United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2007
Universal Health Care Choice and Access Act - Provides for health promotion and disease prevention activities, including requiring the Secretary of Health and Human Services to convene an interagency coordinating committee to develop a national strategic plan for prevention. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow participants in high deductible health care insurance plans an increased tax deduction for contributions to a health savings account; and (2) allow individual taxpayers a refundable tax credit for health insurance costs paid. Requires states to establish and operate a qualified high risk pool or a state-designated alternative that ensures access to private health insurance for medically uninsurable individuals. Health Care Choice Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to apply the laws of the primary state (as designated by the health insurance issuer) to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any secondary state if certain requirements are met. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize the Secretary to adjust the amount of the Medicare Part B premium for participation in certain healthy behaviors. Establishes in the Treasury a Medical Retirement Account Fund to distribute retirement benefits to individuals who renounce eligibility for Medicare. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to establish a Medicaid Advantage program to provide individuals a medical home where they receive a seamless continuum of medical care and care management that meets certain requirements. Allows the Secretary to award grants to states for administrative health care tribunals for the resolution of disputes concerning injuries allegedly caused by health care providers. Amends SSA title XI to create safe harbors from civil and criminal penalties in current anti-kickback laws for providing certain health information technology and training services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2007
Consumer Rental-Purchase Agreement Act of 2007 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prescribe consumer protection guidelines for rental-purchase transactions, including: (1) the determination of rental-purchase cost; (2) disclosure requirements; (3) prohibitions against confessions of judgment, wage assignments, and waiver of consumer claims or defenses; (4) furnishing of statements of account; (5) point-of-rental disclosures; and (6) rental-purchase advertising disclosures. Declares that an action for civil liability may be brought against a merchant's assignee only if the violation is apparent on the face of a rental-purchase agreement to which it relates, including, but not limited to, a disclosure that can be determined to be incomplete or inaccurate from the face of the agreement. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate implementing regulations. Grants enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission and to state attorneys general. Subjects to criminal penalties any willful and knowing violation of the information disclosure requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2007
Stroke Treatment and Ongoing Prevention Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish a grant program to enable states to develop statewide stroke care systems; (2) foster the development of stroke care systems through information sharing among involved agencies and individuals; (3) develop a model curriculum for training emergency medical services personnel in the identification, assessment, stabilization, and prehospital treatment of stroke patients; (4) issue recommendations and guidelines on best practices for establishing and operating such systems; and (5) provide public information on recognition of stroke signs and symptoms and appropriate actions. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants or enter into cooperative agreements for such purposes. Directs the Secretary to: (1) maintain the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry; and (2) award grants to states to develop stroke care systems that provide high-quality prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Authorizes the Secretary to make related state planning grants. Requires the Secretary to give special consideration in awarding grants to states in a geographic area with an elevated incidence of stroke or stoke-caused disabilities or demonstrating a significant need for assistance in establishing such a system.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2007
District of Columbia Personal Protection Act - Amends specified law prohibiting the killing of wild birds and wild animals in the District of Columbia to declare that nothing in it or any other provision of law shall authorize or be construed to permit the Council, the Mayor, or any governmental or regulatory authority of the District to prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden the ability of persons otherwise not prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law from acquiring, possessing in their homes or businesses, or using for sporting, self-protection or other lawful purposes, any firearm neither prohibited by federal law nor subject to the National Firearms Act. Denies the District any authority to enact laws or regulations that discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms. Amends the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 to repeal the definition of a machine gun as any firearm which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily converted or restored to shoot semiautomatically, more than 12 shots without manual reloading. (Thus repeals the ban on semiautomatic weapons.) Redefines "machine gun" to include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Repeals the District's: (1) registration requirement for possession of firearms; (2) prohibition on possession of handgun restricted pistol bullets; and (3) requirement that, under certain conditions, firearms in the possession of certain individuals must be kept unloaded, disassembled, or with the trigger locked. Repeals the definition of restricted pistol bullet as any bullet designed for use in a pistol which, when fired from a pistol with a barrel of five inches or less in length, is capable of penetrating commercially available body armor with a penetration resistance equal to or greater than that of 18 layers of kevlar. Maintains the current ban on the possession and control of a sawed-off shotgun, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle. Eliminates criminal penalties for possessing an unregistered firearm. Amends federal law to eliminate criminal penalties for carrying a pistol whether loaded or unloaded in one's dwelling house, place of business, or on land possessed by such person. Amends the District of Columbia Code to extend to firearms generally (currently, only to pistols) the prohibition against carrying such a weapon either openly or concealed within the District without a license issued pursuant to D.C. law. Specifies exceptions to the prohibition against carrying concealed weapons in the District.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2007
Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007 - Establishes in the executive branch the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation to carry out this Act under the authorities of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. Requires the Foundation to award grants, increasingly for study in nontraditional study abroad destinations, to: (1) U.S. students; (2) nongovernmental institutions that provide and promote study abroad opportunities for U.S. students, in consortium with institutions of higher education (IHEs); and (3) IHEs, individually or in consortium.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2007
Expresses support and gratitude for the men and women of the Armed Forces in defense of freedom and democracy during the Vietnam War. Extends sympathies to all people in the United States who suffered the loss of friends and family in Vietnam. Encourages the people of the United States to remember the sacrifices of our veterans. Commemorates the 25th anniversary of the construction and dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2007
Striving Readers Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to provide peer-reviewed grants for literacy initiatives benefiting students in grades 4 through 12 to: (1) local educational agencies (LEAs) eligible for school improvement funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, if appropriations under this Act are less than $200 million; or (2) state educational agencies (SEAs), and through them, to LEAs, if appropriations equal or exceed such amount. Allots funds to SEAs on the basis of their relative proportion of needy children aged 5 to 17 and eighth graders underachieving in reading. Requires SEAs, in addition to providing subgrants, to use grant funds to: (1) provide professional development assistance to LEAs; (2) enhance public higher education for students preparing to teach any of grades 4 through 12; (3) recommend improvements to state licensure and certification standards for reading instruction in such grades; and (4) report to the Secretary of Education on SEA and LEA progress in improving adolescent literacy. Requires LEAs to use grant or subgrant funds on literacy initiatives that include: (1) student need and progress assessments and reports; (2) development of adolescent literacy plans for underperforming students that provide intensive, accelerated, and extended instruction for such students and professional development for teachers; and (3) initiative training for school leaders. Prohibits the use of subgrant funds on schools that do not meet specified need criteria. Authorizes the withholding of grant or subgrants funds from SEAs and LEAs making insufficient progress in improving adolescent literacy. Requires a national evaluation and the dissemination of information regarding the effectiveness of the grant and subgrant programs.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2007
Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007 - Amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to expand the definitions of "petroleum resources" and "person." Expresses the sense of Congress concerning certain sanctions against Iran. Subjects Russia to specified nuclear energy cooperation prohibitions unless the President certifies to Congress that: (1) Russia has suspended all nuclear assistance and transfers of advanced conventional weapons and missiles to Iran; or (2) Iran has verifiably dismantled all nuclear enrichment-related and reprocessing-related programs. Subjects Iran to specified economic sanctions unless the President certifies to Congress that Iran has verifiably dismantled all nuclear enrichment-related and reprocessing-related programs. Subjects, with respect to prohibited transactions with Iran, a parent company to penalties for violations committed by certain subsidiaries outside the United States that would be subject to prohibitions if committed inside the United States or by a U.S. person. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate specified geological and geophysical expense amortization benefits if petroleum-related sanctions are imposed under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 on any member of an expanded affiliated group whose common parent is a foreign corporation. Revises the definition of "affiliated group." Directs the President to reduce annual U.S. contributions to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) based upon Bank amounts provided to entities and projects in Iran. Authorizes appropriations for the Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. Requires the Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congress an updated National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. Authorizes the President to: (1) carry out exchange programs with the people of Iran; and (2) make voluntary grant-based contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the establishment of an international nuclear fuel bank to maintain a reserve of low-enriched uranium in case of a disruption in the supply of reactor fuel by normal market mechanisms. Sets forth specified Iran investment-related reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2007
Expresses support and gratitude for the men and women of the Armed Forces in defense of freedom and democracy during the Vietnam War. Extends sympathies to all people in the United States who suffered the loss of friends and family in Vietnam. Encourages the people of the United States to remember the sacrifices of our veterans. Commemorates the 25th anniversary of the construction and dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 2007
Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), acting through the National Cancer Institute, to establish special programs of research excellence in the area of pediatric cancers. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop a grant mechanism for the establishment of Research Fellowships in Pediatric Cancer to support adequate numbers of pediatric focused clinical and translational investigators. Requires the Director to award a grant for the operation of a population-based national childhood cancer database, the Childhood Cancer Research Network. Requires the Secretary to award grants to recognized childhood cancer professional and advocacy organizations to raise public awareness of currently available information, treatment, and research with intent to ensure access to best available therapies for pediatric cancers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2007
Health Centers Renewal Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2008-FY2012 for health centers to meet the health care needs of medically underserved populations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2007
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should not take any action that will endanger U.S. military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field, as such action would undermine their safety or harm their effectiveness in pursuing assigned missions.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2007
Short Line Railroad Investment Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the allowable amount of the railroad track maintenance tax credit; (2) extend such credit through 2010; and (3) allow such credit against alternative minimum tax liabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2007
United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program for a joint venture comprising both Israeli and U.S. private business entities, or both Israeli academic persons (who reside and work in Israel) and U.S. academic persons, to engage in research, development, or commercialization of alternative energy, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources. Requires the Secretary, in operating the grant program, to consult with either the Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD) or the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF). Establishes in the Treasury as a revolving fund the Energy Research and Development Activities Fund. Establishes in the Department of Energy an International Energy Advisory Board to advise the Secretary on the grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2007
Alice Paul Congressional Gold Medal Act - Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make arrangements for the posthumous presentation of a congressional gold medal in commemoration of Alice Paul, to recognize her role in the women's suffrage movement and in advancing equal rights for women. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of such medal. Requires proceeds from the sale of such medals to be deposited into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2007
HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend and authorize appropriations for the HOPE VI revitalization program. Includes educational and relocation aims among HOPE VI purposes. Requires each HOPE VI grant recipient to establish, in partnership with local schools, a comprehensive educational reform and achievement strategy for transforming the neighborhood schools into high-performing schools (including, in certain circumstances, an alternative strategy). Revises grant selection criteria. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to conduct funding-related site visits for HOPE VI applicants. Requires: (1) public housing agencies to establish performance benchmarks for each of their HOPE VI projects; and (2) the Secretary to establish specified sanctions for failure to meet such benchmarks. Cites conditions for extension of such benchmarks.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2007
Small Public Housing Authorities Paperwork Reduction Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt a qualified public housing agency from the requirement to prepare an annual public agency plan if the agency: (1) administers 500 or fewer public housing dwelling units, or section 8 vouchers; and (2) is not designated as a troubled agency. Requires an agency to: (1) continue to make an annual civil rights certification and establish, and consult with, one or more resident advisory boards; and (2) conduct a public hearing to discuss changes to agency goals and policies and make the information available to the public at the agency's principal office.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2007
Agricultural Protection and Prosperity Act of 2007 - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to: (1) include the definition of "manure"; and (2) exclude manure from the meaning of "hazardous substance" or "pollutant or contaminant" under that Act. Provides that such exclusion shall not: (1) impose liability under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 with respect to manure; (2) affect any provision of the Air Quality Agreement entered into between the Administrator and operators of animal feeding operations; or (3) affect the applicability of any other environmental law as it relates to the definition of manure or the responsibilities or liabilities of any person regarding the treatment, storage, or disposal of manure. Amends the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to exempt releases associated with manure (as defined under CERCLA) from the emergency notification requirements under that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2007
Moving to Work Charter Program Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to enter into charter contracts, beginning in FY2008, with up to 250 public housing agencies administering the public housing program or the section 8 housing assistance program under the United States Housing Act of 1937. States that such charter contracts shall: (1) supersede and have a term commensurate with any annual contributions contract between a public housing agency and the Secretary; and (2) provide that a participating public housing agency shall receive capital and operating assistance allocated to it under specified laws. Exempts charter contracts from the requirements of the United States Housing Act of 1937, except those for payment of wages prevailing in the community and the demolition and disposition of public housing. Requires a charter contract to provide that a public housing agency: (1) may combine section 8 low-income assistance and Public Housing Capital and Operating Fund assistance and use it for housing assistance and related services for activities under this Act; (2) shall ensure that at least 75% of the families assisted are very low-income families; (3) shall establish a reasonable rent policy designed to encourage employment, self-sufficiency, and home ownership by participating families; and (4) meet specified additional requirements. Directs the Secretary to appoint a federal advisory committee to assess and develop a demonstration program to test standards, criteria, and practices for a national public housing agency accreditation system or other evaluation system.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2007
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act with respect to payment rates for meals and meal supplements provided by service institutions under summer food service programs for children. Requires payments for administrative costs to be set at levels determined by the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to a specified study. (Currently, payments to service institutions shall equal the full cost of food service operations, excluding administrative costs. Payments for administrative costs shall equal the full amount of state-approved administrative costs incurred, not to exceed the maximum allowable levels the Secretary determines pursuant to such study.) Repeals authority for simplified summer food pilot projects.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit: (1) federal civilian and military retirees to pay Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis (i.e., exclude premiums from gross income); and (2) a tax deduction (available to itemizers and nonitemizers) for TRICARE supplemental premiums or enrollment fees. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the option of paying FEHBP and TRICARE supplemental premiums on a pretax basis is available to federal civilian and military retirees for the first open enrollment period beginning not less than 90 days after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Troops to Teachers Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with respect to the Troops-to-Teachers program (which provides armed forces veterans with teacher certification stipends in exchange for three years of service in a high-need local educational agency (LEA) or public charter school). Allows a program participant, if a high-need LEA or public charter school is not located within 50 miles of his or her residence, to teach within an LEA or at a public charter school: (1) experiencing a shortage of highly qualified teachers, especially in science, mathematics, special education, or vocational or technical education; or (2) receiving grant funds because of concentrations of children from low-income families.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Withholding Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Repeals provisions of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 requiring federal, state, and local governmental entities to withhold 3% of payments due to vendors providing goods and services to such entities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Thomas F. Eagleton, a former member of the United States Senate from Missouri.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 2007
America COMPETES Act or America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act - American Innovation and Competitiveness Act - Directs the President to: (1) convene a National Science and Technology Summit; (2) establish a President's Council on Innovation and Competitiveness; and (3) establish the Innovation Acceleration Research Program. Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to: (1) establish an Aeronautics Institute for Research; (2) coordinate basic and fundamental research activities related to physical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and (3) establish a Basic Research Executive Council. Authorizes appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. Requires the NIST Director to: (1) establish the Standards and Technology Acceleration Research Program; and (2) reestablish the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology. Requires the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to: (1) establish a program of ocean and atmospheric research and development; and (2) develop an ocean, coastal, and atmospheric science education plan. Protecting America's Competitive Edge Through Energy Act or PACE-Energy Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) appoint a Department of Energy (DOE) Director of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education, and establish a Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education Fund; (2) award grants for establishing specialty schools for mathematics and science; (3) establish a national laboratories summer internship program for middle and secondary school students; (4) establish Centers of Excellence in Mathematics and Science at schools in regions of national laboratories; (5) establish or expand programs to strengthen mathematics and science teaching skills of public school teachers; (6) establish a program to expand and enhance higher education nuclear science educational capabilities; (7) award grants to outstanding DOE early-career researchers; and (8) establish a program to support the appointment of distinguished scientists by institutions of higher education and national laboratories. Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Authority-Energy. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to: (1) develop and implement programs to provide courses of study in mathematics, science, engineering, or critical foreign languages with concurrent teacher certification or to enhance teacher knowledge and teaching skills; (2) increase the number of teachers and students teaching or enrolled in advanced placement or international baccalaureate courses in mathematics, science, or critical foreign languages; (3) help low-income students performing below grade level in mathematics; (4) establish programs of study in critical foreign languages; (5) promote content knowledge requirements for secondary school graduation and establish or improve a statewide P-16 education data system. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) expand the Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program; (2) establish a clearinghouse and pilot programs relating to the creation or improvement of professional science master's degree programs; (4) establish a program to provide mentors for women interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and (5) establish a program of basic research in advanced information and communications technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2007
Tax Code Termination Act - Terminates the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for taxable years beginning after 2010, except provisions of such Code relating to social security taxation (i.e., taxes on wage, self-employment, and railroad retirement income). Establishes within the legislative branch a National Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification. Directs the Commission to: (1) review the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and its impact on the economy, families, and the workforce: (2) determine whether the current income tax system can be replaced by more a more efficient and fair system of taxation; and (3) submit a report to Congress on the results of its review with recommendations for fundamental reform and simplification of the Code. Requires congressional approval of a new federal tax system no later than July 4, 2010, or a vote of Congress to reauthorize the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2007
Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2007- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain landowners whose property contains the habitat of an endangered or threatened species and who enter into a habitat protection agreement a tax credit for costs relating to habitat protection easements and restoration. Places limits on the amount of such credit for calendar years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to study and report to Congress on the effectiveness of such credit. Allows a tax deduction for expenditures related to recovery plans approved by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Excludes from gross income certain payments under: (1) the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program authorized by the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act; and (2) the Landowner Incentive Program, the State Wildlife Grants Program, and the Private Stewardship Grants Program authorized by the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2007
Kidney Care Quality and Education Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish demonstration projects to: (1) increase public awareness about the factors that lead to chronic kidney disease, how to prevent it, how to treat it, and how to avoid kidney failure, as well as enhance surveillance systems and expand research to better assess the prevalence and incidence of kidney disease; and (2) enable individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to develop self-management skills. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for Medicare coverage of kidney disease patient education services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish blood flow monitoring demonstration projects; and (2) arrange with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the barriers to increasing the number of individuals with ESRD who elect to receive home dialysis services or other treatment modalities under Medicare. Sets forth required training for patient care dialysis technicians. Directs the Secretary to establish an independent, multidisciplinary, nonpartisan End-Stage Renal Disease Advisory Committee. Establishes the annual update framework for the Medicare ESRD composite rate. Directs the Secretary to establish a three-year continuous quality improvement initiative under which quality payments are provided to renal dialysis facilities, providers of services, and physicians that: (1) provide items and services to individuals with ESRD enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance); and (2) meet quality benchmarks and demonstrate quality improvements. Requires the Secretary to make quality incentive payments to facilities and providers whose services to individuals with ESRD have substantially improved or exceeded a certain threshold. Extends Medicare as secondary payer with respect to individuals with ESRD.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services: (1) to develop and implement a National Arthritis Action Plan; and (2) acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct, support, and promote the coordination of arthritis and other rheumatic diseases research. Requires the Secretary to award grants to: (1) support arthritis-specific research projects at the Centers for Prevention Research by the CDC; (2) support state comprehensive arthritis control and prevention programs and public health surveillance, prevention, and control activities; and (3) assist in the implementation of a national strategy for arthritis control and prevention. Requires the Secretary to coordinate a national education and outreach program on arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. Requires the Secretary to establish an Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee to: (1) improve coordination of federal research activities related to arthritis and rheumatic diseases; and (2) convene a summit to provide a detailed overview of such current federal research. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand and intensify juvenile arthritis research. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to award grants to support juvenile arthritis data collection. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to support the development of a National Juvenile Arthritis Patient Registry. Requires the Secretary to promote and support pediatric rheumatology training, including by allowing the Secretary to establish a loan repayment program. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study on the economic impact of arthritis in the workplace.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
National Guard and Reserve Retirement Modernization Act - Amends federal law concerning receipt of retired pay for non-regular service to provide that, in the case of a member of the Ready Reserve who serves on active duty after September 11, 2001, in support of a contingency operation or in response to a national emergency, retirement eligibility age shall be reduced below 60 by three months for each aggregate of 90 days during which the member so performs in any fiscal year after such date. Prohibits such retirement eligibility date from being reduced below age 50. Continues age 60 as the minimum eligibility age for DOD-authorized health care for such retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations to make collegiate housing and infrastructure improvement grants to certain tax-exempt social clubs (e.g., college fraternities and sororities) so long as all of the active members of such clubs are full-time students at the college or university with which such clubs are associated. Defines "collegiate housing and infrastructure grants" to include grants to provide, improve, operate, or maintain collegiate housing.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Veterans Eagle Parks Pass Act - Makes the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available at a discount to certain veterans. Makes a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass issued under this Act valid for one year after the date of issuance.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Chattahoochee Trace National Heritage Corridor Study Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to assess the suitability and feasibility of designating a specified study area in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin (Alabama and Georgia) as the "Chattahoochee Trace National Heritage Corridor."
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should not take any action that will endanger U.S. military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field, as such action would undermine their safety or harm their effectiveness in pursuing assigned missions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Designates August 16, 2007, as National Airborne Day (to recognize the airborne forces of the U.S. Armed Forces). Calls on the people of the United States to observe National Airborne Day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2007
Food Stamp Personal Savings and Investment Act of 2007 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to provide an annual financial resource inflation adjustment for purposes of household food stamp program eligibility. Excludes from countable financial resources specified retirement and education accounts. (Authorizes the exclusion of other such programs.)
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act or the HEART for Women Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act to require an application for approval or for investigation of a drug, device, or biological product to include information stratified by sex, race, and ethnicity, including any differences in safety and effectiveness. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) withhold approval of such an application or place a clinical hold on an investigation if such information is not included; and (2) report to the scientific community and make information available to the public on such stratified data upon approval of an application. Requires the Comptroller General to study the drug approval process to ensure compliance with this Act. Requires the Secretary to require that all nonidentifiable patient safety work product reported to a patient safety database be stratified by sex. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to report to Congress concerning the quality of and access to care for women with heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. Provides for an educational campaign relating to heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases in women. Authorizes appropriations to enable the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program projects in all states and territories.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Establishes a Rural Policing Institute to be administered by the Office of State and Local Training of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (based in Glynco, Georgia). Requires the Institute to: (1) evaluate the needs of law enforcement agencies of local and tribal governments in rural areas; (2) develop expert training programs to address the needs of such agencies regarding combating methamphetamine addiction and distribution, domestic violence, and response to school shootings; and (3) conduct outreach to ensure that its training programs reach law enforcement officers of such agencies. .
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Charles W. Norwood, Jr., a former member of the House of Representatives from Georgia. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on February 13, 2007, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Representative Norwood.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to apply specified rules for an additional redistribution of amounts from unexpended FY2005-FY2006 allotments to address funding shortfalls in SCHIP for FY2007.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Preserving Patient Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals Act of 2007 - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to revise the classification criterion used to determine whether a hospital or hospital unit is an inpatient rehabilitation facility under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Eliminates the current schedule of applicable percentages. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, instead, to require in the classification criterion a compliance rate no greater than the 60% compliance rate that became effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2005. Requires the Secretary, for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2007, to include patients with comorbidity in the inpatient population that counts towards such 60% compliance rate. Requires the Secretary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, fiscal intermediaries, Medicare administrative contractors, recovery audit contractors, and other government agents to use and apply the criteria established in HCFA Ruling 85-2, as issued on July 31, 1985, as the sole standard for determining the medical necessity of services provided by inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units to beneficiaries under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the classification, for depreciation purposes, of any motorsports entertainment complex as seven year property.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2007
Veterans Employment and Training Act of 2007 or VET Act - Authorizes the accelerated payment of basic educational assistance under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) basic educational assistance program for an individual entitled to such assistance who, during the period beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending on September 30, 2011, is enrolled in a VA-approved program of education lasting less than two years that leads to employment in one of the following sectors: (1) transportation; (2) construction; (3) hospitality; or (4) energy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2007
Southeast Crescent Authority Act of 2007 - Establishes a Southeast Crescent Authority for all parts of the following southeastern states not eligible for assistance from the Appalachian Regional Commission or the Delta Regional Authority: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Directs the Authority to perform various functions, including: (1) formulating plans and programs to spur economic development, and approving grants to states and public and nonprofit entities toward that end; (2) establishing priorities in a development plan for the region; (3) supporting local development districts, and creating them where they do not exist; and (4) encouraging private investment in the region. Permits the Authority to request and receive federal, state and local government personnel as employees. States that Authority grants for infrastructure development may be made only to state or local governments. Permits Authority grants for job training, employment-related education, business development, assisting severely distressed and poor areas, or for other purposes in accordance with this Act. Allows the Authority to designate annually: (1) distressed counties; and (2) isolated areas of distress in nondistressed counties. Directs the Authority to garner public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of its plans and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2007
Repeals the termination date in the Jobs Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 for provisions reducing individual tax rates on capital gains and dividend income.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) suicide among veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious problem; and (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should take into consideration the special needs of veterans suffering from PTSD in developing and implementing the program required under this Act. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a comprehensive program for reducing the incidence of suicide among veterans. Requires the program to include: (1) a national mental health campaign to increase mental health awareness in the veteran community; (2) mandatory training on suicide and suicide prevention for appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees and contractor personnel; (3) family education and peer support counseling; (4) veterans' health assessments, counseling, and treatment programs; (5) suicide prevention counselors; (6) research on suicide prevention; (7) treatment programs for veterans suffering from substance abuse; (8) 24-hour veterans' mental health care availability; and (9) a toll-free hotline.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Living Kidney Organ Donation Clarification Act of 2007 - Provides that for purposes of provisions of the National Organ Transplant Act that prohibit the transfer of any human organ for use in human transplantation for valuable consideration, kidney paired donations do not involve such a transfer.
![Official portrait of Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000286_200.jpg)