United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2007
National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins emblematic of the courage, pride, sacrifice, sense of duty, and history of the U.S. Infantry, in commemoration of the legacy of the U.S. Army Infantry and the establishment of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center. Expresses the sense of Congress that the coins should be struck at the U.S. Mint at West Point, New York, to the greatest extent possible. Restricts coin issuance to calendar year 2012. Requires a $10 surcharge per coin, and payment of all surcharges received to the National Infantry Foundation to establish an endowment to support the maintenance of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2007
Dog Fighting Prohibition Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to make it unlawful to: (1) knowingly sponsor or exhibit an animal in, or knowingly attend, a dog fighting venture; and (2) knowingly sell, buy, possess, train, transport, deliver, or receive for purposes of transportation any dog or other animal for the purposes of having the dog, animal, or offspring of the dog or other animal participate in a dog fighting venture. Provides for imprisonment for up to five years for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2007
Repeals certain personnel management authorities, including a provision authorizing the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to employ and fix the compensation, terms, and conditions of employment for passenger and property screeners. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security to take any measures necessary to provide for the uniform treatment of all TSA screeners; and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on the pay system that applies to such employees.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2007
Commends Sir Nicholas Winton and those British and Czechoslovakian citizens who worked with him for their persistence and courage in saving the lives of 669 Czechoslovakian Jewish children in the months before the outbreak of World War II. Urges men and women everywhere to recognize in Winton's humanitarian effort the difference that one devoted individual can make in changing and improving the lives of others.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2007
ADA Restoration Act of 2007 - Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to remove from the definition of "disability" a reference to substantially limiting one or more major life activities. Prohibits, in determining whether an individual has an impairment, considering the impact of any mitigating measures the individual may be using or whether any impairment manifestations are episodic, in remission, or latent. Considers actions taken because of an individual's use of a mitigating measure to be actions taken on the basis of a disability. Defines "record of physical or mental impairment" as having a history of, or having been misclassified as having, a physical or mental impairment. Defines "regarded as having a physical or mental impairment" as being perceived or treated as having a physical or mental impairment whether or not the individual has an impairment. Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability (under current law, against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability). Allows, as a defense to a charge of discrimination, that the individual alleging discrimination is not a qualified individual with a disability. Requires that the Act's provisions be broadly construed. Empowers: (1) the Attorney General to promulgate regulations and guidance to provide for consistent and effective standards among enforcing agencies; and (2) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Secretary of Transportation to then issue implementing regulations or policy guidance consistent with the Attorney General's requirements. Entitles duly issued federal regulations and guidance to deference by administrative bodies or officers and courts.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2007
International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2007 - Authorizes the President to provide assistance, including through multilateral, nongovernmental, and faith-based organizations, to prevent child marriage in developing countries and to promote the educational, health, economic, social, and legal empowerment of girls and women. Sets forth priority assistance criteria. Directs the President, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to establish a multi-year strategy to prevent child marriage in developing countries and to promote the empowerment of girls at risk of child marriage, including by addressing the unique needs and potentials of eight to 18 year old girls. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require that Department of State country reports on human rights practices include a description of the status of child marriage for countries with specified rates of child marriage. Defines "child marriage."
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2007
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to require: (1) states to use grants for safe and drug-free schools to collect and report information on the incidence of bullying and harassment; and (2) local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools to use subgrants to prevent and respond to incidents of bullying and harassment. Requires such LEAs or schools to: (1) notify parents and students annually of conduct prohibited in their school discipline policies, that now must include bullying and harassment; and (2) establish grievance procedures for students and parents to register complaints regarding such conduct. Includes bullying and harassment within the the Act's definition of violence.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2007
National Park Centennial Fund Act - Establishes in the Treasury the National Park Centennial Fund, in which in each fiscal year from FY2008 through FY2017, there shall be deposited into the Fund amounts collected from new fees or fee increases for commercial activities, including leases, on federal lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior totaling $100 million each fiscal year. Requires the Administration's annual budget submission for the Department of the Interior to include a list of National Park Centennial Proposals. Specifies that the list include proposals that meet the requirements of one or more of : (1) an Education in Parks Centennial Initiative; (2) a Diversity in Parks Centennial Initiative; (3) a Supporting Park Professionals Centennial Initiative; (4) an Environmental Leadership Centennial Initiative; (5) a Natural Resource Protection Centennial Initiative; and (6) allowing the President to submit proposals for projects prioritized in the existing National Park Service Line Item Construction Program for funding from the Fund. Requires submission of a report detailing a service-wide strategy for increasing diversity among National Park Service employees and visitors to units of the National Park System. Makes, from FY2009-FY2018, unobligated amounts in the Fund available only for National Park Centennial Projects submitted pursuant to this Act approved in appropriation Acts for the Department. Provides for the distribution of such unobligated amounts among the six Initiatives.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2007
Fairness for Homeowners Act of 2007 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit any creditor or mortgage broker from making, providing, or arranging for any consumer credit transaction secured by a consumer's principal dwelling without verifying the consumer's reasonable ability to make the scheduled payments of principal, interest (including variable interest), real estate taxes, homeowner's insurance, assessments, and mortgage insurance premiums. Prescribes criteria for determining the reasonable ability to make such payments. Prohibits steering (arranging for a lower investment grade credit transaction if the consumer qualifies for a higher investment grade transaction) and prepayment penalties for adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) that are not jumbo mortgages. Limits financed points, finance charges, and fees to 5% of a transaction's principal, unless the transaction is ensured or guaranteed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or the Farmers Home Administration. Specifies duties of agency for mortgage brokers acting to obtain or arrange for any consumer credit transaction secured by the consumer's principal dwelling. Requires creditors and mortgage brokers to obtain independent verification that a borrower seeking to refinance a special mortgage has received counseling on the transaction's advisability. Defines "special mortgage" as one that: (1) was originated, subsidized, funded, or guaranteed by or through a state, tribal, or local government, or nonprofit organization; and (2) bears one or more specified nonstandard payment terms which substantially benefit the consumer. Prescribes minimum financial requirements for mortgage brokers. Excludes reverse mortgages from coverage by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2007
Condemns: (1) the attempts by Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian groups to undermine the government of Lebanon; (2) the assassination campaign targeting members of parliament and public figures in favor of Lebanese independence; and (3) Syria and Iran for their ongoing roles in arming Lebanese militias. Confirms U.S. support for U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning Lebanon, and the clear and binding mandate of the international community for the arms embargo and disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon. Expresses appreciation to the countries whose military personnel serve in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Urges the government of Lebanon to request UNIFIL's assistance to secure the Lebanese-Syrian border. Affirms U.S. support for efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the terrorist bombing of February 14, 2005, and both prior and subsequent politically inspired assassinations. Pledges continued support for the government of Lebanon and the Lebanese people against the campaign of terror directed at the Lebanese people and at political and public figures opposing Syrian interference in Lebanon. Commends the many Lebanese who continue to adhere to the principles of the Cedar Revolution. Applauds the government of Lebanon's efforts to fully extend Lebanon's sovereignty over the entire country.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2007
No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize states to use federal funds for the development of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) plans for environmental education and teacher training to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to partnerships that include a local educational agency (LEA), and may include institutions of higher education (IHE) and other educational or business entities, for activities that include the development of teacher training programs and more rigorous environmental education curricula. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to nonprofit organizations, states, LEAs, or IHEs for activities to improve and support environmental education that include: (1) advancing content and achievement standards; (2) developing or disseminating innovations or model programs; (3) research; and (4) creating new funding sources. Requires the Secretary to give priority in providing magnet school assistance to LEAs creating or enhancing environmental magnet school programs. Includes environmental education in the current program providing grants to states and LEAs for teacher training. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to create an Office of Environmental Literary to advance K-12 environmental education and administer the new grant programs. Amends the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act to authorize the Commissioner for Education Statistics to include environmental education in any additional national assessment of student achievement.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2007
Bear Protection Act of 2007 - Prohibits any person from: (1) importing bear viscera into, or exporting it from, the United States; or (2) selling bear viscera, bartering, offering it for sale or barter, or purchasing, possessing, transporting, delivering, or receiving it in interstate or foreign commerce. Subjects persons who violate such prohibitions to specified penalties. Waives such prohibition for wildlife law enforcement purposes where a valid permit has been issued. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to continue discussions concerning trade in bear viscera with the appropriate representatives of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and with other representatives of countries that are not party to the Convention which are determined to be the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of such products, in order to establish coordinated efforts with such countries to protect bears. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect state regulation of bear population or to affect the lawful hunting of bears under state law.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2007
Authorizes the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to comedian Jerry Lewis in recognition of his outstanding service to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2007
Medicare Early Detection of Cancer Promotion Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) extend the eligibility period for a "Welcome to Medicare" initial preventive physical examination from six months to one year; and (2) to eliminate the 20% coinsurance for screening mammography and colorectal cancer screening tests.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2007
National Pain Care Policy Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter an agreement with the Institute of Medicine to convene a Conference on Pain to: (1) increase the recognition of pain as a significant public health problem; (2) evaluate the adequacy of assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of acute and chronic pain; (3) identify barriers to appropriate pain care; and (4) establish an agenda for action that will reduce such barriers and improve pain care research, education, and clinical care. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Pain Consortium to: (1) establish a national agenda for research on the causes and effective treatments for pain; and (2) convene an annual conference of experts in pain research, treatment, and management to assess and make recommendations on NIH pain research activities and programs. Requires the Director of NIH to establish the National Pain Care Research Advisory Committee. Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to: (1) collect protocols and evidence-based practices regarding pain care at all stages of life; and (2) disseminate such information to regulatory and enforcement agencies, health care programs, payor and providers, health professions schools, hospices, and the general public. Allows the Secretary to provide for the development and implementation of programs to educate and train health care professionals in pain care. Requires the Secretary to establish a national pain care education outreach and awareness campaign.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2007
Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act or the CLASS Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a national, voluntary disability insurance program (CLASS program) under which: (1) all employees are automatically enrolled, but are allowed to waive enrollment; (2) payroll deductions pay monthly premiums; and (3) two-tiered benefits are provided, based on the level of disability, to purchase nonmedical services and supports that the beneficiary needs to maintain independence. Establishes the Independence Fund within the Treasury. Requires the CLASS program to be treated for tax purposes in the same manner as a qualified long-term care insurance contract. Amends the Social Security Act to require each state to: (1) assess the extent to which personal care services providers are serving or able to serve as fiscal agents, employers, and providers of employment-related benefits for personal care attendant workers, who provide personal care services to individuals receiving benefits under this Act; (2) designate or create entities to serve such purposes; and (3) ensure that such entities will not negatively alter or impede existing programs, models, methods, or administration of service delivery that provide for consumer controlled or self-directed home and community services, impede the ability of individuals to direct and control their home and community services, or inhibit individuals from relying on family members for such services. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel to examine and advise the Secretary and Congress on workforce issues related to personal care attendant workers. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a deduction for premiums paid for the CLASS program; (2) a credit CLASS program enrollees with low income; and (3) a credit for employers for the cost incurred to automatically enroll employees and withhold monthly premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2007
Saudi Arabia Accountability Act of 2007 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the government of Saudi Arabia must: (1) cooperate fully with the United States in the investigation of terror groups and individuals; (2) close permanently all organizations in Saudi Arabia that fund, train, encourage, or in any way aid terrorism anywhere in the world; (3) end funding for terror organizations outside Saudi Arabia; and (4) block funding from private Saudi citizens and entities to Saudi-based or offshore terror organizations. Directs the President to prohibit certain exports to Saudi Arabia and restrict travel of certain Saudi diplomats if the President cannot certify to the appropriate congressional committees that the government of Saudi Arabia: (1) is fully cooperating with the United States in investigating and preventing terrorist attacks; (2) has closed permanently all Saudi-based terror organizations; (3) has ended funding for any offshore terror organization; and (4) has made all efforts to block funding from private Saudi citizens and entities to offshore terror organizations. Allows the President to waive such sanctions for national security reasons.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2007
Captive Primate Safety Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to add nonhuman primates (i.e., monkeys, great apes, lemurs, etc.) to the definition of "prohibited wildlife species" for purposes of the prohibition against the sale or purchase of such species in interstate or foreign commerce. Makes it unlawful for a person to sell or purchase a live animal of any prohibited wildlife species in interstate or foreign commerce (i.e., for pet trade purposes). Sets forth: (1) exceptions to such prohibition; and (2) civil and criminal penalties for violations of the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Civil War Battlefield Preservation Act of 2007 - Amends the American Battlefield Protection Act of 1996 to extend the American Battlefield Protection Program until September 30, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Eurasia Foundation Act - Directs the Secretary of State to make an annual grant to the Eurasia Foundation to: (1) promote civil society, private enterprise, and public administration and policy in the former Soviet Union; (2) strengthen indigenous institutions that foster national development, social change, economic growth, and cooperative international relationships consistent with U.S. interests in Eurasia; and (3) conduct programs in the region that would be difficult or impossible for an official U.S. entity.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Graduation Promise Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for differentiated high school improvement systems targeting support to schools with low student achievement and graduation rates after the school fails for two consecutive years to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) pursuant to state academic performance standards. Requires LEAs also to use funds to: (1) improve feeder middle schools; and (2) identify and support struggling students before they reach high school. Requires state grantees to establish comprehensive school performance indicators and minimum annual improvement benchmarks for use, in addition to current AYP measures, in analyzing school performance and determining the improvement category into which a school is placed. Directs LEA subgrantees to convene a local school improvement team for each school placed in an improvement category that will use performance indicators to conduct a school needs assessment and develop a multiyear school improvement plan tailored to the school's need categorization. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to: (1) LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education to develop and implement, or replicate, effective school models for struggling students and dropouts; and (2) states to adjust their policies to allow for educational innovations that improve high school graduation rates while ensuring rigorous education content standards and assessments, if such states implement differentiated high school improvement systems and statewide longitudinal student data systems.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
State and Local Education Flexibility Act of 2007 - Amends part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise requirements for determining whether states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Provides for state and local flexibility, under specified conditions, to: (1) exclude from AYP and academic assessments the performance of certain limited English proficient students; (2) include in favorable AYP graduation rates certain students who require extra time to graduate due to exceptional circumstances or disability; (3) modify academic content and achievement standards in the individual education plans of students with disabilities; (4) develop assessments locally and use multiple assessments; and (5) have alternative qualification requirements for special education teachers and rural teachers. Subjects social studies teachers to ESEA competence requirements. Treats teacher competence in general science or social sciences as competence in those subjects' subdisciplines. Directs the Comptroller General to study the adequacy of ESEA school improvement funds. Allows states, which meet certain requirements, to measure AYP using individual growth models measuring individual student progress from grade to grade. Requires that each school be given a grade based on the percentage of AYP factors it has attained. Gives grade A schools greater flexibility in the use of school improvement funds and states and LEAs greater flexibility in choosing the ESEA intervention they consider appropriate for lower-graded schools that fail to make AYP for two years. Requires schools to provide parents with student progress report cards showing the school's AYP grade. Requires states to include their performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress on schoolwide and statewide progress report cards.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Declares that it is the policy of the United States not to: (1) establish any military installation or base for providing for the permanent stationing of U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq; and (2) exercise U.S. control over Iraqi oil resources. Prohibits any funds made available by any Act of Congress from being obligated or expended to: (1) establish any military installation or base for providing for the permanent stationing of U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq; or (2) exercise U.S. economic control of the oil resources of Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Benefit Rating Acceleration for Veteran Entitlements Act of 2007 - Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to treat as a disability for OASDI and SSI disability payment purposes any service-connected total disability, as rated and certified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Applies the same treatment to related child's insurance and widow's and widower's insurance benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Medicare IVIG Access Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect and review data on the differences, if any, between: (1) payments to physicians for immune globulins using average sales price payment methodology; and (2) costs incurred by physicians for furnishing these products. Requires the Secretary, after completion of the review, to provide, if appropriate, an additional payment to such physicians for all items related to the furnishing of immune globulins as part of hospital outpatient services. Provides for Medicare coverage of and payment for intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) administered in the home. Directs the Secretary to conduct two surveys, for reports to Congress, of Medicare and non-Medicare patients who need immune globulins in order to measure changes in patient access to those products (and providers furnishing them), as well as changes in the health care status of those patients.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue $1 coins in commemoration of the bicentennial of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812. Requires a coin design emblematic of the War of 1812, particularly the Battle for Fort McHenry that formed the basis for the Star-Spangled Banner . Authorizes the Secretary to issue the coins only during the calendar year beginning on January 1, 2012. Requires specified surcharges in sales of the coin, which shall be paid to the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission for: (1) the purpose of supporting bicentennial activities; and (2) preservation and improvement activities relating to the sites and structures relating to the War of 1812.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2007
Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to local educational agencies for the development or expansion of gifted and talented education programs, and the provision of direct educational services and materials. Specifies that such gifted and talented education programs include: (1) professional development for such students' teachers; (2) the implementation of innovative educational strategies; (3) making materials and services available through state regional educational service centers, institutions of higher education, or other entities; and (4) providing challenging, high-level coursework through technology.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2007
Family Building Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require a group health plan that provides coverage for obstetrical services to include coverage for non-experimental treatment of infertility that is deemed appropriate by a participant or beneficiary and the treating physician. Requires coverage for assisted reproductive technology only if certain conditions are met. Prohibits a group health plan from taking specified actions to avoid the requirements of this Act. Applies such requirements to health insurance coverage offered in the individual market and coverage offered through Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) plans and Department of Defense health care plans.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2007
Recognizes: (1) the importance of the federal government's continued support of Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA) research; and (2) that federal support of comprehensive centers for rare disease patients enhances the ability for experienced doctors to provide the most complete care for each patient. Commends: (1) Schneider Children's Hospital for providing the first DBA Comprehensive Clinical Care Center and developing the DBA Patient Registry; and (2) the Daniella Maria Arturi Foundation and the Diamon-Blackfan Anemia Foundation for their efforts to facilitate collaboration among the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to achieve a successful multidisciplinary approach aimed at shortening the life cycle of success realized between the laboratory and applied patient care. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the government has a responsibility to encourage further efforts to clarify the natural history of DBA, continue efforts to raise awareness and ease access to information about DBA, encourage research efforts that will advance treatment options and seek a cure, encourage NIH to develop a cross-institutional research initiative to study ribosomal protein deficiencies in rare inherited disease, and encourage continued federal support of the DBA Comprehensive Clinical Care Centers.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2007
Strengthening Kids' Interest in Learning and Libraries Act or the SKILLs Act - Amends title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for the Improving Literacy through School Libraries grant program. Requires states and local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive school improvement funds to ensure that by the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year there is at least one highly qualified school library media specialist in every school that receives such funds. Requires Improving Literacy through School Libraries funds to be: (1) proportionally distributed to serve students in elementary, middle, and high schools; (2) used for media resources appropriate for all grades; and (3) used for professional development in information literacy instruction that is appropriate for all grades. Expands the program of grants to states and subgrants to LEAs for the recruitment, retention, and professional development of teachers to require that highly qualified school library media specialists be included in the focus of such efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2007
Recognizes and congratulates Malaysia on its 50th anniversary of independence. Supports a strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Malaysia and continued cooperation in such important areas as counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, and trade.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2007
Improving Classroom Learning and Student Performance Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award five-year grants to states that receive funds under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to enable them to: (1) collaborate with institutions of higher education, other research institutions, and other organizations to improve the quality, validity, and reliability of state and local academic assessments, including performance assessments that evaluate the application of knowledge to real-world tasks; (2) develop the capacity of local education agencies (LEAs) to assess student academic achievement using multiple measures, including school-based performance assessments; and (3) develop, together with LEAs, the capacity of teachers and school leaders to develop, use, and reliably evaluate the results of locally-administered performance assessments. Requires state grantees to ensure that state and local assessments are aligned to learning standards, unbiased, valid for the purposes for which they are used, reliably scored, and meet professional standards.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2007
Michelle's Law - 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 from terminating coverage of a dependent child due to a medically necessary leave of absence from a postsecondary education institution or any other change in enrollment at that institution that commences while such child is suffering from a severe illness or injury and causes such child to lose full-time student status before that earlier of: (1) one year after the first day of the medically necessary leave of absence; or (2) the date on which such coverage would otherwise terminate under the terms of the plan. Requires certification by the child's attending physician. Applies such requirement to coverage offered in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2007
Authorizes the Secretary of State to provide compensation to relatives of U.S. citizens who were killed in the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa on August 7, 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2007
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that an unlawful employment practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted when an individual becomes subject to the decision or practice, or when an individual is affected by application of the decision or practice, including each time compensation is paid. Allows a person filing an action to challenge similar or related instances of compensation discrimination after an aggrieved person filed a charge without filing another charge. Accrues liability, and an aggrieved person may obtain relief including recovery of back pay for up to two years preceding the filing of the charge, where the unlawful employment practices that have occurred during the charge filing period are similar or related to practices that occurred outside the time for filing a charge. Applies the amendments of this paragraph to claims of compensation discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Amends the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 to declare that an unlawful practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person becomes subject to the decision or other practice, or when a person is affected by the decision or practice, including each time compensation is paid. Allows a person filing an action to challenge similar or related instances of compensation discrimination after an aggrieved person filed a charge without filing another charge with the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2007
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate, establish, and operate at least six Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care facilities as locations for epilepsy centers of excellence. Requires the Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to establish a peer review panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of proposals for the designation of such centers. Requires a VHA national coordinator for epilepsy programs to: (1) supervise the operation of the centers; (2) coordinate and support throughout the VA health-care system better access to diagnosis, research, care, and education for epilepsy and traumatic brain injury; and (3) conduct regular evaluations of the centers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007
Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 - Amends the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 to extend the Terrorism Insurance Program through calendar 2017. Revises requirements for: (1) insurer deductible; (2) insured loss shared compensation; (3) industry insured losses that trigger the program; (4) recoupment of the federal share; (5) certification prerequisites regarding an act of terrorism; (6) mandatory availability of program coverage; and (7) rate and form filings for coverage. Provides for coverage of group life insurance, including a policy surcharge for terrorism loss risk-spreading premiums. Revises requirements for: (1) insurer copayment and federal share of compensation; (2) post-event reset for previously impacted areas; and (3) mandatory availability of life insurance that does not preclude future lawful travel. Adds coverage for workers' compensation and property and casualty insurance to the topics of a mandatory analysis of market conditions for terrorism risk insurance by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. Establishes the Commission on Terrorism Risk Insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2009-FY2013 for: (1) type I diabetes research; and (2) diabetes prevention and treatment through Indian health facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2007
Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 with respect to hours-of-service requirements airline flight crews must meet to qualify for leave under such Act. Declares that a flight attendant or flight crewmember will be considered to meet such requirements if he or she has been paid for or has worked 60% of the employer's monthly hour or trip guarantee, or the equivalent annualized over the preceding 12-month period.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007
Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007 or FARM 21 Act of 2007 - Prohibits, after 2007, any direct, counter-cyclical or transition payment to an individual or entity whose adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to offer to enter into a risk management account with a qualifying farm or ranch operator. Extends direct payments and reduces payment amounts. Requires specified payment percentages, and 100% for FY2012, to be deposited into a risk management account. Links such payments to environmental stewardship. Extends counter-cyclical payments. Repeals: (1) the milk price support program; (2) specified commodity support programs; and (3) the sugar tariff quota. Directs the Secretary to establish a recourse loan program for all commodities, including sugar, for which marketing loans were available. Reduces the crop insurance administrative and operating reimbursement rate. Extends: (1) the environmental quality incentives program; (2) the conservation innovation grants program; (3) the wetlands reserve program; (4) the grasslands reserve program; (5) the wildlife habitat incentives program; (6) the farm and ranchland protection program; and (7) the healthy forests reserve program. Extends: (1) the fruit and vegetables in school program; (2) the farm to school program; and (3) the farmers market promotion program. Directs the Secretary to assist eligible trade organizations increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables in the United States to meet federal health guidelines. Extends the McGovern-Dole international food for education and child nutrition program. Extends: (1) the biorefinery grant and loan program; (2) the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program; and (3) the biomass research and development program. Sets forth specified rural development project eligibility criteria. Extends: (1) the value-added producer grant program; (2) the rural broadband access program; (3) the rural business opportunity grant program; and (4) the farmworker training grant program. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural entrepreneurship and microenterprise program to provide low- and moderate-income individuals with skills and technical and financial assistance to establish new small businesses in rural areas. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants and carry out a rural microloan program. Directs the Secretary to use specified Commodity Credit Corporation funds for: (1) water or waste disposal grants or loans; (2) emergency community water assistance grants; (3) community facilities grants and loans that support projects that assist rural first responders; (4) broadband access loans; and (5) distance learning and telemedicine grants. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to: (1) combat pay and retirement account exclusions; (2) standard deduction increases; (3) child care deduction limits; (4) state cost-sharing during natural disasters; (5) minimum benefits; (6) program reauthorization; (7) program administration; (8) cash payment pilot projects; (9) block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa; (10) the commodity distribution program; (11) outreach grants; (12) the emergency food assistance program; and (13) community food projects. Directs the Secretary to offer to enter into a contract or grant agreement with a primary nongovernmental organization to establish the National Food for the Hungry Transportation Fund to track, collect, and deliver time-sensitive food products.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007
Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit and to establish penalties for knowingly making available a computer-assisted remote hunt (i.e., using a computer or other device, equipment, or software to allow a person remotely to control the aiming and discharge of a weapon to kill or injure an animal while not in the targeted animal's physical presence).
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 - Amends federal veterans' benefits provisions to entitle to educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill certain individuals who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces (including the reserves) on or after September 11, 2001. Requires such individuals to complete the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or its equivalent) before applying for such assistance. Establishes the duration of such assistance (in most cases 36 months) and assistance amounts. Requires programs of education pursued with such assistance to be approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Allows for the pursuit of an approved program of education while on active duty. Allows, under such assistance, for the pursuit of: (1) programs on less than a half-time basis; (2) apprenticeship or other on-job training; (3) correspondence courses; (4) flight training; (5) tutorial assistance; and (6) licensure and certification tests. Requires such educational assistance to be used within 15 years of the individual's discharge or release from active duty (with exceptions). Allows individuals currently under the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program to elect to participate in the post-9/11 educational assistance program with respect to any unused entitlement.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to provide to veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, particularly veterans who served in such Operations while in the National Guard and reserves: (1) peer outreach and support services; (2) readjustment counseling and related services; and (3) mental health services. Directs the Secretary to also provide to immediate family members of such veterans, during the three-year period following the return of the veterans from such a deployment, education, support, counseling, and mental health services to assist in: (1) readjustment to civilian life; (2) recovery from an injury or illness incurred during such deployment; and (3) readjustment of the family following the veteran's return. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with community health centers and other qualified entities to provide such services in areas not adequately served by health care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a program to train veterans to provide the peer outreach and support services; and (2) conduct a training program for clinicians of community health centers and entities contracted to provide such services. Extends the eligibility for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for veterans who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations from two to five years after their discharge or release from such duty.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007
Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act or the IMPACT Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to expand an existing grant program for training for health profession students to include the treatment of individuals who are overweight, obese, or have eating disorders. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for the training of primary care physicians and other health professions on how to identify, treat, and prevent obesity or eating disorders and aid individuals who are overweight or obese or who suffer from eating disorders. Requires the Secretary, acting though the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants for the planning and implementation of programs that promote healthy eating behaviors and physical activity. Allows the Secretary, acting through the National Center for Health Statistics, to provide for the collection and analysis of data for determining the fitness levels and energy expenditures of children and data collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to review the research to determine if the information might be important for the health disparities report. Permits states to use preventive health and health services block grants for activities and community education programs designed to address and prevent obesity and eating disorders. Requires the Secretary to report to the relevant congressional committees on: (1) the causes and health implications of being overweight, obese, or having an eating disorder; and (2) the effectiveness of campaigns to change children's behaviors and reduce obesity.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to reduce class size through the use of fully-qualified teachers. Allots funds to states and local educational agencies to recruit, hire, and train additional teachers, in order to: (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades one through three, to an average of 18 students per classroom; and (2) improve teaching in those grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
Act Commemorating the LITE, or Lifetime Innovations of Thomas Edison - Establishes the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey as a unit of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2007 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury, within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and other international financial institutions, to: (1) provide for debt cancellation of eligible low-income countries (as defined by this Act) to such institutions and to the United States; (2) provide for establishment of frameworks for creditor transparency and responsible lending; and (3) provide that such debt cancellation is not conditioned on harmful economic or environmental conditions. Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the debt portfolios of previous governments in certain countries, including South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
United Nations Population Fund Women's Health and Dignity Act - Authorizes the President to make a voluntary contribution on a grant basis to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to: (1) provide and distribute equipment, medicine, supplies, and expertise to ensure safe childbirth and emergency obstetric care; (2) make contraceptives available for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS; (3) reduce abortion and related maternal mortality; (4) reduce and eliminate coercive family planning practices; (5) reduce and eliminate sex selection; (6) prevent and treat cases of obstetric fistula; (7) promote abandonment of harmful traditional practices, including female genital cutting and child marriage; (8) reestablish maternal health services in areas where medical infrastructure has been destroyed by natural disasters; and (9) promote the access of unaccompanied women and other vulnerable people to vital services, including access to water, sanitation facilities, food, and health care, in emergency situations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007
Skill Game Protection Act - Amends federal criminal law to exempt from the prohibition against transmission of wagering information the operation or participation in poker, chess, bridge, mahjong or any other game where success is predominantly determined by a player's skill, to the extent that: (1) the game provides for competition only between and among participants, and not against the person operating the game; and (2) the operator is in compliance with federal regulations governing games of skill. Amends federal law governing monetary transactions to instruct the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations requiring each person who operates a game of skill on the Internet to maintain specified safeguards, including: (1) that the individual participant depositing funds is 18 years of age or older; (2) that the individual participant is physically located in a jurisdiction that does not bar participation in the particular Internet games of skill in which the individual participates; and (3) that all taxes relating to Internet games of skill due to federal and state governments and to Indian tribes from individual participants are collected at the time of any payment of any proceeds of Internet games of skill.
![Official portrait of Rep. Rothman, Steven R. [D-NJ-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000462_200.jpg)