Bill· HRH.R. 3160 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2003
Tobacco Reduction, Accountability, and Community Enhancement Act of 2003 - Amends, and repeals, specified agricultural Acts to eliminate tobacco quota and price support programs, including no net cost provisions. Adds a new subtitle, Subtitle E: Tobacco Assistance, to title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make transition payments to each tobacco quota holder (generally, an owner of a farm, as of July 1, 2002, for which a basic tobacco marketing or farm acreage allotment for quota tobacco was established for the 2002 tobacco marketing year under a marketing quota program). Requires the Secretary to make direct payments to a traditional producer of tobacco (a person that, for at least one of the 2000, 2001, or 2002 tobacco marketing years, was actively engaged in the production of tobacco marketed, or considered planted, under a marketing quota and shared in the risk of producing the tobacco). Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a permanent Tobacco Advisory Board for each kind of tobacco; and (2) a poundage limitation program for each crop of each kind of tobacco. Directs the Secretary, during any marketing year period in which the insured price for the crop of a kind of tobacco exceeds the average domestic price for such tobacco, to make market stability payments available to active producers of such tobacco. Directs the Secretary to make research grants to colleges and universities in eligible States to: (1) assist tobacco producers reduce or eliminate reliance on tobacco production through crop diversification, or to promote alternative tobacco uses or enhance tobacco quality; and (2) foster development of economically viable new agricultural technologies and enterprises for rural communities. Establishes in the Commodity Credit Corporation a revolving Tobacco Trust Fund to carry this subtitle. Deposits into the Fund a quarterly assessment (imposed by this Act) on each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product importer that sells tobacco products in domestic U.S. commerce. Sets forth tobacco stocks and no net cost transition provisions.
Bill· HRH.R. 3015 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2003
National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish an electronic system for practitioner monitoring of the dispensing of any schedule II, III, or IV controlled substance to patients. Directs dispensers to report the information required under this Act to the Secretary, with specified exceptions. Directs the Secretary to specify the electronic format for information reporting. Allows the Secretary to provide monitoring system information to practitioners and specified government personnel under certain circumstances. States that this Act shall not preclude any authority from securing information as otherwise authorized by law. Directs the Secretary to make reasonable efforts to implement a real-time electronic system. Specifies the circumstances under which monitoring system information may be subsequently transmitted. Assesses civil monetary penalties for the failure to communicate information requested by the Secretary and for the unauthorized disclosure of information transmitted by the Secretary. Allows a State to have its own prescription monitoring system so long as such system provides the Federal program with the required information.
Bill· HRH.R. 2998 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2003
Exempts from the requirement to pay subsistence charges while hospitalized in a military facility an officer or former officer, or an enlisted member or former enlisted member not entitled to retired or retainer pay or equivalent pay, who is hospitalized in a military facility because of an injury incurred: (1) as a direct result of armed conflict; (2) while engaged in hazardous service; (3) in the performance of duty under conditions simulating war; or (4) through an instrumentality of war.
Bill· HRH.R. 2950 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the tax rate on distilled spirits.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 247 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2003
Calls upon the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp to promote public awareness of Down syndrome.
Bill· HRH.R. 2698 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2003
Health Insurance Certificate Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program for the issuance to eligible individuals of health insurance certificates to be applied towards the cost of qualified health insurance coverage for such individuals and family members. Declares that no certificate shall be issued to a family member who is covered under the eligible individual's qualified health insurance coverage. Prohibits more than one certificate from being used for any one person. States that a certificate may be used for a spouse and up to two other family members. Excludes an individual from counting as an eligible individual if such individual is eligible to be covered under any of specified medical programs (not counting Cobra continuation coverage). Declares that in no case shall the value of a certificate be applied towards an amount that exceeds 70 percent of the premium for coverage for a given period or 70 percent of an employee's premium for coverage under a group health plan. Sets forth procedures for calculating the value of certificates. Sets forth rules to cover certificates used to purchase coverage in group health plans. Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend funding for the operation of State high risk health insurance pools.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 304 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2003
Commends the efforts of U.S. citizens seeking to provide a home for orphan children. Encourages the adoption of these children from countries characterized by need or extreme poverty and political or social instability. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services should provide: (1) a 60-day extension of approval for U.S. citizens directly affected by the cessation of travel authorization by the China Center for Adoption Affairs; and (2) immediate notification to the families affected by this extension.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 300 (108th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2003
Recognizes the university campuses affiliated with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, and other faith-based campuses. Supports the goals and ideas of Christian Higher Education Month.
Law· HRH.R. 1 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2003
Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) under which each individual who is entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) or enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplemental Medical Insurance) is entitled to obtain qualified prescription drug coverage. Authorizes the individual to elect to enroll: (1) in a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan (replacing the current Medicare+Choice plans under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice)); (2) in an enhanced fee-for-service (EFFS) plan; or (3) in a prescription drug plan (PDP) if the individual is not enrolled in an MA-EFFS plan (a Medicare Advantage plan and an EFFS plan). Establishes a Medicare Prescription Drug Trust Fund. Outlines standard coverage benefit packages for FY 2006. Includes for the standard package an annual deductible of $250, and requires insurers to cover 80 percent of enrollees drug costs up to the initial coverage limit of $2,000. Requires enrollees to cover all costs between $2,001 and $3,500, and Medicare to cover the entire cost once the beneficiary has reached the $3,500 catastrophic out-of-pocket threshold. Prescribes a formula for adjustment of: (1) such deductible and annual limits for inflation; and (2) such catastrophic limit for each enrollee in a PDP or in an MA-EFFS Rx plan (an MA-EFFS plan which provides qualified prescription drug coverage) whose adjusted gross income exceeds $60,000. Establishes a competitive bidding process for negotiating the terms and conditions of PDP sponsors. Provides for full premium subsidy and reduction of cost-sharing for individuals with incomes below 135 percent of the Federal poverty level. Contains subsidy payments for qualifying entities to promote the participation of PDP and MA-EFFS Rx plan sponsors. Sets out: (1) a new Medicare prescription drug discount card and assistance program under the Medicare program; and (2) requirements for combating waste, fraud, and abuse under Medicare. Makes a number of other changes with regard to Medicare: (1) part A concerning rural health care, inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facility services, and hospices; (2) part B concerning physicians services and other services; and (3) part A and B concerning home health services, direct graduate medical education, and voluntary chronic care improvement. Establishes the Medicare Benefits Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services. Amends SSA title XVIII part F (Miscellaneous) (currently part D) to include a number of regulatory, contracting, and administrative changes, such as the: (1) coordination of educational funding; (2) transfer of responsibility for Medicare appeals; (3) provision of expedited access to judicial review of Medicare appeals; (4) recovery of overpayments; and (5) revision of reassignment provisions. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) with regard to: (1) the 30-month of Food and Drug Administration approval for any new drug in certain circumstances; and (2) forfeiture of the 180-day marketing exclusivity period by the first new drug applicant to a subsequent applicant. Provides for manufacture, marketing, or sale agreements between a generic drug applicant and a brand name drug applicant, subject to Federal Trade Commission review. Amends the FFDCA to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations permitting pharmacists, wholesalers, and individuals to import prescription drugs from Canada into the United States, subject to specified conditions.
Bill· HRH.R. 8 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2003
Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2003 - Declares that the sunset provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 shall not apply to Title V: Estate, Gift, and Generation-skipping Transfer Tax Provisions of such Act. (Makes the repeal of estate and generation-skipping taxes under the Internal Revenue Code, and certain reductions of the gift tax, permanent.)
Bill· HRH.R. 2444 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2003
Parent's Right to Know Act of 2003 - Prohibits making available any funds appropriated for carrying out title X of the Public Health Service Act (Population Research and Voluntary Family Planning Programs) to any family planning project under specified provisions of that title if any service provider in the project knowingly provides contraceptive drugs or devices to a minor, unless: (1) the minor is emancipated; (2) by court direction; (3) the provider has given actual written notice to the custodial parent or guardian five days in advance; or (4) the minor has written consent of a custodial parent or guardian.
Bill· HRH.R. 2327 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2003
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Extension Act of 2003 - Extends the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail to include: (1) the route followed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the preparation phase of the expedition, starting at Monticello, located near Charlottesville, Virginia, and traveling to Wood River, Illinois, and in the return phase from Saint Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C.; and (2) designated Lewis and Clark sites in Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete a general management plan to include the extended route within three years from the date funds are first made available for that purpose.
Bill· HRH.R. 2236 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2003
Access to Diabetes Screening Services Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for coverage of diabetes screening tests and services.
Bill· HRH.R. 2218 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2003
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to classify corrective and noncorrective contact lenses and similar articles as medical devices under the Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 2096 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2003
Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a deduction (increasing percentages with full deductibility as of 2008) for eligible long-term care insurance premiums for a taxpayer, spouse, and dependents and (2) long-term care insurance to be offered under cafeteria plans and flexible spending arrangements. Allows an income-adjusted (limited) credit for eligible individuals with long-term care needs. Sets forth specified requirements for qualifying long-term care insurance contracts. Treats an exchange of qualified long-term care insurance contracts as a disposition of property for which no gain or loss is recognized.
Bill· HRH.R. 2053 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2003
Nurse Education Promotion Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to: (1) associate degree schools of nursing for nursing student recruitment and scholarships and for nursing faculty hiring; and (2) professional nursing organizations, including nursing union chapters, for cooperative programs of continuing education for nurses with associate degrees to pursue baccalaureate degrees or receive training in understaffed and critical specialties.
Bill· HRH.R. 2028 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Pledge Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any court established by Act of Congress to hear or determine any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the first amendment of the Constitution.
Bill· HRH.R. 1998 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act - Permits the Director of the National Institutes of Health (the "Director" of NIH), acting through the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research on paralysis. Allows the Director to award grants to public or nonprofit entities to fund Christopher Reeve Paralysis Research Consortia for paralysis research. Permits the Director to solicit public input regarding paralysis research programs. Allows the Director, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Rehabilitation Research and in collaboration with other agencies, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research with implications for enhancing daily function for persons with paralysis. Permits the Director to make grants to multicenter networks of clinical sites that will collaborate on rehabilitation intervention protocols. Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to study the unique health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of individuals with such conditions. Allows the Secretary to undertake direct research and to make grants. Provides for the formation of a national paralysis and physical disability quality of life plan and a hospital-based paralysis registry. Permits the Secretary to award grants to: (1) State and local health and disability agencies, including for the purpose of establishing paralysis registries; and (2) nonprofit private health and disability organizations, including for the purpose of disseminating information to the public. Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs centers for paralysis research, education, and clinical activities; and (2) carry out initiatives, through the award of grants, for quality enhancement of research on paralysis.
Bill· HRH.R. 1963 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Physician Pathology Services Continuity Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with regard to a laboratory-furnished technical component of certain physician pathology services, to treat such component as a service for which payment shall be made to the laboratory, and not as an inpatient hospital or hospital outpatient service for which payment is made to the hospital.
Law· HRH.R. 1914 (108th)enacted
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).
Law· HRH.R. 1828 (108th)enacted
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.
Bill· HRH.R. 1784 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Medicare Renal Dialysis Payment Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for an update in the renal dialysis composite rate.
Law· HRH.R. 1821 (108th)enacted
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.
Bill· HRH.R. 1819 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act Amendments of 2003 - Amends the Poison Control Enhancement and Awareness Act to authorize appropriations for: (1) the maintenance of a national toll-free number to access regional poison control centers; and (2) the nationwide media campaign to promote poison control center utilization. Amends provisions pertaining to the poison control center grant program, including to provide funds for: (1) developing standardized poison prevention and poison control centers; and (2) improving national toxic exposure surveillance. Modifies provisions pertaining to the renewal of a waiver of the certification requirements for receiving poison control center grants. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assist in the implementation and maintenance of continuos national toxicosurveillance of poison control center data to detect new hazards from various sources, including household products.
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