United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code by determining that acquiring corporations in"corporate expatriation transactions" shall be considered domestic corporations. Defines a "corporate expatriation transaction" as, with certain exceptions, one in which a "nominally foreign corporation" acquires substantially all of the properties held by a domestic corporation and in which, immediately after the transaction, more than 80 percent of the stock of the acquiring corporation is held by former shareholders of the domestic corporation. Lowers the 80 percent threshold to 50 percent when the acquiring "nominally foreign corporation" lacks substantial business activities in the foreign country in which it was created and organized compared to the total activities of the "expanded affiliated group" and the stock is publicly traded, with the principal market of trading being the United States. Defines the terms "nominally foreign corporation" and "expanded affiliated group." Applies similar rules to partnership transactions. Establishes that a series of related transactions relevant to the Act shall be handled as a single transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003 - Amends Federal law to revise the statutory formula for funding benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System for U.S. Postal Service employees. Mandates that savings accruing to the Postal Service and attributable to specified years: (1) be used to reduce the postal debt as the Secretary of the Treasury shall specify; and (2) be held in escrow until Congress acts following receipt of certain reports. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the savings accruing to the Postal Service as a result of the enactment of this Act will be sufficient to allow the Postal Service to fulfill its commitment to hold postage rates unchanged until at least 2006; (2) because the Postal Service still faces substantial obligations related to postretirement health benefits for its current and former employees, some portion of those savings should be used to address the unfunded obligations; and (3) none of the savings should be used to pay bonuses to Postal Service executives. Sets a deadline for submission of a mandatory Postal Service report detailing how future savings accruing to the Postal Service as a result of the enactment of this Act should be expended.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) commemorative postage stamps should be issued by the United States Postal Service honoring Americans who distinguished themselves by their service in the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, respectively; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such stamps be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Social Security Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) pension offset provisions applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to Old-Age and Survivors insurance benefit payments; and (2) windfall elimination provisions with respect to computation of the primary insurance amount of an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2003 - Adjusts the basic Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity amount for surviving spouses, age 62 and older, of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent (current law), for months before October 2004; (2) 40 percent for months during FY 2005; (3) 45 percent for months during FY 2006; (4) 50 percent for months during FY 2007; and (5) 55 percent for months after FY 2007. Adjusts similarly percentage amounts with respect to survivors of reserve personnel and survivors of persons who die while on active duty. Provides a corresponding phased elimination of the SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided to such surviving spouses. Requires periodic recomputation of: (1) annuity amounts beginning in October 2004; and (2) retired pay reductions for supplemental survivor annuities. Provides a one-year open enrollment period for SBP participation, commencing October 1, 2004, for those currently not participating, those electing to increase current coverage, and those wishing to participate in the supplemental SBP. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to require appropriate premiums for SBP participation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise the special rule for the redistribution and availability of unexpended FY 1998 and 1999 SCHIP allotments, including to: (1) extend the availability of FY 1998 and 1999 reallocated funds through FY 2004; and (2) permit 50 percent of the total amount of unexpended FY 2000 and 2001 SCHIP allotments that remain available to a State through the end of FY 2002 and 2003 to remain available for expenditure by the State through the end of FY 2004 and 2005, respectively.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2003
National Defense Oil Equity Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the sale of any crude oil or product of crude oil a tax equal to the applicable percentage of the windfall profit on such sale. Defines windfall profit to mean so much of the profit on such sale as exceeds a reasonable profit. Establishes the Reasonable Profits Board to make reasonable profit determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2003
Authorizes the President to award a gold medal to each of the seven crew members who perished aboard the space shuttle Columbia: Rick D. Husband; Michael P. Anderson; Laurel Clark; David M. Brown; William C. McCool; Kapana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas. Includes Capitol Police as law enforcement officers under such Act. Eliminates the limitation on the aggregate of basic pay and premium pay with respect to availability pay for Federal criminal investigators.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2003 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national Coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans, with equal representation of the interests of: (1) the employer or employers maintaining the plan; and (2) the participants and their beneficiaries.
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
Declares that the collective bargaining agreement between the Association of Commuter Rail Employees and the Metro-North Railroad (in New York) shall be extinguished upon the merger of the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road. Deems employees of the entity resulting from such merger to be covered under the appropriate collective bargaining agreement of the Long Island Rail Road in compliance with the Railway Labor Act. Subjects all disputes arising from the application of this Act to the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Treatment of Children's Deformities Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to set standards requiring that group and individual health insurance and group health plans provide coverage for treatment of a minor child's congenital or developmental deformity or disorder due to trauma, infection, tumor, or disease.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each State's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so through: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are, taken as a whole, at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with any final Federal or State court order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equitableness of the system. Requires withholding of specified portions of its Federal funding for administrative expenses if a system: (1) fails to meet a yearly interim goal; (2) does not remedy, after two school years, a failure to provide comparable educational services to schools that receive funds for disadvantaged children; or (3) does not comply with a court order. Allows students or parents aggrieved by violations of this Act to bring civil actions for enforcement in Federal district courts. Directs the Commissioner of Education Statistics to study the effects of educational disparities on economic growth and on national defense.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Blind Empowerment Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2003 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA, which is title II of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, PL107-147) to extend the TEUCA program through weeks of unemployment ending before July 1, 2003. Provides for a transition period of continuing payments to individuals with amounts remaining in their TEUC account after June 30, 2003, for weeks beginning before December 31, 2003. Entitles eligible individuals in all States to a total of 26 weeks of TEUCA compensation (13 weeks beyond the current 13 weeks). Provides an additional seven weeks of TEUCA benefits for workers in high unemployment States (entitling them to a total of 33, which is 20 weeks beyond the current 13). Applies a revised adjusted insured unemployment rate State trigger. Sets an additional TEUCA benefit period State trigger based on total unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Designates the Federal building and U.S. courthouse located at 46 East Ohio Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, as the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Rejecting Social Security Privatization Act of 2002 - States that the Congress hereby commits to preserve the guaranteed, lifelong, inflation-protected benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to retirees, disabled workers, and their families, and the survivors of deceased workers, by rejecting plans to institute Personal Retirement Accounts, or any other forms of private accounts, which would divert or remove all or portions of monies from the Social Security trust funds and reduce the retirement security of current and future beneficiaries, and which would reduce guaranteed Social Security benefits for retirees, disabled workers, and survivors.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require joint trusteeship of single-employer pension plans, with equal representation of the interests of the employer or employers maintaining the plan and of the those of the participants and their beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA, which is title II of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, PL107-147) to extend the TEUCA program through weeks of unemployment ending before July 1, 2003 (currently January 1, 2003). Entitles eligible individuals in all States to a total of 26 weeks of TEUCA compensation (13 weeks beyond the current 13 weeks). Provides an additional seven weeks of TEUCA benefits for workers in high unemployment States (entitling them to a total of 33, which is 20 weeks beyond the current 13). Applies a revised adjusted insured unemployment rate State trigger. Sets an additional TEUCA benefit period State trigger based on total unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2002
Tip Tax Fairness Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from issuing a notice and demand to an employer for Social Security taxes with respect to tips received by an employee until the Secretary has determined the amount of tips received by the employee.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2002
Commends: (1) Greece for its outstanding contributions to the global war against terrorism, including military support for Operation Enduring Freedom, humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan, and participation in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan; and (2) U.S.-Greek law enforcement cooperation. Recognizes Greece's success in apprehending key members of the November 17 terrorist organization and urges continued efforts to completely dismantle the organization.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2002
Aquatic Invasive Species Research Act - Requires the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to develop and conduct a marine and fresh-water research program to support efforts to detect, prevent, and eradicate invasive species in the Aquatic Ecosystem. Requires the program to: (1) develop standardized protocols for conducting ecological and pathway surveys of nonnative aquatic species; (2) create baseline ecological information of the aquatic ecosystem and pathways; (3) designate the number and location of survey sites required; (4) conduct laboratory and field-based marine and fresh-water research experiments on a range of taxonomic groups to identify the relationship between the introduction and establishment of nonnative aquatic species; and (5) analyze the data collected. Directs the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to convene a workshop with appropriate researchers. Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to: (1) require that ecological and ballast water discharge surveys examine other potential modes of introducing nonnative aquatic species by ship into the Aquatic Ecosystem, including hull fouling; (2) rename the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse as the National Pathway and Ecological Surveys Database; (3) expand the purview of the database to include ballast water management, delivery practices of ships entering United States ports and their compliance with existing regulations; and (3) make the database widely available to the public. Requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establish marine and fresh-water research, development, and demonstration programs with respect to environmental soundness screening and dispersal barrier research. Reauthorizes the ship pathway technology demonstration program. Requires the Coast Guard and the EPA to develop a research program to support implementation of standards to prevent the introduction and spread of invasive species by ships into the Aquatic Ecosystem. Requires the National Science Foundation to establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to carry our research programs in systematics and taxonomy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2002
National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2002 - Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to require the Invasive Species Council (Council) to coordinate with the Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force (Task Force) to combat aquatic invasive species. Requires the Task Force to recommend to appropriate Federal agencies additions to the list of aquatic invasive species. Requires the Task Force, the Council, and the Secretary of State to coordinate activities to ensure that international efforts to prevent and manage aquatic invasive species are coordinated with U.S. policies. Establishes minimum invasive species prevention requirements for all vessels entering U.S. ports. Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to promulgate regulations for ballast water management standards and certification procedures. Directs the Task Force to publish a priority pathway management program. Prohibits the importation of live aquatic organisms not in trade without specified screening and approval. Requires the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, with the concurrence of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to construct and maintain a national dispersal barrier program to contain and control aquatic nuisances. Declares that a State with a rapid response contingency strategy shall be eligible to receive emergency funding to implement rapid response measures for aquatic invasive species under specified circumstances. Requires the Task Force, with concurrence of the Council, to encourage the development of regional rapid response contingency strategies and develop a State model for such. Requires the Council, in coordination with the Task Force and the heads of the appropriate Federal agencies, to establish a Federal rapid response team for the ten regions of the Standard Federal Regional Boundary System. Requires the Task Force to establish a national subcommittee on nutria. Provides for expansion of the Brown Tree Snake Control Program and Aquatic Nuisance Species Program information, education and outreach activities.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2002
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2002 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Linking Educators and Developing Entrepreneurs for Reaching Success (LEADERS) Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to support business incubation at institutions of higher education that award associate or baccalaureate degrees. Directs the Secretary to make competitive, matching awards to: (1) a non-profit entity that manages or provides technical assistance to a degree-granting institution's affiliated incubator (or to the institution that manages in the absence of such an entity), for helping acquire or renovate space for incubators, and for developing curricula, providing services, or providing programming for entrepreneurs housed in an incubator; and (2) a degree-granting institution or a nonprofit local government or community development organization, for feasibility studies to determine the need for or siting of incubators. Requires the Secretary to reserve certain amounts for research regarding best practices for incubator programs, including the development of a benchmarking system based on uniform measures, and for dissemination of information regarding such practices. Authorizes contracts for such purposes with organizations with expertise in business incubation practices.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Social Security Preservation Act of 2002 - Repudiates the statements of: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O'Neill, that the social security program (title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act) is a "pyramid game" and that the social security trust funds (Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) have "no assets;" and (2) the statements of congressional leaders that the social security trust funds are "empty," a "total fraud," "a mere accounting device", and consist of "worthless IOUs." Prohibits the use by the Treasury of amounts borrowed from the social security trust funds to pay for other Government expenditures in a fiscal year, unless, during the nine month period immediately preceding the year, the Congress has enacted legislation explicitly affirming that the Treasury will repay these funds. Amends Federal law to require the President to include in each budget: (1) the total amount the Treasury has borrowed from the social security trust funds; and (2) explanations of repayment plans and the impact any legislation enacted in the preceding year will have on them. Requires the Secretary to affirm annually that the Treasury will honor the securities in such trust funds. Allows any individual credited with wages or self-employment income under Medicare to bring an action in an appropriate Federal district court to enjoin any act or practice: (1) by which the Secretary contests an obligation issued for purchase by either social security trust fund; or (2) which constitutes a failure to provide for redemption of the obligation in accordance with its terms or to otherwise honor the full faith and credit of the United States supporting such obligation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2002
Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to replace the term "navigable waters," throughout the Act, with the term "waters of the United States," defined to mean all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting them, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2002
Expresses support for the 2002 World Basketball Championship to be held from August 29 through September 8 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcomes the teams from Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Lebanon, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.
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 · 27 June 2002
Veterans Right-To-Know Act of 2002 - Requires the Secretary of Defense to identify each developmental or operational test of the Department of Defense (DOD) involving chemical or biological weapons, or defense against such weapons, in which military personnel or civilians were or may have been exposed to actual or simulated hazardous agents, with or without their knowledge or consent. Requires the Comptroller General to establish within the General Accounting Office an Oversight Working Group on Biological and Chemical Testing to: (1) review DOD chemical and biological test activities that involved exposure to military personnel or civilians; (2) report to Congress information concerning Project SHAD (DOD tests to evaluate the effectiveness of shipboard detection and protective procedures against chemical and biological warfare agents) and Project 112 (DOD tests in and around Alaska using chemical and biological agents); (3) continue to review DOD investigations of any other cases of DOD chemical or biological testing; and (4) identify veterans and veterans organizations with significant information involving such test projects and seek to have that information made available to the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) notify any veterans who may have been exposed, with instructions on how to receive a health care evaluation; and (2) review declassified material to determine any lasting health effects that may have been incurred by exposed veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2002
Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) under which each individual who is entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) or eligible to enroll under Medicare part B (Supplemental Medical Insurance) is entitled to obtain qualified prescription drug coverage. Outlines standard coverage benefit packages for FY 2005. Includes for the standard package a monthly premium of $25, an annual deductible of $100, a coinsurance of 20 percent and an annual out-of-pocket spending limit of $2,000. Directs the Secretary to negotiate fair prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Provides for accelerated generic drug competition. Amends SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice) with respect to: (1) inclusion of the costs of certain military services to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries in the calculation of Medicare+Choice payment rates; (2) specialized Medicare+Choice plans for special needs beneficiaries; and (3) continuous open enrollment and disenrollment at any time. Revises requirements for Medicare: (1) part A concerning rural health care, inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facility services, and hospices; (2) part B concerning physicians services and other services; and (3) part A and B concerning home health services and direct graduate medical education. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) with respect to certain Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment adjustments and the Q-I1 program. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to add requirements for interstate Internet sellers of prescription drugs. Establishes within the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health the Office of Rare Diseases. Amends the Public Health Services Act with respect to promotion of the pharmacist profession.
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 · 21 June 2002
No Tax Breaks for Corporations Renouncing America Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a foreign entity any reduced rate of withholding tax on any deductible foreign payment under any income tax treaty between the United States and the entity's country unless the entity is predominantly owned by residents of such country. Excepts specified conduit payments. Specifies what constitutes predominant ownership.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2002
Commends the Republic of Croatia for its progress during the past decade and encourages its democratic orientation and further strengthening of respect for human rights, the rule of law, and the free market. Expresses support for Croatia's aspirations to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), welcomes and acknowledges the importance of its commitment to the reforms required for NATO membership, and congratulates it on its acceptance into the Membership Action Plan at the NATO Ministerial in Reykjavik, Iceland. Encourages Croatia's continued contributions in bringing peace, stability, and prosperity to South Central Europe and its cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Recognizes the important role of the Croatian-American community in supporting the strengthening of bilateral relations between the United States and Croatia.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2002
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Night Out (an event intended to demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of community participation in crime prevention efforts by having people spend the period from 7 to 10 o'clock p.m. on August 6, 2002, with their neighbors in front of their homes with their lights on). Requests that the President: (1) issue a proclamation calling for appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs; (2) focus appropriate attention on neighborhood crime prevention, community policing, and reduction of school crime by delivering speeches, convening meetings, and directing the administration to make crime reduction an important priority; and (3) coordinate the efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the USA Freedom Corps, the Citizen Corps, the National Senior Service Corps, and AmeriCorps to participate by supporting local efforts, neighborhood watches, and local officials, including law enforcement personnel, to provide homeland security and combat terrorism in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2002
National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2002 - Identifies roadless areas within the National Forest System set forth in specified documents as National Forest Inventoried Roadless Areas, and directs the Secretary of Agriculture to manage such Areas to maintain their roadless character.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2002
Urges the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend to the Postmaster General that a commemorative postage stamp be issued by the U.S. Postal Service each year in honor of Veterans Day.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2002
Deems Porter County, Indiana, to be located in the Chicago, Illinois, Metropolitan Statistical Area for purposes of reimbursement under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) of disproportionate share hospitals in Porter County, Indiana, with respect to the operating costs of inpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2002
Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act of 2002 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit an employer from employing a minor under 17 years old to work in exploitive child modeling. Sets penalties for violations. Includes employment of a minor in violation of such provision within the definition of "oppressive child labor." Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit displaying the image of a child who has not attained the age of 17 years, or offering to provide an image of such a child, with the intent to make a financial gain and without a purpose of marketing a product or service other than the child's image, if such conduct occurs in or affects interstate or foreign commerce. Sets penalties for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2002
Social Security Widow's Benefit Guarantee Act of 2002 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) provide for an increase in widow's and widower's insurance benefits; (2) repeal the seven year restriction on eligibility for widow's and widower's insurance benefits based on disability; (3) waive the two-year waiting period for a divorced spouse's benefits upon the other spouse's remarriage; and (4) disregard months ending after a deceased individual's death in applying early retirement rules with respect to the deceased individual for purposes of the limitation on widow's and widower's benefits. Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to provide that an eligible widow or widower who is entitled to a widow's or widower's insurance benefit for any month under OASDI, but is not eligible for benefits under SSI in that month, shall be deemed for purposes of SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to be an individual with respect to whom SSI benefits are paid in that month, if he or she: (1) has been continuously entitled to such widow's or widower's insurance benefits from the first month for which the increase in widow's or widower's insurance benefits resulting from this Act is reflected in such benefits through the month involved; and (2) would be eligible for benefits under SSI in the month involved if the amount of the increase in his or her widow's or widower's insurance benefits were disregarded.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2002
Steel Industry Legacy Relief Act of 2002 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish a steel industry retiree benefits protection program administered by the Secretary of Commerce and the Board of Trustees of the Steel Industry Legacy Relief Trust Fund (created by this Act) to provide specified medical benefits to eligible steel retirees and beneficiaries. Prescribes qualifying events (acquisition, closing, election, or bankruptcy transfer) as a result of which the United States shall assume liability for the provision of steel retiree benefits for each eligible retiree and eligible beneficiary certified for participation in the retiree benefits program. Requires transfer to the Trust Fund by a qualified steel company and any applicable acquiring company of all assets which, under the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, were required to be set aside under an employee benefit plan or otherwise for the provision of the steel retiree benefits. Requires contributions to the Trust Fund by such companies.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2002
Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) making a visual depiction that is a computer image or computer-generated image of, or that appears virtually indistinguishable from an image of, a minor engaging in specified sexually explicit conduct; (2) offering, agreeing, attempting, or conspiring to provide, sell, receive, or purchase a visual depiction of a minor engaging in such conduct; (3) producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing with intent to distribute, or possessing a visual depiction that is, or is virtually indistinguishable from, that of a pre-pubescent child engaging in such conduct; (4) showing a minor obscene material or child pornography; (5) providing obscene material, child pornography, or other material assistance to facilitate offenses against minors; or (6) employing or coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct outside of the United States for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. Includes the prohibition on the use of materials to facilitate offenses against minors within the scope of enhanced penalties provisions. Authorizes a provider of electronic communication or remote computing services that reasonably believes it has obtained knowledge of facts and circumstances indicating a violation of provisions regarding child pornography to report to the Cyber Tip Line at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which shall forward that report to designated law enforcement agencies. Directs the Attorney General to establish and supervise the development and operation of a comprehensive computerized database to facilitate the identification of child pornography produced with actual children and to facilitate the identification of perpetrators.