United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2007
Extends through December 31, 2009, provisions requiring the U.S. Postal Service to issue a special postage stamp for first-class mail that costs not less than 15% more than the regular first-class stamp to contribute funding for breast cancer research.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2007
Rural Teacher Retention Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to establish a five-year pilot program awarding competitive grants to no more than 10 states to enable them to award salary bonuses to highly qualified teachers or highly qualified special education teachers who teach, or commit to teach, for at least three academic years, in an elementary or secondary school served by the same rural local educational agency (LEA), including one that serves a high number or percentage of children who are Native Hawaiian. Awards such grants on the basis of the needs of a state's rural LEAs for recruiting and retaining such teachers. Requires that, in determining such needs, the Secretary consider: (1) a rural LEA's eligibility for assistance under part B (Rural Education Initiative) of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (2) a rural LEA's service of low-income, limited English proficient, migrant, Indian, or disabled students; and (3) the state's long-term plans for recruiting and retaining such teachers in its rural LEAs. Requires the Secretary to track and assess the implementation and effectiveness of each project funded under this Act..
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2007
Community Restoration and Revitalization Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow an increased rehabilitation tax credit for certain low-income buildings; (2) allow a basis reduction adjustment for property eligible for the credit; (3) increase the credit for certain smaller buildings; (4) allow property eligible for the credit to be used for lodging purposes; (5) modify placed-in-service rules for credit property; (6) modify qualification rules for credit property that is tax-exempt use property; (7) increase the credit for buildings in high cost areas; and (8) exempt certain condominium transactions from rehabilitation tax credit recapture requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Protecting Children's Health in Schools Act of 2007 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish requirements for providing and receiving reimbursement for school-based health care for children, including children with special needs, and the related administrative and transportation costs covered under Medicaid. Includes health care provided through Medicaid managed care organizations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Education, acting jointly, to develop and implement a uniform methodology for claims under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research, and Treatment for Women Act or the HEART for Women Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Public Health Service Act to require an application for approval or for investigation of a drug, device, or biological product to include information stratified by sex, race, and ethnicity, including any differences in safety and effectiveness. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) withhold approval of such an application or place a clinical hold on an investigation if such information is not included; and (2) report to the scientific community and make information available to the public on such stratified data upon approval of an application. Requires the Comptroller General to study the drug approval process to ensure compliance with this Act. Requires the Secretary to require that all nonidentifiable patient safety work product reported to a patient safety database be stratified by sex. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to report to Congress concerning the quality of and access to care for women with heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases. Provides for an educational campaign relating to heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases in women. Authorizes appropriations to enable the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) program projects in all states and territories.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2007
Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act - Exempts provisions expanding the adoption tax credit and adoption assistance programs enacted by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 from the general terminating (sunset) provisions of that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2007
Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to require a group health plan that provides both medical and surgical benefits and mental health benefits to ensure that: (1) the financial requirements applicable to such mental health benefits are no more restrictive than those of substantially all medical and surgical benefits covered by the plan, including deductibles and copayments; and (2) the treatment limitations applicable to such mental health benefits are no more restrictive than those applied to substantially all medical and surgical benefits covered by the plan, including limits on the frequency of treatments or similar limits on the scope or duration of treatment. Prohibits the plan from establishing separate cost sharing requirements that are applicable only with respect to mental health benefits. Excludes from the requirements of this Act any group health plan: (1) for an employer with not more than 50 employees; or (2) whose costs of compliance with this Act increase the total costs of coverage by more than a specified percentage. Supersedes any provision of state law that establishes, implements, or continues in effect any standard or requirement that differs from the requirements of this Act, except for laws relating to the individual insurance market or small employers. Requires the Comptroller General to study the effect of this Act on the cost of health insurance coverage, access to such coverage, the quality of health care, and the impact on benefits and coverage for mental health and substance abuse.
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 · 7 February 2007
Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Act - Amends the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2000 to repeal provisions establishing the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council. Establishes the Intellectual Property Enforcement Network (IPEN), consisting of specified representatives of various government agencies, to: (1) establish policies, objectives, and priorities concerning international intellectual property protection and law enforcement; (2) coordinate and facilitate implementation of such policies, objectives, and priorities; and (3) protect U.S. intellectual property rights overseas, including by creating an international task force. Requires the agencies in IPEN to: (1) share the information they collect; (2) coordinate civil and criminal actions related to intellectual property rights; (3) establish formal processes for consulting and working with state and local government agencies and consulting with companies, writers, artists, labor unions, and other interested persons and groups; and (4) consult with the Register of Copyrights on law enforcement matters. Urges the President and relevant agency officers, when meeting with certain foreign countries, to stress the importance of establishing and participating in the international task force. Requires the Director of the Office of Mangement and Budget and the Coordinator of IPEN to submit to the President and the relevant congressional committees a strategic plan, which includes the goals, objectives, and priorities of IPEN. Calls for other government intellectual property initiatives to be consolidated into the work of IPEN to prevent duplication.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2007
Teacher Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the allowable tax deduction for the expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers to $400; (2) allow the deduction of professional development expenses; and (3) make such deduction permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) suicide among veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious problem; and (2) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should take into consideration the special needs of veterans suffering from PTSD in developing and implementing the program required under this Act. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a comprehensive program for reducing the incidence of suicide among veterans. Requires the program to include: (1) a national mental health campaign to increase mental health awareness in the veteran community; (2) mandatory training on suicide and suicide prevention for appropriate Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees and contractor personnel; (3) family education and peer support counseling; (4) veterans' health assessments, counseling, and treatment programs; (5) suicide prevention counselors; (6) research on suicide prevention; (7) treatment programs for veterans suffering from substance abuse; (8) 24-hour veterans' mental health care availability; and (9) a toll-free hotline.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2007
Tribal Colleges and Universities Faculty Loan Forgiveness Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the cancellation of a specified percentage of the total amount of any Federal Perkins loan, Federal Family Education loan, or direct student loan for each year of employment (up to five) as a full-time faculty member at a tribal college or university if the borrower is not in default on such loan. Requires the Secretary to assume or cancel the obligation to repay: (1) 15% of the amount of all such loans made, insured, or guaranteed after enactment of this Act to a student for the first or second year of employment; (2) 20% for the third or fourth year of such employment; and (3) 30% for the fifth year. Limits the total amount of loan repayment or cancellation per student to $15,000. Allows for repayment or cancellation of consolidation loans only to the extent of the qualified student loans involved. Prohibits a borrower from receiving, for the same service, both a benefit from this Act and a benefit from the National Community Service Act of 1990. Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for repayment by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of educational loans for nurse training costs on behalf of nursing instructors at tribal colleges or universities, or any land-grant institution listed in the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994. Provides that the amount of any loan forgiven under this Act shall not be treated as gross income for federal tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to define "criminal street gang" and "gang crime" and to prohibit: (1) the commission of a gang crime or crime of violence to further the activities of a criminal street gang ; and (2) the recruitment of another person to join a criminal street gang. Increases criminal penalties for: (1) certain violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity; (2) possession of firearms by repeat offenders; and (3) crimes of violence and drug trafficking crimes committed by illegal aliens. Provides for criminal forfeiture of any property used to commit a gang crime Amends the Controlled Substances Act to impose criminal penalties for murder and other violent crimes committed in the course of a drug trafficking crime. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) designate certain areas in states as high intensity interstate gang activity areas and to provide assistance to such areas; (2) expand the Project Safe Neighborhoods program to require U.S. attorneys to prosecute criminal street gangs operating in their districts; (3) require the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to increase funding for the Safe Streets Programs and support criminal street gang enforcement teams; (4) conduct media campaigns in high intensity interstate gang activity areas to educate the public about efforts to combat criminal gang activities; and (5) make grants to states to prevent abductions of children by family members. Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to authorize grants for technology and training to increase accurate identification of gang members and violent offenders. Establishes in the U.S. Marshals Service a Short-Term Witness Protection Section to provide protection for witnesses in state and local trials involving homicide or other violent crimes. Expands the federal witness relocation and protection program to include protection against criminal street gangs.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 - Amends the Revised Statutes and federal criminal law to prohibit any person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, from knowingly deceiving any other person regarding: (1) the time, place, or manner of conducting any federal election; or (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility for any such election. Makes intent to prevent another person from exercising the right to vote an essential element of the offense. Creates a private right of action for any person aggrieved by a violation of such prohibition. Prescribes a criminal penalty for such deceptive acts. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense under this Act. Authorizes any person to report to the Attorney General false election information. Requires the Attorney General, immediately after receiving such a report, to consider and review it and, if there is a reasonable basis to find that false information has been communicated, to: (1) undertake all effective measures necessary to provide correct information to voters affected by the false information; (2) refer any pertinent matter to the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice for prosecution; and (3) refer the matter to the appropriate federal and state authorities for criminal prosecution or civil action after the election. Directs the Attorney General to study the feasibility of providing such corrective information through public service announcements, the emergency alert system, or other forms of public broadcast. Authorizes the Attorney General to establish a Voting Integrity Task Force.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award a grant to each eligible school of nursing to increase the number of nursing faculty and students. Requires such schools to formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at least two of specified goals, which include: (1) establishing or significantly expanding an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months; (2) establishing cooperative interdisciplinary training between schools of nursing and other specified health related fields; (3) increasing admissions, enrollment, and retention of qualified individuals who are financially disadvantaged; (4) increasing enrollment of minority and diverse student populations; (5) increasing enrollment of new graduate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate programs that educate nurse faculty members; (6) developing post-baccalaureate residency programs to prepare nurses for practice in specialty areas where nursing shortages are more severe; and (7) increasing integration of geriatric content into the core curriculum. Requires the Comptroller General to study ways to increase participation in the nurse faculty profession and to submit a report to Congress that includes: (1) a discussion of the master's degree and doctoral degree programs that are successful in placing graduates as faculty in schools of nursing; and (2) an examination of compensation disparities throughout the nursing profession and between higher education instructional faculty generally and higher education instructional nursing faculty.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish the Center for Postmarket Evaluation and Research for Drugs and Biologics within the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Requires the Director of the Center to conduct activities to ensure the safety and effectiveness of FDA-approved drugs and licensed biological products, including by: (1) conducting postmarket risk assessment and surveillance of such drugs and products; (2) determining whether a postmarket study is required; (3) contracting, or requiring the sponsor of such a drug or product to contract, with the holders of domestic and international patient databases to conduct epidemiologic and other observational studies; (4) determining whether a drug or product may present an unreasonable risk to the health of patients or the general public; (5) taking corrective action if such an unreasonable risk may exist; and (6) making information about the safety and effectiveness of such drugs and biological products available to the public and health care providers in a timely manner. Requires the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee to make recommendations to the Director on postmarket studies, drugs and biological products that may present an unreasonable risk, and appropriate corrective actions. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess civil penalties for violations of this Act. Allows the Director to withdraw or suspend approval of a drug or license for a biological product using expedited procedures under certain circumstances. Transfers to the Center the functions and duties of the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Physician Pathology Services Continuity Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, with regard to a laboratory-furnished technical component of certain physician pathology services, to treat such component as a service for which payment shall be made to the laboratory, and not as an inpatient hospital or hospital outpatient service for which payment is made to the hospital.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Action of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan or a health issuer offering group health insurance coverage that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Prohibits such a plan or issuer from: (1) restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay to less than 48 hours in connection with a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or 24 hours in connection with a lymph node dissection; or (2) requiring that a provider obtain authorization from the plan or issuer for prescribing any such length of stay. Requires such a plan or issuer to: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this Act; and (2) ensure that full coverage is provided for secondary consultations by specialists in the appropriate medical fields to confirm or refute a diagnosis of cancer. Applies such requirements to health insurance issuers offering coverage in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
John R. Justice Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2007- Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Attorney General to assume the obligation to repay student loans for borrowers who agree to remain employed, for at least three years, as: (1) state or local criminal prosecutors; or (2) state, local, or federal public defenders in criminal cases. Allows a borrower and the Attorney General to enter into an additional loan repayment agreement, after the required three-year period, for a successive period of service which may be less than three years. Limits the amount paid under such program on behalf of any borrower to $10,000 per calendar year and $60,000 total.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2007 - Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability (currently, only a disability rated at 50 percent or more). States that, in the case of a qualified retiree receiving veterans' disability compensation for a disability rated as total by reason of unemployability, payment of military retired pay is subject to a phase-in of concurrent receipt of both only during the period beginning on January 1, 2004, and ending on December 31, 2007 (currently September 30, 2009). Makes eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay those individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Fair Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2007 or the FACT Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish and operate a data bank of information on clinical trials, to include: (1) a clinical trials registry of health-related interventions conducted to test the safety or effectiveness of any drug, biological product, or device intended to treat serious or life-threatening diseases and conditions; and (2) a clinical trial results database of health-related interventions to test the safety or effectiveness of any drug, biological product, or device. Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to make available to the public: (1) the full reviews conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of new or supplemental new drug applications, including documentation of significant differences of opinion and the resolution of those differences; and (2) copies of written consultations on a drug's safety conducted by the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology. Requires the Secretary to assess civil monetary penalties for knowingly submitting inaccurate information to the FDA. Allows the Secretary to correct any information included in the registry or database that is factually and substantively inaccurate, false, or misleading. Extends requirements of this Act to clinical trials conducted outside of the United States under certain circumstances. Prohibits a responsible person or a manufacturer from performing any act that prohibits, limits, or imposes unreasonable delays on the ability of an individual to discuss or publish the results of a clinical trial. Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine to study the extent to which data submitted to the registry has impacted the public health.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2007
Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the outpatient therapy cap.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2007
Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2007 or the KIDS Act of 2007 - Amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to require a convicted sex offender to: (1) provide for inclusion in the National Sex Offender Registry any electronic mail address, instant message address, or other similar identifier used to communicate over the Internet; and (2) keep such information current. Requires jurisdictions that maintain information about sex offenders to exempt from public disclosure any electronic mail address, instant message address, or other similar Internet identifier used by a sex offender. Requires the Attorney General to maintain a system to allow commercial social networking websites to compare their databases of users to the Internet identifiers of persons in the National Sex Offender Registry. Exempts such websites from civil liability if compliant with the requirements of this Act. Amends the federal criminal code to impose a fine and/or prison term: (1) of up to 10 years for failure by any sex offender to provide information required by this Act; and (2) of up to 20 years for age misrepresentation with the intent to use the Internet to engage in criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2007
National Guard Empowerment Act of 2007 - Expands the: (1) authority of the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Bureau) to include membership on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) (and raises the grade of the Chief from lieutenant general to general); and (2) functions of the Bureau to include facilitating and coordinating, with other federal agencies and the states, the use of Guard personnel and resources for, and in, contingency operations, military operations other than war, natural disasters, and support of civil authorities. Directs the Chief to: (1) identify gaps between federal and state capabilities to prepare for and respond to emergencies; and (2) make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on Guard programs and activities to address such gaps. Requires annual Department of Defense (DOD) budget justification documents to include separate amounts for Guard training and equipment for military assistance to civil authorities and other domestic operations. Expresses the sense of Congress calling for consideration of eligible reserve officers for promotion to the grades of lieutenant general or vice admiral on the active duty list. Treats service as a Bureau adjutant general as joint duty experience. Requires the position of Deputy Commander of the U.S. Northern Command to be filled by a qualified Guard officer eligible for promotion to the grade of lieutenant general. Requires an annual plan for the use of the Armed Forces and National Guard for responding to disasters and acts of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2007
Country of Origin Labeling Act of 2007 - Amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to change the country of origin labeling implementation date from September 30, 2008, to September 30, 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2007
Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act Amendments of 2007 - Amends the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act to require a local law enforcement or local child protective services agency's final written report on the investigation of any child abuse allegation to include any federal, state, or tribal final conviction. Requires transmission of a copy of the report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study and identify any impediment to the reduction of child abuse in Indian country and on Indian reservations. Allows for forensic examinations without parental consent if local child protective services or local law enforcement officials have reason to believe that the child has been subject to abuse. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Indian child abuse treatment grant program. Revises requirements for Indian Child Resource and Family Services Centers. Provides for the use of telemedicine to diagnose and treat child abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2007
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to include podiatrists as physicians in order to cover their services under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2007
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to award competitive matching grants to states to establish systems of care to treat and provide services to all children who are in the custody of the state or at-risk of entering into the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires states to use grant funds for certain activities, including to: (1) expand public health insurance programs to cover community-based mental health and family support services for such children and their families that will be sustainable after the grant has expired; (2) provide outreach and public education concerning available programs and activities; and (3) provide training and professional development for personnel who work with such children. Requires the Administrator to establish a task force to examine: (1) problems of mental health in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; (2) issues with respect to access by children and youth to mental health services; and (3) the role of federal agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2007
Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to extend the Act through FY2013. Revises requirements regarding the merchantable material contracting pilot program. Requires counties participating in county projects to submit a specified notification for each project for which the participating county obligated county funds. Provides for the review of such notifications.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2007
COPS Improvements Act of 2007 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the authority of the Attorney General to make grants for public safety and community policing programs (COPS ON THE BEAT grant program). Authorizes grants to: (1) hire school resource officers and establish local partnerships to combat crime, gangs, drug activities, and other problems in elementary and secondary schools; (2) establish and implement programs to reduce and prevent illegal drug activities, including the manufacturing, distribution, and use of methamphetamine; and (3) meet emerging law enforcement needs, as warranted. Authorizes the use of COPS ON THE BEAT grants to hire former members of the Armed Forces to serve as career law enforcement officers. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants for: (1) assigning prosecutors to handle cases from specific geographic areas and to address counter-terrorism problems and violent crime in local communities; and (2) developing new technologies to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in crime prevention and training. Grants the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services exclusive authority to perform functions and activities under COPS ON THE BEAT grant program. Authorizes the Attorney General to extend grant periods and to renew grants if the grant recipient can demonstrate significant progress in achieving the objectives of the initial grant application.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2007
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act 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 · 18 January 2007
Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe requirements for a long-term care hospital (LTCH) and patient criteria for prospective payment to an LTCH. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) determine a list of medical conditions associated with a high severity of illness of patients who are appropriate for treatment in long-term care hospitals, as indicated by the presence of clinical comorbidities in accordance with a methodology specified by the Secretary; and (2) study and report to Congress on appropriate quality measures for Medicare beneficiaries receiving care in LTCHs. Directs the Secretary to choose three quality measures from the study for LTCHs to report. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to require annual updates of LTCH base rates and wage indices and the reweighting of LTCH-DRGs. Prohibits the Secretary from extending application of the 25% (or applicable percentage) patient threshold payment adjustment to freestanding LTCHs. Directs the Secretary to permit up to 75% of the discharged Medicare inpatient population: (1) of an applicable hospital to be admitted from a co-located urban single or co-located MSA dominant hospital without adjustment to the hospital's LTCH prospective payment system payment in a specified manner; and (2) of an applicable hospital located in a rural area to be admitted from a co-located hospital without such an adjustment, either.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2007
Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of items and services under a cardiac rehabilitation program and a pulmonary rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2007
Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act - Amends the Clayton Act to make it unlawful for a person, in connection with the sale of a drug product, to be a party to any agreement resolving or settling a patent infringement claim in which: (1) an abbreviated new drug (generic) application filer receives anything of value; and (2) such filer agrees not to research, develop, manufacture, market, or sell the generic product for any period. Excludes a resolution or settlement that includes no more than the right to market the generic product prior to the expiration of the patent. Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to set forth additional filing requirements related to agreements between a brand name drug company and a generic drug applicant. Requires the Chief Executive Officer or the company official responsible for negotiating any agreement to file a certification that materials filed with respect to such agreements are complete, final, and exclusive. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide that forfeiture of the 180-day exclusivity period for the marketing of a generic drug occurs if there is a final decision of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the court that an agreement has violated this Act. Requires the FTC to study the prevalence of anticompetitive agreements in the pharmaceutical industry and their impact. Requires the Attorney General or FTC to consider whether any additional enforcement action is necessary.
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 · 17 January 2007
Expresses the sense of Congress that it is the goal of the United States that not later than January 1, 2025, U.S. agricultural, forestry, and working land should provide from renewable resources not less than 25% of total U.S. energy consumption and continue to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed, and fiber.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2007
Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit livestock packers from owning, controlling, or feeding livestock to such an extent that the producer no longer materially participates in the management of the operation, with exceptions for: (1) animals held for not more than seven days before slaughter; (2) certain cooperatives that own, control or feed livestock and provide such livestock for slaughter; (3) packers that are not required to report price and quantity information on each reporting day; or (4) packers that own one livestock processing plant.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2007
Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide financial assistance for: (1) crop disaster assistance for qualifying quantity or quality losses (other than sugar beets) for the 2005 and/or 2006 crop due to weather or related conditions (including disease, insects, and delayed harvest); (2) dairy losses; (3) livestock assistance for 2005 and 2006 disaster-caused losses, including losses from blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; (4) livestock indemnity payments for 2005 and 2006 disaster-caused losses, including wildfires, hurricanes, floods, extreme heat, anthrax, and blizzards that began in 2006 and continued into 2007; (5) ewe lamb replacement and retention; (6) sugar beet disaster assistance for crop year 2005 or 2006; (7) sugarcane growers in Hawaii through a payment to an agricultural transportation cooperative in Hawaii; and (8) flooded crop and grazing land in the Devils Lake basin, the McHugh, Lake Laretta, and Rose Lake closed drainage areas, North Dakota. Directs the Secretary to make grants to state agriculture departments or comparable agencies in qualified states for direct economic loss payments to eligible small businesses that suffered weather-related agricultural losses in crop year 2005 or 2006. Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to carry out emergency measures under: (1) the emergency watershed protection program, including specified projects in Hawaii; (2) the emergency conservation program, including wildfire recovery efforts in Montana and other states and specified projects in Hawaii; and (3) the environmental quality incentives program, including wildfire and blizzard recovery efforts in Montana and other states. Directs the Secretary to use specified funds to hire additional county Farm Service Agency personnel to expedite the delivery of agricultural disaster and economic assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2007
Native American Methamphetamine Enforcement and Treatment Act of 2007 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include territories and Indian tribes as eligible grant recipients (or reaffirm that eligibility) under the programs to: (1) address the manufacture, sale, and use of methamphetamine; (2) aid children in homes in which methamphetamine or other drugs are unlawfully manufactured, distributed, dispensed, or used; and (3) address methamphetamine use by pregnant and parenting women offenders.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2007
Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) sponsoring or exhibiting a bird in a fighting venture in a state where it would not otherwise be in violation of the law, only if the person knew that any bird in the venture was knowingly bought, sold, delivered, transported, or received in interstate or foreign commerce for such purpose; or (2) knowingly sponsoring or exhibiting in an animal fighting venture any other animal that was moved in interstate or foreign commerce. Prohibits knowingly: (1) selling, buying, transporting, delivering, or receiving, for purposes of transportation in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog or other animal to participate in an animal fighting venture; (2) using interstate mail service for commercial speech promoting an animal fighting venture except as performed outside the limits of the states (with an exception for bird fights in states whose laws allow them); or (3) selling, buying, transporting, or delivering in interstate or foreign commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument to be attached to the leg of a bird for use in an animal fighting venture. Increases the penalties to a fine and up to three years' imprisonment for violations.
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 · 10 January 2007
Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to revise provisions governing the importation of prescription drugs. Waives the limitation on importation of prescription drugs that have been exported from the United States. Prohibits the importation of a qualifying drug unless such drug is imported by: (1) a registered importer; or (2) an individual for personal use. Establishes registration conditions for importers and exporters. Requires the Secretary to inspect places of business, verify chains of custody, inspect facilities, and determine compliance with registration conditions. Sets forth provisions governing the importation of qualifying drugs that are different from U.S. label drugs, including standards for judging such differences. Prohibits manufacturers from: (1) discriminating against registered exporters or importers; (2) causing there to be a difference in a prescription drug distributed in the United States and one distributed in a permitted country; (3) engaging in actions to restrict, prohibit, or delay the importation of a qualifying drug; or (4) engaging in any action that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) determines discriminates against a person that engages or attempts to engage in the importation of a qualifying drug. States that the resale in the United States of prescription drugs that were properly sold abroad is not patent infringement. Requires the Secretary to educate consumers regarding prescription drug importation. Sets forth provisions governing the sale of prescription drugs through an Internet site. Includes the dispensing or selling of a prescription drug in violation of this Act as a prohibited act under FFDCA. Prohibits the introduction of restricted transactions with unregistered foreign pharmacies into a payment system or the completion of such transactions using a payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Social Security Fairness Act of 2007 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal: (1) government pension offset requirements applicable to husband's and wife's insurance benefits, widow's and widower's insurance benefits, and mother's and father's insurance benefits with respect to OASDI payments; and (2) windfall elimination requirements with respect to computation of an individual's primary insurance amount.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize appropriations for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through FY2012.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2007
Fair Contracts for Growers Act of 2007 - Allows the use of arbitration to resolve a controversy as provided for under a livestock or poultry contract only if, after the controversy arises, both parties consent in writing. Directs the arbitrator to provide to the parties to the contract a written explanation of the factual and legal basis for an award.
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 · 4 January 2007
Lower Brule and Crow Creek Tribal Compensation Act - Amends the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund Act to increase the aggregate amount to be deposited into the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund by the Secretary of the Treasury to provide compensation to the Lower Brule Tribe of South Dakota for damage to tribal land caused by Pick-Sloan projects along the Missouri River. Amends the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund Act of 1996 to increase the aggregate amount to be deposited into the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund by the Secretary to provide compensation to the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South Dakota for such damage. States that this Act shall be considered to be full and final compensation to the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe for damages caused by the construction of the Fort Randall Dam and the Big Bend Dam under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2007
Kids Come First Act of 2007 - Amends title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give states the option to receive 100% Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages (FMAPs) for medical assistance for children in poverty in exchange for expanded coverage of children in working poor families under Medicaid (SSA title XIX) or SCHIP (SSA title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance)). Eliminates the cap on SCHIP funding for states that expand eligibility for children. Gives states the option to: (1) provide wrap-around SCHIP coverage to children who have other health coverage; (2) enroll low-income children of state employees in SCHIP; (3) provide optional coverage of legal immigrant children under Medicaid and SCHIP; and (4) provide for passive renewal of eligibility for children under Medicaid and SCHIP. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for: (1) a refundable income tax credit for health insurance coverage of children; and (2) forfeiture of the personal tax exemption for any child not covered by health insurance. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to require group market health insurers to offer a dependent coverage option for workers and other individuals with children. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for partial repeal of rate reduction in the highest income tax bracket.
![Official portrait of Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c5d339296979dfed1ac5405574a1d7a5_200.jpg)