United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2001 - Provides that: (1) whoever engages in conduct that violates specified provisions of the Federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, or specified articles the Uniform Code of Military Justice (conduct constituting certain Federal violent crimes) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero, shall be guilty of a separate offense; and (2) the punishment for that separate offense shall be the same as that provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother. Specifies that a violation of such provisions does not require proof that: (1) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or (2) the defendant (or accused) intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child. Directs that if the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall be punished as provided under the Federal criminal code for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being. Prohibits imposition of the death penalty for an offense under this Act. Bars prosecution under this Act: (1) of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law; (2) for conduct relating to any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or (3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Act - Authorizes the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc., to construct a temporary education center for educating people about the Memorial. Requires the center to remain for ten years, after which Congress may reevaluate the continuing need for the center. Sets forth conditions for the use of excess coin funds under the United States Veterans Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 in the construction of such center, including that the Fund provide detailed information with respect to the use of such funds.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2001 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to State educational agencies to assist local educational agencies to develop or expand gifted and talented education programs through one or more of the following activities: (1) professional development programs; (2) technical assistance; (3) innovative approaches and curricula; and (4) emerging technologies, including distance learning.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Math and Science Teacher Recruitment Act of 2001 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish new programs of student guaranteed and direct loan forgiveness for middle and secondary school mathematics and science teachers in public or private nonprofit schools. Requires for eligibility: (1) at least three consecutive complete school years of such teaching; (2) an undergraduate or graduate degree in mathematics, life or physical sciences, technology, or engineering; and (3) State certification or license.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Blind Empowerment Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Apples for Teachers Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make the two percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions inapplicable to the qualified professional development expenses incurred by teachers; and (2) allow a credit to elementary and secondary school teachers who provide classroom materials.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Child Custody Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit transporting an individual under age 18 across a State line to obtain an abortion and thereby abridging the right of a parent under a law in force in the State where the individual resides requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision. Makes an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor. Specifies that neither the minor transported nor her parent may be prosecuted or sued for a violation of this Act. Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution for, or to a civil action based on, such a violation that the defendant reasonably believed that before the individual obtained the abortion, the parental consent or notification or judicial authorization that would have been required had the abortion been performed in the State where the individual resides, took place. Authorizes any parent who suffers legal harm from a violation to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Defines "parent" to include a guardian, legal custodian, or person standing in loco parentis who has care and control of the minor, and with whom the minor regularly resides, who is designated by such law as a person to whom notification, or from whom consent, is required.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) purchase the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Complex in Dixon, Illinois, and related personal property; (2) designate the Complex as the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site; (3) enter into a cooperative agreement with the Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home Foundation for the management, operation, and use of the Site; and (4) complete a general management plan for the Site.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Bear Protection Act of 2001 - Prohibits any person from: (1) importing bear viscera into, or exporting it from, the United States; or (2) selling bear viscera, bartering, offering it for sale or barter, or purchasing, possessing, transporting, delivering, or receiving it in interstate or foreign commerce. Subjects persons who violate such prohibitions to specified penalties. Waives such prohibition for wildlife law enforcement purposes where a valid permit has been issued. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to continue discussions concerning trade in bear viscera with the appropriate representatives of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and with other representatives of countries that are not party to the Convention which are determined to be the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of such products, in order to establish coordinated efforts with such countries to protect bears. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect State regulation of bear population or to affect the lawful hunting of bears under State law.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
School and Library Construction Affordability Act - Makes inapplicable to contracts for the construction and repair of schools and libraries the requirements of: (1) the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works); and (2) the Copeland Act (which requires the Secretary of Labor to regulate contractors and subcontractors engaged in the construction or repair of public buildings, public works, or federally-financed or federally-assisted buildings or works).
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for ovarian cancer research. Specifies material to be included in ovarian cancer information and education programs. Requires the National Cancer Advisory Board to include at least one member who is at high risk for developing ovarian cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Recognizes the importance of veterans to the United States. Expresses support for the goals of Veterans Educate Today's Students Day (programs that educate children about the service of veterans and the sacrifices made by them and their families).
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001 - Permits retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Repeals a special compensation program for certain severely disabled military retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Breastfeeding Promotion Act - Title I: Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Pregnancy Discrimination Act Amendments of 2001 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include lactation (including expression of milk) within the definitions of "because of sex" or "on the basis of sex" for purposes of such Act. Title II: Credit for Employer Expenses for Providing Appropriate Environment on Business Premises for Employed Mothers to Breastfeed or Express Milk for Their Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow a limited credit to employers for expenses incurred in enabling employed nursing mothers to breastfeed. Title III: Safe and Effective Breast Pumps - Safe and Effective Breast Pumps Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services: (1) to put into effect a performance standard for breast pumps irrespective of the class to which the breast pumps have been classified under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and (2) to issue a compliance policy guide which will assure that women who want to breastfeed a child are given full and complete information respecting breast pumps. Title IV: Definition of Medical Care in Internal Revenue Code Expanded to Include Breastfeeding Equipment and Services - Expands the IRC definition of medical care to include qualified breastfeeding equipment and services.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Broadband Internet Access Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the broadband credit which shall be the sum of: (1) the current generation broadband credit; plus (2) the next generation broadband credit. Defines terms.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2001
Postmasters Fairness and Rights Act of 2001 - Amends Federal law to prescribe guidelines within which the Postal Service shall propose changes in pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefit programs affecting postmasters which are to be in effect during the period covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the Postal Service and certain recognized bargaining representatives. Grants certain qualified postmasters' organizations the right to participate in program planning and development pertaining to pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Amends Federal employee provisions to include the following as an employee, for purposes of authorized enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member 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.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Community Protection Act of 2001- Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers (including qualified retired officers) carrying the photographic identification issued by the governmental agency for which the individual is, or was, employed as a law enforcement officer, notwithstanding State or local laws, to carry a concealed firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Specifies that this Act shall not be construed to supersede or limit the laws of any State that: (1) permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or (2) prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property, installation, building, base, or park.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the wholesale distributor of certain drugs who is not the manufacturer or an authorized distributor of record for a calendar year (currently, the language "for a calendar year" is not in the Act) of a drug to provide to the recipient of the drug a statement identifying each prior sale, purchase, or trade of such drug.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
IRA Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the annual limitation on deductible individual retirement account contributions to $5000.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2000
Tobacco Farmers Trade Fairness Act - Directs the President, in the first negotiations after enactment of this Act under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, to take the necessary steps to renegotiate the tariff-rate quota on imported tobacco so that: (1) the quantity of tobacco receiving preferential tariff treatment is 50 percent of the quantity receiving such treatment under the tariff-rate quota in effect upon enactment of this Act; and (2) thereafter, the quantity of tobacco receiving preferential tariff treatment under such quota is reduced in each calendar year by the same percentage as any reduction in the national marketing quota proclaimed by the Secretary of Agriculture.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2000
Tobacco Export Marketing Enhancement Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to exercise certain authorities (relating to the market access program and the foreign market development cooperation program) under the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to provide assistance for the development, maintenance, and expansion of foreign markets for U.S. tobacco and tobacco products.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Debt Relief and Retirement Security Reconciliation Act - Division A: Debt Relief - Title I: Debt Reduction Lock-Box - Amends Federal public finance provisions to establish the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account in the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts in the Account to pay at maturity, or redeem or buy before maturity, any Government obligation held by the public and included in the public debt. Provides that any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Account shall be canceled and retired and prohibits its reissuance. Appropriates funds for the Account. Prohibits such appropriation from being considered as direct spending for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). (Sec. 102) Reduces the public debt limit by the amount appropriated into the Account. (Sec. 103) Bars Account receipts and disbursements from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of : (1) the Federal Government budget as submitted by the President; (2) the congressional budget; or (3) the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. (Sec. 105) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the Account. Title II: Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box - Amends H. Con. Res. 290 (106th Congress) to replace a point of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate against consideration of any revision of such resolution or any concurrent budget resolution for FY 2002 that sets forth a deficit for any fiscal year with one that provides a point of order against consideration of any budget resolution that sets forth a surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year. Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report if the enactment of the reported bill or resolution, the adoption and enactment of an amendment, or the enactment of a bill or resolution in the form recommended in the conference report would cause the on-budget surplus for any fiscal year to be less than the projected surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year or increase the amount by which the on-budget surplus for any fiscal year would be less than such trust fund surplus for that year. Makes such point of order inapplicable to social security or Medicare reform legislation. Requires any Federal budget submitted by the President that recommends an on-budget surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year to include proposed legislative language for social security or Medicare reform legislation. Makes the lock-box requirements of H. Con. Res. 290 (106th Congress) and the preceding paragraph inapplicable upon the enactment of social security and Medicare reform legislation. Defines "social security reform legislation" and "Medicare reform legislation" as a bill or joint resolution to save social security or Medicare, respectively, that specifies that it constitutes reform legislation for purposes of such resolution. (Sec. 202) Requires any official Federal Government statement of the Federal or congressional budget surplus or deficit totals to exclude the outlays and receipts of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program under the Social Security Act. Requires such outlays and receipts to be submitted in separate social security budget documents. Division B: Retirement Security - Title XI: Individual Retirement Account Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) to increase the annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limit from $2,000 to $3,000 in 2001, $4,000 in 2002, and $5,000 in 2003, with indexing thereafter. Provides, for individuals age 50 and older, that such limit shall be $5,000 beginning in 2001, with indexing after 2003. Title XII: Expanding Coverage - Provides for increases in amounts of benefit and contribution limits. Sets indexes for inflation in various increments on such increased limits. (Sec. 1202) Revises requirements relating to plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 1203) Revises specified top-heavy rules. Repeals family aggregation rules. Revises the definition of key employee. Provides that, at the election of the employer, any employee elective contribution to a plan shall not be taken into account for purposes of determining: (1) whether a plan is a top-heavy plan (or whether any aggregation group which includes such plan is a top-heavy group); or (2) compensation. Requires that employer matching contributions be taken into account for purposes of minimum contribution requirements. Revises requirements for qualifications. Provides for distributions during the last year before a determination date is taken into account. Excludes from the definition of top-heavy plan: (1) cash or deferred arrangements using alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements; and (2) defined contribution plans using alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements. Provides that elective deferrals will not be taken into account for purposes of a special rule where the maximum contribution is less than three percent. (Sec. 1204) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 1205) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the Code for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 1206) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the status of pension plans. (Sec. 1207) Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. (Sec. 1208) Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as plus contributions. Title XIII: Enhancing Fairness for Women - Allows individuals who are age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (Section 401(k) plan or similar plan). Sets such maximum permitted additional contribution at $5,000, indexed in 2006 and thereafter. (Sec. 1302) Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Increases the 25 percent of compensation limitation on annual additions under a defined contribution plan to 100 percent. Declares that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. Sets limits on contributions to a tax-sheltered annuity which are similar to the limits applicable to tax-qualified plans. Increases the 33 and one-third percent of compensation limitation on deferrals under a section 457 plan to 100 percent of compensation. (Sec. 1303) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code. Requires employer matching contributions to vest at least as rapidly as under three-year cliff vesting or under six-year graded vesting that provides for a nonforfeitable right to 20 percent of employer matching contributions for each year of service beginning with the participant's second year of service and ending with 100 percent after six years of service. (Sec. 1304) Revises minimum distribution rules under the Code. Revises requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefits under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. Reduces the excise tax on failures to satisfy the minimum distribution rules to ten percent of the amount that was required to be distributed but was not distributed. (Sec. 1305) Revises requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. Applies the taxation rules for qualified plan distributions pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order to distributions made pursuant to a domestic relations order from a section 457 plan. Provides that a section 457 plan is not to be treated as violating the restrictions on distributions from such plans due to payments to an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order. (Sec. 1306) Modifies provisions for safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. Directs the Secretary to reduce from 12 months to six months the period during which an employee is prohibited from making elective contributions and employee contributions in order for a distribution to be deemed necessary to satisfy an immediate and heavy financial need. Title XIV: Increasing Portability for Participants - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the Code. (Sec. 1402) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers into workplace retirement plans only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 1403) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. (Sec. 1404) Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the 60-day rollover period if the failure to waive such requirement would be against equity or good conscience, including cases of casualty, disaster, or other events beyond the reasonable control of the individual subject to such requirement. (Sec. 1405) Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code. (Sec. 1406) Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 1407) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 1408) Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. (Sec. 1409) Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Title XV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Revises the percentage of current liability funding limit. (Sec. 1502) Revises maximum contribution deduction rules. Applies such rules to all defined benefit plans. (Sec. 1503) Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 1504) Requires plan administrators of defined benefit plans (other than governmental plans and certain church plans) with more than 100 participants to notify plan participants and beneficiaries in advance of an amendment that significantly reduces the rate of future benefit accruals. Requires such notice to include sufficient information to allow participants and beneficiaries to understand the effect of the amendment. Imposes an excise tax on the employer or upon a multiemployer plan if the required notice is not provided. (Sec. 1505) Makes certain limitation rules (under section 415 of the Code) for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental or multiemployer plans. Sets forth special rules relating to the combination or aggregation of multiemployer plans. (Sec. 1506) Imposes an excise tax on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that engage in prohibited transactions with disqualified individuals who are deemed to be substantial shareholders of the corporation sponsoring the plan. Title XVI: Reducing Regulatory Burdens - Revises requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 1602) Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 1603) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 1604) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the Code. (Sec. 1605) Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Prohibits including an amount in an employee's gross income solely because the employee may choose between any retirement planning fringe and compensation otherwise includible in gross income, providing such choices are available in a way that does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. (Sec. 1606) Directs the Secretary to provide simplified annual filing requirements for: (1) one-participant (an owner and spouse) retirement plans with assets below a specified amount; or (2) retirement plans for fewer than 25 employees. (Sec. 1607) Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS), or any successor program, giving special attention to: (1) increasing the awareness and knowledge of small employers concerning the availability and use of EPCRS; (2) taking into account special concerns and circumstances that small employers face with respect to compliance and correction of compliance failures; (3) extending the duration of the self-correction period under the Administrative Policy Regarding Self-Correction (APRSC) for significant compliance failures; (4) expanding the availability to correct insignificant compliance failures under APRSC during audit; and (5) assuring that any tax, penalty, or sanction that is imposed by reason of a compliance failure is not excessive and bears a reasonable relationship to the nature, extent, and severity of the failure. (Sec. 1608) Repeals a multiple use test, and directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations, as necessary, including ones permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. (Sec. 1609) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation circumstances under which plans can use a facts and circumstances test, which was in effect before 1994, to satisfy nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. (Sec. 1610) Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. (Sec. 1611) Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations to require: (1) that the applicable distribution notice period be not more than 180 (currently 90) and not less than 30 days before the date distribution commences; and (2) the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution include a description of the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. Title XVII: Plan Amendments - Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the Code.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Debt Relief Lock-box Reconciliation Act for Fiscal Year 2001 - Title I: Debt Reduction Lock-Box - Amends Federal public finance provisions to establish the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account in the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts in the Account to pay at maturity, or redeem or buy before maturity, any Government obligation held by the public and included in the public debt. Provides that any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Account shall be canceled and retired and prohibits its reissuance. Appropriates funds for the Account. Prohibits such appropriation from being considered as direct spending for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). (Sec. 102) Reduces the public debt limit by the amount appropriated into the Account. (Sec. 103) Bars Account receipts and disbursements from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of : (1) the Federal Government budget as submitted by the President; (2) the congressional budget; or (3) the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. (Sec. 105) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the Account. Title II: Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box - Amends H. Con. Res. 290 (106th Congress) to replace a point of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate against consideration of any revision of such resolution or any concurrent budget resolution for FY 2002 that sets forth a deficit for any fiscal year with one that provides a point of order against consideration of any budget resolution that sets forth a surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year. Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report if the enactment of the reported bill or resolution, the adoption and enactment of an amendment, or the enactment of a bill or resolution in the form recommended in the conference report would cause the on-budget surplus for any fiscal year to be less than the projected surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year or increase the amount by which the on-budget surplus for any fiscal year would be less than such trust fund surplus for that year. Makes such point of order inapplicable to social security or Medicare reform legislation. Requires any Federal budget submitted by the President that recommends an on-budget surplus for any fiscal year that is less than the surplus of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund for such year to include proposed legislative language for social security or Medicare reform legislation. Makes the lock-box requirements of H. Con. Res. 290 (106th Congress) and the preceding paragraph inapplicable upon the enactment of social security and Medicare reform legislation. Defines "social security reform legislation" and "Medicare reform legislation" as a bill or joint resolution to save social security or Medicare, respectively, that specifies that it constitutes reform legislation for purposes of such resolution. (Sec. 202) Requires any official Federal Government statement of the Federal or congressional budget surplus or deficit totals to exclude the outlays and receipts of the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program under the Social Security Act. Requires such outlays and receipts to be submitted in separate social security budget documents.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Quality Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program of student loan forgiveness in exchange for the borrower's commitment to three consecutive years of full-time teaching in low-income schools or special education teaching. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grant Act of 2000 - Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to pay to qualifying local governments specified sums for reducing crime and improving public safety, including for: (1) hiring, training, and employing on a continuing basis new, additional law enforcement officers and support personnel; (2) paying overtime to increase the number of hours worked by presently employed officers and support personnel; (3) procuring equipment, technology, and other material directly related to basic law enforcement functions; (4) enhancing security measures in and around schools and any other facility or location which is considered by the unit of local government to have a special risk for incidents of crime; (5) establishing crime prevention programs that may involve, though not exclusively, law enforcement officials and that are intended to discourage, disrupt, or interfere with the commission of criminal activity; (6) establishing or supporting drug courts; (7) establishing early intervention and prevention programs for juveniles to reduce or eliminate crime; (8) enhancing the adjudication process of cases involving violent offenders, including the adjudication process of cases involving violent juvenile offenders; (9) enhancing programs under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 drug control and system improvement grant program; (10) establishing cooperative task forces between adjoining local governments to work cooperatively to prevent and combat criminal activity, particularly criminal activity that is exacerbated by drug- or gang-related involvement; and (11) establishing a multijurisdictional task force, particularly in rural areas, composed of law enforcement officials representing local governments, that works with Federal law enforcement officials to prevent and control crime. Prohibits a local government from expending any of the funds provided under this Act to purchase, lease, rent, or otherwise acquire tanks or armored personnel carriers, fixed wing aircraft, limousines, real estate, yachts, consultants, or vehicles not primarily used for law enforcement unless the Attorney General certifies that extraordinary and exigent circumstances exist that make the use of funds for such purposes essential to the maintenance of public safety and good order. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the timing of payments; (2) payment adjustments; (3) reservation of sums for adjustments; (4) repayment of unexpended amounts; (5) requirements that such funds not be used to supplant State or local funds; (6) matching funds; (7) oversight accountability and administration; and (8) technology assistance. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Requires the Director to: (1) establish procedures under which a local government is required to provide notice to the Director regarding the proposed use of funds made available under this Act; and (2) establish a process for the ongoing evaluation of projects developed with funds made available under this title. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) general qualification requirements; (2) sanctions for noncompliance; (3) maintenance of effort requirements; (4) the allocation and distribution of funds, including unavailability and inaccuracy of information; (5) the use of funds to contract with private, nonprofit entities or community-based organizations; and (6) public participation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Straight Talk on Social Security Act - Amends the Social Security Act to require social security account statements to contain: (1) a comparison of the annual social security tax inflows to the amount paid in benefits annually and a statement of whether the ratio will result in a cash flow deficit and what year such deficit will commence as well as the first year in which funds in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds will cease to be sufficient to cover the deficit and the percentage of benefits due at that time that could be paid from annual tax inflows; and (2) an explanation of the average rate of return that a taxpayer can expect to receive on old-age insurance benefits as compared to the total amount of social security taxes a taxpayer expects to pay.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2000
Middle East Peace Process Support Act - Prohibits U.S. assistance to any unilaterally-declared Palestinian state. Directs the President to instruct the U.S. Representative to the United Nations to oppose admission to the United Nations of a unilaterally-declared Palestinian state or formal recognition by the United Nations of such a state.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2000
Patient Access, Choice, and Equity Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) establish a credit for the health insurance costs of an individual and his or her family; (2) provide for qualified health insurance credit amount payments by the Secretary of the Treasury to an employer or health insurance issuer for an employee or individual covered by qualified health insurance; (3) establish, in the case of an employer, a former health insurance exclusion credit.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2000
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to increase the maximum amount of marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments that an agricultural producer may receive for each of crop years 2000, 2001, and 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2000
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to increase the maximum amount of marketing loan gains and loan deficiency payments that an agricultural producer may receive for crop year 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2000
Debt Relief Reconciliation Act for Fiscal Year 2001 - Amends Federal public finance provisions to establish the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account in the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts in the Account to pay at maturity, or redeem or buy before maturity, any Government obligation held by the public and included in the public debt. Provides that any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Account shall be canceled and retired and prohibits its reissuance. Appropriates funds for the Account. Prohibits such appropriation from being considered as direct spending for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Reduces the public debt limit by the amount appropriated into the Account. Bars Account receipts and disbursements from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of : (1) the Federal Government budget as submitted by the President; (2) the congressional budget; or (3) the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the Account.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2000
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2000 - Title I: Amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to increase benefits to railroad employees and their beneficiaries and to revise financing of the pension part (tier II) of the railroad retirement system. (Sec. 101) Increases benefits for widows and widowers by guaranteeing to them all of the tier II annuity the employee was entitled to at the time of the death. (Sec. 102) Makes employees with 30 years of service eligible to retire at age 60 with unreduced tier I and tier II annuities. Makes spouses of such employees eligible for unreduced annuities at age 60. (Sec. 103) Reduces the vesting requirement for tier II retirement annuities from ten years to five years of service after December 1995. Makes employees with at least five years of such service, but less than ten years of total service, eligible for a tier I disability annuity if their combined railroad retirement and social security earnings credits would satisfy social security eligibility requirements. Makes spouses, divorced spouses, and survivors of employees with at least five years of such service, but less than ten years of total service, eligible for a tier I annuity if they would have been entitled to a social security benefit based on combined service. (Sec. 104) Repeals a limit on the total amount of monthly railroad retirement benefits payable to an employee and spouse at the time the employee's annuity begins. (Sec. 105) Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (the Fund) and a Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (RRIT) to manage and invest the assets of the Fund. Declares that RRIT is not an agency, department, or instrumentality of the U.S. Government. Requires RRIT to be administered by a Board of Trustees (the Trustees) with seven members (three representing labor, three representing employers, and one representing the general public) with experience and expertise in the management of financial investments and pension plans. Requires the Trustees to be appointed by a unanimous vote of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Prohibits RRB members from being Trustees. Applies specified reporting requirements and fiduciary standards to the RRIT. Requires the Trustees to diversify investments so as to minimize the risk of large losses. Authorizes the Trustees to invest Fund assets in non-Governmental assets. (Sec. 106) Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. (Sec. 107) Requires the RRB, upon the establishment of the Fund, to determine the portion of the Railroad Retirement Account not needed to pay current administrative expenses and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer that amount into the Fund. Requires the Fund to transfer the necessary amount of funds to pay benefits and related administrative expenses to the disbursing agent. Transfers to the Fund Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds not needed to pay current benefits, but requires that such funds only be used to pay benefits or to invest in U.S. Government or Government-guaranteed securities. Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefit Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. Requires the Trustees to consult with the Secretary of the Treasury to develop an appropriate method for transferring or converting existing account obligations. (Sec. 108) Requires the RRB to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Establishes schedules for: (1) decreasing tax rates if the average account benefits ratio, based on the ratios for the ten most recent fiscal years, is above six; and (2) increasing employer and employee representatives' tax rates if the ratio is below four. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (the Fund) from taxation. (Sec. 203) Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. (Sec. 204) Provides for adjustments to railroad employers, employee representatives, and employee tier II tax rates. Decreases such rates in 2001 and in 2002 for employers and employee representatives. Provides in the years after 2002 for tax rate schedules, based on the ten-year average account benefit ratio, for employers, employee representatives, and employees.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Low-Income Widows Assistance Act of 2000 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Commissioner of Social Security to conduct outreach efforts to increase the awareness of individuals entitled to benefits under Medicare (SSA title XVIII) of the availability of Medicare cost-sharing under Medicaid (SSA title XIX).
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2000
Classroom Modernization Act of 2000 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and rename title XII as Classroom Modernization. (Currently it is named School Facilities Infrastructure Improvement, or the Education Infrastructure Act of 1994.) Directs the Secretary of Education to make formula grants to States to assist local educational agencies (LEAs) with the expenses of complying with Federal education statutory requirements and priorities relating to infrastructure, technology, and equipment needs for public elementary and secondary schools, including charter schools and schools on or near Indian lands. Bases State allotments on: (1) relative numbers of children age five through 17 from families with incomes below poverty; and (2) relative proportions of ESEA title I allotments. Requires reservation of specified funds for grants to account for children residing on Indian lands. Requires States to distribute such funds to LEAs or consortia of LEAs, through forms consistent with State law for school infrastructure financing, including grants, loans, and aid to issue bonds or other obligations. Considers as such distributed amounts: (1) aid to refund or refinance outstanding obligations; and (2) amounts used to establish a reserve fund for State loan guarantee program. Allows any State that establishes such a program including a loan guarantee for at least one charter school to use a specified portion of grant funds to administer such program. Sets forth objective data categories which a State may consider in determining distribution of such funds. Sets the Federal share at 100 percent for: (1) renovation, construction, acquisition, and start-up needs related to the building infrastructure of a charter school (or, in the case of schools on Indian lands, renovation and construction needs related to building infrastructure); (2) school facilities modifications necessary to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; (3) purchase, lease, or other acquisition of assistive technology devices for children with disabilities; (4) asbestos abatement or removal from school facilities; and (5) ancillary renovation to complete such projects. Sets the Federal share at 50 percent for: (1) school facility wiring and associated infrastructure improvements that enhance students' academic experiences and are necessary for use of the Internet or related emerging technologies or better equip schools for modern educational technologies; (2) science laboratories and equipment, and vocational education laboratories and equipment, that are of significant cost or are related to emerging technologies; (3) school facility renovations undertaken for compliance with fire and safety codes; (4) school facilities renovations to prevent traumatic crisis events on school property that would disrupt the learning environment, such as school shootings or other major acts of violence, if the renovations are undertaken in direct response to, or in anticipation of, such events; and (5) ancillary renovation to complete such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the impact of Federal conditions of aid on school construction projects.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2000
Broadband Internet Access Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the broadband credit which shall be the sum of: (1) the current generation broadband credit; plus; (2) the next generation broadband credit. Defines terms. Requires a study and report.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2000
Debt Reduction Reconciliation Act of 2000 - Amends Federal public finance provisions to establish the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account in the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts in the Account to pay at maturity, or redeem or buy before maturity, any Government obligation held by the public and included in the public debt. Provides that any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Account shall be canceled and retired and prohibits its reissuance. Provides that if the Congressional Budget Office estimates an on-budget surplus for FY 2000 in a report submitted to the congressional budget committees pursuant to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that exceeds the amount of the surplus for such fiscal year set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY 2001 (H. Con. Res. 290, 106th Congress), then an amount equal to that excess is appropriated into the Account for FY 2000. Prohibits such appropriation from being considered as direct spending for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Reduces the public debt limit by the amount appropriated into the Account. Bars Account receipts and disbursements from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of : (1) the Federal Government budget as submitted by the President; (2) the congressional budget; or (3) the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the Account.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Agricultural Opportunities Act - Title I: Agricultural Worker Registries - Directs the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to establish a database system of U.S. worker and eligible alien agricultural worker registries to provide temporary and seasonal agricultural job opportunity and referral information. States that such registries may be established as part of the "America's Job Bank" and "America's Talent Bank" databases. Bases registry coverage on job opportunities in a single State, except for the New England States which may be represented by a single registry. Requires prospective employers of H-2C visa agricultural workers to first apply for registry workers before a petition to import H-2C workers may be approved. Sets forth individual registrant requirements. States that an agricultural worker may apply for registry inclusion in the State of his or her residency. Grants referral preference to U.S. workers. Directs the Attorney General to establish an employment eligibility verification system. Title II: H-2C Program - Sets forth registry application requirements for H-2C employers and employer associations, including assurances: (1) that the job opportunity is not the result of a labor dispute, and is temporary or seasonal; (2) respecting required wages and benefits, and compliance with labor laws; (3) respecting advertising in the registry and other labor market sources, and contact of former employees; and (4) respecting provision of workers compensation. Provides that: (1) the Secretary, upon application approval, shall complete a registry search and notify an employer of available registered workers within seven days of the beginning work date; (2) if insufficient workers are available, the Secretary shall so notify an employer, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State; (3) an employer shall pay a user fee for each admitted alien worker; (4) an employer may apply directly to the Secretary of State for alien worker admissions if such worker referral has not been received within the seven-day period; and (5) an employer may file a request for redetermination of need. (Sec. 204) Sets forth employment requirements with respect to: (1) wages; (2) housing; (3) transportation reimbursement; and (4) obligation to employ U.S. workers. (Sec. 205) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish an alternative agricultural temporary worker program (H-2C visa) for admission of aliens who are outside the United States. Sets forth program provisions. States that nothing in this title shall preclude the Secretary and the Attorney General from continuing to apply special procedures to alien employment in the range production of livestock. Directs the Attorney General to establish an H-2C departure verification program. . Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary to establish a process to receive and enforce complaints against employers by aggrieved persons or third party organizations (including bargaining representatives). Sets forth related provisions respecting: (1) expedited investigation of housing, wage, and child labor violations; (2) written notice of findings and opportunity for appeal; (3) ability of alien workers to change employers; and (4) remedies. Establishes the Commission on Housing Migrant Agricultural Workers which shall study the problem of in-season housing for migrant agricultural workers. Directs the Secretaries of Labor, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services to conduct a study of migrant worker child care, including the relationship between such child care and child labor violations in agriculture. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Agriculture to conduct a study of agricultural field sanitation conditions. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of persistent and serious agricultural labor standards violations. (Sec. 302) Authorizes and requests the Attorney General to establish bilateral commissions between the United States and each country having specified numbers of H-2C workers in the United States. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to establish registry user and alien employment user fee schedules and related collection processes. (Sec. 305) States that additional funds for agricultural worker registry startup costs may be taken from amounts available to Federal or State entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act. (Sec. 308) Sets forth the termination date for the this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Providing Annual Pap Tests to Save Women's Lives Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend coverage of screening pap smears and screening pelvic exams to annual examinations regardless of whether a woman is of childbearing age or at high-risk.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on the: (1) scientific basis underlying the development and implementation of total maximum daily loads for pollutants in waters for which effluent limitations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act are not stringent enough to implement applicable water quality standards; (2) costs of implementing measures to comply with such loads; and (3) availability of alternative programs or mechanisms to reduce the discharge of pollutants from point sources and nonpoint source pollution to achieve water quality standards. Requires the NAS to report on the study to the Administrator and specified congressional committees. Provides for Federal, State, and private sector comments on such report. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator, before making a final determination with respect to the Proposed Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program and Federal Antidegradation Policy and the Proposed Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulations Concerning Total Maximum Daily Loads of August 1999, to: (1) review the NAS report and incorporate recommendations into the proposed revisions; and (2) publish in the Federal Register and receive public comment on incorporated recommendations and those that weren't incorporated, with an explanation why they were not incorporated. Bars the Administrator from making such final determination until the conclusion of the public notice and comment period. Prohibits the Administrator, for purposes of ensuring that States continue to have exclusive authority to regulate nonpoint sources of pollution, from: (1) taking any action to affect any definition of, or distinction made between, point and nonpoint sources of pollution contained in an EPA rule in effect on June 1, 2000; and (2) requiring approval of any measures set forth by a State to control nonpoint sources of pollution pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, except as authorized under specified provisions regarding nonpoint source management programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from taking any action to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled "Hours of Service of Drivers" published by FMCSA in the Federal Register on May 2, 2000. Requires the Administrator to extend by 90 days the period for public comment on such rule.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Live Long and Prosper Act of 2000 - Title I: Tax Incentives to Enhance Long-Term Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a: (1) deduction for qualifying long-term care insurance costs of a taxpayer and his or her spouse and children; and (2) personal exemption for certain elderly family members with long-term care needs residing in a taxpayer's home. Title II: National Summit on Long-Term Care - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to direct the President to convene a National Summit on Long-Term Care. Title III: Federal Outreach Efforts to Promote Long-Term Care - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain an outreach program to promote financing and purchase of long-term care insurance by the American workforce; (2) establish a long-term care insurance Internet site. Authorizes appropriations for additional State outreach to seniors. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide outreach on long-term care issues, including establishment of an Internet site. Amends the Social Security Act to require social security account statements to provide information relating to medicare, medicaid, and long-term care.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2000
Training and Education for American Workers Act of 2000 - Amends the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (as contained in title IV of division C of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277)) to revise provisions for the use of amounts deposited into the H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account for demonstration programs and projects to provide technical skills training for employed and unemployed workers. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) use 75 percent of such funds to award grants to provide such training for any skill shortage related to a specialty occupation, as defined under the Immigration and Nationality Act; and (2) transfer 25 percent of such funds to the Secretary of Education for a student loan forgiveness program for mathematics, science, and reading teachers. Revises such training grant eligibility provisions for local boards and local, regional, or multi-State consortia. Requires 25 percent matching funds from grantees. Gives priority for such training grants to programs or projects that train employed and unemployed workers in skills that are in shortage in the high technology, information technology, and biotechnology fields, including software and communications services, telecommunications, systems installation and integration, computers and communications hardware, health care technology, biotechnology, and biomedical research, manufacturing, and innovation services. Requires grantees to make active efforts to recruit and train individuals traditionally underrepresented in information technology occupations, such as minorities, women, low-wage workers, workers residing in empowerment zones and enterprise communities, and individuals with a disability. Establishes such student loan forgiveness program, for specified loans made under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), for new borrowers after October 1, 1998, who have been employed as full-time teachers of mathematics, science, or a related field, or have been full-time teachers responsible for providing reading instruction in any of grades kindergarten through third grade, for three consecutive complete school years in schools that qualify under specified HEA provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of Congress: (1) a gold medal to the family of Andrew Jackson Higgins in recognition of his contributions to the Nation and to the Allied victory in World War II; (2) an identical medal to the D-Day Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, for public display; and (3) a gold medal to the Museum in honor of the World War II employees of Higgins Industries and in recognition of their contributions to the Nation and to the Allied victory in World War II. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Fletcher, Ernie [R-KY-6]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000441_200.jpg)