United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Clean Water Protection Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to define "fill material" to mean any pollutant which replaces portions of waters of the United States with dry land or which changes the bottom elevation of a water body for any purpose and to exclude any pollutant discharged into the water primarily to dispose of waste.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2003
Tohono O'odham Citizenship Act of 2003 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to recognize persons listed on the official membership roll of the Tohono O'odham Nation, a federally recognized American Indian nation located in Arizona, as U.S. citizens as of the date such listing occurs. Provides that the valid membership credential issued to such listed persons shall be considered, for all purposes subject to Federal law, equivalent to: (1) a certificate of citizenship; and (2) a State-issued birth certificate.
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 · 11 February 2003
Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the sale or rental to a minor of a video game that depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or other content harmful to minors.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to access and choice for small business employers with respect to medical care for their employees. Establishes rules governing association health plans (group health plans whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations), including requirements relating to certification, sponsors and boards of trustees, participation, coverage, plan documents, contribution rates, benefit options, applications for certification, notice for voluntary termination, corrective actions, and mandatory termination. Requires association health plans which provide health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage to maintain certain reserves and comply with other solvency provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to apply for appointment, and carry out specified duties, as trustee of any such insolvent association health plans which provide health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage. Allows a State to impose a contribution tax on any association health plan commencing operations in such State after the enactment of this Act. Requires association health plans to include in their summary plan descriptions, in connection with each benefit option, a description of the form of any solvency or guarantee fund protection secured under ERISA or applicable State law. Revises provisions relating to treatment of: (1) single employer arrangements; and (2) certain collectively bargained arrangements. Provides for association health plans with respect to: (1) enforcement; (2) cooperation between Federal and State authorities; and (3) treatment of certain existing health benefit programs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 2003 - Deems certain service performed before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts as active military service for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Repeals certain provisions discounting such service as qualifying service.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2003
Amends titles XI and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) remove the cap on Medicaid payments for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa; and (2) adjust the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for those territories.
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 part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam eligible for: (1) the TANF supplemental grant for population increases; (2) the TANF contingency fund; and (3) child care entitlement funds. Amends SSA title XI to: (1) disregard foster care payments to Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam for purposes of the limitation of total payments to each territory; and (2) exempt Medicaid (SSA title XIX) transitional medical assistance in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam from the current Medicaid cap on spending.
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
Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act - Requires any person producing hardrock minerals from a mine within an unpatented mining claim, or a mine on land that was patented under the general mining laws, to pay the Secretary of the Interior a percentage-based reclamation fee for deposit into the Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund. Establishes in the Treasury an interest-bearing Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund administered by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to use the Fund for reclamation and restoration of eligible areas, and approved State reclamation programs and Federal remediation activities. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue an abandoned or inactive mined land waste remediation permit to a remediating party for discharges associated with remediation activity at abandoned or inactive mined land under certain conditions. Prescribes guidelines for issuance of permits and application requirements. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate to the States the authority for issuance and review of reclamation permits. Authorizes enforcement actions against parties who fail to comply with permit conditions. Sunsets the authority to issue an abandoned or inactive mined land waste remediation permits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Investment in America Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the credit for increasing research activities. Increases the alternative incremental credit rates. Provides an alternative credit for qualified research expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Unity, Security, Accountability, and Family Act, or U.S.A. Family Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Attorney General to: (1) adjust to permanent resident the status of certain undocumented aliens who have resided continuously in the United States during the five-year period ending on January 29, 2003, and through the date of application filing; and (2) adjust to conditional permanent the status of certain undocumented aliens who have not met such five-year residency requirement. Revises specified restrictions respecting: (1) cancellation of removal; (2) deportability and admissibility; and (3) issuance of immigrant visas to certain spouses and children of lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp honoring American farm women; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
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
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
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
Veterans Beneficiary Fairness Act of 2003 - Repeals the limitation (benefits due and unpaid for not to exceed two years) on the accrued benefits required to be paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs upon the death of a veteran or other beneficiary.
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
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
Rural Equity Payment Index Reform Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish a minimum geographic cost-of-practice index value for physicians' services furnished under the Medicare program.
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 · 14 November 2002
Food Choking Prevention Act of 2002 - Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in collaboration with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish an Office of Choking Hazard Evaluation to require warning labels on food products primarily consumed by children that pose a demonstrably high choking risk to them. Grants the Office mandatory recall authority over food products determined to pose a significant and unacceptable choking hazard to the general public. Mandates establishment of a Choking Hazard Evaluation Task Force whose staff shall be designated jointly by such agencies to establish criteria for determining whether a food product poses a significant and unacceptable choking hazard, using age-differentiated criteria for choking hazards. Directs the FDA to: (1) establish a national database of unusual food choking incidents; and (2) provide for an adequate reporting system throughout its field offices, which members of the health care profession and the general public can readily access to report new incidents.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Roberto Cruz (founder and first president of the National Hispanic University) and extends condolences on his death to the Cruz family and to the University faculty, staff, and students.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Recruitment and Diversity in Nursing Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program in which nontraditional nursing students shall contract to serve at least two years at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses after attending an accredited school of nursing on a Federal scholarship. Requires the program to run from FY 2003 to 2004, and permits the Secretary to extend the program thereafter. Sets a maximum figure of 25 percent of the number of scholarships that may be used for training in advanced degree programs. Allows a recipient to complete a period of service on a part-time basis under certain conditions. Applies certain provisions applicable to the National Health Service Corps Program to the nursing scholarship program. Directs the Secretary to give preference in entering into contracts in such program to individuals in financial need. Requires the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities to carry out nursing awareness and recruitment programs in elementary schools and secondary schools. States that the program shall run from FY 2003 to 2004, and permits the Secretary to extend the program thereafter. Requires that of the schools in which a beneficiary conducts awareness and recruitment programs, at least half must have a high percentage of nontraditional students. Prohibits any grant for nursing awareness and recruitment programs from lasting for a period of more than three years.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Roberto Cruz (founder and first president of the National Hispanic University in California) and extends condolences on his death to the Cruz family and to the University faculty, staff, and students.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Backlog Reduction Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) identify the current backlog of veterans' claims for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs and to categorize those claims; and (2) identify claims that need further development and refer them to a geographically appropriate County Veterans Service Office. Allows veterans' claims to be submitted to County Veterans Service Officers (in lieu of the Department) and authorizes the Officers to fully develop such claims. Requires appropriate information sharing between the Department's Benefits Delivery Network and the Offices. Requires funding provided by this Act to be allocated to States based on their respective populations of veterans and allocates such funds to the appropriate Office. Prohibits Federal funding from exceeding 50 percent of the costs of Office operations. Allows funding to be used to establish Officer programs in States that do not have one.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Code Adam Act - Requires each Federal building that is open to the public to have in place procedures for locating a child who is missing in that building. Requires the head of each executive agency, the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the House Office Building Commission, and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate to direct employees to assist any parent, guardian, or teacher whose child is missing in a Federal building by instituting and enforcing procedures that include: (1) obtaining a detailed description of the child and activating a "Code Adam" alert; (2) escorting the parent, teacher, or guardian to the door to help identify the child; (3) monitoring building exits; (4) requiring all persons with children to exit through a designated entrance; (5) searching the building and contacting local law enforcement if the child isn't found; (6) calling 911 and notifying the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; and (7) preparing a report of the incident.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2002
Recognizes the "Code Adam" child safety program, commends all retail business establishments that have implemented such program to protect children from abduction, and urges retail business establishments that have not implemented such program to consider doing so.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2002
Recognizes September 11 as both a day to remember those taken from their families and a day for Americans to recommit to the Nation, to their freedom, and to each other. Extends deepest sympathies to the countless innocent victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, their families, friends, and loved ones. Honors the heroic actions of first responders, law enforcement personnel, State and local officials, volunteers, and others who aided the innocent victims. Expresses thanks and gratitude to the foreign leaders and citizens of all nations who have assisted and continue to stand in solidarity with the United States against terrorism. Remains resolved to pursue all those responsible for the terrorist attacks and their sponsors until they are discovered and punished.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2002
Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2002 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that a public safety officer who dies as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke suffered while on duty or within 24 hours after participating in a training exercise or responding to an emergency situation shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, for purposes of survivor benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Act to Save America's Forests - States that the purposes of this Act are to protect native biodiversity and ecosystems on Federal land from losses caused by: (1) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations; and (2) logging in ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas. Amends the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to revise eligibility criteria for members of the land and resource management scientific committee. Revises the committee termination date to ten years after enactment of this Act. Provides for conservation and restoration of native biodiversity in forested areas. Prohibits clearcutting or other even-age logging operations on any stand or watershed on certain Federal land, National Forest System land, and National Wildlife Refuge System land. Provides for: (1) Federal enforcement; and (1) a private right of action. Describes special areas as Federal forest land parcels possessing outstanding biological, scenic, recreational, or cultural values which may not meet the definitions of ancient forests, roadless areas, or watershed protection areas. Designates specified special areas which shall be subject to restrictions on road construction and logging in the following States: (1) Alabama; (2) Alaska; (3) Arizona; (4) Arkansas; (5) California; (6) Colorado; (7) Georgia; (8) Idaho; (9) Illinois; (10) Michigan; (11) Minnesota; (12) Missouri; (13) Montana; (14) New Mexico; (15) North Carolina; (16) Ohio; (17) Oklahoma; (18) Oregon; (19) South Carolina; (20) South Dakota; (21) Tennessee; (22) Texas; (23) Vermont; (24) Virginia; (25) Wisconsin; and (26) Wyoming. Provides for the appointment of a committee of independent scientists to recommend additional special areas. Restricts road construction and logging on Federal land in ancient forests, special areas, roadless areas, and watershed protection areas. Provides for: (1) Federal enforcement; and (1) a private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to award grants or cooperative agreements to develop State-wide lifespan respite care programs. Defines "lifespan respite care" to mean a coordinated system of accessible community-based respite care services for family caregivers regardless of the individual's age, race, ethnicity, or special need. Requires the Secretary to establish a review panel to make recommendations on applicants. Permits the use of funds for respite care services and training programs. Limits grants to five years. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a National Resource Center on Lifespan Respite Care to maintain a national database and provide training, technical assistance, and information.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2002
Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2002 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration; and (2) the Director of the National Cancer Institute to make grants for model programs to provide services for cancer and chronic diseases to individuals of health disparity populations. Requires that these services: (1) be provided in a culturally competent way; (2) include patient navigators to help with finding services and follow-up care; and (3) include ongoing outreach activities. Conditions grants on the presence of a fee schedule consistent with prevailing rates and a fee discount schedule which provides fee adjustments based on ability to pay. Evaluates services according to a peer-reviewed model according to best practices. Limits the grants to five years.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2002
Amends Federal transportation law with respect to urbanized area formula grants for capital projects and the planning and improvement costs of equipment, facilities, and associated capital maintenance items for use in mass transportation. Makes a special rule for FY 2003 authorizing the Secretary of Transportation to make such grants from FY 2003 funds to finance the operating cost of equipment and facilities for use in mass transportation in an urbanized area with a population of at least 200,000 as determined under the 2000 Federal decennial census of population, if: (1) the urbanized area had a population under 200,000 in the 1990 census; (2) a portion of the area was a separate urbanized area with a population under 200,000 in the 1990 census; or (3) the area was not designated as a urbanized area in the 1990 census. Limits such amounts: (1) for the first two described areas to the amount apportioned in FY 2002 to such areas; and (2) for urbanized areas that, for the first time, exceeded 200,000 in population according to the 2000 census, to the amount apportioned for FY 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2002
Amends the Temporary Emergency Wildfire Suppression Act, as amended by the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, as part of any reciprocal agreement with a foreign country for sharing personnel to fight wildfires, to include a provision that personnel furnished under the agreement to provide wildfire presuppression or suppression services will be considered, for tort liability purposes, employees of the country receiving such services when the personnel provide them under the agreement. Prohibits the Secretaries from entering into any such agreement unless the foreign country (either directly or through the fire organization that is a party to the agreement) agrees to assume any and all liability for the acts or omissions of American firefighters engaged in providing such services under the agreement in the foreign country. Makes remedies provided under the laws of the host country the exclusive remedies for acts or omissions committed while providing services under the agreement. Declares that neither the firefighter, the sending country, nor any organization associated with the firefighter shall be subject to any action whatsoever pertaining to or arising out of providing wildfire presuppression or suppression services under such a reciprocal agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2002
Small Business Outreach Act of 2002 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize any applicant funded by the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a small business development center and located in a high unemployment district to apply for an additional grant to be used solely to promote SBA and other Federal programs that promote the growth and development of small businesses. Prohibits any single applicant from receiving more than $50,000 in SBA grants in a fiscal year. Provides a priority for applicants in districts with the highest unemployment rates.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2002
Commends the roofing professionals who replaced, at no cost to the Federal Government, the section of the Pentagon's slate roof destroyed by the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2002
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit a Hispanic-serving institution to secure a subsequent five-year grant award immediately after the expiration of its most recent five-year award (eliminating the two-year waitout period between grants).
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2002
Bracero Justice Act of 2002 - Sets forth rules for cases in which an eligible claim is brought against the United States, Mexico, or certain financial institutions alleging failure to pay moneys owed to workers participating in the labor importation (bracero) program between January 1, 1942, and January 1, 1969. Declares that an eligible claim brought in any U.S. district court not later than two years after enactment of this Act shall not be barred by any statute of limitations, and that district courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction in instances where such claims are brought. Waives U.S. sovereign immunity in such cases, and declares that foreign States shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. district courts hearing eligible claims.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2002
Health Care for Filipino World War II Veterans Act - Requires (current law authorizes) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish hospital and nursing home care and medical services to any individual who is a Commonwealth Army veteran or new Philippine Scout (current law) and who is: (1) residing in the United States; and (2) a U.S. citizen or alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Provides a rate of payment equal to the rate provided for active-service veterans and their survivors for: (1) dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of Commonwealth Army veterans or new Philippine Scouts; and (2) veterans' disability compensation for new Philippine Scouts residing in the United States. Provides national cemetery burial benefits for new Philippine Scouts.
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
Widows of Wartime Veterans Assistance Act - Increases the maximum annual rates of pensions for surviving spouses of veterans of a period of war. Amends the Social Security Act to require that the amount of such rate increases not be included in a surviving spouse's income for purposes of Medicaid (title XIX) eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2002
Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), and the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) to deem a food misbranded if it contains or was produced with a genetically engineered material unless its labeling contains statements meeting specified requirements. Requires the periodic testing of such foods transferred along a chain of distribution to assure accuracy of labels, subject to specified exceptions. Excludes, in all three Acts, food: (1) served in restaurants; or (2) prepared primarily in a retail establishment, ready for human consumption, but not offered for sale for immediate consumption in the establishment. Excludes, for the FDCA, a medical food as defined in the Orphan Drug Act. Subjects violators to civil monetary penalties, exempting recipients who accept a guarantee of the absence of genetically engineered material in good faith or producers whose food inadvertently becomes contaminated by genetically engineered material. Authorizes citizen suits as specified.