United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Organ Donation Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants or contracts to States, transplant centers, qualified organ procurement organizations, or other public or private entities for the purpose of providing payment for: (1) travel and subsistence expenses incurred by individuals toward living donations of their organs; and (2) incidental nonmedical expenses. Sets forth payment eligibility criteria and limitations, including that payments may be made for the qualifying expenses of a donating individual only if: (1) the State in which the donating individual resides is a different State than the State in which the intended recipient of the organ resides; and (2) the annual income of the intended recipient of the organ does not exceed $35,000. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to educate the public with respect to organ donation, including the need to provide for an adequate rate of such donations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for the purpose of carrying out studies and demonstration projects with respect to providing for an adequate rate of organ donation. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of assisting States in carrying out organ donor awareness, public education and outreach activities, and programs designed to increase the number of organ donors within the State, including living donors. Authorizes appropriations.
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 · 28 January 2003
Koby Mandell Act of 2003 - Directs the President to establish within the Department of Justice an office which shall assume responsibility for administration of the Rewards for Justice program and its website to ensure that rewards are offered to capture all terrorists involved in harming American citizens overseas, regardless of the terrorists' country of origin or residence. Directs the office to take specified steps, including: (1) establishing a program which will update American victims of overseas terrorism or their families on the status of efforts to capture the terrorists; (2) undertaking a comprehensive assessment to determine the reasons for the absence of indictments of terrorists residing in some regions; (3) monitoring public actions pertaining to terrorists by governments and regimes overseas, such as naming schools, streets, or other public institutions or sites after terrorists who have harmed American citizens; (4) initiating negotiations to secure financial compensation for American citizens (or their families) who were harmed by terrorist acts overseas by an organization that subsequently became part of a governing regime with which the U.S. Government maintains diplomatic or official contacts; and (5) coordinating with other Government agencies to seek the transfer to the United States of terrorists released from incarceration abroad who are eligible for further prosecution in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Amends Federal civil service law to provide for the indexation of deferred annuities, including survivor annuities, under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), and for individuals becoming subject to FERS by election. Terminates for remarriage before age 55 (currently remarriage at any age) a survivor's entitlement to an annuity based on the service of a deferred annuitant who dies before establishing a valid claim for annuity under CSRS (conforms with requirements under FERS).
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2003
Expresses the sense of Congress that rates of compensation for U.S. civilian employees should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are such rates for members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Tribal College or University Teacher Loan Forgiveness Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the cancellation of a specified percentage of the total amount of any Federal Perkins loan, Federal Family Education loan, or direct student loan for each year of employment (up to five) as a full-time teacher at a tribal college or university if the borrower is not in default on such loan. Prohibits a borrower from receiving, for the same service, such a benefit and a national service educational award. Provides that the amount of any loan forgiven under this Act shall not be treated as gross income for Federal tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Robin Danielson Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to provide for the conduct or support of research on the extent to which additives in feminine hygiene products pose any risks to the health of women or to the children of women who use those products during or before the pregnancies involved. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: (1) to establish a program to collect, analyze, and make available data on toxic shock syndrome, including data on the causes of such syndrome; and (2) in carrying out such program, to determine the national incidence and prevalence of such syndrome.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Liver Research Enhancement Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Establishes the Liver Disease Research Advisory Board to help the Director of the Center develop the Liver Disease Research Action Plan identifying scientific opportunities and priorities of liver disease research. Requires the Director to coordinate the Plan's implementation by the national research institutes, which shall allocate adequate funds for same.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2003
Commends India on its celebration of Republic Day. Reiterates congressional support for continued strong relations between the United States and India.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2003 - Permits retired members of the armed forces with service-connected disabilities to be paid both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation. Repeals provisions providing for special compensation for certain severely disabled military retirees and certain combat-related disabled uniformed services retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Access to Hospitals Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal specified reductions after FY 2000 and thereby extend certain modifications to disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments provided under the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000. Increases the Medicaid DSH allotment for the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Inflammatory Bowel Disease Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to expand activities addressing inflammatory bowel disease, emphasizing genetic, animal model, and clinical research. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a national program of prevention and epidemiology concerning such disease, addressing its prevalence and public and professional awareness. Directs the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science to study public and private insurance standards for coverage of inflammatory bowel therapies. Directs the General Accounting Office to study problems inflammatory bowel disease patients have applying for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the required use of certain principal repayments on mortgage subsidy bond financings to redeem bonds; (2) modify the purchase price limitation under mortgage subsidy bond rules based on median family income; and (3) define the term "area median gross income" for low-income housing credit projects.
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 · 8 January 2003
Commends: (1) members of the U.S. armed forces for their service to the Nation in combating terrorism and preserving peace and stability; and (2) the families of such individuals for helping to make such service possible. Makes a commitment to support service members as they carry out assigned missions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2003
Commends those who give their time and talents to support mentoring programs. Supports efforts to promote greater awareness of the need for youth mentors and increased involvement with youth through mentoring.
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
Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 - Amends the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) and the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA, which is subchapter B of MLSA) to extend authorizations of appropriations and revise programs under such Acts. Prohibits projects which are determined to be obscene from receiving funds under MLSA. Amends MLSA to establish the National Museum and Library Services Board, within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). (Eliminates a National Museum Services Board.) Requires the IMLS Director to: (1) ensure coordination with certain activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), and other Federal activities; and (2) conduct and publish analyses of museum and library services impact. Revises requirements for annual national awards to outstanding libraries and museums that have made significant contributions in service to their communities. Includes specified entities under the term museum, for MLSA purposes. Revises museum services activities. Entitles subchapter C of MLSA as the Museum Services Act. Amends LSTA to provide for: (1) an increased portion for administrative costs; (2) an increased alternative minimum allotment to States under certain conditions; (3) State plans once every five years, as determined by the IMLS Director; (4) additional uses of grants to States for library programs; and (5) recruitment of library and information science personnel under the program of national leadership grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Repeals requirements under the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act relating to Commission responsibilities to: (1) advise the IMLS Director; and (2) meet with the National Museum Services Board, which is eliminated by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the Revised Statutes of the United States, to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Threat Reduction Implementation Act of 2003 - Amends specified Federal laws to make permanent the President's authority to waive certain prohibitions on the use of Cooperative Threat Reduction funds: (1) to assist the independent states of the former Soviet Union in the demilitarization of the former Soviet Union; and (2) for a chemical weapons destruction facility in Russia.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Geriatric Care Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to payments to hospitals, rural health clinics, or Federally qualified health centers for direct graduate medical education costs and the limitation on the number of full-time-equivalent residents in allopathic and osteopathic medicine. Provides for the disregard of up to three geriatric residents in applying such limitation. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for Medicare coverage of care coordination and assessment services to an individual with a serious and disabling chronic condition.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Medicare Disability Eligibility Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 24-month waiting period for disabled individuals to become eligible for Medicare benefits.
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 · 7 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the full realization of the rights of women is vital to the development and well-being of people of all nations; and (2) the Senate should, therefore, give its advice and consent to the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Expresses serious concern about the continuing menace posed by polio. Implores the private sector and various actors, including the United Nations, concerned States, and international financial institutions, to act hastily to eradicate polio. Calls upon the executive branch to provide the necessary human and material resources to end the scourge of polio, including closely monitoring laboratory stocks of the polio virus.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be issued in honor of George Thomas `Mickey' Leland; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the United States Postal Service should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2002
Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define " major food allergen" as any of the following: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacea, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans. Includes spices, flavorings, colorings, or incidental additives that are or intentionally contain a major food allergen. Requires food that is not a raw agricultural commodity, and that is, or intentionally bears or contains, a major food allergen, to state that information on its label by January 1, 2006. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give priority to increasing the number of inspections under the Act to ensure that foods comply with practices to reduce or eliminate cross-contact with major food allergen residues and to ensure that major food allergens are properly labeled on foods. Sets forth reporting requirements. Requires the Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine to conduct a review of the science relating to glutens in food and celiac disease, and to issue a report to the Secretary and Congress on its findings. Directs the Secretary to issue a proposed rule followed by a final rule to define, and permit use of, the term "gluten-free" on the labeling of foods. Directs the Secretary, in the Conference for Food Protection, as part of its cooperative activities between the States under the Public Health Service Act, to pursue certain revisions of the Food Code to provide guidelines for preparing allergen-free foods in food establishments. Requires the Secretary to include assistance relating to the use of different modes of treatment for and prevention of allergic responses to foods when he or she provides technical assistance relating to trauma care and emergency medical services under the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Chang-Lin Ten, model educator, diplomat, and mentor, on the occasion of his death. Extends condolences to the Tien family and to the faculty, staff, and students of the University of California-Berkeley.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2002
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage of certain self-administered intramuscular and subcutaneous drugs under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2002
Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Associate Administrator of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants for newborn screening education and training, including followup.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2002
California Missions Preservation Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make matching grants to the California Missions Foundation to support its efforts to restore and repair the California missions, and to preserve associated artworks and artifacts.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Ballistics, Law Assistance, and Safety Technology Act (BLAST Act) - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require a licensed manufacturer or importer of firearms to: (1) test fire manufactured or imported firearms as specified by the Secretary of the Treasury; (2) prepare ballistics images of the fired bullet and cartridge casings; (3) make the records available to the Secretary for entry into a computerized database; and (4) store the fired bullet and cartridge casings. Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary to assist firearm manufacturers and importers in complying with these requirements through: (1) the acquisition, disposition, and upgrades of ballistics equipment and bullet and cartridge casing recovery equipment; (2) the hiring or designation of personnel necessary to develop and maintain a ballistics database; (3) providing education about the role of ballistics; and (4) providing for the coordination among law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and the firearm industry to curb firearm-related crime and illegal firearm trafficking. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary to: (1) establish a computer system through which State and local law enforcement agencies can promptly access ballistics records; (2) encourage training for ballistics examiners; (3) report to Congress on the impact of this Act on criminal investigations, arrests, indictments, and prosecutions; and (4) conduct mandatory ballistics testing of all firearms obtained by or in the possession of their respective agencies. Prohibits the use of ballistics information of individual guns for prosecutorial purposes unless officials have a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed and that ballistics information would assist in the investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Fairness to Contact Lens Consumers Act - Requires a "prescriber" (a person permitted under State law to issue prescriptions for contact lenses) to provide to the patient a copy of the patient's contact lens prescription free of charge. Declares that a contact lens prescription shall expire one year after the date of completion of the contact lens fitting if a State's law regarding contact lens prescriptions specifies an earlier date or if the State has no such specified date. Permits an exception for a patient's ocular health. Prohibits advertising that lenses for which a prescription is required may be obtained without a prescription. Prohibits a prescriber from issuing certain waivers. States that any violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices. Permits a State to bring a civil action in a district court of the United States for violations of this Act. Requires the attorney general of a State bringing suit to notify the Federal Trade Commission, unless such notification is unfeasible. Allows the Commission to intervene in cases in which it is notified, whereby it shall have the rights: (1) to be heard on any matter; and (2) to file a petition for appeal.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Stop Taking Our Health Privacy (STOHP) Act of 2002 - Declares that modifications made by an August 14, 2002, final rule affecting medical privacy to a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section concerning consent for uses or disclosures to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations shall have no force or effect. Directs that such CFR section shall be construed and applied to permit a health care provider to use or disclose an individual's protected health information without prior consent under specified circumstances, provided that the provider obtains written consent from the individual as soon as practicable. Declares that a CFR section dealing with uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required shall be construed and applied so that an authorization shall be invalid unless it meets specified criteria, including that it describes the specific marketing uses and disclosures authorized. States that the modifications made by the August 14 final rule dealing with permitted disclosures for public health activities shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Medically Accurate and Objective Sex Education Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to prohibit elementary or schools that receive ESEA funds from providing any factual information that is not medically accurate and objective in the course material or instruction for any sex education course.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to include within the definition of a "private nonprofit facility" that is eligible for hazard mitigation and disaster assistance a facility that provides medical services to specific occupational or industry segments of the general public and that is operated by a tax-exempt organization.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Condemns all acts of violence and terrorism. Expresses sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims who were killed or injured in the bombing in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12, 2002. Expresses support to the Government and people of Indonesia. Urges: (1) the Government of Indonesia and all countries to live up to commitments adopted in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States; and (2) the President to provide any resources available to help Indonesia to address this crisis and bring those responsible to justice.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Sunset of Helms-Burton Act of 2002 - Terminates the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Helms-Burton Act) on, and prohibits bringing any action under that Act with respect to trafficking on or after, March 31, 2003. Terminates denials of visas and exclusions from the United States (pursuant to that Act) of aliens who have confiscated property of U.S. nationals or who traffic in such property. Requires the names of all persons subject to such denials or exclusions to be removed from any lists or other records used by the Secretary of State or the Attorney General to enforce that Act. Requires the Secretary of State to notify all persons subject to such denials or exclusions of such expiration and removal.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Energy Markets Fraud Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2002 - Declares unlawful practices that are fraudulent, manipulative, deceptive, or a contrivance in contravention of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulations governing: (1) transmission and sales of electric energy; or (2) transportation and sales of natural gas. Subjects such practices to certain Federal Power Act sanctions. Amends the Federal Power Act to require FERC to promulgate criteria governing waivers and exemptions from requirements regarding: (1) issuance of securities; (2) accounts and recordkeeping; and (3) officials dealing in securities (including any prospective blanket order). Places a moratorium upon such waivers and exemptions until the criteria mandated for promulgation become effective. Directs FERC to review previously issued waivers. Vitiates such waivers after a specified deadline unless they comply with such criteria. Amends the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act to expand reporting requirements for transactions regarding transmission or sales of electric energy and of natural gas. Sets forth prohibitions on the distribution or publication by an electric power or natural gas information processor of quotations and transactions of electric energy and natural gas in contravention of FERC rules. Prohibits any person who owns, controls, or is under the control or ownership of a public utility, a natural gas company, or a public utility holding company from owning, controlling, or operating any electronic computer network or other multilateral trading facility utilized to trade electricity or natural gas. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Mandates review by: (1) the Securities and Exchange Commission of certain exemptions granted under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 to determine if they should continue in force and effect; and (2) the Financial Accounting Standards Board of accounting for contracts in energy trading and risk management activities. Amends the Federal Power Act to instruct FERC to adopt rules and procedures to protect electric consumers from harmful actions taken by persons owning or controlling public utilities. Mandates annual FERC review of market-based rates for electric energy sales by a public utility. Grants FERC revocation authority for violations and for rates found to be unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory, or preferential.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) supports the goals and ideals of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund; (2) salutes the Fund, and recognizes the efforts in support of equal opportunity in higher education of its president, its board of directors, and the presidents, faculties, staff, and trustees of its member institutions; and (3) commends the students who benefit from the Fund for their pursuit of academic excellence.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of 2002 - Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to redefine the term "client" with respect to coalitions and associations on whose behalf a lobbyist must file a registration. Provides that, in the case of a coalition or association that employs or retains other persons to conduct lobbying activities, each of the individual members of the coalition or association, and not the coalition or association itself as under current law, is the client for whom a registration must be filed. Makes an exception for certain tax-exempt associations and for certain members of a coalition or association if the amount reasonably expected to be contributed by such member toward specific legislation-influencing activities of the coalition or association is less than $1,000 per any semiannual period.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Center for International Human Rights Act of 2002 - Declares that Congress finds that a private, nonprofit corporation known as the Center for International Human Rights has been established in the District of Columbia to: (1) establish programs to promote, monitor, and analyze the status of human rights throughout the world; (2) investigate allegations of human rights violations in conjunction with private and governmental organizations; (3) sponsor fellows to study international human rights issues at the Center; (4) carry out a conference series to bring together international human rights experts to discuss and disseminate information; and (5) make grants to and cooperative agreements with non-governmental organizations to promote human rights, giving priority to indigenous human rights organizations in countries the governments of which violate such rights. Authorizes the Secretary of State to make an annual grant to the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Stealth Lobbyist Disclosure Act of 2002 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat certain associations or coalitions as political organizations and thus require disclosure of their lobbying activities. Sets forth disclosure requirements, including notice requirements. Exempts certain tax-exempt organizations from such provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Renames title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting discrimination in education based on sex) the "Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act".
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Dr. James Allen Disabled Veterans Equity Act - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay special disability compensation due to a veteran's loss of paired organs when the veteran has suffered either: (1) blindness in one eye as a result of a service-connected disability and impairment of vision (currently, blindness) in the other eye as a result of a non-service-connected disability; or (2) total deafness in one ear as a result of a service-connected disability and hearing impairment (currently, total deafness) in the other ear as a result of a non-service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to make "patient safety work product" privileged information. Defines "patient safety work product" as a record concerning patient information either reported to a patient safety organization by a health care provider (doctor, hospital, etc.) or created by a patient safety organization. Defines a "patient safety organization" as an organization, certified under this Act, that collects such information with the goal of improving patient safety and the quality of health care delivery. Imposes a civil penalty on providers who violate the privileged status of patient safety work product. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and maintain a database to receive relevant nonidentifiable patient safety work product, consistent, if practicable, with the administrative simplification provisions of the Social Security Act. Permits the Secretary to provide to patient safety organizations and to States technical assistance with reporting systems for health care errors. Directs the Secretary to establish a process for the Secretary or another approved Federal or State governmental organization to certify patient safety organizations. Requires the Secretary to develop or adopt voluntary national standards promoting the interoperability of information technology systems involved with health care delivery. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to practitioners for electronic prescription programs, with a matching requirement of not less than 50 percent of the costs. Directs the Secretary to make grants to hospitals and other health care providers for information technologies, and to provide technical assistance to applicants and grantees. Sets forth a matching requirement for the grants of not less than 50 percent of the costs. Requires the Secretary to issue and periodically revise regulations requiring the manufacturer of any drug or biological product that is subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration, or the packager or labeler of such a product, to include a unique product identifier on the packaging.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2002
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act - Permits the Director of the National Institutes of Health (the "Director" of NIH), acting through the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research on paralysis. Allows the Director to award grants to public or nonprofit entities to fund Christopher Reeve Paralysis Research Consortia for paralysis research. Permits the Director to solicit public input regarding paralysis research programs. Allows the Director, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Rehabilitation Research and in collaboration with other agencies, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research with implications for enhancing daily function for persons with paralysis. Permits the Director to make grants to multicenter networks of clinical sites that will collaborate on rehabilitation intervention protocols. Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to study the unique health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of individuals with such conditions. Allows the Secretary to undertake direct research and to make grants. Provides for the formation of a national paralysis and physical disability quality of life plan, a hospital-based paralysis registry, and a Comprehensive Paralysis and Other Physical Disability Quality of Life Program. Allows the Secretary to convene a working group for coordinating paralysis research, public health, and rehabilitation training at the Federal level.
![Official portrait of Rep. Waxman, Henry A. [D-CA-33]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000215_200.jpg)