United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) greater attention should be paid to the negative impact on economic development of the denial of inheritance rights to women, particularly in Africa; (2) programs that focus on ensuring secure inheritance rights to widows and orphans of HIV/AIDS should be considered; (3) secure inheritance rights for women should be included in strategies addressing violence against women; (4) the rights of widows and other female heads of households to inherit land and property should be included in the priorities of reconstruction; (5) the Secretary of State should examine the issue of women's inheritance rights in Africa in the State Department's annual human rights report; (6) the U.S. Agency for International Development should consider conducting a study of African countries to document the effect of the denial of women's inheritance rights on economic development; and (7) the Annual Day of Acton on Women's Inheritance Rights should be acknowledged and supported.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2003
Reduced Asthma Through Air Quality Improvement Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish programs to improve indoor air quality in schools and in buildings where there are private or public sector employees. Requires EPA to: (1) enter into an agreement with nongovernmental organizations to establish a permanent program to provide information to school administrators on methods of improving indoor air quality; or (2) publish notice of such an existing program or combination of programs. Requires NIOSH to implement a Building Health Assessment Program to provide building assessments, upon request, to employers and employees on measures to reduce significant indoor air health risks. Requires HHS to establish a grant program to assist schools and employers, respectively, to implement such indoor air quality recommendations from EPA and NIOSH.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2003
Cancer Testing, Education, Screening, and Treatment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to qualifying health centers for programs providing cancer information, education, screening, counseling, and treatment. Targets service populations with significant numbers of low-income minority individuals who are at-risk for cancer, requiring programs to provide outreach and culturally sensitive services (including same language) to such populations. Requires the Secretary to designate the type(s) of cancer covered by a grant.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2003
Fairness for America's Heroes Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) extend automatic naturalization (upon commencement of combat service) to a noncitizen member of the armed forces who serves on active service below the grade of commissioned officer in a combat zone; and (2) provide immigration benefits to the spouse, child, or parent of a member of the armed forces who was granted posthumous citizenship through death while on active duty service during a period of military hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from income and employment taxes and wage withholding a rebate of real or personal property taxes, or any other benefit, provided by a State or political subdivision on account of services performed as a member of a qualified volunteer emergency response organization.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2003
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 2003 - 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. 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. 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. 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; (3) the Attorney General to establish the Federal Reentry Center Demonstration Project; and (4) 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 · 11 April 2003
Guardsmen and Reservists Financial Relief Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the ten percent penalty on early distributions from tax-exempt retirement plans, withdrawals made by military reservists or national guardsmen called to active duty for a period in excess of 179 days or for an indefinite period. Permits reimbursement of such withdrawals within two years after the end of the active duty period. Applies the provisions of this Act to individuals ordered or called to active duty after September 11, 2001, and before September 12, 2005, for retirement plan distributions made after September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation to Dr. Dorothy Height (President of the National Council of Negro Women) of a congressional gold medal in recognition of her many contributions to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Naturalization and Family Protection for Military Members Act of 2003 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act respecting naturalization through service in the armed forces to: (1) reduce the required service from three years to two years; (2) prohibit the imposition of a naturalization fee; and (3) qualify the Selective Reserve of the Ready Reserve for such benefits. Provides for overseas naturalization proceedings for members of the armed forces. Retains immediate relative status for the alien wife, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen who died from injury or disease incurred while serving honorably on active military service. (Requires petition filing within two years of such death.) States that an application for status adjustment by the alien wife, child, or parent of an alien member of the armed forces who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship may be adjudicated as if the death had not occurred. (Requires application filing prior to such death.) Treats the spouse, child, or parent of a lawful permanent resident who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship as a valid petitioner for immediate family status. (Requires parent filing within two years of such death.) Permits such aliens to apply for permanent resident status adjustment. Waives specified grounds of inadmissibility.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
State and Local Reservist First Responders Assistance Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to make grants to reimburse any State, local government, or Indian tribe for costs incurred as a result of a call or order to active duty of armed forces reserves who are first responder personnel, including: (1) costs of hiring first responder personnel to replace such reserves; and (2) overtime pay costs for other first responder personnel. Permits: (1) reimbursement only if the State, local government, or tribe would not have incurred such costs but for the absence of first responder personnel; (2) costs to be reimbursed only for a reserve who serves at least six consecutive months on active duty at any time during the two years preceding the application for the grant; and (3) reimbursable costs to include any costs in connection with such reserve's active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Makes it unlawful to: (1) import, export, or transport in interstate commerce conventional steel jawed leghold traps and articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps; or (2) sell or acquire such a trap transported in violation of such provision. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward persons (other than Government employees performing official duties) for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected containers or merchandise and any accompanying documents, to make arrests without warrants with probable cause, and to execute warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Terrorist Victim Citizenship Relief Act - Deems aliens who died as a result of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States to be honorary U.S. citizens if they held lawful immigration status. Entitles the spouses and children of such victims to naturalization as U.S. citizens upon being administered the oath of renunciation and allegiance in an appropriate ceremony pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), without regard to their current status, if they apply to the Secretary of Homeland Security for naturalization within two years. Directs the Secretary to record the date of naturalization of any such person as being September 10, 2001. Prohibits naturalization of, or affording honorary citizenship to, any alien (or family member) who is inadmissible or deportable under the INA, including any perpetrator of such attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to develop and disseminate to the public information on emergency contraception. Requires that the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to develop and disseminate to health care providers information on emergency contraception. Requires that the information disseminated to health care providers include at a minimum: (1) information describing the use, safety, efficacy, and availability of emergency contraception; (2) a recommendation regarding its use in appropriate cases; and (3) information explaining how to obtain copies of information from the CDC.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Medicare Renal Dialysis Payment Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for an update in the renal dialysis composite rate.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Job Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income (FSC/ETI) exclusion, with an exemption for certain binding contracts in effect before the date of enactment of this Act. Permits a foreign corporation that elected to be treated as a domestic corporation to revoke such election and be treated as a domestic corporation transferring its property to a foreign corporation with no gain recognized on such transfer. Provides: (1) a transitional 2004 through 2008 sliding-scale deduction for an FSC/ETI beneficiary based on the corporation's 2001 FSC/ETI benefit; and (2) special rules for 2003 and for fiscal year taxpayers. Defines "FSC/ETI benefit." Allows a deduction for income attributable to U.S. production activities equal to ten percent of qualified production activities. Provides a 2006 through 2009 phase-in period. Defines "qualified production activities" as: (1) the portion of the modified taxable income attributable to domestic activities; and (2) the domestic/foreign fraction. Sets forth related provisions with respect to: (1) determination of income attributable to domestic production activities; (2) domestic production gross receipts; (3) qualifying production property; (4) domestic/foreign fraction; and (5) special rules.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise the calculation of the earned income credit; (2) revise the credit's application to married individuals; and (3) repeal provisions denying the credit to individuals having excessive investment income.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Young Witness Assistance Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to State and local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in support of juvenile (17 years of age or younger) and young adult (between 18 and 21 years of age) witness assistance programs. Authorizes grant funds to be used, among other things, for: (1) counseling services to young witnesses of a violent crime; and (2) protective services for young witnesses and their families when a serious threat of harm is made from perpetrators or their associates.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2003 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert; (3) the Grand Staircase and the Escalante Canyons; (4) Moab-La Sal Canyons; (5) Henry Mountains; (6) Glen Canyon; (7) San Juan-Anasazi; (8) Canyonlands Basin; (9) San Rafael Swell; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Exempts an individual, or either spouse of a married couple, from income tax in a year in which the individual serves for any portion of such year on active armed forces service in the Iraq-designated combat zone.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Applauds the brave actions of the Iraqis Mohammed and Iman against oppression and tyranny in providing to U.S. forces, at great risk to themselves, information essential for the rescue of Private First Class Jessica Lynch, U.S. Army, from Iraqi captivity on April 1, 2003. Recognizes Mohammed and Iman as true friends of the United States, thanks them for their bravery and courage, and extends to them the thanks and best wishes of a grateful Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Caribbean National Forest Act of 2003 - Designates approximately 10,000 acres of land in the Caribbean National Forest/Luquillo Experimental Forest in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as the El Toro Wilderness and as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Provides that designation of the Wilderness shall not be construed to prevent within the area's boundaries: (1) installation and maintenance of hydrologic, meteorological, climatological, or atmospheric data collection and transmission facilities when they are essential to the scientific research purposes of the Luquillo Experimental Forest; (2) construction and maintenance of nesting structures, observation blinds, and population monitoring platforms for threatened and endangered species; or (3) construction and maintenance of trails to such facilities as necessary for research purposes and the recovery of such species.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to States and local governments to coordinate their budget-related actions with Federal Government efforts to stimulate the economy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2003 for such payments in an amount equal to the total amount appropriated for for FY 2003 for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003, and subsequent appropriations Acts.Requires not less than one-third of such amount to be made available to local governments. Requires the Secretary to establish a formula for determining the allocation of payments, with priority consideration to the relative unemployment rate, median income, population, and poverty rate. Permits the use of funds received by States and local governments only for: (1) ordinary and necessary maintenance and operating expenses for education; public safety; public health; social services; roads, transportation, and water infrastructure; and housing; and (2) ordinary and necessary capital expenditures authorized by law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Senior Bill of Rights Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for a voluntary Medicare outpatient prescription medicine benefit program with a monthly premium of $25, a $100 annual deductible, 20 percent coinsurance, and an annual out-of-pocket spending limit of $2,000. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for maximum prices with medicine manufacturers. Establishes a Medicare Prescription Medicine Advisory Committee. Amends SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice) to require Medicare+Choice organizations to make actuarially equivalent outpatient prescription medicines available under their plans. Requires Medigap policies also to cover such medicines. Provides for transitional assistance to low-income beneficiaries. Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 2003 - Requires each participating manufacturer to make covered outpatient drugs available at a price no greater than the manufacturer's average foreign price. Declares the sense of Congress that the cost disparity between identical prescription drugs sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico should be reduced or eliminated. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow any deduction for any amount paid or incurred for a direct-to-consumer advertisement of a prescription drug. Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) with respect to: (1) abbreviated new generic drug applications, including forfeit to the next applicant by previous applicants who fail to market a drug within 90 days of approval or meet other specified requirements; (2) specified bioequivalence tests other than those for absorption rate and extent assessment; (3) requirements for citizen petitions regarding new drug applications; (4) actions for patent infringement; and (5) requirements for new drug applications, including mandatory patent information. Preserving Access to Safe Affordable Canadian Medicines Act of 2003 - Amends FFDCA to prohibit prescription medication manufacturers from taking actions to discriminate against, or cause other persons to discriminate against, U.S. consumers regarding the purchase of prescription medications from Canadian pharmacies. Prohibits the Commissioner of Food and Drugs from approving any new drug application that does not, before completion of the approval process, provide the Secretary a written statement specifying the total cost of research and development with respect to such drug. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit the chief executive officer of a pharmaceutical company from contributing to a political party or candidate. Rescinds the February 2002 veterans medication copayment increase, and reinstates the $2 copayment. Declares that all Social Security and Medicare funds shall be walled off into a lock box that may not be raided for new programs or tax cuts for the rich.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Men's Health Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Department of Health and Human Services an office to be known as the Office of Men's Health. Requires a report.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Medicare Puerto Rico Hospital Payment Parity Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise: (1) the payment formula to increase payment amounts to Puerto Rico hospitals that are based on the discharge-weighted average of the nationally adjusted DRG (diagnostically-related group) prospective payment rate for hospitals located in urban and rural areas for discharges beginning in FY 2004; and (2) the calculation of Medicare disproportionate share payments for prospective payment system hospitals in Puerto Rico.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Sickle Cell Treatment Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include primary and secondary preventative medical strategies, treatment, and services, including genetic counseling and testing, for individuals who have Sickle Cell Disease as medical assistance under the Medicaid program. Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration to conduct a demonstration program for the development and establishment of systemic mechanisms, including a National Coordinating Center, to improve the prevention and treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Teacher Recruitment and Retention Act of 2003 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise and expand student loan forgiveness programs for certain teachers, under the Federal Family Education Loan and Federal Direct Loan programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to repay a higher maximum amount (up to $17, 500) of an eligible individual teacher's aggregate student loan obligation that is outstanding after completion of the first complete school year of qualifying service. Authorizes such repayment from funds authorized under this Act for FY 2003 through 2007. Provides for annual installments of such repayment up to specified maximum amounts after each of five years of eligible teaching service. Revises and expands eligibility for such programs. Makes inapplicable specified requirements that currently limit participation to: (1) only certain new borrowers; and (2) only teachers who serve at least five consecutive complete school years prior to any eligibility for program benefits. Extends program eligibility to full-time elementary or secondary school teachers: (1) in schools that qualify as high-poverty schools (as in current law, without certain subject area and certification restrictions); (2) of special education; or (3) of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other field of expertise where the State educational agency determines there is a shortage of qualified teachers.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Services, based on recommendations from the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Advisory Panel (established by this Act), to make grants, after a process of peer review and programmatic review, to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the purpose of conducting multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
type_Document_Title_here Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) slavery, under any circumstances, is an unconscionable practice; (2) the subjection inherent in slavery inevitably leads to other abuses, including torture and rape; (3) human rights abuses and slavery in Sudan remain a matter of the most profound concern; (4) the United States must resist attempts to ignore or condone these outrages; (5) the United States must support the maintenance, by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, of Sudan as an "Item 9" country, requiring a Special Rapporteur to investigate and report on abuses (rather than change that status to a lesser level of concern); and (6) the United States should encourage the United Nations to consider reinstating sanctions against Sudan and urge the European Union, the African Union, and all others who express concern for human freedom and dignity to be engaged in activities that will convince Sudan to abolish slavery and respect human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Designates the Federal building which is to be constructed at 799 First Avenue in New York, New York, as the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Student Adjustment Act of 2003 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the provision prohibiting an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on State residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such State residence. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to permanent resident status, certain (inadmissible or deportable) alien middle or secondary students with qualifying years of U.S. residency. Makes such aliens eligible for Federal and State higher education assistance during the pendency of their application for cancellation of removal.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to grant States the option of covering certain categories of eligible women and child resident aliens under the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages to: (1) add nonretaliation requirements; (2) increase penalties; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Directs the Secretary to provide for certain studies, information, a national summit, guidelines, awards, and assistance for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria. Establishes the National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect certain pay information.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Prison Rape Reduction Act of 2003 - Directs the Bureau of Justice Statistics to carry out an annual, comprehensive statistical review and analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape. Establishes within the Bureau the Review Panel on Prison Rape. Directs the Panel to request the public testimony of Federal, State, and local officials who bear responsibility for the prevention, detection, and punishment of prison rape at specified entities. Provides for an increase in Federal funds for entities whose officials testify at a reasonably designated time. Requires the Bureau to submit an annual report to Congress, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on its activities regarding prison rape. Establishes within the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) a national clearinghouse for the provision of information and assistance regarding prison rape. Directs: (1) NIC to conduct periodic training and education programs; and (2) the Attorney General to make grants to prevent prison rape, investigate such instances, and punish the perpetrators. Establishes the National Prison Rape Reduction Commission to: (1) study the impact of prison rape on Federal, State, and local governments and communities and social institutions; and (2) report recommended national standards for enhancing the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape. Directs: (1) the Attorney General to publish a notice of proposed rule-making for the adoption of national standards; and (2) the Secretary to complete a review of model programs and protocols for the response to and treatment of acute trauma for rape victims within prisons and jails.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, with respect to the granting of posthumous citizenship to a member of the armed forces who died from an active service-related injury or disease incurred during a period of military hostilities, to eliminate the prohibition on the provision of, and provide immigration status benefits to, the surviving spouse and children of such person. Makes the provisions of this Act applicable to grants of posthumous citizenship after September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income all compensation received for active service as a member of the United States armed forces, not including pensions and retirement pay. (Terminates the current limited exclusion from gross income of combat pay.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that all United States citizens have a right to a home, which right shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that Dinah Washington should be recognized for her versatility, remarkable musical talent, and influence on female vocalists in jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, pop, and gospel.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that Lena Horne should be recognized for her achievements as a singer and Hollywood actress, for her contributions to the struggles for equality, and for using her celebrity as a catalyst for change.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Establishes a Department of Peace, which shall be headed by a Secretary of Peace appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the mission of the Department, including to: (1) hold peace as an organizing principle; (2) endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand human rights; and (3) develop policies that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and structured mediation of conflict. Establishes in the Department the Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Peace, which shall provide assistance and make recommendations to the Secretary and the President concerning intergovernmental policies relating to peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Transfers to the Department the functions, assets, and personnel of various Federal agencies. Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Peace. Establishes Peace Day. Urges all citizens to observe and celebrate the blessings of peace and endeavor to create peace on such day.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Taxpayer and Fairness Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise various abusive tax shelter provisions, including: (1) clarification of the economic substance doctrine; and (2) imposition of new, and revision of existing, tax shelter-related penalties. Provides for the prevention of corporate expatriation to avoid U.S. income tax. Revises provisions respecting: (1) the earned income tax credit; (2) specified penalties and interest, including estimated tax penalty and interest; (3) collection procedures; (4) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee misconduct; (5) Tax Court authority and jurisdiction; (6) family business; (6) suspension of tax-exempt status for terrorist organizations; (7) confidentiality and disclosure; and (8) IRS user fees. Authorizes grants for low-income return preparation clinics. Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 with respect to the applicability of Federal-State unemployment assistance agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Congratulates the Syracuse University men's basketball team for winning the 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball national championship. Invites the team to the U.S. Capitol building to be honored and requests that the President invite them to the White House for an appropriate ceremony.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Annie Fox Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of the Institute regarding breast cancer in younger women. Requires that in carrying out this Act, the Director shall provide for: (1) augmented research into various aspects of breast cancer in younger women, including the long-term effects of treatment; and (2) augmented information and education programs regarding breast cancer in younger women.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Unemployment Benefits Extension Act - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA) to: (1) extend the TEUC program; (2) provide for additional weeks of TEUC benefits; (3) revise unemployment rate triggers for TEUC benefit periods; and (4) provide for regular unemployment compensation for certain individuals based on part-time work or an alternative base period. Extends the TEUC program through weeks of unemployment ending before December 28, 2003. Provides a phaseout period for individual payments up to weeks beginning after July 31, 2004. Increases to 26 weeks an eligible individual's TEUC payments. Provides for an additional seven weeks of payments, for a total of 33 weeks, for individuals in high-unemployment States (TEUC-X). (Current law provides 13 weeks of regular TEUC payments, with an additional 13 and total 26 in TEUC-X States.) Revises requirements for determining TEUC-X States, using certain triggers based on insured unemployment rates and on total unemployment rates. Establishes a program of payments to States to provide regular unemployment compensation benefits for individuals who otherwise would be ineligible because: (1) the base period does not count wages earned in the most recently completed calendar quarter; or (2) the individuals seek or are available for less than full-time work.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Supports the goals and ideals of National Correctional Officers and Employees Week (beginning May 4, 2003). Honors correctional officers and employees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
College Fire Prevention Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive demonstration grants to private or public colleges or universities, fraternities, or sororities for up to half the cost of installing fire sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention technologies, in student housing and dormitories owned or controlled by such entities. Requires grant priority to be given eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest financial need. Reserves the following portions of grant funds made available for each fiscal year: (1) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities; and (2) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are social fraternities and sororities. Provides that any application for assistance under this Act, any negative determination on the part of the Secretary with respect to such application, or any statement of reasons for the determination, shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, or other entity (except a proceeding to enforce an agreement entered into between the Secretary and an eligible entity under this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Clean Diamond Trade Act -Directs the President to prohibit the importation into, or exportation from, the United States of any rough diamond, from whatever source, that has not been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Prescribes criteria for waiver of such prohibition. Directs the President to require the appropriate Government agency to conduct annual reviews of the standards, practices, and procedures of any entity in the United States that issues Kimberley Process Certificates for the exportation from the United States of rough diamonds to determine whether they accord with the KPCS. Makes the importing authority under this Act the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP) and the exporting authority the Bureau of the Census. Declares that the Congress supports the trade policy that the U.S. Trade Representative and other pertinent Government agencies take appropriate steps to promote and facilitate the adoption of the KPCS by the international community. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violation of this Act. Authorizes the President to direct the appropriate Federal agencies, including the BCBP, to make available technical assistance, relating to compliance with U.S. trade laws, to countries seeking to export rough diamonds to the United States consistent with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Urges the President to work with Participants to strengthen the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme through the adoption of measures for: (1) sharing statistics on rough diamonds production and trade; and (2) monitoring the effectiveness of the KPCS in stemming trade in diamonds whose importation or exportation is not controlled through the KPCS. Urges the executive branch continue to: (1) keep and publish statistics on imports and exports of rough diamonds; (2) make them available for analysis by interested parties and by Participants; and (3) take a leadership role in negotiating a standardized methodology among Participants for reporting such statistics. Declares the sense of Congress that the President should establish a Kimberley Process Implementation Coordinating Committee to coordinate the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
R.S. 2477 Rights-of-Way Act of 2003 - Permits the filing of claims asserting the existence and validity of right-of-ways pursuant to a repealed section of the Revised Statutes (R.S. 2477) to build highways across public land not reserved for public uses. Declares that claimants shall have the burden to prove that the grant of a right-of-way was validly accepted and not abandoned. Presumes abandoned claims involving lands within a conservation system unit, an inventoried roadless area, or a wilderness study area or that are former Federal lands, unless use was open and notorious. Directs an authorized Federal officer to review the evidence put forth by a claimant that: (1) a R.S. 2477 right-of-way contains sufficient evidence to prove prior construction and use of a highway over unreserved public lands; and (2) if there is evidence of such a highway, that the right-of-way was not abandoned. Subjects the administrative record of a final decision of an authorized Federal officer to judicial review. Allows the United States to retain exclusive possession or control of the lands traversed by a valid right-of-way or any part thereof, upon payment to the claimant of an amount set by the relevant district court. Recognizes the prior adjudication of claimed right-of-ways by courts of competent jurisdiction. States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to alter provisions of: (1) the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 regarding right-of-ways with respect to public lands and National Forest System lands; or (2) the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act pertaining to Alaska's transportation and utility network.
![Official portrait of Rep. Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000053_200.jpg)