United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2005
Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2005 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) offer one or more Medicare operated prescription drug plans nationally that offer qualified prescription drug coverage and access to negotiated prices, while allowing the plan to offer supplemental prescription drug coverage in the same manner as other qualified prescription drug coverage offered by other prescription drug plans; and (2) enter into negotiations with pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce the purchase cost of covered Medicare part D drugs for eligible part D individuals, and encourage the use of more affordable therapeutic equivalents. Requires the monthly beneficiary premium charged under such a plan to be uniform nationally. Makes the premium for months in 2006 $35. Bases the premium for months in succeeding years on the average monthly per capita actuarial cost of offering the Medicare operated prescription drug plan for the year involved, including administrative expenses. Allows for adjustment of such premium amount in case of supplemental prescription drug coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act of 2005 - Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), after July 1, 2005, from reallocating primary allocations of bands of frequencies of the amateur radio and amateur satellite services, diminishing the secondary allocations of such bands to such services, or making additional allocations within such bands that would substantially reduce their utility to the amateur radio or satellite service, unless the FCC provides equivalent replacement spectrum to amateur radio and satellite service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2005 - Amends Federal law to provide that, with regard to an employee in fire protection activities: (1) heart disease, lung disease, specified cancers and infectious diseases shall be presumed to be proximately caused by the employee's employment; (2) the disability or death of an employee in fire protection activities due to such a disease shall be presumed to result from personal injury sustained while in the performance of such employee's duty; and (3) such presumptions may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Agricultural Export Facilitation Act of 2005 - Amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSREEA of 2000) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize, under a general license, certain travel-related transactions specified in the Code of Federal Regulations, for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connection with activities undertaken in connection with sales and marketing, including the organization and participation in product exhibitions, and the transportation by sea or air of products pursuant to this Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should issue visas for temporary entry into the United States of Cuban nationals whose itinerary documents an intent to conduct activities, including phytosanitary inspections, related to purchasing U.S. agricultural goods under the provisions of TSREEA of 2000. Prohibits the President from restricting direct transfers from a Cuban financial institution to a U.S. financial institution executed in payment for a product authorized for sale under TSREEA of 2000. Repeals the ban in the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 on certain transactions with respect to intellectual property in which the Cuban Government or a Cuban national has an interest regarding a mark or trade or commercial name that is the same as or substantially similar to one that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated, unless the original owner or successor-in-interest has expressly consented. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to amend the Cuban Asset Control regulations to authorize under general license the transfer or receipt of any trademark or trade name subject to U.S. law in which a designated national has an interest.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act - Amends the National Firearms Act to include a 50 caliber sniper weapon (defined as a rifle capable of firing a center-fire 50 caliber cartridge) within the definition of a "firearm" regulated under that Act. Modifies the definition of "rifle" under the Act to include a weapon intended to be fired from a bipod or other support. Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the transfer or possession of a 50 caliber sniper weapon, with exceptions involving: (1) the transfer to or possession by the United States, a State, or a political subdivision thereof; and (2) otherwise lawful possession of a weapon that was lawfully possessed before the date this provision takes effect. Includes 50 caliber sniper weapons within the scope of penalties under that Act for which an individual may be fined, imprisoned for up to ten years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act) - Establishes the United States National Health Insurance Program (the Program) to provide all individuals residing in the United States and in U.S. territories with free health care that includes all medically necessary care, such as primary care and prevention, prescription drugs, emergency care, and mental health services. Prohibits an institution from participating in the Program unless it is a public or nonprofit institution. Allows nonprofit health maintenance organizations (HMOs) that actually deliver care in their own facilities to participate in the Program. Gives patients the freedom to choose from participating physicians and institutions. Prohibits a private health insurer from selling health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this Act. Allows such insurers to sell benefits that are not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery benefits. Sets forth methods to pay hospitals and health professionals for services. Prohibits financial incentives between HMOs and physicians based on utilization. Authorizes appropriations and provides for appropriated sums to be paid for: (1) by vastly reducing paperwork; (2) by requiring a rational bulk procurement of medications; (3) from existing sources of Government revenues for health care; (4) by increasing personal income taxes on the top five percent income earners; (5) by instituting a modest payroll tax; and (6) by instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions. Requires the Program to give first priority in retraining and job placement to individuals whose jobs are eliminated due to reduced administration. Establishes a National Board of Universal Quality and Access to advise the Secretary and the Director to ensure quality, access, and affordability. Provides for the eventual integration of the health programs of the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Indian Health Service into the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Increases the biweekly contribution payable by the Government for a Federal employee or annuitant enrolled in a Federal employee health insurance plan.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 with respect to: (1) voter verification and mandatory paper record audit capacity; and (2) accessibility and voter verification of results for individuals with disabilities. Requires the Election Assistance Commission to study, test, and develop best practices to enhance the accessibility of voter-verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities and for voters whose primary language is not English, including best practices for the mechanisms themselves and the process through which the mechanisms are used. Outlines additional voting system requirements. Requires laboratories to meet standards prohibiting conflicts of interest as a condition of accreditation for the testing of voting system hardware and software. Provides for the filing of complaints by aggrieved persons with the Attorney General. Extends the authorization of Election Assistance Commission permanently. Makes available additional funding to enable States to meet the costs of the requirements imposed by this Act. Directs the Election Assistance Commission to conduct random, unannounced, hand counts of the voter-verified records for each Federal general election in at least two percent of the precincts in each State. Requires Federal certification of the technological security of voter registration lists.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Angel Island Immigration Station Restoration and Preservation Act - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for restoring the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, in coordination with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Limits Federal funding under this Act to 50 percent of the total funds from all sources spent to restore the Angel Island Immigration Station. Requires funds appropriated by this Act to be used first for restoration of the Immigration Station Hospital on Angel Island.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
State Veterans Cemetery Fairness Act of 2005 - Makes the burial plot allowance for a veteran who dies in a Department of Veterans Affairs facility or a facility providing Department-contracted care $300 (current law) or the lesser of the actual costs or $750 in the case of a State in which ground burial in a national cemetery is not available.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Student Privacy Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise provisions for military recruiter access to secondary school student information. Requires ESEA-assisted local educational agencies (LEAs) to notify each secondary school student's parent of the option to consent to a release of the student's name, address, and telephone listing to military recruiters, and to give the parent the opportunity to provide such consent in writing. Requires such LEAs to provide military recruiters, upon their request, with access to such information on a student only if the student's parent has given such written consent.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Guard and Reserve Readiness and Retention Act of 2005 - Makes an individual eligible for retired pay for non-regular (reserve) military service if such individual: (1) satisfies one of specified combinations of minimum age (between 53 and 60) and years of service (between 20 and 34); (2) performed the last six years of qualifying service in currently authorized categories of military service, but not while a member of a regular component, the Fleet Reserve, or the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; and (3) is not entitled to any other retirement pay from an armed force or as a member of the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Marine Corps Reserve. Authorizes a member of the Selected Reserve to enroll for self or self and family coverage under the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense managed health care program).
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member of the Armed Forces entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member. Directs the Secretary to reimburse such eligible persons for pharmacy benefits received from a pharmacy that is not a TRICARE (Department of Defense managed health care plan) network pharmacy in the same manner as the Secretary would reimburse such person for such benefits received from a TRICARE network pharmacy. Requires such persons, in order to receive such reimbursement, to submit a certification from their physician stating that the person does not have access to a TRICARE network pharmacy due to physical or medical constraints. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to waive the monthly part B premium (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) with respect to: (1) an individual who is entitled to military retired or retainer pay based upon service that began before December 7, 1956; and (2) the spouse, widow, or widower of such individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Milk Import Tariff Equity Act - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to impose tariff-rate quotas (quantitative import limits) and provide various duty rates on certain casein, caseinates, milk protein concentrate, and other casein derivatives and glues imported into the United States (except imports from Mexico). Authorizes the President to: (1) enter into a trade agreement with a foreign country to grant new concessions as compensation in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions; and (2) proclaim any necessary modification or continuance of any existing duty, or continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or any quantitative limitation. Sets forth certain limits on the reduction of duties on such products.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Peace Stamp for the Peace Corps Act - Directs the U.S. Postal Service to issue a semipostal (a postage stamp sold at a premium in order to help provide funding for certain causes) to benefit the Peace Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize specified appropriations through FY 2011 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services: (1) to develop and implement a National Arthritis Action Plan; and (2) acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct, support, and promote the coordination of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases research. Requires the Secretary to award grants to: (1) support arthritis-specific research projects at the Centers for Prevention Research by the CDC; (2) support State comprehensive arthritis control and prevention programs and public health surveillance, prevention, and control activities; and (3) assist in the implementation of a national strategy for arthritis control and prevention. Requires the Secretary to coordinate a national education and outreach program on arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Requires the Secretary to establish an Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee to: (1) improve coordination of Federal research activities related to arthritis and rheumatic diseases; and (2) convene a summit to provide a detailed overview of such current Federal research. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand and intensify juvenile arthritis research. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to award grants to support juvenile arthritis data collection. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to support the development of a National Juvenile Arthritis Patient Registry. Requires the Secretary to promote and support pediatric rheumatology training, including by allowing the Secretary to establish a loan repayment program. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study on the economic impact of arthritis in the workplace.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act - Designates specified lands within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility (the Southeastern Post Office) located at 2777 Logan Avenue in San Diego, California, as the "Cesar E. Chavez Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the full realization of the rights of women is vital to the development and well-being of people of all nations; and (2) the Senate should, therefore, give its advice and consent to the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4960 West Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, as the "Ray Charles Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Amends the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to detain for examination, testing, or the taking of evidence: (1) any horse at any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction which is sore or which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is sore; and (2) any horse or other equine which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is being shipped, transported, moved, delivered, received, possessed, purchased, sold, or donated in violation of such prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2000 Allston Way in Berkeley, California, as the "Maudelle Shirek Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Marine One Made in America Act - Prohibits the Secretary of the Navy from entering into a contract for the procurement of a helicopter under the VH-3D presidential helicopter replacement program unless the contract requires the helicopter to be wholly manufactured in the United States from parts wholly manufactured in the United States. Provides that if a contract entered into after December 31, 2004, and before the date of enactment of this Act does not meet such requirements, the Secretary shall terminate such contract.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Recognizes the unique obstacles that women face in ensuring retirement security and survivor and disability stability, and the essential role that Social Security plays in guaranteeing inflation-protected financial stability for women throughout their entire old age. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Congress and the President should take these factors into account when considering proposals to reform the Social Security system.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress that, for fiscal year 2006, rates of compensation for all U.S. civilian employees should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are such rates for members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable income tax credit of up to $500 for the purchase of a qualified hearing aid for an individual who is either: (1) age 55 or older; or (2) is claimed as a dependent of the taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2005 - Provides for full voting representation in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia, including two Senators and as many Representatives as a similarly populous State would be entitled to under the law. Treats the District of Columbia as a State. Prescribes a procedure for the first elections under this Act. Entitles the District to one Representative until the taking effect of the next reapportionment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Medicare's Equitable Drugs for Seniors Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal provisions prohibiting the Secretary of Health and Human Services from: (1) interfering with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan sponsors; and (2) requiring a particular formulary to institute a price structure for the reimbursement of covered Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) drugs. Grants the Secretary instead, in order to ensure that beneficiaries enrolled under prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans pay the lowest possible price, authority similar to that of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other Federal agencies and departments that purchase prescription drugs in bulk to negotiate contracts with manufacturers of covered Medicare part D drugs, consistent with the requirements and in furtherance of the goals of providing quality care and containing costs under such part.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Federal Propaganda Prohibition Act of 2005 - Requires an Executive agency, not later than 30 days after entering into a contract for public relations, media relations, advertising, or public opinion research services, to submit in writing to specified congressional committees the contractor's name, the amount and the purpose of the contract, a summary of the contract, other relevant information, and, upon request: (1) a copy of the covered contract; (2) any contract modifications; and (3) any materials produced under the contract. Prohibits an officer or employee of the U.S. Government from making or authorizing an expenditure or obligation of funds for publicity or propaganda within the United States unless authorized by law. Imposes penalties. Requires each advertisement or other communication paid for by an Executive agency to include a prominent notice that the advertisement or other communication is paid for by that agency.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Honors Cesar E. Chavez for his commitment to improving the plight of farm workers and the poor and for inspiring Americans to work nonviolently for justice. Encourages all Americans to commit to working for justice through nonviolence and to remind themselves of the work of the people who put food on the tables of America.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) develop and implement a plan to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq; (2) develop and implement a plan for reconstructing Iraq's civil and economic infrastructure; (3) convene an emergency meeting of Iraq's leadership, Iraq's neighbors, the United Nations, and the Arab League to create an international peacekeeping force in Iraq and to replace U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq with Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard forces; and (4) provide the Iraqi people the opportunity to completely control their internal affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Little Rock Central High School Desegregation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School and its contribution to civil rights in America. Specifies the sale price of such coins and applicable surcharges. Requires surcharges collected from sales to be used equally for: (1) the Jefferson National Parks Association for support of the activities and mission of Little Rock Central High National Historic Site; and (2) site improvements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Military Educational Parity Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of their participation in the student aid program, to grant students who are called or ordered to active duty a military leave of absence while serving on active duty and for one year after conclusion of such service. Entitles students receiving such leave, upon release from active duty, to be restored to prior educational status attained without loss of academic credits earned, scholarships or grants awarded, or tuition or fees paid, unless those have been refunded. Requires institutions to give such students certain refunds of tuition or fees paid prior to active duty. Includes as active duty, in the case of National Guard members, active State duty. Excludes training or attendance at a service school from treatment as active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act - Amends Federal postal law to extend through December 31, 2007, the U.S. Postal Service's authority to issue special postage stamps to help fund breast cancer research.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of Congress that military retired pay should not be reduced because a military retiree is also eligible for veterans' disability compensation awarded for a service-connected disability. Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability (currently, only a disability rated at 50 percent or more). Repeals provisions phasing in the full concurrent receipt of such pay through December 31, 2013. Makes eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay those individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Amends the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to: (1) prohibit the sale or transfer for commercial product processing of any free-roaming horse or burro on U.S. public lands; and (2) repeal the provisions permitting the sale of certain excess animals or their remains, and excluding from criminal fine or imprisonment a person who processes or permits the processing of such animals' remains.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Calls for the President to grant a pardon, posthumously, to Jack Johnson, the first African-American professional boxer to hold the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to: (1) include bullying and harassment under the definition of violence; and (2) provide for programs to address and prevent bullying and harassment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Iran Freedom Support Act - States that: (1) U.S. sanctions, controls, and regulations relating to weapons of mass destruction with respect to Iran shall remain in effect until the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that Iran has permanently and verifiably dismantled its weapons of mass destruction programs and has committed to combating such weapons' proliferation; and (2) such certification shall have no effect on other sanctions relating to Iranian support of international terrorism. Amends the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 to: (1) eliminate mandatory sanction provisions respecting Libya; (2) impose mandatory sanctions on a person or entity that aids Iran acquire or develop weapons of mass destruction or destabilizing types and numbers of conventional weapons; (3) revise multilateral regime reporting requirements, including provisions respecting sanctions on individuals aiding Iranian petroleum development; (4) enlarge the scope of sanctionable entities; and (5) eliminate the sunset provision. Authorizes the President to provide financial and political assistance to eligible foreign and domestic individuals and groups that support democracy in Iran and that are opposed to the Government of Iran. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should appoint a special assistant on Iranian matters; (2) contacts should be expanded with democratic Iranian opposition groups; and (3) the President should designate at least one such eligible group within 90 days of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8200 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California, as the "Staff Sergeant First Class John Marshall Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
NASA and JPL 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to mint and issue: (1) ten dollar gold coins; (2) five dollar gold coins; (3) one dollar silver coins; and (4) half-dollar silver coins emblematic of the 50 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of NASA and JPL. Directs each Federal agency and U.S. instrumentality that has in its possession any craft or any part of a craft that flew in space to: (1) retrieve any gold, silver, copper, and other precious metal that may be used in the production of any coins under this Act from such craft or part; and (2) deposit such metals with the Director of the United States Mint. Requires that all sales of coins minted under this Act include a surcharge of : (1) $75 per coin for the ten dollar coin; (2) $35 per coin for the five dollar coin; (3) $10 per coin for the one dollar coin; and (4) $3 for the half-dollar coin, which shall be paid by the Secretary to the NASA Family Assistance Fund for the purposes of providing financial assistance to the families of NASA personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 30777 Rancho California Road in Temecula, California, as the "Dalip Singh Saund Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the Revised Statutes of the United States, to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 with respect to the senior farmers' market nutrition program to: (1) increase program funding; (2) expand the program to include locally produced farm products as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Agriculture; (3) permit up to ten percent of program funds to be used for administrative costs; and (4) permit carryover of unused funds.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
National Security Language Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish programs to encourage early foreign language instruction, including grants to: (1) partnerships of institutions of higher education (IHEs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) for activities relating to foreign language instruction at elementary or secondary schools, with priorities for high-need LEAs and less-commonly taught foreign languages; and (2) IHEs that develop innovative programs for the teaching of foreign languages, with priorities for combining foreign languages with science and technology and for less-commonly taught foreign languages. Provides undergraduate student loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for students who major in a critical foreign language and are employed as teachers of such language in elementary or secondary schools or as using such language regularly in a Federal agency. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) establish a foreign language education marketing campaign to encourage students at secondary schools and IHEs to study foreign languages, particularly ones less commonly taught and critical to national security; and (2) conduct a study to identify foreign language heritage communities and recruit speakers of such critical languages. Amends the David L. Boren National Security Education Act of 1991 to establish an International Flagship Language Initiative with grants to IHEs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Acid Rain Control Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to require further reductions in total annual emissions of sulfur dioxide by utility units and nitrogen oxides by facilities with one or more combustion units serving at least one electricity generator with a capacity of at least 25 megawatts. Permits emissions trading and allocation. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations controlling electric utility and industrial source emissions of mercury. Prohibits mercury emission allowance transfers. States that regulations promulgated to carry out emissions reduction and control under this Act shall prevent localized adverse effects and ensure significant reductions in both the Eastern and Western Regions of the United States. Directs the Administrator to identify objectives for and report to Congress on scientifically credible environmental indicators sufficient to protect sensitive ecosystems of the Adirondack, mid-Appalachian, Rocky, and Southern Blue Ridge Mountains as well as the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Social Security Fairness Act of 2005 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) pension offset provisions applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to OASDI payments; and (2) windfall elimination provisions with respect to computation of the primary insurance amount of an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends Federal aviation law to prohibit the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, solely by reason of a person's age if the person has not attained his or her Social Security retirement age, from: (1) denying, deferring as to, or failing to renew for any such person an airman or medical certificate for the operation of a commercial aircraft; (2) imposing restrictions or limitations on an airman or medical certificate following initial or periodic competency or medical testing which has the same age discriminatory effect on the person; or (3) requiring an air carrier to terminate the employment of, or not to employ, or to take any other action having the same age discriminatory effect on, such person as a pilot of an aircraft. Declares that such requirements shall not provide the basis for a claim of seniority made under any labor bargaining agreement in effect between the pilots and an air carrier by any pilot seeking re-employment by an air carrier following the pilot's previous termination or cessation of employment.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly benefit of $1,000 to certain honorably-discharged veterans of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946 (or to their survivors). Includes service in the Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service. Exempts benefits paid under this Act from taxation. Provides for benefits for World War II Merchant Mariners under title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Farr, Sam [D-CA-20]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000030_200.jpg)