United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2007
Security and Fuel Efficiency Energy Act of 2007 or the SAFE Energy Act of 2007 - Amends corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) provisions to revise the definition of: (1) "automobile" to mean any vehicle that is propelled by fuel, or by alternative fuel, and is manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways (currently, four-wheeled vehicles that are so propelled and manufactured for such use and that are up to 6,000 pounds and certain vehicles between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds); and (2) "passenger automobile" to eliminate the exception for 4-wheel drive automobiles and vehicles weighing more than 6,000 pounds. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) prescribe separate increased minimum CAFE standards for different classes of automobiles manufactured beginning for model year 2012, but adds an increase of 4% per year in such standard for model years 2013 through 2030; and (2) establish CAFE standards for medium-duty trucks that are consistent with hybridization beginning for model year 2012. Revises the calculation of fuel economy standards for dual fueled automobiles and gaseous fuel dual fueled automobiles manufactured in model year 2012 and beyond to require using the same calculation provisions as used for gas or diesel fueled vehicles. Repeals provisions allowing the Department of Transportation (DOT) to extend manufacturing credits for such automobiles. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the limitation on the number of new qualified hybrid and advanced lean burn technology vehicles eligible for the alternative motor vehicle credit; (2) extend, through 2011, the alternative vehicle credit for certain new qualified hybrid motor vehicles; and (3) allow a new qualified fuel-efficient motor vehicle credit and an advanced technology motor vehicles manufacturing credit. Sets forth a special rule setting the maximum allowable gross weight for vehicles with a supplementary sixth axle using the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways at 97,000 pounds, provided highway safety is not negatively impacted. Amends the Clean Air Act to prescribe the volume of renewable fuel and cellulosic biomass ethanol that gasoline sold in the United States must contain in calendar years 2008 through 2020. Increases the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit, with an additional increase for qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property that is a blender pump. Defines blender pump. Expands the types of allowable fuels. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) installation of ethanol-blend fuel pumps at covered gas stations; (2) increase in the percentage of duel-fueled automobiles manufactured in model years 2012 through 2022; and (3) establishment of biofuels incentives. Permits: (1) the exploration for and extraction of hydrocarbon resources from any portion of any foreign exclusive economic zone contiguous to the exclusive economic zone of the United States; and (2) export without license authority all equipment necessary for the exploration for or extraction of such hydrocarbon resources. Establishes within the National Security Council a Bureau of International Energy.
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 · 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 · 8 March 2007
Veterans Health Care Empowerment Act of 2007 - Allows any veteran with a service-connected disability to receive hospital care or medical services for any condition at any hospital or medical facility or from any medical provider eligible to receive payments under either Medicare or the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed health care program). Requires the cost of such care and services to be borne by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2007
Reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the national program for traumatic brain injury registries to include grants for state traumatic brain injury surveillance systems. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , to conduct a study to: (1) determine the incidence of traumatic brain injury and prevalence of traumatic brain injury related disability; (2) report national trends in traumatic brain injury; (3) identify common therapeutic interventions which are used for the rehabilitation of individuals with such injuries; (4) identify interventions and therapies that can prevent or remediate the development of secondary neurologic conditions related to traumatic brain injury; and (5) develop practice guidelines for such rehabilitation. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2011 for the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) trauma research program. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), to make grants to states and American Indian consortia (currently, only states) to improve access to rehabilitation (currently, health) and other services regarding traumatic brain injury. Requires the Administrator and the Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities to coordinate the collection of data regarding protection and advocacy services. Directs the Administrator to make a grant for training and technical assistance to protection and advocacy systems, if funds permit.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2007
Designates the week of March 12-March 18, 2007, as National Safe Place Week. Calls on people and groups to promote awareness of, and volunteer involvement in, the Safe Place program (which offers young people in early stages of crisis safe places where trained volunteers are available to counsel and advise them).
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 or the DREAM Act of 2007 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to repeal the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel the removal of, and adjust to conditional permanent resident status, an alien who: (1) entered the United States before his or her sixteenth birthday, and has been present in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding enactment of this Act; (2) is a person of good moral character; (3) is not inadmissible or deportable under specified grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (4) at the time of application, has been admitted to an institution of higher education, or has earned a high school or equivalent diploma; and (5) from the age of 16 and older, has never been under a final order of exclusion, deportation, or removal. Sets forth the conditions for conditional permanent resident status, including: (1) termination of status for violation of this Act; and (2) removal of conditional status to permanent status. Authorizes an alien who has satisfied the appropriate requirements prior to enactment of this Act to petition the Secretary for conditional permanent resident status. Provides for: (1) exclusive jurisdiction; (2) penalties for false application statements; (3) confidentiality; (4) fee prohibitions; (5) higher education assistance; and (6) a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report respecting the number of aliens adjusted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2007
Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to extend the Act through FY2007.
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
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 · 1 March 2007
AMT Rate Reduction Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce to 24% the rate of the tentative alternative minimum tax for noncorporate taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2007
Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2007 - Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, and any regulation restricting or prohibiting such travel shall have no effect, relating to: (1) accompanied personal baggage; (2) payment of living expenses and the acquisition of personal-use goods or services; (3) travel arrangements; (4) nonscheduled air, sea, or land voyage transactions, (such provision does not permit the carriage of articles other than accompanied baggage into Cuba or the United States); and (5) normal banking transactions. States that such provision shall not: (1) apply in time of war or armed hostilities between the United States and Cuba, or of imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers; and (2) authorize U.S. importation of personal consumption goods acquired in Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2007
Older Worker Opportunity Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers who maintain a tax-qualified pension or retirement plan and who provide health insurance coverage a business-related tax credit for 25% of the first $6,000 of the wages of employees who have attained the age of 62 and who are participating in a formal flexible work program. Defines "formal flexible work program" as a work program: (1) that consists of core and flex time; (2) whose core time does not exceed 20 hours per week, three days per week, or 1,000 hours per year; (3) that allows participation for at least one year; and (4) that does not permit a change or reduction in the health care or pension benefits of the participating employee.
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 · 16 February 2007
Rural Wind Energy Development Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a tax credit for the installation of wind energy property; and (2) an accelerated depreciation allowance for such property.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2007
Endangered Species Reform Act of 2007 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Secretary of the Interior to use data that are empirical or have been field-tested or peer-reviewed in any case in which such Act requires the Secretary to use the best scientific and commercial data available in the determination of a species for inclusion on the endangered or threatened species list. Requires the Secretary to determine that a species is endangered or threatened only if there is sufficient biological information to support recovery planning for the species. Specifies information required in a petition to add a species to the endangered or threatened list. Requires the Secretary to notify and provide a copy of a petition to the agency of each state in which the species is believed to occur and to solicit the assessment of such agency as to whether the petitioned action is warranted. Directs the Secretary, upon publication of a proposed regulation determining an endangered or threatened listing, to make publicly available all information on which the determination is based, as well as all information relating to the species that does not support such determination (with an exception for disclosures protected under the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act). Requires the Secretary to promulgate regulations that establish criteria that must be met for scientific and commercial data to be used as the basis for a determination that a species is endangered or threatened.
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
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
Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide an alternate sulfur dioxide removal measurement for certain coal gasification project goals. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to establish milestones for such projects so that by year 2020 they will be able to: (1) remove at least 99% of sulfur dioxide (as currently required); or, in the alternative, (2) emit not more than 0.04 pound SO2 per million Btu, based on a 30-day average.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make federal provisions which prohibit the obligation or expenditure of funds either in excess of appropriated amounts or in violation of sequestration orders under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1986 inapplicable to: (1) any amount collected or received as federal universal service contributions; or (2) the expenditure or obligation of amounts attributable to such contributions.
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
Tariff Relief Assistance for Developing Economies Act of 2007 or TRADE Act of 2007 - Authorizes the President to designate Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Nepal, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Yemen, and Sri Lanka or their successor political entities (TRADE Act of 2007 countries) as beneficiary TRADE Act of 2007 countries eligible to receive duty-free treatment for certain articles that are the growth, product, or manufacture of such countries, if after receiving the advice of the International Trade Commission (ITC) the President determines that such articles are not import-sensitive in the context of imports from such countries. Conditions such designation upon eligibility requirements of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Trade Act of 1974. Prescribes the rule of origin for the articles for the duty-free treatment. Applies duty-free treatment, without any quantitative limitations, granted to textile and apparel articles under AGOA to articles imported directly into the U.S. customs territory from a beneficiary TRADE Act of 2007 country if their assembly meets specified U.S. origin requirements. Grants AGOA preferential treatment for apparel articles assembled in one or more beneficiary TRADE Act of 2007 countries or such former countries, or both, from regional fabric from yarn originating either in the United States or one or more of such countries. Establishes: (1) limitations on such preferential treatment; and (2) special rules for apparel articles wholly assembled in one or more beneficiary TRADE Act of 2007 countries or former beneficiary countries, or both, regardless of the country of origin of the yarn or fabric used to make such articles; and (3) applicable percentages of such benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2007
Recognizes the: (1) heroism and sacrifice of Medal of Honor recipients; and (2) educational opportunity that a National Medal of Honor Day would present to the people of the United States. Supports the goals and ideals of such a Day to celebrate and honor the contributions of such recipients.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act - Exempts provisions expanding the adoption tax credit and adoption assistance programs enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 from the general terminating (sunset) provisions of that Act.
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 · 8 February 2007
Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act of 2007 - Amends the federal judicial code to divide the Ninth Judicial Circuit into the Ninth Circuit (to be composed of California, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and the Twelfth Circuit (to be composed of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington). Requires the President to appoint five additional circuit judges for the new Ninth Circuit and two temporary judges for the former Ninth Circuit, to be stationed in California. Specifies the locations where new circuits are to hold regular sessions. Locates the offices of the new Twelfth Circuit in Phoenix, Arizona. Assigns active circuit judges of the former Ninth Circuit to the new circuits. Allows senior circuit judges of the former Ninth Circuit to elect assignment. Sets forth provisions governing the disposition of cases pending in the former Ninth Circuit before the effective date of this Act. Authorizes the temporary assignment of circuit and district judges of the former Ninth Circuit among the new circuits. Provides that the former Ninth Circuit shall cease to exist for administrative purposes two years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2007
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct feasibility studies to address water shortages within the Snake, Boise, and Payette River systems in Idaho.
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 · 5 February 2007
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) Congress should ensure that General David Petraeus, the Commander of Multinational Forces-Iraq, and all U.S. personnel under his command have the necessary resources to carry out their mission in Iraq; and (2) the government of Iraq must make visible progress toward meeting the political, economic, and military benchmarks enumerated in this Resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. (who performed the first successful coronary bypass, pioneered the field of telemedicine, was elected the first President of Baylor College of Medicine, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction and the National Medal of Science) in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
American Falls Reservoir District Number 2 Conveyance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to convey all right, title, and interest in specified land to the: (1) American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 (District) located in Jerome, Lincoln, and Gooding Counties, Idaho; (2) city of Gooding; and (3) Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Requires the District to pay fair market value for the land. Relieves the United States of liability for damages of any kind relating to the land, unless they result from injury caused by negligence of the United States. Requires the Director of the National Park Service to manage specified land as part of the Minidoka Internment National Monument. Revokes the Department of Interior's previous orders that withdrew specified land from the Gooding Division of the Minidoka project and requires the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage the land.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for charitable contributions by individuals and corporations of real property interests for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of Duck Valley Water Rights Settlement Act - Approves, ratifies, and confirms, the agreement entitled the "Agreement to Establish the Relative Water Rights of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation and the Upstream Water Users, East Fork Owyhee River," except as specified in this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to hold tribal water rights in trust. Requires the Tribes to enact a water code to administer such rights. Establishes the Shoneshone-Paiute Tribes Water Rights Development Fund and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Operation and Maintenance Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2007
National Guard Empowerment Act of 2007 - Expands the: (1) authority of the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Bureau) to include membership on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) (and raises the grade of the Chief from lieutenant general to general); and (2) functions of the Bureau to include facilitating and coordinating, with other federal agencies and the states, the use of Guard personnel and resources for, and in, contingency operations, military operations other than war, natural disasters, and support of civil authorities. Directs the Chief to: (1) identify gaps between federal and state capabilities to prepare for and respond to emergencies; and (2) make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on Guard programs and activities to address such gaps. Requires annual Department of Defense (DOD) budget justification documents to include separate amounts for Guard training and equipment for military assistance to civil authorities and other domestic operations. Expresses the sense of Congress calling for consideration of eligible reserve officers for promotion to the grades of lieutenant general or vice admiral on the active duty list. Treats service as a Bureau adjutant general as joint duty experience. Requires the position of Deputy Commander of the U.S. Northern Command to be filled by a qualified Guard officer eligible for promotion to the grade of lieutenant general. Requires an annual plan for the use of the Armed Forces and National Guard for responding to disasters and acts of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2007
Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, as of December 1, 2007, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2007
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 determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2007
Amends the federal criminal code to authorize a nonresident of a state to carry concealed firearms (other than a machinegun or destructive device) in that state if such nonresident has a valid permit to carry firearms in any state and is not prohibited from carrying a firearm under federal law, subject to restrictions imposed by the state issuing the permit or under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2007
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to include podiatrists as physicians in order to cover their services under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2007
Art and Collectibles Capital Gains Tax Treatment Parity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the 28-percent capital gains tax rate for collectibles, thus allowing gain from the sale of collectibles (including art works) to be taxed at the 15-percent tax rate applicable to other investment property; (2) allow the creator of a literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly property a fair market value tax deduction for the donation of such property to a tax-exempt organization, if properly appraised and donated no sooner than 18 months after its creation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2007
Improving No Child Left Behind Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to alter requirements for adequate yearly progress (AYP) assessments of student groups by: (1) lowering, from 95% to 90%, the minimum percentage of students in each group in a school that must take such assessments; (2) allowing the fractional counting of students who are in more than one group, for each such group; (3) allowing states to treat as proficient or advanced specified scores on alternate assessments for disabled students and those not proficient in English; and (4) allowing states to use alternative methods of defining AYP. Revises criteria for local educational agency identification of schools needing improvement. Declares that only those meet such criteria that fail AYP standards, for two consecutive school years (as under current law), in the same subject for the same group of students. Revises eligibility criteria for school transfers after a school is identified as needing improvement. Declares that only failing students in the failing group, instead of all students in such a school, may transfer. Allows such schools to provide students with supplemental services rather than transfers during that school year.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2007
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2007 - Authorizes the presiding judge of a U.S. appellate court or U.S. district court to permit the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which that judge presides except when such action would constitute a violation of the due process rights of any party. Directs: (1) a district court, upon the request of any witness in a trial proceeding other than a party, to order the face and voice of the witness to be disguised or otherwise obscured to render the witness unrecognizable to the broadcast audience of the trial proceeding; and (2) the presiding judge in a trial proceeding to inform each witness who is not a party of the right to make such request. Authorizes the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate advisory guidelines to which a presiding judge may refer in making decisions regarding the management and administration of photographing, recording, broadcasting, or televising described in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2007
Social Security and Medicare Solvency Commission Act - Establishes the National Commission on Entitlement Solvency to review and report to the President and Congress on the Social Security and Medicare programs with respect to: (1) their current and long-term actuarial financial condition; (2) problems that may threaten their long-term solvency, and potential solutions; and (3) recommendations and proposed legislative language that will ensure their long-term solvency and the provision of appropriate benefits. Provides for expedited congressional consideration of Commission recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2007
Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of items and services under a cardiac rehabilitation program and a pulmonary rehabilitation program.
![Official portrait of Sen. Craig, Larry E. [R-ID]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000858_200.jpg)