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United States · Official source
5,492 records where Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to include podiatrists as physicians in order to cover their services under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
American Competitiveness Through International Openness Now Act of 2005 - ACTION Act of 2005 - Amends the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961 to direct the President to submit to specified congressional committees a strategic plan for enhancing international student access to the United States for study and exchange activities. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to provide for reduced fees in cases of short-term study, under the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Directs the Secretaries of State and of Homeland Security to report on improving SEVIS fee collection and to develop policies to reform SEVIS database management. Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to ensure that the FBI has full connectivity to the Consular Consolidated Database. Expresses the sense of Congress on improving the visa process. Directs the Secretary of State to issue certain guidance on visa processing. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise standards for visa evaluations for those having the intention, capability, and financial resources to complete a course of study in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2005
Medicare Prescription Drug Price Reduction Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal provisions prohibiting the Secretary of Health and Human Services from: (1) interfering with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan sponsors; and (2) requiring a particular formulary to institute a price structure for the reimbursement of covered Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) drugs. Grants the Secretary instead, in order to ensure that each part D eligible individual who is enrolled under a prescription drug plan or a Medicare Advantage prescription drug plan pays the lowest possible price, authority similar to that of other Federal entities that purchase prescription drugs in bulk to negotiate contracts with manufacturers of covered Medicare part D drugs, consistent with the requirements and in furtherance of the goals of providing quality care and containing costs under such part.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2005
Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act or STOP Underage Drinking Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish an interagency coordinating committee to guide policy and program development across the Federal Government on underage drinking; (2) issue an annual report card to rate the performance of each State in enacting, enforcing, and creating laws, regulations, and programs to prevent or reduce underage drinking; (3) develop a set of outcome measures to prepare report cards, including the strictness of the minimum drinking age laws and the number of compliance checks conducted; (4) fund and oversee the Ad Council's national adult-oriented media public service campaign; (5) award grants to reduce the rate of underage alcohol use and binge drinking among students at institutions of higher education; and (6) collect data on, and conduct or support research on, underage drinking, including the impact alcohol use and abuse has upon adolescent brain development, the scope of the underage drinking problem, and progress in preventing and treating underage drinking. Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to award grants to design, test, evaluate, and disseminate strategies to maximize the effectiveness of community-wide approaches to preventing and reducing underage drinking. Requires the Secretary to carry out activities toward the objectives of: (1) testing every unnatural death of persons ages 12 to 20 for alcohol involvement; (2) obtaining new epidemiological data that identifies alcohol use and attitudes about alcohol use during pre- and early adolescence; and (3) developing or identifying successful clinical treatment for youth with alcohol problems.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2005
Authorizes the President, on behalf of Congress, to award a gold medal collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2005
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award competitive matching grants to States to establish systems of care to treat and provide services to all children who are in the custody of the State or at-risk of entering into the custody of the State for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires State to use grant funds for certain activities, including to: (1) expand public health insurance programs to cover community-based mental health and family support services for such children and their families that will be sustainable after the grant has expired; (2) provide outreach and public education concerning available programs and activities; and (3) provide training and professional development for personnel who work with such children. Requires the Administrator to establish a task force to examine: (1) problems of mental health in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; (2) issues with respect to access by children and youth to mental health services; and (3) the role of Federal agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2005
College Quality, Affordability, and Diversity Improvement Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) and Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to set forth provisions relating to: (1) access to college for all; (2) teacher quality enhancement; (3) diversity, retention, and enriched academics for matriculating students; (4) opportunities at Hispanic-serving institutions; (5) historically Black colleges and universities; and (6) recruitment of teachers to teach at tribal colleges or universities. Makes appropriations in a specified amount to carry out the HEA Pell Grant program. Increases the maximum amount of an individual Pell Grant. Revises the IRC Hope Scholarship program. Eliminates origination fees under HEA student loan programs. Directs the Secretary of Education to adjust fees and terms for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans to equal those for Unsubsidized Stafford Loans for middle-income borrowers. Direct Loan Reward Act - Amends HEA to require the Secretary to carry out a Direct Loan Reward Program to encourage institutions of higher education (IHEs) to participate in the Federal Direct Loan Program for student loans. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants under HEA to university consortia to engage in endeavors to reduce college costs. Requires a certain maintenance of effort by States in supporting public IHEs. Amends IRC to provide a nonrefundable tax credit for interest on higher education loans. Amends HEA to provide refinancing authority for Federal Direct Consolidation Loans. Sets a quarterly rate of special allowance for holders of loans funded through tax-exempt securities. Requires windfall profit offset payments from eligible lenders of student loans. Exempts from student aid need formula determinations earnings of up to specified amounts. Repeals provisions suspending individual eligibility for HEA student assistance on the basis of convictions for drug-related offenses. Increases and extends through FY 2011 authorizations of appropriations for special programs for students whose families are engaged in migrant and seasonal farmwork, and for the following Federal campus-based aid programs: (1) Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants; (2) Work-Study; and (3) Perkins Loans. Provides for increased amounts of forgiveness and cancellation under HEA student loan programs for certain teachers. Provides student loan forgiveness after certain public sector employees have made 120 payments under an income contingent repayment plan. Revises provisions and reauthorizes appropriations for HEA title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement): (1) teacher quality enhancement grants for States and partnerships; and (2) technology preparation for teachers. Establishes a HEA program for college admissions test preparation for low-income students. Revises HEA title IV regarding student aid applications and certain support services to increase student retention. Revises provisions and extends authorizations of appropriations for the following HEA title IV programs of support services for low-income students: (1) Federal Trio; (2) GEAR UP; and (3) LEAP. Revises provisions for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) under HEA title V (Developing Institutions). Establishes a program of competitive grants to eligible HSIs that offer postbaccalaureate certifications or degrees (part B grants). Extends and increases authorization of appropriations for HEA title V part B programs for strengthening historically Black Colleges and universities (HBCUs). Establishes the Patsy T. Mink graduate fellowship program for eligible institutions that serve various minorities. Tribal Colleges and Universities Teacher Loan Forgiveness Act - Amends HEA title IV 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.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2005
Artist-Museum Partnership Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who create literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions or similar property a fair market value (determined at the time of contribution) tax deduction for contributions of such properties, the copyrights thereon, or both, to certain tax-exempt organizations, if such properties are properly appraised and are donated no sooner than 18 months after their creation. Limits the amount of such deduction based upon the donor's artistic adjusted gross income, as defined by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2005
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Department of Agriculture relating to the establishment of minimal-risk zones for introduction of bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2005
Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant qualifying alien agricultural workers (and their spouses and minor children) temporary resident status and subsequently lawful permanent resident status upon the fulfillment of specified agricultural work and residency requirements. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) adjustment of status applications, including penalties for false statements; (2) the waiver of numerical limitations and certain grounds for inadmissibility; (3) the temporary stay of removal and work authorization; (4) administrative and judicial review; and (5) dissemination of program information. Amends the Social Security Act to provide for the correction of such aliens' social security records. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to set forth application requirements for H-2A (temporary agricultural worker) employers and employer associations, including assurances: (1) that the job opportunity is temporary or seasonal and is not the result of a labor dispute; (2) that attempts have been made to hire U.S. workers; and (3) respecting required wages and benefits and compliance with labor laws. Sets forth employment requirements with respect to H-2A worker wages, housing, and transportation reimbursement. Establishes the Commission on Agricultural Wage Standards under the H-2A program. Revises provisions respecting the admission and extension of stay of H-2A workers. Provides special rules for alien sheepherders. Sets forth worker protection and labor standards enforcement provisions for such aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2005
Next Generation Hispanic Serving Institutions Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise requirements for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) under title V (Developing Institutions). Establishes a program of competitive grants to eligible HSIs that offer postbaccalaureate certifications or degrees (part B grants). Limits a part B grant award's duration to not more than five years. Prohibits the Secretary of Education from awarding more than one part B grant to an HSI in any one fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the current part A program of grants to HSIs that offer baccalaureate degrees or are junior or community colleges; and (2) the new part B program of grants to HSIs that offer postbaccalaureate certifications or degrees. Eliminates the requirement that an eligible HSI provide assurances that at least 50 percent of its Hispanic students are low-income students. Includes, among authorized activities under part A grants, articulation agreements and student support programs to help transfers from two-year to four-year institutions. Eliminates the two-year wait-out period between any two five-year part A grants to an HSI.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2005
Advance Directives Improvement and Education Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, to provide for Medicare coverage of end-of-life planning consultations. Requires a service provider, Medicare Advantage organization, or prepaid or eligible organization to give effect to an advance directive executed outside the State in which it is presented, even one that does not appear to meet the formalities of execution, form, or language required by the State in which it is presented, to the same extent as such provider or organization would give effect to an advanced directive that meets such requirements. Permits a provider or organization to decline to honor such a directive if the provider or organization can reasonably demonstrate that it is not an authentic expression of the individual's wishes concerning his or her health care. Makes such advance directive requirements applicable under Medicaid, title XIX of the Social Security Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for grant programs to increase awareness of advance directive planning issues. Directs the Secretary to conduct a national public education campaign to: (1) raise public awareness of the importance of planning for care near the end of life; (2) improve the public's understanding of the various situations in which individuals may find themselves if they become unable to express their health care wishes; (3) explain the need for readily available legal documents that express an individual's wishes, through advance directives (including living wills, comfort care orders, and durable powers of attorney for health care); and (4) educate the public about the availability of hospice care and palliative care. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a national, toll-free, information clearinghouse as well as clearinghouses that the public may access to find out about State-specific information regarding advance directive and end-of-life decisions. Requires General Accounting Office studies and reports on end-of-life planning issues.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Taxpayer Abuse Prevention Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that advance payments of the earned income tax credit are not transferable or assignable or subject to the claims of any creditors, except outstanding claims of the Federal Government. Prohibits: (1) the collection of a debt from a debtor's Federal tax refund by means of a refund anticipation loan; and (2) mandatory arbitration as a condition of providing a refund anticipation loan. Terminates the Department of Treasury Debt Indicator Program. Excludes tax returns that have been filed subject to a refund anticipation loan from any determination of whether goals for electronic filing of tax returns have been met. Allows earned income tax credit benefits to be paid through electronic transfer accounts. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) develop and implement a program to encourage the greater use of the advance earned income tax credit; and (2) enter into cooperative agreements with federally insured depository institutions to provide low- and moderate-income taxpayers with the option of establishing low-cost direct deposit accounts using appropriate tax forms.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to revise provisions governing the importation of prescription drugs. Waives the limitation on importation of prescription drugs that have been exported from the United States. Prohibits the importation of a qualifying drug unless such drug is imported by: (1) a registered importer; or (2) an individual for personal use. Establishes registration conditions for importers and exporters. Requires the Secretary to inspect places of business, verify chains of custody, inspect facilities, and determine compliance with registration conditions. Sets forth provisions governing the importation of qualifying drugs that are different from U.S. label drugs, including standards for judging such differences. Prohibits manufacturers from: (1) discriminating against registered exporters or importers; (2) causing there to be a difference in a prescription drug distributed in the United States and one distributed in a permitted country; (3) engaging in actions to restrict, prohibit, or delay the importation of a qualifying drug; or (4) engaging in any action that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) determines discriminates against a person that engages or attempts to engage in the importation of a qualifying drug. States that the resale in the United States of prescription drugs that were properly sold abroad is not patent infringement. Requires the Secretary to educate consumers regarding prescription drug importation. Sets forth provisions governing the sale of prescription drugs through an Internet site. Includes the dispensing or selling of a prescription drug in violation of this Act as a prohibited act under FFDCA.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid Act of 2005 - Establishes the Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid to review: (1) each of Medicaid's major functional responsibilities; (2) issues that either threaten or improve the long-term financial condition of Medicaid; (3) Federal and State policies for Medicaid and Medicare enrollment (including enrollment sites), income eligibility, outreach, and documentation; (4) the operation and effectiveness of Medicaid premium assistance programs; and (5) Medicaid payment policies.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Agricultural Export Facilitation Act of 2005 - Amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (TSREEA of 2000) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize, under a general license, certain travel-related transactions specified in the Code of Federal Regulations, for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connection with activities undertaken in connection with sales and marketing, including the organization and participation in product exhibitions, and the transportation by sea or air of products pursuant to this Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should issue visas for temporary entry into the United States of Cuban nationals whose itinerary documents an intent to conduct activities, including phytosanitary inspections, related to purchasing U.S. agricultural goods under the provisions of TSREEA of 2000. Prohibits the President from restricting direct transfers from a Cuban financial institution to a U.S. financial institution executed in payment for a product authorized for sale under TSREEA of 2000. Repeals the ban in the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 on certain transactions with respect to intellectual property in which the Cuban Government or a Cuban national has an interest regarding a mark or trade or commercial name that is the same as or substantially similar to one that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated, unless the original owner or successor-in-interest has expressly consented. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to amend the Cuban Asset Control regulations to authorize under general license the transfer or receipt of any trademark or trade name subject to U.S. law in which a designated national has an interest.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Prohibits the retirement during FY 2006 of F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft in use by the Air Force during FY 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2005
Reaffirmation of State Regulation of Resident and Nonresident Hunting and Fishing Act of 2005 - Expresses the policy of Congress that it is in the public interest for each State to continue regulating the taking for any purpose of fish and wildlife. Prohibits congressional silence from being construed as imposing a commerce clause barrier to such regulation by a State or Indian tribe. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) limit the applicability or effect of any Federal law related to the protection or management of fish or wildlife or to the regulation of commerce; (2) limit the authority of the United States to prohibit hunting or fishing on U.S. lands; or (3) abrogate, abridge, affect, modify, supersede, or alter any treaty-reserved or other right of any Indian tribe as recognized by any other means.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2005 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of providing Medicaid coverage for certain low-income HIV-infected individuals. Provides States taking advantage of this option with an enhanced Federal Medicaid match.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 2005 - Amends the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991, the Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1993, and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000, respectively, to repeal specified restrictions on the use of Cooperative Threat Reduction program (program) funds and activities. Amends the the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 to modify authority to use program funds outside the former Soviet Union, including transferring such authority from the President to the Secretary of Defense. Directs the Secretary of State to report on each country in which a program is being carried out, including its adherence to arms control and nonproliferation agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and the Federal criminal code with respect to applications by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (or a designee) for an order requiring production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a U.S. person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. Requires such applications, any resulting ex parte orders, and requests to booksellers and libraries to specify that there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person to whom the records pertain is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. Amends the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 to terminate as of December 31, 2005, specified authority for FBI investigative requests for telephone toll and transactional records as well as financial records and consumer reports.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Amends the Public Health Service Act to adjust the minimum State allotments for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness programs to be the greater of the amount otherwise received by the State for FY 2005 or $600,000. (Current law sets forth a minimum allotment of $300,000 per State.) Provides that if the funds appropriated are insufficient for all States to receive the minimum allotment, then States shall receive no less than the amount they received in FY 2005 with additional money spent to give States the minimum of $600,000.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2005
Declares the sense of Congress that the U.S. Air Force should continue to honor and learn from the example provided by the Tuskegee Airmen as it faces the challenges of the 21st century and the war on terror.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Improvement Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise provisions regarding the National Foundation for Biomedical Research. Allows the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accept transfers of funds from the Foundation. Requires the Director of NIH to transfer not less than $500,000 to the Foundation from amounts appropriated to NIH for each fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to expand the prohibition against discrimination by group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets on the basis of genetic information or services to prohibit: (1) enrollment and premium discrimination based on information about a request for or receipt of genetic services; and (2) requiring genetic testing. Sets forth penalties for violations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit issuers of Medicare supplemental policies from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. Extends medical privacy and confidentiality rules to the disclosure of genetic information. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate against an individual or deprive such individual of employment opportunities because of genetic information. Prohibits the collection and disclosure of genetic information, with certain exceptions. Establishes a Genetic Nondiscrimination Study Commission to review the developing science of genetics and advise Congress on the advisability of providing for a disparate impact cause of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Commends the people of Iraq on the January 2005 elections, and congratulates the new members of the Transitional National Assembly and the leaders of the provincial and regional governments. Urges the new leadership of Iraq to move forward with drafting the constitution, upholding the law, and holding a referendum on the new constitution. Honors the sacrifices made for freedom by the people of Iraq. Commends the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition forces who ensured the elections could be conducted in a relatively safe and credible manner. Condemns all acts of violence and intimidation by members of the former Iraqi regime, insurgents, and other extremists and terrorists. Declares that it is in the interest of the people of Iraq, the Middle East, the United States, and the international community that Iraq transitions to a democratic state and serves as a catalyst for regional peace and stability. Calls on the international community, particularly Arab states, countries with predominantly Muslim populations, and all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, to provide military and police personnel to train Iraqi security forces and to otherwise assist in Iraq's political and economic development. Encourages the newly-elected transitional government of Iraq to ensure that all Iraqis, including members of the Sunni community, are represented in the Constitution-writing process and in the new Iraqi cabinet.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Declares that the Senate: (1) apologizes to the victims and survivors of lynching for its failure to enact anti-lynching legislation; (2) expresses its deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets to the descendants of such victims whose ancestors were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all other U.S. citizens; and (3) remembers the history of lynching, to ensure that these personal tragedies will be neither forgotten nor repeated.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
State High Risk Pool Funding Extension Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize funds for States to create high risk health insurance pools and to operate existing State high risk pools. Amends the formula for appropriating funds to States to operate such pools to give one-half of the funds to eligible States equally and apportion the other half based on the number of uninsured individuals in each State and the number of enrollees in the State's qualified high risk pool. (Currently, all funds are allotted based solely on the number of uninsured individuals in the State.) Authorizes appropriations for the program through FY 2009.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Amends the Pueblo Lands Act of 1924 to allocate jurisdiction over offenses committed anywhere within the exterior boundaries of any grant from a prior sovereign to a Pueblo Indian tribe of New Mexico to: (1) the Pueblo for any offense committed by a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe or by any other Indian-owned entity; (2) the United States for any specified federal offense that is committed by or against such a member or entity or that involves any Indian property or interest; and (3) the state of New Mexico for any offense committed by a person who is not a member of a federally recognized tribe, which offense is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Children's Hospitals Educational Equity and Research Act or the CHEER Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payments through FY 2010 (currently, through FY 2005) to children's hospitals for expenses associated with operating approved graduate medical residency training programs. Excludes reductions for unused resident positions when calculating the number of full-time residents in a children's hospital's approved training program for purposes of reimbursing direct expenses. Requires the Secretary to adjust the proportion of such a hospital's costs attributable to wages for differences in hospital wage levels by geographic area. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2010 for direct and indirect expenses associated with operating such programs. Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) perinatal hospitals play an important role in providing quality care and ensuring the best possible outcomes for thousands of seriously ill newborns each year; and (2) medical training programs at perinatal hospitals give providers essential training in treating healthy mothers and babies as well as patients in neonatal intensive care units.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Hearing Health Accessibility Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for direct access to qualified audiologists for Medicare beneficiaries and the coverage of audiology services as a Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) medical service.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005 - Directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to make competitive grants to eligible entities to promote training and placement of individuals, including individuals who have completed a court reporting training program, as realtime writers providing closed captioning in video programming. Sets forth priorities to be awarded in making grants. Limits grants to$1.5 million for a two-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Training and Research in Urology Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to separate the research and training on urologic diseases from that of kidney and hematologic diseases. Replaces the Division Director for Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases with a Division Director for Urologic Diseases and a Division Director for Kidney and Hematologic Diseases. Requires the Director of the Institute to: (1) give particular attention to supporting research and training programs geared to the needs of urology residents and fellows; and (2) submit to Congress a national urologic research plan and review such plan every three years. Replaces the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Data System, the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, and the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Advisory Board with separate data systems, information clearinghouses, and advisory boards for kidney diseases and urologic diseases. Replaces the Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee and the Institute's advisory panel subcommittee on kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases with separate coordinating committees and subcommittees for: (1) kidney and hematologic diseases; and (2) urologic diseases. Requires at least 15 of the centers developed for research in kidney and urologic diseases under the Public Health Service Act to focus exclusively on urologic diseases. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a loan repayment program for urology research.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to promote the collection and categorization of trauma data in a consistent and standardized manner. Removes authorization for the National Clearinghouse on Trauma Care and Emergency Medical Services. Allows the Secretary to make grants to entities to carry out demonstration projects to improve emergency medical services in rural areas by increasing communication and coordination with State trauma systems. Revises the matching requirements for States to be eligible for grants to improve emergency medical services in rural areas. Prohibits the Secretary from making trauma care grants to a State unless the State's emergency medical services plan coordinates planning for trauma systems with State disaster emergency planning and bioterrorism hospital preparedness planning. Requires the Secretary to update the model plan for the designation of trauma centers and for triage, transfer, and transportation policies. Directs the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine or another appropriate entity to conduct a study on trauma care and trauma systems research.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Small Business and Farm Energy Emergency Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration to make disaster loans to assist small businesses that have suffered or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of a significant increase in the price of heating fuel. Prohibits such loan from being made if the total amount outstanding and committed to the borrower would exceed $1.5 million, unless the borrower is a major source of employment in its surrounding area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to farm operations that qualify as a small business and that have or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury on or after October 1, 2004, as the result of a significant increase in energy costs in connection with an energy emergency declared by the President or the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make Federal provisions which prohibit the obligation or expenditure of funds either in excess of appropriated amounts or in violation of sequestration orders under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1986 inapplicable to: (1) any amount collected or received as Federal universal service contributions; or (2) the expenditure or obligation of amounts attributable to such contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1998 to reauthorize and revise its programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Albuquerque Biological Park Title Clarification Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue a quitclaim deed conveying any right, title, and interest the United States may have in and to Tingley Beach and San Gabriel Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the City of Albuquerque. Provides that the City shall not be required to pay any additional costs for the value of such Park and Beach.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Designates the year 2005 as the Year of Foreign Language Study, during which foreign language study is promoted and expanded in elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, businesses, and government programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Expresses the sense of Congress that rates of pay for civilian employees of the United States should be adjusted at the same time, and in the same proportion, as are rates of pay for members of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act - Establishes a United States-Mexico transboundary aquifer assessment program to characterize, map, and model groundwater resources along the border. Describes as the program's objectives to: (1) develop an integrated approach to assess transboundary groundwater resources, including identifying fresh and saline aquifers, prioritizing the aquifers for further analysis, and creating a geographic information system database for each priority aquifer; (2) expand existing agreements between the U.S. Geological Survey, the Border States (Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas), the Water Resources Research Institutes, and appropriate U.S. and Mexican authorities to conduct joint scientific investigations and archive and share relevant data; and (3) produce scientific products for each priority aquifer to provide water managers and natural resource agencies with necessary information. Designates as priority transboundary aquifers the: (1) Hueco Bolson and Mesilla aquifers; (2) Santa Cruz River Valley aquifers; and (3) San Pedro aquifers. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) develop partnerships with relevant organizations in Mexico; and (2) coordinate activities with water resource agencies in the Border States and affected Indian tribes. Prohibits the Secretary from initiating any field studies before consulting and coordinating with the Border State water resource agency with jurisdiction over the aquifer. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements with water resource agencies and Border States to carry out the program.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to each State to carry out a program in the Administration on Children and Families for making available throughout that State the 2-1-1 telephone service for information and referral on human services. Requires a participating State to ensure that at least 50 percent of the resources of the program funded by the grant will be derived from other sources. Requires a State seeking a grant to carry out its activities through a lead entity to be known as a 2-1-1 Collaborative. Requires grant amounts to be used solely to make available to a State 2-1-1 telephone service for community information and referral on human services to all citizens of that State with phone access, including telephone connections between families and individuals seeking services and the service providers. Requires grant recipients to: (1) abide by the Key Standards for 2-1-1 Centers; and (2) collaborate with human service organizations to provide an exhaustive database of services with which to provide information or referral to individuals utilizing the 2-1-1 service.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Rio Arriba County Land Conveyance Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey to the County of Rio Arriba in New Mexico all right, title, and interest of the United States in and to specified land (including any improvements to such land) located on the Sebastian Martin Land Grant in the vicinity of Alcalde.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2005 - Amends the Valles Caldera Preservation Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to negotiate a price for buying the remaining mineral interests of the Valles Caldera Preserve in New Mexico. Directs that any difference between the sum estimated to be just compensation by the Secretary and the amount awarded be paid from the permanent judgment appropriation. Requires the Trust to determine the character of, and the necessity for, any obligations and expenditures of the Trust and the manner in which obligations and expenditures shall be incurred, allowed, and paid. Grants authority to use monies received from claims, judgments, or settlements arising from activities occurring on the Baca Ranch or the Preserve after October 27, 1999, for specified purposes. Provides for the rate of compensation of the chairperson of the Trust. Authorizes the Trust to dispose of forage, forest products, or marketable renewable resources as part of its resource management authority. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to carry out fire preparedness, suppression, and emergency rehabilitation services on the Preserve. Authorizes the Secretary to provide presuppression and non-emergency rehabilitation and restoration services for the Trust, to the extent generally authorized at other National Forest System units, at any time on a reimbursable basis.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Essential Air Service Preservation Act of 2005 - Amends Federal transportation law to repeal the mandate for the Essential Air Service local participation program (a pilot program under which up to ten designated essential air service communities located near hub airports shall assume ten percent of their essential air service subsidy costs for a four-year period).
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
New Mexico Water Planning Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, at the request of the Governor of New Mexico and acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, to: (1) provide to New Mexico technical assistance and grants for the development of comprehensive State water plans; (2) conduct water resources mapping in New Mexico; and (3) conduct a comprehensive study of groundwater resources in New Mexico to assess the quantity, quality, and interaction of groundwater and surface water resources. Lists types of technical assistance that may be provided, including acquisition of hydrologic data, expansion of groundwater monitoring networks, and coordination of Federal water management planning efforts. Directs the Secretary to allocate specified funds: (1) to develop hydrologic models and acquire associated equipment for the New Mexico Rio Grande main stem sections and Rios Pueblo de Taos and Hondo, Rios Nambe, Pojoaque and Teseque, Rio Chama, and Lower Rio Grande tributaries; (2) to complete the hydrographic survey development of hydrologic models and acquire associated equipment for the San Juan River and tributaries and for Southwest New Mexico, including the Animas Basin, the Gila River, and tributaries; and (3) for statewide digital orthophotography mapping. Sets the non-Federal share of the total cost of any activity carried out using a grant under this Act at 50 percent, which may be in the form of in-kind services as determined by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize specified appropriations through FY 2011 for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary), acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation and in cooperation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Defense, to carry out a salt cedar (Tamarix spp) and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) assessment and demonstration program to: (1) assess the extent of the infestation by salt cedar and Russian olive trees in the western United States; (2) demonstrate strategic solutions for the long-term management of such trees and the reestablishment of native vegetation; and (3) assess economic means to dispose of biomass created as a result of removal of those trees. Requires the Secretary to: (1) complete an assessment of the extent of the infestation on public and private land; (2) identify and document long-term management and funding strategies that could be implemented by federal, state, and private land managers in addressing the infestation and that should be tested as components of specified demonstration projects; and (3) establish a program that selects and funds at least five projects proposed by and implemented in collaboration with federal agencies, state and local governments, national laboratories, Indian tribes, institutions of higher education, individuals, organizations, or soil and water conservation districts to demonstrate and evaluate the most effective methods of controlling salt cedar and Russian olive trees.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Indian School Bus Route Safety Reauthorization Act of 2005 - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to authorize appropriations for FY 2005 through 2010 for allocations to States for Indian reservation roads.