United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2013
Exempts from the reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment of retired pay of members of the Armed Forces under the age of 62 enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 the retired pay of any member or former member who is: (1) retired, (2) eligible for combat-related special compensation, or (3) entitled to concurrent payment of retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Makes such reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment inapplicable to percentage increases allowed for annuities under survivor benefit plans based on retired or retainer pay.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Philippines Charitable Giving Assistance Act - Treats cash contributions made after January 1, 2014, and before March 1, 2014, for the relief of victims in the Republic of the Philippines affected by Typhoon Haiyan as having been made on December 31, 2013, for purposes of the tax deduction for charitable contributions. Deems such a contribution as meeting the recordkeeping requirements of the Internal Revenue Code if the taxpayer produces a telephone bill showing the name of the donee organization and the date and amount of the contribution.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Child Care Access and Refundability Expansion Act or the Child CARE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for dependent care expenses, to: (1) make such credit refundable, (2) deny such credit to nonresident aliens, and (3) allow an annual cost-of-living adjustment after 2013 to the amounts used to determine an income-based reduction in the amount of such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
Two-Midnight Rule Delay Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from enforcing the two-midnight rule to a hospital for which payment is made under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for admissions occurring before October 1, 2014. (The two-midnight rule allows Medicare coverage of only hospital stays for which a physician admits to a hospital a beneficiary expected to require care that crosses two midnights, but generally denies coverage of care expected to require less than a two-midnight stay.) Applies such prohibition to Medicare review contracts. Prohibits Medicare review contractors from denying a claim for inpartient hospital services furnished by a hospital, or inpatient critical access hospital services furnished by a critical access hospital, for discharges occurring before October 1, 2014: (1) for medical necessity due to the length of an inpatient stay in such hospital or due to a determination that the services could have been provided on an outpatient basis; or (2) for requirements for orders, certifications, or recertifications, and associated documentation relating to such matters. Prohibits the Secretary from increasing the sample of claims selected for prepayment review under the Medicare Probe and Educate program above the number and type established by the Secretary as of November 4, 2013. Directs the Secretary to develop: (1) a Medicare hospital payment methodology for short inpatient hospital stays; (2) general equivalency maps to link the relevant International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD)-10 codes (used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures) to relevant Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, and the relevant CPT codes to relevant ICD-10 codes, in order to permit comparison of inpatient hospital services and hospital outpatient department servives; and (3) a second crosswalk between Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) codes for inpatient hospital services and Ambulatory Payment Class codes for outpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2013
Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 500,000 $1 silver coins emblematic of the fight against breast cancer. Instructs the Secretary to select the design for the coins based upon the winning design from a juried, compensated design competition following certain specifications. Restricts the period of coin issuance to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2018. Requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin. Prescribes a surcharge distribution formula.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2013
States that the House of Representatives has learned with profound sorrow of the death of Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa. Tenders its sympathies to the members of his family and his fellow citizens. Honors the life, accomplishments, and legacy of Nelson Mandela and for his friendship to the United States. Requests the Secretary of State to communicate these expressions of sentiment to Nelson Mandela's family and to the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa. Requests that when the House adjourns today it do so as a mark of respect to the memory of Nelson Mandela.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2013
Family Cord Blood Banking Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat the cost of private umbilical cord blood banking services as a medical care expense for purposes of the tax deduction for medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act - Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to the members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior service and major contributions during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to allot matching grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), childhood education program providers, or consortia of those entities to implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families. Allots grants to states based on each state's proportion of children who are age four and who are from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level. Defines "high-quality prekindergarten programs" as those that: serve children who are three or four by the eligibility determination date or have attained the legal age for state-funded prekindergarten; require staff to have high qualifications, which for teachers include specified alternative requirements that all involve possessing a bachelor's degree; maintain an evidence-based maximum class size and child-to-instructional staff ratio; offer a full-day program; provide developmentally appropriate, evidence-based curricula and learning environments that are aligned with state early learning and development standards; offer teachers salaries comparable to those earned by kindergarten through grade twelve teachers; provide for ongoing monitoring and program evaluation to ensure continuous improvement; offer accessible comprehensive services for children, including specified minimum services; provide high-quality professional development for all staff; meet education performance standards under the Head Start Act; and maintain evidence-based health and safety standards. Conditions states' grant eligibility on demonstrating to the Secretary that they: (1) have or will establish early learning and development standards, (2) have or will develop the ability to link prekindergarten data with their elementary and secondary school data, (3) offer state-funded kindergarten for children, and (4) have established a State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. Allows states to reserve up to 20% of their grant funds over the first four years of their grant for prekindergarten quality improvement activities, including support for teachers seeking a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a closely-related field. Authorizes states to apply to the appropriate Secretary to use up to 15% of their grant for subgrants to high-quality early childhood education and care programs for infants and toddlers whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level. Requires state to develop, implement, and make publicly available performance measures and targets for their grant activities. Prohibits state grantees from requiring any child to participate in any federal, state, local, or private early childhood education program. Limits the use of assessments funded by the grant program. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a process to provide Head Start program services to children who are younger than age four in states or regions that provide four-year-olds whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level with sustained access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. Directs the Secretary to award competitive, matching, capacity-building grants to states that assure the Secretary that they will use their grant to become eligible, within three years of receiving the grant, for this Act's grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. Amends the Head Start Act to direct the Secretary of HHS to make grants to Early Head Start agencies to partner with center-based or family child care providers, particularly those that receive support under the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 (CCDBGA), to assist those providers in meeting applicable Head Start and Early Head Start program performance standards. Authorizes those partnerships to serve children through age three. Directs the Secretary of HHS to give Early Head Start program grant priority to Early Head Start agencies that agree to enter into such partnerships with center-based or family child care providers. Amends the CCDBGA to require states to: (1) ensure that the funding they receive for child care services under the Community Services Block Grant Act and the program of block grants for social services under the Social Security Act is subject to the requirements and limitations of the CCDBGA; (2) provide children with assistance under the CCDBGA for at least 12 months before redetermining their eligibility, provided their family income does not exceed 85% of the state median income for their family size; and (3) use the CCDBGA's funding to supplement, not supplant, other public funding for child care services and activities. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to: (1) reserve a specified amount of Child Care and Development Block Grant program funds, in fiscal years in which program funding exceeds a specified amount, for formula grants to states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to improve the quality of child care programs and services; and (2) carry out demonstration and pilot projects designed to develop and implement strategies and practices useful in supporting the needs of low-income families in-need of, or receiving, child care services. Reauthorizes appropriations under the Child Care and Development Block Grant program for FY2014-FY2023. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need for Congress to continue providing resources to the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program to support the work of states in helping at-risk families voluntarily receive home visits from nurses and social workers.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Streamlining Support for Veterans and Military Caregivers Act - Expands the program of assistance and support services for caregivers of veterans to include all caregivers (currently allowed for family caregivers). Modifies the program of special compensation to members of the uniformed services for injuries and illness to allow such compensation for a serious injury or illness (currently allowed for a catastrophic injury or illness). Exempts payments of such compensation from taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from: (1) increasing flood insurance risk premium rates to reflect the current risk of flood for certain property located in specified areas subject to a certain mandatory premium adjustment, or (2) reducing such subsidies for any property not insured by the flood insurance program as of July 6, 2012, or any policy that has lapsed in coverage as a result of the policyholder's deliberate choice (Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map or pre-FIRM properties). Sets forth expiration dates for such prohibitions. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to prohibit the Administrator from providing flood insurance to prospective insureds at rates less than those estimated for any property purchased after the expiration of such six-month period (currently, any property purchased after July 6, 2012). Directs FEMA to: (1) restore during such six-month period specified estimated risk premium rate subsidies for flood insurance for pre-FIRM properties and properties purchased after such six-month period, and (2) submit to certain congressional committees a draft affordability framework addressing the affordability of flood insurance sold under the National Flood Insurance Program. Prescribes procedures for expedited congressional consideration of legislation on FEMA affordability authorities. Permits FEMA to enter into an agreement with another federal agency either to: (1) complete the affordability study, or (2) prepare the draft affordability framework. Directs FEMA submit to certain congressional committees the affordability study and report. Amends NFIA to authorize FEMA to reimburse homeowners for successful map appeals. Makes any community that has made adequate progress on the construction (as under current law) or reconstruction (new) of a flood protection system which will afford flood protection for the one-hundred year frequency flood eligible for flood insurance at premium rates not exceeding those which would apply if such flood protection system had been completed. Revises guidelines governing availability of flood insurance in communities restoring disaccredited flood protection systems to include riverine and coastal levees. Requires FEMA to: (1) rate a covered structure using the elevation difference between the floodproofed elevation of the covered structure and the adjusted base flood elevation of the covered structure; and (2) designate a Flood Insurance Advocate to advocate for the fair treatment of policy holders under the National Flood Insurance Program and property owners in the mapping of flood hazards, the identification of risks from flood, and the implementation of measures to minimize the risk of flood.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in Bay Pines, Florida, as the "C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center."
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2013
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Red Ribbon Week. Encourages: (1) children and teens to choose to live drug-free lives, and (2) people in the United States to promote drug-free communities and to participate in drug prevention activities.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 2013
Treats all federal employees, during any lapse in appropriations beginning on or about October 1, 2013, as performing services relating to emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property (employees excepted from furlough). Subjects excepted employees to the rules relating to leave and holidays during a lapse in appropriations that would apply if no lapse had occurred. Provides for the compensation of federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations for the period for which they were furloughed at their standard rate and as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2013
Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - States that passage of this Act recognizes that the primary tenets of its success depend on securing U.S. sovereignty and establishing a coherent and just system for integrating those who seek to join American society. States that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) border security goal is to gain situational awareness and operational control of high traffic areas and operational control along the Southwest border of the United States. Establishes a Southern Border Security Commission if border security goals have not been achieved within five years. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHA) to: (1) implement metrics to measure security effectiveness at and between ports of entry and in the maritime environment, (2) submit to Congress a comprehensive strategy for gaining situational awareness and operational control of high traffic areas and operational control along the Southwest border of the United States, and (3) submit to Congress a plan to implement a biometric exit capability at ports of entry under the US-VISIT program. Prohibits the Secretary from processing applications for registered provisional immigrant status (RPI) until the Secretary has submitted to Congress the notice of commencement of implementation of the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy and the Southern Border Fencing Strategy. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting RPI aliens to lawful permanent resident status until the Secretary certifies to the President and Congress that: (1) the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy is operational, (2) the Southern Border Fencing Strategy has been implemented, (3) a mandatory employment verification system to be used by all employers has been implemented, and (4) the mandatory electronic exit data system is in use at U.S. air and sea ports of entry. Directs the Secretary to implement: (1) a Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy for achieving and maintaining effective control between and at the ports of entry in all border sectors along the Southern border, and (2) a Southern Border Fencing Strategy to identify where fencing and technology should be deployed along the Southern border. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund, and (2) the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Startup Account. Title I: Border Security - Increases the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and CBP Air and Marine unmanned aircraft systems crew, marine agent, and personnel. Authorizes the transfer of officers and agents from the Northern border to the Southern border. Authorizes permanent funding for the Corporation for Travel Promotion. Establishes a program to recruit Armed Forces reservists and former members of the Armed Forces to serve in CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Authorizes the governor of a state, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense (DOD), to order National Guard units or personnel to perform operations in the Southwest border region to assist CBP in securing the southern border. Increases funding for additional attorneys, support staff, interpreters, pre-trial services, and U.S. marshals in order to increase the number of border crossing prosecutions in the Tucson sector of the Southwest border region. Directs the Secretary to enhance border infrastructure by: (1) constructing additional Border Patrol stations in the Southwest border region, (2) upgrading and establishing additional Border Patrol operating bases, and (3) establishing a grant program with the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to construct transportation improvements at international border crossings. Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enhance law enforcement and operational readiness along the U.S. borders through Operation Stonegarden. Directs the President to appoint additional district judges for Arizona, California, and Texas. Increases the fee for filing a civil action in U.S. district court to $360. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior to provide CBP personnel with security-related access to federal lands in the Southwest border region in Arizona. Requires CBP to deploy additional mobile, video, and portable surveillance systems, and unarmed, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in the Southwest border region. Establishes a grant program to improve emergency communications in the Southwest border region. Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) to reimburse state, county, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys. Authorizes appropriations for the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP). Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide training for CBP officers, U.S. Border Patrol officers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, U.S. Air and Marine Division agents, and agriculture specialists stationed within 100 miles of any U.S. land or marine border, or at any U.S. port of entry; (2) provide training for border community liaison officers; and (3) establish CBP child custody guidelines. Establishes the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Task Force. Terminates the Task Force 60 days after submission of a required report. Establishes within DHS an Ombudsman for Immigration Related Concerns. Directs the Secretary to consider safety and family concerns in any action related to the repatriation or prosecution of individuals apprehended for immigration violations. Prohibits the Secretary from establishing border crossing fees for individuals at land ports of entry along the Southern and Northern borders. Human Trafficking Reporting Act of 2013 - Includes severe forms of trafficking in persons among "part 1 violent crimes" required to be reported by states for the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for purposes of Bureau of Justice Assistance Grants and Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. Directs the Secretary to certify to Congress every six months that DHS has only deported or otherwise removed a migrant from the United States through an entry or exit point on the Southern border during daylight hours. Revises restrictions on payment of senior executives' compensation under contracts relating to border security. Title II: Immigrant Visas - Subtitle A: Registration and Adjustment of Registered Provisional Immigrants - Authorizes the Secretary, after conducting the required national security and law enforcement clearances, to grant RPI status to an alien unlawfully in the United States who: (1) meets specified eligibility requirements, (2) applies before the end of the application period, (3) has paid the required fee and penalty if applicable, and (4) has been physically present in the United States since December 31, 2011, and maintains such presence until RPI status has been granted. Establishes a processing fee for persons 16 years or older. Sets forth bars to eligibility based upon criminal convictions, terrorist activity, and grounds for excludability. Provides derivative RPI status to a qualifying spouse or child of an RPI alien. Authorizes a dependent spouse or child to apply for RPI status if the legal relationship between such person and the RPI alien ended due to death, divorce, or domestic violence. Grants RPI status for an initial six-year period, which may be extended under specified conditions. Permits an RPI alien to work and travel outside the United States under specified conditions. Enumerates the grounds under which the Secretary may revoke RPI status. Makes an RPI alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit, and considers such person to be a noncitizen for certain other federal benefits. Authorizes an RPI alien to: (1) be issued a Social Security number, and (2) enlist in the Armed Forces. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if such person meets specified eligibility requirements. Prohibits an RPI alien from applying for lawful permanent resident status until the Secretary of State certifies that immigrant visas have become available for all approved petitions filed before the date of enactment of this Act. Establishes a processing fee. States that an RPI alien may only adjust status under the merit-based system provided for by this Act. States that a lawful permanent resident who was lawfully present in the United States and eligible for work authorization for not less than 10 years before becoming a lawful permanent resident may be naturalized in three years upon compliance with specified requirements. Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2013 or DREAM Act 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of a lawful permanent resident if the person demonstrates that he or she: (1) has been in RPI status for at least five years; (2) was younger than age 16 when he or she entered the United States; (3) has earned a high school diploma or obtained a general education development certificate in the United States; (4) has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education or has completed at least two years in a program for a bachelor's or higher degree in the United States, or has served in the Uniformed Services for at least four years and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge; and (5) has provided a list of each secondary school attended in the United States. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting the status of an RPI alien to lawful permanent resident status unless the person: (1) satisfies citizenship requirements, (2) submits appropriate biometric and biographic data, and (3) undergoes security and law enforcement background checks. Repeals the denial of 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. Sets forth RPI program requirements regarding: (1) prohibited and required disclosures, (2) employer protections, (3) audits and information evaluation, (4) administrative review, (5) privacy and civil liberties, (6) judicial review, and (7) federal education benefits. Sets forth prohibitions on federal agency use or publishing of information furnished in a lawful status application pursuant to the DREAM ACT or the RPI programs. Establishes a criminal penalty for a person who knowingly misuses or publishes or permits the improper use of RPI application information. Establishes within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services a program to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to assist RPI applicants. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act regarding: (1) state termination of parental rights, (2) children separated from parents and caregivers, and (3) proof of authorization to work in the United States for purposes of OASDI insured status. Extends authority to waive the termination of annuity payments for re-employed Foreign Service annuitants. Establishes a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-only lawful permanent resident status for certain long-term Commonwealth legal residents. Authorizes such aliens to receive an immigrant visa or to adjust to lawful permanent (U.S.) resident status. Subtitle B: Agricultural Worker Program - Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2013 - Confers "blue card status" upon an alien who: (1) has performed specified periods of U.S. agricultural employment or is a qualifying alien's spouse or child, (2) applied for such status during the application period, and (3) is not ineligible under the grounds applicable to RPI aliens. Sets forth protections for aliens apprehended before or during the application period, or in removal proceedings. Permits qualified nonimmigrants who have participated in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program to apply from outside the United States. Prohibits the Secretary from granting blue card status unless the individual submits eligibility-related security and law enforcement biometric and biographic data. States that blue card status expires eight years after the date on which final blue card regulations are published. Establishes a processing fee for persons 16 years or old. Enumerates grounds under which the Secretary may revoke blue card status. Makes a blue card alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust to RPI the status of an alien who has been granted blue card status if the alien is unable to fulfill the agricultural service requirement. Directs the Secretary to adjust a blue card alien (and spouse and children) to permanent resident status if the alien has fulfilled specified periods of agricultural employment. Requires payment of: (1) a $400 fine, and (2) any federal tax liability. Establishes criminal penalties for false application statements. Authorizes a blue card alien to correct certain social security records. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create: (1) a W-3 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a written contract that specifies the wages, benefits, and working conditions of such full-time employment with a designated agricultural employer for a specified period of time; and (2) a W-4 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a full-time employment offer from a designated agricultural employer for such employment. Establishes the nonimmigrant agricultural (W-3 and W-4 visa) worker program. Establishes a program limit for the first five years which may be adjusted annually based upon demand and economic factors. Provides for a three-year period of admission with specified extension periods. Provides for worker portability. Prohibits derivative status for the spouses and children of program aliens. Excludes W-3 and W-4 workers from need-based federal financial assistance programs. Directs the Secretary to monitor program workers through E-Verify and an electronic monitoring system. Establishes a cut-off date for petitioning for H-2A temporary agricultural workers that is one year after the effective date of the regulations implementing the agricultural worker program under this Act. Subjects specified benefits programs to quarterly fraud investigations. Subtitle C: Future Immigration - Establishes a merit-based and points immigrant admissions system. Provides for: (1) 120,000 admissions per fiscal year, annual increases based upon specified admissions and employment conditions, and a maximum admissions cap of 250,000; (2) recapture of unused visas; and (3) lawful permanent resident status for such entrants. Provides that: (1) for FY2015-FY2017 the worldwide level of merit-based immigrant visas shall be available for skilled workers, professionals, and certain other workers; and (2) for subsequent fiscal years preference will be given to tier 1 and tier 2 aliens based upon a point allocation system. Awards tier 1 and tier 2 points to applicants for specified criteria. Establishes a $1,500 visa fee in addition to any application processing fee. Makes specified employment- and family-based applicants and long-term workers eligible for merit-based immigrant visas. Repeals the diversity immigrant program as of October 1, 2014. Permits aliens selected for FY2013 or FY2014 to retain program eligibility. Sets forth worldwide levels of employment- and family-based immigrants. Includes the spouse or minor child of a lawful permanent resident alien in the definition of "immediate family." Eliminates the per-country limit for employment-based immigrants and increases the per-country limit for family-based immigrants. Revises family-based immigrant visa allocations for: (1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, (2) married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (requires that they be under 31 years old at time of filing), and (3) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. lawful permanent residents. Eliminates the visa category for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Exempts certain aliens from numerical limitations. Includes a community adversely affected by a recommendation of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission as a targeted employment area for purposes of certain employment creation visa set-asides. Revises nonimmigrant V-visa (spouses and children of lawful permanent residents coming to the United States to wait for completion of the immigrant visa process) requirements. Makes fiances of lawful permanent residents eligible for a nonimmigrant K-visa (fiance or fiancee). Redefines "child" for purposes of titles I and II of INA to include a stepchild under 21 years old. Permits children under 18 years old to be adopted. Provides specified relief for orphans and spouses. Authorizes an immigration judge to terminate removal proceedings. Revises waiver of inadmissibility requirements, including waiving inadmissibility for certain persons who entered the United States before age 16 who have earned a degree from a U.S. institution of higher education. Considers a lawful permanent resident alien (and spouse or child) who is a doctor or health care worker residing in an eligible country and working in such capacity to be physically present and residing in the United States for naturalization purposes. Extends the Iraqi special immigrant visa program and the Afghan special immigrant visa program. Makes the special immigrant non-minister religious worker and the EB-5 regional center programs permanent. Provides discretionary special immigrant status for the surviving spouse or child of a U.S. government employee killed abroad in the line of duty who had performed faithful service for at least 15 years. Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act - Exempts from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas the sons and daughters of a U.S. citizen and a parent who was a Filipino World War II veteran who was naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 or other specified federal law. Subtitle D: Conrad State 30 and Physician Access - Makes permanent the J-1 visa waiver program (Conrad state 30/medical services in underserved areas). Excludes from numerical immigration limitations any alien physicians who have completed national interest waiver requirements by working in a health care shortage area (including alien physicians who completed such service before enactment of this Act and their spouse and children). Sets forth specified employment protections and contract requirements for alien physicians working in underserved areas. Increases the number of alien physicians that may be allocated to a state. Provides for: (1) additional increases or decreases based upon demand, and (2) up to three visa waivers per fiscal year per state for physicians in academic medical centers. Subtitle E: Integration - Renames the DHS Office of Citizenship as the Office of Citizenship and New Americans. Revises Office functions. Establishes a Task Force on New Americans which shall establish a coordinated federal program and policy response to immigrant integration issues. Authorizes the Secretary, through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to: (1) establish the United States Citizenship Foundation to expand citizenship preparation programs, and (2) award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for immigration integration programs. Establishes a pilot program of grants to states, local governments, or other qualifying entities to carry out immigrant integration programs, or to establish New Immigrant Councils to carry out such programs. Waives with respect to naturalization: (1) English language and civics requirements for persons over age 65 who have lived in the United States for at least 5 years as lawful permanent residents, and (2) the English language requirement for persons over age 60 who have lived in the United States for at least 10 years as lawful permanent residents. Prohibits the Secretary, before October 1, 2020, from requiring an applicant or petitioner for permanent residence or citizenship to use an electronic method to file an application or access a customer account. Makes certain battered aliens eligible for housing assistance. Amends the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, regarding naturalization of an alien child adopted by a U.S. citizen, to: (1) apply its requirements to any individual who satisfies requirements for naturalization, regardless of the date on which they were satisfied; (2) permit one parent to satisfy the preadoption visitation requirement; (3) grant automatic citizenship to a child in the legal custody of the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission; and (4) provide for the naturalization of adopted children who lack legal status or physical presence in the United States. Applies these amendments to any child adopted by a U.S. citizen regardless of the date of the adoption. Title III: Interior Enforcement - Subtitle A: Employment Verification System - Prohibits an employer from: (1) hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee any alien who is not authorized to work in the United States; (2) failing to comply with E-Verify or document requirements; or (2) continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. Provides a good faith defense for an employer who has complied with document and E-Verify requirements. Sets forth: (1) employer and employee document requirements, and (2) employer penalties and civil rights protections. Sets forth E-Verify participation deadlines for federal agencies and departments, federal contractors, employers, agricultural laborers, tribal employers, and all other employers. Sets forth E-Verify program requirements. Declares that failure to participate in E-Verify shall constitute a civil violation. States that E-Verify remains in effect during the period of transition as provided for by this Act. Requires that within five years all Social Security cards issued shall be fraud-, tamper-, wear-, and identity theft-resistant. Makes specified forms of Social Security fraud punishable by fine, up to five years' imprisonment, or both. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (SSA) to establish a secure method to check specified employee data against SSA data in order to confirm identity and employment eligibility. Prohibits the release of tax return information except as authorized by the Internal Revenue Code. Makes it an unfair immigration-related employment practice, with specified exceptions, for a person, entity, or employment agency to discriminate based upon an individual's national origin or citizenship status with respect to hiring, firing, or verifying employment eligibility. Establishes within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the Office of the Small Business and Employee Advocate to assist small businesses and individuals comply with alien employment requirements. Subtitle B: Protecting United States Workers - Expands the U-visa (crime victims) category to include aliens who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse or harm, or who would suffer extreme hardship upon removal, as a result of having been a victim of the following covered violations: (1) certain workplace abuses, (2) slavery or trafficking in persons, or (3) deprivation of due process or constitutional rights. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Establishes in the Treasury the Interior Enforcement Account. Establishes: (1) a mandatory exit data system that shall include data collection from machine-readable visas, passports, and other travel and entry documents for all aliens exiting the United States from air and sea ports of entry; (2) a mandatory biometric exit data system at the 10 U.S. airports that support the highest volume of international air travel; and (3) a mandatory biometric exit data system at the Core 30 international airports in the United States. Directs the Secretary to implement an interoperable electronic data system to access database information from federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community for purposes of visa issuance, admissibility, or deportability. Requires an appropriate official of each commercial aircraft or vessel departing from the United States to any port or place outside the United States to ensure transmission to CBP of identity-theft resistant departure manifest information covering alien passengers, crew, and non-crew. Prohibits, with national security and specific suspect exceptions, federal law enforcement officers from using race or ethnicity in making routine law enforcement decisions. Increases penalties for cultivating or manufacturing controlled substances on federal property. Provides additional penalties under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for: (1) the use of hazardous substances on federal land, and (2) the use or possession of firearms in connection with drug offenses on federal land. Subtitle D: Asylum and Refugee Provisions - Eliminates the one-year time limit for filing an asylum claim. Permits reopening a claim denied because of failure to file within one year. Authorizes the spouse or child of a refugee or asylee to bring his or her accompanying or joining child into the United States as a refugee or asylee. Terminates the waiver of specified visa requirements for certain aliens who were born and reside in Vietnam and who were fathered by a U.S. citizen. Authorizes the President to designate refugee groups. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to designate specific groups of individuals as stateless persons, and (2) the Secretary or the Attorney General to provide conditional lawful status to a qualifying stateless person and adjust such person to lawful permanent resident status after one year. Sets forth protections for stateless persons in the United States. Increases the number of annual U-visas. Provides employment authorization for nonimmigrant U-visa and T-visa (trafficking victim) aliens whose applications are pending. Prohibits an alien from being admitted as a refugee or asylee until such person's identity has been checked against all appropriate databases. Tibetan Refugee Assistance Act of 2013 - Makes 5,000 immigrant visas available in FY2014-FY2016 for individuals born in Tibet who have been continuously residing in India or Nepal. Terminates the refugee or asylee status of an alien who: (1) without good cause returns to the alien's country of nationality or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, returns to the country in which the alien last habitually resided; and (2) applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Makes such provision inapplicable to an alien eligible for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status pursuant to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. Subtitle E: Shortage of Immigration Court Resources for Removal Proceedings - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) increase the number of immigration court judges, support staff, and Immigration Board of Appeals staff attorneys; and (2) appoint counsel in certain removal proceedings involving an unaccompanied child, an individual with a serious mental disability, or a particularly vulnerable individual. Establishes within the Executive Office for Immigration Review an Office of Legal Access Programs to educate aliens regarding administrative procedures and legal rights. Subtitle F: Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Abuses Involving Workers Recruited Abroad - Requires any person who engages in foreign labor contracting to disclose in writing in English and in the primary language of the worker being recruited specified information, including the identity of the employer and the recruiter, worker protections, and a signed copy of the work contract. Prohibits any person who engages in foreign labor contracting from discriminating in hiring. Prohibits certain recruitment fees. Requires a foreign labor contractor to register with the Secretary of Labor. Establishes a registration fee. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a list of all foreign labor contractors registered and a list of all foreign labor contractors whose registration has been revoked, and (2) establish a process for complaint investigation. Sets forth administrative and civil action enforcement requirements. Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act - Directs the Secretary to require the appropriate training of all personnel who come into contact with unaccompanied alien children. Sets forth child protection requirements. Directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a best practices program to ensure the safe repatriation and reintegration of unaccompanied alien children into their country of nationality or of last habitual residence. Subtitle G: Interior Enforcement - Makes an alien who has been convicted of an offense for which an element was active and knowing participation in a criminal street gang inadmissible and deportable. Makes an alien: (1) inadmissible who is physically outside the United States and since the age of 18 knowingly participated in a criminal street gang, or (2) who is at least 18 years old ineligible for RPI status for criminal street gang activities. Makes an alien who has been convicted three or more times for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated inadmissible and deportable. Revises the definition of "aggravated felony" regarding the evidentiary determination of minority in instances of murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor. Revises criminal penalty and related affirmative defense requirements regarding illegal entry and reentry. Increases monetary penalties for owners and operators of vessels and aircraft regarding stowaways and execution of removal orders. Amends the federal criminal code to revise and increase criminal penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action to enjoin any fraudulent immigration service provider from continuing to provide services that substantially interfere with the administration of the immigration laws or from continuing to willfully misrepresent such provider's legal authority to provide representation. Makes an alien convicted of a passport or visa violation under the federal criminal code inadmissible and removable. Makes certain aliens inadmissible who: (1) refuse to comply with a lawful request for biometric information; or (2) have been convicted of a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or are in violation of a domestic protection order. Prohibits an individual acting for financial gain from directing or participating in an effort to bring or attempt to bring five or more persons unlawfully into the United States. Establishes and increases monetary and/or prison penalties for such actions. Makes it a crime to transmit to another person the location, movement, or activities of law enforcement agents while intending to further an immigration-related crime. Prohibits the carrying or use of a firearm in an alien smuggling crime. Eliminates the provision permitting a U.S. national to renounce his or her citizenship during wartime. Authorizes special agents of the Department and the Foreign Service to investigate illegal passport or visa issuance or use, identity theft, document fraud, human trafficking, peonage, and federal offenses committed within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to use secure alternatives programs to maintain custody over detained aliens, except for terrorist aliens. Sets forth detention facility oversight requirements. Revises bond hearing and notice to appear requirements. Limits the use of solitary confinement, prohibiting it for persons younger than age 18. Directs the Secretary of State to prohibit visas to persons of a country whose government denies or unreasonably delays accepting back their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents. Makes inadmissible an alien who has committed acts of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes, or systematic attacks on civilians. Subtitle H: Protection of Children Affected by Immigration Enforcement - Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act or HELP Separated Children Act - Sets forth apprehension procedures for DHS and cooperating entity immigration enforcement-related activities. Requires DHS detention centers to provide for access to children, child welfare agencies, courts, and consular officials. Title IV: Reforms to Nonimmigrant Visa Programs - Subtitle A: Employment-based Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes: (1) a nonimmigrant H-1B visa (specialty occupation) cap of 115,000 for the fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, and (2) a minimum of 115,000 visas and a maximum of 180,000 visas in subsequent years based upon market conditions. Sets forth fiscal year cap increases and decreases. Limits the exemption from H-1B numerical limitations to STEM occupations and increases the annual STEM allocation to 25,000. Authorizes an H-1B or L-visa (intra-company transferee) spouse to work if he or she is the national of a country that permits reciprocal employment. Provides deference to prior H-1B or L-visa adjudications involving the same employer and nonimmigrant absent material error, changed circumstances, or new information adversely affecting eligibility. Provides a 60-day lawful status period for an H-1B alien whose employment is terminated. Authorizes: (1) visa revalidation within the United States for specified nonimmigrant visa categories, and (2) waiver of consular interviews for low-risk applicants. Establishes in the Treasury the STEM Education and Training Account. Requires employers to submit a $1,000 fee along with an application for a certification. Sets aside specified amounts for: (1) a low-income STEM scholarship program, (2) K-12 STEM education, and (3) STEM capacity building at minority-serving institutions. Authorizes grants to eligible entities for American Dream Accounts for a group of low-income students. Requires an employer (except for nonprofit research institutions and nonprofit educational institutions) filing a petition to hire H-1B or L-visa aliens to pay a fee of: (1) $1,250 for each petition filed by any employer with not more than 25 full-time U.S. employees, and (2) $2,500 for each petition filed by any employer with more than 25 such employees. Subtitle B: H-1B Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Revises H-1B requirements for employer applications and application reviews. Revises requirements regarding (H-1C visa) nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas to: (1) permit a one-time three-year extension of admission, (2) reduce the maximum number of visas per fiscal year, and (3) authorize such a nonimmigrant to accept new employment as a registered nurse at any H-1C-qualifying facility. Prohibits an employer (other than an educational or research employer) that employs 50 or more employees in the United States from hiring additional H-1B or L-visa employees if the number of such employees exceeds specified limits. Revises H-1B employer complaint requirements. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish an H-1B recruitment website. Establishes: (1) specified filing fees for H-1B-dependent employers, and (2) a fee for premium processing of employment-based immigrant petitions. Revises portability requirements for beneficiaries of immigrant petitions. Subtitle C: L Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Prohibits outplacement of L-1 visa workers (employees of an international company with offices in the United States and abroad) by certain employers. Authorizes and enumerates the requirements for: (1) outplacement of L-visa nonimmigrants, including payment of a $500 fee; and (2) 12-month approvals of new office L-visa petitions. Sets forth L-visa filing fee requirements for certain employers. Authorizes the Secretary to initiate complaints against L-visa employers. Sets forth related penalty requirements. Requires DHS to report to Congress regarding the use of L-visa blanket petitions. Subtitle D: Other Nonimmigrant Visas - Authorizes dual intent for F-1 visa foreign students, including students who commute from Canada or Mexico to study in the United States. Revises the nonimmigrant E-visa (treaty trader) category to: (1) include aliens seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a bilateral investment treaty or a free trade agreement, (2) establish an E-4 visa for specialty occupation workers (other than from Chile, Singapore, or Australia) to enter the United States pursuant to a free trade agreement, (3) establish an E-5 visa for specialty occupation workers who are nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and (4) establish an E-6 visa for qualifying workers who are nationals of certain sub-Saharan African or Caribbean Basin countries. Includes in the nonimmigrant E-3 visa category certain nationals of Ireland coming to the United States under a treaty of commerce to perform specialty occupation services. Extends portability to certain nonimmigrant O-1 visa holders (extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry). Permits specified nonimmigrant aliens granted employment authorization to continue employment with the same employer while an extension of stay application is adjudicated. Eliminates the 12-month attendance limit for elementary and secondary foreign students. Requires employers/sponsors to pay a $500 fee for each J-1 visa (cultural exchange visitor) alien admitted under the summer work travel program. Includes in the J-1 visa category persons coming to the United States to perform work involving a specialized knowledge or skill that requires proficiency in a language spoken in countries of which fewer than 5,000 nationals were lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the previous year. Establishes a $100 nonimmigrant F-1 (foreign student) visa fee. Directs the Secretary of State to develop a pilot program for processing B-visas (business or tourist visitors) using secure remote videoconferencing technology to conduct applicant interviews. Grants the Secretary of State access to all terrorism records and databases maintained by any U.S. agency or department in order to determine whether an applicant for admission poses a security threat. Authorizes the head of an agency or department to withhold such access if necessary to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information that identifies intelligence or sensitive law enforcement sources, methods, or activities. Requires every alien applying for U.S. admission to submit to biographic and biometric screening to determine whether the alien is listed in any U.S. terrorist watch list or database. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the entry of a listed person. Requires that notice of a revoked visa be immediately provided to the relevant consular officers, law enforcement, terrorist screening databases, and DHS port inspectors. Defines "abused derivative alien" as the spouse or child accompanying or joining a principal alien who has been subjected to the principal alien's battery or extreme cruelty. Directs the Secretary to grant or extend the admission status of an abused derivative alien for the longer of the same period for which the principal alien was admitted, or three years. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an abused derivative alien to that of a lawful permanent resident. Considers an alien crewman to have departed from Hawaii, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after leaving its territorial waters without regard to whether the alien arrives in a foreign state before returning to Hawaii, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Makes citizens of the Compact of Free Association States (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau) lawfully residing in the United States eligible for Medicaid. Subtitle E: JOLT Act - Jobs Originated through Launching Travel Act of 2013 or JOLT Act of 2013 - Establishes a pilot fee-based premium processing service to expedite visa interview appointments. Authorizes the admission into the United States of a qualifying Canadian citizen over age 55 and spouse (who is not required to be over age 55) for a period not to exceed 240 days in any 365-day period who maintains a Canadian residence and owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of such stay. Prohibits U.S. employment. Establishes a nonimmigrant Y-visa for: (1) an alien who invests (and maintains) at least $500,000 in U.S. residential real estate, of which at least $250,000 must be for a U.S. primary residence where such person will reside for more than 180 days per year; and (2) such alien's accompanying or joining spouse and children. Requires a Y-visa alien to: (1) be at least 55 years old, (2) have purchased a qualifying residence, (3) not need public assistance, (4) possess health insurance, (5) live in the United States for more than 180 days per year, and (6) pay a $1,000 fee. Limits U.S. employment. Directs the Secretary to make available each month data for the previous two years regarding visa appointment availability for each visa processing post to allow applicants to identify periods when wait times may be shorter. Revises the visa waiver program to authorize the Secretary (in lieu of the Attorney General) to designate any country as a program country if it provides machine-readable passports and the visa refusal rate and overstay rate for nationals of that country were both not more than 3% in the previous fiscal year. Directs: (1) the Comptroller General (GAO) to review the Secretary's methods of tracking entering and exiting aliens and detecting overstays, and (2) the Secretary to evaluate the security risks of aliens entering the United States without an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization verification. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary, in conducting evaluations of visa waiver countries, should prioritize reviews of countries in which such review is necessary or desirable. Makes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (PRC) eligible for program country designation. Authorizes the inclusion in registered traveler programs of individuals who meet security requirements and are employed and sponsored by an international organization which maintains a strong working relationship with the United States. Prohibits enrollment of an individual who is a citizen of a state sponsor of terror. Requires U.S. diplomatic and consular missions to: (1) conduct nonimmigrant visa application interviews expeditiously, consistent with national security and resource allocation considerations; and (2) explore expanding visa processing capacity in China and Brazil. Establishes a $5 B-visa fee. Subtitle F: Reforms to the H-2B Visa Program - Exempts returning workers from the nonimmigrant H-2B visa (temporary nonagricultural services) annual numerical limitations through FY2018. Sets forth H-2B employer requirements, including payment of a $500 labor certification application fee. Authorizes the temporary nonimmigrant admission of: (1) multinational executives, managers, and multinational company employees coming for work-related purposes; and (2) certain relief workers coming in response to a federal or state declared disaster. Authorizes a B-visa alien to accept certain honorarium payments and associated incidental expenses. Establishes a temporary nonimmigrant Z-visa for certain aliens coming to perform health and safety-related maintenance or repairs for common carriers on equipment or machinery manufactured outside of the United States. Establishes a $500 fee for each such alien. American Jobs in American Forests Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Labor, as a component of the H-2B (temporary nonagricultural workers) labor certification process for forestry employment, to take specified actions to recruit U.S. workers before hiring H-2B workers. Subtitle G: W Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research which shall devise a methodology to: (1) determine the annual change to the nonimmigrant W-visa cap and use such methodology to set such caps, and and (2) designate shortage occupations by job zone. Establishes: (1) a nonimmigrant W-1 visa for an alien having a foreign residence who is coming to the United States to perform services or labor for a registered employer in a registered position, and (2) a nonimmigrant W-2 visa for such alien's accompanying or joining spouse or children. Provides that: (1) a certified alien may be granted W-visa status for an initial three-year period, with additional three-year extensions which may be made while in the United States; and (2) a W-visa alien must leave the United States if unemployed for more than 60 consecutive days. Requires an employer to pay a registered employer application fee. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) employer eligibility, registration, U.S. worker recruitment requirements,and related requirements; (2) W-visa nonimmigrant protections; (3) eligible and ineligible occupations; (4) fees; (5) enforcement; and (6) annual admission limits. Subtitle H: Investing in New Venture, Entrepreneurial Startups, and Technologies - Establishes a nonimmigrant X-visa for a qualified entrepreneur: (1) who has secured at least $100,000 in investments from an accredited investor, venture capitalist, or government entity for such alien's U.S. business; or (2) whose U.S. business has created at least three qualified jobs during the previous two years and has generated at least $250,000 in annual revenue in the United States. Provides for an initial three-year period of authorized admission with specified extension periods. Establishes a $1,000 X-visa fee. Establishes an EB-6 immigrant investor visa (capped at 10,000 per year) for qualifying entrepreneur aliens (including aliens with advanced STEM degrees) living in the United States whose U.S. business has met specified job creation, revenue, and/or venture capital or investment requirements. Makes the EB-5 visa (alien investor) regional center program permanent. Authorizes a commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center to file a preapproval petition. Authorizes a related premium processing (and fee) option. Authorizes termination of a previously approved regional center if persons in positions of authority have been involved in criminal, trafficking, espionage, or terrorist activity. Requires regional center compliance with securities laws. Terminates the status of an alien (and the alien's spouse and children) with conditional permanent resident status who is an employee of a federal national security, science and technology laboratory, center, or agency if the Secretary determines within one year of granting such status that: (1) the qualifying employment was intended as a means to evade U.S. immigration laws; (2) the alien has not completed, or is not likely to complete, the 12-month employment requirement; or (3) the alien was not meeting status requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to require an employment-based immigrant to pay an additional fee for a petition that includes the alien's spouse and child or children. Exempts spouses and children of EB-5 employment-based immigrants from EB-5 admissions limits. Increases the fiscal year EB-5 set-aside for qualified immigrants who invest in a new commercial enterprise which is investing capital and will create employment in a targeted employment area (TEA). Designates TEAs for a five-year renewable period. Authorizes concurrent filing of EB-5 petitions and applications for status adjustment to conditional lawful permanent resident Subtitle I: Student and Exchange Visitor Programs - Student Visa Integrity Act - Subjects to fine and a 15-year prison term an owner, official, employee, or agent of an educational institution who commits fraud or misuse of visas, permits, and other immigration documents in connection with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Requires academic institutions (other than seminaries or other religious institutions) to be accredited for F-visa purposes if: (1) the institution is not already required to be accredited, and (2) an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education is able to provide such accreditation. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a monetary fine and suspend authority to issue a Form I-20 with regard to an institution that fails to comply with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) reporting requirements. Authorizes the Secretary, upon reasonable suspicion that an owner of, or a designated school official at, an approved institution of higher education, another educational institution, or a designated exchange visitor program, has committed SEVP-related fraud, to suspend: (1) SEVP certification, and (2) such official's or such school's SEVIS access. Disqualifies permanently an owner or school official who is convicted of SEVP-related fraud from filing future petitions and from having an ownership interest or a management role in any U.S. educational institution that enrolls nonimmigrant alien students or nonimmigrant alien vocational students. Prohibits an individual from serving as a designated school official or from being granted SEVIS access unless the individual: (1) is a U.S. national or a lawful permanent resident alien who, during the most recent three-year period, has undergone a specified background check; and (2) has completed SEVP and SEVIS training. Authorizes the Secretary to collect a fee for each such security check. Prohibits any U.S. flight school from accessing SEVIS or issuing a Form I-20 to an alien seeking a student or vocational student visa if the flight school has not been certified to the satisfaction of the Secretary and by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Requires: (1) an accrediting agency, at the time it is required to notify the Secretary of Education and the appropriate state licensing agency of the final denial, withdrawal, suspension, or termination of an institution's accreditation, to notify the Secretary of such determination; and (2) the Secretary to withdraw the school from SEVP and prohibit the school from accessing SEVIS. Directs the Secretary to implement both phases of the second generation Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS II) within two years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2013
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act - Provides for compensation of federal employees furloughed due to any lapse in appropriations that begins on or about October 1, 2013, for the period of such lapse in appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Reauthorization Act - Amends the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to extend the authorization of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network through FY2018.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2013
Modernizing Our Drug & Diagnostics Evaluation and Regulatory Network Cures Act of 2013 or MODDERN Cures Act of 2013 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish the Advanced Diagnostics Education Council to recommend standard terms and definitions related to innovative diagnostics for use by patients, physicians, health care providers, payers, and policy makers; and (2) publish a guide regarding such terms and definitions. Sets forth additional factors for the Secretary to consider in determining the payment amount for new clinical diagnostic laboratory tests under gap filling procedures which are used when no comparable existing test is available. Extends the exclusivity period for a medicine if the diagnostic test related to such drug has been determined by the Secretary to have been developed by, or with the participation of, the manufacturer or sponsor of the medicine, and use of the diagnostic tests provides for or improves: (1) the identification of a patient population for the medicine; or (2) the determination of the most appropriate treatment option for a patient population with the medicine. Establishes a dormant therapy designation for medicine that addresses unmet medical needs. Gives such medicine 15 years of data exclusivity under which no drug can be approved by relying on the approval or licensure of the dormant therapy. Directs the Secretary to arrange with the Institute of Medicine (or, if it declines, another appropriate entity) to study intellectual property laws and their impact on therapy and diagnostic development in order to formulate recommendations on how to facilitate the clinical evaluation and development of therapies currently available on the market for new potential indications.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2013
Medicare Orthotics and Prosthetics Improvement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for application of quality standards for certain accredited suppliers of prosthetic devices, orthotics, and certain prosthetics, to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate and approve an independent accreditation organization with respect to such suppliers only if that organization is the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics, Inc. or the Board for Orthotist/ Prosthetist Certification (or a program with essentially equivalent accreditation and approval standards). Exempts from such standards any suppliers who: (1) are physicians, occupational therapists, or physical therapists licensed or otherwise regulated by the state in which they practice; and (2) receive Medicare payments. Applies to custom-fitted orthotics the special payment rules for certain prosthetics and custom-fabricated orthotics. Exempts from such rules off-the-shelf orthotics included in a competitive acquisition program. Modifies the Medicare payment rules for orthotics and prosthetics to account for supplier qualifications and complexity of care. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on: (1) HHS steps taken to ensure that the state licensure and accreditation requirements are enforced, and (2) the effects of requirements of this Act on the occurrence of Medicare fraud and abuse with respect to orthotics and prosthetics. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to submit to Congress a projection on the effect on cumulative federal spending under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for 2014-2018 that will result from implementation of this Act. Requires the Secretary, if the Chief Actuary projects that implementation of this Act will not result in a cumulative spending reduction of at least $250 million for 2014-2018, to issue an interim final regulation to strengthen the licensure, accreditation, and quality standards applicable to orthotics and prosthetics suppliers in order to produce such a cumulative reduction by the end of 2018. Exempts from such regulation any qualified physical therapist or qualified occupational therapist.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2013
Intelligence Oversight and Accountability Act of 2013 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to revise congressional reporting requirements with respect to FISA court decisions. Requires the Attorney General (DOJ), within 45 days after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review issues a decision, order, or opinion that includes a denial or modification of a request for an order, or that results in a change of application or a new application of FISA, to submit to Congress a copy of such decision and any associated pleadings, applications, or memoranda of law. (Currently, the Attorney General submits such materials only with respect to decisions that the Attorney General determines are a significant construction or interpretation of FISA.) Directs the Attorney General to include with such court documents a brief statement (a summary) of the relevant background factual information, questions of law, legal analysis, and decision rendered.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2013
Right Start Child Care and Education Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the rates and maximum allowable amount of the tax credit for employer-provided child care facilities; (2) increase the eligibility threshold amount and rate of the household and dependent care tax credit and make such credit refundable; (3) allow a new $2,000 tax credit for child care providers who hold a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, child care, or a related degree and who provide at least 1,200 hours of child care services in a taxable year; and (4) increase the tax exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2013 - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the National Office for Cyberspace to serve as the principal office for coordinating issues relating to cyberspace. Establishes within such Office the Federal Cybersecurity Practice Board to be responsible for developing and updating information security policies and procedures. Requires the Director of the National Office for Cyberspace to: (1) oversee information security policies and practices, (2) establish a national program to instruct students in cybersecurity education and computer literacy, (3) review federal agency budgets relating to the protection of information infrastructures, and (4) ensure the operation of a central federal information security incident center. Requires each federal agency to perform an annual independent audit of its information security programs and practices and submit the results of such audit to the Director. Requires the Secretary of Commerce, on the basis of proposed standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to promulgate information security standards pertaining to federal information systems. Prohibits any agency from entering into a contract, an order under a contract, or an interagency agreement for information technology without including requirements for effective information security that supports the operations and assets of that agency. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to require each agency to conduct an initial vulnerability assessment for any major information system. Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Office of the Federal Chief Technology Officer. Includes among the duties of such Officer: (1) advising the President and agency officials on information technology infrastructures, strategy, and use; (2) leading an interagency effort to ensure the use of best-in-class technologies; (3) promoting technological innovation in the federal government; (4) establishing public-private sector partnership initiatives; and (5) gathering information on significant developments and trends in information technology. Grants the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) primary authority for the protection of the critical information infrastructure, as defined by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2014 the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of indebtedness on a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal in honor of President Shimon Peres of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Behavioral Health Information Technology Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include as a health care provider behavioral and mental health professionals, substance abuse professionals, psychiatric hospitals, certain community mental health centers, and residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), with respect to incentives for meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology under the pay schedule for physician's services, to include as additional eligible professionals clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services. Subjects any additional eligible professionals, including those under a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan, to reductions in incentive payments after a certain date for failure to be a meaningful EHR user. Makes inpatient psychiatric hospitals eligible for payment for inpatient hospital services. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to treat as Medicaid providers: (1) public and certain private hospitals that are principally psychiatric hospitals, (2) certain community mental health centers, and (3) certain residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Makes eligible professionals under the Medicaid program certain clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services. Authorizes a covered entity to submit to a patient safety organization information on electronic health record (EHR)-related adverse events with respect to certified EHR technology. Specifies covered entities as certain EHR users, health information exchange entities, and health care professionals who use EHR technology. Defines an EHR-related adverse event as a defect, malfunction, or error in the certified health information technology or EHR used by a provider, or in the input or output of data maintained through such technology or record, that results or could reasonably result in harm to a patient. Limits electronic discovery (e-discovery) in any health care lawsuit against a covered entity relating to an Reallotted adverse event involving certified EHR technology to information: (1) related to that event, and (2) from the period in which the event occurred. Prohibits a claimant from commencing a lawsuit more than three years after the manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers, or should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. Requires tolling of this limitation, however, to the extent that the claimant is able to prove: (1) fraud; (2) intentional concealment; or (3) the presence of a foreign body, with no therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect, in the injured person. Subjects each party to such a lawsuit which is not a covered entity to proportionate liability only. Allows punitive damages against a covered entity only upon proof by clear and convincing evidence that the entity acted with reckless disregard for the claimant's health or safety. Shields covered entities, employees, agents, and representatives from civil liability for libel or slander arising from information or entries made in certified EHR technology, or transferred to another eligible provider, if the information, entries, or transfer were made in good faith and without malice.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue in commemoration of the United States Coast Guard: (1) $5 gold coins, (2) $1 silver coins, and (3) half-dollar clad coins. Requires the design of such coins to be emblematic of the traditions, history, and heritage of the Coast Guard, and its role in securing our nation since 1790. Prescribes design requirements. Restricts the issuance of such coins to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2017. Prescribes the sale price of the coins and coin surcharges. Requires such surcharges to be paid by the Secretary to the National Coast Guard Museum Foundation to help finance the design and construction of the National Coast Guard Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2013
Captive Primate Safety Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to add nonhuman primates 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 import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase a live animal of any prohibited wildlife species in interstate or foreign commerce (i.e., for pet trade purposes). Modifies exceptions to such prohibition, including by making it inapplicable to a person who is: (1) a licensed and inspected person who does not allow direct contact between the public and prohibited wildlife species, and (2) transporting a single primate of the genus Cebus that was obtained from and trained by a charitable organization to assist a permanently disabled individual with a severe mobility impairment. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2013
Conservation Easement Incentive Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2013
Responsible Electronics Recycling Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) prohibit the export of restricted electronic waste to countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Union (EU), or Liechtenstein; (2) require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and promulgate procedures for identifying certain electronic equipment as well as additional restricted toxic materials contained in such equipment which poses a potential hazard to human health or the environment; and (3) establish criminal penalties for knowingly exporting restricted electronic waste in violation of this Act. Allows certain exceptions to such export ban. Defines "restricted electronic waste" to include electronic equipment (excluding parts of a motor vehicle), such as computers, televisions, printers, copiers, video game systems, telephones, and similar used electronic products, that contain cathode ray tubes, batteries, switches, and other parts containing lead, cadmium, mercury, organic solvents, hexavalent chromium, beryllium, or other toxic ingredients. Requires persons who handle restricted electronic wastes to permit appropriate EPA and state officials access to such wastes upon request. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a competitive research application program to provide grants for research in the recovering and recycling of critical minerals and rare earth elements found in electronic devices.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to continue the eligibility of Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) pension recipients for the health care tax credit after 2013 if such recipients were eligible for such credit in December 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2013
Dr. R. Adams Cowley Congressional Gold Medal Act - Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for a posthumous presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Dr. R. Adams Cowley, recognizing his lifelong commitment to the advancement of trauma care. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of such medal.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2013
Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and revise a research, training, and technical assistance resource center to prevent suicides (the Suicide Prevention Resource Center). Expands the program's focus from youth suicides to suicides among all ages, particularly among groups that are at high risk for suicide. Repeals authority for grants to establish research, training, and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse and the justice system. Reauthorizes a program of grants for the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies. Reauthorizes and revises a grant program to enhance services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (who currently is merely authorized), acting through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, to award grants to enhance such services and to develop best practices for the delivery of such services. Permits grant funds to be used for the provision of such services to students and to employ appropriately trained staff. Requires the Secretary to give special consideration to applications for grants that describe programs that demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional mental and substance use disorder services and the greatest potential for replication.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2013
Airline Pilot Pension Fairness Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), with regard to both single-employer and multiemployer plan guaranteed benefits, to require the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), in the case of commercial airline pilots required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulation to retire before age 65, to compute the actuarial value of monthly benefits in the form of a life annuity commencing at the required retirement age.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2013
Trauma Relief Access for Universal Medical Assistance Act - Appropriates to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $100 million, for FY2014-FY2018, for the program of grants to states to promote universal access to trauma care services provided by trauma centers and trauma-related physician specialties.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2013
Critical Care Assessment and Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires studies on critical care health services in the United States by the Institute of Medicine and the Health Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Directs the HHS Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish the Critical Care Coordinating Council to coordinate the collection and analysis of information on current NIH research relating to the care of the critically ill and injured, identify gaps in such research, and make recommendations to the Director of NIH on how to improve such research. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, to carry out a demonstration project to improve the quality and efficiency of care provided to critically ill and injured patients receiving care in acute care hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2013
Amends the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, with respect to rollovers to a traditional or Roth individual retirement account (IRA) of payments to qualified airline employees in commercial airline carrier bankruptcy cases, to: (1) extend the period for filing a claim for refund of an overpayment of tax resulting from the receipt of such payments (i.e., by the later of April 15, 2015, or the expiration of the limitation period for filing refund claims); (2) modify the definition of "airline payment amount" to include payments in an airline carrier bankruptcy case filed after September 11, 2001, and before January 1, 2007, or on November 29, 2011; and (3) modify the definition of "qualified airline employee" to include an employee who was a participant in a defined benefit plan maintained by an airline carrier that was frozen effective November 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2013
Respect for Marriage Act - Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2013
Transparency and Accountability in Medicare Bidding Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to delay from July 1, 2013, to a date no earlier than December 31, 2013, the implementation of: (1) round 2 of the durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding program under title XVIII (Medicare) the Social Security Act; and (2) the Medicare single payment amounts under the national mail order competition for diabetic supplies. Directs the Secretary to delay the start of round 1 recompete of such DMEPOS competitive bidding program from January 1, 2014, to a date no earlier than six months after the initial implementation of round 2. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, to contract three auction experts, a health economist, and an econometrician to work collectively as an auction expert team, led by the auction experts, to independently review and assess all aspects of round 1 re-bid and round 2 of the DMEPOS competitive bidding program, including its design, development, implementation, adequacy of support for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illness or disabilities, market fairness, sustainability, and functioning.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2013
Time Off to Vote Act - Entitles an employee to two hours of paid leave on the day of any federal election in order to vote. Gives the employer the right to determine the two-hour-period, excluding any lunch break or other break. Prohibits the loss of benefits for any employee taking such leave under this Act. Makes it unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise, the right to take leave under this Act, or to discriminate against an employee in any manner for taking leave under this Act. Makes it unlawful for any employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any individual for: (1) opposing any practice made unlawful by this Act; (2) filing any charge, or instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to this Act; or (3) testifying or preparing to testifying in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any leave provided under this Act. Specifies the penalties for any employer who violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2013
Access to Professional Health Insurance Advisors Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to exclude remuneration paid for licensed independent insurance producers from administrative cost calculations for purposes of calculating the medical-loss ratio of a health insurance plan. Defines "independent insurance producer" to mean an insurance agent or broker, insurance consultant, benefit specialist, limited insurance representative, and any other person required to be licensed under the laws of the particular state to sell, solicit, negotiate, service, effect, procure, renew, or bind policies of insurance coverage or offer advice, counsel, opinions, or services related to insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2013
Human Trafficking Prioritization Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the Department of State will be more effective in carrying out duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and can do so without an increase in either personnel or budget, if: (1) the Office status is changed to that of a Bureau within the Department; and (2) the Office is headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access to the Secretary of State, rather than an Ambassador-at-Large. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to change the status of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to that of the Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which shall be headed by an Assistant Secretary of State.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2013
Commuter Parity Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the exclusion from gross income, for income tax purposes, of certain transportation benefits provided by an employer to an employee, to allow a monthly exclusion amount of: (1) $220 for transportation in a commuter highway vehicle from home to work and any transit pass, (2) $220 for qualified parking, and (3) $35 for qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement. Allows an annual cost-of-living adjustment to such exclusion amounts after 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike such gold medal and to strike and sell duplicate bronze medals at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the gold and bronze medals.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act or FIT Kids Act - Requires the Secretary of Education to award grants to states to implement comprehensive programs to promote physical activity, education, and fitness and nutrition that are based on scientifically valid research, and an analysis of need that considers, at a minimum, physical education indicators. Limits a grant award to a maximum of five years. Prescribes certain activities under a grant, including that states must: (1) develop and implement a physical education indicators measurement system; (2) collect and publish information on physical activity, education, and fitness and nutrition at the school level; (3) use indicators to identify and address student needs; (4) encourage local education agencies to integrate physical activity, education, and fitness into a range of subjects throughout the school day and locations within schools; and (5) award sub-grants based on identified needs. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, to establish program performance metrics to measure the effectiveness of the grant program's activities. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the compact with parents under the school-level parental involvement policy to include a description of the school's responsibility to support their children in leading a healthy and active life, such as by providing health meals and snacks, encouraging participation in physical education, and sharing in physical activity outside the school day to support successful academic achievement. Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require the Secretary to promote equal opportunities for students with disabilities to be included and participate in physical education and extracurricular athletics implemented in, or in conjunction with, elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education, by ensuring the provision of appropriate technical assistance and guidance for schools and institutions and their personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2013
Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Amends the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 to extend from December 31, 2014, through December 31, 2024, the Terrorism Risk Insurance program. Extends to September 30, 2027, the deadline by which the Secretary of the Treasury is required to collect all mandatory premiums for any act of terrorism occurring on or after January 1, 2012. Requires reports in 2017, 2020, and 2023 on the findings of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets pursuant to an ongoing analysis regarding the long-term availability and affordability of (market conditions for) terrorism risk insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2013
Partnership to Build America Act of 2013 - Establishes the American Infrastructure Fund (AIF) as a wholly-owned government corporation to provide bond guarantees and make loans to state and local governments and non-profit infrastructure providers for transportation, energy, water, communications, or educational facility infrastructure projects (Qualified Infrastructure Projects [QIPs]). Requires AIF also to make equity investments in QIPs such entities sponsor. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the AIF, to issue American Infrastructure Bonds with an aggregate face value of $50 billion. Requires proceeds from the sale of the bonds to be deposited into the AIF. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow U.S. corporations to exclude from gross income qualified cash dividend amounts received during a taxable year from a foreign-controlled corporation equal to the face value of qualified infrastructure bonds the corporation has purchased. Prohibits allowance of a foreign tax credit to the excluded portion of any dividend received by a U.S. corporation. Prohibits also the allowance of a deduction for expenses related to that excludable portion.
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