United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Citizens' Self-Defense Act of 2001 - Declares that a person not prohibited under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act from receiving a firearm shall have the right to obtain firearms for security and to use firearms in defense of: (1) self or family against a reasonably perceived threat of imminent and unlawful infliction of serious bodily injury; (2) self or family in the course of the commission by another person of a violent felony against the person or a member of the person's family; and (3) the person's home in the course of the commission of a felony by another person. Authorizes persons whose rights under this Act have been violated to bring an action in U.S. district court against the United States, any State, or any person for damages, injunctive relief, and such other relief as the court deems appropriate. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the award of attorney's fees; and (2) the statute of limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Notch Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise the formula for the computation of minimum Old Age Insurance benefits for individuals who reached age 65 in or after 1979 and to whom applies the 15-year transition period for the changes in benefit computation rules enacted in the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Sets forth a schedule of additional benefit increases for such beneficiaries (and related beneficiaries), with percentages declining from 55 percent to five percent and keyed to the year an individual became eligible for such benefits between 1979 and 1988. Allows such beneficiaries, in the alternative, to receive lump sum payments over four years totaling $5,000. Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, when estimating any additional spending under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) resulting from this Act, to decrease the adjusted discretionary spending limits for budget authority and outlays for FY 2002 set forth in such Act by the increase in direct spending estimated to result from enactment of this Act for that fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize appropriations to the Department of Labor through FY 2006 for: (1) trade adjustment assistance to displaced workers and for firms; and (2) the North American Free Trade Agreement Transitional Adjustment Assistance Program. Provides that a certification of eligibility to apply for trade adjustment assistance shall not cover a worker whose last total or partial separation from a firm occurred more than two years (currently, one year) before the date of a petition on which such certification was granted (effectively extending the time for filing the petition for worker assistance).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Notch Baby Act of 2001- Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act with respect to the benefit computation formula for individuals affected by the changes in benefit computation rules enacted in the Social Security Amendments of 1977 who reached age 65 during the ten year period after 1981 and before 1992. Sets forth a schedule of additional benefit increases for such beneficiaries (and related beneficiaries), with percentages declining from 60 percent to ten percent keyed to the year an individual became eligible for such benefits between 1979 and 1989.
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
Firearms Heritage Protection Act of 2001 - Prohibits civil actions from being brought against a manufacturer or seller of a firearm or ammunition, or a component thereof, that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce (a firearm), or a trade association of such manufacturers or sellers, for damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm. Requires dismissal of any such action that is pending on the date of this Act's enactment. Specifies exceptions with respect to actions against persons who transfer a firearm knowing that it will be used to commit a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime, or actions brought against a seller for negligent entrustment or negligence per se.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Political Convention Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal provisions providing for the use of funds from the Presidential Election Campaign Fund for presidential nominating conventions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Terrorist Elimination Act of 2001 - Nullifies the effect of specified provisions of certain executive orders which prohibit Federal employees from attempting or performing assassinations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2001
Calls upon the President: (1) to immediately review the entry into the customs territory of the United States of all steel products of Australia, China, South Africa, Ukraine, Indonesia, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, or Brazil; (2) if he finds that the Governments of such countries are not abiding by the spirit and letter of international trade agreements regarding steel imports into the United States, to immediately impose a one-year ban on the imports of all steel products from such countries; (3) to establish a task force within the executive branch to closely monitor steel imports into the United States; and (4) to report to Congress on any other actions to ensure that all U.S. trading partners abide by such agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2000
Integrity of the United States Courts Act of 2000 - Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act to permit a party or person to file with the U.S. Court of International Trade an appeal of a determination of a binational panel, alleging that a member of a binational panel is guilty of gross misconduct, bias, or serious conflict of interest, or that the panel seriously departed from a fundamental rule of procedure or exceeded its own authority, and such actions have materially affected panel determinations with respect to antidumping and countervailing duty cases and threaten the integrity of the panel review process. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to grant the U.S. Court of International Trade jurisdiction over the review of a final determination of such a binational panel.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2000
Designates a building proposed to be located within the boundaries of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, on Assateague Island, Virginia, as the Herbert H. Bateman Education And Administrative Center.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2000
RU-486 Patient Health and Safety Protection Act - Restricts the prescribing of the drug mifepristone (commonly referred to as RU-486, to be marketed as Mifeprex) to physicians who meet specified requirements.
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 · 29 September 2000
Taxpayers' Choice Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual to designate three dollars on his or her income tax return (six dollars on a joint return) to be used to reduce the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2000
Requires the Secretary of Defense to revise Department of Defense policy regarding the euthanization of military working dogs to: (1) terminate the practice of euthanizing such dogs at the end of their useful life; and (2) limit such euthanization to when medically necessary or necessary for the public safety. Requires the Secretary to make such a dog available for adoption by law enforcement agencies, former handlers, and other persons capable of humanely caring for such dogs. Requires the commander of the last unit to which the dog is assigned to make the decision whether a particular dog is suitable or unsuitable for adoption. Directs the Secretary to require that any dog recipient hold harmless the United States from any damages or injury caused by a dog after such transfer. Requires an annual report from the Secretary to Congress concerning dogs adopted, waiting for adoption, or euthanized during the preceding year (with an explanation in the case of euthanization).
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2000
Scouts Honor Act - Prohibits the use of Federal funds: (1) to discriminate against, investigate, or deny or withdraw access to public property for, the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of beliefs promoted by that organization or that organization's constitutionally protected expression of beliefs or exercise of associational rights; or (2) to compel the Boy Scouts of America to employ, enroll, or accept as a member or volunteer an individual whose sexual orientation, sexual behavior, religious beliefs, or absence of religious beliefs is determined by the Boy Scouts of America to be inconsistent with the organization's policies, programs, morals, or mission.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to wildfire danger that: (1) Federal forest and land management agencies should enact a cohesive strategy to reduce the overabundance of forest fuels; and (2) the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior should prepare for publication a public lands national fire strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2000
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning reporting requirements of political organizations to exempt from such requirements certain State and local political committees which are required to make State filings which are publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Veterans' Oral History Project Act - Requires the Director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to establish an oral history program to collect video and audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials of American war veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release Edmond Pope and to ensure that proper and qualified medical attention is provided to him. Expresses the sense of Congress that if Pope is not released immediately, the President should continue efforts to secure his release, including consideration of: (1) terminating all assistance to the Government of the Russian Federation under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the annual Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for purposes of preparing the Russian Federation's entrance or accession to the World Trade Organization; and (2) opposing any further debt relief of obligations owed to the U.S. Government from the Government of the Russian Federation. Urges the President to increase efforts to secure appropriate medical attention for Pope.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2000
Medicare Billing and Education Act of 2000 - Title I: Regulatory Reform - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with regard to: (1) the prospective-only, non-retroactive application of regulations of the Secretary of Health and Human Services that establish or change a substantive legal standard governing the scope of benefits, the payment for services, or the eligibility of individuals, entities, or organizations to furnish or to receive Medicare services or benefits; and (2) allowance of civil actions against the Secretary challenging the constitutionality of regulations or policies. Prohibits the Secretary from recovering past Medicare overpayments by offsetting future payments to a health care provider, or while a provider is appealing a determination that an overpayment has been made or the amount of such an overpayment. Title II: Appeals Process Reforms - Revises requirements for the post-payment audit process, particularly the recoupment of overpayments. Requires the Secretary to permit any health care provider to appeal any determination of the Secretary under Medicare on behalf of a deceased beneficiary where no substitute party is available. Title III: Education Components - Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for education programs for physicians, providers of services, and suppliers. Requires fiscal intermediaries and carriers to do their utmost to provide health care providers with one, straight, and correct answer regarding Medicare billing and cost reporting questions, as well as their true first and last names. Requires the Secretary to establish a process for providers to request assistance in writing (advisory opinions) from fiscal intermediaries or carriers in addressing questionable Medicare coverage, billing, documentation, coding and cost reporting procedures. Title IV: Sustainable Growth Rate Reforms - Requires the inclusion of regulatory costs in the estimate of the sustainable growth rate for all physicians' services for a fiscal year. Title V: Studies and Reports - Requires the Comptroller General to: (1) audit and report to Congress on Health Care Financing Administration compliance with statutes administered by it and with administrative procedure and other requirements under Federal civil service law; and (2) study and report to Congress on whether policies or enforcement efforts against health care providers have reduced access to care for Medicare beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Mandatory IDEA Full Funding Act of 2000 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to require specified minimum levels of Federal grant payments to States for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Congratulates and honors home educators and home schooled students for their contributions to educational quality. Supports the goals of National Home Education Week.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2000
Home Health Refinement Amendments of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the 15 percent reduction in payment rates under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services; (2) provide for additional payments for outliers; (3) provide for additional payments under the PPS for home health services furnished in a rural area; (4) provide for exclusion of nonroutine medical supplies under the PPS for home health services; and (5) set forth a rule of construction relating to telehomehealth services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the feasibility and advisability of including home health services furnished by telecommunications systems as a home health service.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2000
Urges U.S. citizens to recognize and support educational programs that make surfing the Internet safe. Supports initiatives to educate parents, children, educators, and community leaders about the enormous possibilities and potential dangers of the Internet. Urges all Americans to become informed about the Internet and to support proactive efforts to provide Internet safety for children and future generations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2000
Recognizes the historical significance of James Madison's birth, as well as his contributions to the Nation. Urges American patriotic and civil associations, labor organizations, schools, universities, historical societies, and communities of learning and worship, together with citizens throughout the United States, to develop appropriate programs and educational activities to recognize and celebrate the life and achievements of James Madison. Calls on the people of the United States to observe James Madison's life and legacy with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Parents' Empowerment Act - Authorizes a minor, through a person acting on the minor's behalf, to obtain relief in a civil action in U.S. district court against anyone who knowingly sells or distributes in interstate or foreign commerce an entertainment product containing material that is harmful to minors if: (1) a reasonable person would expect a substantial number of minors to be exposed to the material; and (2) the minor, as a result of exposure to that material, is likely to suffer personal or emotional injury or injury to mental or moral welfare. Declares it to be an affirmative defense to such action that an act of a parent or guardian who owned the entertainment product was the proximate cause of the minor's exposure to the harmful material.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for an increase in the disproportionate share hospital (DSH) percentage for rural hospitals and for a reduction in the disproportionate patient percentage for rural hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Medicare-Dependent, Small Rural Hospital Equity Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to allow a Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital to elect to apply the Medicare patient population percentage measurement to the three most recent cost reporting periods. Revises the target amount and rebased target amount components of the formula for calculation of the operating costs of inpatient hospital services of Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals that elect to apply such measurement. Repeals the termination of the Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital program, including the authority to decline reclassification from rural to non-rural (thus making it permanent).
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the reduction in the market basket percentage increase for FY 2001 and 2002 under the prospective payment system for Medicare payments to hospitals located in a rural area with less than 100 beds.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2000
Electric Power Industry Tax Modernization Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a governmental unit to make an irrevocable election to terminate certain tax-exempt financing for electric output facilities. Sets forth provisions concerning independent transmission companies. Provides for the exclusion from gross income as contributions to capital of certain amounts received by electric utilities. Revises the special rules concerning the tax treatment of nuclear decommissioning costs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2000
Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act or the Rural AED Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Rural Health Outreach Office of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants to qualified community partnerships to enable such partnerships to purchase automatic external defibrillators and to provide defibrillator and basic life support training in automated external defibrillator usage. Authorizes appropriations.
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 · 24 July 2000
TMDL Regulatory Accountability Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) solicit public comment on revisions to regulations pertaining to the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) program and the water quality planning and management program published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2000; (2) solicit State comments on the impact of such revisions on implementation and effectiveness of State programs; and (3) maintain a record of public comments and publish a response in the Federal Register. Directs the Administrator to transmit to Congress an analysis of the monitoring data needed for development and implementation of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) which shall address data gaps identified by the Comptroller General in a March 2000 report entitled "Water Quality, Key EPA and State Decisions Limited By Inconsistent and Incomplete Data." Requires the Administrator to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on the scientific bases underlying the development of TDMLs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator, with respect to the economic analysis performed on regulatory changes identified by the Comptroller General in the June 2000 report entitled "Clean Water Act: Proposed Revisions to EPA Regulations to Clean Up Polluted Waters," to prepare certain statements and analyses required under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 with respect to: (1) significant regulatory actions that may result in expenditures by State, local, and tribal governments or the private sector of $100 million or more annually; and (2) selection of a least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome alternative. Requires the Administrator to conduct analyses of the effects of the revisions to the regulations pertaining to the NPDES and water quality planning and management on small entities. Directs the Administrator to review the information provided or developed under this Act and consider whether the revisions to such regulations should be changed. Requires an explanation to Congress of the decision to change or not to change such revisions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2000
Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission Act of 2000 - Establishes the Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission to develop and execute programs and activities commemorating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2000
Child Safety and Home Security Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a nonrefundable tax credit for the purchase of a residential safe storage device that is put into service for the securing of firearms. Prohibits the creation of a database identifying gun owners using information from tax returns on which credit under this Act is claimed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2000
Innocent Children Protection Act of 2000 - Makes it unlawful for any U.S. authority to carry out a sentence of death on a woman while she carries a child in utero.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First amendment to the Constitution in its decision in the 1976 case of Buckley v. Valeo because: (1) such decision failed to recognize that the unlimited spending of large amounts of money on elections has a corrosive effect on the electoral process; and (2) such decision failed to recognize other legitimate state interests which justify limiting money in campaigns.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2000
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency on July 13, 2000, relating to total maximum daily loads under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Declares that such rule shall have no effect.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2000
Medicare Access to Telehealth Services Act of 2000 - Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to revise provisions on Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) reimbursement for telehealth services, among other changes: (1) providing for, in the case of any Federal telemedicine demonstration program in Alaska or Hawaii, the use of store-and-forward technology; and (2) requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to Congress on certain additional services appropriate for Medicare payment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with regard to requirements to qualify as a disproportionate share (DSH) hospital, to waive the obstetrician requirement when it prevents DSH designation in the case of certain critical access hospitals or essential rural health care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act of 2000 - Provides that neither a person (including any corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company, or any other entity) who donates re-certified fire control or fire rescue equipment nor a State or local agency that administers the distribution of such equipment shall be liable for personal injuries, property damage, or death proximately caused by a defect in such equipment. Excepts such a person or agency from such liability protection if: (1) the person's act or omission causing the injury, damage, or loss constitutes malice, gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct; or (2) the person is the manufacturer of such equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Calls for the immediate release of Edmond Pope from prison in Russia on humanitarian reasons. Declares that no funds should be provided for: (1) assisting the Government of the Russian Federation to prepare for or adjoin or accede to the World Trade Organization; or (2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs for activities within Russia. Urges the President to oppose further loans to the Russian Government by any international funding institution of which the United States is a member.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2000
Equal Access to Medicare Home Health Care Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to payments made under the prospective payment system (PPS) for Medicare home health services: (1) eliminating the 15 percent reduction in payment rates under such PPS; (2) requiring repayment with interest of Medicare overpayments by home health agencies after a 36-month grace period during which no interest shall accrue; and (3) providing for ten percent additional payments under the PPS for services in rural areas and security services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the feasibility and advisability of including home health services furnished by telecommunications systems as a home health service for purposes of payment for such services under the PPS, and of requirements with respect to physician certification of the need for home health services.
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 · 21 June 2000
Illegal Pornography Prosecution Act of 2000 - Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for FY 2001 to be used by the Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, for the hiring and training of staff, travel, and other necessary expenses to prosecute obscenity cases.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2000
Community Economic Adjustment Act of 2000 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to establish in the Economic Development Administration (EDA) an Office of Community Economic Adjustment to coordinate the Federal Government's response to communities experiencing sudden economic distress caused by a loss of jobs due to plant closures, significant layoffs, or significant relocation of jobs to other communities for any reason, including shifting patterns in international trade, natural disasters, or other problems, by: (1) identifying relevant programs and resources to ensure that communities are aware of all available Federal resources that complement or support state and local resources and programs; (2) working with specified departments and agencies to ensure that communities receive Federal assistance in a targeted, integrated manner; and (3) assigning a project manager to work with an affected community. Directs such Office to: (1) provide technical assistance, planning grants, and other assistance to help communities organize themselves, develop, and carry out economic adjustment strategies for replacing industry and jobs that have been lost or are threatened by the economic downturn; and (2) help eligible applicants in completing applications for other assistance that may be useful in alleviating the economic distress in such communities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2005 for community adjustment assistance under the economic adjustment program of the EDA, including specified amounts for such Office and for communities successfully completing planning grants to implement their approved plans.