United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2001
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2001 - Directs that in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various U.S. administrative bureaus and agencies, the words "person," "human being," "child," and "individual" shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive (as defined in this Act) at any stage of development.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2001
Invest in Space Now Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit for the purchase of space transportation vehicle provider stock (as defined by this Act). Sets forth separate credit limitations for large and small capitalization providers, as well as aggregate annual limitations. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a United States Commercial Space Transportation Vehicle Industry Authorization Program to provide tax credit eligibility to support qualified commercial space transportation vehicle development startup ventures.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit: (1) Federal civilian and military retirees to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis; and (2) a deduction (available to itemizers and nonitemizers) for TRICARE supplemental premiums and enrollment fees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2001
Honors the: (1) service and commitment of the citizen-soldiers of the Army National Guard units deployed in support of Army operations in Bosnia; and (2) sacrifices made by families and employers of members of such units. Recognizes the importance of: (1) the deployment of the 48th Infantry Brigade in March 2001; and (2) the National Guard and Reserve to U.S. security. Expresses support for providing the necessary resources to ensure the continued readiness of the National Guard and Reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2001
Government Neutrality in Contracting Act - Directs the head of any Federal agency that awards or obligates funds for any construction contract, or that awards grants, provides financial assistance, or enters into cooperative agreements for construction projects, to ensure that bid specifications, project agreements, or other controlling documents do not: (1) require or prohibit a bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor from entering into, or adhering to, agreements with labor organization, with respect to that construction project or another related construction project; or (2) otherwise discriminate against such a party because it did or did not become a signatory or otherwise adhere to such an agreement. Allows exemptions to avert an imminent threat to public health or safety or to serve national security. Allows additional exemptions for certain projects. Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act with respect to the applicable Federal contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2001
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act - Amends the Organic Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish and maintain a list of each person that notifies the Secretary that it is a manufacturer or seller that is: (1) licensed to engage in interstate or foreign commerce of a firearm or ammunition product; or (2) is a trade association representing such manufacturers or sellers. Declares that any lawful conduct carried out by a manufacturer or seller in interstate or foreign commerce of a firearm or ammunition product, or lawful conduct carried out by a trade association in the course of representing such manufacturers or sellers, shall not be the basis for imposing a restriction on such commerce (the award of civil damages, equitable relief, or any other specified limitation) as a result of harm caused by the criminal or other unlawful misuse of such firearm or ammunition product by any other person.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2001
Uniformed Services Former Spouses Equity Act of 2001 - Requires payment from the monthly disposable retired pay of a member to his or her former spouse in compliance with court orders (division of property) to terminate upon the remarriage of that spouse, effective as of the last day of the month in which the remarriage occurs. Provides that, in the case of a member to whom a final decree of divorce, dissolution, annulment, or legal separation is issued before the member begins to receive retired pay, the disposable retired pay of such member, for purposes of such monthly payments, shall be computed based on the pay grade and length of service of the member while married. Increases such amount concurrently with retired pay increases. Requires a member's spouse or former spouse to obtain a court order for reapportionment of a member's monthly disposable retired pay by the later of the following dates: (1) two years of the date of the final decree of divorce, dissolution, annulment, or legal separation; or (2) six months after the enactment of this Act. Prohibits the court from treating as part of a member's disposable retired pay amounts which have been waived from such pay in order to receive veterans' disability compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2001
Amends part C (Administrative Simplification) of title XI of the Social Security Act to revise the deadline for initial compliance with standards for information transactions and data elements.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2001
Korea Defense Service Medal Act - Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to issue a campaign medal, to be known as the Korea Defense Service Medal, to each member who served in the Republic of Korea or its adjacent waters after July 27, 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2001
Apprenticeship Enhancement Act of 2001 - Amends the National Apprenticeship Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to ensure that applications relating to apprenticeship programs are processed in a fair and timely manner. Allows aggrieved applicants to file petitions for judicial review of final determinations by the Secretary or applicable designee.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2001
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide for inflation adjustments to the mandatory jurisdiction thresholds of the National Labor Relations Board.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 - Prohibits any person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; (2) participating in such an attempt; (3) shipping or receiving the product of human cloning; or (4) importing such a product. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Federal Government should advocate for and join an international effort to prohibit human cloning; and (2) the President should commission a study by the National Bioethics Advisory Commission or a successor group of the arguments for and against the use of cloning to produce human embryos solely for research.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to suspend, for purposes of determining exclusion of gain from the sale of a principal residence, the five-year determination period for: (1) members of the uniformed services or the Foreign Service serving on qualified extended duty (at least 50 miles from such residence or residing in Government quarters); or (2) an employee serving for more than 90 days on assignment abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2001
Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to include in any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report any provision which makes the taking effect of a decrease in Federal income taxes contingent upon another event or circumstance. Allows a point of order against such a provision at any time during pendency of that measure.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal criminal code to replace provisions regarding the purchase of prison-made products by Federal departments with provisions establishing a Government-wide procurement policy relating to purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI) which shall generally require the use of competitive procedures. Requires FPI to comply with Federal occupational, health, and safety standards regarding its industrial operations. Requires that an analysis of the probable impact of a proposed expansion of inmate-work activities by FPI on private sector firms and their non-inmate workers be made whenever FPI proposes to authorize the sale of a new specific product or service or to expand production of a current product or service. Provides for inmate wages and deductions. Amends the Federal judicial code regarding the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to authorize payments to the Bureau of Prisons exclusively for the purpose of providing additional vocational and remedial educational training for inmates. Amends the Federal criminal code to require that not less than 20 percent of the gross profits of the corporation at the end of each fiscal year be allocated to fund vocational training for inmates. Requires the Director of the Bureau to afford to inmates opportunities to participate in programs and activities designed to help prepare such inmates to obtain employment upon release. Authorizes FPI to: (1) locate more than one workshop at a Federal correctional facility; and (2) operate a workshop outside of a correctional facility if all of participating inmates are minimum security inmates.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Internet Tax Moratorium and Equity Act - Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to extend, until December 31, 2005, provisions which prohibit a State or political subdivision from imposing: (1) taxes on Internet access, unless such tax was generally imposed and actually enforced prior to October 1, 1998; and (2) multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) States and localities should work together to develop a uniform streamlined sales and use tax system that addresses remote sales; and (2) a joint comprehensive study should be undertaken to determine the cost of collecting and remitting State and local sales and use taxes under such system. Authorizes States to enter into an Interstate Sales and Use Tax Compact which shall describe a uniform, streamlined sales and use tax system consistent with such system.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Minimum Wage State Flexibility Act of 2001 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow a State to preempt the Federal minimum wage if the State: (1) sets a minimum wage rate or rates that are not less than $5.15 per hour; and (2) applies that rate or those rates to as many workers in the State as would otherwise be covered by the Federal minimum wage rate.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to repeal authority to regulate certain plumbing products and appliances, including showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Military Personnel Recruitment and Retention Enhancement Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of members of the Armed Forces any "qualified bonus." Defines the term "qualified bonus" to mean an enlistment, accession, reenlistment, retention, or other bonus paid to a member of the Armed Forces of the United States in exchange for the agreement of the member to accept a commission as an officer, extend an active service commitment as an officer, enlist, reenlist, or extend an enlistment as an enlisted member in an active or reserve component, or enter into a reserve affiliation agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2001
Public Expression of Religion Act of 2001 - Amends provisions regarding civil actions for deprivation of rights to specify that where the deprivation consists of a violation of a prohibition in the Constitution against the establishment of religion, the remedy shall be limited to injunctive relief. Prohibits the award of attorney's fees with respect to such claims.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Family Farm Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any gain on the sale of a qualified family farm interest to a family member of the taxpayer. Requires the taxpayer (or a member of the taxpayer's family) to have participated materially in the farming business operation during the five years preceding the sale, and requires the family member purchasing the interest to participate materially during the five years following the sale. Provides for recapture of tax foregone because of the exclusion if during the five years following the sale: (1) the interest ceases to be used in a farming business; or (2) the purchasing family member fails to participate materially in the farming business.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Constitutional Amendment - Requires that any bill, resolution, or other legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of that House voting and present, unless the bill is determined at the time of adoption, in a reasonable manner prescribed by law, not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for purposes of determining any increase, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Requires journal entry of any vote. Permits the waiver of such requirement, for up to two years, if there is a declaration of war or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution which becomes law.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2001
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 - 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. Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund and a Railroad Retirement Investment Trust to manage and invest Fund assets. Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. Provides for transfer to the Fund of certain portions of the Railroad Retirement Account and of Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds. Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefits Payments Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. Requires the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Fund from taxation. Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. Provides for adjustments to railroad employers, employee representatives, and employee tier II tax rates.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that is a union security agreement, to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Marriage Tax Elimination Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide that the basic standard deduction on a joint return shall be equal to 200 percent of the dollar amount of an individual who is not married. Provides a schedule for making, by 2005, the maximum taxable income in the lowest married bracket equal to double the maximum taxable income in the lowest single filer bracket. Increases the earned income credit phaseout amount on a joint return by $2,000. Revises IRC provisions relating to limitation based on tax liability and the definition of such liability to provide that the aggregate amount of credits allowed as nonrefundable personal credits shall not exceed the sum of: (1) the taxpayer's regular tax liability for the taxable year reduced by the foreign tax credit; and (2) the tax imposed by the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Economic Recovery and Growth Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to reducing or repealing, among other things: (1) tax rates for individuals; (2) alternative minimum tax; (3) capital gains; (4) estate and gift tax; (5) marriage penalty; (6) Federal communications excise tax; (7) taxes for farmers, ranchers, fishermen; and (8) occupational taxes relating to alcoholic beverages. Increases, extends, or expands tax benefits with respect to, among other things: (1) pensions and individual retirement accounts (IRAs); (2) child tax credit; (3) education IRAs and qualified tuition programs; (4) adoption expenses credit; (5) charitable contributions; (6) social security benefits; (7) expense treatment for small businesses; (8) self-employed health insurance cost deduction; and (9) research credit.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce; and (3) provisions for safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. 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 they exceed the full-funding limitation. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans) subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
National Institutes of Health EPSCoR Program Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the program for enhancing the competitiveness of entities conducting biomedical and behavioral research in obtaining funds from the National Research Institutes. Establishes a new experimental program to stimulate competitive research (EPSCoR) to enhance the research competitiveness of a non-Federal entity located in an EPSCoR State (as defined in this Act). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Declares Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency," to be null and void. Prohibits the use of funds for the promulgation or enforcement of an executive order that creates an entitlement to services provided in a language other than English.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the required use of certain principal repayments on mortgage subsidy bond financings to redeem bonds; (2) modify the purchase price limitation under mortgage subsidy bond rules based on median family income; and (3) define the term "area median gross income" for low-income housing credit projects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from self-employment net income certain conservation reserve program payments. Amends the Social Security Act to exclude such payments from the definition of "net earnings from self-employment."
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Disapproves a specified rule submitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration relating to ergonomics, and declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2001
Medicare Education and Regulatory Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) concerning: (1) prospective application only of certain regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); and (2) certain requirements for judicial and regulatory challenges of regulations. Requires the Secretary, with respect to Medicare audits, except when clear and convincing evidence exists of fraud or similar fault, to give a physician, provider of services, or provider of ambulance services (physicians or providers) the option of entering into: (1) an arrangement to offset alleged overpayments against future payments; or (2) a repayment plan with its carrier or fiscal intermediary to recoup such an overpayment. Prohibits the Secretary from taking any action to recoup an overpayment or to impose a penalty during the period in which a physician or provider is appealing a determination that such an overpayment has been made or the amount of the overpayment. Prohibits carriers, absent cause, from demanding the production of records or documentation before paying a Medicare claim. Amends SSA title XI with respect to prohibited extensions of remuneration to a Medicare-eligible individual to influence a choice of provider, practitioner, or supplier. Excludes from the meaning of remuneration any waiver of copayment made in a written, mailed communication with existing patients. Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to: (1) construction of hearing rights related to decisions to deny or not renew a physician enrollment agreement; (2) the post-payment audit process; (3) definitions relating to physicians or providers; and (4) the right to appeal on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. Amends SSA title XVIII to require carriers, fiscal intermediaries, and contractors to conduct education programs (funded from the Medicare Integrity Program) for physicians and providers on billing, coding, cost reporting, and documentation regulations and procedures. Outlines provisions with regard to certain information requests from physicians and providers. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for the inclusion of regulatory costs in the calculation of the sustainable growth rate with respect to the costs of physicians' services. Prohibits the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) from implementing any new evaluation and management documentation guidelines under Medicare, unless it: (1) has provided for an assessment of the proposed guidelines by organizations representing physicians; (2) has established a plan that contains specific goals, including a schedule, for improving use of such guidelines; (3) has completed a minimum of four pilot projects to test such guidelines; and (4) finds that specified objectives will be met in the implementation of such guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Military Home School Children Equal Access Act of 2001 - Amends the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 to allow home school students who are eligible for enrollment in a school of the overseas defense dependents' education system to use or receive auxiliary services of such schools without enrolling or registering for a minimum number of courses.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2001
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Adjustment Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prescribe a formula for periodic adjustments to the maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage, including an inflation adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Hope for Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the expenses allowable towards the adoption credit. Renames such credit as the "Tom Bliley adoption credit."
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Men's Health Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an office to be known as the Office of Men's Health. Requires a report.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Persian Gulf War Illness Compensation Act of 2001 - Amends a veterans' benefits program of compensation for disabilities occurring in veterans of the Persian Gulf War to: (1) require such disabilities, to be compensable, to occur before December 31, 2011, or such later date as prescribed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (2) define an "undiagnosed illness" in such veterans as one manifested by specified symptoms or signs the cause, etiology, or origin of which cannot be specifically and definitely identified; and (3) include an undiagnosed illness having such a symptom or sign within the presumption of being service-connected and therefore treatable as a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Farm and Ranch Risk Management Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual engaged in an eligible farming or commercial fishing business a deduction for any taxable year of up to 20 percent of taxable income attributable to the eligible farming or commercial fishing business which was paid in cash by the taxpayer to a Farm and Ranch Risk Management Account (FARRM Account). Includes distributions from a FARRM account in the taxpayer's gross income, and subjects to a special ten percent surtax any distributions not made within five years of contribution. Establishes a tax on excess contributions, but exempts the taxpayer from the tax on certain prohibited transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2001
Family Farm and Business Protection Act of 2001- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase to $10 million the maximum estate tax deduction for family-owned business interests.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2001
Deposit Insurance Fairness and Economic Opportunity Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth a schedule under which the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall transfer annually to the Financing Corporation (FICO), for payment of FICO interest obligations, such amounts as exceed 1.40 percent of the total estimated deposits insured by the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund, respectively, when amounts in both Funds exceed that percentage.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 or over, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months beginning on or before the enactment of this Act; (2) 40 percent of such pay, for months beginning after enactment of this Act until October 2004; (3) 45 percent of such pay for months beginning after September 2004 and before October 2011; and (4) 55 percent of such pay for months after September 2011. Adjusts similarly the percentage amounts of SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided for such surviving spouses. Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate adjustments in the computation of retired pay reductions for such supplemental annuities.
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
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 · 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 · 31 January 2001
Ratepayer Protection Act - Declares that no electric utility shall be required to enter into a new contract or obligation to purchase or sell electric energy or capacity pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 governing cogeneration and small power production. Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to promulgate and enforce regulations to assure that no utility shall be required to absorb the costs associated with electric energy or capacity purchases from a qualifying facility executed before this Act's enactment date, and governed by such provisions (thus assuring such utilities recovery of all costs associated with such purchases). Provides that such regulations shall be treated as a rule enforceable under the Federal Power Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Istook, Ernest J., Jr. [R-OK-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/i000047_200.jpg)