United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Arafat Accountability Act - Expresses the support of Congress for the President's efforts to achieve comprehensive peace in the State of Israel. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should urge an immediate and unconditional cessation of all terrorist activities and the commencement of a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians; (2) the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) should immediately surrender to Israel for detention and prosecution those Palestinian extremists wanted by Israel for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi; and (3) Yasser Arafat and the PLO must take immediate and concrete action to publicly condemn all acts of terrorism, confiscate and destroy the infrastructures of terrorism, and end (and urge all Arab nations to end) financial support for terrorism. Prohibits the Secretary of State (Secretary) and the Attorney General, respectively, from issuing a visa or admitting to the United States any member of the PLO or official of the PA. Permits the President to waive this prohibition in the national security interest of the United States. Directs the Secretary to prohibit the operation of a PLO or PA office in the United States from carrying out any function other than those carried out prior to the Oslo Accords. Requires the Secretary to impose travel restrictions on the senior official of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine. Requires the Secretary and the Attorney General to identify and freeze United States assets of the PLO, the PA, and Yasser Arafat. Requires the President to report to specified congressional committees on PLO terrorist activities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Syria Accountability Act of 2002 - Prohibits the President from exporting any item on the United States Munitions List or Commerce Control List of dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations, providing any U.S. assistance to U.S. businesses with respect to investment or other activities, or conducting Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Trade Development Agency programs in or with respect to Syria. Directs the President to impose two or more specified sanctions against Syria. Requires maintenance of such prohibition and sanctions until the President certifies that Syria meets specified requirements, including that it: (1) does not support international terrorist groups; (2) has withdrawn all of its military personnel from Lebanon: (3) has ceased the development and deployment of ballistic missiles and biological and chemical weapons; and (4) is no longer in violation of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 661 and subsequent relevant resolutions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2002
Directs the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with specified provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, to issue a final rule relating to ergonomics.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2002
Welfare Reform and Housing Act - Amends title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act to authorize States to use State Family Assistance Grants to provide: (1) supplemental housing benefits to, or on behalf of, an individual to reduce or reimburse the individual's costs for housing accommodations; and (2) grants, loans, or other payments for the costs of minor rehabilitation of housing owned or rented by TANF-eligible individuals. Requires State plans to describe: (1) the primary problems that families receiving assistance and families who have recently ceased receiving assistance experience in securing and retaining adequate affordable housing; and (2) the methods adopted to identify and remedy barriers to work posed by living arrangements, housing costs, and housing locations. Requires an individual responsibility plan to include housing-related benefits or services the State or other entities will provide to overcome those barriers. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development jointly to: (1) develop a uniform data collection and matching protocol to determine the type of subsidized housing received by families receiving assistance and federally- or State-funded housing benefits; and (2) award grants for the conduct and evaluation of demonstrations of different models to provide housing with services. Requires participating States to enter into cooperation agreements with public housing agencies for economic self-sufficiency activities. Authorizes States to invite private owners of federally assisted housing to participate in cooperation agreements. Authorizes the Secretary to make housing assistance available for certain qualified aliens, including battered aliens or their children.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2002
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) religious freedom and the protection of minority rights must remain as priority issues on the bilateral agenda of both the United States and the Russian Federation; (2) any U.S. actions to "graduate" or terminate the application of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment (free emigration as a condition for granting normal trade relations to non-market economies) to any individual country must take into account the progress already achieved through the application of such amendment as well as appropriate assurances regarding the continued commitment of such country to enforcing the fundamental human rights envisioned by the amendment; and (3) the U.S. Government must demonstrate how, in "graduating" individual countries, the "continued dedication of the United States" to these fundamental rights will be assured.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2002
Medicaid Intensive Community Mental Health Treatment Act of 2001 (sic) - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide States with the option of covering intensive community mental health treatment under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2002
Children First Act of 2002 - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) exclude child care assistance from the determination of the five year limit on assistance under TANF; (2) increase funding for child care; and (3) require State TANF plans to include a certification of procedures to ensure that child care providers comply with applicable State or local health and safety standards. Raises from six years to 13 years the age of a child whose single custodial parent may refuse to engage in required work without incurring a reduction or termination of TANF under the State program. Subjects to the individual and case data reporting requirements of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 any TANF funds expended for child care, whether or not transferred to that Act, and exempts such funds from SSA reporting requirements. Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to increase the set-aside for child care quality.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2002
Geriatric Care Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to payments to hospitals, rural health clinics, or Federally qualified health centers for direct graduate medical education 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 to an individual with a serious and disabling chronic condition.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2002
Calls for Congress to reject the reductions in guaranteed Social Security benefits proposed by the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2002
Homeland Security Block Grant Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make homeland security block grants to States, local governments, and Indian tribes. Requires grantees to: (1) prepare a statement of homeland security objectives and projected fund use; and (2) provide the Director with a certification that they have developed a homeland security plan that meets short- and long-term security needs and that they will comply with applicable laws. Directs: (1) each grantee to submit to the Director a performance and evaluation report concerning the use of funds, together with an assessment of the relationship of such use to security objectives; and (2) the Director to encourage and assist national associations of eligible grantees, States, and local governments in non-qualifying areas to develop and recommend uniform record-keeping, performance reporting, evaluation reporting, and auditing requirements, to establish such requirements, and to make specified reviews and audits at least annually. Lists activities eligible for assistance under this Act, including funding additional law enforcement, fire, and emergency resources, improving cyber and infrastructure security, and devising a homeland security plan. Provides that grants may be used to cover costs incurred for eligible activities on or after September 11, 2001. Sets forth provisions regarding allocation and distribution of funds and matching requirements. Earmarks specified sums for State and regional homeland defense planning, Statewide training facilities and homeland best-practices clearinghouses, and first responder communication systems. Mandates nondiscrimination in programs and activities. Sets forth remedies for noncompliance with Act requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2002
Clean Diamond Trade Act - Directs the President to prohibit the import of rough diamonds from countries that do not take measures meeting the requirements of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on trade in conflict diamonds. Excludes imports for personal use and previously exported and reimported diamonds. Authorizes the President to prohibit the import of polished diamonds on the same basis. Directs the President to prohibit the entry of polished diamonds and jewelry containing them if there is credible evidence such diamonds are conflict diamonds. Subjects diamonds imported in violation of these requirements to the seizure and forfeiture laws as well as all criminal and civil laws. Earmarks proceeds for the Leahy War Victims Fund and other specified purposes. Requires periodic reports on the effectiveness of the U.N. requirements and the requirements of this Act in preventing the importation of conflict diamonds. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should negotiate an international arrangement to eliminate the conflict diamond trade and seek U.N. resolutions concerning the diamond trade in additional countries; (2) this Act should not impede the legitimate diamond trade; and (3) companies in diamond extraction and trade should contribute financially to countries seeking to implement effective measures to stop trade in conflict diamonds.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2002
Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act of 2002 - Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for: (1) destroying, altering, or falsifying records in Federal investigations or in bankruptcy; and (2) failure of an accountant who conducts an audit of an issuer of securities to maintain all documents sent, received, or created in connection with the audit for a five year period. Amends: (1) the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to authorize State attorneys general and the Securities and Exchange Commission (current law limits such authority to the Attorney General) to institute proceedings under the Act; (2) Federal bankruptcy law to make certain debts incurred in violation of Federal or State securities laws, or common law fraud in connection with the purchase or sale of any security, non-dischargeable in bankruptcy; and (3) the Federal judicial code to authorize a private right of action that involves a securities fraud-related claim to be brought by the earlier of five years after the date of the alleged violation or three years after its discovery. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review the Federal sentencing guidelines for obstruction of justice, and for fraud when the number of victims adversely involved is significantly greater than 50 or when it endangers the solvency or financial security of multiple victims. Authorizes a civil action to protect whistle-blowing employees against retaliation in fraud cases involving publicly traded companies. Sets forth criminal penalties for defrauding shareholders of such companies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2002
Investor Confidence in Public Accounting Act of 2002 Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to designate an Independent Public Accounting Board (IPAB), subject to SEC oversight, which shall exercise regulatory jurisdiction over public accounting firms. Directs IPAB to: (1) establish and enforce auditor quality control and auditing standards to be used by registered independent public accounting firms (RIPA firm); (2) assess periodically RIPA firm compliance; and (3) establish record retention criteria. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit RIPA firms from conducting specified non-audit services for a securities issuer contemporaneously with either: (1) auditing the issuer; or (2) receiving general revenues from it. Prohibits a RIPA firm from performing auditing services for an issuer if any management-level personnel of that issuer had been an employee of the RIPA during the 2-year period preceding such audit (thereby preventing revolving-door conflicts-of-interest). Sets forth procedures for: (1) mandatory registration of RIPA firms with IPAB; and (2) IPAB investigations and disciplinary proceedings. Directs the SEC to recognize generally accepted accounting principles established by a U.S. standard setting body that meets prescribed criteria. Makes it unlawful for any officer, director, or affiliated person of an issuer registered with the SEC to make material misrepresentations to a RIPA. Increases the number of SEC professional accountant positions to provide enhanced oversight of auditors and auditing services. Instructs the SEC to require issuers to submit periodic financial disclosures pertaining to transactions and relationships: (1) likely to expose the issuer to liability or impaired financial status; and (2) necessary for an understanding of their business purpose and economic substance. Mandates prompt electronic disclosure of affiliate transactions. Directs the SEC to submit recommendations to IPAB regarding: (1) the treatment of stock options; and (2) the consolidation and disclosure of special purpose entities and similar types of affiliates or related parties under IPAB accounting standards.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
Protecting America's Pensions Act of 2002 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth requirements for disclosure, diversification, account access, and accountability under defined contribution plans that are individual account plans (IAPs) (401(k) and similar plans). Allows IAPs either to permit employees' elective deferrals to be invested in employer securities, or to make the employer's contribution in employer securities; but prohibits an IAP from doing both. Exempts from such limitation any employer who maintains a certain kind of defined benefit plan (DBP) coverage besides the IAP. Requires IAPs to offer at least three investment options in addition to an option to invest in employer securities or real property. Requires IAPs to grant a participant or beneficiary the right to reinvest in any other option provided by the IAP any assets that are in employer securities or real property within certain time limits. Exempts IAP sponsors from fiduciary liability for IAP investments only if they designate independent investment advisors, who shall be fiduciaries with respect to such investments. Requires IAPs to furnish quarterly pension benefit statements with certain information to plan participants if they and beneficiaries have rights to direct investments. Requires sponsors and administrators of IAPs to provide all material investment information to participants and beneficiaries in an accurate form, and treats misleading investment information as a violation. Requires same day electronic disclosures of insider trading to the Securities Exchange Commission, to the public through the Commission, on the issuer's internal corporate website, and, in appropriate form, to any employees of the issuer who do not have access to such website. Requires disclosure on paper within seven calendar days after any electronic disclosure. Requires IAPs to give 30 days notice to participants and beneficiaries before a period (lockdown) in which their ability to divest or diversify assets control over their account assets will be limited. Provides that, during such lockdowns, employers are not exempt from liability for failing in fiduciary duty with respect to IAP investments. Requires fiduciaries of IAPs which cover more than 100 participants to have adequate insurance to protect the interests of participants and beneficiaries. Requires joint boards of trustees, representing interests of employers and those of employee participants and beneficiaries, to hold in trust the assets of single-employer IAPs which cover more than 100 participants. Establishes an Office of Pension Participant Advocacy in the Department of Labor (DOL). Requires studies: (1) by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation on IAP insurance system feasibility; and (2) by DOL on fees charged by IAPs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to collectively bargained 401(k) plans.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
National Defense Rail Act - Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak security assistance. Requires studies or assessments of: (1) foreign rail transport security programs; (2) the feasibility of passenger, baggage, and cargo screening; (3) existing rail safety regulations; (4) security priorities; and (5) rail crossing delay security issues. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) establish a national high-speed ground transportation policy; and (2) provide 100 percent financial assistance to develop and implement high-speed rail corridors according to designated priorities, including the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings. Requires such projects to comply with specified labor standards, including the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act. Defines the national rail passenger transportation system. Authorizes Amtrak to operate an intercity rail service or route not included in such system, as specified. Authorizes additional appropriations for Amtrak for principal and interest, and environmental and Americans With Disabilities Act compliance. Repeals the requirement that Amtrak be self-sufficient. Authorizes appropriations for the Northeast Corridor, long and short distance trains, and State-supported routes. Directs the Secretary to re-establish the Northeast Corridor Safety Committee. Revises requirements concerning the Amtrak board of directors. Requires an independent audit of Amtrak operations. Revises requirements of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 concerning loans and loan guarantees. Directs the Secretary to establish a rail passenger cooperative research program, including an advisory board.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and disseminate to the public information on emergency contraception. Requires that the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to develop and disseminate to health care providers information on emergency contraception. Requires that the information disseminated to health care providers include at a minimum: (1) information describing the use, safety, efficacy, and availability of emergency contraception; (2) a recommendation regarding its use in appropriate cases; and (3) information explaining how to obtain copies of information from the CDC.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2002
National Cancer Act of 2002 - Provides a comprehensive Federal effort relating to treatments for and the prevention of cancer. Amends the Public Health Service Act to fund prevention and treatment programs of the National Cancer Institute, including translational cancer research (research needed to transform scientific discoveries into approaches and products to treat and cure cancer). Addresses issues of cancer care, including: (1) clinical trial participation; (2) workforce needs; (3) Medicare coverage; (4) protocols and guidelines; (5) National Program of Comprehensive Cancer Control Plans; (5) the supply of researchers; (6) environmental risk factors research; and (7) a colorectal cancer screening demonstration program. Requires health insurance plans covered by the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide: (1) coverage for clinical trials; (2) coverage of cancer screening, including tobacco and nutrition counseling and genetic testing; and (3) patient access to benefit information. Addresses issues of managing physicians and quality of care for cancer patients covered by such plans, including designating a lead managing physician. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to regulate tobacco products. Sets forth requirements pertaining to: (1) adulteration; (2) misbranding; (3) the submission of health information; (4) annual registration and biennial inspection of processors; (5) biannual reporting of product list changes; (6) good manufacturing practices; (7) product performance standards; (8) information, notification, and other remedies; (9) records and reports; (10) premarket review; (11) judicial review; (12) postmarket surveillance; (13) reduced risk tobacco products; (14) preservation of State and local authority; and (15) equal treatment of retail outlets. Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to: (1) revise cigarette labeling, advertising, and marketing requirements; and (2) authorize the Secretary to require disclosure of tar, nicotine, and other smoke constituents on package labels and/or advertisements. Amends the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to revise smokeless tobacco warning label and advertising requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Medicare Vision Rehabilitation Services Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for coverage of outpatient vision rehabilitation services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2002
Highway Funding Restoration Act - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to require that obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for FY 2003: (1) meet a specified minimum level; and (2) be distributed in accordance with that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Establishes a National Commission on Terrorist Acts Upon the United States. Directs the Commission to: (1) investigate facts and circumstances relating to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; and (2) evaluate lessons learned from the such attacks regarding the Federal Government's abilities to detect, prevent and respond to such attacks. Empowers the Commission to hold hearings, collect relevant materials and subpoena witnesses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Nurse Reinvestment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the service required by the Nursing Workforce Development Student Loan Repayment program to be performed in a nursing home, in a hospice, in a home health agency, in a nurse-managed health center, or in a public health department, in addition to facilities where such service may currently be performed. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a National Nurse Corps Scholarship program to provide scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service from such individuals in critical nursing shortage areas or facilities upon completion of such education. Sets forth eligibility, application, payment, and reporting requirements. Requires the Secretary to award grants to schools of nursing and/or health care facilities to develop and support: (1) educational outreach programs to encourage entry into the profession, targeting primary, secondary, and other schools, the disadvantaged, underrepresented minorities, and underserved rural and urban communities; (2) career ladder programs; (3) gerontology curriculum and competencies and efforts to encourage long-term care nursing services for the elderly as a career choice; (4) nurse internship and residency programs; and (5) demonstrations of models and best practices in nursing care, including retention strategies. Requires the Secretary to develop and administer a comprehensive national multi-media public education campaign to encourage pursuit of the nursing profession. Includes grants for similar State campaigns. Requires the Secretary to award grants to area health education centers to develop models of excellence for nurses or expand existing school mentoring programs to include one for nurses. Establishes for advanced degree nursing students: (1) a fast-track nursing faculty loan program, providing loan forgiveness in exchange for teaching services; and (2) a scholarship and stipend program. Establishes a National Commission on the Recruitment and Retention of Nurses to make innovative and creative recommendations concerning recruitment, retention, and advancement.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
National Child Protection Improvement Act - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to direct the Attorney General to establish: (1) a national center for volunteer and provider screening to provide nationwide background checks through the national criminal history background check system to determine whether a volunteer provider or provider is unfit to have responsibilities for the safety and well-being of children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities; and (2) a National Volunteer Screening Task Force to oversee such center. Amends the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to mandate submission of such background checks to the screening center. Mandates establishment of a model grant program in each State for the purpose of improving fingerprinting technology.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
National Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Registry Act of 2001 - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish and administer: (1) a national greenhouse gas emissions information system to collect annual lists required to be submitted under this Act of an entity's greenhouse gas emissions and their sources; and (2) a national greenhouse gas registry to collect voluntarily reported information on emissions reductions. Specifies factors for adjustment of emissions records by a reporting entity. Directs the Administrator and the Secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture, and Energy to develop greenhouse gas emissions quantification and verification protocols, electronic reporting methods, and accounting and reporting standards. Requires verification of reported emissions information. Requires the Administrator to publish an annual national greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2001
Medicare+Choice Consumer Protection Act of 2001 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for continuous open enrollment and disenrollment in Medicare+Choice plans; (2) permit enrollment in the Medicare supplemental insurance (Medigap) program when Medicare+Choice plans reduce benefits or when a provider leaves a Medicare+Choice plan; and (3) limit Medicare+Choice cost-sharing.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2001
Teleworking Advancement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit to employers of up to $500 annually for each employee participating in an employer-sponsored telework arrangement. Allows a tax credit for telework equipment expenses, as specified. Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to conduct a pilot program promoting telecommuting among small business employers, with special outreach to individuals with disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2001
Pension Protection and Diversification Act of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) limit to 20 percent the portion of funds which may be invested in the employer's stock and real property by an employee's individual account plans under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) allow an employee to direct the plan to divest the employee's account of such employer securities or property and to reinvest an equal amount in other assets, at any time after 90 days following allocation of employer securities or real property to the employee's individual account plan. Exempts employee stock ownership plans (ESOPS) from these new ERISA provisions. Amends Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow employees to diversify assets in ESOPS after five years, and after they've reached age 35 (but requires a trustee-to-trustee transfer for those under age 55); and (2) reduce by 50 percent the allowable deduction for employer matching contributions to defined contribution plans made in employer securities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2001
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and the Revised Statutes of the United States to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from making a determination that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is an activity that is either financial in nature or incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2001
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Fairness Act - Eliminates the collateral compensation offset requirement of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2001
Use NICS in Terrorist Investigations Act - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to authorize the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to access National Instant Check System (NICS) audit log records for the purpose of responding to an inquiry from any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency in connection with a civil or criminal law enforcement investigation. Requires firearms transaction records relating to the person or the transfer to be destroyed consistent with the Attorney General's responsibility to ensure privacy of the system and to prevent system fraud and abuse, but in no fewer than 90 days after the date on which the firearms licensee first contacts the system with respect to the transfer, if the receipt of the firearm would not violate such Act. Directs: (1) the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the FBI, during the period that such records are maintained, to make such records available to the Department of the Treasury (DOT), including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, for the purpose of conducting system audits to detect fraud and misuse, and to protect the privacy and security, of the system; and (2) DOT to maintain and destroy those records in accordance with all statutory requirements imposed on DOJ.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2001
Expresses the sense of the Senate that in establishing rules governing access to the Capitol or congressional offices for those who have official business before Congress, lobbyists should not be granted special privileges that are not available to other American citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2001
International Disability and Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act of 2001 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to furnish assistance to individuals with disabilities, including victims of civil strife and warfare, in foreign countries. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) conduct programs in foreign countries related to individuals with disabilities, including victims of land mines and other victims of civil strife and warfare; and (2) provide grants to nongovernmental organizations for carrying out research, prevention, public awareness, and assistance programs for such individuals. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide: (1) advice and expertise on prosthetics, orthotics, physical and psychological rehabilitation and treatment, and disability assistance to other Federal agencies with respect to assistance programs for such individuals; and (2) technical assistance to private voluntary organizations with respect to the planning, development, operation, and evaluation of such land mine assistance, research, and prevention programs. Directs the Secretary of State to establish and chair an interagency group to coordinate all Federal programs that furnish assistance to such individuals and conduct land mine research, demining, and prevention programs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2001
Terrorist Victim Citizenship Relief Act - Deems aliens who died as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States to be honorary U.S. citizens if they held lawful immigration status. Entitles the spouses and children of such victims to naturalization as U.S. citizens, without regard to their current status. Prohibits awarding honorary citizenship to any alien or naturalizing any family member of any alien who is inadmissible or deportable under the Immigration and Nationality Act, including any perpetrator of such attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2001
Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add provisions granting additional authorities to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning bioterrorism preparedness and responding to public health emergencies. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a plan which includes the development of specific criteria enabling measurements to be made of the progress made at the national, State, and local levels toward achieving the national goal of bioterrorism preparedness. Requires the maintenance of an adequate national pharmaceutical stockpile of vaccines (including a smallpox vaccine), therapies, and medical supplies for use at the Secretary's discretion in the event of a biological threat or attack or other public health emergency. Expands the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a coordinated network of public health laboratories to assist with the detection of and response to a biological threat or attack. Provides for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary for Emergency Preparedness who shall head the Office for Emergency Preparedness. Provides for a National Disaster Medical System to provide appropriate health and social services to respond to a public health emergency, if the Secretary activates the System. Provides for enhanced regulatory control of biological agents and toxins. Establishes a State Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Block Grant Program to improve State and local preparedness and response capabilities. Amends the Clayton Act to provide for a limited antitrust exemption with respect to the development of new countermeasures against bioterrorism. Requires, under the Public Health Service Act, the development of a crisis communications and education strategy with respect to bioterrorist threats to the food supply. Expands animal and plant health inspection service activities and authorities. Amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration with respect to food presenting a serious threat to humans or animals. Requires the registration of food manufacturing, processing, and handling facilities. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize existing authorities to expand Agricultural Research Service and Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service programs to protect the food supply of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2001
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) conducting or attempting to conduct human cloning; (2) shipping the product of nuclear transplantation for the purpose of human cloning in the United States or elsewhere; and (3) using funds made available under Federal law for any such activity. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action to enjoin a violation. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict areas of biomedical and agricultural research or practices not expressly prohibited, including nuclear transplantation to produce human stem cells or to create nonhuman animals. Subjects to forfeiture any real or personal property derived from or used to commit a violation. Directs the Attorney General, upon request, to render binding advisory opinions regarding the applicability of such prohibition with respect to specific research projects or practices. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should cooperate with foreign countries to enforce mutually supported restrictions on such prohibited activities. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require research involving nuclear transplantation to be conducted in accordance with applicable Federal standards for the protection of human subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2001
Microbicide Development Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the Office of AIDS Research to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases with respect to research on the development of microbicides to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to research on microbicides to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2001
Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001 - Directs the Attorney General to waive Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) personnel limits. Authorizes appropriations for INS, Border Patrol, United States Customs Service, and consular personnel, training, facilities, and security-related technology. Provides for machine-readable visa fees. Directs U.S. law enforcement and intelligence entities to share alien admissibility- and deportation-related information with INS and the Department of State. Directs the President to develop and implement an interoperable law enforcement and intelligence data system (with name-matching and linguistic capacity) for visa, admissibility, or deportation determination purposes. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) to require a consular officer issuing a visa to provide INS with an electronic version of the alien's visa file prior to the alien's U.S. entry. Sets forth technology standard and interoperability requirements respecting development and implementation of the integrated entry and exit data system and related tamper-resistant, machine-readable documents containing biometric identifiers. Directs the Secretary of State (Secretary) to: (1) establish a Terrorist Lookout Committee at each U.S. mission in which there is a consular post; and (2) provide consular staff with visa screening training. Prohibits the admission of an alien from a country designated to be a state sponsor of terrorism until a determination has been made that such individual does not pose a risk to the United States. Conditions participation in the visa waiver program upon a country's timely reporting to the United States of its stolen blank passports. Requires the Attorney General to enter stolen passport identification numbers into the interoperable data system.. Directs the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the Commissioner of INS to study the feasibility of establishing a North American Perimeter National Security Program (United States, Canada, Mexico), including consideration of alien preclearance and preinspection. Amends the Act to require commercial aircraft or vessels arriving at, or departing from, the United States to provide immigration officers with specified passenger and crew manifest information. Authorizes such provisions' extension to land carriers. Requires electronic manifest transmission by a specified date. Amends the Ports and Waterways Safety Act to revise and specify vessel prearrival message requirements. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to direct the Attorney General to develop an electronic means of verifying and monitoring the foreign student information program, including aspects of documentation and visas issuance, and registration and enrollment. Increases student data requirements. Specifies information required for foreign student visa applications. Sets forth transitional monitoring requirements, including a requirement that an educational institution report student failure to enroll information to INS. Provides for INS and Department of State review of institutions authorized to enroll foreign students and exchange visitors. Amends Federal law to treat INS immigration inspectors as law enforcement officers for Federal retirement purposes. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to extend the deadline for presentation of biometric border crossing identification cards. Directs: (1) the Comptroller General to determine the feasibility of requiring each nonimmigrant alien to report annually to INS respecting his or her address and employer's address; and (2) the Secretary and INS to study alternative approaches to international electronic data cooperation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2001
Delays until at least January 1, 2003, any changes in Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) regulations that modify the Medicaid upper payment limit for services of non-State government-owned or operated hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2001
Conservation Assistance and Regional Equity Act - Provides assistance for specialty crop cost-of-production insurance. Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to revise the farmland protection program. Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to increase funding for assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Amends specified Acts to extend and revise: (1) the environmental quality incentives program, including livestock production and other program assistance; (2) the wildlife habitat incentives program; (3) the wetlands reserve program; (4) the conservation reserve program; (5) the private grazing land conservation program; and (6) State marketing programs, including grants for market development. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish: (1) a grassland reserve and enhancement program; (2) a water conservation program through the enrollment of eligible land for the temporary or permanent acquisition of water or water rights from eligible sellers; and (3) a conservation security program to promote soil, water, wetland, air, farm, wildlife, and flora conservation practices. Establishes in the Treasury the Organic Agriculture Research Trust Fund. Authorizes the creation in the Department of Agriculture of a National Organic Research Endowment Institute. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Farmland Stewardship Enhancement Program to integrate Department of Agriculture and State, local, and tribal agriculture and forestry conservation efforts. Sets forth: (1) conservation program performance review and evaluation provisions; and (2) State conservation fund allocations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2001
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should increase foreign assistance spending by at least 25 percent per year for the next five years, with the goal of reaching an amount equal to or exceeding three percent of the Federal budget by 2010. Calls for the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to: (1) conduct a top-to-bottom evaluation of current foreign assistance efforts to evaluate effectiveness; and (2) work with private voluntary organizations, foundations, and corporations to identify areas where increased targeted foreign assistance could help reduce poverty and to promote equitable economic growth and the development of democratic institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2001
Medicare Physician Payment Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set the conversion factor (update) for payments under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2002 at 0.9 percent less than the conversion factor for 2001. Declares that this conversion factor and a specified update adjustment factor for a year after 2002 shall be applied as if this Act had not been in effect. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to study and report to Congress on replacing the use of the sustainable growth rate as a factor in determining the update for such payments with a factor that more fully accounts for changes in the unit costs of providing physicians' services.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2001
Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add provisions granting additional authorities to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning bioterrorism preparedness and responding to public health emergencies. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a plan which includes the development of specific criteria enabling measurements to be made of the progress made at the national, State, and local levels toward achieving the national goal of bioterrorism preparedness. Requires the maintenance of an adequate national pharmaceutical stockpile of vaccines (including a smallpox vaccine), therapies, and medical supplies for use at the Secretary's discretion in the event of a biological threat or attack or other public health emergency. Expands the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a coordinated network of public health laboratories to assist with the detection of and response to a biological threat or attack. Provides for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary for Emergency Preparedness who shall head the Office for Emergency Preparedness. Provides for a National Disaster Medical System to provide appropriate health and social services to respond to a public health emergency, if the Secretary activates the System. Provides for enhanced regulatory control of biological agents and toxins. Establishes a State Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Block Grant Program to improve State and local preparedness and response capabilities. Amends the Clayton Act to provide for a limited antitrust exemption with respect to the development of new countermeasures against bioterrorism. Requires the development of a crisis communications and education strategy with respect to bioterrorist threats to the food supply. Expands animal and plant health inspection service activities and authorities. Directs the Secretary to expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to: (1) increase inspections to ensure the safety of the food supply; and (2) improve linkages between the Agency and other regulatory agencies of the Federal Government, the States, and Indian tribes with shared responsibilities. Provides for food manufacturing, processing, and distribution biosecurity, agricultural biosecurity and biosecurity upgrades at the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. Requires the registration of food manufacturing, processing, and handling facilities. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize existing authorities to expand Agricultural Research Service and Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service programs to protect the food supply of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2001
Calls for a joint session of Congress in New York City, New York, during the 107th Congress at such date, time, and location as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate may jointly select, for the purpose of conducting such business as the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore may consider appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2001
Designates specified buildings located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center of the Federal Aviation Administration in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as the Frank R. Lautenberg Aviation Security Complex.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2001
Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to place limitations on the mandatory overtime hours a nurse may be required to work in certain providers of services.
![Official portrait of Sen. Corzine, Jon S. [D-NJ]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c001042_200.jpg)