United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Establishes a Rural Policing Institute to be administered by the Office of State and Local Training of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (based in Glynco, Georgia). Requires the Institute to: (1) evaluate the needs of law enforcement agencies of local and tribal governments in rural areas; (2) develop expert training programs to address the needs of such agencies regarding combating methamphetamine addiction and distribution, domestic violence, and response to school shootings; and (3) conduct outreach to ensure that its training programs reach law enforcement officers of such agencies. .
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Charles W. Norwood, Jr., a former member of the House of Representatives from Georgia. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on February 13, 2007, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Representative Norwood.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to apply specified rules for an additional redistribution of amounts from unexpended FY2005-FY2006 allotments to address funding shortfalls in SCHIP for FY2007.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Artist-Museum Partnership Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who create literary, musical, artistic, or scholarly compositions or similar property a fair market value (determined at the time of contribution) tax deduction for contributions of such properties, the copyrights thereon, or both, to certain tax-exempt organizations, if such properties are properly appraised and are donated no sooner than 18 months after their creation. Limits the amount of such deduction based upon the donor's artistic adjusted gross income, as defined by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Preserving Patient Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals Act of 2007 - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 to revise the classification criterion used to determine whether a hospital or hospital unit is an inpatient rehabilitation facility under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Eliminates the current schedule of applicable percentages. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, instead, to require in the classification criterion a compliance rate no greater than the 60% compliance rate that became effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2005. Requires the Secretary, for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2007, to include patients with comorbidity in the inpatient population that counts towards such 60% compliance rate. Requires the Secretary, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, fiscal intermediaries, Medicare administrative contractors, recovery audit contractors, and other government agents to use and apply the criteria established in HCFA Ruling 85-2, as issued on July 31, 1985, as the sole standard for determining the medical necessity of services provided by inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units to beneficiaries under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Agricultural Business Security Tax Credit Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a retailer of agricultural products and chemicals or a manufacturer, formulator, or distributor of certain pesticides a business tax credit for 30 percent of costs for or related to the protection of such chemicals or pesticides, including employee security training and background checks, installation of security equipment, and computer network safeguards. Sets a $2 million annual limit on such credit and a per facility limitation of $100,000 (reduced by credits received for the five prior taxable years). Terminates such credit after 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the classification, for depreciation purposes, of any motorsports entertainment complex as seven year property.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Agricultural Business Security Tax Credit Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a retailer of agricultural products and chemicals or a manufacturer, formulator, or distributor of certain pesticides a business tax credit for 30 percent of costs for or related to the protection of such chemicals or pesticides, including employee security training and background checks, installation of security equipment, and computer network safeguards. Sets a $2 million annual limit on such credit and a per facility limitation of $100,000 (reduced by credits received for the five prior taxable years). Terminates such credit after 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2007
Southeast Crescent Authority Act of 2007 - Establishes a Southeast Crescent Authority for all parts of the following southeastern states not eligible for assistance from the Appalachian Regional Commission or the Delta Regional Authority: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Directs the Authority to perform various functions, including: (1) formulating plans and programs to spur economic development, and approving grants to states and public and nonprofit entities toward that end; (2) establishing priorities in a development plan for the region; (3) supporting local development districts, and creating them where they do not exist; and (4) encouraging private investment in the region. Permits the Authority to request and receive federal, state and local government personnel as employees. States that Authority grants for infrastructure development may be made only to state or local governments. Permits Authority grants for job training, employment-related education, business development, assisting severely distressed and poor areas, or for other purposes in accordance with this Act. Allows the Authority to designate annually: (1) distressed counties; and (2) isolated areas of distress in nondistressed counties. Directs the Authority to garner public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of its plans and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2007
Repeals the termination date in the Jobs Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 for provisions reducing individual tax rates on capital gains and dividend income.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. (who performed the first successful coronary bypass, pioneered the field of telemedicine, was elected the first President of Baylor College of Medicine, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction and the National Medal of Science) in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Living Kidney Organ Donation Clarification Act of 2007 - Provides that for purposes of provisions of the National Organ Transplant Act that prohibit the transfer of any human organ for use in human transplantation for valuable consideration, kidney paired donations do not involve such a transfer.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Commends the Miss America Organization for its longstanding commitment to quality education and the character of women in this country. Congratulates Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson of Lawton, Oklahoma.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Medicare End-of-Life Care Planning Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of an end-of-life planning consultation, including discussion of advance directives, as part of an initial preventive physical examination.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and report to Congress on outcome standards and measures to evaluate the performance of health care programs and projects that provide end-of-life care to individuals, and assess access to, and utilization of, such programs and projects. Requires the Secretary to study and report to Congress on all matters relating to the establishment and implementation of a national uniform policy on advanced directives for individuals receiving items and services under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA). Amends SSA titles XVIII and XIX to: (1) require service providers and eligible organizations to provide an appropriately trained professional for discussing advance directive issues with all adult individuals receiving medical care by or through such entities; and (2) ensure that an advance directive valid in one state will be honored in another state. Requires the Secretary, through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to: (1) operate a clearinghouse and a 24-hour toll-free telephone hotline to provide consumer information about advance directives, end-of-life decision making, and available end-of-life and hospice care services; and (2) conduct a demonstration project to develop new and innovative approaches to providing end-of-life care to Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP (SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance)) beneficiaries. Establishes within HHS an End-of-Life Care Advisory Board.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Advance Directives Improvement and Education Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for Medicare coverage of end-of-life planning and consultations as part of an initial preventive physical examination. Requires a service provider, Medicare Advantage organization, or prepaid or eligible organization to give effect to an advance directive executed outside the state in which it is presented, even one that does not appear to meet the formalities of execution, form, or language required by the state in which it is presented, to the same extent as such provider or organization would give effect to an advanced directive that meets such requirements. Permits a provider or organization to decline to honor such a directive if it can be reasonably demonstrated that it is not an authentic expression of the individual's wishes concerning his or her health care. Makes such advance directive requirements applicable under SSA title XIX (Medicaid). Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, directly or through grants, to: (1) conduct a national education campaign to raise public awareness of the importance of planning for care near the end of life; and (2) provide for a national, toll-free information clearinghouse, as well as clearinghouses that the public may access to find out about state-specific information regarding advance directives and end-of-life decisions. Requires the General Accounting Office to study and report to Congress on the feasibility of a national registry for advanced directives.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2007
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the Revised Statutes of the United States, to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2007
Cellulosic Ethanol Incentive Act of 2007 - Amends the Clean Air Act to: (1) increase the volume of renewable fuel required to be in gasoline for 2012; (2) prescribe such volumes applicable for 2013 through 2030; (3) apply existing requirements (with a revised ratio) for determining volumes for years not specified to calendar year 2031 and thereafter; (4) prescribe increasing minimum quantities of renewable fuel that must be derived from cellolosic biomass for 2010 through 2030; and (5) apply, for 2010 and thereafter, the 2.5-to-1 ratio of cellulosic biomass ethanol or waste derived ethanol to renewable fuel only to the quantity of cellulosic biomass ethanol sold that is in excess of the minimum quantity of renewable fuel derived from cellulosic biomass required for that year. Requires not less than 30% of the total volume of renewable fuel required in a state under this Act to be derived from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) region in which the state is located. Allows the Administrator of the EPA to reduce or waive such requirement if it would be impracticable for the region to produce the required volume of renewable fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2007
Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require an abortion provider, before beginning any abortion of a pain-capable unborn child (defined as an unborn child who has reached a probable stage of development of 20 weeks after fertilization), to: (1) make a specified statement to the pregnant woman that Congress has determined that there is substantial evidence that the process will cause the unborn child pain, and that the mother has the option of having pain-reducing drugs administered directly to the child; (2) provide to the woman an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Brochure (unless she waives receipt) and an Unborn Child Pain Awareness Decision Form; and (3) obtain on the form the woman's signature and her explicit request for or refusal of the administration of drugs to the child. Creates an exception for certified medical emergencies. Establishes penalties for willfully failing to comply with this Act, including civil penalties, medical license suspension, or both. Authorizes: (1) specified officials to bring suit in federal court; and (2) private rights of action by a parent or guardian of a woman who is an unemancipated minor. Requires each state and state medical licensing authority to promulgate procedures for the revocation or suspension of a provider's license upon a court finding that the provider has violated this Act. Subjects a state that fails to implement such procedures to loss of Medicaid funding.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2007
Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2007 - Provides for increases in the numbers of federal immigration enforcement-related positions and technological assets for use along the borders, including Department of Defense (DOD) equipment. Provides for: (1) recruitment of former military personnel; (2) border control facilities construction; (3) land border port of entry construction and improvements; (4) border patrol checkpoints; and (5) fencing, barrier, and road construction and improvements in the Yuma and Tucson sectors. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (Secretary) to develop: (1) a comprehensive land and maritime border surveillance plan; (2) a National Strategy for Border Security; (3) a plan to combat human smuggling; (4) a southern border study; and (5) a schedule for equippng all land border ports of entry with the U.S.-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) system. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) report to Congress on improving the exchange of North American security information; (2) work with Canada and Mexico to assist Guatemala and Belize in border security activities; (3) work with Mexico on border security and drug and human smuggling matters; and (4) work with appropriate countries to share information and track Central American gang members. Provides for biometric data (including entry-exit data collection), document, and other border security enhancements. Requires mandatory detention of an alien (other than a Mexican national) apprehended illegally seeking to enter the United States at a U.S. port of entry or land or maritime border as of October 1, 2008, unless such alien is: (1) paroled into the United States for humanitarian or public benefit reasons; or (2) permitted to withdraw an admission application and immediately departs from the United States. Exempts from mandatory detention an alien who is a native or citizen of a Western Hemisphere country with whose government the United States does not have full diplomatic relations (currently, Cuba). Makes it unlawful for a person to elude customs, immigration, or agriculture inspection. Authorizes (until January 1, 2009) a state (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) to use National Guard personnel or units of such state for up to 21 days annually to perform certain border security activities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Extends the implementation date for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Directs the Secretary of State to develop a Passport Card for U.S. citizen travel from the United States to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean countries, and Bermuda. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of State to enter into a state enrollment demonstration program with at least one state. Border Law Enforcement Relief Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to a tribal, state, or local law enforcement agency located in a county within 100 miles of a U.S. border with Canada or Mexico, or in a county beyond 100 miles that has been certified by the Secretary as a high impact area to provide assistance in addressing: (1) criminal activity that occurs by virtue of proximity to the border; and (2) the impact of any lack of border security. Authorizes the Secretary, if the governor of a border state declares an international border security emergency and requests additional Border Patrol agents, to provide such state with up to 1,000 additional agents. Raises the annual increase in the number of full-time Border Patrol agents. Makes all aliens inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds ineligible for asylum. Increases the class of aliens ineligible on security-related grounds for cancellation of removal or voluntary departure. Revises provisions respecting detention and removal of aliens under order of removal. Makes alien members of criminal street gangs inadmissible and deportable. Denies temporary protected status to gang members. Revises alien smuggling provisions. Establishes extraterritorial federal jurisdiction over smuggling offenses. Directs the Secretary to establish the American Local and Interior Enforcement Needs (ALIEN) Task Force to respond to the use of government transportation infrastructure to further unlawful alien trafficking. Provides a mandatory minimum sentence for carrying or using a firearm during an alien smuggling crime. Revises illegal entry, reentry after removal, and related criminal penalty provisions. Makes it a crime to knowingly be illegally present in the United States. Revises passport and visa provisions. Criminalizes: (1) trafficking in passports; (2) executing a scheme to defraud a person in connection with any federal immigration matter; and (3) knowing use of any immigration document issued or designed for use by another. Provides an exception for refugees, asylees, and certain other vulnerable persons. Makes an alien convicted of a passport or visa violation inadmissible and removable. Revises and increases penalties for marriage fraud. Continues and provides for the expansion to all states of the institutional removal program (IRP). Revises voluntary departure provisions. Prohibits the knowing sale of firearms to, or the possession of firearms by, an alien parolee. Establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for specified immigration-related offenses. States that no provision of law shall be construed to provide immigration benefits to an alien who poses a security threat, is under investigation for removal, or for whom background checks have not been completed. Provides reimbursement to states and local government for costs associated with: (1) processing undocumented criminal aliens through the criminal justice system; and (2) immigration enforcement training. Directs the Secretary to provide sufficient transportation and officers to take state- and locally-apprehended illegal aliens into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody. Authorizes grants for Indian tribes with lands adjacent to an international border of the United States that have been adversely affected by illegal immigration. Revises alien registration provisions. Includes in the definition of aggravated felony a third drunk driving conviction. Makes the J-1 visa (medical services in underserved areas) program permanent. Requires expedited removal of an illegal alien apprehended within 100 miles of the border and within 14 days of entry. Prohibits certain sex offenders from sponsoring an immigrant applicant. Affirms state law enforcement authority to assist (including transfer to federal custody) the federal government in enforcing U.S. immigration laws during the normal course of law enforcement duties. Provides for related federal reimbursement of state costs. Provides for listing of immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center Database. Directs the Secretary to: (1) construct or acquire 20 additional detention facilities for aliens detained pending removal (or a decision on removal); (2) utilize cost-effective alternatives, including federal facilities; and (3) consider the transfer of military installations under base closure laws for such purposes. Requires the office of the U.S. Attorney that is prosecuting a criminal case in federal court to determine whether each defendant is lawfully present in the United States within 30 days of filing the initial case pleadings, and report such information to the court. Directs the Attorney General to expand the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transfer System (JPATS). Establishes a W-visa guest worker category for an alien having a residence in a foreign country who is coming to the United States to perform: (1) agricultural labor or services; or (2) any other labor or services. Prohibits any alien who is unlawfully employed in the United States as of January 1, 2007, from receiving a nonimmigrant W-visa (nonimmigrant guest worker) unless the alien applies for registration and fingerprinting and applies for a guest worker visa within one year. States that: (1) an illegal alien who fails to register is subject to immediate deportation and is ineligible to receive such a W-visa; and (2) an employer who knowingly employs an illegal alien shall be ineligible to employ a W- visa alien. Increases criminal penalties for: (1) document fraud; and (2) specified crimes committed by illegal aliens. States that any program authorized by this Act which grants legal status or status adjustment to any individual who enters or entered the United States in violation of federal law shall be effective on the date that the Secretary submits a written certification to the President and Congress that the border security/enforcement measures and federal detention space increases under this Act have been completed and are operational.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2007
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should commence negotiations to enter into a free trade agreement with the Republic of Georgia.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2007
Disabled Veterans Tax Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow members of the uniformed services whose retired pay in any taxable year is reduced due to an award of disability compensation by the Department of Veterans Affairs an extension of the three-year limitation period for filing tax refund claims until one year after the date of a disability determination. Limits the period for which such refund claims may be filed to taxable years beginning less than five years before the date of a disability determination.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2007
Securing America's Future Economy Commission Act, or SAFE Commission Act - Establishes the Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Commission to develop legislation designed to address: (1) the unsustainable imbalance between long-term federal spending commitments and projected revenues; (2) increases in net national savings to provide for domestic investment and economic growth; (3) the implications of foreign ownership of federally issued debt instruments; and (4) revision of the budget process to place greater emphasis on long-term fiscal issues. Requires the Commission to: (1) develop one or two methods for estimating the cost of legislation as an alternative to the current Congressional Budget Office (CBO) method; and (2) hold at least one town-hall style public hearing within each federal reserve district. Requires the Commission to submit a legislative proposal to Congress and the President. Authorizes the President to submit to Congress an alternative proposal. Authorizes the Committee on the Budget of either chamber to publish its own alternative proposal in the Congressional Record. Sets forth procedures for consideration of such legislation. Requires CBO to prepare a long-term cost estimate and have it published in the Congressional Record as expeditiously as possible whenever requested to do so by the Commission, the President, or the chairman or ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget of either chamber.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2007
CAFO Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow owners or operators of a concentrated animal feeding operation a business-related tax credit, up to $500,000 in a taxable year, for the cost of compliance with a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit issued under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Terminates such credit after 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2007
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the expensing allowance for depreciable business property from $100,000 to $200,000; (2) make such allowance permanent; (3) increase to $800,000 the asset cost threshold for calculating reductions in such allowance; (4) allow an annual inflation adjustment to the expensing allowance and the threshold amount after 2007; and (5) allow a taxpayer to revoke an election to expense such business property without the prior consent of the Secretary of the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2007
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to Constantino Brumidi, in recognition of his contributions to the Nation as a designer and decorator of the U.S. Capitol. Requires the Architect of the Capitol to arrange for the gold medal to be displayed in the Capitol Visitor Center as part of an exhibit honoring Constantino Brumidi.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require Senate candidates to file election-related designations, statements, and reports in electronic form. Requires the Secretary of the Senate to forward a copy of any electronically filed designation, statement, or report to the Federal Election Commission within one working day (instead of the current two working days) after receiving it.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Voluntary Support for Reservists and National Guard Members Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to designate that a portion (but not less than $1) of any income tax overpayment be paid over to the Reserve Income Replacement Program to benefit reservists and National Guard members.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Calling for 2-1-1 Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a grant to each state to carry out a program 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% 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 · 9 January 2007
Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, as amended by the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006, to extend the date by which the President must determine whether Haiti is meeting specified political, economic, social, and security requirements in order for Haiti to qualify for preferential trade provisions under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) guarantee the payment of principal and interest on private lender loans to small businesses located in a disaster area; and (2) make disaster loans to private nonprofit organizations located or operating in a disaster area. Increases disaster loan caps. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) allow small business development centers (SBDCs) to provide assistance to a small business located outside the state of the SBDC if the business is in a disaster area; (2) establish a contracting outreach and technical assistance program for small businesses having a significant presence in a disaster area; (3) declare a disaster area as an area of concentrated unemployment or underemployment, or a labor surplus area, for purposes of a contracting priority for local small businesses; and (4) establish and implement a disaster assistance business loan program. Provides for increased public notice of disaster declaration and application periods and deadlines. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into agreements with private contractors to process disaster loans. Requires the Administrator to amend the 2006 hurricane season disaster response plan to apply to major disasters and catastrophic national disasters. Provides for increased congressional oversight of the SBA disaster loan program with respect to presidentially declared disasters. Authorizes the Administrator to make loans to assist small businesses that have or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of significant increases in the price of heating fuel due to a disaster-related energy emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Law Enforcement Assistance Force Act of 2007 or the LEAF Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Law Enforcement Assistance Force (Force) to facilitate the contributions of retired law enforcement officers and agents during major disasters. Outlines Force eligibility requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to request eligible participants to assist efforts of federal, state, or local government law enforcement agencies in responding to such disasters. Requires a participant to remain in an assignment for the lesser of: (1) the period during which the law enforcement agency needs such services; or (2) 30 days.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Social Security Totalization Agreement Reform Act of 2007 or STAR Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide that any agreement to establish a totalization arrangement which is entered into with another country shall enter into force with respect to the United States if (and only if): (1) the President, at least 90 calendar days before the date on which he enters into the agreement, notifies each House of Congress of his intention to enter into it, and promply thereafter publishes notice of such intention in the Federal Register; (2) he transmits the text of such agreement to each House of the Congress; and (3) a joint resolution regarding such agreement has passed both Houses of Congress and been enacted into federal law. Sets forth procedures for the consideration of such a joint resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Freedom to Fly Act of 2007 - Allows a pilot who has attained 60 years of age to serve as a passenger airline pilot until the age of 65 years old only if the pilot serves: (1) as a required pilot in multi-crew aircraft operations; and (2) with another required pilot who has not yet attained 60 years of age. Terminates the age-60 rule (mandatory retirement age) 30 days after enactment of this Act. Declares that such requirements shall not provide the basis for a claim of seniority made under any labor bargaining agreement in effect between the pilots and an air carrier by any pilot who has attained age 60 before the effective date of this Act and who is seeking a position as a pilot with such carrier following that pilot's termination or cessation of employment or promotion or transfer to another position with such air carrier.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the excise tax on communication services (i.e., local telephone service, toll telephone service, and teletypewriter exchange service).
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapy Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, or testing of pluripotent stem cells that have the flexibility of embryonic stem cells (whether or not they have an embryonic source) and that may result in improved understanding of, or treatments for, diseases and other adverse health conditions, provided that such techniques do not involve: (1) the creation of a viable human embryo for research purposes; or (2) the destruction or discarding of a human embryo or embryos; or (3) knowingly subjecting a human embryo or embryos to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for federal research on fetuses in utero under current law. Requires the Secretary to: (1) provide guidance concerning the next steps required for additional research; (2) prioritize research with the greatest potential for near-term clinical benefit; and (3) take into account techniques outlined by the President's Council on Bioethics and any other appropriate techniques and research.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Amends the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 to increase from nine to 13 the number of members on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Revises the current requirement that at least seven Board members be legal residents of the TVA service area. Requires, instead, that at least one member be a legal resident of each state in the TVA service area.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Paul Coverdell Homestead Open Space Preservation and Conservation Act of 2006 (sic) - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain tax-exempt conservation organizations a tax credit for expenditures to acquire and maintain real property interests exclusively for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Expresses the sense of Congress that an artistic tribute to commemorate the speech given by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, should be placed within the U.S. Capitol.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2006
Supports the goals and ideals of a "National Children and Families Day," as established by the National Children's Museum, on the fourth Saturday of June.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2006
Cytology Proficiency Improvement Act of 2006 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise national quality assurance standards to assure consistent performance by laboratories of valid and reliable cytology services, to include requirements that each clinical laboratory: (1) ensure that all individuals involved in screening and interpreting cytological preparations participate annually in an approved continuing medical education program in gynecologic cytology that provides each participant with gynecologic cytologic preparations designed to improve locator, recognition, and interpretive skills; and (2) maintain a record of program results. Requires the Secretary to terminate individual proficiency testing that was in effect before enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2006
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 103 East Thompson Street in Thomaston, Georgia, as the "Sergeant First Class Robert Lee 'Bobby' Hollar, Jr. Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2006
Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for any person to engage in an activity within 60 minutes before and after, and within a specified distance of, a funeral of a member or former member of the Armed Forces at a cemetery other than a national cemetery that intentionally disburbs or tends to disturb the peace or good order of such funeral or impedes access to such funeral. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to one year for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2006
Home Ownership Protection Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $250,000 to $350,000 the amount of gain a taxpayer may exclude from gross income from the sale of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2006
Condemns: (1) the statements made by President Hugo Chavez at the U.N. General Assembly on September 20, 2006; and (2) the undemocratic actions of President Chavez.
![Official portrait of Sen. Isakson, Johnny [R-GA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/i000055_200.jpg)