United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2003
Preservation of Localism, Program Diversity, and Competition in Television Broadcast Service Act of 2003 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from permitting any license for a commercial television broadcast station to be granted, transferred, or assigned to any party if such action would result in that party owning, operating, controlling, or having a cognizable interest in stations which have an aggregate national audience reach exceeding 35 percent. Requires any party currently having licenses in excess of such limit to divest as necessary to comply with such limit within one year.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2003
Access to Cancer Therapies Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to extend Medicare coverage to all oral drugs prescribed for use as an anticancer agent for a medically accepted indication.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Transit in Parks Act (or the TRIP Act) - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop cooperative relationships with the Secretary of the Interior providing for: (1) technical assistance in alternative transportation; (2) interagency and multidisciplinary teams to develop Federal land management agency (the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Land Management) alternative transportation policy, procedures, and coordination; and (3) the development of procedures and criteria relating to the planning, selection, and funding of qualified planning or capital projects carried out in or in the vicinity of any federally owned or managed park, refuge, or recreational area that is open to the general public and implementation and oversight of the program of projects in accordance with this Act. Sets forth requirements with respect to departmental cost sharing, financing, and selection of qualified projects. Requires projects of more than $25 million to be carried out through a full funding agreement. Requires the qualified participants of such projects to prepare a project management plan.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2003
Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends: (1) the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act to repeal the sunset date on the assault weapons ban (thus leaving in place a ban on the manufacture of 19 types of military style assault weapons); and (2) the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the importation into the United States of large capacity ammunition feeding devices.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2003
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act - Permits the Director of the National Institutes of Health (the "Director" of NIH), acting through the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research on paralysis. Allows the Director to award grants to public or nonprofit entities to fund Christopher Reeve Paralysis Research Consortia for paralysis research. Permits the Director to solicit public input regarding paralysis research programs. Allows the Director, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Rehabilitation Research and in collaboration with other agencies, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research with implications for enhancing daily function for persons with paralysis. Permits the Director to make grants to multicenter networks of clinical sites that will collaborate on rehabilitation intervention protocols. Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to study the unique health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of individuals with such conditions. Allows the Secretary to undertake direct research and to make grants. Provides for the formation of a national paralysis and physical disability quality of life plan and a hospital-based paralysis registry. Permits the Secretary to award grants to: (1) State and local health and disability agencies, including for the purpose of establishing paralysis registries; and (2) nonprofit private health and disability organizations, including for the purpose of disseminating information to the public. Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs centers for paralysis research, education, and clinical activities; and (2) carry out initiatives, through the award of grants, for quality enhancement of research on paralysis.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Highlands Stewardship Act - Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to establish the Highlands Stewardship Area in the Highlands region (an area encompassing nearly 2,000,000 acres extending from eastern Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to northwestern Connecticut (the Highlands States)). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish: (1) within the Department of Agriculture the Office of Highlands Stewardship to advise the Secretaries and the Governors of the Highlands States on priorities for projects carried out with financial or technical assistance under this Act, land conservation partnership projects, Highlands region research, policy and education initiatives necessary to implement the findings of the Highlands Regional Study (conducted by the Forest Service in 1990) and the New York-New Jersey Highlands Regional Assessment Update (conducted by the Service in 2001), and to implement the strategies of the study, the update, and other studies in consultation with the Highlands States; and (2) the Highlands Stewardship Area Work Group to assist with such implementation. Authorizes the Office to provide financial and technical assistance to an eligible entity to carry out a project to protect, restore, preserve, promote, or interpret natural, agricultural, historical, cultural, or recreational resources of the Area. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, from among proposed land conservation partnership projects submitted by the Governors of the Highlands States, to annually designate those projects that are eligible to receive financial assistance under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Better Nutrition for School Children Act of 2003 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to revise nutritional requirements for the school breakfast program under CNA and the school lunch program under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (NSLA). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to base regulations for the school breakfast and lunch programs on sound nutritional science. Authorizes the Secretary, through such Federal regulations, to prohibit the sale of certain competitive foods in food service facilities or areas during the time of school breakfast or school lunch program service (by eliminating a provision of current law that bars such regulations from prohibiting such sale of competitive foods approved by the Secretary during such time). Requires Federal regulations relating to service of foods in schools participating in the breakfast or lunch programs to apply throughout the entire school, including the school grounds, until the end of the time of service of food under the school lunch program. Directs the Secretary, in promulgating such regulations, to consider: (1) the nutritional needs of students in various grade levels; (2) the proximity of any area where foods of minimal nutritional value may be sold, donated, or served without charge to the food service facilities or areas; (3) the extent to which students will likely substitute consumption of foods of minimal nutritional value for other food served in participating schools; and (4) the benefits to a school of permitting the sale, donation, or service without charge of foods of minimal nutritional value, including the extent to which the proceeds of such sales inure to the benefit of a school or an organization of students approved by a school.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2003
Women and Children in Conflict Protection Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) develop a strategy for the protection of women and children who are affected by a complex humanitarian emergency (a situation occurring outside the United States and caused by armed conflict, natural disaster, food shortage, or state-sponsored harassment or persecution, which results in a significant number of refugees, internally displaced persons, or other civilians requiring urgent basic humanitarian assistance) (emergency); and (2) designate coordinators to implement such strategy. Requires such coordinators to: (1) maintain and disseminate a database of information on gender-based violence or exploitation of children during an emergency; (2) assist embassies and consular posts in responding to such risks; and (3) establish a gender-based violence or exploitation reporting and monitoring system for U.S. diplomatic missions and consular posts. Prohibits any State Department refugee or migration assistance from being provided to an organization that has failed to adopt a code of conduct regarding the protection of beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance that incorporates six core principles (established herein) against sexual exploitation and abuse as recommended by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. Requests all national, multilateral, and nongovernmental agencies to review and revise their administrative, management, and employment practices in refugee and displaced persons camps. Requires each coordinator to: (1) ensure that U.S.-funded organizations that respond to an emergency have the necessary resources to address the specific health needs of women affected by the emergency; and (2) identify an organization or individual to facilitate the coordination and implementation of such activities. Directs the Secretary to urge the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to work with nongovernmental organizations to design and implement a model whistleblower system under which humanitarian workers, refugees, and internally displaced persons can report instances of gender-based violence or exploitation of children. Requires: (1) the State Department to work with certain entities to ensure that, in situations of long-term displacement, refugees and internally displaced persons are granted work permits and other documentation to enable them to generate legitimate income; and (2) a report from the Secretary on the development of protection initiatives for the prevention of gender-based violence and exploitation of children. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement programs to assist communities that have been affected by an emergency and former combatants (women or children affiliated with an armed group); and (2) report on all current programs to assist nations to reconstitute civilian police authority and capability following an emergency. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to promote the security of, provide equal access to basic services for, and safeguard the human rights and dignity of civilian women and children who are refugees, displaced persons, or inhabitants of areas affected by an emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight consortium centers (each such center shall be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence). States that the centers shall conduct multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Syria Accountability Act of 2003 - Declares the sense of Congress that: (1) Syria should halt support for terrorism, withdraw armed forces from Lebanon, stop develpment of ballistic missiles and biological and chemical weapons, and halt imports and transshipments of Iraqi oil; (2) Lebanon and Syria should enter into bilateral negotiations for peace with Israel; and (3) the United States should continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Lebanon only through private and international organizations until the Government of Lebanon asserts sovereignty over its borders. Declares U.S. policy that Syria: (1) will be listed as a state sponsor of terrorism until it stops supporting terrorism; (2) is in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 520 through its continued occupation of Lebanese territory; and (3) has violated Resolution 661 by purchasing oil from Iraq. Declares that restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty is in the U.S. national interest. Requires the President, unless the President certifies that Syria does not support international terrorist groups or allow them to maintain facilities in Syria, has withdrawn all security personnel from Lebanon, has ceased the development of ballistic missiles and biological and chemical weapons, and is no longer violating Resolution 661, to: (1) prohibit the export to Syria of specified defense articles or services and items on the Commerce Control List; and (2) impose two or more of specified sanctions (including prohibiting U.S. exports to, or U.S. businesses investments or operations in, Syria). Authorizes the President to provide development assistance to Syria and Lebanon if the President: (1) makes that certification; (2) determines that progress has been made toward negotiating peace agreements between Israel, Syria, and Lebanon; and (3) determines that Syria is strictly respecting Lebanon's sovereignty.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Job Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the foreign sales corporation/extraterritorial income (FSC/ETI) exclusion, with an exemption for certain binding contracts in effect before the date of enactment of this Act. Permits a foreign corporation that elected to be treated as a domestic corporation to revoke such election and be treated as a domestic corporation transferring its property to a foreign corporation with no gain recognized on such transfer. Provides: (1) a transitional 2004 through 2008 sliding-scale deduction for an FSC/ETI beneficiary based on the corporation's 2001 FSC/ETI benefit; and (2) special rules for 2003 and for fiscal year taxpayers. Defines "FSC/ETI benefit." Allows a deduction for income attributable to U.S. production activities equal to ten percent of qualified production activities. Provides a 2006 through 2009 phase-in period. Defines "qualified production activities" as: (1) the portion of the modified taxable income attributable to domestic activities; and (2) the domestic/foreign fraction. Sets forth related provisions with respect to: (1) determination of income attributable to domestic production activities; (2) domestic production gross receipts; (3) qualifying production property; (4) domestic/foreign fraction; and (5) special rules.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Medicaid Community-Based Attendant Services and Supports Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to mandate State Medicaid plan coverage of community-based attendant services and supports for certain Medicaid-eligible individuals. Outlines provisions for: (1) an enhanced Federal medical assistance percentage for ongoing activities of early coverage States that enhance and promote the use of community-based attendant services and supports; and (2) increased Federal financial participation for certain expenditures incurred by the State for the provision of community-based attendant services and supports. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible States which have established a Consumer Task Force to assist the State in its development of real choice systems change initiatives; and (2) conduct a demonstration project for the purpose of evaluating service coordination and cost-sharing approaches with respect to the provision of community-based services and supports to non-elderly dually eligible individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Jamestown 400th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 100,000 $5 gold coins and 500,000 $1 silver coins, which shall be emblematic of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia (the first permanent English settlement in America). Provides for a $35 per coin surcharge for the $5 dollar coins and $10 per coin for the $1 dollar coins. Directs the Secretary to distribute: (1) 50 percent of the surcharges to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation of Virginia to support programs to promote the understanding of the legacies of Jamestown; and (2) 50 percent to sustain the ongoing mission of preserving Jamestown, to enhance national and international educational programs, to improve infrastructure and archeological research activities, and to conduct other programs to support the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown. States that entities specified for such purposes are the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, the President of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and the Chairman of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Amends the Federal Law Enforcement Pay Reform Act of 1990 to revise the special pay adjustments for (percentage differentials payable to) Federal law enforcement officers in specified consolidated metropolitan statistical areas. Includes Capitol Police as law enforcement officers under such Act. Directs the Office of Personnel Management: (1) to study and report to Congress on the need for, and the potential benefits to be derived from, the establishment of a separate pay, evaluation, and promotion system for Federal law enforcement officers; (2) if it considers it to be appropriate, to implement a demonstration project to determine whether a separate system for such officers would result in improved Federal personnel management; and (3) to submit to Congress its evaluation of the system tested under the demonstration project and recommendations as to whether that system should be continued or extended to other Federal law enforcement officers. Eliminates the limitation on the aggregate of basic pay and premium pay with respect to availability pay for Federal criminal investigators.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2003
Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that: (1) constitutes a crime of violence under Federal law or a felony under State or Indian tribal law; and (2) is motivated by prejudice based on the race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability of the victim or is a violation of the hate crime laws of the State or tribe. Directs the Attorney General to give priority for assistance to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one State and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary investigation or prosecution expenses. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to assist State, local, and Indian law enforcement officials with such extraordinary expenses. Directs the Office of Justice Programs to: (1) work closely with funded jurisdictions to ensure that the concerns and needs of all affected parties are addressed; and (2) award grants to State and local programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. Prohibits specified offenses involving actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to study and provide sentencing enhancements for adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes. Amends the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to require the crime data to be collected and published by the Attorney General to include data about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on gender.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2003
Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act of 2003 - 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 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 does not: (1) restrict presidential authority 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 · 29 April 2003
IDEA Full-Funding Act of 2003 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to revise and reauthorize part B programs of education of all children with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for part B for FY 2004 through 2013, and in necessary amounts for FY 2014 and thereafter. (Provides phased-in increases of funding designed to reach a promised 40 percent Federal share of funding by FY 2011.) Makes appropriations in specified amounts for part B for FY 2004 through 2013. Provides an exception to local educational agency (LEA) maintenance of effort requirements under part B. Repeals certain provisions relating to LEA treatment of Federal funds as local funds under part B.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2003
Requests the President to issue a proclamation: (1) designating May 1, 2003, as National Child Care Worthy Wage Day; and (2) calling on people to observe that day by honoring early childhood educators and programs in their communities and by working together to resolve the early childhood educator compensation crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Marine Corps 230th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 one dollar coins which shall be emblematic of the warrior ethos of the United States Marine Corps. Requires all surcharges from the sale of the coins to be paid to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation for construction of the Marine Corps Heritage Center.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 - Amends the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) to replace the National Museum Services Board with a National Museum and Library Services Board, established in the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Requires the IMLS Director to: (1) ensure coordination with certain activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and other Federal activities; and (2) conduct and publish analyses of the impact of museum and library services. Revises requirements for annual national awards to outstanding libraries and museums that have made significant contributions in service to their communities. Entitles subchapter C of MLSA as the Museum Services Act. Amends the Library Services and Technology Act to provide for: (1) an increased portion for administrative costs; (2) an increased alternative minimum allotment to States under certain conditions; (3) State plans once every five years, as determined by the IMLS Director; (4) additional uses of grants to States for library programs; and (5) recruitment of library and information science personnel under the program of national leadership grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Amends the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act with respect to contributions and membership. Amends the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act to increase maximum limits on liability amounts. Renames the Capital Children's Museum in Washington, D.C., the National Children's Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team Implementation Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to fully implement, by September 30, 2004, requirements under the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003 that the Secretary: (1) establish 23 additional Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams, for a total of 55; and (2) ensure that at least one such team is established in each State and territory. Increases the authorized end strengths for full-time Army and Air National Guard personnel as of September 30, 2004, in order to meet such requirements. Provides funding through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2003
Economic Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA) to extend the TEUCA program through November 30, 2003, with a phaseout period through February 28, 2004. (The TEUCA program provides: (1) an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits (TEUC) to jobless workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits; and (2) another additional 13 weeks of benefits (TEUC-X), for a total of 26 additional weeks, for such workers in high unemployment States.) Entitles eligible individuals in all States to a total of 26 weeks of TEUC compensation (13 weeks beyond the current 13 weeks). Makes such additional benefits also available to individuals who exhausted their TEUC benefits before January 1, 2003. Provides for a transition period of continuing payments to individuals with amounts remaining in their TEUC account, for weeks beginning before December 31, 2003. Directs the Secretary of Labor to deem second tier benefit amounts deposited in an individual's account (TEUC-X amounts, which currently provide an extra 13 weeks of benefits in high-unemployment States) as deposited in such account, by reason of the amendments made by this Act, as single tier benefit amounts (TEUC amounts, the basic benefits in all States). Sets forth requirements relating to applicability of this Act to those who have exhausted their benefits under TEUCA, as well as to current beneficiaries. Provides for a program of temporary enhanced regular unemployment compensation (TERUC). Modifies eligibility requirements for regular compensation, where applicable for purposes of benefits under this Act, to: (1) set an alternative base period ending at the close of the most recently completed calendar quarter; and (2) allow individuals to seek less than full-time work or not accept full-time work. Sets forth program requirements for Federal-State agreements, formulas for determining weekly benefits, nonreduction and coordination rules, payments to States, and financing. Applies program agreements to weeks of unemployment: (1) beginning after the date on which such an agreement is entered into; and (2) ending before July 1, 2004. Revises TEUCA to provide for coordination with TERUC .
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Sickle Cell Treatment Act of 2003 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include primary and secondary preventative medical strategies, treatment, and services, including genetic counseling and testing, for individuals who have Sickle Cell Disease as medical assistance under the Medicaid program. Directs the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration to conduct a demonstration program for the development and establishment of systemic mechanisms, including a National Coordinating Center, to improve the prevention and treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Microbicide Development Act of 2003 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Office of AIDS Research to expedite the development of a Federal strategic plan for the conduct and support of microbicide research. Requires the Director of such office to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of all appropriate institutes and components of the National Institutes of Health with respect to research on the development of microbicides to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to establish within the Vaccine and Prevention Research Program of the Division of AIDS in the Institute, a branch charged with carrying out microbicide research and development. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fully implement the Centers' five-year topical microbicide agenda to support microbicide research and development. Directs the Office of HIV/AIDS of the Agency for International Development, in conjunction with other offices within AID, to fully implement AID's microbicide agenda to support the development of microbicides, and facilitate wide-scale introduction once microbicide products are available.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 or CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 - Sets forth the determination of Congress that: (1) there is a substantial government interest in regulation of unsolicited commercial electronic mail ("spam"); (2) senders of spam should not mislead recipients as to the source or content of such mail; and (3) recipients of spam have a right to decline to receive additional spam from the same source. Amends Federal criminal law to subject to a fine or imprisonment any person who initiates the transmission to a protected computer of a spam message with knowledge and intent that it contains header information that is materially false or misleading. Sets forth protections against spam that include: (1) a prohibition of false or misleading transmission information; (2) a prohibition of deceptive subject headings; (3) mandatory inclusion of return address or comparable mechanism in unsolicited commercial electronic mail; (4) a prohibition of transmission of spam after objection; (5) mandatory inclusion of identifier, opt-out, and physical address in spam; and (6) a prohibition against initiating transmission to a protected computer of an unlawful, unsolicited commercial electron mail message, or to assist in the origination of such message through the provision of addresses, with knowledge or reckless disregard as to whether the recipient's address was obtained from an Internet website or proprietary online service or from a proprietary online service that included a notice that the operator will not provide addresses for initiating unsolicited messages. Confers enforcement powers for violations of this Act upon the Federal Trade Commission, designated Federal agencies, and States. Permits a provider of Internet access service adversely affected by a violation of this Act to bring a civil action. Sets forth a maximum civil penalty of $1.5 million for knowing and wilful violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a Coastal and Estuarine Land Protection Program to protect the environmental integrity of undeveloped coastal and estuarine areas. Authorizes the Secretary to make program grants to coastal States, except to ones that have lost less than one percent of their wetlands to development or conversion to other land uses, for the purpose of acquiring property interests. Prohibits any more than 75 percent of the grant funding from being derived from Federal sources. Authorizes the Secretary to provide $5 million for a regional watershed protection demonstration project that: (1) leverages land acquisition funding from other Federal conservation or acquisition programs; (2) involves partnerships with Federal, State, and non-governmental entities; (3) creates conservation corridors; (4) protects habitats under imminent threat of development or conversion; (5) provides water quality protection for areas under the National Estuarine Research Reserve program; and (6) provides a model for future regional watershed protection projects. Reserves 15 percent of program funds for acquisitions benefitting the National Estuarine Research Reserve. Specifies that when property is acquired under this program: (1) title will be held by the grant recipient; (2) property will be managed consistent with the purpose of the program; and (3) funds will be returned to the Secretary if the property is sold, exchanged, or divested. Amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to allow the Secretary to enter into contracts or other arrangements with other Federal agencies (including interagency financing of Coastal America activities) as well as any other qualified person for the purposes of carrying out technical assistance and research to support coastal zone management. (Current law allows the Secretary to enter into such arrangements only with any qualified person).
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Community Development Homeownership Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a community homeownership tax credit based upon an applicable percentage of each qualified residence's eligible basis. Makes such credit available to residences (including factory built homes) located: (1) in a census tract with a median gross income not exceeding 80 percent of the greater area or statewide median gross income; (2) in a rural area; (3) on an Indian reservation; or (4) in an area of chronic economic distress. Prohibits a buyer's income from exceeding 80 percent (70 percent for families of less than three) of the area gross median income and requires owner occupancy. Specifies that the aggregate homeownership credit dollar amount which a homeownership credit agency (an "agency") may disburse is the portion of the "State homeownership credit ceiling" (the "ceiling") allocated to such agency. Allows "unused homeownership credit carryovers" to be allocated among qualified States. Sets aside up to 90 percent of a State's ceiling for certain housing projects in which a qualified nonprofit organization owns an interest and materially participates in the given project's development and operation throughout the credit period. Requires allocation of credit to residences to be in accordance with a "qualified allocation plan" of the agency issuing credit. Lists certain specified criteria such a plan must include and specifies that the plan must be approved by the governmental unit of which such agency is a part.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2003
Recognizes the historical significance of February 19, 1942, the date President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which restricted the freedom of Japanese, German, and Italian Americans and legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and internment. Expresses support for recognizing a National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of those imposed restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to grant States the option of covering certain categories of eligible women and child resident aliens under the Medicaid and SCHIP programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 2003
Commends the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team for winning the 2003 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women's Basketball Championship and for completing the 2002-2003 season with a record of 37 wins and one loss, including winning their record 70th game in a row.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Pension Benefits Protection Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) to protect pension benefits of employees in defined benefit (DB) plans, and to ensure that age discrimination laws are applied to conversions to cash balance plans and other such plans that are hybrids of DB's and defined contribution plans. Requires ERISA, the Code, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1967 to be applied and administered without regard to certain proposed regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury that relate to reductions of accruals and allocations because of the attainment of any age, and to application of nondiscrimination cross-testing rules to cash balance plans. Amends ERISA and the Code to protect certain DB plan participants from forced conversions to hybrid DB plans by plan amendments which change the way the accrued benefit to participants or beneficiaries are expressed and which reduce the rate of future benefit accrual of one or more participants. Requires employers, at the time such amendment takes effect, to provide employees who have attained 40 years of age or 10 years of service with certain notices and an election upon retirement to receive benefits as determined either under the plan in effect at time of retirement or under the plan in effect immediately before the plan amendment. Sets forth a formula to determine when a plan amendment adopted by a large (100 or more participants) DB plan shall be treated as wearing away accrued benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 2003
Expresses serious concern about the continuing menace posed by polio. Implores the private sector and various actors, including the United Nations, concerned States, and international financial institutions, to act hastily to eradicate polio. Calls upon the executive branch to provide the necessary human and material resources to end the scourge of polio, including closely monitoring laboratory stocks of the polio virus.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2003
Calls for: (1) recognition of private organizations and health care providers for promoting awareness and research on scleroderma; (2) greater awareness of the symptoms of scleroderma and contributions to the fight against it; (3) the National Institutes of Health to continue to take a leadership role in research efforts regarding the fight against scleroderma and to allow for broad dissemination of the information learned from such research; and (4) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider additional methods to improve disease surveillance of scleroderma.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Second Century of Flight Act - Establishes in the Department of Transportation an Office of Aerospace and Aviation Liaison (OAAL) to coordinate aviation and aeronautics research programs. Establishes within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a National Air Traffic Management System Development Office, which shall develop a next generation air traffic management system plan for the United States. Directs the OAAL to report to specified congressional committees on market developments and government policies influencing the competitiveness of the U.S. jet transport aircraft industry. Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the FAA Administrator to establish a joint aerospace workforce initiative of grants to increase the number of students in technical training and certificate programs, as well as studying for undergraduate and graduate degrees, in aerospace-related fields. Authorizes the NASA and FAA Administrators to provide loans (scholarships for service) of up to $5,000 per year to fulltime students enrolled in an undergraduate or post-graduate program leading to an advanced degree in an aerospace-related field. Directs the FAA Administrator to: (1) continue the research grant program to improve airfield pavements; (2) review whether its asphalt and concrete airfield pavement standards accord with its standard 20-year-life requirement; (3) arrange with the National Research Council (NRC) to assess the FAA wake turbulence research and development program; (4) establish a cabin air quality research program; (5) exercise leadership with its foreign counterparts in the International Civil Aviation Organization; (6) report to specified congressional committees on aviation and aeronautical safety, and research funding and technological actions in other countries; (7) conduct research to promote development of analytical tools to improve existing certification methods and reduce overall certification costs; (8) develop a Center for Excellence focused on applied research and training with respect to advanced materials in transport airframe structures; and (9) study and report to specified congressional committees on ways to reduce aircraft noise and emissions and increase aircraft fuel efficiency. Authorizes the FAA Administrator to conduct a limited pilot program of incentives to airspace users for deployment of new technologies. Amends Federal transportation law to provide for FAA issuance of design organization certificates authorizing design organizations to certify compliance with certain requirements and minimum standards for the type certification of aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, or appliances. Directs the NASA Administrator to: (1) develop a a ten-year aeronautics research plan; (2) study and report to specified congressional committees on markets enabled by environmental technologies for future aircraft; (3) convert and expand the vehicle systems program into a vehicle-enabling technologies program; (4) develop innovative software-validation technologies; (5) increase research into weather sensors and prediction; (6) develop a National Center for Advanced Materials Performance; and (7) submit unified annual program budgets to specified congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a taxpayer who owns and operates a shipyard to elect to use the completed contract accounting method with respect to an qualified naval construction contract (more than 24 months in duration).
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2003
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow, through December 31, 2008, a limited credit for energy-efficient building property. Defines such property as a fuel cell power plant that: (1) generates electricity using an electrochemical process; (2) has an electricity-only generation efficiency greater than 30 percent; and (3) generates at least 0.5 kilowatt of electricity, using an electrochemical process. Allows, through December 31, 2008, a limited credit to an individual for nonbusiness energy-efficient building property (U.S. residential property) expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2003
Blind Empowerment Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Colon Cancer Screen for Life Act of 2003 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the use of and reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening tests covered under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA). Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) increase reimbursement for colorectal cancer screening and diagnostic tests; (2) cover an outpatient office visit or consultation for the purpose of beneficiary education before a colorectal cancer screening test consisting of a screening colonoscopy or in conjunction with the beneficiary's decision to obtain such a screening, regardless of whether such screening is medically indicated with respect to the beneficiary; and (3) waive the deductible for colorectal cancer screening tests.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2003
Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to increase the imprisonment penalty for animal fighting violations from one year to two years. Makes it unlawful to sell, buy, transport, or deliver in interstate or foreign commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument used in a bird-fighting venture. Revises enforcement provisions. Permits euthanasia for an animal in extreme pain. Includes the Internet or any technology as interstate instrumentality.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2003
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to maintaining the security of all freedom-loving nations. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike such gold medal and to strike and sell duplicate bronze medals; and (2) deposit sums received from the sale of the bronze medals into the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2003
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a former member of the United States Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on March 26, 2003, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Moynihan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2003
America's National Maritime Museum Designation Act - Amends the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 to: (1) revise the designation of museums composing the America's National Maritime Museum; and (2) designate specified new museums to be museums of the America's National Maritime Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2003
Providing Reliable Officers, Technology, Education, Community Prosecutors, and Training In Our Neighborhoods Act of 2003 or PROTECTION Act - Modifies provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 regarding public safety and community policing ("cops on the beat" program, COPS) to authorize the Attorney General to use COPS grants to: (1) increase prosecutor presence and to enhance law enforcement access to new technologies; (2) pay overtime to existing career law enforcement officers to the extent that such overtime is devoted to community policing; and (3) promote higher education among in-service State and local law enforcement officers by reimbursing them for certain educational costs. Includes among permitted additional grant projects: (1) specialized integrity and ethics training; and (2) innovative proactive crime control and prevention programs involving school officials and religiously-affiliated organizations. Authorizes the Attorney General to use up to five percent of appropriated funds for technical assistance and training to States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, and other entities. Repeals provisions of the Act regarding termination of grants for hiring officers. Allows grants to be used to assist: (1) police departments in employing specified professional, scientific, and technological advancements; and (2) State, local, or tribal prosecutors' offices in implementation of community-based prosecution programs that build on local community policing efforts. Reserves specified funds for local governmental units with a population of less than 50,000. Authorizes the Attorney General to use no more than 50 percent of grant renewal funds to award grants targeted for police officer retention.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2003
Commends and supports the efforts and leadership of the President, as Commander in Chief, in the conflict against Iraq. Commends, and expresses the gratitude of the Nation to all members of the United States Armed Forces (whether on active duty, in the National Guard, or in the Reserves) and the civilian employees who support their efforts, as well as the men and women of civilian national security agencies who are participating in the military operations in the Persian Gulf region, for their professional excellence, dedicated patriotism and exemplary bravery. Commends and expresses the gratitude of the Nation to the family members of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and civilians serving in operations against Iraq who have borne the burden of sacrifice and separation from their loved ones. Expresses the deep condolences of the Senate to the families of brave Americans who have lost their lives in this undertaking, over many years, against Iraq. Joins all Americans in remembering those who lost their lives during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1991, those still missing from that conflict, including Captain Scott Speicher, USN, and the thousands of Americans who have lost their lives in terrorist attacks over the years, and in the Global War on Terrorism. Expresses sincere gratitude to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government for their courageous and steadfast support, as well as gratitude to other allied nations for their military support, logistical support, and other assistance in the campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2003
Recognizes that a strong domestic steel industry and strong domestic manufacturing base are vital to national defense and economic security. Urges the President to request the United States International Trade Commission, in addition to fulfilling certain monitoring and reporting requirements under the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to the progress of workers in a domestic industry to make a positive adjustment to import competition, to monitor and report on the impact that temporary tariff increases and tariff-rate quotas on certain steel imports proclaimed by the President on March 5, 2002, have had on steel-consuming industries and ports of entry in the United States.
![Official portrait of Sen. Dodd, Christopher J. [D-CT]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000388_200.jpg)