United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2001
Geriatric Care Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to payments to hospitals for direct graduate medical education costs and the limitation on the number of full-time-equivalent residents in allopathic and osteopathic medicine. Provides for the disregard of up to three geriatric residents in applying such limitation. Amends SSA title XVIII, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000, to provide for Medicare coverage of care coordination and assessment services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Instructs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to impose just and reasonable load-differentiated demand rates or cost-of-service based rates on sales by public utilities of electric energy at wholesale in the western energy market (the area covered by the Western Systems Coordinating Council). Authorizes a State public utility commission in such market to prohibit any utility under its jurisdiction from making any sale of electric energy to a purchaser outside the utility's service area if the commission believes that its delivery would impair the utility's ability to meet the demand for electric energy in its own service area. Instructs FERC to require a seller of natural gas to disclose the commodity portion and transportation portion of the sale price if it is sold in a bundled transaction under which it is to be transported into the State of California from outside the State. Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Bonneville Power Administration should: (1) take steps to reduce its wholesale electric power purchase needs in the rate period beginning October 1, 2001; and (2) undertake other actions to minimize its potential wholesale electric rate increase due to take effect October 1, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Native American Telecommunications Improvement and Value Enhancement Act - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to make loans to eligible Indian tribes, or tribal entities that have entered into a partnership with a telecommunications carrier, to enable such tribes to provide for the development of telecommunications infrastructure (wireline or wireless) on lands under their jurisdiction. Outlines tribal eligibility requirements, including submission of a telecommunications plan. Establishes in the Treasury the Native American Telecommunications Improvement Revolving Fund to make loans and award grants to eligible tribes. Limits loan interest rates dependent upon tribal per capita income. Directs the Secretary to award grants to enable tribes to conduct feasibility studies with respect to telecommunications projects. Limits grants to $200,000. Terminates the program on the earlier of: (1) ten years after the first loan is made; or (2) the date on which the Secretary determines that the telecommunications penetration rate is at least 90 percent of all households on reservation lands.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Designates April 2001 as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Encourages individual and collective efforts that reflect the vision of a Nation where: (1) no sexual assault victim goes un-served or ever feels there is no path to justice; and (2) citizens work toward eliminating all forms of sexual violence.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Mothers and Newborns Health Insurance Act of 2001 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States, subject to specified guidelines, the authority to provide for: (1) optional coverage of pregnancy-related assistance for targeted low-income pregnant women under the State's SCHIP plan; and (2) automatic eligibility and enrollment for child health assistance under such plan for children born to targeted low-income pregnant women receiving such assistance when the child is born until it attains one year of age, so long as the child is a member of the woman's household. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) with respect to the transitional increased Federal matching rate for increased administrative costs related to Medicaid-eligibility determinations of individuals receiving aid or assistance under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Heather French Henry Homeless Veterans Assistance Act - Encourages all Federal, State, and local departments and agencies and other entities and individuals to work toward the national goal of ending homelessness among veterans within a decade. Establishes within the Department of Veterans Affairs the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) support the continuation within the Department of at least one center to monitor the structure, process, and outcome of Department programs addressing homeless veterans; and (2) assign veterans receiving specified services provided in, or sponsored or coordinated by, the Department as being within the "complex care" category. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants to Department health care facilities and to grant and per diem providers for the development of programs targeted at meeting certain special needs of homeless veterans; (2) require certain officials to initiate a plan for joint outreach to veterans at risk of homelessness; (3) carry out two treatment trials in integrated mental health services delivery; (4) ensure that each Department primary care facility has a mental health treatment capacity; (5) carry out a program of transitional assistance grants to eligible homeless veterans; and (6) make technical assistance grants to aid nonprofit community-based groups in applying for homeless program grants. Extends through FY 2006 the homeless veterans reintegration program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Amends the Code and ERISA to deem certain voluntary employee contributions to accounts and annuities as IRAs rather than pension plans. Provides for tax-free distributions from IRAs for charitable purposes. Modifies adjusted gross income limits for Roth IRAs. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Establishes nonrefundable tax credits for elective deferrals and IRA contributions. Establishes refundable tax credits for: (1) qualified pension plan contributions of small employers; and (2) the pension plan startup costs of small employers. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; and (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. Sets forth provisions: (1) relating to hardship distributions; and (2) for waiver of a tax on nondeductible contributions for domestic or similar workers. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Provides for automatic rollovers of certain mandatory distributions. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans), subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to study and report on pension coverage and preretirement use of benefits. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Better Nutrition for School Children Act of 2001 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to prohibit the sale, donation, or service without charge of foods of minimal nutritional value on school grounds during the time of service under the school breakfast program under CNA or the school lunch program the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) review Federal, State, and local laws, policies, and practices relating to the sale, donation, or service without charge of foods of minimal nutritional value on school grounds during a covered period of the school day before service under the school lunch program (excluding the time of school breakfast program service); and (2) taking specified factors into consideration, promulgate related regulations, which may include Federal (or allowance of State or local) prohibition against provision of such foods during such covered period on all or part of school grounds.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Holocaust Victims Tax Fairness Act of 2001 - Excludes from gross income and from adjusted gross income computations which consider excluded income (including Social Security benefits) specified restitution payments received by persons (or heirs) persecuted for racial or religious reasons by Nazi Germany, its allied or controlled countries, or any other Axis regime. Excludes such payments from eligibility and benefits determinations for purposes of Federal or federally assisted means-tested programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Opposes the elimination of Saturday home and business mail delivery and calls on the U.S. Postal Service to take all of the necessary steps to assure that six-day home and business mail delivery not be reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Nursing Employment and Education Development Act (the NEED Act) - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for the nursing workforce development student loan repayment program and permit the service required by such program to be performed in a skilled nursing facility, in a home health agency, in a public health department, or in a nurse-managed health center. Provide for a Nurse Corps Scholarship program to provide scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service from such individuals in a critical nursing shortage area upon completion of such education, a public awareness and education campaign encouraging pursuit of the nursing profession, an area health education centers program to develop models of excellence for nurses, community nurse outreach grants, educational assistance for nurses from diverse or disadvantaged backgrounds, career ladder program grants for nurses, nurse training grants, nurse internship and residency grants, a fast-track nursing faculty loan program, a stipend and scholarship program to encourage individuals to seek advanced nursing degrees, and a National Commission on the Nursing Crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Animal Disease Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Control Act of 2001 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a preliminary report to specified congressional committees concerning: (1) interagency measures to assess, prevent, and control the spread of foot and mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") in the United States; (2) related Federal information sources available to the public; and (3) the need for any additional legislative authority or product bans. Directs the Secretary to submit a final report to such committees that discusses such diseases' economic impacts, public and animal health risks, and related legislative authority or product bans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Stem Cell Research Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the Secretary of Health and Human Services to only conduct, support, or fund research on human embryos for the purpose of generating embryonic stem cells and utilizing stem cells that have been derived from embryos in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Makes it unlawful for any person receiving Federal funds to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human embryos for valuable consideration if such action affects interstate commerce. Directs the Secretary, in conjunction with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to issue guidelines expanding on the rules governing human embryonic stem cell research to include rules that govern the derivation of stem cells from donated embryos under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Nurse Reinvestment Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for nurse education training payments to qualified entities. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to temporarily increase the matching rate for Medicaid nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the exclusion from gross income of amounts received under the National Nursing Service Corps Scholarship Program. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) develop and issue public service announcements that advertise and promote the nursing profession, highlight the advantages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals from diverse communities and backgrounds to enter the nursing profession; and (2) award grants to designated eligible educational entities in order to increase the number of nurses. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a National Nurse Service Corps Scholarship program that provides scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service by such individuals in areas with nursing shortages. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Artist-Museum Partnership Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a fair market value (determined at time of contribution) deduction for charitable contributions of literary, musical, artistic, scholarly compositions, or the copyright created by a qualifying donor. Exempts certain non-personal letters and memoranda from such treatment. Limits such increased deduction to the donor's artistic adjusted income (as defined by this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to increase benefits to railroad employees and their beneficiaries and to revise financing of the pension part (tier II) of the railroad retirement system. Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund and a Railroad Retirement Investment Trust to manage and invest Fund assets. Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. Provides for transfer to the Fund of certain portions of the Railroad Retirement Account and of Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds. Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefits Payments Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. Requires the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Fund from taxation. Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. Provides for adjustments to railroad employers, employee representatives, and employee tier II tax rates.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2001
Medicare Mental Health Modernization Act of 2001 - 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 · 4 April 2001
Standardized School Report Card Act - Requires annual State and school report cards in easily understandable language with respect to elementary and secondary education. Requires each State educational agency (SEA) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to produce and widely disseminate a State report card for parents, the general public, teachers, and the Secretary of Education. Requires each school receiving assistance under ESEA, or the local educational agency (LEA) serving that school, to produce and widely disseminate such a report card for the school. Requires such State and school report cards to contain specified information regarding indicators of school performance and quality, including: (1) student performance in language arts and mathematics, and other assessed subject areas, including comparisons with students elsewhere; (2) attendance and graduation rates; (3) professional qualifications of teachers, and numbers teaching out-of-field or with emergency certification; (4) average class size; (5) school safety; (6) parental involvement; (7) annual school dropout rate; and (8) student access to technology, including computers and the Internet. Directs the Secretary to: (1) use Office of Educational Research and Improvement funds to develop a model school report card for dissemination, upon request, to a school, LEA, or SEA; and (2) award grants to enable States to published the annual State report card for each State-served elementary and secondary school receiving ESEA funds.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2001
Strengthening Working Families Act of 2001 - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for: (1) block grants to States for media campaigns to promote the formation and maintenance of married two-parent families, strengthen fragile families, and promote responsible fatherhood; (2) State Responsible Father programs; and (3) a national clearinghouse to assist States and communities to promote and support marriage and responsible fatherhood. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of SSA title IV with regard to rules applicable to child support distribution, including modifying the rule requiring assignment of support rights as a condition of receiving TANF. Outlines provisions for involvement of public non-SSA title IV part D child support enforcement agencies in child support enforcement. Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) make various specified changes to provide for expanded child support enforcement; and (2) provide for use of new hire information in unemployment compensation program administration. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) make nonimmigrant aliens ineligible to receive visas because of child support nonpayment; and (2) authorize legal process to be served in child support cases on any alien who is an applicant for admission to the United States. Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to share child support enforcement information to enforce immigration and naturalization law; and (2) provide for an increase in payment rate to States for expenditures for short-term training of staff of certain child welfare agencies. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise and increase the earned income tax credit for families with qualifying children; and (2) establish a credit for employer-provided child care facility expenditures. Amends: (1) SSA title IV part A to restore the authority of States to transfer up to ten percent of TANF funds to carry out State programs pursuant to SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services); and (2) SSA title XX to restore funds to States for such program. Amends SSA title IV part B (Child-Welfare Services) to reauthorize and extend the program for encouraging and enabling each State to establish a program of family preservation services, community-based family support services, time-limited family reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services. Amends SSA title IV part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) to: (1) reauthorize and extend the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program; and (2) repeal the authority of a State to opt-out of the requirement to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster or adoptive parents.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2001
Housing Bond and Credit Modernization and Fairness Act of 2001 - 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 · 30 March 2001
Empowering Parents Act of 2001 - Enhancing Public Education Through Choice Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish Public School Choice Programs. Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs), including those serving the lowest performing schools, to enable them to implement programs of universal public school choice. Gives priority to those SEAs and LEAs that: first, serve the lowest performing schools; second, serve the highest percentage of students in poverty; and third, form partnerships for interdistrict approaches to such programs. Public Charter Schools Equity Act - Amends ESEA to establish a program for credit enhancement initiatives to promote public charter school facility acquisition, construction, and renovation. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any interest paid on loans by public charter schools. Amends ESEA to direct the Secretary to make competitive Grants for Public Charter School Facilities to States for the Federal share of the cost of programs in which the States make per-pupil payments to public charter schools to help finance school facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2001
Makes marked (currently, only unmarked) graves of certain veterans eligible for the provision of a headstone or marker through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Allows such headstone or marker to be placed at another area appropriate for commemorating the individual.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2001
United States-Jordan Free Trade Area Implementation Act - Authorizes the President to proclaim such modifications or continuation of duty, continuation of duty-free or excise treatment, or additional duties as are deemed necessary to carry out the Agreement between the United States of America and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area (Agreement), entered into on October 24, 2000. Sets forth certain rules of origin with respect to the reduction or elimination of any duty imposed by the United States on Jordanian articles as provided in such Agreement. Directs the International Trade Commission (ITC), upon the filing of a petition by an entity (including a trade association, firm, certified or recognized union, or group of workers representative of an industry) requesting trade relief from U.S. obligations under the Agreement, to initiate an investigation to determine whether, as a result of the reduction or elimination of a duty provided for under the Agreement, a Jordanian article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities and under such conditions that such imports alone constitute a substantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof to the domestic industry producing an article that is like, or directly competitive with, such imported article. Prescribes a procedure for ITC action on such a petition. Requires the President, upon an affirmative determination by the ITC, to provide necessary import relief and facilitate efforts of the domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition, unless the provision of such relief is not in the U.S. national economic interest, or in extraordinary circumstances, the provision of relief would cause serious harm to U.S. national security. Requires the ITC, if an affirmative determination about import competition has been made under the Trade Act of 1974, also to find whether imports of Jordanian articles are a substantial cause of serious injury or threat. Requires the President to review such a determination, and authorizes exclusion of such Jordanian imports from remedial action if the final determination is negative. Authorizes a Jordanian national (including any spouse or child, if accompanying or following to join such national) to enter the United States pursuant to the Agreement as a nonimmigrant if such entrance is solely to carry on substantial trade, or solely to develop the operations of an enterprise in which he has invested a substantial amount of capital. Declares that U.S. law shall supercede any inconsistent Agreement provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2001
Enterprise Communities Enhancement Act of 2001 - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) additional State entitlements to grants for designated qualified enterprise communities; (2) funding for such grants; and (3) use of grant funds for revolving loan fund loans to residents, institutions, organizations, or businesses that hire disadvantaged adults and youths.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2001
Medicare, Medicaid, and MCH Tobacco Cessation Promotion Act of 2001 - Amends titles V (Maternal and Child Health Services), XVIII (Medicare), and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of counseling for cessation of tobacco use under the Maternal and Child Health Services, Medicare, and Medicaid programs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2001
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2001 - Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that: (1) constitutes a crime of violence under Federal law or a felony under State or Indian tribal law; and (2) is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of the hate crime laws of the State or tribe. Directs the Attorney General to give priority for assistance to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one State and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary investigation or prosecution expenses. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to assist State, local, and Indian law enforcement officials with such extraordinary expenses. Directs the Office of Justice Programs to: (1) work closely with funded jurisdictions to ensure that the concerns and needs of all affected parties are addressed; and (2) award grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. Prohibits specified offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to study and provide sentencing enhancements for adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes. Amends the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to require the crime data to be collected and published by the Attorney General to include data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2001
Government Pension Offset Reform Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to modify the formula for determining the amount of reduced monthly OASDI benefits payable to a spouse, surviving spouse, or parent receiving monthly payments from a Federal or State pension plan. Declares that such benefit reductions shall be equal to the amount by which two-thirds of the total amount of the combined monthly benefit (before reduction) and monthly pension exceeds $1,200, adjusted for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Comprehensive and Balanced Energy Policy Act of 2001 - Establishes: (1) the National Commission on Energy and Climate Change; and (2) the Interagency Working Group on Clean Energy Technology Transfer. Authorizes the States to develop energy infrastructure regional coordination. Mandates periodic reviews of regulations to identify barriers to market entry for emerging energy technologies. Amends the Federal Power Act to establish the Electric Reliability Organization. Establishes the Public Benefits Fund. Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to authorize electrification grants for rural and remote communities. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to mandate a comprehensive Indian energy program. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe disclosure requirements regarding: (1) energy sources used to generate electricity; and (2) specified consumer protections and privacy. Amends the Federal Power Act to require Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish: (1) a wholesale electricity market data information system; and (2) wholesale electric energy rates in the western energy market. Prescribes guidelines governing: (1) renewable energy resources; (2) distributed generation facilities; and (3) hydroelectric relicensing. Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) assess cost and performance goals for a national coal-based technology development and applications program; and (2) implement a power plant improvement initiative program. Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 2001 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to revise indemnification and liability guidelines. Sets a deadline for a specified Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas lease sale. Mandates an accelerated research and development program regarding pipeline integrity of natural gas and hazardous liquids. Prescribes guidelines for statutory mechanisms that increase vehicle fuel efficiency or provide vehicle alternatives in order to limit demand for petroleum products by light-duty vehicles. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise alternative fuel requirements for Federal fleets. Establishes: (1) the Federal Energy Bank; and (2) the High Performance Schools Program. Energy Science and Technology Enhancement Act - Delineates goals for enhanced research and development programs that target: (1) energy efficiency; (2) renewable energy; (3) fossil energy; (4) nuclear energy; and (5) fundamental energy science. Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish national energy research and development advisory boards; (2) monitor workforce trends pertaining to skilled technical personnel supporting energy technology industries; (3) establish traineeship grant programs for technically skilled personnel; and (4) develop employee training guidelines to support electric supply system reliability and safety.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Energy Security and Tax Incentive Policy Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to establishing and revising tax credits and deductions concerning: (1) energy efficient property used in business; (2) residential energy systems; (3) electricity facilities and production; (4) commercial applications of advanced clean coal technologies; (5) heating fuels and storage; and (6) oil and gas production and petroleum products.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2001
Recognizes May 15, 2001, as Peace Officers Memorial Day, in honor of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2001
Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to grant States the option of covering certain categories of eligible women and child resident aliens under the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2001
Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 - Establishes the Commission on Voting Rights and Procedures to study: (1) election technology and systems; (2) ballot design and uniformity; (3) ballot and polling place access; (4) voting systems capacity and election administration efficiency; (5) voter registration and maintenance of voter rolls; (6) alternative voting methods; (7) voter intimidation; (8) accuracy of voting, election procedures, and election technology; (9) voter education; (10) election personnel and volunteer training; (11) implementation of provisions of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act on registration and voting by absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters in elections for Federal office; (12) establishment of the date on which such elections are held as a Federal or a State holiday and on establishment of modified polling place hours; and (13) Federal assistance to State and local authorities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office. Directs the Commission to develop specific recommendations, consistent with certain uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration requirements under this Act, regarding: (1) best practices in voting and election administration; (2) Federal assistance to State and local authorities to improve administration of Federal elections; (3) increased voter registration, accuracy of voter rolls, and participation and inclusion of legal voters, and (4) improved voter education and training of election personnel. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to approved State, territory, and locality applicants to pay the Federal share of the costs of activities to: (1) improve, acquire, or replace voting equipment or technology and improve the accessibility of polling places; (2) implement new election administration procedures to increase voter participation and reduce disenfranchisement, such as "same-day" voter registration procedures; (3) educate voters concerning voting procedures, voting rights or voting technology, and to train election personnel; and (4) implement Commission recommendations. Specifies certain uniform and nondiscriminatory requirements each voting system used in an election for Federal office must meet with regard to election technology and administration. Outlines requirements for provisional voting and sample ballot mailings to voters. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in an appropriate district court to enforce the requirements of this Act for election technology and administration through the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act, respectively, 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. Exempts specified small employers from such requirements. Requires a General Accounting Office study of such requirements' effects upon health insurance costs, access, and quality.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2001
Access to Innovation for Medicare Patients Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000, 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 · 15 March 2001
Indian and Alaska Native Foster Care and Adoption Services Amendments of 2001 - Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for Federal foster care maintenance payments to qualifying Indian tribal plans designed for foster and adoptive care of an Indian child. Sets forth Federal assistance (including medical assistance) eligibility requirements for such programs operated by Indian tribal organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2001
Native American Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Technical Amendment Act of 2001 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act and Federal law commonly known as the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act to ensure that Indian women with breast or cervical cancer, who are eligible for health services provided under a medical care program of the Indian Health Service or of a tribal organization, are included in the optional Medicaid eligibility category of breast or cervical cancer patients added by the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2001
National Laboratories Partnership Improvement Act of 2001 - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish a Technology Infrastructure Pilot Program to improve the ability of the National Laboratories to support department missions; (2) provide specified maximum funding among up to ten National Laboratories selected to conduct those Programs; and (3) require the Director of each National Laboratory to establish a small business advocacy and assistance program, including a technology partnership ombudsman. Requires the Secretary to direct the Laboratory Operations Board to conduct studies related to improving mission effectiveness, partnerships, and technology transfer at National Laboratories. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to authorize the Secretary to enter into transactions with public and private entities for research projects. Mandates that, with respect to National Laboratories and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) facilities, all actions taken by the Secretary in implementing this Act shall be through the Administrator for Nuclear Security in conformance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to reflect the provisions of this Act with respect to strategic plans, experimental Federal waivers, and time required for approval. Requires the Director of NNSA to obligate funds in certain percentage amounts each fiscal year for cooperative research and development agreements, or similar cooperative, cost-shared research partnerships with non-Federal organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2001
Private Sector Research and Development Investment Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and modify the research credit. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to assist small and start-up businesses in complying with the requirements of such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2001
Small Community Drinking Water Funding Act - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a Small Public Water System Assistance Program, including a program for Indian tribes, to assist small water systems in complying with national primary drinking water regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2001
Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act - Declares it is Congress' intention in enacting this legislation to: (1) ensure effective immigration control by extending the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, in full to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with special provisions allowing for the orderly phasing-out of the nonresident contract worker program, and the orderly phasing-in of Federal responsibilities over immigration; and (2) minimize, to the greatest extent possible, potential adverse effects such phase-out might have on the economy of the Commonwealth. Amends the Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (the Covenant Act) to apply the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, to the Commonwealth over a ten-year transition period during which the Attorney General shall implement an immigration transition program for it. Sets forth a statutory scheme for: (1) temporary alien workers; (2) immigrants; (3) adequate employment in Commonwealth's tourism industry after the transition period ends; (4) nonimmigrant investor visas; (5) lawful entry under Commonwealth immigration laws; and (6) entry into the Commonwealth under grandfather provisions for certain long-term employees. Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and of Labor to develop a technical assistance program to aid Commonwealth employers in securing employees from among U.S. labor, including lawfully admissible freely associated state citizen labor. Prohibits the Commonwealth from permitting an increase in the total number of alien workers present there on the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2001
Indian Needs Assessment and Program Evaluation Act of 2001 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to contract with an appropriate entity to develop a uniform method, criteria, and procedures for determining, analyzing, and compiling the program and service assistance needs of Indian tribes and Indians nationwide. Requires Federal departments and agencies to conduct Indian Needs Assessments aimed at determining the actual needs of tribes and Indians eligible for programs and services administered by such departments and agencies. Directs the Secretary to develop a uniform method, criteria, and procedures for compiling, maintaining, keeping current, and reporting to Congress all information concerning: (1) Federal annual expenditures for programs and services for which Indians are eligible; (2) services or programs specifically for the benefit of Indians; and (3) Federal methods of delivery of services and funding. Requires Federal departments and agencies responsible for providing services or programs to or for the benefit of tribes or Indians to: (1) file Annual Indian Program Evaluations with specified congressional committees; and (2) publish annual listings in the Federal Register of all agency programs and services for which Indian tribes may be eligible. Directs the Secretary to file a Strategic Plan for the Coordination of Federal Assistance for Indians.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2001
Indian Tribal Federal Recognition Administrative Procedures Act of 2001 - Establishes the Commission on Indian Tribal Recognition as an independent establishment which shall assume the authority of the Department of the Interior to recognize a petitioning Indian group's tribal status. Sets forth operating and documented petitioning procedures, including an opportunity for Indian groups denied recognition to a hearing under specified circumstances. Requires documented petitions to contain detailed, specific evidence, including: (1) statements of facts establishing that the petitioner has been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1871, that a predominant portion of the petitioner's membership comprises a community distinct from those communities surrounding it and has existed as a community from historical times to the present, and that the petitioner has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous entity from historical times until the time of the petition; (2) a copy of the petitioner's governing document or description of the petitioner's membership criteria and the petitioner's governing procedures; and (3) a list of the petitioner's current members, a copy of each available former list of members based on the petitioner's defined criteria, and a description of the methods used in preparing those lists. Requires the Commission to publish an annual list of recognized Indian tribes. Provides for the protection of certain privileged information. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award petition assistance grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2001
Resolution to Expand Access to Community Health Centers (REACH) Initiative - Expresses the sense of the Senate that appropriations for consolidated health centers under the Public Health Service Act should be increased by 100 percent over the next five fiscal years in order to double the number of individuals who receive health care services at community, migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2001
Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Department of Defense should field currently available weapons, other technologies, tactics, and operational concepts that provide suitable alternatives to anti-personnel mines and mixed anti-tank mine systems; and (2) the United States should end its use of such mines and join the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to make permanent (currently terminates on October 23, 2003) the prohibition on the transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Directs the President to establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive plan for expanded mine action programs, including victim rehabilitation, social support, and economic reintegration.
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