United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2001
Child Support Distribution Act of 2001 - Amends title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise requirements for: (1) denial of assistance to families that do not assign certain support rights to the State; and (2) the distribution of child support collected by States on behalf of children receiving certain welfare benefits. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop recommendations regarding the participation of public non-IV-D child support enforcement agencies in establishing and enforcing child support obligations. Prescribes requirements for ten demonstration projects involving establishment and enforcement of child support obligations by such public non-IV-D agencies. Reduces from $5,000 to $2,500 the amount of child support arrearage which shall trigger denial of a passport. Revises requirements for the use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of non-minor children. Prohibits garnishment of certain compensation for a service-connected disability paid to a former member of the Armed Forces for: (1) alimony; or (2) child support less than 60 days in arrears. Permits no more than 50 percent of such compensation to be garnished to pay for such child support. Requires the Secretary to disclose new hire information to a State to assist in the administration of unemployment compensation programs. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that a nonimmigrant alien more than $2,500 in arrears in legally obligated child support shall be: (1) ineligible to receive a visa ; and (2) excluded from admission to the United States. Provides for a payment rate increase to States for short term training of staff of State-licensed or State-approved child welfare agencies providing services.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2001
Veterans Burial Benefits Improvement Act of 2001 - Increases the authorized allowance for burial and funeral expenses for deceased veterans who: (1) at the time of death were in receipt of veterans' disability compensation or veterans' pension benefits; or (2) were veterans of any war or were discharged or released from active military service for a service-connected disability and for whom there is no next of kin or sufficient resources to cover funeral and burial costs. Increases the burial plot allowance for veterans who, at the time of death, were receiving hospital or nursing home care in or through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Authorizes the annual adjustment of such allowances based on increases in the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2001
Access to Cancer Therapies Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage to all oral drugs prescribed for use as an anticancer agent for a medically accepted indication.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2001
Designates the week of May 20, 2001, designated as National Emergency as Medical Services Week. States that the President should issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such week with appropriate programs and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2001
Post Office Community Partnership Act of 2001 - Modifies Federal postal law to revise requirements for the closing or consolidation of a post office and apply them, as well, to its proposed closing, consolidation, relocation, or construction. Requires a 60-day notice, under certain conditions, to persons (including local government officials) who are (or would be) served by the post office involved to allow such individuals an opportunity to present their views before such proposed action. Requires the notice: (1) by the deadline, to be hand delivered or delivered by mail and published once a week for at least four weeks in one or more newspapers regularly issued and of general circulation within the zip code areas which are (or would be) served by the post office involved; and (2) to include a description of the proposed action, a summary of the reasons for it, and the date on which the action is to be taken (or, in the case of the construction of a post office, the proposed timetable). Revises the factors to be considered in deciding whether or not to take such proposed actions. Requires the Postal Service to follow a community's public participation procedures to address the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of buildings in the community if such procedures are more stringent than those provided in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2001
America's Better Classrooms Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to establish a limited tax credit for qualified public school modernization bonds (construction and zone academy bonds). Repeals a restriction on zone academy bond holders. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to apply certain labor standards on construction projects financed under such public school modernization bond program under this Act and specified zone academy bond provisions under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to establish provisions concerning employment and training activities related to the construction or reconstruction of public school facilities. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a pilot program under which eligible Indian tribes have the authority to issue qualified tribal school modernization bonds to provide funding for the construction, rehabilitation, or repair of tribal schools, including advance planning and design. Amends the IRC to establish a limited tax credit for qualified tribal school modernization bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2001
Social Security Family Protection Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide that, if an OASDI recipient dies during the first 15 days of a month, the OASDI benefit for that month shall be reduced by 50 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2001
Fallen Hero Survivor Benefit Fairness Act of 2001 - Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to extend to survivors of public safety officers killed in the line of duty before December 31, 1996, the same tax benefits available to the survivors of such officers killed after such date (the exclusion from gross income of any survivor annuity received on account of the death of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty). Makes such extension of benefits effective with respect to payments received after December 31, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2001
Area Wage and Base Payment Improvement Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) mandate a single national average standardized payment amount for inpatient hospital services furnished, regardless of whether in an urban or non-urban area, under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for discharges occurring in FY 2002 and thereafter; and (2) establish a minimum factor of .925 as a floor for area wage adjustment factors used under the PPS for inpatient and outpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2001
Fair Access to Infertility Treatment and Hope Act of 2001 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA)to require group health plans and health insurance issuers providing health insurance coverage in connection with such plans to ensure that coverage is provided for infertility benefits. Authorizes coverage of in vitro fertilization, intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, gamete or embryo donation, assisted hatching, embryo transfer, and gamete or zygote intra-fallopian tube transfer to be limited to four completed embryo transfers. Permits the provision of at least two additional embryo transfers if a live birth follows a completed transfer under one of such procedures. Requires coverage of such procedures if: (1) an individual has been unable to attain or sustain a successful pregnancy through reasonable, less costly medically appropriate covered infertility treatments; and (2) the procedures are performed at qualifying medical facilities. Prohibits group health plans and health insurance issuers from: (1) denying an individual eligibility or continuing eligibility to enroll or renew coverage because of the individual's or enrollee's use or potential use of items or services covered by this Act; (2) providing monetary payments or rebates to a covered individual to encourage the acceptance of less than minimum protections available under this Act; or (3) providing incentives to a health care professional to induce such professional to withhold infertility services from a covered individual. Amends the PHSA to apply infertility benefits provisions to health insurance coverage offered by an issuer in the individual market in the same manner as they are applied to coverage in the group market. Provides the infertility benefit coverage described by this Act for Federal employee health benefit plans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2001
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Administration should work with the European allies of the United States and other nations to restore U.S. membership on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2001
Federal Air Traffic Controllers Annuity Computation Act of 2001 - Allows Federal air traffic controllers retiring under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to have their annuities computed under provisions similar to annuity computation provisions applicable to law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nuclear materials couriers retiring under CSRS.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2001
Rural Mental Health Accessibility Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the Office of Rural Health Policy to: (1) award grants to eligible entities to conduct mental health community education programs; (2) award grants to eligible entities to establish interdisciplinary training programs that include significant mental health training in rural areas for certain health care providers. Directs the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to carry out activities to research the efficacy and effectiveness of mental health services delivered remotely by a qualified mental health professional (psychiatrist or doctoral level psychologist) using telehealth technologies. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to establish demonstration projects for the provision of mental health services to special populations as delivered remotely by qualified mental health professionals using telehealth and for the provision of education regarding mental illness as delivered remotely by qualified mental health professionals and qualified mental health education professionals using telehealth. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit rural mail carriers to treat qualified vehicle expenses in excess of reimbursements as miscellaneous itemized deductions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2001
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to impose tariff-rate quotas (quantitative import limits) and provide various duty rates on certain casein, caseinates, milk protein concentrate, and other casein derivatives and glues imported into the United States (except imports from Mexico). Authorizes the President to: (1) enter into a trade agreement with a foreign country to grant new concessions as compensation in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions; and (2) proclaim any necessary modification or continuance of any existing duty, or continuance of existing duty-free or excise treatment. Sets forth certain limits on the reduction of duties on such products.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2001
Targeted Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow, on joint returns, a limited credit. Provides for a decreased phaseout percentage of the earned income credit (thereby increasing the benefits of such credit) for individuals with qualifying children.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2001
American Hospital Preservation Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act, to: (1) increase (restore the full) market basket update for inpatient prospective payment services hospitals; and (2) maintain the indirect medical education adjustment percentage at 6.5 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2001
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight consortium centers (each such center shall be known as a Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Center of Excellence) for the conduct of multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2001
National Museum of African American History and Culture Act of 2001 - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution the National Museum of African American History and Culture, to be operated as a center for scholarship and a location for museum training, public education, exhibits, and collection and study of items and materials relating to the life, art, history, and culture of African Americans form slavery and the era of reconstruction to the Harlem renaissance, the civil rights movement, and beyond. Establishes the National Museum of African American History and Culture Council. Requires the Council to appoint a Director to manage the Museum. Authorizes the Council to plan, design, reconstruct, renovate, and expand the Arts and Industries Building to house the Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2001
E-Government Act of 2001 - Establishes the Office of Information Policy in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be administered by a Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) who shall provide direction, coordination, and oversight of the development, application, and management of information resources by the Government. Provides for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to retain information collection review functions. Establishes a Chief Information Officers Council as the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to the development, use, operation, and performance of Government information resources. Establishes in the Treasury an E-Government Fund to be used to fund interagency information technology projects and other innovative uses of information technology. Requires each executive agency to: (1) comply with standards established by the CIO and support the CIO's efforts to develop and maintain an integrated Internet-based system of delivering Government information and services to the public; (2) ensure compatibility of its methods for use and acceptance of electronic signatures; (3) publish an online agency directory; (4) establish a website and post all information required to be published on regulatory proceedings and electronic dockets for rulemakings; and (5) conduct a privacy impact assessment before developing or procuring an information system or initiating a new collection of personally identifiable information that will be processed electronically. Requires establishment of: (1) an online Federal telephone directory; (2) an online National Library; and (3) individual Federal court websites. Requires the CIO to: (1) study the feasibility of integrating Federal information systems across agencies; (2) convene an interagency task force to develop recommendations on standards for the collection and dissemination of essential information about federally funded research and development databases that address public availability and agency coordination and collaboration; (3) establish guidelines for privacy notices on agency websites; and (4) promulgate standards and criteria for agency websites. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to facilitate the development of common protocols for geographic information systems. Provides for the use of the share-in-savings contracting approach for information technology projects. Requires studies on: (1) using information technology to enhance crisis response and consequence management of natural and manmade disasters; (2) best practices of federally funded community technology centers; and (3) disparities in Internet access across various demographic distributions. Provides for establishment of: (1) a Federal Information Technology Training Center; and (2) an Advisory Board on Government Information which shall recommend standards for establishing permanent public access to government information disseminated on the Internet, developing inventories of government information, and cataloguing and indexing government information. Requires the CIO and each agency to develop and post on the Internet a public domain directory of Government websites.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2001
Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2001 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for an accelerated date of approval for a generic drug application. Allows a drug to be considered a bioequivalent to a listed drug if the effects of such drug and the listed drug do not show a significant difference based on certain tests or studies. Sets forth requirements concerning the filing of a citizen petition review. Revises provisions concerning: (1) abbreviated new drug applications and new drug applications with respect to the time required for approval and the certification that a patent is invalid or will not be infringed; and (2) filing an application. Requires a report concerning the extent to which this Act has: (1) has enabled products to come to market in a fair and expeditious manner, consistent with the rights of patent owners under intellectual property law; and (2) has promoted lower prices of drugs and greater access to drugs through price competition.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal specified occupational taxes relating to distilled spirits, wine, and beer. Revises recordkeeping requirements for wholesale and retail liquor dealers. Makes it unlawful for any liquor dealer (except one selling beer exclusively) to purchase distilled spirits from any person other than a specified wholesale liquor dealer.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2001
Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education Amendments of 2001, or the MD-CARE Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in coordination with specified national research institutes, to: (1) expand research and related programs concerning various forms of muscular dystrophy, including Duchenne, myotonic, and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. Requires the Director to: (1) award grants and contracts for establishing at least five related centers of excellence; and (2) provide for a related tissue donation program. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the Muscular Dystrophy Coordinating Committee to coordinate NIH programs and other Federal programs. Authorizes the Secretary, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) award grants and cooperative agreements for muscular dystrophy data collection and analysis; and (2) conduct a National Muscular Dystrophy Surveillance Program. Requires the Secretary, through the Centers, to establish at least three centers of excellence in muscular dystrophy epidemiology. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide professionals and the public with muscular dystrophy information.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Crime Victims Assistance Act of 2001 - Amends: (1) the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to require a responsible official to consult with a victim prior to a detention hearing, and consider the victim's views about any contemplated plea agreement; (2) the Federal criminal code to require the judicial officer to inquire regarding the victim's views on detention; and (3) Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to prohibit the court from entering a judgment upon a guilty plea without inquiring regarding the victim's views. Provides for enhanced victim's rights regarding standing to attend the trial and rights at sentencing. Specifies victim rights regarding notice of sentence adjustment, discharge from a psychiatric facility, and executive clemency. Directs the Attorney General to promulgate regulations to enforce, and establish and carry out pilot programs regarding, victims' rights. Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to authorize grants to develop and implement: (1) state-of-the-art systems for notifying crime victims of important dates and developments; and (2) community-based restorative justice programs in juvenile justice systems. Authorizes Federal funding for victim assistance personnel. Provides for deposits of gifts to the Crime Victims Fund. Modifies the allocation formula for Fund distributions. Creates an antiterrorism emergency reserve. Provides for assistance to victims in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other territories and possessions, and for victims of international terrorism. Prohibits discrimination against victims because they oppose the death penalty or disagree with the way the State is prosecuting the case.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Extends through September 30, 2015 (currently September 30, 2007) the eligibility of certain former members of the Selected Reserve for veterans' housing loans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Carbon Conservation Incentive Act - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, to establish a carbon sequestration program (program) to permit owners and operators of eligible land (including conservation reserve and wetlands reserve land that have not received program payments) to enroll in minimum ten-year contracts. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory panel, which shall develop: (1) criteria for evaluating carbon sequestration practices; and (2) estimates of carbon sequestration rates. Directs the Secretary, through the Extension Service, to conduct educational outreach programs respecting agricultural practices that will increase sequestration of carbon, while preserving participant economic and social well-being. Sets forth program and contract provisions, including cost-sharing and rental payments by the Secretary to participating owners and operators. Directs the Secretary to carry out at least four carbon monitoring pilot programs. States that the program shall be funded from Commodity Credit Corporation funds, and at the option of other agencies, from funds available for climate change initiatives or greenhouse gas emission reductions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2001
Medicaid Safety Net Improvement Act of 2001 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to increase the allowed Federal Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment in "extremely low-DSH" States from one percent to three percent of the State's Medicaid program costs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2001
Expresses the sense of the Senate that, by not later than June 20, 2001, the Senate should consider legislation that provides Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) beneficiaries with outpatient prescription drug coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Technology Education and Training Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a limited tax credit for information technology training program expenses; and (2) make technology training centers eligible educational institutions for purposes of the Hope scholarship and lifetime learning credits. Establishes an Information Technology Training Certification Advisory Board, which shall develop provider certifications for certified commercial information technology training.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Native American Telecommunications Improvement and Value Enhancement Act - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to make loans to eligible Indian tribes, or tribal entities that have entered into a partnership with a telecommunications carrier, to enable such tribes to provide for the development of telecommunications infrastructure (wireline or wireless) on lands under their jurisdiction. Outlines tribal eligibility requirements, including submission of a telecommunications plan. Establishes in the Treasury the Native American Telecommunications Improvement Revolving Fund to make loans and award grants to eligible tribes. Limits loan interest rates dependent upon tribal per capita income. Directs the Secretary to award grants to enable tribes to conduct feasibility studies with respect to telecommunications projects. Limits grants to $200,000. Terminates the program on the earlier of: (1) ten years after the first loan is made; or (2) the date on which the Secretary determines that the telecommunications penetration rate is at least 90 percent of all households on reservation lands.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the wetlands reserve program. Replaces the total program acreage limitation with an annual acreage enrollment limitation through FY 2005. Authorizes program related cooperative agreements for goods and services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Designates April 2001 as National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Encourages individual and collective efforts that reflect the vision of a Nation where: (1) no sexual assault victim goes un-served or ever feels there is no path to justice; and (2) citizens work toward eliminating all forms of sexual violence.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Mothers and Newborns Health Insurance Act of 2001 - Amends title XXI (State Children's Health Insurance) (SCHIP) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States, subject to specified guidelines, the authority to provide for: (1) optional coverage of pregnancy-related assistance for targeted low-income pregnant women under the State's SCHIP plan; and (2) automatic eligibility and enrollment for child health assistance under such plan for children born to targeted low-income pregnant women receiving such assistance when the child is born until it attains one year of age, so long as the child is a member of the woman's household. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) with respect to the transitional increased Federal matching rate for increased administrative costs related to Medicaid-eligibility determinations of individuals receiving aid or assistance under SSA title IV part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Heather French Henry Homeless Veterans Assistance Act - Encourages all Federal, State, and local departments and agencies and other entities and individuals to work toward the national goal of ending homelessness among veterans within a decade. Establishes within the Department of Veterans Affairs the Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) support the continuation within the Department of at least one center to monitor the structure, process, and outcome of Department programs addressing homeless veterans; and (2) assign veterans receiving specified services provided in, or sponsored or coordinated by, the Department as being within the "complex care" category. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants to Department health care facilities and to grant and per diem providers for the development of programs targeted at meeting certain special needs of homeless veterans; (2) require certain officials to initiate a plan for joint outreach to veterans at risk of homelessness; (3) carry out two treatment trials in integrated mental health services delivery; (4) ensure that each Department primary care facility has a mental health treatment capacity; (5) carry out a program of transitional assistance grants to eligible homeless veterans; and (6) make technical assistance grants to aid nonprofit community-based groups in applying for homeless program grants. Extends through FY 2006 the homeless veterans reintegration program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) with respect to pensions. (All the following are amendments to the Code, except where the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, ERISA, is mentioned.) Increases: (1) annual dollar Individual Retirement Account (IRA) contribution limits; and (2) benefit and contribution limits, with indexes for inflation. Amends the Code and ERISA to deem certain voluntary employee contributions to accounts and annuities as IRAs rather than pension plans. Provides for tax-free distributions from IRAs for charitable purposes. Modifies adjusted gross income limits for Roth IRAs. Revises requirements relating to: (1) plan loans for subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors; and (2) specified top-heavy rules. Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. Repeals specified coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Revises certain deduction limits for stock bonus and profit sharing trusts and for defined contribution plans. Provides for optional treatment of elective deferrals as after-tax contributions. Establishes nonrefundable tax credits for elective deferrals and IRA contributions. Establishes refundable tax credits for: (1) qualified pension plan contributions of small employers; and (2) the pension plan startup costs of small employers. Allows individuals age 50 or older to make additional contributions to an applicable employer plan (section 401(k) or similar plan). Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. Revises: (1) minimum distribution rules; and (2) requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. Sets forth provisions: (1) relating to hardship distributions; and (2) for waiver of a tax on nondeductible contributions for domestic or similar workers. Permits, under certain conditions, rollovers: (1) from and to various types of plans; (2) of IRAs into workplace retirement plans; and (3) of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. Sets forth requirements for treatment of forms of distribution available under transferor and transferee plans under the Code and ERISA. Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Allows trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. Allows employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts, under retirement plan provisions of the Code. Revises minimum distribution and inclusion requirements for section 457 plans. Repeals, for plan years beginning in 2004 and following years, the current liability full funding limit under the Code and ERISA. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules, and applies them to all defined benefit plans. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect the investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Establishes an excise tax for certain prohibited allocations of stock in an S corporation ESOP. Provides for automatic rollovers of certain mandatory distributions. Establishes an excise tax for the failure of a defined benefit plan or an individual account plan (except governmental, church, and other specified plans), subject to minimum funding standards to meet specified notice requirements, under the Code and ERISA, for plan amendments which significantly reduce benefit accruals. Revises Code and ERISA requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. Allows applicable dividends of ESOPs to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify specified regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities. Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer for an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Directs the Secretary to provide simplified annual filing requirements for retirement plans with assets below a specified amount, if they cover: (1) one participant (an owner and spouse); or (2) fewer than 25 employees. Directs the Secretary to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System, or any successor program. Repeals a multiple use test. Allows certain alternative ways of satisfying nondiscrimination, coverage, and line of business rules. Exempts plans maintained by any governmental entity from certain nondiscrimination rules. Directs the Secretary to modify specified regulations relating to the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to study and report on pension coverage and preretirement use of benefits. Revises ERISA provisions relating to: (1) annual report dissemination; (2) the National Summit on Retirement Savings; (3) missing participants; (4) Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reduction of premiums for new plans of small employers and of additional premiums for new and small plans; (5) PBGC authority to pay interest on premium overpayment refunds; (6) substantial owner benefits in terminated plans; (7) civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (8) benefit suspension notices. Prescribes time requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Military Overseas Voter Empowerment Act of 2001 - Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to provide that, for purposes of voting for any Federal, State, or local office, a person who is absent from a State in compliance with military or naval orders shall not, solely by reason of that absence, be deemed to have: (1) lost a residence or domicile in that State, without regard to whether or not the person intends to return to that State; (2) acquired a residence or domicile in any other State; or (3) become a resident in or a resident of any other State. Amends the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to provide for: (1) extension of registration and balloting rights for absent uniformed services voters to State and local elections; (2) treatment of applications and absentee ballots submitted by absent uniformed services voters; and (3) coverage of recently separated uniformed services voters as absent uniformed services voters. Directs the Secretary of Defense to carry out a demonstration project under which absent uniformed services voters are permitted to cast ballots in the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office for November 2002 through an electronic voting system.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Physician Pathology Services Fair Payment Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for payment to an independent laboratory instead of a covered hospital when the laboratory furnishes the technical component of a physician pathology service to a fee-for-service Medicare beneficiary who is an inpatient or outpatient of the hospital.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Holocaust Victims Tax Fairness Act of 2001 - Excludes from gross income and from adjusted gross income computations which consider excluded income (including Social Security benefits) specified restitution payments received by persons (or heirs) persecuted for racial or religious reasons by Nazi Germany, its allied or controlled countries, or any other Axis regime. Excludes such payments from eligibility and benefits determinations for purposes of Federal or federally assisted means-tested programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2001
Opposes the elimination of Saturday home and business mail delivery and calls on the U.S. Postal Service to take all of the necessary steps to assure that six-day home and business mail delivery not be reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require coverage of colorectal cancer screening according to certain guidelines by a group health plan, a health insurance issuer offering group health insurance coverage, and a health insurance issuer in the individual market. Directs the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services to ensure coordination in the implementation and enforcement of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Nursing Employment and Education Development Act (the NEED Act) - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for the nursing workforce development student loan repayment program and permit the service required by such program to be performed in a skilled nursing facility, in a home health agency, in a public health department, or in a nurse-managed health center. Provide for a Nurse Corps Scholarship program to provide scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service from such individuals in a critical nursing shortage area upon completion of such education, a public awareness and education campaign encouraging pursuit of the nursing profession, an area health education centers program to develop models of excellence for nurses, community nurse outreach grants, educational assistance for nurses from diverse or disadvantaged backgrounds, career ladder program grants for nurses, nurse training grants, nurse internship and residency grants, a fast-track nursing faculty loan program, a stipend and scholarship program to encourage individuals to seek advanced nursing degrees, and a National Commission on the Nursing Crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Rural Heritage Conservation Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to farm and ranch land, to: (1) establish special rules for the charitable contribution of such land; (2) treat a farmer or rancher as an individual with respect to any such contribution with respect to the charitable contribution limit; and (3) expand, for estate tax purposes, the definition of land which may qualify for a conservation contribution.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Animal Disease Risk Assessment, Prevention, and Control Act of 2001 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit a preliminary report to specified congressional committees concerning: (1) interagency measures to assess, prevent, and control the spread of foot and mouth disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") in the United States; (2) related Federal information sources available to the public; and (3) the need for any additional legislative authority or product bans. Directs the Secretary to submit a final report to such committees that discusses such diseases' economic impacts, public and animal health risks, and related legislative authority or product bans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Nurse Reinvestment Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for nurse education training payments to qualified entities. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to temporarily increase the matching rate for Medicaid nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the exclusion from gross income of amounts received under the National Nursing Service Corps Scholarship Program. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) develop and issue public service announcements that advertise and promote the nursing profession, highlight the advantages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals from diverse communities and backgrounds to enter the nursing profession; and (2) award grants to designated eligible educational entities in order to increase the number of nurses. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a National Nurse Service Corps Scholarship program that provides scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service by such individuals in areas with nursing shortages. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Expresses the Senate's regret at the damage and loss of life occasioned by the accidental collision of a U.S. military EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft and an F-8 jet fighter from the Air Force of the People's Republic of China. Calls for the Chinese Government to release the crew members of the EP-3E and return the aircraft and its equipment to the United States. Supports the President's continuing efforts to ensure the safe return of the crew and aircraft.
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