United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007
Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 - Amends the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 to extend the Terrorism Insurance Program through calendar 2017. Revises requirements for: (1) insurer deductible; (2) insured loss shared compensation; (3) industry insured losses that trigger the program; (4) recoupment of the federal share; (5) certification prerequisites regarding an act of terrorism; (6) mandatory availability of program coverage; and (7) rate and form filings for coverage. Provides for coverage of group life insurance, including a policy surcharge for terrorism loss risk-spreading premiums. Revises requirements for: (1) insurer copayment and federal share of compensation; (2) post-event reset for previously impacted areas; and (3) mandatory availability of life insurance that does not preclude future lawful travel. Adds coverage for workers' compensation and property and casualty insurance to the topics of a mandatory analysis of market conditions for terrorism risk insurance by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. Establishes the Commission on Terrorism Risk Insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2009-FY2013 for: (1) type I diabetes research; and (2) diabetes prevention and treatment through Indian health facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007
Congratulates: (1) the women's water polo team of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for winning the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Water Polo National Championship; and (2) UCLA on becoming the first school to win 100 NCAA sports national championship titles.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2007
Northern California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act - Prohibits oil and gas preleasing, leasing, and related activities in areas of the outer Continental Shelf located off the coast of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties in the state of California. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to exclude such areas from a mandatory inventory of reserves in the Outer Continental Shelf.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2007
Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 with respect to hours-of-service requirements airline flight crews must meet to qualify for leave under such Act. Declares that a flight attendant or flight crewmember will be considered to meet such requirements if he or she has been paid for or has worked 60% of the employer's monthly hour or trip guarantee, or the equivalent annualized over the preceding 12-month period.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2007
NASA and JPL 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), to mint and issue $50 gold and $1 silver coins emblematic of the 50 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of NASA and JPL. Requires all such coin sales to include a surcharge of $50 per $50 coin, and of $10 per $1 coin. Requires distribution of the first $4 million to the NASA Family Assistance Fund for financial assistance to the families of NASA personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their official duties. Requires distribution of: (1) one-half of the next $1 million of the remaining amounts to the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Educational (D.R.E.M.E.) Science Literacy Foundation and the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence; and (2) the remainder to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for the preservation, maintenance, and display of space artifacts at the National Air and Space Museum (including the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center). Authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates of the $50 gold coins.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007
Mammogram and MRI Availability Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require a group health plan that provides coverage for diagnostic mammography for any woman 40 years old or older to provide no less favorable coverage for annual screening mammography for such a woman, and diagnostic mammography, annual screening mammography, and annual magnetic resonance imaging for any high risk woman. Prohibits a group health plan from denying enrollment or renewal solely to avoid the requirements of this Act, providing monetary incentives to encourage women to accept less than such minimum protections, penalizing providers for providing care in accordance with this Act, or providing incentives to induce providers to provide care in a manner inconsistent with this Act. Applies such requirements and prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 - Amends federal veterans' benefits provisions to entitle to educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill certain individuals who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces (including the reserves) on or after September 11, 2001. Requires such individuals to complete the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or its equivalent) before applying for such assistance. Establishes the duration of such assistance (in most cases 36 months) and assistance amounts. Requires programs of education pursued with such assistance to be approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Allows for the pursuit of an approved program of education while on active duty. Allows, under such assistance, for the pursuit of: (1) programs on less than a half-time basis; (2) apprenticeship or other on-job training; (3) correspondence courses; (4) flight training; (5) tutorial assistance; and (6) licensure and certification tests. Requires such educational assistance to be used within 15 years of the individual's discharge or release from active duty (with exceptions). Allows individuals currently under the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program to elect to participate in the post-9/11 educational assistance program with respect to any unused entitlement.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to alter the Pell Grant program by: (1) increasing the maximum Pell grant; (2) removing the tuition sensitivity provision reducing the Pell Grant available to students attending low cost schools; (3) allowing year-round Pell grants; (4) increasing students' Pell grant eligibility by increasing their income protection allowance; (5) altering the formula for determining whether a student qualifies for a simplified means test and zero-expected family contributions; and (6) excluding certain income and assets from student need determinations. Alters HEA student loan programs by: (1) cutting the interest rate charged undergraduate student borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs; (2) increasing limits on federally-insured loans; (3) reducing special allowance payments to lenders; (4) eliminating exceptional performer status for lenders; (5) reducing the lender insurance percentage; (6) reducing the percentage of defaulted loan collections a guaranty agency may retain; (7) changing the formula for determining the account maintenance fees paid to guaranty agencies; (8) increasing the loan fee charged certain lenders; and (9) requiring lenders and guaranty agencies to provide institutions of higher education (IHEs) and third-party servicers with student loan information to prevent loan defaults. Provides student loan forgiveness to borrowers who serve in areas of national need as early childhood educators, nurses, foreign language specialists, librarians, certain highly qualified teachers, child welfare workers, speech language pathologists, National Service participants, and public sector employees. Forgives the balance due on DLs by borrowers who have been public sector employees for 10 years and made 120 income contingent payments on such loans. Makes FFEL and DL repayments by student borrowers income contingent. Allows such borrowers to have their loans forgiven after 20 years of payments. Redefines economic hardship to include borrowers whose earnings do not exceed 150% of the poverty line. Eliminates deferral limits on FFELs, DLs, and Perkins loans. Includes such deferrals in maximum payment periods. Withholds specified HEA funding from states that reduce their current higher education funding. Requires that the College Opportunity On-Line (COOL) website be redesigned to include additional college affordability information, including a school's placement on affordability alert status due to its costs increasing at twice the consumer price index over a specified period of time. Provides IHEs with additional funding to raise Pell grant amounts by specified percentages if they keep, or guarantee to keep, their tuition increases at no more than the increase in the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI). Provides cooperative education grants to IHEs that keep tuition increases at or below increases in the HEPI, to increase the availability and quality of programs offering students alternating or parallel periods of academic study and related employment. Establishes a TEACH Grant program providing tuition assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who commit to teaching a high-need subject in a high-need school for four years. Awards competitive grants to minority serving IHEs to establish centers of excellence that improve the preparation and support of highly-qualified teachers. Establishes a College Access Challenge Grant program providing matching grants to philanthropic organizations for financial aid, mentoring, and outreach services to increase the number of needy students from underserved populations who enter and complete college.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan from: (1) denying an eligible participant or beneficiary participation in clinical trials related to the treatment of cancer that are federally funded or conducted under an investigational new drug application reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); (2) denying (or limiting or imposing additional conditions on) the coverage of routine patient costs for items and services furnished in connection with such participation; or (3) discriminating against an individual on the basis of such participation. Includes as routine patient costs all items and services provided in the clinical trial that are otherwise generally available to a qualified individual, with certain exceptions. Applies such prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study the impact on group health plans and health insurance issuers of requiring them to cover routine patient care costs for individuals with serious and life threatening diseases other than cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
College Affordability and Accountability Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require state maintenance of effort in providing funding to public institutions of higher education (IHEs). Requires all IHEs to plan, engage in, and report on cost containment strategies. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to conduct research on such strategies. Directs the Secretary to publish an annual report on college affordability and to disseminate certain data, including the net price tuition index (NTPI) for each IHE through a college price calculator on an enhanced college opportunities on line (COOL) website. Establishes a Pell Plus program to provide an increased award to each Pell Grant recipient at IHEs that maintain specified types of: (1) low tuition; (2) guaranteed tuition; or (3) affordable tuition. Establishes a program of grants for cooperative education for IHEs that restrain tuition increases. Authorizes grants and contracts for cooperative education demonstration and innovation projects, training and resource centers, and research. Directs the Secretary to commission the National Research Council to study the viability of developing and implementing standards in environmental, health, and safety areas to provide for differential regulation of: (1) industrial laboratories and facilities; and (2) research and teaching laboratories. Authorizes the Secretary to select IHEs, IHE systems, or IHE consortia for voluntary participation in an articulation agreement demonstration program to specify the acceptability of courses in transfer toward meeting specific degree requirements, as a means to lower tuition prices for students. Directs the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to convene a task force of experts to: (1) determine the best methods to finance higher education in the long-term; (2) help public institutions utilize long-term budgeting; (3) review the trends of financing of higher education; and (4) define the role played by the states, the federal government, families, and outside entities in financing higher education, and determine the best methods to strengthen this partnership.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States strongly supports the new power-sharing government in Northern Ireland; (2) political leaders of Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern should be commended for acting in the best interest of the people of Northern Ireland by forming this government; (3) May 8, 2007, will be remembered as an historic day and an important milestone in cementing peace and unity for Northern Ireland and an example for nations around the world plagued by internal conflict; and (4) the United States stands ready to support this new government and to work with the people of Northern Ireland as they achieve their goal of lasting peace.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007
Calls for government leaders and law enforcement personnel to ensure that the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, including Iranian-Americans, are fully protected. Condemns bigotry and acts of violence or discrimination against any American. Encourages Iranian-Americans to share with their elected officials and their community incidences of discrimination in an effort to end stereotypes, correct misconceptions, and convey instances of abuse. Calls upon law enforcement authorities to vigorously investigate and prosecute crimes that are based on actual or perceived, race, color, religion, national origin, or ethnicity.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007
Supports the goals and ideals of National Homeownership Month (June 2007). Recognizes the importance of homeownership in building strong communities and families.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
340B Program Improvement and Integrity Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to expand the drug discount program to allow participation as a covered entity by certain: (1) children's hospitals; (2) critical access hospitals; (3) entities providing maternal and child health services, community mental health services, or treatment services for substance abuse; (4) Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals; (5) sole community hospitals; and (6) rural referral centers. Prohibits enrolled hospitals from obtaining covered outpatient drugs through a group purchasing arrangement. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish reasonable exceptions to such requirements, including for drugs unavailable through the program and to facilitate generic substitution when a generic covered drug is available at a lower price. Expands the program to include a drug used in connection with an inpatient or outpatient service by enrolled hospitals. (Currently, only outpatient drugs are covered under the program.) Requires hospitals enrolled in the 340B drug discount program to provide to each state a credit on the estimated annual costs to such hospital of single source and innovator multiple source drugs and noninnovator multiple source drugs provided to Medicaid recipients for inpatient use. Sets forth a formula for calculating the credit. Allows a hospital to avoid paying such credits under certain circumstances. Requires the Secretary to: (1) carry out activities to improve compliance by manufacturers and covered entities with the requirements of the drug discount program; and (2) establish an administrative process for resolving claims by covered entities and manufacturers of violations of such requirements. Requires manufacturers to offer each covered entity covered drugs for purchase at or below the applicable ceiling price if such a drug is made available to any other purchaser at any price.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and other international financial institutions, to: (1) provide for debt cancellation of eligible low-income countries (as defined by this Act) to such institutions and to the United States; (2) provide for establishment of frameworks for creditor transparency and responsible lending; and (3) provide that such debt cancellation is not conditioned on harmful economic or environmental conditions. Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the debt portfolios of previous governments in certain countries, including South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
Carbon-Neutral Government Act of 2007 - Requires federal agencies, annually, to inventory and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue guidance and provide assistance to agencies regarding such inventories. Requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to include in any such inventory any emission or biological sequestration of GHG associated with land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Forest Service. Requires the Administrator to promulgate annual reduction targets for federal government GHG emissions for FY2010-FY2050. Requires agencies to develop plans to achieve such targets. Requires the Forest Service, BLM, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify management strategies concerning net biological sequestration and reduction of the impacts of global warming. Requires the Forest Service to study the opportunities of urban and wildland-urban interface forestry programs to enhance net biological sequestration of GHGs. Authorizes a pilot project under which agencies and legislative branch offices may purchase GHG offsets and renewable energy certificates Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to prohibit agencies from acquiring light duty motor vehicles or medium duty passenger vehicles that fail to meet the numerical Greenhouse Gas Exhaust Mass Emission Requirement set out in the California Code of Regulations. Requires the Administrator to annually issue guidance identifying vehicles that satisfy such requirements. Sets forth provisions concerning the fully burdened cost of fuel and federal procurement of Energy Star products. Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to require the Secretary of Energy to establish federal building energy efficiency performance standards. Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to require agencies, annually, to: (1) benchmark the energy efficiency performance of certain federal buildings; and (2) recommission or retrocommission 20% of such buildings annually. Requires agencies to ensure that any large capital energy investment in an existing building employs the most energy efficient designs, systems, equipment, and controls that are life-cycle cost effective. Prohibits agencies from entering into contracts to lease space in buildings that have not earned the Energy Star label or for the procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel for specified mobility-related uses unless the associated lifecycle GHG emissions will be less than or equal to emissions from fuel from conventional petroleum sources. Limits a contract for public utilities of renewable energy to not more than 20 years.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
United Nations Population Fund Women's Health and Dignity Act - Authorizes the President to make a voluntary contribution on a grant basis to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to: (1) provide and distribute equipment, medicine, supplies, and expertise to ensure safe childbirth and emergency obstetric care; (2) make contraceptives available for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; (3) reduce abortion and related maternal mortality; (4) reduce and eliminate coercive family planning practices; (5) reduce and eliminate sex selection; (6) prevent and treat cases of obstetric fistula; (7) promote abandonment of harmful traditional practices, including female genital cutting and child marriage; (8) reestablish maternal health services in areas where medical infrastructure has been destroyed by natural disasters; and (9) promote the access of unaccompanied women and other vulnerable people to vital services, including access to water, sanitation facilities, food, and health care, in emergency situations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2007
Access to Birth Control Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to contraceptives, including: (1) providing a customer a contraceptive without delay if it is in stock; (2) immediately informing a customer if the contraceptive is not in stock and either transferring the prescription to a pharmacy that has the contraceptive in stock or expediting the ordering of the contraceptive and notifying the customer when it arrives, based on customer preference; and (3) ensuring that pharmacy employees do not take certain actions relating to a request for contraception, including intimidating, threatening, or harassing customers, interfering with or obstructing the delivery of services, intentionally misrepresenting or deceiving customers about the availability of contraception or its mechanism of action, breaching or threatening to breach medical confidentiality, or refusing to return a valid, lawful prescription. Provides that a pharmacy is not prohibited from refusing to provide a contraceptive to a customer if: (1) it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented; (2) the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive; or (3) the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment. Provides that this Act does not preempt state law or any professional obligation of a state board that provides greater protections for customers. Sets forth civil penalties and establishes a a private cause of action for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2007
Condemns the vote by the University and College Union of May 30, 2007, to boycott Israeli academics and academic institutions. Urges the international scholarly community, the European Union, and individual governments, to reject, or continue to reject, calls for an academic boycott of Israel and reaffirm their commitment to academic freedom and cultural and scientific international exchange. Urges governments and educators throughout the world to reaffirm the importance of academic freedom and open dialogue and to condemn measures that would prevent the production, sharing, and exchange of knowledge. Urges other unions and organizations to reject the troubling and disturbing actions of the UCU. Urges the general members of the UCU to reject the call of the union's leadership to boycott Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act - Identifies roadless areas within the National Forest System set forth in specified maps as National Forest Inventoried Roadless Areas, and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to manage such Areas to maintain their roadless character. Authorizes the Forest Service to modify such maps for the sole purpose of improving their accuracy or inclusiveness. Requires any substantial modification of those maps to be made through the national forest management planning process and documented in an environmental impact statement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women's Services Act - Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to: (1) promulgate rules prohibiting, as unfair and deceptive acts or practices, persons from advertising with the intent to deceptively create the impression that such persons provide abortion services; and (2) enforce violations of such rules as unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Beach Protection Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to include among eligible grant activities the development and implementation of programs for source tracking, sanitary surveys, and prevention efforts to address the identified sources of beach water pollution. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY2007-FY2012. Requires grant recipients to identify: (1) the use of a rapid testing method; (2) measures for communication within 24 hours of the results of a water sample concerning pollutants to specified officials and all state agencies with authority to require the prevention or treatment of the sources of beach water pollution; (3) measures to develop and implement a beach water pollution source identification and tracking program for the coastal recreation waters that are not meeting applicable water quality standards for pathogens; (4) a publicly accessible and searchable global information system database, with information updated within 24 hours of its availability, organized by beach and with defined standards, sampling plan, monitoring protocols, sampling results, and number and causes of beach closings and advisory days; and (5) measures to ensure that closures or advisories are made or issued within 24 hours after a state government determines that its coastal recreation waters are not meeting water quality standards for pathogens. Sets forth provisions requiring: (1) a review by the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator of state and local compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and grant conditions; (2) corrective actions by such governments not in compliance; and (3) a review by the Comptroller General such compliance review and corrective action. Amends the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 to authorize appropriations to carry out such Act through FY2012.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Enhanced Protection of the Internal Revenue Service and Its Employees Act of 2007 - Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to eliminate the exception to the duties of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for protecting the physical security of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Assured Funding for Veterans Health Care Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for programs, functions, and activities of the Veterans Health Administration for FY2008 130 percent of the amount obligated during FY2006. Adjusts the amount provided for fiscal years after FY2008 based on the number of enrolled veterans and the number of other persons eligible but not enrolled who are provided care, multiplied by the per capita baseline amount for FY2006, as increased by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. Prohibits the availability of such funds for: (1) construction, acquisition, or alteration of veterans' medical facilities (other than for repairs provided for before the date of enactment of this Act); or (2) grants for the construction of state home facilities for the furnishing of veterans' domiciliary, nursing home, and hospital care.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
America's Better Classrooms Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for investment in qualified public school modernization bonds, defined to include: (1) bonds for the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land for such facility (qualified school construction bonds); and (2) bonds to finance certain academic programs below the postsecondary level in empowerment zones or enterprise communities (qualified zone academy bonds). Establishes a national limitation on the issuance of such bonds and provides for the allocation of bond amounts among the states according to a specified formula. Terminates the authority for issuance of such bonds after 2009. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to apply certain labor standards to public school construction projects financed by this Act. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to require states to establish employment and training programs relating to the construction or reconstruction of public school facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Congressional Commission on the Abolition of Modern-Day Slavery Act - Defines "modern-day slavery." Establishes a congressional Commission on the Abolition of Modern-day Slavery which shall: (1) study matters relating to modern-day slavery; (2) review programs of relevant governmental agencies; (3) examine efforts by foreign countries and multilateral organizations to combat modern-day slavery; and (4) convene additional experts from nongovernmental organizations as part of the Commission's review. States that the Commission shall: (1) advise Congress on how the United States could support efforts to eradicate modern-day slavery; (2) evaluate comparative strategies to prevent modern-day slavery, rescue and rehabilitate its victims, and prosecute traffickers and increase accountability within countries; (3) examine the economic impact on communities and countries that demonstrate measured success in fighting modern-day slavery; (4) evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. laws prohibiting the importation of goods produced through forced labor or child labor; (5) evaluate U.S. trade policy's effect on modern slavery, including a list of the 10 countries with the highest number of slaves within their borders; and (6) evaluate U.S. government procurement policies regarding slave-made goods or services. Terminates the Commission 90 days after submission of a report required under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Recognizes the service of the 65th Infantry Borinqueneers, a Hispanic U.S. unit comprised mainly of Puerto Ricans, during the Korean War. Honors the people of Puerto Rico, who continue to volunteer for service in the Armed Forces. Commends all efforts to promote and preserve the history of the 65th Infantry Borinqueneers.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Commends the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for working with leading scientists and researchers to organize the first NIH conference on hydrocephalus in September 2005 and the Inaugural Cerebellar Development: Bench to Bedside International Conference in November 2006. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Director of NIH should continue the current collaboration, with respect to Dandy-Walker syndrome, among the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Office of Rare Diseases; (2) further research into such syndrome should be conducted and supported; (3) NIH should take the lead in sponsoring an annual workshop to increase awareness and set national research priorities for such syndrome and hydrocephalus; (4) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should form a coordinating committee for such syndrome and hydrocephalus research; and (5) public awareness and professional education regarding Dandy-Walker research should increase through partnerships between the federal government and patient advocacy organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2007
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress and the President should: (1) increase basic pay for members of all military components by 3.5%, effective January 1, 2008; (2) increase basic pay for all such components during FY2009-FY2012 by at least one-half of 1% more than the raise calculated under the Employment Cost Index; and (3) provide a $40 special survivor indemnity allowance for persons affected by required Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity offsets for dependency and indemnity compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2007
Raw Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to: (1) institute an alert system for sewer overflows; (2) notify the public of such overflows in areas where human health is potentially affected not later than 24 hours; (3) immediately notify public health authorities and other affected entities; and (4) provide specified reports to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the state. Makes the alert systems eligible for state water pollution control revolving fund assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2007
Recognizes the historical significance to the nation, and supports the continued celebration, of Juneteenth Independence Day (June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved African Americans were free). Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and more effectively facing the challenges of the future; and (2) the celebration of the end of slavery is an important and enriching part of the history and heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2007
Federal Aviation Administration Facility Consolidation Moratorium Act of 2007 - Suspends the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to realign FAA air traffic control facilities and services until January 1, 2009.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2007
Calls on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, replace her lost travel documents, and cease its harassment tactics. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the U.S. government, through all appropriate means and diplomatic channels, should encourage the government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari and offer her an apology; and (2) the United States should coordinate its response with its allies throughout the Middle East, other governments, and all appropriate international organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2007
Proud to Be an American Citizen Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to make funds available annually to the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or to approved public or private nonprofit entities to support public ceremonies for administering oaths of allegiance to naturalizing legal immigrants. States that such ceremonies shall: (1) be held on a date that is on or near Independence Day; and (2) include appropriate outreach, ceremonial, and celebratory activities. Specifies: (1) ceremony fund limits ($5,000); and (2) permitted fund uses.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2007
WISEWOMAN Expansion Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) remove the limit on the number of states that may receive preventive heath services grants; (2) require a competitive review process; and (3) include among the uses for such grants health education, counseling, and interventions for behavioral risk factors and diseases. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2007
Calls for establishment of a National Brain Cancer Awareness Month. Applauds the actions of those who strive to combat and raise public awareness of brain tumors and brain cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2007
Calls upon the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to condemn the atrocities taking place in Darfur, Sudan, and end military and economic assistance to the government of Sudan until Sudan stops civilian attacks and engages in peace negotiations. Recognizes the close relationship between the PRC and Sudan and urges the PRC to use its political, international, and economic influence to stop the violence in Darfur, Sudan. Recognizes that the spirit of the Olympics, which is to bring together nations and people from all over the world in peace, is incompatible with actions supporting acts of genocide.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2007
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each state's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final federal or state court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2007
Family and Workplace Balancing Act of 2007, or Balancing Act of 2007 - Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make five-year grants to a state or local government to pay for the federal share of projects that assist families by providing wage replacement for eligible individuals responding to family caregiving needs, especially those related to the birth or adoption of a child. Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) and federal civil service law to allow employees covered by FMLA and civil servants to take specified additional leave for: (1) parental involvement in their children's or grandchildren's educational and extracurricular activities; and (2) routine family medical care needs. Amends FMLA to revise criteria for covered employees. Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize additional funds for expanding child care activities for young children under age three. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with the Secretary of Education, to make grants to enable states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to establish or expand quality programs of early childhood home visitation. Establishes: (1) the Child Care Provider Development and Retention Grant Program; and (2) the Child Care Provider Scholarship Program. Healthy Early Education Workforce Grant Program Act - Authorizes the HHS Secretary to allot funds to eligible states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to pay the federal share of providing access to affordable health benefits coverage for: (1) eligible child care providers; and (2) at state option, the spouses, domestic partners, and dependents of such providers. Child Care Construction and Renovation Incentive Grants Act - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to provide for use of community development block grants to establish child care facilities. Amends the National Housing Act to provide for related mortgage insurance. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make technical and financial assistance grants for acquiring or improving such facilities or related equipment. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a business child care incentive grant program. Universal Prekindergarten Act - Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to state agencies to develop full-day, full-year universal prekindergarten programs for all children three, four, and five years old. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a universal free school breakfast program without regard to family incomes. Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program of healthy school nutrition environment incentive grants. Afterschool Education Enhancement Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require state educational agencies to give priority to 21st century community learning centers program grant applications submitted jointly by eligible entities consisting of at least: (1) one local educational agency receiving funds under ESEA provisions for disadvantaged students; and (2) at least one community-based organization or other public or private entity. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for treatment of employees working at less than full-time under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans and under group health plans, including certain individuals whose services are leased or contracted for. United States Business Telework Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to conduct a pilot program in up to five states to raise awareness about telework among employers and to encourage them to offer telework options to employees.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2007
Ensuring Access to Contraceptives Act of 2007 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the President, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to furnish assistance to provide contraceptives in developing countries in order to prevent unintended pregnancies, abortions, and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. States that a nongovernmental organization shall not be subject to eligibility requirements relating to the use of non-U.S. government funds that are more restrictive than those that apply to a foreign government.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2007
Teacher Education for Autistic Children Act of 2007 or the TEACH Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for up to $10,000 of the annual education expenses (e.g., tuition, books, student loan interest) incurred by individuals studying to become teachers of children or adults with an autism spectrum disorder. Terminates such credit after 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2007
Cancer Screening, Treatment, and Survivorship Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to make matching grants to states or Indian tribes for: (1) cancer screening and referrals; (2) developing and disseminating public information and education programs for the detection and control of certain cancers; (3) improving the education, training and skills of health professionals in detecting certain cancers; and (4) establishing mechanisms to monitor the quality of screening procedures. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow states to provide coverage under Medicaid for individuals not otherwise eligible who are under the age 65 and who: (1) have been screened for cancer and have been referred for treatment; or (2) have been diagnosed or treated for cancer. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), acting through the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), to expand research programs to identify and improve cancer screening and testing protocols and tools, with particular emphasis on those cancers with the highest incidence of mortality and disability. Directs the Secretary to award grants for activities to raise public awareness to ensure widespread use of cancer screening programs and access to the best available screening and testing services. Requires the Director of NIH to: (1) expand cancer survivorship research activities at NCI-designated cancer centers; and (2) provide assistance to such centers for research to evaluate models of survivorship care.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2007
Abusive Tax Shelter Shutdown and Taxpayer Accountability Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise or add provisions relating to tax shelter activity, including provisions to: (1) define "economic substance" for purposes of evaluating tax shelter transactions; (2) increase penalties for large entities and high net-worth individuals for failure to disclose certain tax shelter transactions; (3) impose penalties for understatements of tax due to transactions lacking economic substance; (4) deny material tax advisors a claim of privilege as to the identity of a client; (5) revise standards for the penalty for understatement of tax liability by income tax return preparers and increase the penalties for such understatements; (6) revise and increase the penalties for frivolous tax submissions; (7) deny a tax deduction for interest on underpayments of tax due to nondisclosed reportable transactions and transactions lacking economic substance; (8) expand the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to disallow certain tax benefits arising from the acquisition of corporate stock; (9) modify certain passive loss rules for controlled foreign corporations; and (10) provide a rule for the reduction in basis of corporate stock for which certain extraordinary dividends are received.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2007
Polar Bear Protection Act of 2007 - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to prohibit issuing permits for the importation of polar bear parts taken in a sport hunt.
![Official portrait of Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_ny_12_maloney_carolyn_200.jpg)