United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Leave No Child Behind Tax Credit Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a maximum $250 ($500 for joint filers) annual credit for contributions to charitable organizations that provide elementary and secondary student scholarships. States that the Constitutional authority upon which this Act is based is the power of Congress to lay and collect taxes and to regulate commerce with foreign nations and the Indian tribes and among the States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2003 - Prohibits any person or entity, in or affecting interstate commerce, from knowingly: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; (2) participating in such an attempt; (3) shipping or receiving an embryo produced by human cloning; or (4) importing such an embryo. Sets forth criminal and civil penalties. Provides that nothing in this Act restricts areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited above, including research in the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues, organs, plants, or animals other than humans. Directs the General Accounting Office to assess the need for amendment of such prohibition, including through: (1) a discussion of new developments, the need for somatic cell transfer to produce medical advances, current public attitudes and prevailing ethical views concerning its use, and potential legal implications of somatic cell transfer research; and (2) a review of any technological developments that may require technical changes to such prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Child Support Enforcement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (relating to the deduction for bad debts) to allow a custodial parent to claim unpaid child support payments as a deduction. Bars a delinquent debtor from filing an amended return in any subsequent year to reflect the subsequent payment of unpaid child support. Includes unpaid child support in the gross income of the delinquent debtor. Prohibits any discrepancy between the tax returns of a custodial parent and a delinquent debtor concerning whether a child support payment has been made from serving as a basis for selecting an individual's tax return for general audit.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to state that churches and other houses of worship shall not lose such designation because of the content, preparation, or presentation of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings. States that such provision shall not affect campaign finance laws under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize qualified law enforcement officers (including certain qualified retired officers) carrying the photographic identification issued by their governmental agency, notwithstanding State or local laws, to carry a concealed firearm. Provides that such authorization shall not supersede State laws that: (1) permit private entities to prohibit the possession of concealed firearms on their property; or (2) prohibit the possession of firearms on State or local government property. Excludes from the definition of "firearm" any machine gun, firearm silencer, or destructive device.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act - Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to permanently ban: (1) taxes on Internet access; and (2) multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Prohibits the United States from operating a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem unless it is under the supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Requires any official U.S. Government document which lists countries and their capital cities to identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Declares that, for purposes of registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a U.S. citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary of State shall, upon the citizen's (or the citizen's legal guardian's) request, record the place of birth as Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Death Tax Permanency Act of 2003 - Amends title IX (Compliance with Congressional Budget Act) of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-16) to repeal the sunset provisions applicable to title V (Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfer Taxes) of such Act. (Makes estate tax repeal permanent.) States that such amendments shall take effect as if included in section 901 of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Investor Protection, Market Stabilization, and Tax Fairness Restoration Act of 2002 (sic) - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for a taxpayer other than a corporation in an amount equal to the shareholder credits determined with respect to dividends received from domestic corporations. Sets a maximum amount for the credit. Prohibits the allotting of credit in certain instances to nonresident aliens. Provides criteria for calculating a shareholder credit for a dividend. Classifies any shareholder credit determined under this Act as a tax paid by the relevant corporation. Includes a taxpayer's shareholder credits in gross income. Permits a corporation to deduct 100 percent of the amount received as dividends from a domestic corporation (presently the Code allows a deduction of 70 percent or 100 percent, depending on the type of dividend). Increases, from 70 to 100 percent, the amount a corporation is allowed to deduct with respect to dividends on certain preferred stock.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Fair Tax Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal subtitle A (Income Taxes), B (Estate and Gift Taxes), and C (Employment Taxes) of the Internal Revenue Code. Imposes a tax on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services. Sets the tax rate at 23 percent for the calendar year 2005. Sets the rate, for years after 2005, at the combined sum of the general revenue rate (14.91 percent), the old-age survivors and disability rate, and the hospital insurance rate. Sets forth provisions concerning, among other things; (1) imports and exports; (2) definitions; (3) credits and refunds; (4) a "family consumption allowance"; (5) Federal and State cooperative tax administration; (6) administrative matters; (7) collections, appeals, and taxpayer rights; (8) special rules (hobbies, gaming, government purchases, non-profits, and etc.); (9) financial intermediation services; and (10) additional matters. Sets forth provisions concerning the: (1) phase-out of administration of repealed taxes; (2) administration of other taxes (establishes an Excise Tax Bureau and a Sales Tax Bureau); and (3) sales tax inclusive social security benefits indexation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq - Expresses support for the President's efforts to: (1) strictly enforce through the United Nations Security Council all relevant Security Council resolutions applicable to Iraq; and (2) obtain prompt and decisive action by the Security Council to ensure that Iraq abandons its strategy of delay, evasion, and noncompliance and promptly and strictly complies with all relevant Security Council resolutions. Authorizes the President to use the U.S. armed forces to: (1) defend U.S. national security against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq. Directs the President, prior to or as soon as possible (but no later than 48 hours) after exercising such authority, to make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate his determination that: (1) reliance on further diplomatic or peaceful means alone will not achieve the above purposes; and (2) acting pursuant to this resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization for use of the armed forces, consistent with requirements of the War Powers Resolution. Requires the President to report to Congress at least every 60 days on matters relevant to this resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that each State should examine its existing statutes, practices, and procedures governing special elections so that, in the event of a catastrophe, vacancies in the House of Representatives may be filled in a timely fashion.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2002
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should complete action in the 107th Congress on the Pension Security Act of 2002 and present it to the President for his signature before adjournment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2002
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should complete action in the 107th Congress on the Community Solutions Act of 2001 and present it to the President for his signature before adjournment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2002
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should complete action on the Permanent Death Tax Repeal Act of 2002, and present it to the President before adjournment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2002
Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that the 107th Congress should complete action on and present to the President, before September 30, 2002, legislation extending and strengthening the 1996 welfare reforms.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2002
Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to conduct projects consistent with the Implementation Plan for the 10-year Comprehensive Strategy for a Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment, May 2002, developed to reduce hazardous fuels within any areas of Federal land under the jurisdiction of either Secretary that: (1) are outside of Congressionally designated Wilderness Areas; and (2) the appropriate Secretary determines qualify as a fire risk condition class three area. Permits the Secretaries to enter into stewardship contracts with private persons or other public or private entities to perform services to achieve land management goals for the national forests and other Federal lands. Allows the Secretaries to collect monies from a contract so long as collection is secondary to the land management goals the contract is supposed to accomplish. Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 to repeal the Appeals Reform Act (regarding Forest Service decisionmaking and appeals reform). Provides that in any action under any law for writs of prohibitory or mandatory injunction against agency action in which the agency has found that such action is necessary to restore fire-adapted forest or rangeland ecosystems, the reviewing court shall: (1) consider the public interest in avoiding long-term harm to such ecosystems; and (2) give deference to any agency finding, based upon information in its administrative record, that the public interest in avoiding the short-term effects of such action is outweighed by the public interest in avoiding long-term harm to such ecosystems.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2002
Healthy Forests Reform Act of 2002 - Directs the Council on Environmental Quality to: (1) treat the threat of catastrophic wildfire on Federal lands as an emergency circumstance; and (2) establish an expedited environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for fire reduction and forest health measures on certain Federal lands. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior (Secretaries) to jointly establish an independent panel to assess agency actions concerning wildfire reduction, forest health and biodiversity promotion, and watershed protection. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a predecisional review process for the Forest Service. Repeals, 90 days after enactment of this Act, Forest Service decisionmaking and appeal provisions under the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993. Directs that emergency response activities proceed immediately due to extraordinary circumstances affecting Federal lands, including actions to reduce bark beetle infestation and attendant catastrophic wildfire threat in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Exempts all such activities from judicial review and certain notice, comment, and appeal requirements. Authorizes the Secretaries to enter into stewardship contracts for land management activities on Federal lands. Authorizes appropriations for fuel reduction activities.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2002
Investor Protection, Market Stabilization, and Tax Fairness Restoration Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for a taxpayer other than a corporation in an amount equal to the shareholder credits determined with respect to dividends received from domestic corporations. Sets a maximum amount for the credit. Prohibits the allotting of credit in certain instances to nonresident aliens. Provides criteria for calculating a shareholder credit for a dividend. Classifies any shareholder credit determined under this Act as a tax paid by the relevant corporation. Includes a taxpayer's shareholder credits in gross income. Permits a corporation to deduct 100 percent of the amount received as dividends from a domestic corporation (presently the Code allows a deduction of 70 percent or 100 percent, depending on the type of dividend). Increases, from 70 to 100 percent, the amount a corporation is allowed to deduct with respect to dividends on certain preferred stock.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Wildfire Prevention and Forest Health Protection Act of 2002 - Authorizes Regional Foresters to exempt certain wildfire prevention tree-thinning projects on National Forest System lands from any laws that give rise to legal causes of action seeking to delay or prevent such actions. Exempts such projects from: (1) judicial review; or (2) notice, comment, and appeals under the Appeals Reform Act. Sets forth the Constitutional authority for this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Federally Declared Disaster Exemption Act of 2002 - Allows land management activities by specified Federal agencies undertaken in places the President has declared as major disaster areas under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to proceed without regard to certain provisions of law, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the National Forest Management Act. Exempts such activities from the notice, comment, and appeal requirements of the Appeals Reform Act and from judicial review by any U.S. court. Applies this Act to the two-year period beginning on the date of the Presidential declaration regarding a major disaster area.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Budget Fraud Elimination Act of 2002 - Redefines the public debt to exclude intragovernment obligations and reduces the public debt ceiling. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish biennial budgeting. Makes conforming amendments, including requirements for government strategic and performance plans. Creates a special transition period for the 108th Congress. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to state that certain emergency legislation shall not be extended in the baseline. Establishes emergency criteria. Spending Accountability Reserve Act of 2002 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a spending accountability reserve ledger to credit any reductions in new budget authority in an appropriation bill. Adjusts the respective appropriation allocation and discretionary spending limits downward accordingly. Enhanced Rescissions Act of 2002 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to propose at any time the rescission of any budget authority he identifies as wasteful spending. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend the budget enforcement mechanisms of discretionary spending limits (caps) and pay-as-you-go (Paygo). Provides for treatment of extraneous appropriations in omnibus appropriation measures. Amends the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to provide for accrual funding of pensions and retirement pay for Federal employees and Uniformed Services Personnel. Provides accrual funding of retirement benefits for Federal employees covered by the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Retirement System, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Retirement System, and the Coast Guard Military Retirement Fund. Provides for the accrual funding of post-retirement health benefits costs as well.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Allows land management activities by specified Federal agencies undertaken in places the President has declared as major disaster areas under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to proceed without regard to certain provisions of law, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the National Forest Management Act. Exempts such activities from the notice, comment, and appeal requirements of the Appeals Reform Act and from judicial review by any U.S. court.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2002
National Forest Fire Prevention Act - Authorizes the Secretary to treat additional timber within or outside existing cutting units for National Forest System timber sales and within related analysis areas to reduce insect infestation or fire hazard by: (1) modifying contracts; or (2) offering additional timber sales within such areas. Sets forth treatment priority criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2002
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the first article of amendment to the U.S. Constitution shall not be construed to prohibit the: (1) recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, which shall be, "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all;" nor (2) recitation or use of the national motto, which shall be, "In God we trust."
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2002
Education Freedom Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a tax credit for 50 percent of certain cash contributions by a taxpayer to an education investment organization or to an elementary or secondary school. Sets a maximum credit of $50,000 for corporations and $250 for other taxpayers ($500 for a joint return). Provides other limitations on the amount of the credit in certain specified instances. Excludes from gross income any amount received as a grant for qualified elementary and secondary expenses from an education investment organization. Defines "qualified elementary and secondary expenses" and "education investment organization." Revises definition of "school" for purposes of defining qualified elementary and secondary education expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2002
Back to School Tax Relief Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a taxpayer whose adjusted gross income is $20,000 or less ($40,000 in the case of a joint return) to deduct up to $3,000 in qualified elementary and secondary education expenses. Defines qualified elementary and secondary education expenses and adjusted gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2002
Child Support Enforcement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (relating to the deduction for bad debts) to allow a custodial parent to claim unpaid child support payments as a deduction. Bars a delinquent debtor from filing an amended return in any subsequent year to reflect the subsequent payment of unpaid child support. Includes unpaid child support in the gross income of the delinquent debtor. Precludes taxpayer information regarding child support payments from serving as a basis for selecting an individual's tax return for general audit.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2002
Wildfire Prevention Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, to: (1) establish three Institutes (one each in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) to promote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires, and improve the health of forest and woodland ecosystems; and (2) provide assistance to the Institutes to promote the use of such management. Defines adaptive ecosystem management as a natural resource management process under which planning, implementation, monitoring, research, evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge are combined into a management approach that is: (1) based on scientific findings and the needs of society; and (2) used to modify future management methods and policy. Prescribes requirements for cooperation among the Institutes and Federal programs relating to ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and wildfire management technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2002
Pledge Protection Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny jurisdiction to any court established by Act of Congress to hear or determine any claim that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates the first amendment of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2002
District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 2002 - Authorizes the establishment of the District of Columbia Scholarship Corporation as a private, nonprofit corporation to administer, publicize, and evaluate a District scholarship program and determine elementary and secondary student and school eligibility. Establishes a District of Columbia Scholarship Fund, to be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury. Provides for a seven-member Corporation Board of Directors, with six members appointed by the President from House and Senate nominees, and one member appointed by the District Mayor. Authorizes the Corporation to award tuition scholarships and enhanced achievement scholarships to District students in kindergarten through grade 12 with family incomes not exceeding 185 percent of the national poverty line. Allows scholarships to be used for tuition, fees, and appropriate transportation to public, private, or independent schools (or beyond-school-hours enhancement programs) in the District and specified neighboring counties and cities in Maryland and Virginia. Requires the following order of scholarship award priorities to students who: (1) have received such a scholarship in a previous year (in the program's second and subsequent years); (2) District school or kindergarten enrollees; (3) victims of school violence; and (4) other eligible students. Requires use of a lottery whenever amounts are insufficient to provide a scholarship for each student in one of these categories. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the District scholarship program. Provides for expedited judicial review of challenges to such program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2002
Amends the Temporary Emergency Wildfire Suppression Act, as amended by the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, as part of any reciprocal agreement with a foreign country for sharing personnel to fight wildfires, to include a provision that personnel furnished under the agreement to provide wildfire presuppression or suppression services will be considered, for tort liability purposes, employees of the country receiving such services when the personnel provide them under the agreement. Prohibits the Secretaries from entering into any such agreement unless the foreign country (either directly or through the fire organization that is a party to the agreement) agrees to assume any and all liability for the acts or omissions of American firefighters engaged in providing such services under the agreement in the foreign country. Makes remedies provided under the laws of the host country the exclusive remedies for acts or omissions committed while providing services under the agreement. Declares that neither the firefighter, the sending country, nor any organization associated with the firefighter shall be subject to any action whatsoever pertaining to or arising out of providing wildfire presuppression or suppression services under such a reciprocal agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2002
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Pledge of Allegiance, including the phrase "One Nation, under God," reflects the historical fact that a belief in God permeated the founding and development of our Nation; (2) the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals's ruling is inconsistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's First Amendment jurisprudence that the Pledge and similar expressions are not unconstitutional expressions of religious belief; (3) such phrase should remain in the Pledge; and (4) the Ninth Circuit should agree to rehear this ruling en banc in order to reverse this constitutionally infirm and historically incorrect ruling.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2002
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit any physician or other individual from knowingly performing a partial-birth abortion, except when necessary to save the life of a mother that is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or injury. Authorizes the father, if married to the mother at the time of the abortion, and the maternal grandparents of the fetus, if the mother is under 18 years of age, to obtain specified relief in a civil action, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion. Authorizes a defendant accused of an offense under this Act to seek a hearing before the State Medical Board on whether the physician's conduct was necessary to save the life of the mother. Prohibits the prosecution of a woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed for conspiracy to violate this Act or under provisions regarding punishment as a principal or an accessory or for concealment of a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2002
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth that a plan or other arrangement shall not cease to count as a cafeteria plan solely because qualified benefits under such plan include a health flexible spending arrangement under which not more than $500 of unused health benefits may be carried forward to the next year or paid as compensation. Sets forth rules for determining whether or not such benefits shall be included or excluded from income.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2002
Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act - Prohibits the imposition of any tax by the Internal Revenue Code: (1) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2005; and (2) in the case of any tax not imposed on the basis of a taxable year, on any taxable event or for any period after December 31, 2005. Excepts the: (1) tax on self-employment income (chapter 2 of the Code); (2) Federal Insurance Contributions Act (chapter 21 of the Code); and (3) Railroad Retirement Tax Act (chapter 22 of the Code). Establishes the National Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification to review: (1) the present structure and provisions of the Code; (2) whether the tax systems of other countries could provide more efficient and fair methods of funding government revenue requirements; (3) whether the income tax should be replaced with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a different base; and (4) whether the Code can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or replacement. Requires a Commission report to Congress on review results, with recommendations for Code reform and simplification. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such report. Authorizes appropriations (with interim funding). Declares that any new Federal tax system should be approved by Congress in its final form before July 4, 2005, and, if not, Congress should be required to vote to reauthorize the Code.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2002
Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Federal Government, and any State or local government that receives Federal financial assistance, from discriminating against any health care entity because (in addition to current prohibited reasons) the entity refuses to provide coverage of, or pay for, induced abortions. Expands the definition of "health care entity" to include (in addition to physicians) other health professionals, a hospital, a provider sponsored organization, a health maintenance organization, a health insurance plan, and any other kind of health care facility, organization, or plan.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2002
Arafat Accountability Act - Expresses the support of Congress for the President's efforts to achieve comprehensive peace in the State of Israel. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should urge an immediate and unconditional cessation of all terrorist activities and the commencement of a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians; (2) the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) should immediately surrender to Israel for detention and prosecution those Palestinian extremists wanted by Israel for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi; and (3) Yasser Arafat and the PLO must take immediate and concrete action to publicly condemn all acts of terrorism, confiscate and destroy the infrastructures of terrorism, and end (and urge all Arab nations to end) financial support for terrorism. Prohibits the Secretary of State (Secretary) and the Attorney General, respectively, from issuing a visa or admitting to the United States any member of the PLO or official of the PA. Permits the President to waive this prohibition in the national security interest of the United States. Directs the President to reinstate the prohibition on the establishment or maintenance of a Palestinian information office in the United States, except for operation of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine (POM) at the United Nations. Requires the Secretary to impose travel restrictions on the senior official of the POM. Requires the President to identify and freeze specific United States assets of the PLO and the PA. Requires the President to report to specified congressional committees on PLO or PA terrorist activities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2002
Constitutional Amendment - Grants victims of violent crime the rights: (1) to reasonable and timely notice of any public proceeding involving the crime and of any release or escape of the accused; (2) to not be excluded from such public proceeding and reasonably to be heard at public release, plea, sentencing, reprieve, and pardon proceedings; and (3) to adjudicative decisions that consider the victim's safety, interest in avoiding unreasonable delay, and just and timely claims to restitution from the offender. Prohibits any restriction of such rights except as dictated by a substantial interest in public safety or the administration of criminal justice, or by compelling necessity.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low Cost, Timely Health Care (HEALTH) Act of 2002 - Makes changes to the health care liability system, including compensation for injured patients and other issues arising out of health care law suits. Requires a suit to be brought within three years of the date of injury or one year after the claimant discovers or should have discovered the injury, whichever occurs first. Sets forth requirements and permissible recovery amounts for compensating patient injury, including: (1) the full amount of economic loss without limitation; (2) noneconomic damages as specified; and (3) a fair share rule. Requires the court to supervise payment-of-damage arrangements, limiting contingency fees. Permits the introduction of evidence of collateral source benefits. Limits the availability of punitive damages, requiring clear and convincing evidence of malicious intent to injure or a deliberate failure to avoid substantially certain, unnecessary injury. Prohibits their award for products that comply with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, absent material and knowing misrepresentation by those submitting required approval or clearance information to the FDA. Authorizes periodic payment of future damages to claimants. Excludes suits for vaccine-related death or injury from the requirements of this Act if otherwise covered under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Preempts State law unless such law imposes greater protections for health care providers and organizations from liability, loss, or damages. .
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2002
Auction Reform Act of 2002 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, and other Federal law to repeal current deadlines for licenses for and auctioning of electromagnetic spectrum used by analog television broadcasters (which includes spectrum in the general 700 megahertz range). Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from commencing or conducting spectrum auctions 31 and 44, currently scheduled for June 19, 2002. Requires the FCC to report to Congress: (1) specifying when it intends to reschedule such auctions; and (2) describing progress made in the transition from analog to digital television and in the assignment and allocation of additional spectrum for advanced mobile communications services that warrants the scheduling of such auctions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Syria Accountability Act of 2002 - Prohibits the President from exporting any item on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations, providing any U.S. assistance to U.S. businesses with respect to investment or other activities, or conducting Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Trade Development Agency programs in or with respect to Syria. Directs the President to impose two or more specified sanctions against Syria. Requires maintenance of such prohibition and sanctions until the President certifies that Syria meets specified requirements, including that it: (1) does not support international terrorist groups; (2) has withdrawn all of its military personnel from Lebanon; (3) has ceased the development and deployment of ballistic missiles and biological and chemical weapons; (4) is no longer in violation of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions; (5) has made substantial progress in negotiations aimed at a peace agreement with Israel and a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon; and (6) is respecting the sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon as required under UN Security Council Resolution 520. Authorizes the President to provide development assistance to Syria and Lebanon if these six requirements are met.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Expresses: (1) solidarity with Israel as it takes necessary steps to provide security to its people by dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas; and (2) commitment to Israel's right to self-defense and support for additional U.S. assistance. Condemns the recent wave of Palestinian suicide bombings and the ongoing support and coordination of terror by Yasir Arafat and other members of the Palestinian leadership. Demands that the Palestinian Authority fulfill its commitment to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas. Expresses concern that Arafat's actions are not those of a viable partner for peace. Urges all Arab states to declare their unqualified opposition to all forms of terrorism, particularly suicide bombing, and all parties in the region to pursue peace in the Middle East. Commends the President for his leadership in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2002
Immigration and Naturalization Service Reorganization Act of 2002 - Abolishes the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish in the Department of Justice the Bureau for Immigration Enforcement which shall perform border patrol, inspection, removal, and other enforcement functions. States that the head of such Bureau shall be the Director for Immigration Enforcement. Establishes in the Department of State an Assistant Secretary of State for Immigration Affairs, an Assistant Secretary of State for Refugee Admissions and Asylum Affairs, and an Assistant Secretary of State for Citizenship and Passport Services. States that such Secretaries shall be under the supervision of an Under Secretary of State for Citizenship, Immigration, and Refugee Admissions. States that the Secretary of Labor shall be responsible for enforcement of immigration laws relating to: (1) verification of employment authorization; and (2) enforcement of terms and conditions of employment. Provides for the transfer and allocation of related appropriations and personnel.
![Official portrait of Rep. Shadegg, John B. [R-AZ-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000275_200.jpg)