United States · United States Congress · 9 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 · 9 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the Congress that there should continue to be parity between the adjustments in the compensation of members of the armed forces and the adjustments in the compensation of Federal civilian employees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
The Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Chief of the Forest Service, to: (1) establish three Institutes (one each in Arizona at Northern Arizona University, New Mexico, and Colorado) to promote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires, and improve the health of forest and woodland ecosystems in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah; and (2) assist the Institutes to promote such management. Defines adaptive ecosystem management as a natural resource management process under which planning, implementation, monitoring, research, evaluation, and incorporation of new knowledge are combined into a management approach that is: (1) based on scientific findings and the needs of society; and (2) used to modify future management methods and policy. Prescribes requirements for cooperation among the Institutes and Federal programs relating to ecological restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and wildfire management technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Community Choice in Real Estate Act of 2003 - 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 activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Right Start Act of 2003 - Extends and increases authorizations of appropriations for: (1) the Head Start Act; (2) State entitlements to funding for child care, under Social Security Act (SSA) provisions for block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF); and (3) services to low-income families through the social services block grant under SSA. Increases set-aside portion of funds for child care quality under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act - IMPACT Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to address issues of overweight and obesity. Expands certain existing grant programs for health professional training to include the treatment of overweight and obesity. Creates grant programs at the local level to promote increased physical activity and improved nutrition. Expands an existing coordinated school health program to include grants for the development of programs which focus on healthy lifestyle, including balanced diet and physical activity. Authorizes the collection and analysis of data concerning the fitness levels of children and youth. Requires a study of the food and nutrition assistance programs run by the Department of Agriculture to determine how they can be improved or altered to help prevent obesity and overweight. Requires an evidence report study on the effectiveness of weight reduction programs. Permits the use of preventive health and health services block grants for community education programs which promote healthy eating and exercise habits. Creates a Medicare demonstration project to reduce obesity and other chronic disease risks in older Americans. Makes grants available to local healthcare delivery systems for overweight and obesity treatment and prevention demonstration programs. Provides grants and contracts for a national youth media campaign to change children's health behaviors. Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act - Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Insurance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make grants to a State or local government to pay for the Federal share of the cost of carrying out projects that assist families by providing wage replacement for eligible individuals responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs. Family and Medical Leave Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to extend coverage to employees at worksites where the employer employs at least 25 (currently 50) employees at the worksite and within 75 miles of that worksite. Amends FMLA and Federal civil service law to entitle to leave those employees who must address the effects of domestic violence. Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2003 - Permits the Office of Personnel Management to contract with one or more employing agencies to conduct a demonstration project that provides paid leave for eligible individuals who are responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs. Requires the leave to last for at least six weeks during a 12-month period. Time for Schools Act of 2003 - Amends FMLA to allow employees covered by such Act to take up to 24 hours, during any 12-month period, of school involvement leave to participate in: (1) an academic activity of their child's school, such as a parent-teacher conference or an interview for a school; or (2) literacy training under a family literacy program. Amends Federal civil service law to provide the same school involvement leave allowance for Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Directs the Secretary of Defense to permit any former member of the armed forces who is entitled to compensation for a service-connected disability rated total by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to travel on military aircraft to the same extent as retired members of the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise provisions concerning the timing of generic drug availability. Requires applicants (pharmaceutical companies) to register their patents with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within 30 days of approval (or issuance for subsequently issued patents). Makes failure to timely register a bar to civil actions for patent infringement. Requires applications for new drugs (NDA) or abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) which rely upon investigations not conducted by or for the applicant and which concern a patent that claims both the drug and a method of use or more than one method of use to include a certification on a claim-by-claim basis that the patent is invalid or will not be infringed (known as a Paragraph IV filing/certification) by the new drug's (generic) manufacture and a statement regarding the method(s) of use claim. Prohibits (for subsequently issued patents) an extension of the 30 month stay of FDA approval for any new drug where an ANDA or NDA contains a Paragraph IV filing/certification and the patent holder indicates an intention to bring a patent infringement suit against the new (generic) drug's manufacturer. Makes failure to timely file a civil action for infringement a bar to later action. Requires the first generic applicant with a Paragraph IV filing to forfeit the 180 day marketing exclusivity period to a subsequent generic applicant if the first generic applicant engages in certain behaviors (forfeiture events) which delay or prevent the marketing of the generic drug. Revises notice requirements for Paragraph IV filings to include and protect certain proposed formulation, composition, or method of use information. Excludes an applicants's ability to pay damages from a court's consideration of whether or not to provide injunctive relief before the expiration of the 30 month stay of approval period.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Pension Protection and Expansion Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to set forth requirements under defined contribution plans that are individual account plans (IAPs) (401(k) and similar plans) for: (1) diversification of plan assets, including employee freedom to invest plan assets and to divest employer securities or real property; (2) protection of plan participants and beneficiaries, through notice of blackout period, prohibition of relief from fiduciary liability during such periods of suspension of participants' and beneficiaries' ability to direct investments, liability for breach of fiduciary duty, increased maximum bond amount and insurance, and inclusion of participants in trusteeship of IAPs; and (3) information to assist and protect participants, including requirements for periodic pension benefit statements, investment education, provisions relating to whistleblower actions involving pension plans, and increased penalties for coercive interference. Retirement Security for All Americans Act - Amends IRC to permit a tax credit for an applicable percentage of up to $2,000 in retirement savings contributions of an individual. Repeals the nonrefundable credit for elective deferrals and individual retirement account contributions. Imposes a tax on any failure by an employer (except for certain small employers) that does not have a qualified plan or arrangement for a calendar year to permit its employees access to salary reduction contributions to individual retirement plans. Permits a tax credit for small employers that maintain salary reduction arrangements. Allows a tax credit for a duration of three years for pension plan contributions of small employers. Women's Pension Protection Act of 2003 - Amends ERISA and IRC to require the spouse's consent for distributions from defined contribution plans (DCPs, which include individual account plans such as 401(k) plans). (Current law only requires such consent in the case of defined benefit plans). Applies joint and survivor annuity rules to DCPs. Provides for division of pension benefits upon divorce, including rules for treating: (1) subsequent qualified domestic relations orders; and (2) former spouses as surviving spouses in certain cases. Revises requirements for joint and survivor annuities. Requires pension plans to offer participants the option of a qualified joint and 3/4 survivor annuity. Amends Federal law relating to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to provide for a survivor annuity to widows, widowers, and certain former spouses of Federal employees who die after having separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity under CSRS, but before attaining the age for such annuity under it. Revises CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) requirements for court orders relating to Federal employee retirement benefits for former spouses. Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to: (1) entitle divorced spouses to railroad retirement annuities independent of the actual entitlement of the employees; and (2) extend the payment of any portion of Tier II railroad retirement benefits to surviving former spouses pursuant to divorce agreements. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) an employee plans compliance resolution system; (2) extension to all governmental plans of a moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans; (3) missing participants; (4) a reduced Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premium for new plans of small employers; (5) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (6) voluntary early retirement incentive and employment retention plans maintained by local educational agencies and other entities; (7) automatic rollovers of certain mandatory distributions; (8) no reduction in unemployment compensation as a result of pension rollovers; (9) tax withholding on distributions from certain governmental plans; (10) transfer of pension plan liabilities upon dissolution of joint venture; and (11) plan amendments. Amends IRC to provide revenue offsets through: (1) reversal of the expatriation of certain profits offshore, including setting rules for tax treatment of inverted corporate entities, imposing an excise tax on stock compensation of insiders in inverted corporations, and reinsuring U.S. risks in foreign jurisdictions; (2) revisions and penalties relating to tax shelters; and (3) executive compensation. Includes in gross income funded deferred compensation of corporate insiders.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages (such FLSA provisions are also known as the Equal Pay Act) to: (1) add nonretaliation requirements; (2) increase penalties; and (3) authorize the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Directs the Secretary to provide for certain studies, information, national summit, and guidelines, awards, and assistance for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to collect certain pay information.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2002
Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award a grant to Neighborhood House of St. Paul, Minnesota, to finance the construction of a new community center in St. Paul, to be known as the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2002
State Prescription Drug Discount Act of 2002 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require drug manufacturers to pay rebates to State prescription drug discount programs as a condition of participation in a rebate agreement for outpatient prescription drugs under the Medicaid program; and (2) provide for enhanced rebates for State prescription drug discount programs of States with rebate agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2002
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to compensate agricultural producers in New Mexico for 2002 crop damage caused by the Bureau of Land Management's use of the herbicide tebuthiuron.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Patient Abuse Prevention Act - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for the screening of skilled nursing facility and nursing facility employee applicants with criminal background checks to prevent abuse of recipients of long-term care services under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Amends SSA title XVIII part D (Miscellaneous Provisions) to provide for application of skilled nursing facility abuse prevention requirements to any provider of services or any other entity that is eligible to be paid under Medicare for providing home health services, hospice care, or long-term care services to an individual entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) or enrolled under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Amends SSA title XI to provide for inclusion of abusive workers in the database established as part of the national health care fraud and abuse data collection program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program to provide grants to develop information on best practices in patient abuse prevention training for managers and staff of hospital and health care facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2002
Access to Diabetes Screening Services Act of 2002 - 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 · 8 October 2002
Teaching Fellows Act of 2002 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to States for Teaching and Partnership Fellows programs of fellowships for prospective public school teachers. Provides for fellowships: (1) under the Teaching program, for high school seniors and second-year college students, to encourage them to enter the teaching field and become career educators; and (2) under the Partnership program, for individuals, such as teaching assistants and others currently in the education field, to complete a bachelor's degree with a State license or certification in education, through partnerships among associate-and-bachelor-degree-granting institutions. Requires fellowship recipients to repay specified amounts if they do not fulfill certain obligations to teach in their State's public elementary or secondary schools, under such Federal Teaching and Partnership Fellows program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2002
Renames title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (prohibiting discrimination in education based on sex) the "Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act".
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2002
Energy Workers Compensation Act of 2002 - Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA) to provide for worker compensation benefit payments to contractor employees of the Department of Energy (DOE) who were exposed to toxic substances at DOE facilities. (This new subtitle D replaces the current provisions for DOE assistance to such employees in State workers compensation proceedings.) Requires DOE to review claims and determine causation within specified time limits (with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) continuing to appoint members of physician review panels for diagnosing such occupational illnesses). Directs the Secretary of Labor to pay such benefits from the EEOICPA fund for claimants approved by DOE. Requires the Secretaries of Energy and of Labor to ensure that such claims are resolved in a nonadversarial manner. Revises EEOIPA subtitle B program administration provisions to add as covered illnesses: (1) chronic renal disease, for uranium workers; (2) mercury disease, for workers employed at facilities utilizing more than 100 kilograms of mercury; and (3) lung cancer, among beryllium-related diseases. Revises provisions relating to: (1) a special exposure cohort expansion procedure; (2) the radioepidemiologic model for determining compensation; and (3) additional specified cancers. Provides for EEOIPA coordination with other Federal laws, including the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Provides administrative assistance for claimants under either subtitle B or D, including administrative relief and proof where medical records are not available, resource centers, and outreach programs. Establishes within the Office of the Secretary of Labor the Office of the Ombudsman for Occupational Illness Compensation, which is to coordinate activities of the Secretaries of Labor, Energy, and HHS under EEOICPA.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2002
Beneficiary Access to Care and Medicare Equity Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make a variety of changes with regard to rural health care and such matters as: (1) urban and rural standardized payment amounts under the Medicare inpatient hospital prospective payment system (PPS); (2) disproportionate share hospital (DSH) treatment for rural hospitals and urban hospitals with under 100 beds; (3) a temporary increase in payments for certain services furnished by small rural hospitals and for hospice care furnished in a frontier area; (4) the critical access hospital program; (5) the physician fee schedule geographic adjustment factor; (6) the Medicare incentive payment program; and (7) exclusion of certain rural health clinic and federally qualified health center services from the Medicare PPS for skilled nursing facilities. Amends the Public Health Service Act to give the Secretary the authority to make and guarantee loans from the loan fund to any rural entity for projects for capital improvements. Amends SSA title XVIII with respect to revising updates and restoring payments under: (1) Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) relating to inpatient hospital services, skilled nursing facility services, and hospice services; (2) Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) relating to physicians' and other services; and (3) both parts A and B relating to home health services, eliminating the 15 percent reduction in PPS payment rates. Amends SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice) with respect to: (1) the minimum percentage increase for 2003 and 2004; (2) authority regarding disapproval of unreasonable beneficiary cost-sharing; (3) specialized Medicare+Choice plans for special needs beneficiaries; and (4) extension of new entry bonus. Revises requirements for Medicare appeals, regulatory procedures, contracting, education and outreach, prepayment review, overpayment recovery, and enforcement. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) with respect to: (1) Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments; (2) extension of Medicare cost-sharing for part B premiums for certain additional low-income Medicare beneficiaries; and (3) inpatient drug prices in the best price exemptions for the Medicaid drug rebate program. Amends SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) with respect to SCHIP allotments. Amends SSA title XI on the process for the development and implementation of Medicaid and SCHIP waivers. Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to provide for additional temporary grants for State fiscal relief. Establishes the Safety Net Organizations and Patient Advisory Commission to review health care safety net programs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA, which is title II of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, PL107-147) to extend the TEUCA program through weeks of unemployment ending before July 1, 2003 (currently January 1, 2003). Entitles eligible individuals in all States to a total of 26 weeks of TEUCA compensation (13 weeks beyond the current 13 weeks). Provides an additional seven weeks of TEUCA benefits for workers in high unemployment States (entitling them to a total of 33, which is 20 weeks beyond the current 13). Applies a revised adjusted insured unemployment rate State trigger. Sets an additional TEUCA benefit period State trigger based on total unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Local Emergency Health Services Reimbursement Act of 2002 - Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to appropriate $200,000,000 for each of FY 2003 through 2007 for allotments to States for reimbursement of emergency health services furnished to undocumented aliens (presently such appropriations end after FY 2001). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to use $134,000,000 of such amount to compute an allotment, according to a specified formula, for each of the 17 States with the highest number of undocumented aliens. Directs the Secretary to use $66,000,000 to compute an allotment for each of the six States with the highest number of undocumented alien apprehensions. Permits a State to receive funds on both accounts. Allows funds to go to States, local governments, hospitals, or other providers in a State, including providers of services received through an Indian Health Service facility (presently funds go only to States). Declares that this Act constitutes budget authority in advance of appropriations Acts.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2002
Hispanic Health Improvement Act of 2002 - Amends the Social Security Act to provide incentives for States to grant title XIX (Medicaid) and title XXI (SCHIP) coverage to parents and pregnant women. Grants automatic enrollment of children in State child health assistance who are born to title XXI parents. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to permit States and localities to provide certain health care benefits to aliens that current law prohibits States and localities from granting. Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program for the prevention of Latina adolescent suicides. Border Health Security Act of 2002 - Requires the Secretary, acting through the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission and in consultation with the State border health offices, to award border health services grants. Community Health Workers Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary, acting in collaboration with the Director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and other Federal officials, to award grants to promote positive health behaviors in women. Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to make grants for cancer and chronic disease care and prevention. Permits the Director of the National Cancer Institute to make similar grants. Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the programs of the Office of Minority Health. Directs the heads of certain agencies within the public health service to establish individual offices of minority health. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2002
Tribal Transportation Program Improvement Act of 2002 - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to authorize appropriations for Indian reservation roads under the Federal Lands Highways Program through FY 2009. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from distributing, for years after FY 2003, any amount of obligation authority made available for Indian reservation road bridges and roads. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the planning, design, engineering, construction, and inspection of certain projects concerning deficient Indian reservation road bridges through FY 2009. Raises from two percent to four percent the ceiling for the amount of funds made available for Indian reservation roads for each fiscal year that may be allocated to Indian tribal governments applying for transportation planning pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue grants to Indian tribes to establish rural transit programs on reservations or other land under the jurisdiction of the tribes. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the maintenance of roads on Indian reservations is a responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and (2) Congress should annually provide to the Bureau such funding as is necessary to carry out all maintenance of roads on Indian reservations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2002
Quality of Care for Individuals With Cancer Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to grant a contract to a national voluntary consensus organization, whereby the organization shall agree to identify core sets of quality of cancer care measures in consultation with a panel or an advisory group of interested parties. Expands the national program of State cancer registries funded under the Act. Directs the Secretary to establish a Cancer Surveillance System to monitor such registries, and reauthorizes the national program through 2008. Modifies provision dealing with matching funds to require States pay at least one dollar for every five (currently, three) Federal dollars spent on a cancer registry. Requires the Secretary to develop partnerships to speed the pace of improvements in the quality of cancer care. Directs the Secretary to establish a National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program to improve the quality of cancer care. Requires the Secretary to award grants to entities to develop, implement, and evaluate: (1) cancer case management programs; (2) model programs for the delivery of palliative care for cancer sufferers; and (3) end-of-life care programs. Directs the Secretary to conduct and support research regarding cancer survivorship. Requires the Secretary to make grants to support cancer curriculum development for health care provider training. Requires National Cancer Institute cancer control programs to include a plan to assist health professionals in professions facing the most severe shortages. Requires the Director of the National Cancer Institute to cooperate with, and make grants to, public or nonprofit entities to conduct multidisciplinary translational cancer research.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2002
Amends the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to require that funds collected from National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management Lands payments and reserved for County Projects (search, rescue, and emergency services, community service work camps, easement purchases, forest related educational opportunities, fire prevention and county planning, and community forestry) shall not be treated as amounts received (and so deducted) in calculating Federal payments to counties for national entitlement land.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2002
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health, should conduct or support research on the effectiveness of medical screening techniques for ovarian cancer, including the use of proteomic patterns in blood serum in combination with other techniques. Requires a report to Congress and the inclusion of such technique in Federal health care programs and group and individual health plans if it proves effective.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2002
Rural Four-Lane Highway Safety and Development Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish and carry out a program to make allocations to States for projects to expand eligible two-lane highways in rural areas to four-lane highways. Authorizes the Secretary to make allocations only for projects that are on the National Highway System (NHS) or a high priority corridor identified under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. Directs the Secretary to give priority to projects: (1) to improve highway safety on the most dangerous rural two-lane highways on the NHS; (2) carried out on rural highways with respect to which the annual volume of commercial vehicle traffic has increased since the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act or is expected to increase after this Act's enactment; (3) carried out on rural highways with high levels of commercial truck traffic; and (4) on highway corridors that will help stimulate regional economic growth and development in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2002
Recognizes the essential role tribal colleges and universities play in American Indian communities. Honors the vision and commitment of the founders of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. Celebrates 30 successful years of implementing that vision for the benefit of American Indian peoples across the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2002
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2002 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Declares the right, title, and interest of the United States in certain tracts of land in Rio Arriba County and in Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico, to be held in trust for the Pueblo of Santa Clara and the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, respectively (including mineral rights). Directs the Office of Cadastral Survey to conduct a survey of the boundary lines between the properties. Declares the lands held in trust to be part of the Santa Clara Indian Reservation and the San Ildefonso Indian Reservation and directs that they be administered in accordance with any law (including regulations) or court order generally applicable to property held by the U.S. Government in trust for Indian tribes. Subjects the trust lands and other lands in the Santa Clara Pueblo Grant and the San Ildefonso Pueblo Grant that are held by the respective tribes or subsequently acquired by them to the Pueblo Lands Act of 1924. Requires trust lands to be used only for traditional or customary uses or stewardship conservation. Prohibits this Act from being construed to: (1) affect any person's (other than the United States') existing right-of-way, lease, permit, mining claim, grazing permit, water right, or other right or interest in or to the trust lands; (2) affect any existing right or claim of either Pueblo to any lands or interest in lands based upon Aboriginal or Indian title; or (3) constitute the reservation of water or water rights in the trust lands or any change in status of water rights of either Pueblo.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Economic Security Act 2002 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-147) (TEUCA) to: (1) establish a program of temporary enhanced unemployment compensation benefits; (2) require States to modify their compensation laws to include recently earned wages in base periods, allow compensation for those seeking part-time work, and increase benefits levels by the greater of 15 percent or $25 a week; (3) reimburse States for administrative expenses; (4) extend the TEUCA program; (5) entitle individuals to 26 weeks of TEUCA compensation; (6) apply a revised rate of insured unemployment; (7) set an additional TEUCA benefit period trigger; (8) provide an additional seven weeks of benefits for workers in high unemployment States; (9) repeal a requirement for 20 weeks of work; (10) provide that individual is not ineligible for emergency compensation because of a subsequent entitlement to regular benefits for which the individual does not file; and (11) provide an additional extension of TEUCA assistance. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for no reduction in unemployment compensation as a result of pension rollovers. Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA) to: (1) repeal certain State law extended benefit requirements; (2) revise the definition of rate of insured unemployment; (3) entitle individuals to 13 weeks of unemployment compensation; (4) lower the extended benefit on-indicator; and (5) require a study and report on unemployment insurance benefits provided to individuals who have received assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Maximum Economic Growth for America through Investment in Rural, Elderly, and Disabled Transit Act (or the MEGA RED TRANS Act) - Amends Federal transportation law to set forth certain minimum funding levels of amounts made available from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund for: (1) formula grants and loans to States to provide mass transportation services to elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities and in non-urbanized areas; and (2) block grants to States for mass transportation service projects in urbanized areas with a population of less than 200,000. Establishes an essential bus service program under which States provide essential bus service between rural areas and primary airports, and between rural areas and stations for intercity passenger rail service, and appropriate intermediate or nearby points. Sets forth certain requirements regarding the Federal share of eligible project costs or eligible operating costs with respect to funds distributed for transit projects after FY 2004. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require interest that is accrued on balances in the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund to be credited to such account.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), within 15 days after the enactment of this Act, to return to the winning bidders of spectrum auction 35 the full amount of all deposits and down payments made for licenses that the FCC has not delivered by such date. Frees each winning bidder that elects within such period to relinquish a license not yet delivered of all license obligations such bidder would otherwise have had, including the obligation to pay the full amount of its winning bid upon license delivery.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark Act - Designates the Fort Bayard Historic District in Grant County, New Mexico, as the Fort Bayard National Historic Landmark. Allows the Secretary of the Interior to enter into cooperative agreements with and provide assistance to public or private entities to protect historic resources at Fort Bayard and to provide educational and interpretive facilities and programs for the public. Prohibits the Secretary from entering into any agreements or providing assistance to any activities affecting Fort Bayard State Hospital without the concurrence of the State of New Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Medicare Safety Net Hospital Improvement Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for the annual collection of data on inpatient and outpatient charges and modification of disproportionate share Medicare payments with respect to each hospital serving vulnerable populations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Building Secure and Healthy Families Act of 2002 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to revise the TANF program, with changes: (1) replacing grants for States to reward a decrease in illegitimacy with grants to States to promote and support secure families; (2) adding nondiscrimination requirements pertaining to marital status and family structure and participation in activities or services funded under the new grant; (3) authorizing a State to assist a teenage parent who does not attend high school or another equivalent training program to come into compliance with TANF work and education requirements, and deeming teenage heads of household who maintain satisfactory school attendance to meet work participation requirements; (5) requiring certain certifications regarding domestic or sexual violence in State TANF plans, and prohibiting a State from penalizing an individual for TANF requirement noncompliance where domestic or sexual violence is a significant contributing factor in the noncompliance; (6) deeming a TANF recipient who provides appropriate care to a child or other relative who has a serious health condition or a disability as engaged in work for work participation rate purposes; and (7) eliminating the termination of TANF assistance for an entire family where an individual in the family has refused to engage in required work.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2002
Medicare Beneficiary Assistance Improvement Act of 2002 - Names the programs of benefits under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA)) that are commonly referred to as the "qualified Medicare beneficiary (QMB) program" and the "special low-income Medicare beneficiary (SLMB) program" as the Medicare Savings Programs. Amends SSA title XIX with respect to Medicare Savings Programs to: (1) increase the SLMB eligibility income level from 120 to 135 percent of the poverty line; (2) deem to be qualified Medicare beneficiaries in certain States individuals already receiving benefits under SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI); (3) permit individual self-certification of income and use of a simplified QMB or SLMB application form; (4) provide for automatic reenrollment without need to reapply; (5) direct the Commissioner of Social Security to provide for QMB and SLMB outreach through local offices of the Social Security Administration; (6) eliminate the assets test; (7) prohibit estate recovery under QMB and SLMB; and (8) provide for three months retroactive eligibility with respect to Medicare cost-sharing for QMBs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Administrator of Social Security to enter into an arrangement for a demonstration project to identify Medicare beneficiaries who are likely, based on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, to qualify for benefits under the OMB or SLMB programs. Requires the Secretary to enter into a demonstration project to provide States with funds to use such information to do ex parte determinations or other methods for identifying and enrolling potentially eligible individuals. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to send a notice and application for Medicaid benefits to individuals identified as likely to be eligible for QMB or SLMB benefits when notifying them that they are eligible for benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) or B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2002
Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act (IMPACT Act) - Amends the Public Health Service Act to address issues of overweight and obesity. Expands certain existing grant programs for health professional training to include the treatment of overweight and obesity. Creates grant programs at the local level to promote increased physical activity and improved nutrition. Targets partnerships with businesses, schools, senior centers, day care facilities and other institutions. Includes tax and other incentives among covered activities. Expands an existing coordinated school health program to include grants for the development of programs which focus on healthy lifestyle, including balanced diet and physical activity. Authorizes the collection and analysis of data concerning the fitness levels of children and youth. Requires a study of the food and nutrition assistance programs run by the Department of Agriculture to determine how they can be improved or altered to help prevent obesity and overweight. Requires an evidence report (study) on the effectiveness of weight reduction programs. Permits the use of preventive health and health services block grants for community education programs which promote healthy eating and exercise habits. Creates a Medicare demonstration project to reduce obesity and other chronic disease risks in older Americans. Makes grants available to local healthcare delivery systems for overweight and obesity treatment and prevention demonstration programs. Requires a report on research into the causes and health implications of obesity and being overweight. Makes grants available for a national campaign to change children's health behaviors. Establishes the private, nonprofit National Nutrition Foundation for the Department of Agriculture to carry out research and dissemination pertaining to the nutrition and food assistance programs in the Department.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2002
State Children's Health Insurance Program Budget Allocation Act of 2002 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance Program) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to permit a qualifying State to elect to use unexpended allotments under SCHIP for payments for FY 2002 and 2003 under SSA title XIX (Medicaid), and for expenditures under SCHIP. Revises requirements with respect to the redistribution and extended availability of funds unexpended from FY 1998 and 1999 allotments, and of funds unexpended from FY 2000 allotments, as well as those concerning the extended availability of certain other funds. Provides authority for qualifying States to use up to ten percent of FY 1998 and 1999 unexpended allotments for outreach activities under SCHIP.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2002
Expresses the sense of the Senate that having the President lead the U.S. delegation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development would send a strong signal of U.S. support. Calls for the United States to: (1) take specified steps at the Summit, such as reaffirming its support for the implementation of commitments entered into at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), supporting efforts to improve the institutional structure for implementing the framework created by Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, remaining firmly opposed to commercial whaling, and supporting measures to increase the use of renewable sources of energy worldwide; and (2) provide leadership and pursue the negotiation of international agreements to address global climate change and to protect the marine environment. Urges the President to identify priority international environmental agreements that the United States has signed during and following the UNCED that the Administration will present to the Senate for ratification.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2002
Emergency Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2002 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide: (1) emergency financial assistance to agricultural producers who have incurred qualifying 2001 or 2002 crop losses due to weather or related conditions; and (2) payments to livestock producers who have incurred 2001 and 2002 losses in an emergency-designated county, with set-asides for the American Indian livestock program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2002
Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2002 - Prohibits road construction and road reconstruction in inventoried roadless areas of the National Forest System. Specifies exceptions, including because: (1) there is threat of a catastrophic event; (2) a natural resource restoration action is necessary; or (3) a Federal-aid highway project is in the public interest or is consistent with the purposes for which the land was reserved or acquired. Forbids timber from being cut, sold, or removed in an inventoried roadless area. Permits various exceptions, including for specified environmental reasons, if the responsible official determines that the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is expected to be infrequent. Declares that this Act does not: (1) revoke, suspend, or modify legal instruments and decisions concerning the use of NFS land made before January 12, 2001; (2) compel the amendment or revision of any land and resource management plan; or (3) apply to specified activities in the Tongass National Forest. States that the prohibitions and restrictions of this Act cannot be reconsidered, modified, or terminated under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2002
High Plains Aquifer Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, working through the United States Geological Survey, to establish and carry out the High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring Program. Requires the Program to: (1) undertake mapping of the hydrogeological configuration of the Aquifer; (2) perform analyses of the current and past rates at which groundwater is being withdrawn and recharged, the net rate of decrease or increase in Aquifer storage, the factors controlling the rate of migration of water, and the current and past rate of loss of saturated thickness within the Aquifer; and (3) develop necessary regional databases and groundwater flow models. Requires the Program to include a Federal component and a State component and lists priorities of each, including (respectively): (1) coordinating Federal, State, and local data, maps and models into an integrated physical characterization of the Aquifer; and (2) hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, modeling, and monitoring activities in areas of the Aquifer that will assist in addressing issues relating to groundwater depletion and resource assessment of the Aquifer. Provides for the establishment of a Federal Review Panel to evaluate the funding proposals submitted by entities of the High Plains Aquifer States. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to prepare a plan for the Program to address overall priorities for the Program and a management structure and Program operations.
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