United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Sportsmanship in Hunting Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit knowingly transferring, transporting, or possessing a confined exotic animal for purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy. Provides that such prohibition shall not apply to the killing or injuring of an exotic animal in a State or Federal natural area reserve undertaking habitat restoration. Permits any person authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to: (1) arrest without warrant any person who violates this Act in the presence or view of the arresting person; (2) execute any warrant or other process issued by an officer or court of competent jurisdiction to enforce this Act; and (3) with a search warrant, search for and seize any animal taken in violation of this Act. Declares that any animal seized shall be held by the Secretary of the Interior or a U.S. marshal and, upon a defendant's conviction, be forfeited to the United States and disposed of by the Secretary. Permits the Director to use by agreement the personnel and services of any other Federal or State agency to enforce this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to expand the prohibition against discrimination by group health plans and health insurance issuers in the group and individual markets on the basis of genetic information or services to prohibit: (1) enrollment and premium discrimination based on information about a request for or receipt of genetic services; and (2) requiring genetic testing. Sets forth penalties for violations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit issuers of Medicare supplemental policies from discriminating on the basis of genetic information. Extends medical privacy and confidentiality rules to the disclosure of genetic information. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate against an individual or deprive such individual of employment opportunities because of genetic information. Prohibits the collection and disclosure of genetic information, with certain exceptions. Establishes a Genetic Nondiscrimination Study Commission to review the developing science of genetics and advise Congress on the advisability of providing for a disparate impact cause of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Commends the people of Iraq on the January 2005 elections, and congratulates the new members of the Transitional National Assembly and the leaders of the provincial and regional governments. Urges the new leadership of Iraq to move forward with drafting the constitution, upholding the law, and holding a referendum on the new constitution. Honors the sacrifices made for freedom by the people of Iraq. Commends the Iraqi security forces and the U.S. Armed Forces and Coalition forces who ensured the elections could be conducted in a relatively safe and credible manner. Condemns all acts of violence and intimidation by members of the former Iraqi regime, insurgents, and other extremists and terrorists. Declares that it is in the interest of the people of Iraq, the Middle East, the United States, and the international community that Iraq transitions to a democratic state and serves as a catalyst for regional peace and stability. Calls on the international community, particularly Arab states, countries with predominantly Muslim populations, and all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members, to provide military and police personnel to train Iraqi security forces and to otherwise assist in Iraq's political and economic development. Encourages the newly-elected transitional government of Iraq to ensure that all Iraqis, including members of the Sunni community, are represented in the Constitution-writing process and in the new Iraqi cabinet.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2005
Declares that the Senate: (1) apologizes to the victims and survivors of lynching for its failure to enact anti-lynching legislation; (2) expresses its deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets to the descendants of such victims whose ancestors were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all other U.S. citizens; and (3) remembers the history of lynching, to ensure that these personal tragedies will be neither forgotten nor repeated.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Imposes an additional duty of 27.5 percent on Chinese goods imported into the United States unless the President submits a certification to Congress that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is no longer manipulating the rate of exchange and is complying with accepted market-based trading policies. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to negotiate with the PRC to ensure a process that leads to a market-based system of currency valuation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act - Family Income to Respond to Significant Transitions Insurance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make five-year grants to a State or local government to pay for the Federal share of the cost of carrying out projects that assist families by providing wage replacement for eligible individuals responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs. Family and Medical Leave Fairness Act of 2005 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to extend coverage to employees at worksites where the employer employs at least 25 (currently 50) employees at the worksite and within 75 miles of that worksite. Amends FMLA and Federal civil service law to entitle to leave those employees who must address the effects of domestic violence. Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2005 - Permits the Office of Personnel Management to contract with one or more employing agencies to conduct a demonstration project that provides paid leave for eligible individuals who are responding to caregiving needs resulting from the birth or adoption of a son or daughter or other family caregiving needs. Requires the leave to last for at least six weeks during a 12-month period. Time for Schools Act of 2005 - Amends FMLA to allow employees covered by such Act to take up to 24 hours, during any 12-month period, of school involvement leave to participate in: (1) an academic activity of their child's school, such as a parent-teacher conference or an interview for a school; or (2) literacy training under a family literacy program. Amends Federal civil service law to provide the same school involvement leave allowance for Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for FY 2005 through 2008.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Hunger Relief Trucking Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for the cost of transporting food to assist hunger relief efforts of certain charitable organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 with respect to maximum individual amounts of Federal Pell Grant for academic years 2005-06 through 2009-10. Increases such amount to $7,600 for 2005-06, and by increments in each of specified subsequent academic years, up to $11,600 for 2009-10. Requires a further increase in any such maximum Federal Pell Grant amount, by an amount sufficient to achieve a five percent increase in students' purchasing power relative to the cost of attendance at an institution of higher education, if the Secretary of Education determines that the amount authorized does not increase such purchasing power by at least five percent from one academic year to the next.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2005
Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 with respect to national dairy market loss payments to: (1) extend, by two years, program sign-up and contract periods; and (2) double single dairy operation payment quantities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005 - Directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to make competitive grants to eligible entities to promote training and placement of individuals, including individuals who have completed a court reporting training program, as realtime writers providing closed captioning in video programming. Sets forth priorities to be awarded in making grants. Limits grants to$1.5 million for a two-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to designate a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System under the Wilderness Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Training and Research in Urology Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to separate the research and training on urologic diseases from that of kidney and hematologic diseases. Replaces the Division Director for Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases with a Division Director for Urologic Diseases and a Division Director for Kidney and Hematologic Diseases. Requires the Director of the Institute to: (1) give particular attention to supporting research and training programs geared to the needs of urology residents and fellows; and (2) submit to Congress a national urologic research plan and review such plan every three years. Replaces the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Data System, the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, and the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Advisory Board with separate data systems, information clearinghouses, and advisory boards for kidney diseases and urologic diseases. Replaces the Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee and the Institute's advisory panel subcommittee on kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases with separate coordinating committees and subcommittees for: (1) kidney and hematologic diseases; and (2) urologic diseases. Requires at least 15 of the centers developed for research in kidney and urologic diseases under the Public Health Service Act to focus exclusively on urologic diseases. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a loan repayment program for urology research.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2005
Small Business and Farm Energy Emergency Relief Act of 2005 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration to make disaster loans to assist small businesses that have suffered or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of a significant increase in the price of heating fuel. Prohibits such loan from being made if the total amount outstanding and committed to the borrower would exceed $1.5 million, unless the borrower is a major source of employment in its surrounding area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to farm operations that qualify as a small business and that have or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury on or after October 1, 2004, as the result of a significant increase in energy costs in connection with an energy emergency declared by the President or the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
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 · 1 February 2005
Declares Majan Jean to be eligible for issuance of an immigrant visa or for adjustment of status to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1998 to reauthorize and revise its programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2005
Designates the year 2005 as the Year of Foreign Language Study, during which foreign language study is promoted and expanded in elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, businesses, and government programs.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to each State to carry out a program in the Administration on Children and Families for making available throughout that State the 2-1-1 telephone service for information and referral on human services. Requires a participating State to ensure that at least 50 percent of the resources of the program funded by the grant will be derived from other sources. Requires a State seeking a grant to carry out its activities through a lead entity to be known as a 2-1-1 Collaborative. Requires grant amounts to be used solely to make available to a State 2-1-1 telephone service for community information and referral on human services to all citizens of that State with phone access, including telephone connections between families and individuals seeking services and the service providers. Requires grant recipients to: (1) abide by the Key Standards for 2-1-1 Centers; and (2) collaborate with human service organizations to provide an exhaustive database of services with which to provide information or referral to individuals utilizing the 2-1-1 service.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2005
Overtime Rights Protection Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to prohibit from having any force or effect any portion of a rule promulgated on April 23, 2004, that has the effect of exempting from FLSA overtime compensation requirements (which limit maximum hours at regular compensation) any employee who would not otherwise be exempted if regulations in effect on March 31, 2003, remained in effect. Reinstates that portion of such regulations that would prevent such an employee from being exempt. Directs the Secretary of Labor to increase, in a specified manner, the minimum salary level for the exemption for executive, administrative, and managerial occupations from FLSA overtime compensation requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
No Taxation Without Representation Act of 2005 - Provides for full voting representation in Congress for the residents of the District of Columbia, including two Senators and as many Representatives as a similarly populous State would be entitled to under the law. Treats the District of Columbia as a State. Prescribes a procedure for the first elections under this Act. Entitles the District to one Representative until the taking effect of the next reapportionment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Children's Compassionate Care Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to provide training in pediatric palliative care and related services. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award grants to implement or expand pediatric palliative care programs for children with life-threatening conditions. Authorizes the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand the number of physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, and appropriate allied health professionals and specialists with pediatric palliative clinical training and research experience. Allows the Secretary to award grants to enhance pediatric palliative care and care for children with life-threatening conditions in general pediatric or family practice residency training programs through the development of model programs. Requires the Director to provide translational research grants to fund research in pediatric pain and symptom management that will utilize existing NIH facilities. Requires the Secretary to establish Medicare and private sector pediatric palliative care demonstration projects.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Family Opportunity Act of 2005 or Dylan Lee James Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for such children. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct demonstration projects under which up to ten States are awarded grants, on a competitive basis, to test the effectiveness in improving or maintaining a child's functional level and cost-effectiveness of providing coverage of home and community-based alternatives to psychiatric resident treatment for children enrolled in the Medicaid program. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers. Amends SSA title XIX to provide for the restoration of Medicaid eligibility to certain SSI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSA title XVI) beneficiaries under age 21.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Ensuring College Access for All Americans Act - Prohibits the application of the annual updates (published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2004) to the allowance for State and other taxes in the tables used in the Federal Needs Analysis Methodology to determine a student's expected family contribution for the award year 2005-2006 under the Higher Education Act of 1965, to the extent such updates will reduce the amount of Federal student assistance for which the student is eligible.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Commemorates January 27, 2005, as the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp by Allied Forces during World War II. Calls on all Americans to remember the more than 1,000,000 innocent victims murdered at the Auschwitz extermination camp as part of the Holocaust.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2005
Designates January 2005 as National Mentoring Month. Praises those who are already giving their time to mentor young people. Expresses support for efforts to recruit more adults as mentors.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Long Island Sound Stewardship Act of 2005 - Establishes the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative Region in Connecticut and New York. Establishes the Long Island Sound Stewardship Advisory Committee to evaluate applications for conservation easements, management plans, and grant funds relative to the region. Requires the Committee to: (1) identify 20 initial Long Island Sound stewardship sites that are natural resource-based recreation areas or exemplary natural areas with ecological value and that best promote the purposes of this Act; and (2) use due diligence to recommend an equal distribution of funds between States for the initial sites. Authorizes owners of sites to submit applications to the Committee to have sites identified as stewardship sites. Sets forth a site identification process and related selection criteria. Directs the Committee to publish notice of the list of such sites. Authorizes the Committee to deviate from the site identification process in certain circumstances. Requires the Committee to use an adaptive management framework. Protects the existing legal rights of private property owners. Limits the Federal share of costs associated with activities carried out using assistance or grants under this Act to 75 percent of the total. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize appropriations for the Office of Management Conference of the Long Island Sound Study and implementation of the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan through FY 2009. Provides for the Committee's termination on December 31, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005 - Establishes the U.S. Office for Native Hawaiian Relations within the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. Establishes the Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group. Recognizes the right of the Native Hawaiian people to reorganize the Native Hawaiian governing entity to provide for their common welfare and to adopt appropriate organic governing documents. Establishes a Commission to: (1) prepare and maintain a roll of the adult members of the Native Hawaiian community who elect to participate in such reorganization; and (2) certify that the adult members of the Native Hawaiian community proposed for inclusion on the roll meet the definition of Native Hawaiian. Outlines the process for the reorganization, which includes forming a Native Hawaiian Governing Council. Reaffirms the political and legal relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian governing entity upon certification required by the Secretary regarding the organic governing documents and the election of the entity's officers. Extends Federal recognition to the governing entity as the representative governing body of the Native Hawaiian people. Authorizes the United States, upon the reaffirmation of such political and legal relationship, to enter into negotiations with the governing entity to lead to an agreement addressing specified matters, including the transfer of lands, natural resources, and other assets, and the protection of existing rights related to such lands or resources.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Homeland Security Grant Enhancement Act of 2005 - Preserves specified Federal grant programs for traditional first responder missions that existed prior to September 11, 2001. Establishes the Interagency Committee to Coordinate and Streamline Homeland Security Grant Programs. Creates the position of Executive Director to head the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) Office for State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (OSLGCP). Reconstitutes the DHS Office for Domestic Preparedness as a component of the OSLGCP (currently, within the Directorate of Border and Transportation Security) and gives it additional responsibility for managing the Homeland Security Information Clearinghouse. Establishes the Homeland Security Information Clearinghouse within the OSLGCP. Establishes a Threat-Based Homeland Security Grant Program for States and local governments. Requires grant applications to certify that the State has prepared and received the Secretary of Homeland Security's approval of a three-year State homeland security plan. Requires the Secretary to set national performance standards and to ensure that State homeland security plans are in conformance with those standards. Requires the Director of the Office for Domestic Preparedness to allow any State to request approval to reallocate funds received under the State Homeland Security Grant Program. Requires the Secretary to deny entry to commercial motor vehicles carrying municipal solid waste into the United States until the Secretary certifies to Congress that comparable screening of such waste for the presence of chemical, nuclear, biological, and radiological weapons as is used to screen for such materials in other items of commerce has been achieved.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Clean Power Act of 2005 - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) promulgate regulations to achieve specified reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and mercury from certain electric generation facilities by January 1, 2010 (January 1, 2009, for mercury emissions); and (2) establish an emission allowance tracking and transfer system for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide. Directs the Administrator to study the impact of emission allowance trading. Limits the trading of allowances with facilities other than electricity generating facilities to certain carbon dioxide emission control programs. Sets forth an allocation scheme for emission allowances. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish and annually review emission limitations for mercury; and (2) promulgate regulations preventing captured or recovered emissions from being re-released into the environment. Requires the Administrator to: (1) request information from owners/operators of coal-fired electric generation facilities about hazardous air pollutants other than mercury; and (2) propose and promulgate emission standards. Requires facilities to achieve specified emission standards should emission limitation regulations not be promulgated. Makes specified violations of this Act unlawful. Modifies reporting requirements for the acid precipitation research program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
National Ocean Exploration Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) a coordinated national ocean exploration program. Authorizes the Secretary, in carrying out the program, to: (1) conduct interdisciplinary exploration voyages or other scientific activities to survey, inventory, observe, and assess little-known areas of the marine environment; (2) promote the development of oceanographic research; (3) conduct public education and outreach activities that improve the public understanding of ocean science, resources, and processes; and (4) accept donations for such purposes. Requires the NOAA to convene an ocean technology and infrastructure task force to develop and implement a strategy to: (1) facilitate the transfer of new exploration technology to the program; (2) improve the availability of communications infrastructure (including satellite) to the program; (3) develop a data management information processing system for information obtained under the program; and (4) encourage cost-sharing partnerships to assist in transferring exploration technology and technical expertise to the program. Authorizes the NOAA, the National Science Foundation, and other Federal agencies participating in the program to participate in interagency financing in carrying out program activities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2005
Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal judicial code to specify the calculation of contingent and other attorney's fees in proposed class action settlements that provide for the award of coupons to class members. Prohibits a Federal district court from approving: (1) a proposed coupon settlement absent a finding that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate; (2) a proposed settlement involving payments to class counsel that would result in a net monetary loss to class members, absent a finding that the loss is substantially outweighed by nonmonetary benefits; or (3) a proposed settlement that provides greater sums to some class members solely because they are closer geographically to the court. Specifies requirements for notices of proposed settlements. Grants district courts original jurisdiction of any civil action in which the matter in controversy exceeds $5 million, exclusive of interest and costs, and is between citizens of different States, or citizens of a State and a foreign State or its citizens or subjects. Lists those factors pursuant to which a district court may decline to exercise jurisdiction over a class action, and specifies those circumstances in which a district court must decline jurisdiction. Sets forth provisions governing the removal of interstate class actions to Federal district court and the review on appeal of remand orders. Directs the Judicial Conference of the United States to report on class action settlements, incorporating recommendations for best court practices to ensure fairness for class members and appropriate fees for counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
International Remittance Consumer Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to require a remittance transfer provider to: (1) clearly and conspicuously make specified disclosures in writing and in a form that the consumer may keep to each consumer requesting a remittance transfer; and (2) make such disclosures in English and in the same languages principally used by the remittance transfer provider, or its agents at that office, if other than English. Prescribes error resolution guidelines and remedies governing remittance transfer errors. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to publish electronically on each business day the foreign currencies dollar exchange rate. Subjects a remittance transfer provider to liability for violations committed by its agents or subsidiaries. Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to empower Federal Credit Unions to: (1) provide remittance transfers to persons in the field of membership; and (2) to cash checks and money orders for such persons for a fee. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to work with the Federal reserve banks to expand the use of the automated clearinghouse system for remittance transfers to foreign countries. Requires certain Federal banking agencies to provide guidelines to financial institutions regarding the offering of low-cost remittance transfers and no-cost or low-cost basic consumer accounts, as well as agency services to remittance transfer providers. Requires such agencies and the Secretary to assist the Financial Literacy and Education Commission in improving the financial literacy and education of consumers who send remittances.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Mortgage Insurance Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat mortgage insurance premium payments as tax deductible interest. Phases out the deduction for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes exceeding $100,000.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Meeting Our Responsibility to Medicare Beneficiaries Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to: (1) negotiating fair prices for Medicare prescription drugs; (2) elimination of the MA Regional Plan Stabilization Fund; (3) application of risk adjustment reflecting characteristics for the entire Medicare population in payments to Medicare advantage organizations; (4) modification of the annual out-of-pocket threshold with respect to prescription drug benefits; (5) requiring two prescription drug plans to avoid Federal fallback; (6) waiver of the part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program); (7) transition of full-benefit dual eligible individuals to coverage under the Medicare drug benefit; and (8) Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) premium reduction. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on providing incentives to preserve retiree coverage. Amends SSA title XVIII to direct the Secretary to make certain information regarding the sponsor of a qualified prescription drug plan receiving a subsidy under the prescription drug program available to the public through the Internet website of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2005 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to permit any person who is otherwise qualified to vote in a Federal election in a State to use the national Federal write-in absentee ballot prescribed by the Election Assistance Commission to cast a vote in such an election. Directs the Commission to prescribe a national Federal write-in absentee ballot for use in elections for Federal office. Requires the voting system to provide for an independent means of voter verification, allowing each voter to verify the ballot before it is cast and counted. Requires the State to: (1) count such ballot if the individual who cast it is otherwise eligible to vote; and (2) provide for the minimum required number of voting systems and poll workers for each polling place on the day of any Federal election, and on any days during which such State allows early voting. Directs the Commission to issue standards regarding the minimum number of voting systems and poll workers. Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require each State, with certain exceptions, to permit any individual on the day of a Federal election to: (1) register to vote at the polling place; and (2) cast a vote in such election. Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require: (1) the Commission to develop an election day registration form for elections for Federal office; (2) each State to provide public notice of all names which have been removed from the voter registration list since the later of the most recent Federal election or the day of the most recent previous public notice; (3) each State to allow individuals to vote in a Federal election at least 15 days before the day scheduled for it in the same manner as voting on such day (early voting); (4) each polling place which allows early voting to allow it for at least a uniform four hours each day; and (5) the Commission to issue standards for the administration of early voting. Accelerates the study on election day as a public holiday. Requires mail voter registration forms to include, in lieu of mandatory questions and statements, an affidavit to be signed by the registrant attesting both to citizenship and age. Directs each State to establish a program under which individuals may access voter registration forms electronically through the Internet. Provides for establishing voter identification with respect to in person voting and voting by mail. Outlines election administration requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Extends the U.S. Postal Service's authority to issue special postage stamps to help provide funding for breast cancer research through December 31, 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Combat Meth Act of 2005 - Authorizes funds to provide training to State and local prosecutors and law enforcement agents for investigation and prosecution of methamphetamine offenses, including a set-aside for prosecutors and law enforcement agents for rural communities. Amends: (1) the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the public safety and community policing grant program to authorize the use of grant funds to hire personnel and purchase equipment to assist in enforcing and prosecuting methamphetamine offenses and in cleaning up methamphetamine-affected areas; (2) the Controlled Substances Act to add pseudoephedrine to schedule V; and (3) the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for the development of drug endangered children rapid response teams and grants to local governments, Indian tribes, and nonprofit private entities to provide treatment for methamphetamine abuse. Directs the Attorney General to allocate funds for the hiring and training of special assistant U.S. attorneys. Authorizes the Attorney General, acting through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to award grants to States to establish methamphetamine precursor monitoring programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Quality Education for All Act - Extends authorizations of appropriations under: (1) the Head Start Act (HSA); and (2) the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA). Revises HSA provisions for: (1) Indian and migrant and seasonal programs; (2) expanded access to Early Head Start and Head Start; (3) part-day to full-day programs; (4) school readiness standards; (5) staff training, development, and salaries; and (6) tribal college or university partnership. Revises CCDBGA requirements for staff training and child care quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to rural local educational agencies for purchasing new school buses. Expresses the sense of the Senate regarding: (1) fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by 2011; (2) funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and (3) increasing the maximum Pell Grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Revises ESEA requirements for: (1) public school choice, supplemental educational services, and teacher quality; (2) adequate yearly progress determinations; (3) technical assistance; (4) assessment and accountability; and (5) prohibiting discrimination. Revises HEA to provide for: (1) extending and increasing authorizations of appropriations for TRIO and GEARUP programs; (2) no reduction of student aid eligibility based on updates to tax tables; (3) demonstration grants to help low-income students enroll in summer courses to complete their college degrees; and (4) tuition-free college for mathematics, science, and special education teachers, through additional amounts of student loan forgiveness. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) expand the deduction for higher education expenses; (2) establish a credit for interest on higher education loans; and (3) make Hope and Lifetime Learning credits refundable.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Affordable Health Care Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise provisions governing the importation of prescription drugs. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations allowing the importation of prescription drugs from certain countries. Allows the Secretary to require the sponsor of an approved drug to conduct one or more studies that confirms or refutes a credible hypothesis of a significant safety issue. Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Health Information Technology to improve the quality and efficiency of health care delivery through the use of health information technology. Requires the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish uniform health care quality measures and public reporting requirements across all federally supported health delivery programs. Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States the option to expand or add coverage of children, pregnant women, and legal immigrants under titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP). Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain small business employers a refundable tax credit for a portion of their employee health insurance costs. Amends SSA to set forth provisions (as a new title XXII) addressing health insurance coverage for small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Fiscal Responsibility for a Sound Future Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to extend through FY 2005 the spending caps for discretionary, highway, and mass transit categories in new budget authority and outlays. Declares that Congress should enact a limit on total discretionary spending for FY 2006. Retains (eliminates the expiration of) pay-as-you-go. Reenacts into law (effective for FY 2005) certain budget enforcement mechanisms through FY 2015. Makes it out of order in the Senate to consider under expedited procedures applicable to reconciliation in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 any measure that increases the deficit in the: (1) first fiscal year covered by the most recently adopted concurrent resolution on the budget; (2) first five fiscal years covered by such adoption; or (3) first five fiscal years following such period. Amends H.Con.Res. 95 (108th Congress) to revise provisions concerning the Pay-As-You-Go point of order rule in the Senate to: (1) modify the formula used to estimate the baseline; and (2) extend the application of such rule through FY 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Howard S. Liebengood, former Sergeant at Arms of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Expresses: (1) sympathy for the victims and families of the earthquake and tsunami that struck communities throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Eastern Africa on December 26, 2004; and (2) gratitude and respect for the work of all aid and relief personnel, including U.S. military personnel. Supports President George W. Bush's pledge of $350,000,000 in direct financial assistance, and additional indirect assistance, through the dispatch of U.S. military assets and personnel and through substantial voluntary and annual contributions to international organizations and bodies. Commends the ongoing international relief effort. Recognizes that U.S. Government assistance will be greatly supplemented by private U.S. donations and volunteers. Supports the long-term U.S. commitment to provide financial aid and other assistance to the impacted region.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Continues with the same power and authority in the 109th Congress: (1) the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies established in the 108th Congress; and (2) S. Con. Res. 93, adopted in the 108th Congress, which authorizes use of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in connection with the inauguration of the President-elect and the Vice President-elect.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2004
Federal Death Care Inspection and Disclosure Act - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services the position of Coordinator of Funeral, Burial, and Disposition Services, to: (1) survey existing State laws pertaining to the death care industry; and (2) formulate standards specifying the elements of an effective system for registering, inspecting, and monitoring the handling and disposition of human remains by funeral homes and other death care providers. Requires the Coordinator to: (1) award Federal assistance grants to State agencies that regulate death care providers; and (2) establish minimum standards and requirements governing State regulation of funeral homes and other death care providers. Sets forth deceptive trade practices, including funeral provider practices that: (1) fail to make timely price disclosures regarding funeral goods and services; (2) fail to give an itemized written statement for retention to a purchaser of funeral goods or funeral services at the conclusion of the discussion related to such goods and services and prior to providing any services beyond taking possession of a deceased human body for authorized embalming; (3) make specified misrepresentations; (4) condition goods and services upon the purchase of other goods and services; and (5) provide embalming services without prior approval. Prohibits unsolicited telephone offers or door-to-door direct offers to sell funeral goods, services, crematory services, interment rights, or other cemetery and memorialization goods and services. Sets forth consumer protections with respect to certain cash advance prohibitions and requirements, and preneed and prepaid funeral service transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2004
National Center for Transportation Solutions Act of 2004 - Establishes the National Center for Transportation Solutions, consisting of the National Center for Transportation Solutions Board and the Director of National Transportation Research. Directs the Center to develop and encourage the execution of a long-term national policy for the promotion of research and development related to multimodal transportation. Requires the Director to award grants to establish regional centers for transportation solutions located in each of four regions established by the Board for the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest regions of the United States.
![Official portrait of Sen. Dodd, Christopher J. [D-CT]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000388_200.jpg)