United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2009
Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 - Amends the Clayton Act (the Act) to make federal antitrust laws applicable to all common carriers subject to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), regardless of whether the carrier filed a rail carrier rate or whether a complaint challenging a rate is filed. Subjects to antitrust review agreements among rail carriers to pool or divide traffic, services, or earnings. Authorizes the the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce certain provisions of the Act against STB-approved agreements or combinations, including those related to rates. Removes the prohibition against a private party seeking injunctive relief against a rail carrier for a violation of the antitrust laws. Provides that, in any civil action against a rail common carrier, the U.S. district court shall not be required to defer to the primary jurisdiction of the STB. Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to authorize FTC enforcement against rail carriers for unfair methods of competition. Amends federal transportation law to terminate the exemptions from antitrust laws for rail carriers, including mergers and acquisitions and ratemaking agreements. Requires the STB when reviewing a proposed rate agreement, to take into account its impact upon shippers, consumers, and affected communities, and to make findings regarding such impact, which shall be made part of the administrative record. Revises STB authority to provide that a rail carrier, corporation, or a person participating in an approved transaction is not exempt from specified antitrust laws.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to each state to carry out a program for making available throughout that state the 2-1-1 telephone service for information and referral on human services. Requires a participating state to ensure that at least 50% of the resources of the program funded by the grant will be derived from other sources. Requires a state seeking a grant to carry out its activities through a lead entity to be known as a 2-1-1 Collaborative. Requires grant amounts to be used solely to make available to a state 2-1-1 telephone service for community information and referral on human services to all citizens of that state with phone access, including telephone connections between families and individuals seeking services and the service providers. Requires grant recipients to: (1) abide by the Key Standards for 2-1-1 Centers; and (2) collaborate with human service organizations to provide an exhaustive database of services with which to provide information or referral to individuals utilizing the 2-1-1 service.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Redesignates: (1) the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps; and (2) the Secretary of the Navy as the Secretary of the Navy and Marine Corps. Makes similar redesignations with respect to the Department Under Secretary, the Department Assistant Secretaries, and the General Counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2009 - Establishes in the Treasury the Merchant Mariner Equity Compensation Fund for payments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of a monthly benefit of $1,000 to each individual who, between December 7, 1941, and December 31, 1946, was a documented member of the U.S. merchant marine (including the Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service) serving as a crewmember of a vessel that was operated in U.S. waters by the War Shipping Administration or the Office of Defense Transportation and under contract to, or the property of, the United States. Requires such individuals to: (1) apply for such benefit before October 1, 2009; and (2) not have received benefits under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. Requires the Secretary to include, in annual budget documents submitted to Congress, detailed information on the Fund's operation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that an unlawful employment practice occurs when: (1) a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice; or (3) an individual is affected by application of the decision or practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid. Allows liability to accrue, and allows an aggrieved person to obtain relief, including recovery of back pay, for up to two years preceding the filing of the charge, where the unlawful employment practices that have occurred during the charge filing period are similar or related to practices that occurred outside the time for filing a charge. Applies the preceding provisions to claims of compensation discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to declare that an unlawful practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person becomes subject to the decision or other practice, or when a person is affected by the decision or practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009 - Amends the federal criminal code to establish a national standard for the carrying of concealed firearms (other than a machinegun or destructive device) by non-residents. Authorizes a person who has a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state and who is not prohibited from carrying a firearm under federal law to carry a concealed firearm in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that state or as specified under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
National Guardsmen and Reservists Parity for Patriots Act - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 to back-date to September 11, 2001, the period of active duty or performed active service, in support of a contingency operation or in other emergency situations, for which members of Ready Reserve components of the armed forces shall receive credit in determining eligibility for early receipt of non-regular service retired pay.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009 - Exempts provisions expanding the adoption tax credit and adoption assistance programs enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 from the general terminating (sunset) provisions of that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross estate of a decedent the value of farmland used by an heir of the decedent for farming purposes. Imposes a recapture tax on an heir who disposes of such farmland after the decedent's death or who ceases to use it for farming purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a deduction from gross income for: (1) interest paid on indebtedness (up to $49,500) incurred after November 12, 2008, and before January 1, 2010, for the purchase of a motor vehicle (i.e., passenger automobile or light truck) with a gross vehicle weight rating of not more than 8,500 pounds; and (2) state and local sales and excise taxes imposed on the purchase of such a motor vehicle.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and the Revised Statutes of the United States to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act - Declares that no automatic pay adjustment shall be considered to have taken effect in FY2010 in the rates of basic pay for Members of Congress under the General Schedule (thus eliminating the pay adjustment for Members for such fiscal year).
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Requires government contributions for health benefits for an individual who first becomes an annuitant by reason of retirement from employment with the United States Postal Service on or after July 1, 1971, or for a survivor of such an individual or of an individual who died on or after that date while employed by the Postal Service, to be paid first from the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund up to the amount contained in the Fund, with any remaining amount paid by the Postal Service (current law requires such contributions to be paid by the Postal Service through September 30, 2016).
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages. Revises the exception to the prohibition for a wage rate differential based on any other factor other than sex. Limits such factors to bona fide factors, such as education, training, or experience. States that the bona fide factor defense shall apply only if the employer demonstrates that such factor: (1) is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in compensation; (2) is job-related with respect to the position in question; and (3) is consistent with business necessity. Avers that such defense shall not apply where the employee demonstrates that: (1) an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential; and (2) the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice. Revises the prohibition against employer retaliation for employee complaints. Prohibits retaliation for inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee or another employee in response to a complaint or charge, or in furtherance of a sex discrimination investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, or an investigation conducted by the employer. Makes employers who violate sex discrimination prohibitions liable in a civil action for either compensatory or (except for the federal government) punitive damages. States that any action brought to enforce the prohibition against sex discrimination may be maintained as a class action in which individuals may be joined as party plaintiffs without their written consent. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in a sex discrimination action. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities for negotiation skills training programs for girls and women. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Education to issue regulations or policy guidance to integrate such training into certain programs under their Departments. Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public regarding the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer has made substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect from employers pay information data regarding the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination. Directs: (1) the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to continue to collect data on woman workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey; (2) the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to use specified types of methods in investigating compensation discrimination and in enforcing pay equity; and (3) the Secretary to make accurate information on compensation discrimination readily available to the public. Directs the Secretary and the Commissioner of the EEOC jointly to develop technical assistance material to assist small businesses to comply with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2009
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that, in order to keep energy costs affordable, curb our environmental impact, and safeguard economic prosperity, including our trade deficit, the United States must move rapidly to: (1) increase the productivity with which it uses fossil fuel; and (2) accelerate the transition to renewable fuels and a sustainable, clean energy economy. Urges the United States, in collaboration with other international allies, to establish an energy project with the magnitude, creativity, and sense of urgency of the "Man on the Moon" project to develop a comprehensive plan to address the challenges presented by Peak Oil.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2008
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a deduction from gross income for: (1) interest paid on indebtedness (up to $49,500) incurred after November 12, 2008, and before January 1, 2010, for the purchase of a motor vehicle (i.e., passenger automobile or light truck) with a gross vehicle weight rating of not more than 8,500 pounds; and (2) state and local sales and excise taxes imposed on the purchase of such a motor vehicle.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2008
Cleaner Trucks for America Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the credit amount for new qualified alternative fuel motor vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings of more than 26,000 pounds from $40,000 to $80,000; (2) allow an increased tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling properties that dispense compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, or liquefied petroleum gas; and (3) allow such credit amounts against the regular and alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2008
Helping Those Who Serve Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a demonstration project (project) designed to: (1) increase access of members of the Armed Forces (members) returning from deployment abroad, and their families, to accessible, safe, and confidential mental health counseling; (2) reduce the stigma and career repercussions associated with seeking such services; and (3) make high-quality mental health services more user-friendly to such members and their families. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a Special Working Group to develop guidelines and recommendations to ensure the protection of confidentiality for members participating in the project; (2) establish an advisory group to oversee project implementation; (3) submit project reports to the congressional defense committees; and (4) conduct a study of reasons for attrition among military mental health professionals, and make recommendations to increase the recruitment and retention of such individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2008
Fair Funding for Upward Bound Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the procedures for awarding grants and contracts under the TRIO program (which prepares disadvantaged students for postsecondary education and provides them with support services) by: (1) prohibiting an applicant from receiving a lower score for omitting application information or assurances not required in the guidance issued by the Secretary of Education; and (2) requiring the method for weighing an applicant's prior experience to be consistent for each program year. Directs the Secretary to: (1) notify applicants of any changes in the procedures for awarding TRIO grants and contracts at least 30 days before implementing them, provided such notice was not included in the guidance issued by the Secretary; and (2) annually notify each applicant of its peer review score for prior experience.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2008
Requires, beginning with FY2010, a two-fiscal-year budget authority for the following accounts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) Medical Services; (2) Medical Administration; and (3) Medical Facilities. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study on the adequacy and accuracy of VA baseline model projections for health care expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2008
Recognizes the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Pays tribute to the over 6,000,000 Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust. Recommits the United States to continued vigilance against these kind of atrocities and urges the international community to fight against organized aggression directed at religious, ethnic, and other minority groups.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2008
Cleaner Trucks for America Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the tax credit amount for new qualified fuel cell motor vehicles with gross vehicle weight ratings of more than 26,000 pounds from $40,000 to $80,000.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2008
Medicare Hospice Protection Act of 2008 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from phasing out or eliminating the budget neutrality adjustment factor in the Medicare hospice wage index before October 1, 2009. Directs the Secretary to recompute and apply the final Medicare hospice wage index for FY2009 as if there had been no reduction in the budget neutrality adjustment factor.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2008
Supports the designation of Celebrate Safe Communities Week. Commends the efforts of law enforcement agencies and communities to fight crime. Encourages the National Sheriffs' Association and the National Crime Prevention Council to continue efforts to reduce crime and build safer communities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2008
Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to exempt from the prohibition on receiving direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments when the sum of a farm's base acres is 10 acres or less: (1) a farm owned by a socially disadvantaged or limited resource farmer or rancher; or (2) a producer whose aggregate total base acres of all farms are greater than 10 acres, including farms owned by a producer or operated by a producer with the owner's concurrence, including farms operated under a crop-share lease arrangement. Permits a producer to reconstitute any farms to exceed the 10 base acre minimum through consolidation of the farms' base acreage.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Presumes to be service-connected, and therefore compensable through veterans' disability compensation, cancers of any tissues through the opening of the gastrointestinal tract to the end, becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10% or more.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Fulfilling U.S. Energy Leadership Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an inventory of oil and natural gas resources beneath the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), other than the Gulf of Mexico. Directs the Secretary to offer for oil and natural gas leasing all areas for which an inventory is conducted. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting an inventory for any areas of the OCS located within 50 miles of a state coastline or between 50 and 100 miles from a coastline if a state objects to an inventory in that area. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into: (1) standby loan agreements with up to six qualifying CTL projects, at least one of which shall be owned by two or more small coal producers; and (2) a profit-sharing agreement with the project at the time the standby loan agreement is executed. Defines "qualifying CTL project" as: (1) a commercial-scale project that converts coal to liquid or gaseous transportation fuels; or (2) not more than one project at a facility that converts petroleum refinery waste products into liquids or gaseous transportation fuels. Establishes in the Treasury the Next Generation Energy and Efficiency Fund for research and development of technologies to decrease America's reliance on traditional fossil fuels and increase energy efficiencies. Allocates royalties from OCS oil and gas leases to the Fund. Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to: (1) expand the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over matters involving trading manipulations, trading limitations, and recordkeeping; (2) allow the CFTC to regulate certain transactions by foreign boards of trade; (3) provide for additional CFTC employees for enforcement; (4) require detailed reporting by index traders and swap dealers; and (5) disaggregate and make public monthly the number of positions and total value of index fund in energy markets and data on speculative positions relative to bona fide physical hedgers in those markets. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to carry out a Nuclear Power 2010 Program to position the United States to commence construction of new nuclear power plants by not later than 2010 or the first later calendar year practicable. Establishes an interagency working group to promote domestic nuclear capacity and the export of nuclear energy products and services. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax credit for producing electricity from wind facilities through 2009 and the credit for closed and open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation, hydropower, landfill gas, and trash combustion facilities through 2011. Includes marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy as a renewable resource for purposes of such tax credit. Extends through 2014 the energy tax credit for solar, fuel cell, and microturbine property and the tax credit for residential energy efficient property. Allows a new investment tax credit for combined heat and power system property. Provides funding for new clean renewable energy bonds to finance electricity production from certain renewable resources and for qualified energy conservation bonds. Allows tax credits for investment in advanced coal electricity and coal gasification projects. Extends through 2018 the temporary increase in coal excise taxes. Sets forth special rules for refunds of coal excise taxes to certain producers or exporters. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to identify and report on provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that have the largest effects on carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and to estimate the magnitude of those effects. Allows accelerated depreciation for certain property used to produce cellulosic biofuel. Extends through 2009 income and excise tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel. Allows a tax credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles. Exempts from the heavy truck excise tax idling reduction devices and certain insulation. Revises the program of tax incentives for investment in the New York Liberty Zone. Excludes from gross income reimbursements for bicycle commuting expenses. Increases and extends through 2010 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures. Extends through 2008 the tax credit for nonbusiness energy property. Allows a tax credit for the installation of a biomass fuel burning stove in a residence. Extends through 2013 the tax deduction for expenditures for energy efficient commercial buildings. Revises and extends the tax credit for energy efficient household appliances produced after 2007. Allows accelerated depreciation for smart electric meters and grid systems. Extends through FY2012 tax-exempt bond financing for qualified green building and sustainable design projects. Delays until 2019 the application of special rules for the worldwide allocation of interest for purposes of computing the limitation on the foreign tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Incumbent Worker Development Act of 2008 - Requires the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of grants to states to assist employers to provide incumbent worker training to enhance the knowledge and skills of an employee in order to improve his or her job performance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
National Cancer Fund Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish in the Treasury the National Cancer Fund for programs to fight cancer, including for expenditures for cancer research, early detection and treatment, and tobacco cessation; (2) increase the excise tax rate on tobacco products and dedicate increased tax revenues to the Fund; and (3) impose permit, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements on manufacturers of processed tobacco. Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) revise the membership and duties of the President's Cancer Panel; and (2) require the Panel to study the feasibility of additional funding sources for the National Cancer Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act - Revises requirements with respect to the consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control (transaction) involving rail carriers to require public hearings in the affected communities if public hearings on a proposed transaction are held. Requires the Surface Transportation Board, in a proceeding with respect to a transaction that involves at least one Class I railroad (under current law, involving the merger or control of at least two Class I railroads), to consider the safety and environmental effect of the proposed merger on local communities, intercity rail passenger transportation, and commuter rail passenger transportation. Prohibits the Board from approving mergers if their adverse impacts on safety and on affected communities outweigh their transportation benefits. Authorizes the Board to impose conditions to mitigate the effect of mergers on local communities.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act - Terminates all federal prohibitions on expenditures of funds to conduct natural gas, oil, oil shale, and energy production leasing and preleasing activities for federal lands. Revokes withdrawals of federal submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from leasing for natural gas and oil exploration, development, and production. Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 to repeal the moratorium on oil and gas leasing in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Amends the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 to repeal the prohibition on using funds to prepare or publish final regulations regarding a commercial leasing program for oil shale resources on public lands or to conduct an oil shale lease sale pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any lease authorizing exploration for, or development of, natural gas or oil in any OCS area that is located: (1) within 25 miles of the coastline of a state; or (2) more than 25 miles and less than 50 miles from the coastline of a state that has enacted, within one year, a law disapproving of such a lease. Provides for the allocation of sums collected under qualified leases on submerged land made available for leasing under this Act. Establishes the Conservation Reserve, the Environment Restoration Reserve, the Renewable Energy Reserve, and the Carbon Capture and Sequestration Reserve. Establishes the state seaward boundaries under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Amends the Clean Air Act to allow the use of woody biomass from federal forest lands for the production of renewable energy. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to repeal provisions prohibiting federal procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel for any mobility-related use unless the contract specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and combustion of the fuel supplied must be less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent conventional fuel. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions concerning tax credit extensions and deductions for renewable energy, alternative fuel, and energy conservation. Requires the Secretary of Energy to publish a plan for exchanging light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for heavy grade petroleum. Establishes and provides for the allocation of the Energy Independence and Security Fund, including providing funding for: (1) researching and developing wind, solar, ocean and wave, and geothermal energy; (2) conducting energy efficiency projects; and (3) fostering the development of domestic energy production.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act - Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia on or near the District of Columbia War Memorial to honor World War I veterans and to commemorate U.S. participation in that war. Establishes the World War I Memorial Advisory Board. Establishes a fund in the Treasury for expenses of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in determining the amount of any allowance or reimbursement to be paid under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) veterans beneficiary travel program, to use the mileage reimbursement rates for the use of privately owned vehicles by government employees traveling on official business. Authorizes the Secretary to use a rate in excess of such rate. Prohibits the Secretary from making payments for travel performed by a special mode unless it is: (1) medically required and previously authorized; or (2) in connection with a medical emergency of such a nature that delay would have been hazardous to the person's life or health. Eliminates required deductions in connection with travel under the program. Allows such payments in connection with all veterans and family members eligible for examination, treatment, care, rehabilitation, or counseling through the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Second Amendment Enforcement Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 (FCRA) to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or is readily restored to shoot automatically, more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger. Includes the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) requirement that licensed firearms dealers keep records of ammunition received into inventory and ammunition sold or transferred; and (3) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Amends FCRA to allow an individual to possess ammunition in the District if the individual owns (currently, holds the valid registration certificate for) a firearm of the same guage or caliber as such ammunition. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person. Amends the federal criminal code to make it lawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver a handgun to a District resident if such individual is licensed in Maryland or Virginia to do so.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2008
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to terminate, by September 6, 2008, the one-year cross-border pilot project started on September 6, 2007, as part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) cross-border trucking provisions, to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate safely in the United States beyond the commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border. Prohibits the Secretary, unless expressly authorized by Congress, from granting authority to a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border after September 6, 2008. Requires certain reports to Congress, within 60 days after enactment of this Act, by: (1) the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation; (2) the independent review panel established to monitor the demonstration project; and (3) the Secretary of Transportation on the project's implementation and the participation of motor carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2008
Local Officials Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and Title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to exempt from social security taxes remuneration paid to any elected or appointed member of any general governing board, commission, or committee of any political subdivision of a state if such remuneration is not more than $1,300 and is paid for service performed on or after January 1, 2008.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2008
Strengthen American Manufacturers Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities; (2) increase to 20% the rate of the alternative simplified tax credit for research expenses; (3) make permanent the increased expensing allowance for depreciable business property; and (4) reduce to 30% the maximum income tax rate for corporations. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct studies of: (1) the impact of workplace employee health care facilities on employee health and and productivity; and (2) the best practices for encouraging college graduates from rural areas to return to those areas after graduation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2008
Consumer Energy Supply Act of 2008 - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to publish a plan to: (1) sell prescribed amounts of light grade petroleum from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and acquire an equivalent volume of heavy grade petroleum; (2) deposit cash proceeds from those sales into the SPR Petroleum Account; and (3) withdraw from such proceeds the administrative and operational costs of the sale and acquisition. Requires an offer for sale of 70 million barrels of light grade petroleum from the SPR. Requires the sale to: (1) commence within 30 days after enactment of this Act, regardless of whether the Secretary's plan has been published; and (2) be completed within six months after enactment, with at least 20 million barrels offered for sale within the first 60 days after enactment. Sets forth an acquisitions schedule for heavy grade petroleum to replace the light grade petroleum sold under this Act. Encourages the Secretary to grant requests to defer scheduled deliveries of petroleum to the SPR if deferral will result in a premium paid in additional barrels of oil which will reduce the cost of oil acquisition and increase the volume of oil delivered to the SPR or yield additional cash bonuses.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2008
Grants congressional consent to and approval of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact entered into between the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Reserves the right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2008
Office of Domestic Product Promotion Act - Establishes within the Department of Commerce an Office of Domestic Product Promotion to: (1) work with U.S. businesses to promote domestic products; (2) provide information and advice to them on benefits and incentives available for producing domestic products, including the award of federal procurement contracts and federal and state tax benefits; (3) establish a comprehensive publicly available database of businesses that use, sell, or would prefer to use or sell, domestic products; (4) develop tools and ideas on how to promote domestic products; and (5) coordinate with state governments to further the Office's performance of its duties.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2008
Agent Orange Equity Act of 2008 - Includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam, for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam, such Republic's inland waterways, waters offshore, and airspace above.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2008
New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that 10% of new vehicles sold in the United States should be natural gas vehicles by December 31, 2018. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the rate of the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property tax credit with respect to natural gas fuel; (2) allow new tax credits for investment in energy security bonds and natural gas vehicle production bonds; (3) allow a new tax credit for producing vehicles fueled by natural gas or liquified natural gas; (4) allow an increased alternative motor vehicle tax credit for the purchase of vehicles fueled by natural gas or liquified natural gas; and (5) extend through 2017 the tax credits for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property expenditures and for new qualified alternative fuel vehicles. Requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to study whether the federal fleet should increase the number of its natural gas vehicles. Requires each retail automotive fueling station owned by a major integrated oil company to have at least one pump dispensing natural gas for automotive purposes by January 1, 2018. Imposes a civil fine on oil companies that fail to comply with such requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2008
Oil for Americans Act - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal authority for the export of Alaskan crude oil. Makes effective the ban on the export of Alaskan crude oil of the Export Administration Act of 1979.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2008
Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit the importation into the United States of any ruminant or swine, or any fresh (including chilled or frozen) meat or product of any ruminant or swine, that is born, raised, or slaughtered in Argentina until the Secretary certifies to Congress that every region of Argentina is free of foot and mouth disease without vaccination.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kagen, Steve [D-WI-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000365_200.jpg)