of oil and gas wells, (4) the percentage depletion allowance, (5) the deduction for tertiary injectant expenses, (6) the exclusion from (and consequently subjection to) the disallowance passive activity losses and credits, and (7) the deduction for a portion of income derived from domestic production activities. Prohibits a major integrated oil company from using last-in, first-out (LIFO) tax accounting. Prescribes a special rule to deny to a dual capacity taxpayer a foreign tax credit for certain amounts paid or accrued to a foreign country or U.S. possession with respect to combined foreign oil and gas income. Superfund Reinvestment Act - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to authorize the use of amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund for environmental cleanup costs authorized by such Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate until December 31, 2018, the Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax and extend the borrowing authority of the Superfund through 2021. Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a .03% excise tax on the purchase of a security: (1) if such purchase occurs on a trading facility located in the United States, or (2) the purchaser or seller is a U.S. person. Extends through calendar year 2012 the making work pay tax credit. Employee Misclassification Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to require every person to: (1) keep records of non-employees (contractors) who perform labor or services (except substitute work), including through an entity such as a trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, for remuneration; and (2) provide certain notice to each new employee and new non-employee, including classification as an employee or non-employee and information concerning their rights under the law. Makes it unlawful for any person to: (1) discharge or otherwise discriminate against an individual (including an employee) who has opposed any practice, or filed a complaint or instituted any proceeding related to this Act, including with respect to an individual's status as an employee or non-employee; and (2) fail to classify accurately an employee or non-employee. Doubles the amount of liquidated damages for maximum hours, minimum wage, and notice of classification violations by an employer. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a page on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees under this Act. Amends SSA to require, as a condition for a federal grant for the administration of state unemployment compensation, for the state's unemployment compensation law to include a provision for: (1) auditing programs that identify employers that have not registered under the state law or that are paying unreported compensation where the effect is to exclude employees from unemployment compensation coverage, and (2) establishing administrative penalties for misclassifying employees or paying unreported unemployment compensation to employees. Corporate Assets Should be Used to Hire Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on domestic corporations in taxable years beginning in 2011 or 2012 an additional 40% tax on the excess of their retained earnings over their average retained earnings for the preceding 3 taxable years. Exempts certain corporations from such tax, including corporations with retained earnings of less than $5 million in a taxable year. Title III: Protect and Strengthen Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid - Public Option Deficit Reduction Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer through Exchanges a health benefits plan (public health insurance option) that ensures choice, competition, and stability of affordable, high-quality coverage throughout the United States. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish an office of the ombudsman for the public health insurance option, and (2) establish geographically adjusted premiums at a level sufficient to fully finance the costs of the health benefits provided and related administrative costs. Requires repayment of start-up costs for the public health insurance option. Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2011 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices that may be charged to Medicare part D prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors and MedicareAdvantage (MA) organizations for covered part D drugs for part D eligible individuals who are enrolled under a PDP or under an MA-Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plan. Medicaid Enhancement and Emergency Job Creation Act of 2011 - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2011 (ARRA) to extend through FY2012 the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under SSA title XIX (Medicaid). Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply employment and self-employment taxes to remuneration up to the contribution and benefit base and to remuneration in excess of $250,000.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2011
Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2011 - Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (with respect to drugs, devices, cosmetics, and biological products), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) (with respect to consumer products), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (with respect to chemical substances, new chemical substances, and pesticides), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (with respect to a motor vehicle or motor vehicle products) to require foreign manufacturers and producers of such products (or components used to manufacture them), in excess of a minimum value, quantity, and frequency of importation, to register an agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on their behalf for the purpose of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court. Deems a foreign manufacturer or producer of products covered under this Act that registers an agent to consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state or federal courts of the state in which the agent is located for the purpose of any judicial proceeding. Requires any person who imports into the United States a covered product manufactured or produced outside the United States to make to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a declaration that, to the best of the person's knowledge, with respect to the importation of each covered product, the foreign manufacturer or producer of the product has registered an agent in the United States. Subjects to certain penalties an importer who fails to provide this or files a false declaration. Requires foreign manufacturers or producers of a covered product to report within five business days to the head of the applicable agency their determination to conduct a safety recall or other safety campaign of a covered product that is identical or substantially similar to a covered product offered for sale in the United States. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to study jointly the feasibility and advisability of requiring foreign producers of food distributed in commerce to register an agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of such producers for the purpose of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court. Requires the head of an applicable agency similarly to study the feasibility of methods requiring foreign manufacturers or producers of component parts of covered products distributed in U.S. commerce to register agents in the United States for purposes of such service of process. Requires the Comptroller General to study methods to enforce judgments of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court against Chinese manufacturers that exported defective drywall to the United States during 2004-2007.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011
Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2011 - Amends the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 to repeal its sunset date December 31, 2012 (thus making the Act permanent). Establishes a private right of action to enforce compliance with such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011
End Racial Profiling Act of 2011 - Prohibits any law enforcement agent or agency from engaging in racial profiling. Defines "racial profiling" to mean the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or religion in selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities, or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory activity, except when there is trustworthy information relevant to the locality and timeframe that links a person of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or religion to an identified criminal incident or scheme. Authorizes the United States or an individual injured by racial profiling to enforce this Act in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief. Requires: (1) federal law enforcement agencies to maintain adequate policies and procedures to eliminate racial profiling and to cease existing practices that permit racial profiling; and (2) state or local governmental entities or state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies that apply for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program and the Cops on the Beat Program to certify that they maintain adequate policies and procedures for eliminating racial profiling and have eliminated any existing practices that permit or encourage racial profiling. Requires the Attorney General to issue regulations to ensure that administrative complaint procedures and independent audit programs provide an appropriate response to allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or agencies. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants and contracts for the collection of data relating to racial profiling and for the development of best practices and systems to eliminate racial profiling. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data on racial profiling, and (2) the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics to analyze the data collected for any statistically significant disparities. Requires the Attorney General to submit annual reports on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011
Assuring and Improving Cancer Treatment Education and Cancer Symptom Management Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, to provide for Medicare coverage of comprehensive cancer patient treatment education services. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate programs for the conduct and support of research with respect to: (1) improving the treatment and management of symptoms and side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatment, and (2) evaluating the role of nursing interventions in the amelioration of such symptoms and side effects. Requires the NIH Director to make nursing intervention research grants for studying cancer symptom management care and services delivered by registered nurses. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enter into an arrangement under which the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences shall evaluate and report to the Secretary and Congress on the current state of symptom management, patient treatment education, and supportive care given to people with cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011
Part D Beneficiary Appeals Fairness Act - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to a prescription drug plan (PDP) that provides for any tiered cost-sharing within a formulary (including a structure that provides for different co-payment or coinsurance amounts for drugs in different tiers included within the formulary), to authorize a Medicare part D eligible individual enrolled in the plan to request an exception to the tiered cost-sharing structure. States that in no case may the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) allow a PDP sponsor to make any element of the tiered cost-sharing structure (including a tier used for very high cost or unique items) ineligible for lower-cost sharing through an exception.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act - Requires a business enterprise that employs 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees, or 50 or more employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, in a call center to notify the Secretary of Labor at least 120 days before relocating such center outside of the United States. Subjects violators to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 a day. Directs the Secretary to maintain and make publicly available a list of all such employers that relocate a call center. Requires such an employer to remain on the list for up to three years after each relocation. Makes such an employer ineligible for federal grants or federal guaranteed loans for five years after being added to the list, except where the employer demonstrates that a lack of such loan or grant would threaten national security, result in substantial job loss in the United States, or harm the environment. Requires the head of federal or state executive agency or military department, when awarding a civilian or defense-related contract, to give preference to a U.S. employer that does not appear on the list. Requires a business entity that initiates or receives a customer service communication to require each of its employees or agents participating in the communication to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each such communication unless all involved employees or agents are located in the United States. Exempts any communication: (1) initiated by a consumer if the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is located outside the United States, or (2) related to the provision of emergency services. Requires such a business entity, upon request, to transfer a customer to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States. Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to exclude certain classes or types of business entities or customer services communications from the requirements of this Act under exceptionally compelling circumstances. Sets forth enforcement provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2011
The Cameras in the Courtroom Act of 2011 - Requires the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open sessions of the Court unless it decides by majority vote that allowing such coverage in a particular case would violate the due process rights of any of the parties involved.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2011
Constitutional Amendment - Gives Congress and the states the authority to regulate the disbursement of funds for political activity by for-profit corporations, other for-profit business entities, or other business organizations, without regard to whether or not the activity is carried out independently from any candidate or political party.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2011
Medicaid Enhancement and Emergency Job Creation Act of 2011 - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2011 (ARRA) to extend through FY2012 the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under SSA title XIX (Medicaid).
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2011
Stop AIDS in Prison Act of 2011 - Directs the Bureau of Prisons to develop a comprehensive policy to provide HIV testing, treatment, and prevention for inmates in federal prisons and upon reentry into the community. Requires such policy to include provisions for: (1) testing of inmates upon intake and counseling; (2) HIV/AIDS prevention education; (3) HIV testing of prisoners annually upon request or upon exposure to HIV; (4) HIV testing of pregnant inmates; (5) comprehensive medical treatment of inmates who test positive for HIV and confidential counseling on managing their medical condition and preventing its transmission to other persons; (6) protection of confidentiality; (7) testing, counseling, and referral prior to reentry into the community; (8) allowing inmates the right to refuse routine HIV testing; (9) excluding as "routine" the testing of an inmate who may have transmitted HIV to any U.S. officer or employee or to any person lawfully present but not incarcerated in a correctional facility; and (10) timely notification of test results. Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) require HIV testing for all federal prison inmates upon intake regardless of length of sentence or risk factors, (2) allow inmates to decline testing prior to release from incarceration, and (3) make HIV testing part of the routine health screening conducted at intake. Requires the Bureau to report on: (1) testing, treatment, and prevention education programs for hepatitis and other diseases transmitted through sexual activity and intravenous drug use; and (2) the incidence among prison inmates of diseases transmitted through sexual activity and intravenous drug use.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2011 - Amends provisions of federal civil service law to extend employment-related and retirement benefits to domestic partners of federal employees and to set forth requirements for establishing a domestic partnership, including the filing of an affidavit attesting to the existence and legitimacy of the partnership. Modifies provisions relating to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) to extend eligibility for annuity and survivor benefits to domestic partners of federal employees on the same basis as married employees. Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prescribe regulations to provide that domestic partners and former domestic partners shall be considered as spouses or former spouses for purposes of creditable service determinations under CSRS and FERS. Makes domestic partners of federal employees eligible for: (1) the federal employee group life insurance (FEGLI) program, (2) federal employees health benefits (FEHB), (3) dental and vision benefit plans, and (4) long-term care insurance coverage. Grants the head of an federal agency authority to reimburse an employee for taxes incurred the domestic partner of such employee for travel or transportation reimbursements. Modifies provisions of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) to make domestic partners of federal employees eligible for worker compensation benefits under such Act. Adds "domestic partner" to the list of relatives subject to restrictions on federal employment of relatives and related prohibitions. Includes a biological, adopted, or foster child of a domestic partner as a "son or daughter" for purposes of federal employee family and medical leave provisions. Allows a federal employee family and medical leave to care for a domestic partner. Requires the President to prescribe regulations necessary to ensure that specified provisions relating to the following are administered in a manner consistent with the purposes of this Act: (1) the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; (2) travel, transportation, and related payments and benefits under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and for civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD); (3) certain benefits for members of the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and (4) benefits related to federal employees or annuitants and benefits necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to make provisions of that Act applicable to domestic partners of federal employees to the same extent as married employees, including provisions relating to financial disclosure, government-wide limitations on outside earned income and employment, gifts to superiors and to federal employees, bribery, acceptance of travel expenses from nonfederal sources, taxes on self-dealing, and disqualification of a justice, judge, or magistrate judge. Requires reporting by: (1) the President on the implementation of this Act, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the effect of this Act on premiums or other periodic charges under FEHB and the impact of extending benefits to domestic partners on federal employee retention and recruitment efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Veterans Education Equity Act of 2011 - Revises the formula for the payment by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of tuition and fees for individuals entitled to educational assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program and pursuing programs of education at public institutions of higher learning to include, as an additional payment formula, the greater of: (1) the actual net costs for in-state tuition after applying the receipt of any tuition waivers, reductions, scholarships, or other assistance; or (2) $17,500 for the academic year beginning on August 1, 2011 (such amount to be increased each subsequent year by the average percentage increase in undergraduate tuition costs).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Project Rebuild Act of 2011 - Appropriates funds for assistance to eligible entities including state and local governments, and qualified nonprofit organizations, businesses or eligible consortia for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed-upon properties and for stabilization of affected neighborhoods (Project Rebuild). Allows the use of funds to: (1) establish financing mechanisms for the purchase and redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed-upon properties; (2) purchase and rehabilitate such properties; (3) establish and operate land banks for them; (4) demolish blighted structures (except public housing); and (5) redevelop abandoned, foreclosed, demolished, or vacant properties. Requires each state to receive at least $20 million of formula funds, all of which shall be used with respect to low and moderate-income individuals and families. Requires each state and local government grantee to establish procedures to create preferences for development of affordable rental housing. Allows a grantee to use up to 10% to create jobs by establishing and operating a program to maintain eligible neighborhood properties. Sets forth Buy American requirements. Requires all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on federally-assisted projects to be paid wages at the locally prevailing rates (Davis-Bacon Act).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
America's Wildlife Heritage Act - Sets forth requirements concerning the maintenance of viable populations of existing native and desired non-native species within each planning area in the National Forest System's or the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) public lands. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to adopt and implement a strategically targeted monitoring program for determining the status and trends of native and desired non-native species populations on System and BLM lands. Defines: (1) native species to mean species of plants and animals indigenous to a planning area; and (2) desired non-native species to mean those wild species of plants and animals that are not indigenous to a planning area but are valued for their contribution to species diversity or their social, cultural, or economic value. Requires the Secretaries to coordinate the management of planning areas of the System and the BLM with the management of the National Wildlife Refuge System and National Park System, other federal agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies, other state agencies responsible for management of natural resources, tribes, local governments, and non-governmental organizations engaged in species conservation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Modernizing Our Drug & Diagnostics Evaluation and Regulatory Network Cures Act of 2011 or the MODDERN Cures Act of 2011 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish the Advanced Diagnostics Education Council to recommend standard terms and definitions related to innovative diagnostics for use by patients, physicians, health care providers, payers, and policy makers.; and (2) publish a guide regarding such terms and definitions. Sets forth additional factors for the Secretary to consider in determining the payment amount for new clinical diagnostic laboratory tests under gap filling procedures which are used when no comparable existing test is available. Extends the exclusivity period for a drug or biological product if the diagnostic test related to such drug has been determined by the Secretary to have been developed by, or with the participation of, the manufacturer or sponsor of the drug or biological product, and use of the diagnostic tests provides for or improves: (1) the identification of a patient population for the drug or biological product; or (2) the determination of the most appropriate treatment option for a patient population with the drug or biological product. Establishes a dormant therapy designation for drugs or biological products that address unmet medical needs. Gives such a drug or biological product 15 years of data exclusivity under which no drug can be approved by relying on the approval or licensure of the dormant therapy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2011
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the rights protected by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state. Declares that such corporate and other private entities are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the states and do not limit the freedom of the press. Prohibits such corporate and other private entities from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people. Grants Congress and the states the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate's own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2011
National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act - Identifies roadless areas within the National Forest System set forth in specified maps as National Forest Inventoried Roadless Areas, and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to manage such Areas to maintain their roadless character. Authorizes the Forest Service to modify such maps for the sole purpose of improving their accuracy or inclusiveness. Requires any substantial modification of those maps to be made through the national forest management planning process and documented in an environmental impact statement.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2011
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make tuition payments for veterans enrolled in institutions of higher education and receiving assistance under the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program by not later than the tuition due date for the quarter, semester, or term. Directs the Secretary, in determining payment amount, to take into consideration any waiver of or reduction in tuition and fees, and any scholarship or other federal, state, institutional, or employer-based aid or assistance made or awarded as of the payment due date. Requires repayment to the Secretary of any waiver, reduction, or other assistance amount made or awarded after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2011
Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act or STOP Act - Establishes a Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Council, composed mainly of civilians, as an independent entity from the chain of command of the Department of Defense (DOD). Directs the Council to: (1) appoint personnel to the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office, and advise such Office; (2) appoint the Director of Military Prosecutions (Director); (3) review each request of the Director with respect to a case stemming from a sexual-related offense that has been referred to a military appellate court or to the Department of Justice (DOJ); and (4) submit to the Secretary of Defense, Congress, and the Attorney General a report on each Director request for referral to a higher court. Requires the Council to advise on the development of sexual assault reporting protocols, risk-reduction and response training, and policy. Establishes within DOD the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office, headed by an Executive Director, to undertake specified duties and responsibilities relating to the investigation, prevention, and reduction of sexual assault incidents within the Armed Forces. Requires the Office to establish protocols to ensure that all reports of sexual assault are taken out of the chain of command and reported directly to the Office. Establishes the position of Director of Military Prosecutions, appointed by the Council, to have independent and final authority to oversee the prosecution of all sexual-related offenses committed by a member of the Armed Forces, and to refer such cases to trial by courts-martial. Amends the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 to require the Secretary to implement a centralized database, known as the Military Sexual Registry, for the collection of information regarding sexual assaults within the military, including the nature of the assault, the victim, the offender, and the outcome of associated legal proceedings. Requires the Registry to be housed and maintained within the Office.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2011
Eva M. Clayton Fellows Program Act - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to require the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Eva M. Clayton Fellows Program to provide for fellowships to conduct research and education on the eradication of world hunger and malnutrition. Requires the President to use U.S. influence at the United Nations (U.N.) to urge the creation within the Food and Agriculture Organization of fellowship positions for Clayton Fellows to conduct research and education programs on the eradication of world hunger and malnutrition.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2011
Fiscally Responsible St. Croix River Crossing Authorization Act - Authorizes the head of an appropriate federal agency to authorize and assist in the construction of a new St. Croix River bridge crossing between Minnesota and Wisconsin, provided mitigation measures are implemented to offset environmental impacts identified in the 2010 report prepared by the National Park Service. Limits federal funding for such project to $574 million.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2011
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2011 or the ABLE Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish tax-exempt ABLE accounts to assist an individual with a disability in building an account to pay for qualified disability expenses. Defines "qualified disability expenses" to include expenses for education, a primary residence, transportation, obtaining and maintaining employment, health and wellness, and other personal support expenses. Treats a qualified ABLE program and an ABLE account in the same manner as a qualified tuition program for income tax purposes (i.e., allowing a tax exemption for such program and an exclusion from gross income of amounts attributable to a contributor to or a beneficiary of a program account). Defines "qualified ABLE program" as a program established and maintained by a state agency under which a person may make contributions to an ABLE account established to pay for qualified disability expenses. Requires amounts in ABLE accounts to be disregarded in determining eligibility for Medicaid and other means-tested federal programs. Suspends the payment of supplemental security income benefits under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to an individual during any period in which such individual has excess resources attributable to an ABLE account.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2011
Fallen Heroes of 9/11 Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of congressional gold medals in honor of the men and women who perished as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, and the Pentagon Memorial at the Pentagon. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such medals, with amounts received from the sale to be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2011
Latin America Military Training Review Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army to suspend operation of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (Institute). Suspends the authority of the Secretary of Defense to operate such an education and training facility until submission of a report containing the results of an investigation in response to violations of human rights to which training at such Institute contributed. Establishes: (1) a joint congressional task force to assess appropriate education and training for DOD to provide to military personnel of Latin American nations; and (2) a commission to investigate activities of the United States Army School of the Americas and its successor institution, the Institute.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Child Marriage Violates the Human Rights of Girls Act of 2011 - Defines "child marriage" as the marriage of a girl or boy not yet the minimum age for marriage stipulated in law in the country in which the girl or boy is a resident, or where there is no such law, under the age of 18. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) child marriage is a violation of human rights and its prevention and elimination should be a U.S. foreign policy goal; and (2) educational opportunities for girls, economic opportunities for women, and reducing maternal and child mortality are critical to U.S. global health and development objectives, including efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS. Directs the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies to collect and make available data on the incidence of child marriage in specified countries that receive U.S. foreign or development assistance where the practice of child marriage is prevalent. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require that Department of State reports on human rights practices for specified countries include a description of the status of child marriage for each country in which child marriage is prevalent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act - Designates specified National Forest System lands, National Park System lands, and public lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness and as components or additions to existing components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS). Sets forth provisions for the management of the lands designated as wilderness by this Act, including regarding water rights, tribal rights, fish and wildlife, and grazing permits and leases. Authorizes the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture (USDA) to take necessary measures for the control of fire, insects, and disease on such lands. Establishes a Northern Rockies Fish and Wildlife Habitat and Corridors Information Program. Requires the development of a Northern Rockies Habitat and Corridors Information System. Sets forth specified additional provisions with regard to Indian tribes. Permits provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to be applied, as appropriate, in the implementation of this Act. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of specified rivers and creeks in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through January 3, 2013. Postpones the termination of the program until June 8, 2013. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until January 4, 2013, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 10, 2013, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 to authorize a state by law to apply certain requirements of the Act, with specified substitutions, for determining an extended unemployment compensation period. Requires the state's "on" and "off" indicators to be based on its rate of insured unemployment and rate of total unemployment for the period between enactment of this Act (or, if later, the date established pursuant to state law), and ending on or before December 31, 2012. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through December 31, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service and for those with less than 10. Amends title XII (Advances to State Unemployment Funds) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to extend through FY2012 the waiver on payment of interest by a state in repayment to the federal Unemployment Trust Fund (UTF) of advances from it. Denies this extension, however, to any state that has not entered a voluntary agreement with the Secretary of Labor to refrain from modifying state unemployment compensation law to lower its unemployment compensation benefits. Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to reductions in credits against the federal unemployment tax for an employer's contributions to a state unemployment fund in a state which has received advances from the UTF. Postpones the commencement of such reductions until January 1, 2013, for any state entering such an agreement with the Secretary. Amends SSA title IX (Employment Security Administrative Financing) to require the payment of a solvency bonus for any quarter to the book account in the UTF of the state unemployment compensation agency of a solvent state (whose outstanding balance of advances from the UTF is zero). Makes the bonus equal to two percentage points above the average rate of interest of special obligations of the United States in which the UTF is invested.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2011
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that any action taken by the Department of Justice should be consistent with the following goals: (1) the mortgage servicers who engage in fraudulent behavior should not be granted criminal or civil immunity for potential wrongdoing related to illegal mortgage and foreclosure practices; (2) the federal government and state attorneys general should proceed with full investigation into claims of fraudulent behavior by mortgage servicers; and (3) any financial settlement reached with mortgage servicers should appropriately compensate for, and accurately reflect, the extent of harm to all victims, including homeowners and state pension beneficiaries, caused by the mortgage servicer's fraudulent behavior.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Same Day Voter Registration Act of 2011 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states with a voter registration requirement to make same-day voter registration available at the polling place on the date of election itself (or on the day of voting under early voting).
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Voter Access Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit a state or local election official from requiring an individual to: (1) present a photo identification (or a copy if voting by mail) as a condition for receiving or casting a ballot in any election for federal office, or (2) cast a provisional ballot solely on the grounds that the individual does not present a photo identification at the polling place. Prohibits a state or local election election official from requiring an individual to provide a photo identification (or a copy if registering by mail) as a condition of registering to vote in an election for federal office.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2011
Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a .03% excise tax on the purchase of a security: (1) if such purchase occurs on a trading facility located in the United States, or (2) the purchaser or seller is a U.S. person. Defines "security" to include: (1) stocks, partnership interests, notes, bonds, debentures, or other evidences of indebtedness; and (2) interests in a derivative financial instrument (i.e., any option, forward contract, futures contract, notional principal contract, or any similar financial instrument). Exempts from such tax: (1) initial issues of securities; (2) any note, bond, debenture, or other evidence of indebtedness which has a fixed maturity of not more than 100 days; and (3) securities traded pursuant to certain lending arrangements.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_mn_5_ellison_keith_200.jpg)