United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Torture Victims Relief Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations for FY 2004 through 2006 to: (1) the Department of Health and Human Services to provide grants to programs in the United States to cover the costs of services provided by domestic treatment centers in the rehabilitation of victims of torture (including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture); (2) the President for grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign countries that carry out projects and activities specifically designed to treat victims of torture for the physical and psychological effects of torture (including research and training for health care providers outside such treatment centers or programs in order to enable them to provide such services); and (3) the U.S. voluntary contribution to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation to Dr. Dorothy Height (President of the National Council of Negro Women) of a congressional gold medal in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Naturalization and Family Protection for Military Members Act of 2003 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act respecting naturalization through service in the armed forces to: (1) reduce the required service from three years to two years; (2) prohibit the imposition of a naturalization fee; and (3) qualify the Selective Reserve of the Ready Reserve for such benefits. Provides for overseas naturalization proceedings for members of the armed forces. Retains immediate relative status for the alien wife, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen who died from injury or disease incurred while serving honorably on active military service. (Requires petition filing within two years of such death.) States that an application for status adjustment by the alien wife, child, or parent of an alien member of the armed forces who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship may be adjudicated as if the death had not occurred. (Requires application filing prior to such death.) Treats the spouse, child, or parent of a lawful permanent resident who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship as a valid petitioner for immediate family status. (Requires parent filing within two years of such death.) Permits such aliens to apply for permanent resident status adjustment. Waives specified grounds of inadmissibility.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Makes it unlawful to: (1) import, export, or transport in interstate commerce conventional steel jawed leghold traps and articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps; or (2) sell or acquire such a trap transported in violation of such provision. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward persons (other than Government employees performing official duties) for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected containers or merchandise and any accompanying documents, to make arrests without warrants with probable cause, and to execute warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to develop and disseminate to the public information on emergency contraception. Requires that the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to develop and disseminate to health care providers information on emergency contraception. Requires that the information disseminated to health care providers include at a minimum: (1) information describing the use, safety, efficacy, and availability of emergency contraception; (2) a recommendation regarding its use in appropriate cases; and (3) information explaining how to obtain copies of information from the CDC.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Family Opportunity Act of 2003 or Dylan Lee James Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for them; and (2) provide for treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospital services for individuals under age 21 under waivers allowing for payment of part or all of the cost of home or community-based services. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for the restoration of Medicaid eligibility to certain Supplemental Security Income (SSA title XVI) beneficiaries under age 21.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Keep America Working Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the circumstances under which employment compensation is available to provide coverage due to the following, among other, circumstances, part-time employment, seasonal work, loss of employment due to sexual harassment, loss of child care, leaving work due to domestic violence, and base period employment of less than 20 hours per week. Redefines the term "wages" for purposes of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Repeals provisions: (1) allowing past Internal Revenue Service audits to act as the basis for current employment status determinations; (2) prohibiting regulations and rulings on employment status; and (3) outlining the determination of an employer's liability for certain employment taxes. Permits unemployment compensation where separation from work is due to a spouse or domestic partner's change in residence. Specifies manner for computation of wage replacement ratios. Amends the Social Security Act to require increases and decreases in the earnings allocated to State accounts when States meet or fail to meet funding goals. Lowers the threshold for triggering an extended benefit period. Eliminates special Federal eligibility requirements for individuals seeking compensation in an extended benefit period. Appropriates permanent funding from the employment security administration account for administration of State unemployment compensation, public employment offices, and veterans employment services programs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Job Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income (FSC/ETI) exclusion, with an exemption for certain binding contracts in effect before the date of enactment of this Act. Permits a foreign corporation that elected to be treated as a domestic corporation to revoke such election and be treated as a domestic corporation transferring its property to a foreign corporation with no gain recognized on such transfer. Provides: (1) a transitional 2004 through 2008 sliding-scale deduction for an FSC/ETI beneficiary based on the corporation's 2001 FSC/ETI benefit; and (2) special rules for 2003 and for fiscal year taxpayers. Defines "FSC/ETI benefit." Allows a deduction for income attributable to U.S. production activities equal to ten percent of qualified production activities. Provides a 2006 through 2009 phase-in period. Defines "qualified production activities" as: (1) the portion of the modified taxable income attributable to domestic activities; and (2) the domestic/foreign fraction. Sets forth related provisions with respect to: (1) determination of income attributable to domestic production activities; (2) domestic production gross receipts; (3) qualifying production property; (4) domestic/foreign fraction; and (5) special rules.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Young Witness Assistance Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to State and local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in support of juvenile (17 years of age or younger) and young adult (between 18 and 21 years of age) witness assistance programs. Authorizes grant funds to be used, among other things, for: (1) counseling services to young witnesses of a violent crime; and (2) protective services for young witnesses and their families when a serious threat of harm is made from perpetrators or their associates.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2003 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase and the Escalante Canyons; (4) Moab-La Sal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Condemns and deplores the incommunicado detention of Dr. Yang Jianli by the People's Republic of China, and the lack of due process afforded him. Calls for his immediate and unconditional release. Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) make the immediate release of Dr. Yang Jianli by the Government of the People's Republic of China a top priority of U.S. foreign policy; (2) continue to make every effort to assist Dr. Yang Jianli and his family while discussions of his release are ongoing; (3) make it clear to the Government of the People's Republic of China that the detention of U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens, and the infliction of human rights violations on these groups, is not in the interests of the Government of the People's Republic of China; and (4) send a special, high-ranking representative of the U.S. Government immediately to China to reiterate the deep U.S. concern regarding the continued imprisonment of Dr. Yang Jianli and other U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens, and discuss their legal status and immediate humanitarian needs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should issue a proclamation: (1) calling upon the U.S. people to participate in a Town Hall meeting to discuss the new foreign policy doctrines of the President; (2) pledging that the President will preside over such meeting, answer the people's questions, and hear the opinions of the U.S. people on these matters of national significance; and (3) calling upon the local and national television and radio media to make available their broadcast capabilities to allow all Americans to participate in the Town Hall meeting.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Montgomery GI Bill Improvements Act of 2003 - Amends Federal basic educational assistance provisions (the Montgomery GI Bill) to authorize enhanced educational assistance to a member of the armed forces who, after September 30, 2003: (1) first enters on active duty; (2) reenlists or continues to serve on active duty; (3) serves a continuous period of active duty of four years; or (4) serves and is discharged or released for a service-connected disability, at the convenience of the Government (after serving at least 42 months of such duty), or due to a reduction in force. Limits to 36 months the period for such enhanced assistance. Requires the payment of educational expenses under such program. Provides a monthly stipend for approved programs of education. Increases the rates of basic educational assistance. Repeals, with respect to such assistance: (1) a required monthly reduction in pay for individuals who do not elect to participate in such assistance program; (2) a provision authorizing individuals to elect not to receive such assistance; and (3) the requirement that participants complete the requirements of a high school diploma or equivalency certificate prior to the end of their initial obligated period of service in order to be eligible to receive such assistance. Excludes educational assistance payments from income for purposes of eligibility for Federal educational loans.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to States and local governments to coordinate their budget-related actions with Federal Government efforts to stimulate the economy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2003 for such payments in an amount equal to the total amount appropriated for for FY 2003 for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003, and subsequent appropriations Acts.Requires not less than one-third of such amount to be made available to local governments. Requires the Secretary to establish a formula for determining the allocation of payments, with priority consideration to the relative unemployment rate, median income, population, and poverty rate. Permits the use of funds received by States and local governments only for: (1) ordinary and necessary maintenance and operating expenses for education; public safety; public health; social services; roads, transportation, and water infrastructure; and housing; and (2) ordinary and necessary capital expenditures authorized by law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Provides an overtime hourly rate of pay of one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay and provides that all such pay is premium pay for an employee of the National Weather Service who occupies a nonmanagerial position in GS-14 or under: (1) the duties of which are critical to the immediate daily operation of the forecast and warning responsibilities of the Service and directly affect public and aviation safety; (2) in which overtime work is usually unscheduled due to the vicissitudes of severe weather; and (3) in which overtime work is therefore unusually taxing. Exempts such an employee from the limitation on aggregate pay, including premium pay, for a pay period.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2003 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend through FY 2007 the authorization of appropriations for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program (a matching grant program which helps State, tribal, and local jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers).
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Building Opportunities for Our Kids Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize additional appropriations to purchase textbooks for use by eligible schools under the schoolwide program of part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) of title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged). Directs the Secretary of Education to establish a Textbook Recycling Program to facilitate the donation of textbooks by any local educational agency (LEA) to any other LEA for use by such eligible schools. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress and the Secretary on the condition of textbooks used in public elementary and secondary schools, separating data for such eligible schools from that for ineligible ones.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Men's Health Act of 2003 - 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 · 10 April 2003
Truth in Trials Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to establish as an affirmative defense for any person facing prosecution or a proceeding for any marijuana-related offense that the marijuana-related activities in question were in compliance with State law regarding the medical use of marijuana. Allows a finder of fact to find a defendant guilty of a lesser offense if the defendant's marijuana-related activity was found to be primarily, but not exclusively, for medical purposes. Provides for the return of any property with respect to which an individual successfully makes a defense under this Act. Amends provisions concerning the seizure and custody of marijuana to limit seizure authority of marijuana authorized for medical use and provide for the retention of seized plants pending resolution of a case involving an affirmative defense for the medical use of marijuana.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2003 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise and expand student loan forgiveness programs for certain teachers, under the Federal Family Education Loan and Federal Direct Loan programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to repay a higher maximum amount (up to $17, 500) of an eligible individual teacher's aggregate student loan obligation that is outstanding after completion of the first complete school year of qualifying service. Authorizes such repayment from funds authorized under this Act for FY 2003 through 2007. Provides for annual installments of such repayment up to specified maximum amounts after each of five years of eligible teaching service. Revises and expands eligibility for such programs. Makes inapplicable specified requirements that currently limit participation to: (1) only certain new borrowers; and (2) only teachers who serve at least five consecutive complete school years prior to any eligibility for program benefits. Extends program eligibility to full-time elementary or secondary school teachers: (1) in schools that qualify as high-poverty schools (as in current law, without certain subject area and certification restrictions); (2) of special education; or (3) of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other field of expertise where the State educational agency determines there is a shortage of qualified teachers.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, based on recommendations from the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Advisory Panel (established by this Act), to make grants, after a process of peer review and programmatic review, to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Acknowledges the 15th anniversary of the enactment of the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987 (the Proxmire Act) on November 4, 2003. Encourages the people and Government of the United States to rededicate themselves to ending genocide.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Student Adjustment Act of 2003 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the provision prohibiting an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on State residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such State residence. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to permanent resident status, certain (inadmissible or deportable) alien middle or secondary students with qualifying years of U.S. residency. Makes such aliens eligible for Federal and State higher education assistance during the pendency of their application for cancellation of removal.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
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 and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages to: (1) add nonretaliation requirements; (2) increase penalties; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages. 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. Directs the Secretary to provide for certain studies, information, a national summit, guidelines, awards, and assistance for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria. Establishes the National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect certain pay information.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Establishes a Department of Peace, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict. Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various Federal agencies. Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace. Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Predatory Mortgage Lending Practices Reduction Act - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to prohibit any person, in connection with a subprime federally related mortgage loan, from providing mortgage lending services or mortgage brokerage services unless such person is certified by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development as having been adequately trained with regard to subprime lending. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require lenders to establish a best practices plan, meeting certain criteria, to ensure compliance with such Act for high cost mortgages. Proscribes unfair or deceptive acts or practices in providing mortgage lending services for either a subprime federally related mortgage loan or for mortgage brokerage services for such a loan. Sets forth civil penalties for violations. Consumer Fairness Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to declare unenforceable a written provision in any consumer contract or transaction which requires binding arbitration to resolve any controversy arising out of such transaction or contract, or the refusal to perform all or any part of the transaction. (Permits post-controversy arbitration agreements.) Amends the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to authorize the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to make grants to nonprofit community development corporations to educate and train borrowers and community groups regarding illegal and inappropriate predatory lending practices.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Pension Benefits Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) to protect pension benefits of employees in defined benefit (DB) plans, and to ensure that age discrimination laws are applied to conversions to cash balance plans and other such plans that are hybrids of DB's and defined contribution plans. Requires ERISA, the Code, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 to be applied and administered without regard to certain proposed regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury that relate to reductions of accruals and allocations because of the attainment of any age, and to application of nondiscrimination cross-testing rules to cash balance plans. Amends ERISA and the Code to protect certain DB plan participants from forced conversions to hybrid DB plans by plan amendments which change the way the accrued benefit to participants or beneficiaries are expressed and which reduce the rate of future benefit accrual of one or more participants. Requires employers, at the time such amendment takes effect, to provide employees who have attained 40 years of age or 10 years of service with certain notices and an election upon retirement to receive benefits as determined either under the plan in effect at time of retirement or under the plan in effect immediately before the plan amendment. Sets forth a formula to determine when a plan amendment adopted by a large (100 or more participants) DB plan shall be treated as wearing away accrued benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Unemployment Benefits Extension Act - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA) to: (1) extend the TEUC program; (2) provide for additional weeks of TEUC benefits; (3) revise unemployment rate triggers for TEUC benefit periods; and (4) provide for regular unemployment compensation for certain individuals based on part-time work or an alternative base period. Extends the TEUC program through weeks of unemployment ending before December 28, 2003. Provides a phaseout period for individual payments up to weeks beginning after July 31, 2004. Increases to 26 weeks an eligible individual's TEUC payments. Provides for an additional seven weeks of payments, for a total of 33 weeks, for individuals in high-unemployment States (TEUC-X). (Current law provides 13 weeks of regular TEUC payments, with an additional 13 and total 26 in TEUC-X States.) Revises requirements for determining TEUC-X States, using certain triggers based on insured unemployment rates and on total unemployment rates. Establishes a program of payments to States to provide regular unemployment compensation benefits for individuals who otherwise would be ineligible because: (1) the base period does not count wages earned in the most recently completed calendar quarter; or (2) the individuals seek or are available for less than full-time work.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
College Fire Prevention Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive demonstration grants to private or public colleges or universities, fraternities, or sororities for up to half the cost of installing fire sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention technologies, in student housing and dormitories owned or controlled by such entities. Requires grant priority to be given eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest financial need. Reserves the following portions of grant funds made available for each fiscal year: (1) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities; and (2) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are social fraternities and sororities. Provides that any application for assistance under this Act, any negative determination on the part of the Secretary with respect to such application, or any statement of reasons for the determination, shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, or other entity (except a proceeding to enforce an agreement entered into between the Secretary and an eligible entity under this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
R.S. 2477 Rights-of-Way Act of 2003 - Permits the filing of claims asserting the existence and validity of right-of-ways pursuant to a repealed section of the Revised Statutes (R.S. 2477) to build highways across public land not reserved for public uses. Declares that claimants shall have the burden to prove that the grant of a right-of-way was validly accepted and not abandoned. Presumes abandoned claims involving lands within a conservation system unit, an inventoried roadless area, or a wilderness study area or that are former Federal lands, unless use was open and notorious. Directs an authorized Federal officer to review the evidence put forth by a claimant that: (1) a R.S. 2477 right-of-way contains sufficient evidence to prove prior construction and use of a highway over unreserved public lands; and (2) if there is evidence of such a highway, that the right-of-way was not abandoned. Subjects the administrative record of a final decision of an authorized Federal officer to judicial review. Allows the United States to retain exclusive possession or control of the lands traversed by a valid right-of-way or any part thereof, upon payment to the claimant of an amount set by the relevant district court. Recognizes the prior adjudication of claimed right-of-ways by courts of competent jurisdiction. States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter provisions of: (1) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 regarding right-of-ways with respect to public lands and National Forest System lands; or (2) the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act pertaining to Alaska's transportation and utility network.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
National Rail Infrastructure Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a National Rail Infrastructure Program to provide grants for projects addressing railroad infrastructure and systems deficiencies. Makes eligible for such grants projects to: (1) maintain and increase track and intermodal yard capacity; (2) acquire rights-of-way for future expansion; (3) separate railroad and road crossings and make other railroad and road interface improvements; (4) separate rail-to-rail crossings; (5) integrate railroad systems; and (6) construct, repair, and rehabilitate track and related supporting structures. Prohibits the use of grant funds for operating expenses, acquisition of rolling stock, payment of debt, or construction or repair of maintenance facilities, passenger facilities at stations, or other ancillary railroad business structures. Requires at least 20 percent of project costs to be provided by State, local, and other non-Federal public sources. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax of: (1) five percent on the sale of any specified railroad equipment by the manufacturer, producer, or importer; (2) five percent of the amount paid for taxable rail transportation of any person by commuter rail, and of ten percent in any other case; and (3) one percent of the amount paid inside or outside the United States for the taxable rail transportation of property. Establishes in the Treasury a National Rail Infrastructure Program Trust Fund, consisting of amounts equivalent to: (1) specified excise taxes received with respect to fuel used in a train, and the excise tax under this Act on railroad locomotives and rolling stock; (2) ten percent of all customs duties received after September 30, 2003; and (3) ten percent of all royalties attributable to the removal of oil or gas from Federal lands. Makes amounts in the Trust Fund available only for grants under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Requires engine coolant or antifreeze sold after January 1, 2004, that is manufactured after July 1, 2003, and that contains more than ten percent ethylene glycol, to include denatonium benzoate at a minimum of 30 parts per million (or other equally effective aversive agent) as a bittering agent so as to render it unpalatable. Requires a manufacturer or packager of such product to maintain records of compliance with this Act. Declares that any manufacturer, distributor, recycler, or seller of an automotive product required by this Act to contain an aversive agent shall not be liable (except for willful or wanton misconduct) for personal injury, death, or property damage that results from compliance with this Act. Declares this Act inapplicable to: (1) the sale of a motor vehicle that contains engine coolant or antifreeze; or (2) wholesale containers of engine coolant or antifreeze containing 55 gallons or more of engine coolant or antifreeze.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to establish a method to provide outcome-based funding increases to States. Modifies and increases IDEA funding for: (1) assistance for education of children with disabilities; (2) preschool grants; (3) infants and toddlers with disabilities; (4) State program improvement grants for children with disabilities; (5) research and innovation to improve services and results for children with disabilities; (6) personnel preparation to improve services and results for children with disabilities; (7) improved early intervention, educational, and transitional services; (8) technology development, demonstration, and utilization; and (9) media services. Directs the Secretary of Education to provide, in addition to such funding assistance for education of children with disabilities, outcome-based bonus payments to States for their use for special education and other educational services for children with disabilities, including subgrants to local educational agencies. Includes among outcome-indicators for such children: (1) academic achievement, as measured on adequate yearly progress assessments; and (2) rates of attendance, not-dropping-out, graduation, and postsecondary employment and education.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Servicemembers Health Protection Act of 2003 - Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services the National Center for Military Deployment Health Research, headed by a Director, to: (1) conduct research on deployment-related health issues of members of the armed forces, veterans, and their families; and (2) serve as the national center for coordination of private and public research on those issues. Requires the Center to have an Advisory Committee on Military Deployment Health Research to advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Center Director on all aspects of Center activities. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and operate centers for research, education, and clinical activities related to post-deployment illnesses, designating such centers as National Centers for Military Post-Deployment Illness Research. Allows the designation of no more than 25 centers and requires geographical diversity of such centers. Requires the Under Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of proposals submitted for center designation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Corporate Accountability Tax Gap Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for public disclosure of certain information of publicly traded corporations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a study of corporate tax shelter activity.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2003
Abusive Tax Shelter Shutdown and Taxpayer Accountability Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (Code) concerning tax shelters to, among other things: (1) define economic substance; (2) impose a penalty for the failure to include in a return information concerning a reportable transaction, a reportable transaction understatement (including imposing the penalty for certain understatements which were based on unreasonable legal or factual assumptions), a noneconomic substance transaction understatement, and interests in foreign financial accounts; (3) modify rules concerning the failure to furnish information regarding reportable transactions and the penalty for such failure, the failure to maintain lists of investors in potentially abusive tax shelters and the penalty for such failure, the authority to seek an injunction to enjoin promoters of abusive tax shelters; and (4) deny a deduction of interest on underpayments attributable to nondisclosed reportable transactions and noneconomic substance transactions. Amends other Code provisions to, among other things: (1) place a limit on the transfer or importation by a corporation of built-in losses; (2) provide for the partnership treatment of certain contributed property with a built-in loss; (3) repeal part V (Financial Asset Securitization Investment Trusts) of subchapter M (Regulated Investment Companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts); and (4) modify rules concerning the disallowance of a deduction on certain debt instruments of corporations, passive foreign investment companies, and the reduction in a corporate shareholder's basis in stock by the nontaxed portion of extraordinary dividends.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2003
Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to increase the imprisonment penalty for animal fighting violations from one year to two years. Makes it unlawful to sell, buy, transport, or deliver in interstate or foreign commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument used in a bird-fighting venture. Revises enforcement provisions. Permits euthanasia for an animal in extreme pain. Includes the Internet or any technology as interstate instrumentality.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2003
Democracy Day Act of 2003 - Requires the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in 2004 and in each even-number year thereafter (Election Day) to be treated in the same manner as November 11 (Veterans Day) for purposes of any laws relating to Federal employment. Urges private employers to give their employees that day off to enable them to vote. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the impact of such requirement on voter participation.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2003
Voter Outreach and Turnout Expansion Act of 2003 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to: (1) permit an individual to register to vote on the date of the election at each polling place in a State at which ballots are cast in an election for Federal office; and (2) require each jurisdiction in a State which administers an election for Federal office to designate early voting sites to serve as polling places for the election prior to the election date, and to permit any registered voter to cast a ballot at the site. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) many Americans do not vote on Election Day because of conflicting work schedules; (2) Federal, State, and local governments should share the responsibility for increasing voter turnout; (3) States should establish Election Day as a legal public holiday and provide full paid leave for State government employees; and (4) the treatment of Election Day in the same manner as Veterans Day for purposes of law relating to Federal employment will lead to increased voter turnout and will increase the availability of poll workers and suitable polling places. Sets out requirements for employee voting leave. Expresses the sense of Congress encouraging State and other jurisdictions to distribute sample ballots, information on voting, and other voter education materials as an aid to preventing errors by voters at the polls and reducing the rates of spoiled ballots.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2003
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) recognizes and honors the achievements and contributions of Native Americans to the United States; (2) urges Congress to amend the United States Code, or the President to issue an Executive order, to establish a paid legal public holiday in honor of Native Americans; (3) urges the States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and territories and possessions of the United States to observe the date established as Native American Day as a paid legal public holiday; (4) encourages public elementary and secondary schools in the United States to enhance understanding of Native Americans by providing classroom instruction focusing on their achievements and contributions to the United States; and (5) encourages Americans of all backgrounds to observe the date established as Native American Day through appropriate ceremonies and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2003
Fair Play-Equal Access in Membership Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that neither the President, the Vice-President, nor any Member of Congress, justice or judge of the United States, or political appointee in the executive branch should belong to a club that discriminates on the basis of sex or race.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Don't Feed the Bears Act of 2003 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to enforce the National Parks System regulatory prohibitions against the feeding and baiting of wildlife on National Park System lands and in wildlife refuge areas, in particular the intentional feeding of bears for the purpose of enticing them to a particular area to be hunted (bear baiting). Requires the Secretary of the Interior with respect to lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to National Forest System lands, to adopt and enforce a regulation to prohibit individuals from intentionally feeding bears, including feeding for the purpose of bear baiting.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
International Disability and Victims of Warfare and Civil Strife Assistance Act of 2003 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to furnish medical, rehabilitation, prosthetic, orthotic, and other specified kinds of assistance to individuals with disabilities, including victims of civil strife and warfare, in foreign countries. Requires such assistance, to the maximum extent feasible, to be provided through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and, as appropriate, through governments to establish appropriate norms, standards, and policies related to rehabilitation and issues affecting such individuals. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) conduct programs in foreign countries related to individuals with disabilities, including victims of landmines and other victims of civil strife and warfare; and (2) provide grants to NGOs to carry out research, prevention, public awareness, and assistance programs in foreign countries related to such individuals. Requires any such programs in foreign countries to be carried out only in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and upon approval by the Secretary of State. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide: (1) advice and expertise on prosthetics, orthotics, physical and psychological rehabilitation and treatment, and disability assistance to other Federal agencies for implementation of assistance programs under this Act; and (2) technical assistance on a reimbursable basis to private voluntary organizations for planning, development, operation, and evaluation of such landmine assistance, research, and prevention programs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Immigration Security and Efficiency Enhancement Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) implement specified immigration security and efficiency enhancements, including computer and other electronic application and form measures; and (2) establish within the immigration, refugee and asylum, and naturalization functions of the Department of Homeland Security a computerized file management system, and a certified service provider filing system. Authorizes the Secretary to make technology enhancement grants to such service providers. Directs the National Records Center to maintain an electronic database of all closed Department files relating to immigration, refugee and asylum, and naturalization in order to speed up request processing.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to require local educational agencies, if they choose to treat certain IDEA funds as local funds, to use them to provide additional funding for programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Equal Pay Improvement Report Act of 2003 - Directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to report to Congress on how the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 has been used by public and private sector employers to foster or exacerbate pay inequity.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Community Economic Development Expertise Enhancement Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to increase the capacity and expertise of qualifying community-based economic development organizations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct an assessment of such organizations' capability needs; and (2) establish the Advisory Council on Community Economic Development. Directs the President to include with each annual budget request a report regarding Federal financial support for community economic development.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2003 - Provides for coverage of qualified acupuncturist services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2003
Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to allow an individual to file a petition for expungement of a record of conviction for a nonviolent criminal offense if such individual has: (1) never been convicted of another violent offense; (2) fulfilled all requirements of the sentence of the court in which conviction was obtained; (3) remained free from dependency on or abuse of alcohol or a controlled substance for a minimum of one year and has been rehabilitated, to the court's satisfaction, if so required by the terms of supervised release; (4) obtained a high school diploma or completed a high school equivalency program; and (5) completed at least one year of community service. Authorizes an individual convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor to file an expungement petition. Directs the court, in ruling on such petition, after determining petitioner eligibility, to weigh the petitioner's interests against the best interests of justice and public safety. Authorizes the Department of Justice to maintain a nonpublic manual or computerized index of expunged records, to be made available only to Federal and State law enforcement personnel who have custody of such records for limited disclosure purposes. Requires the restoration of expunged records of individuals subsequently convicted of any Federal or State offense.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2003
One Strike and You're Out Act of 2003 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937, with respect to public housing and section 8 assisted housing, to provide for: (1) criminal activity eviction protections for victims of domestic or date violence; and (2) public housing agency reporting of evictions for domestic and dating violence.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kucinich, Dennis J. [D-OH-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000336_200.jpg)