United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2001
Low-Income and Rural School Program - Establishes a Low-Income and Rural School Program. Directs the Secretary of Education to award formula grants to State educational agencies to make competitive or formula subgrants to certain rural and low-income local educational agencies (LEAs). Authorizes the Secretary to make direct competitive grants to specially qualified LEAs in nonparticipating States. Reserves a portion of program funds for schools operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Requires LEAs or schools to use program grant funds for: (1) teacher recruitment and retention, including signing bonuses and other financial incentives; (2) professional development, including training for special needs teachers and in technology use; (3) educational technology, including software and hardware; or (4) academic enrichment programs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish to a veteran such drugs and medicines as may be ordered on prescription of a duly licensed physician in the treatment of any illness or injury of such veteran. (Currently, other requirements must be met before such veterans will be furnished drugs and medicines on private practitioner prescriptions.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that is a union security agreement, to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2001 - Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Prescribes procedural guidelines for both Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and State access to records of a holding company (including subsidiaries, associates, and affiliates) of a public utility or natural gas company. Instructs FERC to promulgate a final rule to exempt specified holding companies from such access requirements. Requires FERC to exempt any person or transaction from such access requirements if it finds that regulation of such person or transaction is irrelevant to the jurisdictional rates of a public utility or natural gas company. Retains the jurisdiction of FERC and State commissions to determine whether a public utility company or natural gas company may recover in rates any costs of affiliate transactions. Declares this Act inapplicable to: (1) the United States; (2) a State or its political subdivision; and (3) a foreign governmental authority not operating in the United States. Grants FERC certain Federal Power Act enforcement powers. Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal its conflict of jurisdiction guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
Armed Forces Housing Improvement Act of 2001 - Makes a member of the armed forces who has a spouse and at least one dependent under 19 residing with such member eligible for military installation housing containing at least three bedrooms, regardless of such member's grade, rank, or rating. Considers housing containing less than three bedrooms inadequate housing for such member. Directs the Secretaries of the military departments to require the military base housing office of each installation to review and revise its housing market analysis and military family housing requirements to accommodate such policy. Prohibits military housing construction funds appropriated before this Act from being obligated until such Secretaries certify to Congress that: (1) such analyses and requirements have been revised; and (2) the unobligated funds will be used to accommodate such policy and implement such analyses and requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
Historically Women's Public Colleges or Universities Historic Building Restoration and Preservation Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to historically women's public colleges or universities (institutions) for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and structures on their campuses. Specifies seven institutions to receive such grants in FY 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2001
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China should stop persecution of all religious practitioners and safeguard fundamental human rights; and (2) the U.S. Government should continue to insist that China adhere to such rights. Urges the Chinese Government to: (1) release from detention all religious practitioners, Falun Gong members, and prisoners of conscience and end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment; (2) allow the Chinese people to pursue their personal beliefs; and (3) adhere to the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Marriage Tax Elimination Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide that the basic standard deduction on a joint return shall be equal to 200 percent of the dollar amount of an individual who is not married. Provides a schedule for making, by 2005, the maximum taxable income in the lowest married bracket equal to double the maximum taxable income in the lowest single filer bracket. Increases the earned income credit phaseout amount on a joint return by $2,000. Revises IRC provisions relating to limitation based on tax liability and the definition of such liability to provide that the aggregate amount of credits allowed as nonrefundable personal credits shall not exceed the sum of: (1) the taxpayer's regular tax liability for the taxable year reduced by the foreign tax credit; and (2) the tax imposed by the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Honors: (1) the service and commitment of the 1,200 citizen-soldiers of the 48th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia Army National Guard as they depart for Bosnia for a six-month deployment; and (2) the sacrifices made by their families and employers during their time away from home. Recognizes the critical importance of the National Guard and Reserve components to U.S. security. Supports providing the necessary resources to ensure the continued readiness of the National Guard and Reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
National Recreation Lakes Act of 2001 - Establishes the National Recreation Lakes Demonstration Program and the Federal Lakes Recreation Leadership Council. Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 to provide for the participation of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers in an existing recreation fee demonstration program. Provides cost-share assistance for reconstruction of a recreation facility operated under an agreement with the State or local agency at a project lake.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce; and (3) provisions for safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from 401(k) plans. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans) subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Death Tax Elimination Act - Repeals the estate tax, gift tax, and the tax on generation-skipping transfers, effective January 1, 2011. Provides for annual reductions of the tax until such date. Increases the unified estate and gift tax credit to $1.3 million. Repeals the estate and gift tax provisions applicable to family-owned businesses. Amends provisions concerning the special rules for allocation of the generation-skipping tax (GST) exemption to provide, as a general rule, that: (1) if any individual makes an indirect skip during such individual's lifetime, any unused portion of such individual's GST exemption shall be allocated to the property transferred to the extent necessary to make the inclusion ratio for such property zero; and (2) if the amount of the indirect skip exceeds such unused portion, the entire unused portion shall be allocated to the property transferred. Declares that, if a trust is severed in a qualified severance, the trusts resulting from such severance shall be treated as separate trusts thereafter. Revises valuation rules for gifts for which a gift tax return was filed or deemed allocation made. Provides that, if an allocation of the GST exemption to any transfers of property is deemed to have been made at the close of an estate tax inclusion period, the value of the property shall be its value at such time. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe circumstances and procedures under which extensions of time will be granted to make an allocation of GST exemption or an election not to apply specified allocation requirements to certain lifetime direct skips, indirect skips, or transfers to a particular trust. Increases the permissible number of partners or shareholders in a closely held business for purposes of eligibility for an extension of estate tax payments.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Budget Responsibility and Efficiency Act of 2001 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Conforms provisions of the Rules of the House of Representatives, provisions governing the President's budget, and requirements for certain strategic and performance plans and reports to the biennial framework. Provides a point of order against any measure that contains a specific authorization of appropriations unless such authorization is for each fiscal year in a biennium. Requires the President's budget submission for FY 2004 to identify budget accounts for which an appropriation should be made for each fiscal year of the FY 2004-2005 biennium. Directs congressional committees, during the 108th Congress, to work with the Comptroller General to develop plans to transition program authorizations to a multi-year schedule. Sets forth additional transition requirements. Makes this Act applicable to budget resolutions and appropriations for the biennium beginning with FY 2006.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2001
Resolution to Expand Access to Community Health Centers (REACH) Initiative - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that appropriations for consolidated health centers under the Public Health Service Act should be increased by 100 percent over the next five fiscal years in order to double the number of individuals who receive health care services at community, migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement (SAFE) Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed firearms in different States by persons who are not prohibited by Federal law from possessing a firearm and who are: (1) carrying a valid State license or permit for carrying a concealed firearm; or (2) otherwise entitled to carry a concealed firearm in their State of residence.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Declares Executive Order 13166, "Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency," to be null and void. Prohibits the use of funds for the promulgation or enforcement of an executive order that creates an entitlement to services provided in a language other than English.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the required use of certain principal repayments on mortgage subsidy bond financings to redeem bonds; (2) modify the purchase price limitation under mortgage subsidy bond rules based on median family income; and (3) define the term "area median gross income" for low-income housing credit projects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Disapproves a specified rule submitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration relating to ergonomics, and declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2001
Urges the President, the United States Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) make the resolution of the problems associated with the importation of unfairly traded Canadian lumber a top U.S. trade priority; (2) make every effort to end the subsidization of the Canadian lumber industry, and the overproduction of lumber imposed on the Canadian lumber industry by the Provincial governments of Canada; (3) vigorously enforce U.S. trade laws with regard to the importation of unfairly traded lumber; and (4) take actions to limit the injuries caused to U.S. timber and lumber industries by the importation of unfairly traded lumber, including imposing duties in the United States to offset the extent to which such lumber is subsidized and imported at less than its fair value.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Steel Revitalization Act of 2001 - Directs the President to impose quotas, tariff surcharges, or other measures on, and to negotiate enforceable voluntary export restraint agreements with respect to, imports of steel products in order to ensure that: (1) the tonnage of iron ore, coke and coke products, semifinished steel, and pig iron imported into the United States during any month does not exceed the average tonnage of each product that was imported monthly into the United States during the 36-month period preceding July 1997; and (2) the share of domestic consumption of any other applicable steel product in the United States derived from imports during any month does not exceed the average monthly share of domestic U.S. consumption of that steel product during any month in the 36-month period preceding July 1997. Authorizes the Customs Service to refuse entry into the U.S. customs territory for a five-year period of any steel products that exceed their allowable levels. Establishes: (1) the Steel Retiree Health Care Board in the Department of Labor; (2) the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund; and (3) the Health Care Benefit Costs Assistance Program. Sets forth the functions of the Board, including to: (1) provide, under the Health Care Benefit Costs Assistance Program, for payments to designated steelworker group health plans to assist in the funding of qualified retiree health benefits under such plans; and (2) establish policies for the investment and management of the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund that provides for prudent investments and low administrative costs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on steel sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer (such taxes to be deposited into the Steelworker Retiree Health Care Trust Fund). Amends the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to increase the aggregate amount of loans guaranteed and outstanding (including additional costs of such loans) at any one time under Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Program or with respect to a single qualified steel company. Requires the Loan Guarantee Board to approve or deny an application for a guarantee within 45 days after its receipt. Authorizes any person who acquires another person that produces any of the specified categories of steel products contained in this Act to apply to the Secretary of Commerce for a grant to defray the costs necessary to bring, and maintain, the resulting entity into compliance with U.S. environmental laws. Requires the Secretary to make a determination whether or not such mergers will promote the retention of at least 80 percent of the jobs of the steel workers and production of capacity of such steel products. Sets forth penalties for failure to achieve such retention levels.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Medicaid Safety Net Hospital Continued Preservation Act of 2001 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal specified reductions after FY 2000 and thereby extend certain modifications to disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments provided under the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000. Increases the Medicaid DSH allotment for the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2001
Medicare Certified Registered Nurse First Assistant Direct Reimbursement Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of surgical first assisting services furnished by certified registered nurse first assistants.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2001
Mandatory IDEA Full Funding Act of 2001 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to require specified minimum levels of Federal grant payments to States for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2001
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Adjustment Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prescribe a formula for periodic adjustments to the maximum amount of deposit insurance coverage, including an inflation adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Conservation and Reinvestment Act - Establishes the Conservation and Reinvestment Act Fund (CRAF). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit into the CRAF certain Outer Continental Shelf revenues, undisbursed impact assistance and coastal conservation amounts, and interest earned on CRAF investments. Allocates CRAF funds among coastal States for impact assistance and coastal conservation, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and Federal aid to a certain wildlife restoration fund. Provides for CRAF funding of the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994, Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Agreements, and a specified program for payments in lieu of taxes and refuge revenue sharing. Expresses the intent of Congress that amounts made available under this Act are to supplement, and not to detract from, annual appropriations for the National Park Service. Prohibits the expenditure of funds under this Act if such an expenditure diminishes benefit obligations of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, or the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Hope for Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the expenses allowable towards the adoption credit. Renames such credit as the "Tom Bliley adoption credit."
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Childhood Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2001, or the DMD CARE Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to: (1) expand and intensify programs of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (the National Institutes) with respect to research and related activities concerning Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD); (2) award grants or contracts to public or nonprofit entities for at least three DMD research centers of excellence; and (3) provide for donation, collection, and preservation of tissues and genetic materials for such research. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee to coordinate all Federal DMD health programs and activities. Authorizes the Secretary, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants and cooperative agreements for the collection, analysis, and reporting of DMD data. Requires the establishment through the CDC of at least three regional centers of excellence in DMD epidemiology. Directs the Secretary to establish a DMD education and information program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Men's Health Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an office to be known as the Office of Men's Health. Requires a report.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Workers Access to Accountable Governance in Employment (WAGE) Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to permit elections to decertify representation by a labor organization, if 30 percent or more of the employees in a bargaining unit file with the National Labor Relations Board a petition alleging that they no longer wish to be represented by the certified or recognized labor organization. Directs the Board, within 50 days after such filing, to conduct an election. Requires 12 months to elapse before another such decertification election may be held in any one bargaining unit.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Persian Gulf War Illness Compensation Act of 2001 - Amends a veterans' benefits program of compensation for disabilities occurring in veterans of the Persian Gulf War to: (1) require such disabilities, to be compensable, to occur before December 31, 2011, or such later date as prescribed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; (2) define an "undiagnosed illness" in such veterans as one manifested by specified symptoms or signs the cause, etiology, or origin of which cannot be specifically and definitely identified; and (3) include an undiagnosed illness having such a symptom or sign within the presumption of being service-connected and therefore treatable as a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Children's Gasoline Burn Prevention Act - Amends Poison Prevention Packaging Act provisions concerning special packaging of household substances for the protection of children to include a portable gasoline container within the definition of the term package.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Amends Federal provisions relating to the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to change from October 1, 2008, to October 1, 2002, the effective date on or after which no reduction may be made in the retired pay of an SBP participant for any month after the later of: (1) the 360th month for which such pay was so reduced; and (2) the month during which the participant attains 70 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2001
Straight Talk on Social Security Act of 2001 - Amends the Social Security Act to require Social Security account statements to contain additional information, such as a statement of the current Social Security tax rates applicable to wages and self-employment income, including an indication of the combined total of such rates of employee and employer taxes with respect to wages.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2001
Family Opportunity Act of 2001 or Dylan Lee James Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for such children; and (2) provide for treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospital services for individuals under age 21 under waivers allowing for payment of part or all of the cost of home or community-based services. Authorizes a State to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for approval of a demonstration project to provide Medicaid coverage of up to a specified maximum number of children with a potentially severe disability. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for the restoration of Medicaid eligibility to certain SSI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSA title XVI) beneficiaries under age 21.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Project Exile Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act of 2001 - Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to direct the Attorney General to provide firearms sentencing incentive grants to eligible States that: (1) demonstrate that they have implemented laws requiring that any person who uses or carries a firearm in any violent crime or serious drug trafficking crime be sentenced to not less than five years in prison (without the possibility of parole) in addition to the punishment provided for such crime, or requiring that any person who possesses a firearm, having at least one prior conviction for a violent crime, be sentenced to five years' imprisonment (without the possibility of parole); or (2) can demonstrate that they have in effect an equivalent Federal prosecution agreement; and (3) demonstrate that they have or will implement a public awareness and community support program that seeks to build support for, and warns potential violators of, such firearms sentencing laws; and (4) provide assurances that they will coordinate with Federal prosecutors and Federal law enforcement agencies and will allocate resources to reduce crime in high-crime areas. Sets forth allowable uses for such grants, including to: (1) support law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, probation officers, correctional officers, the juvenile justice system, the improvement of criminal history records, or case management programs involving the sharing of information about serious offenders; (2) carry out such a public awareness and community support program; and (3) build or expand correctional facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code with respect to health care coverage. Requires group health plans, and health insurance issuers providing health insurance coverage, to conduct utilization review activities in connection with the provision of benefits under such plan or coverage only in accordance with an approved utilization review program. Requires health plans and insurers to offer consumers: (1) more care options; and (2) greater access to patient information. Restricts interference by health plans and insurers with the doctor-patient relationship. Prohibits health plans and insurers from discriminating against a licensed health care professional with respect to participation or indemnification. Requires health plans and insurers to comply with patient protection requirements of this Act. Extends and expands provisions of the medical savings account program. Provides for: (1) the deduction of 100 percent of the health insurance costs of the self-employed; and (2) a credit for the health insurance expenses of small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2001
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the International Criminal Court Treaty undermines United States sovereignty and security, conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, contradicts customs of international law, and violates the inalienable rights of self-government, individual liberty, and popular sovereignty; and (2) President Bush should declare to all nations that the United States does not intend to assent to or ratify the treaty and that former President Clinton's signature to the treaty should not be construed otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2001 - Provides that: (1) whoever engages in conduct that violates specified provisions of the Federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, or specified articles the Uniform Code of Military Justice (conduct constituting certain Federal violent crimes) and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero, shall be guilty of a separate offense; and (2) the punishment for that separate offense shall be the same as that provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother. Specifies that a violation of such provisions does not require proof that: (1) the person engaging in the conduct had knowledge or should have had knowledge that the victim of the underlying offense was pregnant; or (2) the defendant (or accused) intended to cause the death of, or bodily injury to, the unborn child. Directs that if the person engaging in the conduct thereby intentionally kills or attempts to kill the unborn child, that person shall be punished as provided under the Federal criminal code for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being. Prohibits imposition of the death penalty for an offense under this Act. Bars prosecution under this Act: (1) of any person for conduct relating to an abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman, or a person authorized by law to act on her behalf, has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law; (2) for conduct relating to any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or (3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Child Safety and Home Security Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a nonrefundable tax credit for the purchase of a residential safe storage device that is put into service for the securing of firearms. Prohibits the creation of a database identifying gun owners using information from tax returns on which credit under this Act is claimed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2001
Blind Empowerment Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Child Custody Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit transporting an individual under age 18 across a State line to obtain an abortion and thereby abridging the right of a parent under a law in force in the State where the individual resides requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision. Makes an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor. Specifies that neither the minor transported nor her parent may be prosecuted or sued for a violation of this Act. Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution for, or to a civil action based on, such a violation that the defendant reasonably believed that before the individual obtained the abortion, the parental consent or notification or judicial authorization that would have been required had the abortion been performed in the State where the individual resides, took place. Authorizes any parent who suffers legal harm from a violation to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Defines "parent" to include a guardian, legal custodian, or person standing in loco parentis who has care and control of the minor, and with whom the minor regularly resides, who is designated by such law as a person to whom notification, or from whom consent, is required.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require certification of a group of workers (including agricultural firm or subdivision workers) as eligible to apply for trade adjustment assistance under such Act if the Secretary of Labor determines that a significant number or proportion of them in the workers' firm (or subdivision) have become totally or partially separated (or threatened with total or partial separation), and either that: (1) the firm's (or subdivision's) sales or production, or both, have decreased absolutely, imports from the People's Republic of China of like or directly competitive articles have increased by reason of the extension of normal trade relations treatment, and such increase in imports contributed importantly to such workers' separation (or threat thereof) and to the decline in the firm's (or subdivision's) sales or production; or (2) there has been a shift in production by the workers' firm (or subdivision) to the People's Republic of China of articles like or directly competitive with the firm's (or subdivision's) articles by reason of such extension of normal trade relations treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2001
Reserve Employer Tax Credit Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide: (1) employers a business tax credit for a portion of compensation that was not paid with respect to members of the military reserves who were absent from work on qualified reserve duty; (2) a comparable credit for participating self-employed individuals; and (3) for the deduction of certain expenses paid or incurred by members of a Reserve component of the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Directs the Comptroller General to: (1) conduct a fraud audit of selected accounts at the Department of Education that the Comptroller General determines to be particularly susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse; and (2) report audit results to specified congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Parents Know Best Act of 2001 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require parental notification and consent prior to enrollment of a child in a bilingual education program or a special alternative instructional program for limited English proficient students, if such program is assisted under ESEA.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Fishable Waters Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Act) to establish a program of grants to States with approved fisheries habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement programs. Permits States to designate watershed councils to carry out fisheries habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement plans. Makes projects that support or implement specific recommendations contained in a council plan eligible for financial support from a State's fisheries habitat account established pursuant to this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, to establish a community fisheries habitat revitalization program to provide for assistance to State fish and wildlife agencies for projects to improve urban watersheds and public access to such watersheds in order to restore fisheries habitat or enhance fisheries uses and provide recreational opportunities. Requires States with approved programs to establish fisheries habitat accounts for providing financial support for recommended projects. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Directors of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Geological Survey, to establish a national planning program for protection and restoration of fisheries habitat through improved floodplain management practices on major waterways. Provides for public dissemination of technical information on fisheries-related needs for instream flows. Treats Indian tribes as States for purposes of this Act. Reauthorizes appropriations for FY 2002 through 2006 under the Act for grants for: (1) nonpoint source pollution control management programs; and (2) groundwater quality protection activities to advance States toward implementation of such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2001
Education Improvement Tax Cut Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a credit (of up to $3,000) against income tax for qualified scholarship contributions; and (2) allow a credit (of up to $3,000) against income tax for qualified school materials contributions.
![Official portrait of Rep. Norwood, Charles W. [R-GA-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/n000159_200.jpg)