United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2002 - Amends Federal Civil Service provisions to require that, of the 12 weeks of leave available to a Federal employee during any 12-month period based on the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, up to one-half of that time (as the employee may designate) shall be with pay, in addition to any annual or sick leave which the employee may otherwise elect to use as part of the same12-week period.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2002
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Social Security Act to exclude: (1) from the gross income of a Federal employee amounts the Federal Government repays on the employee's student loans; and (2) such payments from counting as wages for the calculation of Social Security taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code by determining that acquiring corporations in"corporate expatriation transactions" shall be considered domestic corporations. Defines a "corporate expatriation transaction" as, with certain exceptions, one in which a "nominally foreign corporation" acquires substantially all of the properties held by a domestic corporation and in which, immediately after the transaction, more than 80 percent of the stock of the acquiring corporation is held by former shareholders of the domestic corporation. Lowers the 80 percent threshold to 50 percent when the acquiring "nominally foreign corporation" lacks substantial business activities in the foreign country in which it was created and organized compared to the total activities of the "expanded affiliated group" and the stock is publicly traded, with the principal market of trading being the United States. Defines the terms "nominally foreign corporation" and "expanded affiliated group." Applies similar rules to partnership transactions. Establishes that a series of related transactions relevant to the Act shall be handled as a single transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2002
Inside Stock Sales Employee Notification Act of 2002 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA ) to require timely written notification of any of insider trading in employer securities to be provided to pension plan participants and beneficiaries whose individual accounts (including those covered by section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code) hold employer securities. Requires those engaging in direct or indirect sales of such securities, if they are plan fiduciaries or are required to report such trading to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to report such transactions to the plan administrator not later than one business day after the transaction. Requires the plan administrator to notify plan participants and beneficiaries as soon as practicable, but no later than three business days after receiving notice, if the proceeds from any such transaction or series of transactions exceed in the aggregate $100,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2002
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should give serious consideration to recognizing the authorities of Tibet who are currently exiled in Dharamsala, India, as the legitimate representatives of Tibet, if such authorities and the Government of the People's Republic of China have not signed, within three years, an agreement that provides for the political autonomy of Tibet.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2002
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to repeal the Medicare caps on certain outpatient physical therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2002
Battered Immigrant Family Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to make qualifying battered alien spouses and children eligible for specified public benefits. Redefines "qualified alien" for such purposes. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify procedures and provide special rules for battered aliens with respect to: (1) public charge inadmissibility (2) immigrant petitions, including self-petitioning petitions; (3) implementation of immigration provisions in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); (4) fiancee conditional residency requirement; (5) removal and inadmissibility; (6) adjustment of status; and (7) access to VAWA for visa waivers. Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 to provide that requirements and restrictions placed upon Legal Services Corporation funding shall not be construed to prohibit a recipient from providing related legal assistance to certain aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Violence Against Women Grants Office in the Department of Justice to report on services for underserved populations. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to include alienage status within the scope of underserved populations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2002
Preservation of Antibiotics for Human Treatment Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to refuse to approve an application for an antimicrobial new animal drug when the applicant fails to demonstrate to a reasonable certainty that human health will not be harmed because of the development of antimicrobial resistance attributable to the nontherapeutic use of such drug. Rescinds within a specified period existing approvals and exemptions concerning the nontherapeutic use of certain antimicrobial drugs until the applicant meets the same standard of lack of harm to human health as required for new animal drugs, including the use of penicillins, tetracyclines, macrolides, lincomycin, bacitracin, virginiamycin, aminoglycosides, and sulfonamides in an animal and fluroroquinolones in poultry.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Museum and Library Services Act of 2002 - Amends the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) and the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) to extend authorizations of appropriations and revise programs under such Acts. Amends MLSA to establish the National Museum and Library Services Board, within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). (Eliminates a National Museum Services Board.) Requires the IMLS Director to: (1) ensure coordination with certain activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), and other Federal activities; and (2) conduct and publish analyses of museum and library services impact. Revises requirements for annual national awards to outstanding libraries and museums that have made significant contributions in service to their communities. Includes specified entities under the term museum, for MLSA purposes. Revises museum services activities. Amends LSTA to provide for: (1) an increased portion for administrative costs; (2) an increased alternative minimum allotment to States under certain conditions; (3) State plans once every five years, as determined by the IMLS Director; (4) additional uses of grants to States for library programs; and (5) recruitment of library and information science personnel under the program of national leadership grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Repeals requirements under the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act relating to Commission responsibilities to: (1) advise the IMLS Director; and (2) meet with the National Museum Services Board, which is eliminated by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Investor, Shareholder, and Employee Protection Act of 2002 - Establishes within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an independent regulatory agency to be known as the Federal Bureau of Audits, which shall conduct an annual audit of the financial statements submitted to the SEC by reporting issuers. Requires the President to appoint the Director of the Bureau, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Declares that officers, employees, and other Bureau personnel shall not be responsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of Commission personnel. Prohibits Bureau employees from receiving employment or compensation from an issuer audited by the Bureau, or any accountant that provides audit-related services to a Bureau-audited issuer, for ten years after employment with the Bureau. Requires the SEC to establish standards for such audits, incorporating generally accepted auditing standards in effect on the enactment of this Act, with any necessary and appropriate modifications. Directs the SEC to assess and collect a fee from each reporting issuer whose financial statements are audited by the Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Attorney General should appoint a special counsel on matters relating to Enron Corporation, including: (1) the relationship between Enron and the manipulation in the stock market of its value per share; (2) the relationship between contributions by Enron to the President, Vice President, cabinet officers, and other Administration officials and Enron's rise and fall; (3) the influence of Enron on Federal and State legislation, including the effort to deregulate the energy markets; and (4) the relationship between Enron and the Federal and State regulatory system.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2002
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims' Housing Act - Increases a specified authorization of appropriations under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to be used to provide housing assistance for individuals or families victimized by domestic violence, stalking, or adult or child sexual assault.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2002
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Improvement Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) revise the basis for calculating the projected lost earnings of a person who sustained a vaccine-related injury; (2) increase the award for a vaccine-related death; (3) allow compensation for expenses for family counseling and establishing guardianship; (4) allow payment of interim attorneys' fees and costs; (5) establish a procedure for paying attorneys' fees; (6) extend from two to six years the statute of limitations for injuries or death from a vaccine set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table; (7) revise the membership and meeting schedule of the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines; and (8) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a public service announcement campaign about the availability of the Program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the limit on Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund administrative expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2002
Veterans' Claims Continuation Act - Authorizes the substitution of any of the following parties in the case of a veteran's claim for benefits provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs when the original claimant dies while the claim is pending: (1) the surviving spouse; (2) any surviving child at least 21 years of age; (3) a surviving parent; (4) the legal representative of the deceased claimant's estate; or (5) the next of kin of the veteran. Requires: (1) the substituting party to file a substitution application or motion within one year of the original claimant's death; and (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to notify the estate and legal representative of the deceased claimant that the claim will be dismissed if a substitute application or motion is not filed within such time period. Authorizes: (1) the payment of accrued benefits in the case of deaths occurring before the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) the substitution of the above eligible parties in cases pending before a U.S. Circuit Court or the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2002
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien seeking nonimmigrant U.S. entry for a brief stay occasioned by the serious illness or death of an immediate family member (as defined by this Act) shall be presumed to be entitled to nonimmigrant status unless the consular or immigration officer makes a fact- based determination that the alien: (1) is inadmissible; or (2) does not intend to leave the United States. (Current law presumes an alien to be an immigrant unless he or she establishes entitlement to nonimmigrant status.) Provides for an expedited consular appeal (based upon an alien having a U.S. sponsor) under specified circumstances. Directs the Attorney General to establish tracking procedures respecting the admission and departure of such aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2002
Highway Funding Restoration Act - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to require that obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for FY 2003: (1) meet a specified minimum level; and (2) be distributed in accordance with that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2002
Improved Maternal and Children's Health Coverage Act of 2002 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require a State child health plan, among other things, to provide for: (1) development and use of a uniform, simplified application form for establishing SCHIP- and Medicaid-eligibility under SSA title XIX (Medicaid); (2) an enrollment process coordinated with that under Medicaid so that a family need only interact with a single agency to determine whether a child is SCHIP- or Medicaid-eligible; (3) acceptance and timely response to inquiries received through the national toll-free system established by this Act; (4) methods to ensure that children within a family eligible for SCHIP assistance are allowed to be seen by the same pediatric provider or group of pediatric providers in a manner that permits coordinated receipt of care by children in the same family to the extent a State child health plan provides coverage other than through providing benefits under the State's Medicaid plan; and (5) responsibility of the State and its contractors for assuring compliance with limitations on cost-sharing. Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to provide for automatic reassessment of eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP benefits for children losing Medicaid or SCHIP eligibility. Amends SSA title XXI to provide for optional coverage of low-income, uninsured pregnant women under a State child health plan. Amends SSA title XIX to grant States the option of: (1) using enhanced Federal medical assistance percentage for coverage of additional pregnant women under Medicaid; and (2) covering qualified alien children under Medicaid and SCHIP programs. Amends SSA titles XIX and XXI to provide for program coordination with the Maternal and Child Health program under SSA title V.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2002
Employee Pension Freedom Act of 2002 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth requirements for disclosure, diversification, account access, and accountability under defined contribution plans that are individual account plans (401(k) and similar plans). Requires pension plan administrators to provide certain benefit information to participants or beneficiaries periodically. Requires plan sponsors (employers) and plan administrators to provide all material investment information to participants and beneficiaries, in an accurate form, as required to be disclosed to investors under applicable securities laws, and treats misleading investment information as a violation. Requires individual account plans that permit participants or beneficiaries to exercise control over their account assets to grant them the right to allocate all their nonforfeitable accrued benefits which are readily tradable employer securities to any investment option provided under the plan. Reduces, from three years to one year, the maximum vesting period for individual account plans (so that an employee who has completed at least one year of service has a nonforfeitable right to all of the employee's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions). Requires individual account plan fiduciaries to give 30 days notice to plan participants and beneficiaries before a lockdown limiting their control over their account assets, and limits the maximum duration of any such lockdown to ten business days. Requires each fiduciary of an individual account plan to be bonded or insured in an amount sufficient to ensure coverage of financial losses due to failures to meet certain ERISA requirements. Requires joint boards of trustees, representing interests of employers and those of employee participants and beneficiaries, to hold in trust the assets of single-employer plans which are individual account plans with some or all assets derived from employee contributions. Makes liable anyone who participates in or conceals certain breaches of fiduciary duty. Provides that rights or claims under ERISA may not be waived, with specified exceptions. Establishes an Office of Pension Participant Advocacy in the Department of Labor. Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to study and report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of and options for developing an insurance system for individual account plans.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2002
Securities Fraud Prevention Act of 2002 - Amends Federal criminal law with respect to civil remedies for violations of prohibited activities by racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO). Repeals the denial of (thus permitting) civil remedies for securities fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2002
Recognizes that America has lost one of its most dedicated and hardest working advocates for adoption, and honors Rex David "Dave" Thomas in his devotion to family, life, and business. Expresses the House's deep and heartfelt condolences to the family of Dave Thomas on their loss.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2002
Next Step in Reforming Welfare Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise and extend the TANF program, with changes: (1) continuing certain grants, including State family assistance grants; (2) providing additional grants for States with low Federal funding per poor child; (3) making reduction of the extent and severity of poverty and the promotion of self-sufficiency among families with children an additional purpose of TANF; and (4) replacing the caseload reduction credit with employment credit to reward States in which families leave welfare for work Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to increase funding for the social services block grant, and SSA title IV part A to provide for an increase in general child care entitlement funding. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to: (1) States and counties to pay the Federal share of the costs involved in improving the administration of low-income family with children support programs; and (2) nonprofit organizations and localities to promote participation in, and distribute information about and develop service centers for, low-income family with children support programs. Amends SSA title IV part A to: (1) change assessments for individual responsibility plans; (2) require State TANF plans to account for how the State intends to establish goals and take action to improve initial earnings, job advancement, and employment retention for individuals in and individuals leaving the program; (3) direct the Secretary to provide grants to States and localities for certain related research, evaluation, technical assistance, and demonstration projects; and (5) change work related requirements. Amends SSA title IV parts A and D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) with respect to a family formation fund and increased child support payments to families. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to waive the five-year limited eligibility of qualified aliens for Federal means-tested public benefits in the case of TANF and SSI (SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income)) benefits. Amends SSA title IV part A to ban the use of Federal TANF funds to replace State or local spending that does not meet the definition of qualified State expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2002
Space Preservation Act of 2002 - Reaffirms U.S. policy that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes. Directs the President to: (1) ban U.S. space-based weapons and the use of U.S. weapons to destroy or damage objects in orbit in space; (2) terminate research and development, testing, manufacturing, production, and deployment of all U.S. space-based weapons; and (3) direct the U.S. representatives to the United Nations and other international organizations to work toward negotiating, adopting, and implementing an international treaty banning space-based weapons and the use of weapons to destroy or damage objects in space.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
United States Security (USA) Act of 2001 - Sets forth "Buy America" provisions permitting, subject to exception, Federal financial assistance under this Act for a project only if steel and manufactured goods used in the project are of U.S. origin. Authorizes appropriations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to: (1) design, construct, and equip new facilities and renovate existing facilities for defending against and combating bioterrorism and other public health threats; (2) establish a Scientific Communication Center; and (3) improve security at CDC facilities. Amends the: (1) Atomic Energy Act to provide for sufficient potassium iodide tablet stockpiles; and (2) Public Health Service Act to provide for a contingency bone marrow donor program. Requires national standards for the implementation of quarantines. Authorizes appropriations for sequencing the genomes of biological pathogens. Directs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make grants to units of local government and emergency response units to plan, train, and equip emergency responders. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide staffing for adequate fire and emergency response. Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to local educational agencies and institutions of higher learning to enhance security and emergency preparedness. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Transportation to establish programs to: (1) address the lack of security on critical highway infrastructure; (2) improve interagency training for and communication among first responders to a terrorist attack; (3) provide real-time information and guidance for the traveling and non-traveling public; and (4) address the lack of adequate security for locks and dams, the lack of cargo information, and the inability to share information in a timely fashion with agencies such as the Coast Guard. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to assess the vulnerability of the 50 busiest U.S. seaports and establish: (1) in the Coast Guard the position of Assistant Commandant for Maritime Security; (2) a sea marshal program; (3) a national port security task force; (4) a maritime security institute; and (5) terrorism response plans for responding to a maritime terrorist attack. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Transportation for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) for specified passenger rail and freight rail protection projects. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Transportation with respect to public transit security, including installation of communications, surveillance, detection systems, and personal protective and detection equipment at public transit facilities. Requires a National Academy of Sciences energy pipeline security study. Authorizes appropriations for upgrading and expanding the current infrastructure of the Aviation Safety Reporting System of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Directs the Secretary of Transportation to carry out pilot projects with air carriers for real-time transmission to the FAA of cockpit voice and flight data and cabin video data from aircraft. Establishes a pilot program to deploy commercially available fuel cells at public use airports to ensure a reliable energy supply for new and emerging aviation security technologies, airport control towers, airport terminals, and other airport facilities. Requires the following officials to submit risk management assessment reports to Congress: (1) the Secretary of Energy regarding oil refineries, natural gas, and liquid natural gas storage facilities; (2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency regarding chemical manufacturing facilities; (3) the Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding nuclear facilities; (4) the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the domestic electric power grid; (5) the Secretary of Commerce regarding the Nation's fiber optic infrastructure; and (6) the Administrator of the General Services Administration regarding Federal buildings. Directs the Secretary of Energy to coordinate development and implementation of an interagency plan to prepare for and defend against terrorist attacks against high-level nuclear waste transportation facilities and infrastructure, interim storage facilities, intermodal transfer facilities, and central repositories. Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate and develop a plan to ensure that Federal, State, and local governments can respond adequately to the consequences of a terrorist attack against the transportation or storage of high-level nuclear waste. Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the NRC to: (1) establish a system to ensure that transportation of nuclear materials under its jurisdiction meets certain requirements; and (2) commence a rulemaking to consider changes to the design basis threat for NRC-licensed facilities. Authorizes the President, whenever a state of war or national emergency exists, to: (1) deploy either the Armed Forces or the National Guard to defend NRC-licensed facilities from terrorist attack or threat from any foreign power; and (2) restrict air space in the vicinity of such facilities. Requires each Federal agency to take certain steps to enhance cyber security. Authorizes appropriations for State and local governments to do the same. Requires the Attorney General to update a specified study assessing the vulnerability of Federal facilities. Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director of Central Intelligence to investigate whether existing computer knowledge assessment technologies meeting specified criteria can be used to detect individuals with terrorist training. Directs the Attorney General to create a pilot program for establishing civilian supplemental incident response teams. Authorizes appropriations to the U.S. Postal Service to enhance its ability to detect and neutralize, or otherwise respond to, any dangerous matter entered into the mails without authorization. Directs the United States Customs Service to expedite the development and deployment of pulsed fast neutron analysis technology and authorizes appropriations for the development of scanners capable of sensing biological and chemical contaminants in microscopic airborne quantities. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) take specified measures for identifying individuals crossing U.S. Borders; and (2) increase to specified levels the number of U.S. Border Patrol personnel, U.S. marshals, and Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs Service inspectors at ports of entry by 2003. Requires the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to establish a border health inspectors corps to inspect individuals who may be intending to infect others for infectious disease. Requires the Director of Homeland Security to consider a program to improve aerial reconnaissance activities at U.S. borders, to include the use of unmanned aerial vehicle systems. Directs the President, acting through the Office of Homeland Security, to oversee the appropriate sharing of information among Federal, State, and local agencies involved in intelligence collection and law enforcement. Directs the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security to develop within such Office an entity to develop a system-wide information network to integrate existing watch lists of suspected terrorists. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the prompt assignment of specified channels for public safety purposes. Requires the Attorney General to establish regional emerging threat workspaces. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to maintain a secure database on select biological agents that pose a threat to public health by terrorist attack. Directs the President to establish within the Office for Homeland Security a center to develop an interagency clearinghouse for new counterterrorism technologies. States the policy of the United States to work with other nations, especially Russia, to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and the proliferation of necessary materials and expertise. Authorizes appropriations for cooperative threat reduction programs. Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop an integrated plan for the use of technology to combat terrorism. Creates within the Executive Office of the President a Director of Homeland Security who shall conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of threat to the United States and develop a five-year homeland security strategy in response.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Keep America Secure Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from purchasing any equipment that contains electronic components that are not manufactured in the United States. Allows the Secretary to waive this prohibition where its application would be inconsistent with the public interest or would result in unreasonable costs to the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Holocaust Victims' Assets, Restitution Policy, and Remembrance Act - Establishes the National Foundation for the Study of Holocaust Assets as an independent entity of the Executive branch to: (1) serve as a centralized repository for research and information about Holocaust-era assets; and (2) create tools to assist individuals and institutions to determine the ownership of Holocaust victims' assets and to enable claimants to obtain the speedy resolution of their personal property claims.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Certified Nurse Midwifery Medicare Services Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for the coverage of and payment for certified midwife services (currently only certified nurse-midwife services are covered) and freestanding birth center services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Declares that nothing precludes certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives from teaching or supervising an intern or resident-in-training.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2001
Child Development and Family Employment Act of 2002 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA) to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations. Revises State plan requirements to include preservice training for child care providers. Requires payment rates to: (1) ensure access to comparable quality and types of services; (2) be adjusted to reflect increases in cost of living, as determined by market surveys at least every two years; and (3) reflect cost variations for different ages of children and different types of care. Revises requirements for activities to improve child care quality services. Earmarks funds for: (1) services for children from birth through three years of age; and (2) a statewide system of local child care resource and referral organizations carrying out certain functions, including training, to assist parents and providers. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make incentive grants to States to increase reimbursement rates for child care providers. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a national training and technical assistance center specializing in infant and toddler care and their families; and (2) a national data system on supply, demand, and quality of child care, early education, and non-school hours programs. Includes foster children among those who may be eligible for CCDBGA services if other conditions are met. Focus On Committed and Underpaid Staff for Children's Sake Act - FOCUS Act - Establishes: (1) the Child Care Provider Retention and Development Grant Program; and (2) the Child Care Provider Scholarship Program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2001
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study concerning the suitability and feasibility of designating the West Creek Preserve and Greenway in Parma, Ohio, as a unit of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2001
Use NICS in Terrorist Investigations Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to direct the Attorney General to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to access National Instant Check System (NICS) audit log records for the purpose of responding to an inquiry from any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency in connection with a civil or criminal law enforcement investigation. Requires firearms transaction records relating to the person or the transfer to be destroyed not less than 90 days after the date on which the firearms licensee first contacts the system with respect to the transfer if the receipt of the firearm would not violate such Act. Directs: (1) the Attorney General to make such records available to the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct audits to detect fraud and misuse, and to protect the privacy and security, of information in the system; and (2) the Department of the Treasury to maintain and destroy those records in accordance with all applicable laws.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2001
National Aviation Capacity Expansion Act - Directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to implement the redesign and reconstruction of Chicago O'Hare International Airport in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois, in accordance with a specified runway redesign plan, and the development of a south suburban airport in the Chicago metropolitan region, by facilitating approval, funding, construction, and implementation of such plan and suburban airport. Requires all environmental reviews, analyses, and opinions related to issuance of permits, licenses, or approvals relating to such plan or airport to be conducted on an expedited basis. States that approval by the Administrator of an airport layout plan submitted by Chicago that includes the runway redesign plan shall: (1) provide that any runway located more than 2500 feet south of existing runway 9R-27L shall not begin construction before January 2011; and (2) be subject to the condition that noise impact of aircraft operations at O'Hare after the year in which the first new runway is first used will be less than that in 2000. Prohibits the consideration of such a plan unless it includes public roadway access through the western boundary of O'Hare to passenger terminal and parking facilities. Directs the Administrator to give priority consideration to a letter of intent application submitted by the State of Illinois (or a political subdivision thereof) for construction of the suburban airport. Sets forth requirements regarding the construction of the runway redesign plan as a Federal project on or after July 1, 2004. Requires the withholding of all airport grant funds for O'Hare (other than grants involving national security and safety) until January 1, 2026, unless specified conditions with respect to operations at Merrill C. Meigs Field have been met.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2001
Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for knowingly transferring, transporting, or possessing a confined exotic animal for purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2001
Family Life Education Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for family life education, including abstinence and contraception. Expresses the sense of Congress that States should, but need not, provide matching funds. Requires the Secretary to provide for national evaluation of a representative sample of such programs for effectiveness in changing adolescent sexual behavior, including the delay of sexual and high-risk activity, the prevention of pregnancy and disease (including HIV/AIDS), and the increase of contraceptive knowledge.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2001
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should: (1) remain a signatory to the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty; (2) not encourage Russia to withdraw from the ABM Treaty to validate U.S. efforts to build a national missile defense system; and (3) continue to work cooperatively with Russia and other nuclear powers to prevent nuclear proliferation, reduce the number of weapons in current arsenals, and facilitate nuclear disarmament.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2001
Retirement Enhancement Act of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise or provide pension plan requirements for: (1) plan coverage and participation, defined contribution plan benefit vesting, and simplified pension plans; (2) various pension protections for spouses (under both ERISA and the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984); (3) simplified investment standards, including disclosure regarding investments and voting of proxies, diversification in defined contribution investments, diversification of investments under employee stock ownership plans by participants and beneficiaries over 55 years of age; (4) pension information reporting and enforcement for defined benefit plans and multiemployer plans; and (5) various pension protections for a changing workforce, including pension plan qualified loans for health insurance and job training expenses of participants or beneficiaries, immediate distributions if rolled over to qualified plans, prompt distributions from defined contribution plans upon termination of participants' covered employment, and an extended period for recoupment of overpayments.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2001
Amends the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to extend the definition of a steel company qualified for a loan guarantee to a company that has placed on hot idle status any steel mill facilities used in production and manufacture of a basic steel mill product.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2001
Retirement Enhancement Revenue Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to public employee pension plans, to set forth additional reporting and disclosure requirements and provide for the review of employee contribution changes by qualified review boards. Establishes: (1) a limited refundable credit to certain individuals for elective deferrals and IRA contributions; and (2) a limited credit for qualified pension plan contributions of small employers. Makes additional revisions to pension provisions, including: (1) requiring 401(k) plans to be offered to all eligible employees and to meet minimum coverage requirements; (2) increasing from the age of 70-and-one-half to age 75 the requirement to begin mandatory pension distributions; (3) permitting a statutory exemption from prohibited transaction rules for emergent transactions; (4) permitting loans from a pension plan for involuntarily separated employees for health insurance and job training expenses; and (5) permitting a prohibited transaction exemption for providing investment advice.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2001
TANF Recipients' Lifeline Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) repeal the five year limit on TANF benefits; (2) require a State to which a TANF grant is made to use appropriate bilingual personnel and printed material in the administration of the State program in those portions of the State in which a substantial number of TANF recipients speak a language other than English; and (3) provide for inflation adjustment of the TANF block grant. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to exempt TANF benefits from the ban on Federal means-tested public benefits for qualified aliens for the first five years after lawful entry into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2001
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 making a determination that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is an activity that is either financial in nature or incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2001
Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 2001 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions with respect to former prisoners of war to repeal the currently required: (1) 30-day minimum period of internment prior to the presumption of service connection for certain listed diseases, for purposes of the payment of veterans' disability compensation; and (2) 90-day minimum period of internment prior to eligibility for dental care furnished through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Adds the following to the listed diseases under (1), above: heart disease, stroke, liver disease, diabetes (type 2), and osteoporosis. Requires: (1) such presumption also with respect to any disease that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines warrants such presumption by reason of having a positive association with the experience of being a prisoner of war; and (2) the Secretary to make such a determination within 60 days after a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War that such presumption be established for a non-listed disease.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2001
Amends the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to authorize the Loan Guarantee Board to waive the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee program requirement that an applicant steel company furnish reasonable assurance that its prospective earning power permits loan repayment, if the Board determines that: (1) the inability of the company to satisfy such requirement is due to reasons of financial hardship beyond company control; (2) the company has demonstrated a good faith effort to be cost efficient in its business practices; and (3) the issuance of such loan guarantee is in the national security interests of the United States. Increases from 85 percent to 95 percent the maximum principal loan amount to be guaranteed if the Board determines that the aggregate amount of steel imported into the United States during the prior year exceeds 30 percent of the aggregate amount of steel produced in the United States during that year.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2001
Employment Contract Protection Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal bankruptcy code with respect to priority of claims to revise the third level of priority (allowed unsecured claims) to repeal the limitation of claims to $4,000 of wages, salaries, or commissions earned by an individual or corporation within 90 days before the filing date of debtor's petition in bankruptcy or the debtor's cessation of business (thus allowing any such claim earned before petition filing or business cessation). Revises the fourth level of priority, allowed unsecured claims for contributions to an employee benefit plan, to: (1) repeal the limitation to claims arising from services rendered within 180 days before petition filing or business cessation, thus allowing any claim for services rendered before such date; and (2) reduce the current deduction from such amount to a deduction of only the aggregate amount paid by the estate in bankruptcy on behalf of such employees to any other employee benefit plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2001
State Budget Relief Act of 2001 - Requires the Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) for: (1) a State for FY 2001 to be substituted for the State's FMAP for FY 2002 if the FY 2002 FMAP would otherwise be less than the FY 2001 FMAP; and (2) each eligible State for each calendar quarter in FY 2002 to be increased by two percentage points. Mandates specified FMAP increases for States with high unemployment rates, and a specified Medicaid payment cap increase for territories. Prohibits application of the FMAP increases for a State under this Act with respect to: (1) disproportionate share hospital payments under Medicaid; and (2) payments under SSA titles IV and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP).
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2001
National Sea Grant College Program Act Amendments of 2001 - Amends the National Sea Grant College Act to include an emphasis on ocean and coastal resources conservation and management and collaboration between academia and the scientists and programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Excludes grants to assist coastal and ocean research from the two-thirds limitation otherwise applicable. Revises and expands the terms of membership for the sea grant review panel. Authorizes appropriations for zebra mussel, oyster, harmful algal bloom, and coastal ocean research.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2001
Embassy Employee Compensation Act - Directs the Attorney General to provide compensation for American citizens who were victims of the bombings of the United States Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya and of the United States Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on August 7, 1998. Authorizes payments for physical harm, economic losses and noneconomic losses such as physical and emotional pain or loss of enjoyment of life for individuals present at either of the bombings or their immediate aftermath. Allows relatives of an individual killed to collect on behalf of the deceased. Declares that individuals filing claims waive the right to participate in civil suits in any Federal or State court for damages sustained in the bombings, except for suits that involve recovery of "collateral source" obligations such as life insurance, pension funds, death benefit programs and payments by Federal, State and local governments. Declares that only one claim may be filed by an individual or on behalf of a deceased person and that there will be no punitive damages awarded.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2001
Nuclear Security Act of 2001 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to instruct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to: (1) establish a nuclear security force to provide for the security of sensitive nuclear facilities against the design basis threat; (2) develop and implement a security plan to ensure such facilities' security; and (3) periodically revise the design basis threat to address specified threats. Establishes the Nuclear Security Fund to administer such programs. Amends the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to establish the Operation Safeguards and Response Unit to: (1) conduct operation safeguards and response evaluations; (2) conduct emergency response exercises; and (3) establish a Mock Terrorist Team comparable to special operations forces of the Armed Forces. Mandates establishment of: (1) an operation safeguards and response evaluation program to assess periodically the ability of each sensitive nuclear facility to defend against the design basis threat; and (2) an emergency response program to evaluate emergency response personnel ability to respond to a radiological emergency within a 50-mile radius of a sensitive nuclear facility. Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Commission to ensure sufficient stockpiles of potassium iodide tablets to provide adequate protection to the affected population within a 50-mile radius of a sensitive nuclear facility.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2001
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should use his authority under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to release emergency funds to States immediately to ease the additional financial burden that job loss and depressed consumer confidence have placed on low-income families.
United States · United States Congress · 28 November 2001
Protect Victims of Identity Theft Act of 2001 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act, with respect to the statute of limitations on actions, to provide that an action to enforce a liability may be brought not later than two years after the date on which the violation is discovered or should have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence. Tolls such limitation period during any period during which a defendant has materially and willfully misrepresented information statutorily required to be disclosed where such misrepresentation is material to establishment of liability.
![Official portrait of Rep. Kucinich, Dennis J. [D-OH-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000336_200.jpg)