United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003 - Amends Federal firearms provisions to revise the definition of "semiautomatic assault weapon" (SAW) to include conversion kits (for converting a firearm to a SAW) and any semiautomatic rifle or pistol that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and that has any one of the following characteristics, respectively: (1) a folding or telescoping stock, a threaded barrel, a pistol grip, a forward grip, or a barrel shroud; or (2) a second pistol grip, a threaded barrel, a barrel shroud, or the capacity to accept a detachable magazine at a location outside of the pistol grip. Amends: (1) the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to reauthorize the assault weapons ban and add new restrictions; and (2) the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act to repeal the sunset provision regarding restrictions on large capacity ammunition feeding devices (LCAFDs) and on specified SAWs. Modifies the exemptions from the Brady Act's prohibition against manufacturing, transferring, or possessing a semiautomatic assault weapon to exclude: (1) specified firearms, or replicas or duplicates, as manufactured on October 1, 1993; (2) any semiautomatic rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine that holds more than five rounds; and (3) any semiautomatic shotgun that cannot hold more than five rounds in a fixed or detachable magazine. Prohibits the transfer of a SAW except through a licensed dealer or a State or local law enforcement agency, subject to specified requirements. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish and maintain a record of the make, model, and date of manufacture of any SAW which the Attorney General is made aware has been used in relation to a crime, and of the nature and circumstances of the crime involved; and (2) annually submit the record to Congress and make the record available to the public. Prohibits: (1) the transfer of any assault weapon with an LCAFD; and (2) a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer who transfers an LCAFD that was manufactured on or before September 13, 1994, from failing to certify to the Attorney General, within 60 days of the transfer date, that the device was manufactured on or before that date. Sets penalties for violations. Prohibits: (1) the transfer of a SAW or an LCAFD to a juvenile; and (2) the importation of an LCAFD.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Treasury the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund for the deposit of income, gift, and estate taxes paid by or on behalf of taxpayers: (1) who are designated conscientious objectors opposed to participation in war in any form based upon the taxpayer's deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs or training (within the meaning of the Military Selective Service Act); and (2) who have certified these beliefs in writing. Requires that funds in the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund be allocated annually to any appropriation not for a military purpose. Declares the sense of Congress that any Treasury increase resulting from the creation of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund shall be allocated in a manner consistent with the purposes of the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Iraq Cultural Heritage Protection Act - Bans the importation into the United States of any archaeological or cultural material of Iraq that was removed from Iraq after the issuance of Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990, unless the Government of Iraq certifies that the exportation of such material from Iraq was not in violation of Iraqi law. Requires U.S. custom officers to detain such material until it can be certified as legally exported from Iraq. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any Iraqi archaeological or cultural material that is illegally imported into the United States or that cannot be certified as legally exported from Iraq. Requires the return to Iraq of any archaeological or cultural material forfeited under this Act. Defines "country of origin" for purposes of applying U.S. tariff and customs laws to certain archaeological materials. Amends the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act to: (1) redefine an object of archaeological interest as one that is at least 100 years old (currently, at least 250 years old); (2) limit the period during which import restrictions under the Act may be placed on the archaeological or ethnological material of any country to ten years (subject to extensions by the President for emergency conditions) after the date such restrictions are published in the Federal Register; and (3) extend from five to ten years the effective period of bilateral or multilateral agreements for import restrictions on archaeological or ethnological materials.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Health Care Tax Credit Enhancement for Workers and Steel Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the trade adjustment assistance-related health care tax credit to: (1) decrease age eligibility for Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation pension recipients; (2) eliminate the three-month coverage requirement concerning State-based coverage; and (3) revise covered month eligibility for the spouse of an individual entitled to Medicare. States that the steel import licensing and monitoring program established by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce shall remain in effect until not later than March 6, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Sunshine in Iraq Reconstruction Act of 2003 - Directs the head of an executive agency that enters into a contract for the repair, maintenance, or construction of infrastructure in Iraq without full and open competition to publish in the Federal Register or Commerce Business Daily and otherwise make available to the public: (1) the amount of the contract and a brief description of its scope; (2) a discussion of how the agency identified, and solicited offers from, contractors, together with a list of the contractors solicited; and (3) the justification for using procedures other than those that provide for full and open competition. Allows an agency head to withhold from publication and disclosure certain classified documents and to redact classified parts of a document before publication and disclosure, but requires the full information to be made available to specified congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to: (1) restrict the application of the windfall elimination provision to individuals whose combined monthly income from the individual's primary insurance amount under such title and the portion of the monthly periodic payment attributable to noncovered service performed after 1956 exceeds $2,000; and (2) provide for a graduated implementation of such provision by specified percentages with respect to incremental amounts above such threshold, up to 100 percent for combined amounts over $3,000.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
American Asian Justice Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include certain children born in the Philippines or Japan to U.S. fathers among those children given preferential immigration treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Korean Immigration Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 500,000 one dollar silver coins, the design of which shall be emblematic of the immigration of Koreans into the United States and the significant contributions of Korean Americans to the United States. States that no such coins shall be minted after December 31, 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Communications Commission should: (1) not weaken any current media ownership rules that protect people's access to diverse sources of information; (2) examine, and better inform the public regarding, the consequences of weakening such rules; and (3) allow for extensive public review and comment on proposed changes to such rules before issuing a final rule.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins, which shall be emblematic of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia (the first permanent English settlement in America). Provides for a $35 per coin surcharge for the $5 dollar coins and $10 per coin for the $1 dollar coins. Directs that: (1) half of the surcharges be used to support programs to promote the understanding of the legacies of Jamestown (to be paid to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation); and (2) half be used to sustain the ongoing mission of preserving Jamestown, to enhance national and international educational programs relating to Jamestown, to improve infrastructure and archeological research activities relating to Jamestown, and conduct other programs to support the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown (to be distributed by the Secretary in equal shares to the Secretary of the Interior, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation).
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Pacific Salmon Recovery Act - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to provide financial assistance for salmon conservation and habitat restoration activities to qualified States and tribal governments. Requires qualified States to: (1) submit a Salmon Conservation and Salmon Habitat Restoration Plan to the Secretary; (2) use allocated funds for local and regional projects; (3) match, in the aggregate, financial assistance provided; and (4) establish citizens advisory committees or other similar fora for public participation. Permits the use of assistance outside the jurisdiction of the recipient if the assisted activity will provide conservation benefits to naturally produced salmon in streams of concern to the recipient. Treats Lahontan cutthroat trout and bull trout as salmon in Oregon, and bull trout as salmon in Washington and Idaho, for purposes of this Act. Directs the President, for U.S. citizens who served as employees of the International Pacific Salmon and North Pacific Fisheries Commissions and who worked in Canada during the course of such employment, to calculate and report to Congress the difference in amount between the valuation of the Commissions' annuity for each employee's payment in U.S. and in Canadian currency for past and future annuity payments. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) any equipment or products authorized for purchase with financial assistance under this Act, should only be U.S. equipment or products; and (2) the Congress supports the bipartisan July 2000 goals, objectives, and recommendations of the Governors of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress regarding the effects on Pacific Salmon stocks of timber harvesting on publicly owned lands in British Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Public Health Service Act , the Internal Revenue Code, and Medicare supplemental policy provisions to prohibit health plans and insurers, with respect to protected genetic information, from discriminating in enrollment, eligibility, contribution rates, and premium rates based on such information. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate because of protected genetic information.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Amends the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 to: (1) require (currently, authorizes) the transfer to a local redevelopment authority (LRA) by the Secretary of Defense of real and personal property at a closed or realigned military installation, including existing housing units and real property designated for future housing units, to be without consideration (if the LRA takes certain steps); (2) remove the requirement that the Secretary seek to obtain consideration for such transfers with respect to military installations for which the date of approval of closure or realignment is after January 1, 2005; (3) remove the Secretary's authority to recommend that an installation be placed in an inactive status for national security or other U.S. interests; and (4) make the LRA the single community based organization responsible for monitoring Federal environmental remediation activities with respect to the installation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Authorizes the President to present a gold medal in recognition of Jackie Robinson's contributions to the Nation. Calls for designation of a national day recognizing Robinson's accomplishments.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) greater attention should be paid to the negative impact on economic development of the denial of inheritance rights to women, particularly in Africa; (2) programs that focus on ensuring secure inheritance rights to widows and orphans of HIV/AIDS should be considered; (3) secure inheritance rights for women should be included in strategies addressing violence against women; (4) the rights of widows and other female heads of households to inherit land and property should be included in the priorities of reconstruction; (5) the Secretary of State should examine the issue of women's inheritance rights in Africa in the State Department's annual human rights report; (6) the U.S. Agency for International Development should consider conducting a study of African countries to document the effect of the denial of women's inheritance rights on economic development; and (7) the Annual Day of Acton on Women's Inheritance Rights should be acknowledged and supported.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2003
Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 - Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) the Government of Syria should immediately and unconditionally halt support for terrorism, permanently and openly declare its total renunciation of all forms of terrorism, and close all terrorist offices and facilities in Syria, including the offices of Hamas, Hizballah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command; (2) the Government of Syria should take other specified steps to withdraw its armed forces from Lebanon, halt development of certain weapons, halt illegal imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil and illegal sales and supplies of weapons and military-related equipment to Iraq; (3) the Government of Lebanon should deploy the Lebanese armed forces to all areas of Lebanon, including South Lebanon, in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 (September 17, 1982) (Security Council Resolution 520); (4) the Governments of Lebanon and Syria should enter into serious unconditional bilateral negotiations with the Government of Israel in order to realize a full and permanent peace; (5) the United States should continue to provide humanitarian and educational assistance to the people of Lebanon only through appropriate private, nongovernmental organizations and appropriate international organizations, until such time as the Government of Lebanon asserts sovereignty and control over all of its territory and borders and achieves full political independence; and (6) being in violation of several key United Nations Security Council resolutions and pursuing policies which undermine international peace and security, Syria should not have been permitted to join the United Nations Security Council or serve as the Security Council's President, and should be removed from the Security Council. Declares that it is U.S. policy: (1) Syria will be held responsible for attacks committed by Hizballah and other terrorist groups with offices or other facilities in Syria, or bases in areas of Lebanon occupied by Syria; (2) the United States shall impede Syria's ability to support acts of international terrorism and efforts to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction; (3) the Secretary of State will continue to list Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism until it ends support for terrorism, including its support of Hizballah and other terrorist groups in Lebanon and its hosting of terrorist groups in Damascus, and comes into full compliance with U.S. law relating to terrorism and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (September 28, 2001); (4) efforts against Hizballah will be expanded given the recognition that Hizballah is equally or more capable than al Qaeda; (5) the full restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity is in the U.S. national security interest; (6) Syria is in violation of Security Council Resolution 520 through its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and its encroachment upon its political independence; (7) Syria's obligation to withdraw from Lebanon is not conditioned upon progress in the Israeli-Syrian or Israeli-Lebanese peace process but derives from Syria's obligation under Security Council Resolution 520; (8) Syria's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs threaten the security of the Middle East and U.S. national security interests; (9) Syria is in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 661 (August 6, 1990) and subsequent relevant resolutions through its continued purchase of oil from Iraq and shipments of weapons and other military equipment to Iraq; (10) Syria will be held accountable for any harm to Coalition armed forces of Operation Iraqi Freedom caused by shipments of military supplies from Syria to Iraq; and (11) the United States will not provide any assistance to Syria and will oppose multilateral assistance for Syria until Syria withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon, halts the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction and medium and long range surface to surface ballistic missiles, and complies with Security Council Resolution 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions. Sets forth the following penalties against Syria until the President determines and certifies to Congress that Syria meets the requirements of this Act. Directs the President to prohibit the export to Syria of any item, including the issuance of an export license, on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations. Requires the President, at the same time, to impose two or more of the following sanctions: (1) prohibit the export to Syria of U.S. products (other than food and medicine); (2) prohibit U.S. businesses from investing or operating in Syria; (3) restrict Syrian diplomats in Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations in New York City, to travel only within a 25-mile radius of Washington, D.C., or the United Nations headquarters building, respectively; (4) prohibit aircraft of any air carrier owned or controlled by Syria to take off from, land in, or overfly the United States; (5) reduce U.S. diplomatic contacts with Syria (other than those required to protect U.S. interests or carry out the purposes of this Act); and (6) block transactions in any property in which the Government of Syria has any interest, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Authorizes the President to waive such sanctions for one or more six-month periods if the President determines that it is in the vital national security interest of the United States to do so and reports his reasons to Congress. Authorizes the President to provide development assistance to Syria and Lebanon under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 if he certifies to Congress that: (1) Syria meets the requirements of this Act; (2) substantial progress has been made both in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Syria and in negotiations aimed at achieving a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon; and (3) the Government of Syria is strictly respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon through the Lebanese army throughout Lebanon, as required under Security Council Resolution 520. Requires annual reports to the appropriate congressional committees on Syria's progress in complying with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation to Dr. Dorothy Height (President of the National Council of Negro Women) of a congressional gold medal in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
State and Local Reservist First Responders Assistance Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to reimburse any State, local government, or Indian tribe for costs incurred as a result of a call or order to active duty of armed forces reserves who are first responder personnel, including: (1) costs of hiring first responder personnel to replace such reserves; and (2) overtime pay costs for other first responder personnel. Permits: (1) reimbursement only if the State, local government, or tribe would not have incurred such costs but for the absence of first responder personnel; (2) costs to be reimbursed only for a reserve who serves at least six consecutive months on active duty at any time during the two years preceding the application for the grant; and (3) reimbursable costs to include any costs in connection with such reserve's active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Makes it unlawful to: (1) import, export, or transport in interstate commerce conventional steel jawed leghold traps and articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps; or (2) sell or acquire such a trap transported in violation of such provision. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward persons (other than Government employees performing official duties) for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected containers or merchandise and any accompanying documents, to make arrests without warrants with probable cause, and to execute warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to develop and disseminate to the public information on emergency contraception. Requires that the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to develop and disseminate to health care providers information on emergency contraception. Requires that the information disseminated to health care providers include at a minimum: (1) information describing the use, safety, efficacy, and availability of emergency contraception; (2) a recommendation regarding its use in appropriate cases; and (3) information explaining how to obtain copies of information from the CDC.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Family Opportunity Act of 2003 or Dylan Lee James Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for them; and (2) provide for treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospital services for individuals under age 21 under waivers allowing for payment of part or all of the cost of home or community-based services. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for the restoration of Medicaid eligibility to certain Supplemental Security Income (SSA title XVI) beneficiaries under age 21.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2003 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase and the Escalante Canyons; (4) Moab-La Sal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Condemns and deplores the incommunicado detention of Dr. Yang Jianli by the People's Republic of China, and the lack of due process afforded him. Calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) make the immediate release of Dr. Yang Jianli by the Government of the People's Republic of China a top priority of U.S. foreign policy; (2) continue to make every effort to assist Dr. Yang Jianli and his family while discussions of his release are ongoing; (3) make it clear to the Government of the People's Republic of China that the detention of U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens, and the infliction of human rights violations on these groups, is not in the interests of the Government of the People's Republic of China; and (4) send a special, high-ranking representative of the U.S. Government immediately to China to reiterate the deep U.S. concern regarding the continued imprisonment of Dr. Yang Jianli and other U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens, and discuss their legal status and immediate humanitarian needs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Applauds the brave actions of the Iraqis Mohammed and Iman against oppression and tyranny in providing to U.S. forces, at great risk to themselves, information essential for the rescue of Private First Class Jessica Lynch, U.S. Army, from Iraqi captivity on April 1, 2003. Recognizes Mohammed and Iman as true friends of the United States, thanks them for their bravery and courage, and extends to them the thanks and best wishes of a grateful Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to States and local governments to coordinate their budget-related actions with Federal Government efforts to stimulate the economy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2003 for such payments in an amount equal to the total amount appropriated for for FY 2003 for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003, and subsequent appropriations Acts.Requires not less than one-third of such amount to be made available to local governments. Requires the Secretary to establish a formula for determining the allocation of payments, with priority consideration to the relative unemployment rate, median income, population, and poverty rate. Permits the use of funds received by States and local governments only for: (1) ordinary and necessary maintenance and operating expenses for education; public safety; public health; social services; roads, transportation, and water infrastructure; and housing; and (2) ordinary and necessary capital expenditures authorized by law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2003 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend through FY 2007 the authorization of appropriations for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program (a matching grant program which helps State, tribal, and local jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers).
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Stop Taking Our Health Privacy (STOHP) Act of 2003 - Declares that modifications made by an August 14, 2002, final rule affecting medical privacy to a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section concerning consent for uses or disclosures to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations shall have no force or effect. Directs that such CFR section shall be construed and applied to permit a health care provider to use or disclose an individual's protected health information without prior consent under specified circumstances, provided that the provider obtains written consent from the individual as soon as practicable. Declares that a CFR section dealing with uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required shall be construed and applied so that an authorization shall be invalid unless it meets specified criteria, including that it describes the specific marketing uses and disclosures authorized. States that the modifications made by the August 14 final rule dealing with permitted disclosures for public health activities shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Klamath River Basin Restoration and Emergency Assistance Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Restoration Program. Requires such program to provide loans, grants, and technical assistance for short- and long-term water conservation projects in the Klamath Basin. Covers projects which: (1) provide incentives for growing crops requiring less water; (2) acquire property interests; (3) restore habitat; and (4) feature tail-water recovery programs, lining of earthen irrigation channels and groundwater recharge and management systems. Prohibits the use of funds to bring newly irrigated lands into agricultural production. Limits the Federal share to 75 percent of costs, permitting in-kind contributions for the non-Federal share. Requires the Secretary to provide emergency financial assistance to persons in northern California and Oregon coastal communities adversely affected by the Klamath Basin salmon kill disaster of 2002. Directs the Secretary to modify the operation of the Klamath Project so that Klamath River flows meet a specified standard. Establishes the Klamath Basin Restoration Task Force. Requires the Secretary to implement the low release requirements for the Trinity River, permitting modifications as specified. Directs the Secretary to study the water supply needs of the wetland habitats within the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges to meet fish and wildlife conservation purposes. Permits the Secretary to store water on the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges if their habitats are not compromised. Maintains existing tribal fishery, water, and other rights.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the additional requirements for qualified veterans mortgage bonds to: (1) revise the definition of a qualified veteran to mean any veteran who served on active duty (removes the limitation of service before January 1, 1977) and who applied for financing before 30 years after leaving service (removes the additional proviso of, or before January 31, 1985); (2) revise the State veterans limit; and (3) permit a State to elect to carry forward any of such unused limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Nuclear Security Initiative Act of 2003 - Declares it is the policy of the United States to seek to cooperate with the Russian Federation and each other independent state of the former Soviet Union to: (1) effect as quickly as is reasonably practical basic security measures at each facility in the Russian Federation and each such state that is used for storing nuclear weapons or nuclear materials and is not yet protected by such measures; (2) the Russian Federation to accelerate the closure of facilities in the Russian Federation used for the production of nuclear weapons; (3) improve the security at facilities, in the Russian Federation and each such state, that contain radioactive materials that could be used in radiological dispersal devices; and (4) improve border controls and other measures to track and intercept illicit transfers of weapons of mass destruction and the materials and technologies for developing and producing such weapons. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to expand the International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation program of the Department of Energy to encompass countries other than the Russian Federation and the other independent states of the former Soviet Union. Declares it is the policy of the United States to seek to: (1) cooperate with all appropriate nations to attempt to ensure that all nuclear weapons and nuclear materials worldwide are secure and accounted for according to stringent standards; (2) work with international partners to install, at critical international ports, appropriate devices to detect and intercept illicit transfers of weapons of mass destruction that are nuclear or radiological in nature and the materials and technologies for developing and producing such weapons; (3) prevent the proliferation, from the Russian Federation and the other independent states of the former Soviet Union to countries of proliferation concern, of scientists, engineers, and technicians possessing the expertise to develop and produce weapons of mass destruction; (4) establish and promote programs to prevent the proliferation, from scientists, engineers, and technicians of the Russian Federation and other independent states of the former Soviet Union to countries of proliferation concern, of expertise to develop and produce weapons of mass destruction; and (5) seek to assist independent states of the former Soviet Union that have been helpful to the United States in the war on terrorism so as to promote the creation of jobs that foster economic stability and democracy. Authorizes appropriations for accelerated disposition for highly enriched uranium. Directs the Secretary to carry out a Silk Road Initiative to develop sustainable employment opportunities in the United States and in Silk Road nations (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) for scientists, engineers, and technicians formerly engaged in activities to develop and produce weapons of mass destruction in such nations. Authorizes appropriations to assist the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Science for Peace program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) analyze and report to Congress on the effect on threat reduction and nonproliferation programs of applicable congressional oversight measures; (2) report annually to Congress on the use of funds appropriated for threat reduction and nonproliferation programs in the Russian Federation and the other independent states of the former Soviet Union. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, as amended by section 1205 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, to direct the President submit to Congress a comprehensive, detailed plan to: (1) secure and destroy all chemical and biological weapons, and the chemical and biological materials designed for use in such weapons, that are located in Russia and the independent states of the former Soviet Union; and (2) prevent the outflow from those states of the technology and scientific expertise that could be used for developing those weapons, including delivery systems. for coordination of chemical and biological weapons nonproliferation programs with states of the former soviet union. Declares it is U.S. policy to seek to establish jointly with the Russian Federation comprehensive inventories and data exchanges of Russian Federation and U.S. nuclear weapons-grade material and nuclear weapons, with particular attention to tactical warheads and warheads that are no longer operationally deployed. Urges the United States to seek to work with the Russian Federation to develop such inventories. Establishes a Duma-Congress Nuclear Threat Reduction Working Group as an interparliamentary group of the United States and the Russian Federation. Declares it is U.S. policy that the President should seek to ensure that the United States takes the lead in arranging for the United States, in conjunction with NATO, to enter into appropriate cooperative relationships with the Russian Federation with respect to the development and deployment of theater-level ballistic missile defenses. Declares it is U.S. policy: (1) to encourage joint efforts by the United States and the Russian Federation to reduce the chances of a Russian nuclear attack anywhere in the world as the result of misinformation or miscalculation by developing the capabilities and increasing the reliability of Russian ballistic missile early-warning systems, including the Russian-American Observation Satellite (RAMOS) program; and (2) to encourage other United States-Russian programs to ensure that the Russia Federation has reliable information, including real-time data, regarding launches of ballistic missiles anywhere in the world. Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure interim funding of the RAMOS program pending the execution of a new agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation providing for it. Directs the Secretary of Energy to seek to enter into an agreement with the Minister of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation to carry out a cooperative venture, to be known as the (Edward) Teller-(Igor) KurchatovAlliance for Peace, to develop and promote peaceful, safe, and environmentally sensitive uses of nuclear energy. Authorizes the Administrator for Nuclear Security to award international exchange Teller-Kurchatov Fellowships in the nuclear nonproliferation sciences to scientists employed at the Kurchatov Institute of the Russian Federation and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (California). Declares the sense of Congress in favor of discussions on nuclear and radiological security and safety between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for the purpose of exploring issues of nuclear and radiological security and safety, including the creation of new sources of revenue (including debt reduction) for states to provide nuclear security; and (2) the discussions referred to in paragraph (1) should also provide a forum to explore possible sources of funds in support of the G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Truth in Trials Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to establish as an affirmative defense for any person facing prosecution or a proceeding for any marijuana-related offense that the marijuana-related activities in question were in compliance with State law regarding the medical use of marijuana. Allows a finder of fact to find a defendant guilty of a lesser offense if the defendant's marijuana-related activity was found to be primarily, but not exclusively, for medical purposes. Provides for the return of any property with respect to which an individual successfully makes a defense under this Act. Amends provisions concerning the seizure and custody of marijuana to limit seizure authority of marijuana authorized for medical use and provide for the retention of seized plants pending resolution of a case involving an affirmative defense for the medical use of marijuana.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
American Hospital Preservation Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) restore the full market basket percentage increase applied to payments to hospitals for inpatient hospital services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries starting in FY 2004, and for FY 2005 and each subsequent fiscal year as well; (2) ensure the full market basket update for any fiscal year after FY 2005; and (3) restore the reimbursement factor for indirect medical education payments to teaching hospitals to the FY 2002 level for FY 2005 and each subsequent fiscal year, after providing for an increase in such factor from current levels for FY 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, based on recommendations from the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Advisory Panel (established by this Act), to make grants, after a process of peer review and programmatic review, to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. public education system belongs to all Americans and should be celebrated for the role the system plays in strengthening American values and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Student Adjustment Act of 2003 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the provision prohibiting an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on State residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such State residence. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to permanent resident status, certain (inadmissible or deportable) alien middle or secondary students with qualifying years of U.S. residency. Makes such aliens eligible for Federal and State higher education assistance during the pendency of their application for cancellation of removal.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages to: (1) add nonretaliation requirements; (2) increase penalties; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Directs the Secretary to provide for certain studies, information, a national summit, guidelines, awards, and assistance for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria. Establishes the National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect certain pay information.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Establishes a Department of Peace, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict. Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various Federal agencies. Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace. Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 2003 - Subjects specified Class I milk handlers (including producer-handlers) to Federal milk marketing order minimum and uniform price requirements applicable to the county in which the plant of the handler is located, at Federal order class prices, if the handler has packaged fluid milk product route dispositions, or sales of packaged fluid milk products to other plants, in a marketing area located in a State that requires handlers to pay minimum prices for raw milk purchases. Exempts from such provision: (1) a handler operating an exempt plant; or (2) a producer-handler for any month during which packaged fluid milk route dispositions and sales to other plants are less than six million pounds of milk.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Pension Benefits Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) to protect pension benefits of employees in defined benefit (DB) plans, and to ensure that age discrimination laws are applied to conversions to cash balance plans and other such plans that are hybrids of DB's and defined contribution plans. Requires ERISA, the Code, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 to be applied and administered without regard to certain proposed regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury that relate to reductions of accruals and allocations because of the attainment of any age, and to application of nondiscrimination cross-testing rules to cash balance plans. Amends ERISA and the Code to protect certain DB plan participants from forced conversions to hybrid DB plans by plan amendments which change the way the accrued benefit to participants or beneficiaries are expressed and which reduce the rate of future benefit accrual of one or more participants. Requires employers, at the time such amendment takes effect, to provide employees who have attained 40 years of age or 10 years of service with certain notices and an election upon retirement to receive benefits as determined either under the plan in effect at time of retirement or under the plan in effect immediately before the plan amendment. Sets forth a formula to determine when a plan amendment adopted by a large (100 or more participants) DB plan shall be treated as wearing away accrued benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Seniors Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of marriage and family therapist services generally, and particularly such services provided in rural health clinics and in hospice programs. Authorizes marriage and family therapists to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services. Amends Medicare part C (Miscellaneous) to exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Federal Lands Hazardous Fuels Reduction Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to conduct hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest System lands, and Bureau of Land Management lands, respectively. Provides for: (1) a collaborative project selection process; and (2) an expedited planning and implementation process. Directs the Secretaries to jointly contract with the National Academy of Sciences to define old and large trees. Sunsets provisions of this Act five years after its enactment. Waives temporarily certain transfer limitations on use of the Reforestation Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Quality Cancer Care Preservation Act - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the payment amount for covered drugs and biologicals furnished during a calendar quarter that are not paid on a cost or prospective payment basis. Changes such amount from 95 percent of the average wholesale price to 120 percent of the average sales price of the drug or biological for the second preceding calendar quarter. Requires drug manufacturers to report average sales prices each calendar quarter for covered drugs and biologicals. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) revise the practice expense relative value units for drug administration services (including chemotherapy administration services) in accordance with this Act to determine the units to be used in determining the fee schedule amounts paid for drug administration services under the Medicare program; (2) recognize and make payments under Medicare for chemotherapy support services furnished incident to physicians' services; (3) recognize and establish a payment amount for the service of cancer therapy management to account for the greater pre-service and post-service work associated with visits and consultations conducted by physicians treating cancer patients compared to typical visits and consultations; and (4) develop a revised methodology for determining the payment amounts for services that are paid under the Medicare fee schedule and that do not have physician work relative value units, including radiation oncology services. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide that if the Secretary requires direct supervision of a service by a physician, that supervision requirement may be fulfilled by one or more physicians other than the physician who ordered the service.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Medicare Area Wage Index and Standardized Rate Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to mandate a single national average standardized payment amount for inpatient hospital services furnished, regardless of whether in an urban or non-urban area, under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for discharges occurring in FY 2004 and thereafter. Provides for an exception from current requirements for adjustment of the proportion of the diagnostic-related group (DRG) PPS rates representing hospital costs attributable to wages and wage-related costs. Declares that, for adjustments made for different area wage levels for discharges occurring in FY 2004 and thereafter for disproportionate share hospitals for which the adjustment factor established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the fiscal year is less than 1.0, the Secretary shall substitute for the proportion of hospital costs otherwise estimated a proportion of 62 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
National Rail Infrastructure Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a National Rail Infrastructure Program to provide grants for projects addressing railroad infrastructure and systems deficiencies. Makes eligible for such grants projects to: (1) maintain and increase track and intermodal yard capacity; (2) acquire rights-of-way for future expansion; (3) separate railroad and road crossings and make other railroad and road interface improvements; (4) separate rail-to-rail crossings; (5) integrate railroad systems; and (6) construct, repair, and rehabilitate track and related supporting structures. Prohibits the use of grant funds for operating expenses, acquisition of rolling stock, payment of debt, or construction or repair of maintenance facilities, passenger facilities at stations, or other ancillary railroad business structures. Requires at least 20 percent of project costs to be provided by State, local, and other non-Federal public sources. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax of: (1) five percent on the sale of any specified railroad equipment by the manufacturer, producer, or importer; (2) five percent of the amount paid for taxable rail transportation of any person by commuter rail, and of ten percent in any other case; and (3) one percent of the amount paid inside or outside the United States for the taxable rail transportation of property. Establishes in the Treasury a National Rail Infrastructure Program Trust Fund, consisting of amounts equivalent to: (1) specified excise taxes received with respect to fuel used in a train, and the excise tax under this Act on railroad locomotives and rolling stock; (2) ten percent of all customs duties received after September 30, 2003; and (3) ten percent of all royalties attributable to the removal of oil or gas from Federal lands. Makes amounts in the Trust Fund available only for grants under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
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 · 2 April 2003
Requires engine coolant or antifreeze sold after January 1, 2004, that is manufactured after July 1, 2003, and that contains more than ten percent ethylene glycol, to include denatonium benzoate at a minimum of 30 parts per million (or other equally effective aversive agent) as a bittering agent so as to render it unpalatable. Requires a manufacturer or packager of such product to maintain records of compliance with this Act. Declares that any manufacturer, distributor, recycler, or seller of an automotive product required by this Act to contain an aversive agent shall not be liable (except for willful or wanton misconduct) for personal injury, death, or property damage that results from compliance with this Act. Declares this Act inapplicable to: (1) the sale of a motor vehicle that contains engine coolant or antifreeze; or (2) wholesale containers of engine coolant or antifreeze containing 55 gallons or more of engine coolant or antifreeze.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Abusive Tax Shelter Shutdown and Taxpayer Accountability Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (Code) concerning tax shelters to, among other things: (1) define economic substance; (2) impose a penalty for the failure to include in a return information concerning a reportable transaction, a reportable transaction understatement (including imposing the penalty for certain understatements which were based on unreasonable legal or factual assumptions), a noneconomic substance transaction understatement, and interests in foreign financial accounts; (3) modify rules concerning the failure to furnish information regarding reportable transactions and the penalty for such failure, the failure to maintain lists of investors in potentially abusive tax shelters and the penalty for such failure, the authority to seek an injunction to enjoin promoters of abusive tax shelters; and (4) deny a deduction of interest on underpayments attributable to nondisclosed reportable transactions and noneconomic substance transactions. Amends other Code provisions to, among other things: (1) place a limit on the transfer or importation by a corporation of built-in losses; (2) provide for the partnership treatment of certain contributed property with a built-in loss; (3) repeal part V (Financial Asset Securitization Investment Trusts) of subchapter M (Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts); and (4) modify rules concerning the disallowance of a deduction on certain debt instruments of corporations, passive foreign investment companies, and the reduction in a corporate shareholder's basis in stock by the nontaxed portion of extraordinary dividends.
![Official portrait of Rep. Farr, Sam [D-CA-20]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000030_200.jpg)