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![Official portrait of Rep. Norwood, Charles W. [R-GA-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/n000159_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,856 records where Rep. Norwood, Charles W. [R-GA-9] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2005
Currency Harmonization Initiative through Neutralizing Action Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to analyze annually the exchange rate policies of the People's Republic of China, and to impose additional tariffs, if necessary, to equalize any currency manipulations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2005
Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the allowable tax deduction for the expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers to $400; (2) allow the deduction of professional development expenses; and (3) make such deduction permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2005
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2005 - Amends the federal criminal code to replace provisions regarding the purchase of prison-made products by federal departments with provisions establishing a government-wide procurement policy relating to purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI), which shall generally require the use of competitive procedures. Authorizes a contract award to be made to FPI using other than competitive procedures: (1) if a product or service is only available from FPI; and (2) by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (the Bureau). Requires that an analysis of the probable impact of a proposed expansion of sales within the federal market by FPI on private sector firms and their non-inmate workers be made whenever FPI proposes to authorize the sale of a new specific product or service or to expand production of a current product or service. Prohibits the total dollar value of FPI sales to the government in FY 2007 through 2011 from exceeding specified percentages of FPI sales for the base period. Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to require an executive agency: (1) before purchasing a product listed in the latest edition of the FPI catalog, to determine whether the FPI product is comparable to products available from the private sector; and (2) if such product is not comparable, to use competitive procedures or make an individual purchase under a multiple award. Authorizes FPI to enter into a contract with a federal contractor to produce products as a subcontractor or supplier in the performance of a federal procurement contract. Includes services within the scope of a prohibition against transporting (in interstate commerce or from a foreign country) goods produced by prisoners. Establishes within the Bureau of Prisons: (1) the Enhanced In-Prison Educational and Vocational Assessment and Training Program; and (2) the Cognitive Abilities Assessment Demonstration Program. Directs: (1) the Chief Operating Officer of FPI to develop proposals to have FPI donate products and services to eligible entities that provide goods or services to low-income individuals who would likely otherwise have difficulty purchasing such products or services; (2) the Director of the Bureau to afford to inmates opportunities to participate in programs and activities designed to help prepare such inmates to obtain employment upon release; and (3) the Comptroller General to undertake to have an independent study conducted on the effects of eliminating FPI's mandatory source authority.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2005
Alien Gang Removal Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make an alien inadmissible for U.S. entry if: (1) such alien has been deported for criminal street gang participation; or (2) the consular officer or the Secretary of Homeland Security knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that such alien is a member of a criminal street gang seeking U.S. entry in furtherance of gang-related crimes or activities, or is a member of a designated criminal street gang. Defines: (1) criminal street gang; and (2) gang crime. Makes an alien deportable who: (1) is a street gang member convicted of committing or attempting to commit a gang crime; or (2) is determined by the Secretary to be a member of a designated criminal street gang. Authorizes the Attorney General to designate a group or association as a criminal street gang. Requires the Attorney General to provide specified congressional leaders with prior notice of, and the factual basis for, such designation. Provides for revocation of such designation by: (1) an Act of Congress; (2) the Attorney General's review based upon changed circumstances or national security; or (3) judicial appeal or petition to the Attorney General by a gang or association so designated. Requires mandatory detention of aliens subject to removal based upon criminal street gang membership. Makes such aliens ineligible for asylum and protection from removal to certain countries.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2005
Expresses support for: (1) the work of the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis; and (2) designation of an Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend until 2015 the tax deduction from gross income for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers and to include the expenses of preschool teachers, instructors, counselors, or aides as deductible expenses. Changes the amount of such deduction to allow $250 for a preschool, elementary, or secondary school teacher, instructor, counselor, principal, or aide working in a school for at least 450 hours during a school year and $500 for such school employees working at least 900 hours.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2005
Constitutional Amendment - Requires Representatives to be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by counting the number of persons in each State who are U.S. citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2005
Clean Energy Bonds Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow holders of clean energy bonds a nonrefundable tax credit of 25 percent of an annual credit amount as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. Defines "clean energy bond" as any bond issued by a clean energy bond lender, a cooperative electric company, a governmental body, or the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that is used for capital expenditures for specified projects for producing electricity from certain renewable resources, such as wind, biomass, solar energy, small irrigation power, and municipal solid waste. Sets forth rules for maturity limitations, arbitrage, and expenditures, including a requirement that 95 percent of proceeds from the sale of a bond issue be spent on a renewable resource project within five years from the date of a bond issuance. Terminates the authority to issue clean energy bonds after 2008.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2005
HIPAA Recreational Injury Technical Correction Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan or health insurance issuer offering group health coverage from denying benefits or coverage otherwise provided under the plan for the treatment of an injury solely because it was sustained while a person was engaged in any particular mode of transportation specified in the plan, consisting of the use of a motorcycle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or other similar recreational vehicle or horseback riding, unless such mode of transportation or its use was illegal.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2005
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week (February 7- February 14).
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005 - Amends the Revised Statutes of the United States to limit the remedy to injunctive relief and deny attorneys' fees in a civil action against a state or local official for deprivation of rights where the deprivation consists of a violation of a prohibition in the Constitution against the establishment of religion.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the United States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD), or the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF), to establish a grant program for joint ventures, composed of both Israeli and U.S. private business entities or of U.S. and Israeli academic persons, to implement projects to encourage cooperation between the United States and Israel on research, development, or commercialization of alternative energy, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources. Establishes in the Department of Energy an International Energy Advisory Board to advise the Secretary on the grant program and grant recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Patient Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to set forth requirements for health plans or issuers of health insurance coverage, including requirements for: (1) utilization review activities; (2) procedures for claims benefits processing, prior authorization determinations, appeals, and internal reviews; and (3) access for an independent, external review. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the Health Care Consumer Assistance Fund to award grants to States for consumer assistance activities designed to provide information, assistance, and referrals to consumers of health insurance products. Sets forth requirements for managed care programs and their access to care, including requiring such programs to: (1) offer coverage that allows for non-network coverage through another plan or issuer; (2) provide access to out-of-network emergency care without prior authorization; and (3) provide timely access to specialists. Requires certain annual disclosures from health plans or issuers, including disclosures of covered benefits, cost-sharing requirements, and participating providers. Prohibits a plan or issuer from: (1) restricting a health care professional's ability to advise a patient on the health of an individual or on medical care or treatment for the individual's condition or disease; and (2) operating any physician incentive plan.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2005
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require Medicaid drug utilization review programs to deny coverage of erectile dysfunction drugs for individuals registered (or required to be registered) as sex offenders.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2005
Respect for Life Embryonic Stem Cell Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide for the conduct and support of basic applied research to develop: (1) techniques for the derivation of stem cells from embryos that do not harm embryos; and (2) techniques for storing such stem cells of an animal for future therapy for that animal. Prohibits any such research that involves the derivation of stem cells from human embryos or that uses any stem cell to attempt to create a human embryo.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2005
Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act - Amends the Federal Employees' Compensation Act to include within the definition of "physician" physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2005
Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to contract with qualified cord blood stem cell banks to assist in the collection and maintenance of human cord blood to be made available for transplantation through the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program. Requires the Secretary to require that recipients of such contracts: (1) acquire and store donated units of human cord blood acquired with the informed consent of the donor in a manner that complies with applicable Federal and State regulations; and (2) make collected cord blood units available for stem cell transplantation or, if not appropriate for clinical use, available for peer-reviewed research. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to establish and maintain the Program to increase the number of transplants for recipients suitably matched to biologically unrelated donors of bone marrow and cord blood. Requires the Secretary to establish an Advisory Council to advise the Secretary on matters related to Program activities. Requires the Program to: (1) operate a system for identifying, matching, and facilitating the distribution of donated cord blood units; (2) allow transplant physicians, health care professionals, and patients to search by electronic means for available cord blood units; (3) support studies and demonstration and outreach projects for the purpose of increasing cord blood donation to ensure a genetically diverse collection of cord blood units; and (4) carry out information and educational activities for the purpose of increasing cord blood donation and promoting the availability of cord blood units as a transplant option. Requires the Secretary to establish and maintain a scientific database of outcome information relating to patients who have been recipients of stem cell therapeutics product from a biologically unrelated donor (replacing provisions establishing a bone marrow scientific registry).
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2005
Joe Testaverde Adult Stem Cell Research Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH activities regarding qualifying adult stem cell research. Defines "qualifying adult stem cell" to mean a human stem cell obtained from a human placenta, umbilical cord blood, an organ or tissue of a living or deceased human being who has been born, or an organ or tissue of unborn human offspring who died of natural causes (such as spontaneous abortion). Requires the Director to award grants and contracts to plan, establish, improve, and provide basic operating support for no less than five centers of excellence regarding such research. Requires each center to conduct basic and clinical research, including investigations into the cause, diagnosis, early detection, prevention, control, and treatment of disease. Allows a center to: (1) make individuals aware of opportunities to participate as subjects in research; and (2) provide referrals for health and other services. Requires the Director to provide for: (1) a program under which samples of tissues and genetic materials that are of use in qualifying adult stem cell research are donated, collected, preserved, and made available for such research; and (2) means through which the public can obtain information on NIH programs and activities related to such research and through which the Director can receive comments from the public.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2005
Living Organ Donor Tax Credit Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable tax credit for a donation of a qualified life-saving organ for transplantation by a living individual into another individual. Defines "qualified life-saving organ" as a kidney, liver, lung, pancreas, intestine, bone marrow, or any part thereof. Limits the annual amount of such credit to $5,000 of the unreimbursed costs and lost wages incurred by an organ donor in connection with an organ transplant. Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) reduce federal living organ donation grants by any tax credit for organ donation received under this Act; and (2) provide that any such tax credit not be deemed valuable consideration for purposes of the ban against organ purchases.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2005
Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act - Establishes the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies to: (1) evaluate executive agencies and their programs; and (2) submit to Congress a plan recommending agencies and programs that should be realigned or eliminated and proposing implementing legislation. Directs the President to: (1) establish a systematic method for assessing the effectiveness and accountability of agency programs; and (2) submit to the Commission assessments of not less than half of the programs that use such method. Prohibits the implementation of such method until it has been reviewed and accepted by the Commission. Requires the Commission to consider submitted assessments in evaluating programs. Requires the President to identify common performance measures for programs having similar functions and provide the Commission with data on such measures.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Frivolous Lawsuit Reduction Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize parties in civil diversity litigation to serve written settlement offers on an adverse party at any time not less than 10 days before trial. Authorizes the court, at any time before judgment is entered, to exempt from settlement any claim that presents a novel and important question of law or fact that substantially affects nonparties. Voids all settlement offers made by the parties with respect to such exempted claims. Authorizes an offeror whose proposed settlement was declined by an offeree to file a petition with the court seeking payment by the offeree of costs and fees, including attorney's fees, from the date of the last settlement offer by either party if the ultimate judgment or order is not more favorable to the offeree than the proposed settlement. Requires the court to order payment by the offeree in such circumstances unless requiring payment would be manifestly unjust. Limits attorney's fees ordered under this Act to: (1) the actual attorney's fees incurred by the offeree in connection with the claim; or (2) if no such cost was incurred due to a contingency fee agreement, a reasonable cost that would have been incurred by the offeree absent a contingency fee agreement. States that this Act does not apply to claims seeking equitable remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
College 529 Invest in Education Savings for Tomorrow Act of 2005 - Makes permanent the provisions relating to qualified tuition programs enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA).
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2005
Pledge Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any Federal court, and appellate jurisdiction to the Supreme Court, to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of the Pledge of Allegiance or its validity under the Constitution. Makes this limitation inapplicable to: (1) any court established by Congress under its power to make needful rules and regulations respecting the territory of the United States; or (2) the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2005
Respirator Access Assurance Act of 2005 - States that manufacturers or sellers of respirators shall not be subject to claims for defective design or warning, or any claims based on such allegations, if the respirator in question received National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) approval and was manufactured in compliance with NIOSH-approved design and labeling. Preempts all State and local laws with regard to such claims. Makes this Act applicable to any civil action in Federal or State court for harm allegedly caused by a respirator, respirator manufacturer, or respirator seller. Applies this Act to any action than has not proceeded to trial as of the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2005
Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to payment for physicians' services to: (1) eliminate the sustainable growth rate payment update system; and (2) establish in its place an update to the single conversion factor for 2006 of at least 2.7 percent, and a formula for an update to the single conversion factor for years beginning with 2007. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in calculating the formula for the single conversion factor, to establish an input price index and estimate annually a productivity adjustment factor.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2005
Family Budget Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to eliminate the May 15 deadline for consideration of annual appropriations measures. Requires annual joint (currently, concurrent) budget resolutions signed by the President. Provides for an amendment to change the statutory limit on the public debt. Requires consideration of budget-related legislation before the budget resolution becomes law. Provides expedited procedures for presidential vetoes of joint budget resolutions. Provides for establishment of a reserve fund for emergencies. Requires: (1) biennial (currently, annual) budget resolutions; (2) biennial appropriations Acts; and (3) biennial government strategic and performance plans. Provides spending caps on the growth of entitlements and mandatory budget outlays. Excludes from such limitation until FY2008 direct spending programs and direct spending under part D (relating to the Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Health Insurance for the Aged and Disabled) under the Social Security Act (SSA) or spending under part C of such title (relating to the Medicare+Choice Program) that is attributable to such part D. Exempts benefits payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of SSA, Tier 1 railroad retirement benefits, and benefits payable under part A of title XVIII (relating to Hospital Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of SSA and part C of such title (relating to the Medicare+Choice program) from required reductions under the Balanced Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), along with specified government accounts and activities. Provides other exceptions, limitations, and special rules with respect to sequestration exemptions. Directs the Chairman of the House and Senate Committees on the Budget each to maintain a Budget Protection Mandatory Account and a Budget Protection Discretionary Account. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require: (1) an analysis of long-term unfunded obligations in the President's budget submission; and (2) long-term unfunded obligation analyses by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Makes it out of order to consider legislation, if upon enactment, it would increase the long-term unfunded obligation of the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) as defined in the CBA. Freezes at current levels spending authority for each unearned entitlement and high-cost discretionary spending program unless such spending authority is reauthorized after the enactment of this Act. Establishes the Commission to Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse. Provides for accrual funding of the: (1) Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (2) Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System; and (3) Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Retirement Fund; (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Retirement Fund; and (3) the Coast Guard Military Retirement Fund. Changes the name of the Department of Defense Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Care Fund to Uniformed Services Health Care Fund (thus, providing health care programs for all uniformed service retirees, under certain conditions). (Currently, such programs are for Department of Defense Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.) Decreases the limit on the public debt from $6.4 trillion to $4.393 trillion. Repeals rule XXVII of the House of Representatives (the Gephardt Rule, relating to mandatory adjustment of the statutory limit on the public debt to conform to a budget resolution). Prohibits consideration of extraneous appropriations in omnibus appropriations measures.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2005
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers to conduct multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each such center to: (1) be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence; (2) establish ongoing collaborations with community organizations; (3) be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions; (4) be supported under this Act for a period of not more than five years with additional periods allowed after review and recommendation; and (5) use innovative approaches to study unexplored areas of the environment and breast cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Panel to make recommendations for and to review grants awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Designates the U.S. exclusive economic zone (as established by Presidential Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983) as the "Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States".
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Employee Pension Preservation and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to permit commercial passenger airline pension plans to elect to restructure their unfunded plan liabilities over a 25-year period. Prohibits plans that elect restructuring to accrue future unfunded pension plan liabilities. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to deny tax-exempt status to a successor of a plan restructured under this Act unless all benefit obligations of the restructured plan have been satisfied. Amends ERISA to exempt the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) from liability for any unfunded pension plan liabilities incurred by commercial passenger airline pension plans after an election to restructure is made.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2005 - Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability (currently, only a disability rated at 50 percent or more). Makes the 2004 through 2013 phase-in limitations for the concurrent receipt of such pay for qualified retirees with service-connected disabilities rated as total applicable: (1) only during 2004 for retirees with a 100 percent disability; and (2) only during 2004 and 2005 for retirees with a total disability by reason of unemployability. Makes eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay those individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Securing Access, Value, and Equality in Health Care Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow individual taxpayers a refundable tax credit for health insurance costs paid for the benefit of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, and dependents; (2) require business taxpayers who receive payments for certain employee health insurance coverage to file informational returns; and (3) direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make advance payments of health insurance tax credit amounts to health insurance providers.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Urges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to extend through at least 2006 the Medicare demonstration project that assesses the quality of care for patients undergoing chemotherapy by collecting data on the impact of chemotherapy on cancer patients' quality of life. Calls for the continuation of payments to physicians for participation in the demonstration project to ensure that Medicare patients with cancer have access to chemotherapy treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Thanks John R. Bolton, President George W. Bush's nominee to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations, for his long-standing history of confronting corruption at the United Nations (UN). Urges him to continue his hard work and dedication to the implementation of measures that will restore the UN's credibility.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2005
Condemns the attacks on U.S. citizens by Palestinian terrorists and demands that the Palestinian Authority (PA) work with Israel to protect all innocent individuals, regardless of citizenship, from terrorist atrocities. Offers condolences to the families of U.S. citizens killed by Palestinian terrorist attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income 100 percent of the gain, up to $500,000, from the sale of qualified farm property to a first-time farmer who certifies that such property will be used for farming purposes for ten years. Allows: (1) a 50 percent exclusion for the sale of qualified farm property to any other person who certifies that such property will be used for farming purposes for ten years; and (2) a 25 percent exclusion for the sale of qualified farm property to any other person for any other use. Defines "qualified farm property" as real property located in the United States which is used for farming purposes for a specified three-year period and in which there was material participation by the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse or family member. Requires the recapture of tax benefits if qualified farm property is sold or ceases operation as a farm before the required ten-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the San Francisco Old Mint Building, its importance to California and U.S. history, and its role in rebuilding San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire. Requires that all surcharges received by the Secretary from such coin sales be promptly paid to the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society for purposes of rehabilitating the Historic Old Mint in San Francisco as a city museum and an American Coin and Gold Rush Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, upon request of the Secretary of Homeland Security, to assign members of the Armed Forces to assist: (1) the Bureau of Border Security of the Department of Homeland Security in preventing the entry of terrorists, drug traffickers, and illegal aliens into the United States; and (2) the U.S. Customs Service in the inspection of cargo, vehicles, and aircraft at U.S. points of entry to prevent the entry of weapons of mass destruction and their components, prohibited narcotics or drugs, or other terrorist or drug trafficking items. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify that such request is necessary to respond to a threat to national security. Requires the Secretaries to establish a training program that must be completed by military personnel serving in such capacity. Requires any member so serving to be accompanied by a civilian law enforcement officer from the agency concerned. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish ongoing joint task forces to respond to threats to national security posed by the entry of terrorists, drug traffickers, or illegal aliens. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to notify the governor and local governments of the State involved of the deployment of such members and the types of tasks to be performed. Prohibits any such assignment after September 30, 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
States that: (1) the President shall withdraw or terminate any presidential waiver of the requirements under the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1988 and 1989 prohibiting the establishment or maintenance of a Palestinian information office in the United States; and (2) such section shall apply so as to prohibit a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) or Palestinian Authority (PA) office in the United States from carrying out any function other than those functions carried out by the Palestinian information office in existence prior to the Oslo Accords.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2005
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2005 - Provides that, if there is a deficit in a fiscal year, then: (1) any pay adjustment (including a cost of living adjustment) for Members of Congress scheduled to take effect in the succeeding calendar year shall be null and void; and (2) rates of pay for Members shall be reduced by a specified percentage, but not below zero. Specifies the mandatory pay rate reduction at: (1) five percent, for the first year; or (2) ten percent, for any consecutive subsequent year that expenditures exceed revenues. Specifies conditions for restoration of the original pay rate, together with otherwise scheduled adjustments. Vests authority in the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to make determinations of whether or not a deficit exists in any fiscal year. States that, in making any such determination, the Director shall exclude any budget outlays which directly relate to a military conflict that lasts over 30 days or that is in direct response to a terrorist attack on the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2005
Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the excise tax on communication services (i.e., local telephone service, toll telephone service, and teletypewriter exchange service).
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2005
Truth in Employment Act of 2005 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that nothing in specified prohibitions against unfair labor practices by employers shall be construed as requiring an employer to employ any person who seeks or has sought employment with the employer in furtherance of other employment or agency status.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to require employers at critical infrastructure sites to participate in the basic pilot (employment eligibility verification) program. Defines such employers as those employing individuals in a location that: (1) is a Federal, State, or local government building, a military base, a nuclear energy site, a weapon site, or an airport; or (2) contains critical infrastructure as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Makes it unlawful for such employers to: (1) authorize an alien employee's access to critical infrastructure after receiving a notification of nonconfirmation from the commissioner of Social Security; or (2) fail to notify any other person or entity that has or may issue documentation authorizing the alien's access of such notification. Authorizes the use of information obtained pursuant to the basic pilot program for enforcement of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Social Security Act. Allows the Secretary to authorize or require any person or entity responsible for granting access to, protecting, securing, operating, administering, or regulating critical infrastructure to use the basic pilot program for individuals seeking access if doing so will assist in protecting such infrastructure. Establishes enforcement procedures for noncompliance.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
Union Member Freedom From Strikes Act of 2005 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it an unfair labor practice for a labor organization or its agents to strike an employer unless the employees of the collective bargaining unit engaged in the strike have voted by secret ballot to reject the last contract offer proposed by such employer.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2005
Pest Management and Fire Suppression Flexibility Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to state that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall not require a permit under the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES), or require a State to mandate such a permit, for: (1) the proper use of a pesticide that is registered or otherwise approved for use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and (2) the use by or in cooperation with the Federal or State government of a fire retardant, chemical, or water for fire suppression, control, or prevention in accordance with relevant Federal guidelines; (3) silvicultural activities except for specified point source activities; and (4) the use of biological control organisms for the prevention, control, or eradication of plant pests or noxious weeds pursuant to specified provisions of the Plant Protection Act. Redefines "point source" to exclude from the term those public health protection, pest management, and silvicultural activities excluded from NPDES permit requirements under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 2005
Rural Veterans Access to Care Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a FY 2006 through 2008 pilot program to improve health care access for rural veterans. States that: (1) the program shall be conducted in three geographic service regions (Veterans Integrated Service Networks) of the Veterans Health Administration; and (2) medical services shall be provided by non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) providers for acute or chronic symptom management, non-therapeutic medical services, and other medical services as determined by the director of the appropriate geographic service region. Obligates program funds.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Second Chance Act of 2005: Community Safety Through Recidivism Prevention or the Second Chance Act of 2005 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize, rewrite, and expand provisions regarding adult and juvenile offender reentry demonstration projects, including by authorizing funds to: (1) provide structured post-release housing and transitional housing; (2) facilitate specified collaboration to promote the employment of people released from prison and jail; (3) carry out programs that support children of incarcerated parents; and (4) establish or expand the use of reentry courts. Sets forth grant priorities and requirements, including that each state, territory, tribe, or local government recipient establish a Reentry Task Force or other authority. Authorizes the Attorney General to make a grant to provide for the establishment of a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center. Directs the Attorney General to establish an interagency task force on federal programs regarding offender reentry. Authorizes the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct research on offender reentry. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the role of state child protective services at the time of arrest and establish services for the preservation of families impacted by the incarceration of a family member; and (2) the Secretary of Labor to implement a program to educate employers about one-stop centers, existing incentives for the hiring of former prisoners, and tax credits, and to make grants to nonprofit organizations to provide transitional services. Amends the federal criminal code to direct a court to revoke a term of supervised release or a sentence of probation for a defendant who commits a crime of violence against, or an offense of unlawful sexual contact with, a person who has not attained the age of 16 years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (currently, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for two additional years (taxable years beginning before 2010) provisions allowing the increased expensing of small business assets.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Colon Cancer Screen for Life Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the use of and reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening tests covered under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA). Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) increase Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening and diagnostic tests; (2) cover an outpatient office visit or consultation for the purpose of beneficiary education before a colorectal cancer screening test consisting of a colonoscopy, or in conjunction with the beneficiary's decision to obtain such a screening, regardless of whether the screening is medically indicated with respect to the beneficiary; and (3) waive the deductible for such tests.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2005
Obligation of Funds Transparency Act of 2005 - Prohibits a Federal agency from obligating funds made available in an appropriation Act to implement an earmark that is included in a congressional report accompanying such Act, unless the earmark is also included in that Act. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit waiver of the germaneness requirement for conference reports by a report by the Committee on Rules, unless approved by a vote of three-fifths of the Members voting, with a quorum being present. Limits debate on such a question to 20 minutes equally divided by a proponent and an opponent. States that the above also applies in the case of a special rule that waives all (or specified) points of order. Prohibits the Committee on Rules from reporting a rule or order waiving the above amendment to the rules.