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![Official portrait of Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000148_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
6,479 records where Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2001
Civil Rights Tax Relief Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received by a claimant on account of claims based on unlawful discrimination (as defined). Permits income averaging for backpay and frontpay awards received on account of such claims.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2001
Designates the week beginning June 3, 2001, as National Correctional Officers and Employees Week.
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
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 · 16 May 2001
Vaccines for the New Millennium Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited business credit for the costs medical research related to developing vaccines against widespread diseases. Defines Widespread diseases as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, or any infectious disease (of a single etiology) which, according to the World Health Organization, causes over one million human deaths annually. Allows a limited lifesaving vaccine sale credit equal to the amount of qualified vaccine sales. Defines qualified vaccine sales as the aggregate amount paid to the taxpayer for a qualified sale. Defines a qualified sale as a sale of a qualified vaccine: (1) to a nonprofit organization or to a government of any foreign country (or instrumentality of such a government); and (2) for distribution in a developing country. Establishes the Lifesaving Vaccine Purchase Fund. Expresses the sense of Congress concerning the manufacture, distribution, support for global efforts, and tiered pricing of vaccines.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2001
Designates June 3, 2001, as National Child's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2001
Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage Act of 2001 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to: (1) continue entitlement to prescription drugs used in immunosuppressive therapy furnished to an individual who receives a kidney transplant for which payment is made under Medicare; and (2) extend Medicare secondary payer requirements for end stage renal disease beneficiaries. Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to set forth requirements for group health plans to provide coverage of immunosuppressive drugs.
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
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program Reauthorization Act of 2001 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize appropriations for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.
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
Children's Act for Responsible Employment of 2001 - CARE Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to repeal certain exemptions from child labor prohibitions for agricultural employment. Applies the same age restrictions to agricultural employment as to other forms of employment. Limits exemptions to agricultural labor outside of school hours, if the individual is employed by a specified family member on the member's farm. Raises from 16 to 18 years old the minimum age for engaging in hazardous agricultural employment. Increases civil and criminal penalties for child labor violations. Directs the Secretary of Labor and the Director of the Bureau of the Census to compile data biannually from State employment security agencies and from other sources in all the States concerning: (1) the types of industries and occupations in which children under the age of 18 are employed; and (2) cases in which children were employed in violation of Federal child labor prohibitions. Requires each employer to report to the State employment security agency on any injury to an employee under age 18 that results in lost employment time or any illness such individual incurred while at work. Directs the Secretary to establish closer working relationships with non-governmental organizations and with State and local government agencies having responsibility for administering and enforcing labor and safety and health laws. Requires State and local government agencies to inform the Secretary, upon request, about employee injuries and deaths.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2001
Small Business Technology Transfer Program Reauthorization Act of 2001 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) increase and extend through FY 2010 the authorization of appropriations for the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program; (2) increase to $750,000 the maximum award for small businesses participating in the second phase of an STTR Program; (3) require each Federal agency that is required to establish an STTR Program to implement an outreach program to research institutions and small businesses; (4) require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to modify a certain SBA policy directive with respect to Federal funding awards; (5) require each of the above agencies to collect and maintain information necessary to assess its STTR Program; (6) require STTR information to be included in agency databases currently maintaining Small Business Innovation Research information; and (7) require STTR information to be included in such agencies' congressional reporting requirements.
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 · 9 May 2001
States that the Small Business Administration (SBA) should continue to be the leading advocate in the Federal Government for small businesses. Urges the President to: (1) strengthen and expand assistance to small businesses through Federal programs; (2) adopt a policy to achieve the applicable Federal procurement goals for small businesses, including such goals for women-owned businesses, HUBZone businesses, socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, and businesses owned by service-disabled veterans; (3) hold the head of each Federal department and agency accountable in ensuring that such goals are achieved; and (4) direct such heads to comply fully with requirements of the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. States that the SBA Administrator should have an active role as a member of the President's Cabinet and the Domestic and National Economic Policy Councils.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 2001
Medicare Mental Illness Nondiscrimination Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate specified separate, higher copayment rates for outpatient psychiatric services under the Medicare program.
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
Child Tax Credit Expansion and Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a phased-in increase ($1,000 as of 2006) of the child tax credit. Makes such credit partially refundable. Provides for coordination with Federal means-tested programs.
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 · 3 May 2001
Commends the members of the United States mission in the People's Republic of China and other responsible officials of the Departments of State and Defense for their outstanding performance in obtaining the safe repatriation to the United States of the crew of the Navy EP-3E ARIES II aircraft.
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
Medicare Puerto Rico Hospital Payment Parity Act of 2001 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise: (1) the payment formula to increase base payment amounts to Puerto Rico hospitals; and (2) the calculation of Medicare disproportionate share payments for prospective payment system hospitals in Puerto Rico.
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 · 1 May 2001
Designates May 1, 2001, as National Child Care Worthy Wage Day.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2001
Reasonable Search Standards Act - Prohibits U.S. Customs Service personnel from subjecting travelers to detention or searches based upon race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation, except when acting upon specific information that a particular traveler suspected of engaging in illegal activity is described by one or more of such characteristics. Requires Customs Service personnel, before a pat down or intrusive nonroutine search, to document reasons to support a belief that an individual may be carrying contraband in violation of Federal law. Waives such requirement with respect to anyone suspected of carrying a weapon. Instructs the Commissioner of Customs to require Customs Service personnel to undergo periodic training on identification, detention, and search procedures, with particular emphasis on profiling proscriptions.
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
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend the petition filing deadline for certain alien spouses and children and employees seeking to adjust to permanent resident status without leaving the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act of 2001 - Designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin wilderness areas; (2) Zion and Mojave Desert wilderness areas; (3) Grand Staircase-Escalante wilderness areas; (4) Moab-LaSal Canyons wilderness areas; (5) Henry Mountains wilderness areas; (6) Glen Canyon wilderness areas; (7) San Juan-Anasazi wilderness areas; (8) Canyonlands Basin wilderness areas; (9) San Rafael Swell wilderness areas; and (10) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin wilderness areas. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding: (1) filing by the Secretary of the Interior of a map and a legal description of each designated wilderness area with appropriate congressional committees; (2) the exchange of State-owned lands within such areas; (3) Federal reservation of water rights; (4) measurement of setbacks for roads with wilderness; (5) authorized livestock grazing; and (6) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include life insurance companies as an "includible corporation" for purposes of filing consolidated tax returns. Permits an affiliated group which includes at least one domestic insurance company that elects to file a consolidated return rather than pay tax under certain life insurance provisions to use a phased-in percentage of insurance company net operating loss in determining its own taxable income. (Permits unused loss carryover.) Provides for: (1) subsidiary stock basis adjustment; and (2) waiver of the five-year reconsolidation waiting period for certain formerly includible corporations which became nonincludible as a result of becoming a subsidiary of a nonincludible life insurance company.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2001
Commends the Eagles of Boston College for winning the 2001 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Ice Hockey Championship.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2001
Designates the week beginning May 13, 2001, as National Biotechnology Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting From Advanced Car Technologies (CLEAR ACT) Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an annual alternative motor vehicle credit equal to the sum of: (1) the new qualified fuel cell motor vehicle credit; (2) the new qualified hybrid motor vehicle credit; and (3) the new qualified alternative fuel motor vehicle credit. Sets forth credit termination dates. Extends and revises the credit for qualified electric vehicles. Makes leased vehicles eligible for the credit. Allows (through 2007) an alternative fuel retail sales credit of 50 cents per gallon to a qualifying retailer. Extends and revises the deduction for certain clean fuel vehicles and refueling property. Allows (through 2007) a credit for the installation of residential or retail clean-fuel vehicle refueling property.
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
Gun Show Background Check Act of 2001 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require registration of gun show promoters and to set forth the responsibilities of promoters, licensees, and other transferors. Provides that if any part of a firearm transaction takes place at a gun show, each licensed importer, manufacturer, and dealer who transfers one or more firearms to a person who is not licensed shall, within ten days after the transfer, submit a report of the transfer to the Secretary of the Treasurer. Sets forth penalties for violations. Grants the Secretary authority to enter the place of business of any gun show promoter and any place where a gun show is held, during business hours and without a showing of reasonable cause or a warrant, for purposes of examining records and the inventory of licensees conducting business to determine compliance with this Act. Increases penalties for: (1) serious record-keeping violations by licensees; and (2) violations of criminal background check requirements. Modifies provisions regarding the national instant criminal background check system and the destruction of records in cases where receipt of a firearm would not violate the Brady Act or State law to provide for such destruction as soon as possible, consistent with the Attorney General's responsibility to ensure privacy and security of the system and to prevent system fraud and abuse, but in no event later than 90 days after the licensee first contacts the system.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
International Carbon Conservation Act - Establishes within the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology an implementing panel, to be headed by the Chief of the Forest Service, which shall: (1) establish a carbon sequestration program; and (2) accept qualifying projects located outside of the United States. Permits an owner or operator of property located outside the United States that is used in a qualifying project to be eligible for: (1) credit extension from the Export-Import Bank of the United States of up to 75 percent of the cost of carrying out the carbon sequestration practices specified in the contract; and (2) investment insurance issued by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 2001
Proclaims Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, also known as the Marquis de Lafayette, to be an honorary citizen of the United States.
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
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
Amends the Foreign Service Buildings Act, 1926 to extend eligibility for the award of contracts exceeding $5 million for the construction, alteration, or repair of buildings and grounds abroad to persons that have performed similar construction work at U.S. diplomatic or consular establishments abroad. Amends the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 to extend eligibility for bidding on diplomatic construction contracts abroad exceeding $10 million to U.S. persons (including qualified joint venture persons) who have performed at a U.S. diplomatic or consular establishment abroad.
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
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
Extends, for an additional 20 years, the effective period of the consent of Congress to the interstate compact relating to the restoration of Atlantic salmon to the Connecticut River Basin and creating the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the activities of the Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Commission through FY 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. Trade Representative should pursue the establishment of a small business advocate at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to safeguard the interests of small firms and represent those interests in trade negotiations involving the WTO.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2001
Stem Cell Research Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to permit the Secretary of Health and Human Services to only conduct, support, or fund research on human embryos for the purpose of generating embryonic stem cells and utilizing stem cells that have been derived from embryos in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Makes it unlawful for any person receiving Federal funds to knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human embryos for valuable consideration if such action affects interstate commerce. Directs the Secretary, in conjunction with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to issue guidelines expanding on the rules governing human embryonic stem cell research to include rules that govern the derivation of stem cells from donated embryos under this Act.
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
Clean Money, Clean Elections Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to: (1) prescribe eligibility and qualifying contribution requirements, seed money provisions, and benefits of clean money financing of Senate election campaigns; (2) set forth requirements applicable to clean money candidates; (3) direct the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to certify if a candidate is such a candidate and to assess a certain civil penalty against any such candidate making an expenditure from funds other than clean money funds; (4) establish in the Treasury a Senate Election Fund for clean money financing; (5) set forth requirements concerning reporting of certain expenditures of private money candidates and of independent expenditures, as redefined; (6) limit expenditures that may be made by political party committees in connection with the general election campaign of a Senate election in which one or more of the candidates is a clean money candidate; and (7) require a committee of a political party, before making coordinated expenditures in excess of $5,000 for a Federal election, to certify to the FEC that it has not and will not make any independent expenditures in connection with such campaign. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to entitle clean money candidates to receive specified free broadcast time. Amends: (1) FECA to outline political advertising provisions for specified communications; and (2) Federal postal law to limit franked mass mailings by Members of Congress. Amends FECA with respect to soft money to prohibit: (1) a national committee of a political party from soliciting or receiving contributions or making expenditures not subject to FECA; (2) a national, State, district, or local committee from soliciting or donating funds to a tax-exempt organization; and (3) an incumbent or candidate for Federal office from soliciting or receiving funds not subject to FECA, or from soliciting or receiving funds for a non-Federal election in excess of certain limits or from prohibited sources (with exceptions). Requires a State, district, or local committee of a political party to make Federal election year expenditures (with exceptions) from funds subject to FECA. Amends FECA to: (1) establish aggregate and separate individual contribution limits to State Party Grassroots Funds and all committees established by a State committee of a political party, and increase annual individual contribution limits; and (2) eliminate the exception for building funds relating to the definition of "contribution." Revises requirements concerning: (1) reporting persons to whom certain expenditures are made to meet candidate or committee operating expenses; and (2) FEC Commissioners and FEC powers, including those involving investigations. Authorizes the FEC to seek injunctive relief to prevent FECA violations. Prescribes reporting requirements with regard to: (1) soft money disbursements of persons other than political parties; (2) disbursements made by authorized committees; and (3) Senate candidates. Prohibits contributions made by, or solicited, accepted or received in connection with a Federal election from, foreign nationals. Increases and expands the penalties for FECA violations.