United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2003
Medicare Safety Net Access Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) provide for coverage of Medicare-covered ambulatory services by Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs); and (2) ensure FQHC reimbursement under hospital and skilled nursing facility prospective payment systems. Amends SSA title XI with respect to criminal penalties for acts involving Federal health care programs, particularly illegal remunerations (kickbacks). Exempts from the prohibition against such remunerations any remuneration: (1) between a certain kind of public or nonprofit private health center entity and any individual or entity providing goods, items, services, donations, loans, or a combination, to such health center entity pursuant to an agreement, if such agreement contributes to the ability of the health center entity to maintain or increase the availability, or enhance the quality, of services provided to a medically underserved population served by the health center entity; and (2) between a FQHC (or an entity controlled by such a health center) and a Medicare+Choice organization pursuant to a specified written agreement. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards relating to the exception for health center entity arrangements to specified anti-kickback penalties. Amends SSA title XVIII to revise the payment for certain FQHC services furnished to an individual enrolled with a Medicare+Choice organization under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice), allowing for supplemental reimbursement, among other changes. Amends Medicare+Choice to add additional Medicare+Choice contract requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2003
Medicare Mental Health Modernization Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for: (1) elimination of the lifetime limit on inpatient mental health services; (2) parity in treatment for outpatient mental health services; (3) coverage of intensive residential services under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and of intensive outpatient services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance); (4) exclusion of clinical social worker services from coverage under the Medicare skilled nursing facility prospective payment system; and (5) coverage of marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2003
Amends the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the feasibility of designating the Trail of the Ancients, extending approximately 710 miles through Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, as a national historic trail.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2003
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Amendment Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for coverage of medical nutrition therapy services for beneficiaries with cardiovascular diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2003
Family Opportunity Act of 2003 or Dylan Lee James Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for them; and (2) provide for treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospital services for individuals under age 21 under waivers allowing for payment of part or all of the cost of home or community-based services. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for the restoration of Medicaid eligibility to certain Supplemental Security Income (SSA title XVI) beneficiaries under age 21.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2003
Child Protection/Alcohol and Drug Partnership Act of 2003 - Amends part B (Child Welfare- Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible State and Indian tribe applicants to promote joint activities among Federal, State, and local public child welfare and alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment agencies that focus on families with alcohol or drug abuse problems. Requires such activities to: (1) increase the capacity of both the child welfare system and the alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment system to address the needs of such families to improve child safety, family stability, and permanence; and (2) promote recovery from alcohol and drug abuse problems.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2003
Children's Health Equity Act of 2003 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to grant authority for qualifying States to use SCHIP funds for Medicaid (SSA title XIX) expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2003
Congratulates the National Wildlife Refuge System on its Centennial Anniversary and expresses strong support for its continued success. Encourages continued efforts to broaden understanding and appreciation for the System, to increase partnerships on behalf of the System to better manage and monitor wildlife, and to continue its support of outdoor recreational activities. Reaffirms the Senate's commitment to continued support for the System and the conservation of our Nation's natural heritage.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2003
Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2003 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to give States that receive a TANF grant the option to: (1) use the grant to establish a program, including an undergraduate post-secondary or vocational education program, under which an eligible participant may be provided certain support services although the State may not use Federal TANF grant funds to pay the participant's tuition; and (2) credit months of program participation for disregard in calculation of the five-year TANF assistance limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2003
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments. Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to determine whether State law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including: (1) granting public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees; and (2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization. Requires the FLRA to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities. Directs the FLRA, in such cases, to: (1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation; (2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit; (3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith; (4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and (5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such FLRA regulations and authority through appropriate State courts. Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes, or sickouts, work slowdowns, or other actions designed to compel agreement to a proposed contract which will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services. Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2003
Reservists Pay Security Act of 2003 - Entitles a person who is absent from his or her position of Federal employment to perform service in the uniformed services or the National Guard to receive from his or her agency an amount that, when added to the pay and allowances for such service, equals the basic pay which would have been payable to such employee for such period of service for which such employee is not otherwise compensated. Makes this Act retroactive to September 11, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2003
Access to Diabetes Screening Services Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for coverage of diabetes screening tests and services.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2003
Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify the renewable electricity production tax credit to, among other things, include credits for electricity produced from biomass, swine and bovine waste nutrients, geothermal energy, and solar energy. Provides alternative vehicle and fuel incentives, including credits for installation of alternative fueling stations and the retail sale of alternative fuels as motor vehicle fuel, modification of the credit for qualified electric vehicles, and allowing the alcohol fuels credit to be transferred and to be used against motor fuels taxes. Sets forth certain conservation and energy efficiency provisions such as credits for the construction of new energy efficient homes, the installation of energy efficient appliances, combined heat and power system properties, and energy efficiency improvements to existing homes. Establishes a three-year recovery period for depreciation of qualified energy management devices. Establishes clean coal incentives, including credits for emission reductions, efficiency improvements in existing coal-based generation facilities, and investment in qualifying advanced clean coal technology. Revises oil and gas provisions, including establishing a credit for the production of oil and gas from marginal wells, permitting the expensing of capital costs incurred in complying with EPA sulfur regulations, establishing an environmental tax credit, extending the marginal production income limit, and treating natural gas distribution lines as 15-year property. Sets forth electric utility restructuring provisions. Makes additional amendments, including amendments concerning: (1) the recovery period for Indian reservation property; and (2) the definition of a rural airport.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 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 · 6 March 2003
Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Health to facilitate advocacy for the development of appropriate Indian health policy, and promote consultation on matters related to Indian health, in a manner consistent with the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian tribes. Elevates the position of Director of the Indian Health Service to such Assistant Secretary position. Makes the Indian Health Service an agency of the Public Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2003
Indian Health Care Improvement Act Reauthorization of 2003 - Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to revise requirements for health care programs and services for Indians, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations. Provides for enrollment of qualified Indians in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under title XXI of the Social Security Act (SSA), as well as Medicare under SSA title XVIII and Medicaid under SSA title XIX (as under current law). Replaces the Urban Health Programs Branch with an Office for Urban Indian Health. Directs the Secretary, acting through the IHS and Indian tribes and tribal organizations, to consolidate certain existing programs into a new program of comprehensive behavioral health, prevention, treatment, and aftercare for Indian tribes. Establishes the National Bi-Partisan Indian Health Care Entitlement Commission to: (1) establish a Study Committee to study the extent of Indian health services needs; (2) review and analyze the Study Committee's report; and (3) make recommendations to Congress for providing health services for Indians as an entitlement. Amends SSA titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), and XXI (SCHIP) to conform with this Act. Reauthorizes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act through FY 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2003
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the Medicare outpatient rehabilitation therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2003
Milk Import Tariff Equity Act - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to impose tariff-rate quotas (quantitative import limits) and provide various duty rates on certain casein, caseinates, milk protein concentrate, and other casein derivatives and glues imported into the United States (except imports from Mexico). Authorizes the President to: (1) enter into a trade agreement with a foreign country to grant new concessions as compensation in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions; and (2) proclaim any necessary modification or continuance of any existing duty, or continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment, or any quantitative limitation. Sets forth certain limits on the reduction of duties on such products.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2003
Civil Rights Tax Relief Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received by a claimant on account of claims based on unlawful discrimination (as defined). Permits income averaging for backpay and frontpay awards received on account of such claims.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include pancreases procured by an organ procurement organization and used for islet cell transplantation or research to be counted toward organ procurement organization certification. Establishes the Interagency Committee on Islet Cell Transplantation within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Requires the Committee to study related issues, including Federal research funding, the effect of specified policies on transplantation, and data collection. Instructs the Secretary of HHS to request the Institute of Medicine to provide a study of the impact of islet cell transplantation on juvenile diabetes patients, including their health and the treatment's cost-effectiveness. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to establish a demonstration project to assess the efficacy of pancreatic cell islet transplantation for individuals who: (1) have Type I diabetes; and (2) have end-stage renal disease; and (3) are Medicare beneficiaries. Limits to six the number of eligible facilities that can participate in the project. Directs the Secretary to conduct an evaluation of the outcomes under the project and report to Congress. Allows the Secretary to waive such requirements of titles XI (General Provisions) and XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act as are necessary to carry out the project. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Indian School Bus Route Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Makes funds appropriated from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) available for each fiscal year to States that have within their boundaries all or a part of an Indian reservation having a land area of ten million acres or more. Makes counties eligible to apply to a State for all or a portion of such funds for maintenance of public roads that are within the county that: (1) provide access to the Indian reservation; (2) are used by a school bus to transport children to or from a school or Head Start program; and (3) are maintained by the county in which the public road is located. Provides that such funding shall supplement, and not supplant, any obligation of funds by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for road maintenance programs on Indian reservations, and any funding provided by a State to a county for road maintenance programs in the county.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Colonias Gateway Initiative Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants through September 30, 2009, to regional organizations to enhance the availability of affordable housing, economic opportunity, and infrastructure in the colonias. Defines colonia as a recognized community: (1) along the United States-Mexico border region in Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas; and (2) lacking such services as potable water, adequate sewage systems, and safe and sanitary housing.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Border Infrastructure and Technology Modernization Act - Directs the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security of the Department of Homeland Security to: (1) make specified personnel increases in the Department of Homeland Security's Bureaus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection, respectively; (2) prepare an annual National Land Border Security Plan, which shall include a vulnerability assessment of each port of entry on the northern or southern border, and may provide for port security coordinators; and (3) carry out a three-to-five-site port of entry demonstration program. Directs the Administrator of General Services to make annual updates to the Port of Entry Infrastructure Assessment Study. Directs the Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to: (1) develop an expansion plan for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism programs along the northern and southern borders, including the Business Anti-Smuggling Coalition, the Carrier Initiative Program, the Americas Counter Smuggling Initiative, the Container Security Initiative, the Free and Secure Trade Initiative, and other Industry Partnership programs; (2) establish a Partnership demonstration program along the southern border; and (3) establish a demonstration program for a cooperative trade security system with respect to entities (maquiladora) in Mexico that assemble and produce goods from imported parts for export to the United States. Authorizes specified appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Amends rule XLII (Employment Practices) of the Standing Rules of the Senate to prohibit employment discrimination in the Senate based on sexual orientation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2003
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the grave threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction demands that the United States develop a comprehensive and robust nonproliferation strategy that includes: (1) a broad international coalition; (2) prevention of theft or diversion of chemical weapons; (3) reinforcement of systems for export controls and interdiction; (4) talks with North Korea; (5) elimination of excess nuclear weapons in Russia and security of nuclear materials in Russia and the former Soviet states; (6) expansion of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program; (7) adequate funding for homeland security; and (8) the pursuit of transparency measures to enhance capabilities to detect nuclear weapons activity.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2003
PILT and Refuge Revenue Sharing Permanent Funding Act - Provides permanent funding for the Bureau of Land Management's payment in lieu of taxes program (PILT) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refuge revenue sharing program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2003
American History and Civics Education Act of 2003 - Directs the Chairperson of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to award competitive grants to nonprofit educational institutions to establish: (1) Presidential Academies for Teaching of American History and Civics to offer workshops for teachers of American history and civics; and (2) Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics to offer workshops for outstanding students of American history and civics. Directs the NEH Chairperson to award a grant to an organization for the creation of a national alliance of elementary school and secondary school teachers of American history and civics.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2003
Authorizes the President to award on behalf of Congress a gold medal to Joseph De Laine, Jr., to honor posthumously his father, Rev. Joseph Anthony De Laine (civil rights activist), for his contributions to the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2003
Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2003 - 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 · 27 February 2003
Amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to terminate the authority for the establishment of a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the District of Columbia, on November 12, 2006.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2003
Senior Nutrition Act of 2003 - Amends the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to make a person who is at least 60 years old eligible for the commodity supplemental food program if such person: (1) is eligible for the food stamp program; or (2) has a household income that is not more than185 percent of Federal poverty income guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2003
Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize qualified physical therapists to provide services for Medicare beneficiaries without the requirement of a physician referral. Provides for treatment of outpatient speech-language pathology services separately from outpatient physical therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2003
Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain employee group health plans or related insurances providing both medical-surgical and mental health benefits from imposing mental health treatment limitations or financial requirements unless comparable limitations and requirements are imposed upon medical-surgical benefits. States that the foregoing shall not be construed as requiring a group health plan (or related insurances) to: (1) provide any mental health benefits; (2) prevent the medical management of mental health benefits; or (3) require the provision of specific mental health services, except to the extent that failure to provide such services would result in a disparity between the coverage of mental health and medical-surgical benefits. Exempts specified small employers from such requirements. Requires that, in the case of a group health plan that offers a participant or beneficiary two or more benefit package options, the coverage requirements shall be applied separately with respect to each such option. Provides that, in the case of a plan or insurance providing in-network mental health benefits, out-of-network mental health benefits need not be provided at parity to medical-surgical benefits, as long as in-network mental health benefits are provided at parity with medical-surgical benefits and the plan or insurance provides reasonable access to in-network providers and facilities. Requires a General Accounting Office study of such requirements' effects upon health insurance costs, access, and quality and a cost estimation of extending such requirements to the treatment of substance abuse and chemical dependency.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2003
Access to Innovation for Medicare Patients Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of self-injected biologicals approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are prescribed as a complete replacement for a drug or a biological that otherwise cannot be self-administered.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2003
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize appropriations for the State criminal alien assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2003
Southwest Regional Border Authority Act - Establishes the Southwest Regional Border Authority to: (1) develop plans and programs for the economic development of the Southwest border region (specified counties in California, New Mexico, and Texas); (2) conduct and sponsor investigations, research, and studies of the resources of the region; (3) sponsor up to ten authorized demonstration projects; (4) enhance the capacity of and support for local development districts or, if there is no such district for a portion of the region, foster the creation of one; (5) review, study, and recommend appropriate modifications to Federal, State, and local development programs for the region; (6) formulate and recommend interstate compacts and other forms of interstate and international cooperation; (7) encourage private investment in the region; (8) provide a forum for the consideration of problems of the region; (9) establish and use citizens, special advisory counsels, and public conferences; and (10) provide for the avoidance of duplication of efforts among the border programs of Federal agencies and the programs established under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Authorizes the Authority to approve grants for regional infrastructure development and improvement, technology development and deployment, community development and entrepreneurship, and education and workforce development. Provides funding. Requires the Authority to allocate at least 60 percent of the amounts authorized under this Act for programs and projects to serve the needs of distressed counties and isolated areas of distress within counties along the international border between the United States and Mexico. Authorizes the Authority to increase the Federal share to up to 90 percent of a project's total cost (to aid communities that could not otherwise meet matching funds requirements). Requires the Authority to make grants to local development districts for administrative expenses. Directs the Authority, for purposes of grant assistance, to designate within the region distressed counties, economically strong counties, attainment counties, competitive counties, and isolated areas of distress. Requires each affected State to submit to the Authority an annual development plan for the appropriate State area within the region.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2003
Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2003 - 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; (2) the Director of the National Cancer Institute; and (3) the Director of the Indian Health Service 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 · 26 February 2003
Organic Restoration Act of 2003 - Amends the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2003, to repeal the provision permitting a farm to be certified as organic with respect to livestock produced on such farm if it uses non-organically produced feed under certain cost-based circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 26 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 · 14 February 2003
Tribal Energy Self-Sufficiency Act - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to require the Director of the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs of the Department of Energy to establish programs within the Office to assist Indian tribes in meeting energy education, research and development, planning, and management needs. Authorizes the Director to provide grants and loan guarantees to Indian tribes for such programs. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish an Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs within the Department of Energy. Authorizes Indian tribes to: (1) grant leases of tribal lands for electrical generation, transmission, or distribution facilities and facilities to refine or otherwise process energy resources developed on tribal lands; and (2) grant rights-of-way over tribal lands, without separate approval by the Secretary of the Interior, for pipelines and electrical transmission or distribution lines. Requires Indian tribes to establish environmental review processes that identify and evaluate the significant environmental impacts of proposed Indian Energy Policy and Programs. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to review the activities that have been carried out by the government of Indian tribes under the Indian Mineral Development Act of 1982 and to recommend to specified committees ways to ensure that Indian tribes have the opportunity to develop nonrenewable energy resources and the barriers they face to do so. Requires the Administrators of the Bonneville Power Administration, the Western Area Power Administration, and other pertinent power administrations to take specified actions to encourage Indian tribal energy developments. Requires the Secretary of Energy to study and report to Congress on the cost and feasibility of developing a demonstration project that would use wind energy generated by Indian tribes and hydropower generated by the Army Corps of Engineers on the Missouri River to supply firming power to the Western Area Power Administration. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to revise and extend renewable energy production incentives. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to provide grants to units of local government, private, nonprofit community development organizations, and tribal economic development entities for use in improving energy efficiency, identifying and developing alternative renewable and distributed energy supplies, and increasing energy conservation in low-income rural and urban communities. Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural and remote communities electrification grants to State, local, or tribal governments, or tribal colleges or universities to increase energy efficiency, siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines, or for providing or modernizing electric facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2003
Pregnancy Discrimination Act Amendments of 2003 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include breast-feeding (including expression of milk by a lactating woman) within the definitions of "because of sex" or "on the basis of sex" for purposes of the discrimination prohibitions of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2003
Providing Annual Pap Tests to Save Women's Lives Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend coverage of screening pap smears and screening pelvic exams to annual examinations regardless of whether a woman is of childbearing age or at high-risk.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 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 · 13 February 2003
United States-Cuba Trade Act of 2003 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (including other specified laws) to repeal the embargo placed upon all trade with Cuba. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare the denial of foreign tax credit inapplicable to Cuba (except that such requirement shall apply to countries that have been determined to repeatedly provide support for acts of international terrorism). Permits: (1) installation and maintenance of telecommunications equipment and facilities in Cuba, including telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba; and (2) travel to and from Cuba by U.S. citizens or residents. Requires the U.S. Postal Service to provide direct mail service to and from Cuba. Urges the President to take all necessary steps to conduct negotiations with the Government of Cuba to: (1) settle claims of U.S. nationals against Cuba for the taking of property; and (2) secure protection of internationally recognized human rights. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should promote democratic change and economic reform by normalizing trade relations with Cuba; and (2) upon the enactment of this Act, it will no longer be necessary for the United States to continue to use Article XXI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 with respect to Cuba, understanding that the President retains full authority to invoke Article XXI and comparable provisions in other Uruguay Round Agreements in the future in all appropriate circumstances. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations) to the products of Cuba. Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from limiting the amount of remittances to Cuba that any U.S. person may make. Declares that this prohibition does not prohibit the prosecution or conviction of any person committing a criminal offense relating to the laundering of money or engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activities.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2003
Southwest Bridge Research Center Establishment Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary of Transportation, in addition to grants that university transportation centers receive under the Act, to provide grants to New Mexico State University, in collaboration with the Oklahoma Transportation Center, to establish a university transportation center known as the Southwest Bridge Research Center. Declares that the purpose of the Center is to contribute at a national level to a systems approach to improving the overall performance of bridges. Sets forth certain grant requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 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 (GME) 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. Extends the eligibility period for GME payment for geriatric fellowship training. 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 · 12 February 2003
Tribal Colleges and Universities 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, both a benefit from this Act and a benefit from the National Community Service Act of 1990. Provides that the amount of any loan forgiven under this Act shall not be treated as gross income for Federal tax purposes.
![Official portrait of Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000468_200.jpg)