United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2010
Recognizes the 150th anniversary of the birth of Will Keith Kellogg and his contributions to the citizens of the United States and the people of the world.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2010
Patients' Right to Know Act - Requires each entity offering a health benefits plan to make available to enrollees and potential enrollees specified information, including covered items and services, a list of limitations and restrictions, the claims appeal process, out-of-pocket cost-sharing, among other things. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require the state Medicaid plan to provide that the state will establish and maintain laws to require disclosure to the public and the Secretary of information on hospital and ambulatory surgical center prices and quality.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2010
Local Jobs for America Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the Department of Labor, to provide for the allotment of funds to states, local government units, and community-based organizations to save and create local jobs through the retention, restoration, or expansion of services needed by local communities. Makes appropriations for this program. Prohibits the hiring of an individual for a position funded under this Act if: (1) it results in the layoff or partial displacement of an existing employee of a unit or organization, or (2) such individual will perform the same or substantially similar work that was performed by the previous employee of the unit or organization. Makes appropriations to: (1) the Department of Education for an Education Jobs Fund, (2) the Department of Justice for community oriented policing services, (3) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for firefighter assistance grants, and (4) the Department of Labor for ETA for on-the-job training and employment services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2010
Rural Energy Savings Program Act - Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), through the Rural Utilities Service, to make interest-free loans to eligible entities for loans to qualified consumers to implement energy efficiency measures. Directs the Secretary to make grants to such entities to defray related costs, including costs for equipment and labor. Directs the Secretary to contact with a qualified entity to provide: (1) verification and measurement activities for the Rural Utilities Service, including training; and (2) technical assistance and training for employees of eligible entities. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with eligible entities, or groups of eligible entities, that have specified energy efficiency programs for energy efficiency loan demonstration projects.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2010
Withdraws Congress' approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Directs the President to provide written notice of the withdrawal to the governments of Canada and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2010
Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2010 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to expand the duties of the Great Lakes Program Office by requiring the Office to: (1) provide support for Great Lakes governance and management; and (2) coordinate with the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. Establishes: (1) the Great Lakes Leadership Council to establish policy, goals, and priorities with respect to Great Lakes protection and restoration, determine a process for participating in international forums, and provide annual input regarding federal budget priorities and levels for Great Lakes protection and restoration; (2) the Great Lakes Management Committee within the Council to report to and provide direction for the Council, monitor and assist implementation activities relating to Great Lakes management, and engage in problem solving regarding Great Lakes management; and (3) the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report annually to Congress on budgets and restoration activities relating to EPA's organizational elements involved in Great Lakes activities and EPA's reasons for approving or disapproving the Council's recommendations. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) remediation of sediment contamination in areas of concern in the Great Lakes; and (2) the Great Lakes Program. Requires EPA, in coordination with federal partners, to implement a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative which will: (1) identify and support programs to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem; (2) be based on the work of the Task Force and the Council's stakeholders and nongovernmental partners; and (3) represent the government's commitment to significantly advance Great Lakes protection and restoration. Prohibits funding made available to implement the Initiative from being used for water infrastructure activity that is implemented using funds made available under the clean water or drinking water state revolving fund program. Requires federal agencies to: (1) maintain the base level of funding for their Great Lakes activities; and (2) identify new activities to support the environmental goals of the Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2010
Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2010 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices that may be charged to Medicare part D prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors and MedicareAdvantage (MA) organizations for covered part D drugs for part D eligible individuals who are enrolled under a PDP or under an MA-Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plan.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2010
National Manufacturing Strategy Act of 2010 - Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. government should promote policies related to the nation's manufacturing sector that, among other things: (1) create sustainable economic growth and increased employment; (2) recruit, improve, and educate the workforce; (3) increase productivity, exports, and global competitiveness; and (4) maintain and improve national and homeland security. Directs the President, every four years, to: (1) conduct a comprehensive analysis of the nation's manufacturing sector; and (2) submit to Congress a National Manufacturing Strategy (Strategy). Requires the President, in developing each Strategy, to convene a Manufacturing Strategy Task Force to make recommendations regarding specified matters for incorporation into the Strategy, including short- and long-term goals for the manufacturing sector. Directs that: (1) each final Strategy be published on a public website; and (2) the first Strategy be issued by February 28, 2011. Directs the Comptroller General, three years after publication of a Strategy, to review its recommendations. Requires the President to convene a President's Manufacturing Strategy Board to provide information and recommendations regarding the needs of, and opportunities for, the nation's manufacturing sector. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to: (1) conduct quadrennial studies concerning U.S. manufacturing; and (2) report each study's results to Congress and the President. Provides for additional required and discretionary studies. Requires the President, in preparing each annual budget, to include information regarding that budget's consistency with the goals and recommendations included in the latest Strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2010
Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act of 2010 - Requires any and all individuals or business entities, including physicians, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufactures, and insurance entities, that offer or furnish health care related items, products, services, or procedures for sale to the public to publicly disclose, on a continuous basis, all prices for such items, products, services, or procedures. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) investigate any individuals or business entities that fail to comply with the requirements of this Act; and (2) impose civil fines, or other civil penalties, as appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2010
Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2010 - Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (with respect to drugs, devices, cosmetics, and biological products), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) (with respect to consumer products), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (with respect to chemical substances, new chemical substances, and pesticides) to require foreign manufacturers and producers of such products (or components used to manufacture them), in excess of a minimum value or quantity, to establish a registered agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on their behalf for the purpose of all civil and regulatory actions in state and federal courts. Requires the registered agent to be located in a state with a substantial connection to the importation, distribution, or sale of the products. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, maintain, and make available to the public a registry of such agents. Deems a foreign manufacturer or producer of products covered under this Act that registers an agent to consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state or federal courts of the state in which the agent is located for the purpose of any civil or regulatory proceeding. Prohibits importation into the United States of a covered product (or component part that will be used in the United States to manufacture a covered product) if the product (or component part) or any part of the product (or component part) was manufactured or produced outside the United States by a manufacturer or producer who does not have a registered agent whose authority is in effect on the date of the importation. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to jointly study the feasibility and advisability of requiring foreign producers of food distributed in commerce to establish a registered agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of such producers for the purpose of all civil and regulatory actions in state and federal courts.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2010
National September 11 Memorial & Museum Commemorative Medal Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and make available for sale not more than 2 million silver national medals, containing one ounce of silver each, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and the establishment of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. Declares that all sales of medals under this Act shall include a surcharge of $10 per medal, which shall be paid to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center to support its operations and maintenance.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 2010
Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act - Amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to provide that nothing in that Act shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance. Applies prohibitions against using unfair methods of competition to the business of health insurance without regard to whether such business is carried on for profit.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 2010
Manufacturing Modernization and Diversification Act of 2010 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to certify special purpose vehicles (SPVs) created by a state to take part in a program to carry out collateral support and loan participation programs for the benefit of qualified manufacturers (manufacturers with less than $50 million in annual revenue and less than $50 million in assets). Outlines SPV application requirements. Allows, under the collateral support program, a qualified manufacturer that wishes to receive a bank loan but has insufficient collateral to ask the bank to seek collateral loan support from the SPV. Prohibits an SPV from providing more than $20 million in collateral support to any one manufacturer. Requires manufacturers to be charged a fee for such support. Allows, under the loan participation program, a qualified manufacturer that wishes to receive a bank loan but would not otherwise qualify for the loan to ask the bank to seek participation for such loan from the SPV. Prohibits an SPV from providing more than $20 million in participation support to any one manufacturer. Requires manufacturers to be charged a fee for such support. Requires: (1) periodic reports from such banks to participating SPVs; and (2) quarterly reports from the Secretary to Congress on participants in and impacts of the support and participation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2010
Janey Ensminger Act - Makes any veteran who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during a period in which the water there was contaminated by volatile organic compounds, including known and probable human carcinogens, eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for any illness, notwithstanding insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the illness is attributable to such contamination.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2010
21st Century Buy American Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to establish and carry out a program to award grants to any entity that is a manufacturer in the United States, is a firm certified as eligible to apply for adjustment assistance under the Trade Act of 1974, and is an entity that either: (1) mines, produces, or manufactures a nonavailable item; (2) is the last remaining manufacturer of an item in the United States and can prove hardship because of foreign competition; or (3) is the last remaining manufacturer of an item in the United States that is considered to be vital for national security purposes. Permits a recipient to use such a grant to: (1) increase its ability to compete for a government contract for, and to produce, a nonavailable item; (2) increase its capacity to produce items that are vital to national security and to create or retain jobs; (3) modernize or renovate manufacturing facilities using domestically made equipment; and (4) cover costs associated with obtaining access to adjustment assistance. Defines a "nonavailable item" as an article that: (1) a federal agency has determined is not mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities of a satisfactory quality; (2) has been subject to a waiver of buy American provisions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; or (3) is on the list of nonavailable articles under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Amends the Buy America Act to: (1) make buy American requirements for articles for public use applicable without regard to whether the articles are for use outside the United States, if they are not needed on an urgent basis or are acquired on a regular basis; (2) require an analysis of the difference in the cost of such articles manufactured inside compared to outside the United States before a contract for such articles is entered; and (3) require an agency, before granting a public interest waiver or a waiver for use outside the United States, to consider the effect on domestic employment. Requires: (1) each agency that applies an exception to the Buy American Act to notify the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), who shall post the notification on a publicly accessible website; and (2) the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the amount of articles purchased by each agency each fiscal year from entities that manufacture them outside the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2010
Recognizes: (1) that women are equally affected by colon cancer; and (2) the importance of colon health in women and of detecting colon cancer in its earliest stages. Urges women to: (1) regularly undergo diagnostic screening for colon cancer as recommended by their doctors; and (2) exercise regularly and eat a healthy and well-balanced diet to reduce the risk of colon cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2010
Elizabeth A. Connelly Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Public Health Service Act, the Health Professions Education Partnership Act of 1968, the National Sickle Cell Anemia Act, Cooley's Anemia, Tay-Sachs, and Genetic Diseases Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, and other federal enactments and regulations to change references to mental retardation to references to an intellectual disability.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2010
Prohibiting Foreign Influence in American Elections Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nations in connection with a federal, state, or local election to domestic corporations with respect to which: (1) one or more foreign principals serves on the board of directors; (2) one or more foreign principals directly or indirectly has an ownership interest; or (3) one or more foreign principals directly or indirectly holds debt or other obligations. Applies the ban to domestic corporations that are subsidiaries of foreign corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2010
State and Local Law Enforcement Hatch Act Reform Act of 2010 - Amends the Hatch Act to: (1) allow state and local law enforcement officers to be candidates for the office of sheriff; and (2) allow sheriffs to engage in campaign activities by attending or speaking at political campaign rallies or events, holding or sponsoring political fundraisers, or appearing on political advertisements. Establishes a limitation period of six months after the later of the date of the alleged violation or the date of enactment of this Act for presenting charges against a law enforcement officer for Hatch Act violations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2010
Treats cash contributions made after January 11, 2010, and before March 1, 2010, for the relief of earthquake victims in Haiti as having been made on December 31, 2009, for purposes of the tax deduction for charitable contributions. Deems 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 · 13 January 2010
Expresses support for the goals of Catholic Schools Week, an event cosponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and established to recognize the vital contributions of the thousands of Catholic elementary and secondary schools in this country.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to reduce the matching funds requirement for participants in the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (providing services to small and mid-sized manufacturers) from not less than 50% of the costs incurred for the first three years and an increasing share for each of the last three years to no more than 50% of the costs incurred by a participating Regional Center for the Transfer of Manufacturing Technology. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish criteria to determine a Center's cost share.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2009
Nonprofit Mortgage Licensing Clarification Act of 2009 - Amends the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to permit a state to exempt from certain registration or licensing requirements any charitable organization exempt from federal tax (including their employees and agents acting as loan originators), if the organization: (1) executes loan originations in order to promote or facilitate homeownership for certain low-income, disabled, or other disadvantaged persons or families; (2) offers loans at interest rates lower than the bank prime loan rate, or that are no-interest loans or loans with interest rates significantly below those for loans to purchase generally available single-family housing; and (3) does not otherwise engage in the business of a loan originator or mortgage broker.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2009
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the guidelines of the United States Preventive Services Task Force would not prohibit an insurer from providing coverage for mammography services in addition to those recommended by the Task Force and should not be used by insurers to deny coverage for services that are not recommended on a routine basis; and (2) the National Cancer Institute should continue to invest and provide leadership regarding research to develop more effective breast cancer screening tools and strategies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2009
New Deal for a New Economy Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, from unobligated funds under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), to make specified sums available for FY2010-FY2012 to the Secretary of Education, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, the Interior, and Agriculture. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Education to allocate, and each eligible local educational agency in the state to receive, funds in proportion to amounts received under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; and (2) a state to make and distribute the amount allocated to it within 90 days of receipt. Authorizes the use of funds to hire new employees, rehire employees laid off during the year prior to enactment, continue to employ employees scheduled to be laid off as a result of reduced budgets, and prevent furloughs scheduled as a result of reduced budgets. Directs: (1) the Attorney General to award grants to state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to hire, rehire, continue to employ, and prevent furloughs of police officers; (2) the Secretary of DHS, through the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, to award grants through the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program to hire, rehire, continue to employ, and prevent furloughs of firefighters; (3) the Secretary of Commerce to award grants to states, cities or other political subdivisions or a consortium of such subdivisions, or Indian tribes, to assist in maintaining basic government services; and (4) the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to fund specific public works projects in national parks and through the National Forest Service, respectively. Establishes in the Department of Labor a New Economy Grant Program, to provide grants for the creation of new jobs on specific public works projects. Limits funding under this Act's Departments of Labor, the Interior, and Agriculture programs to individuals who meet specified criteria. Bars displacement of existing employees. Sets forth requirements regarding the use of funds, the maximum employment period, wages, reporting, and expedited administration.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the rate of the excise tax on beer produced within or imported into the United States for brewers who produce not more than 6 million barrels of beer a year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2009
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretaries of the military departments, in conjunction with aircraft training and cargo missions, should maximize opportunities for space-available travel for members of the Armed Forces in a leave or pass status who are traveling between December 18, 2009, and January 3, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2009
Congratulates the Great Lakes Bay Regional Convention and Visitors Bureaus for securing the 2012 Region II United States Youth Soccer Association tournament.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2009
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), in lieu of making payments to state homes for furnishing nursing home care to veterans, to enter into agreements with such homes to furnish such care under federal provisions which allow the Secretary to transfer to non-VA homes (at the expense of the United States) veterans who have been furnished such care in a facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Replaces provisions providing for payment of nursing home care at the lesser of the prevailing rate or the cost of daily care with provisions providing for payment at the rate determined for a state home that is the applicable or prevailing rate payable in the geographic area in which the state home is located.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2009
Recognizes that the U.S. unemployment rate has reached the level of a national crisis and that saving and creating new jobs are matters of the highest national priority. Urges federal agencies to take specified actions to address such problems.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2009
Federal Communications Commission Collaboration Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow, notwithstanding a specified open meeting provision, three or more Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to hold a meeting that is closed to the public to discuss official business if: (1) no agency action is taken; (2) each person present is an FCC Commissioner or employee; (3) for each political party of which any Commissioner is a member, at least one Commissioner who is a member of the respective party is present, and, if any Commissioner has no party affiliation, at least one unaffiliated Commissioner is present; and (4) an attorney from the FCC's Office of General Counsel is present. Requires public disclosure of the meeting, attendees, and matters discussed. Terminates the effectiveness of this Act five years after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2009
Calls on the Government of the Republic of Korea to end unfair trade practices as they relate to the U.S. automotive industry. Urges the House of Representatives to take such unfair practices into account when it considers the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Demands that such Agreement include the March 7, 2007, Congressional Auto Caucus proposal to ensure fair access by U.S. auto manufacturers to the Republic of Korea's automobile market.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2009
Commends the Government of Japan for its reversal in policy regarding currency manipulation. Encourages it to maintain this new policy, thereby conforming to its responsibilities as a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as promoting free and fair international trade.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2009
Recognizes the 20th anniversary of the historic events in Central and Eastern Europe that brought about the collapse of the communist regimes and the fall of the Iron Curtain. Commemorates, with the Slovak and Czech Republics, the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Appreciates the contribution of the Slovak and Czech Republics as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) to the promotion and defense of democracy. Reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and the Slovak and Czech Republics.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2009
Online Age Verification and Child Safety Act - Makes it unlawful for an operator of a pornographic website to display any pornographic material without first verifying that any user is at least 18 years old. Makes it unlawful for an operator of a website to carry out any financial transaction involving any product or service whose sale or access to persons under a legally specified age is prohibited by federal or state law without first verifying that any user meets the age requirement. Imposes criminal penalties. Requires any Internet payment service provider or business performing financial transactions relating to pornographic material or to age-restricted products or services only process age-verified transactions. Establishes safe harbors. Requires: (1) violations to be treated as violations of a rule regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices; and (2) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce this title. Prohibits construing this Act as providing a private right of action, including a class action. Prohibits any financial institution from processing a financial transaction denominated in or otherwise involving an electronic currency not backed by the full faith and credit of a United Nations (UN) member state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2009
Financial Crisis of 2008 Criminal Investigation and Prosecution Act of 2009 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2012 for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hire 1,000 FBI agents as well as additional forensic experts to investigate corporate, securities, and mortgage fraud, and associated violations of law relating to the U.S. financial markets. Authorizes the hiring also of additional employees by the Attorney General and by the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Enforcement to conduct related investigations and prosecutions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2009
Credit Card Fee Limitation and Accountability Act - Amends the Truth in Lending Act, as amended by the Credit CARD Act of 2009, to prohibit a creditor from imposing upon an open-end consumer credit account any fee related to failure of the consumer to: (1) use the credit card to obtain an extension of credit; (2) carry an outstanding balance from any billing cycle to another; and (3) obtain a minimum amount of credit under such account during any specified period. Permits a consumer to: (1) cancel an account within 45 days of receiving notice of an annual fee if no such fee existed upon the account's initial opening; and (2) pay any outstanding account balance at the time of cancellation in accordance with the terms in effect at the time of such cancellation. Prohibits a creditor, as a result of such cancellation, from taking action against a consumer which would adversely affect the consumer's ability to obtain credit under open-end consumer credit plan. Requires any annual fee that a card issuer may impose with respect to a credit card account under an open-end consumer credit plan to be reasonable. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to issue final rules, within six months after the enactment of this Act, to establish standards for assessing whether the amount of any annual fee is reasonable. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit a consumer credit reporting entity from taking action or making any determination based upon consumer cancellation of a credit card account which would result in a consumer credit score lower than that which would result without taking such cancellation into account.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2009
Expresses support for Chinese human rights activists Huang Qi and Tan Zuoren for engaging in peaceful expression as they seek answers and justice for the parents whose children were killed as a result of the collapse of numerous school buildings in the Sichuan earthquake of May 12, 2008.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2009
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit the sale in the United States of residential dishwashing detergent that contains phosphorus in any form in excess of 0.5% (by weight expressed as elemental phosphorus) beginning July 1, 2010. Requires the Administrator to: (1) review the available scientific information pertaining to nutrient excesses in the Great Lakes; and (2) recommend to Congress actions to be taken by EPA to address such nutrient excesses.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2009
Considers the "Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict" (Goldstone Report) to be biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy. Supports the Administration's efforts to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations (U.N.). Calls on the President and the Secretary of State to oppose endorsement of, and measures stemming from, the Report. Reaffirms support for Israel's right to defend its citizens from violent militant groups and their state sponsors.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2009
Medicare Nuclear Medicine Payment Group Clarification Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for treatment of certain costs for a nuclear medicine group in the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department services. Declares that services classified within a nuclear medicine group shall not be treated as comparable with respect to the use of resources, and therefore shall be excluded from the group, if the highest median cost (or, at the Secretary's election, mean cost) of any associated diagnostic radiopharmaceutical included in the payment for the service within the group is more than two times greater than the lowest median cost (or mean cost, if so elected) for a service within the group.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2009
Celebrates the goals and ideals of the 20th anniversary of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database. Applauds the use of data from that Database to provide the most efficient and appropriate medical care. Recognizes the need to promote the creation of additional clinical databases in medicine. Commends cardiothoracic surgeons for demonstrating their dedication to professional responsibility and the highest level of patient care by continued use of such Database.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2009
Reciprocal Market Access Act of 2009 - Prohibits the President from agreeing to the reduction or elimination of the existing rate of duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement entered into between the United States and a foreign country until the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the United States has obtained the reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers and policies and practices of such foreign country with respect to U.S. exports of any product that has the same physical characteristics and uses as the product for which the President seeks to modify its rate of duty; and (2) any violation of the trade agreement is immediately enforceable by withdrawal of the modification of the existing duty on such foreign product until the United States Trade Representative (USTR) certifies to Congress that the United States has obtained the reduction or elimination of the tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or practice of such foreign government. Requires the withdrawal of such a modification in specified circumstances until the USTR makes such a certification to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2009
Amends the Act commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act to apply the Act to all federally recognized Indian tribes, regardless of when any tribe became recognized. (This effectively overrules the Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which held that the Secretary of the Interior could not take land into trust for a specified tribe because that tribe had not been under federal jurisdiction when the Act was enacted.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2009
Community College Energy Training Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Secretary of Labor, to create a program awarding grants to community colleges to provide workforce training and education in sustainable energy industries and practices, such as: (1) alternative energy; (2) energy efficient construction, retrofitting, and design; (3) sustainable energy technologies; (4) water and energy conservation; (5) recycling and waste reduction; and (6) sustainable agriculture and farming. Requires at least one-half of the grant funds to be awarded to community colleges with existing sustainability programs leading to certificates or degrees in one or more of the industries or practices listed above.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2009
Amends the Propane Education and Research Act of 1996 to revise requirements for the annual report by the Secretary of Commerce to the Propane Education and Research Council, the Secretary of Energy, and the public analyzing changes in the price of propane relative to other energy sources. Requires the analysis to compare indexed changes in the average price of consumer grade propane to all end users to an equally weighted composite of indexed changes in the price of residential electricity, residential natural gas, and refiner price to end users of No. 2 fuel oil on an annual national average basis. (Currently, the comparison is to be made of indexed changes in the price of consumer grade propane to a composite of indexed changes in the price of residential electricity, residential natural gas, and refiner price.) Directs the Secretary of Commerce, within 60 days after enactment of this Act, to prepare and make available to the public an updated propane price analysis reflecting the amendment made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2009
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2012-FY2016 for: (1) type I diabetes research; and (2) diabetes prevention and treatment through Indian health facilities.