United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2008
Preserving Access to Healthcare (PATH) Act of 2008 - Declares that between October 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, specified regulations regarding the formula for determining the federal rate for inpatient hospital capital-related costs under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) shall apply without the mandatory phase out of the indirect medical education adjustment factor. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to delay for six months following enactment of this Act any implementation of the Medicaid outpatient hospital services regulation proposed on September 28, 2007. Prohibits the Secretary from phasing out or eliminating the Medicare hospice wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor before April 1, 2009. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and upon the request of the state of California, to extend approval, and full federal financial participation, of the state's Medicaid family planning demonstration project until June 30, 2009, under the eligibility requirements and processes that were in place before the project's first extension period. Directs the Secretary to delay until April 1, 2009, implementation of a proposed rule published on June 27, 2008 (or any similar rule), relating to: (1) decertification of rural health clinics under the Medicare program that are no longer in nonurbanized areas; and (2) changes in the Medicare payment methodology for rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with regard to mechanized claims processing and information retrieval systems, to require states to incorporate compatible methodologies of the National Correct Coding Initiative for claims filed after October 1, 2009. Directs the Secretary to identify such methodologies. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to increase funding for the Medicare Improvement Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2008
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 245 North Main Street in New City, New York, as the "Kenneth Peter Zebrowski Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2008
Small Business Lending Market Stabilization Act of 2008 - Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), to the extent that the cost is offset by appropriations, to collect no fees currently charged by: (1) the SBA to borrowers and lenders under the SBA's 7(a) loan program (SBA-guaranteed general business loans to small businesses); and (2) development companies under SBA's 504 loan program (local business development loans). Directs the Administrator to reimburse development companies for waived fees. Increases maximum limits on SBA loans made to small businesses under the Small Business Act and on loans made to development companies under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Authorizes a small business whose SBA loan includes the acquisition of a facility or construction of a new facility to lease up to 50% of the space in such facility. Permits certain borrowers to refinance a limited amount of their preexisting debt through a new 504 loan. Directs the SBA to establish an optional business size standard for certain small business loan applicants. Allows the SBA to use weighted average rates when pooling loans for sale on the secondary market. Directs the SBA to provide lenders at least one alternative loan interest rate to the prime rate.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2008
Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 - Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (the Act) to revise requirements for supportive housing for persons with disabilities. (Retains authority to provide such assistance to private nonprofit organizations to expand the supply of such housing.) Repeals the authority of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide tenant-based rental assistance directly to eligible persons with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance under section 8 (rental voucher program) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for persons with disabilities in FY2009. Modifies project rental assistance contract requirements, including renewal of, and increases in, annual contract amounts. Requires initial contracts with the sponsor of a project assisted with any low-income housing tax credit or with any tax-exempt housing bonds to have an initial term of up to 360 months and to provide funding for 60 months. Revises the requirement that all units in housing assisted by capital advances and project rental assistance contracts be made available for occupancy by very low-income persons with disabilities for at least 40 years. Requires the Secretary, within 30 days of issuing certain capital advances for multifamily projects (except group homes or independent living facilities), to delegate review and processing of such projects to a state or local housing agency meeting specified criteria. Revises tenant selection procedures. Requires a lease between a tenant and a housing owner to be for at least one year. Revises the application of cost limitations developed by the Secretary to supportive housing. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such limitations. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a minimum percentage of capital advances per fiscal year for multifamily projects; and (2) carry out a project rental assistance competitive demonstration program to expand the supply of supportive housing for non-elderly adults with disabilities and with extremely low-incomes or for extremely low-income households that include at least one disabled person. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the program's adequacy and effectiveness in assisting households of persons with disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2008
New York/New Jersey High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Expansion Act of 2008 - Designates the counties of Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence in the state of New York as high-intensity drug trafficking areas and incorporates such counties into the New York/New Jersey high-intensity drug trafficking area program administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2008
Judicial Administration and Technical Amendments Act of 2008 - Amends the federal judicial code with respect to: (1) the composition of the divisions of the Western District of Tennessee judicial district; (2) the supplemental attendance fee for petit jurors serving on lengthy trials; (3) the authority of district courts as to a jury summons; (4) public drawing specifications for jury wheels; (5) the assessment of court technology costs; (6) investment of court registry funds; (7) magistrate judge participation at circuit conferences; (8) judge members of the U.S. Sentencing Commission; (9) the place of holding court for the District of Minnesota judicial district; and (10) the penalty for employers who retaliate against employees serving on jury duty. Repeals obsolete provisions of the bankruptcy code relating to certain dollar amounts. Amends the federal criminal code with respect to: (1) the selection of chief pretrial services officers; (2) attorney case compensation maximum amounts; (3) expanded delegation authority for reviewing certain vouchers in excess of case compensation maximums; (4) conditions of probation and supervised release; (5) contracting for services for pretrial defendants and post-conviction supervision offenders; and (6) the penalty for failure to appear for a jury summons.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2008
America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement, and Education Act of 2008 or the ASPIRE Act of 2008 - Establishes a KIDS Account Fund in the Treasury. Establishes within the Fund a Kids Investment and Development Savings Account (KIDS Account). Makes eligible to contribute to such account, and to receive a matching federal contribution, any U.S. citizen born after December 31, 2007, and under 18 years of age, whose modified adjusted gross income is below the applicable national median adjusted gross income amount. Creates the KIDS Account Fund Board to establish a default investment program under which, in a manner similar to a lifecycle investment program, sums in each KIDS Account are allocated to investment funds in the KIDS Account Fund based on the amount of time before the account holder attains the age of 18. States that, for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code, each KIDS Account shall be treated in the same manner as a Roth IRA. Applies Roth IRA requirements separately to KIDS accounts. Provides for: (1) distributions for higher education expenses; and (2) privately managed KIDS accounts. Subjects the Board to the same composition requirements, duties, and responsibilities as the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, to develop programs to promote the financial literacy of account holders of KIDS Accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2008
Urges the President, the U.N. Secretary-General, the African Union, and members of the international community to pursue a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Condemns: (1) the government of Sudan for its continued obstruction of the deployment of United Nations-African Union peacekeepers; and (2) the ongoing acts of violence in, and obstruction of aid to, Darfur committed by all parties. Calls upon the government of Sudan and armed parties in the region to declare a cessation of hostilities, abide by the U.N. arms embargo, cease attacks upon humanitarian organizations, and participate in international efforts to negotiate a political settlement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2008
Recognizes the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15, 2008, through October 15, 2008. Honors the heritage and culture of Hispanic Americans and their immense contributions to the life of the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2008
Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Act of 2008 - Establishes the Daniel Webster Congressional Clerkship Program for the appointment of individuals who are graduates of accredited law schools to serve as Congressional Clerks in the Senate or House of Representatives. Requires the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration to each select at least six individuals for a one-year term to serve as employees in their respective chambers. Specifies eligibility criteria for a Congressional Clerk, including that the selected candidate be a graduate of such a law school as of the starting date of his or her clerkship. Requires the committees to ensure that Congressional Clerks selected under this Act are apportioned equally between majority and minority party offices. Entitles each clerk selected to the same compensation as, and comparable benefits to, an individual who holds the position of a judicial clerkship for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia within three months of graduating from law school.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2008
Giving Incentives to Volunteers Everywhere Act of 2008 or the GIVE Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the standard mileage rate for use of a passenger automobile for charitable purposes to a rate not less than the rate used for the tax deduction for medical transportation expenses; and (2) exclude from the gross income of charitable volunteers reimbursements paid to them for the use of a passenger automobile for the benefit of a charitable organization.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 2008
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Red Ribbon Week. Encourages: (1) children and teens to live drug-free lives; and (2) people in the United States to promote drug-free communities and to participate in drug prevention activities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2008
Designates September 2008 as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Declares that the federal government has a responsibility to: (1) raise awareness about prostate cancer screening and treatment; (2) increase funding for prostate cancer research; and (3) improve access to, and the quality of, health care services for detecting and treating prostate cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2008
Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to revise the formula for Tier-1 amounts a state credits to an applicant's emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA) for a benefit year. Increases the figures in the formula (the lesser of which shall be the amount credited) from: (1) 50% to 80% of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual during the benefit year; and (2) 13 to 20 times the individual's average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Provides an additional Tier-2 period for deposits to an individual's EUCA, using the current formula, if, at the time that the amount established under this Act is exhausted, or at any time thereafter, the individual's state is in an extended benefit period. Prescribes a formula for determining if a state is in an extended benefit period. Allows the Tier-2 period augmentation to be applied to the individual's EUCA only once. Prohibits a Tier-2 augmentation under this Act to an individual's account after March 31, 2009, if the account is exhausted after such date. Extends the period of emergency unemployment compensation. Exempts weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and December 8, 2009, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law of such state provides for payment (at any time or under any circumstances) of regular compensation to an individual for his first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.)
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2008
Civil Rights History Project Act of 2008 - Requires the Librarian of Congress and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (acting through the Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture) to establish an oral history project to: (1) collect video and audio recordings of, and visual and written materials relevant to the personal histories of, participants in the Civil Rights movement; and (2) make the collection available for public use through the Library of Congress and the Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2008
Hospice Protection Act of 2008 - Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from phasing out or eliminating the budget neutrality adjustment factor in the Medicare hospice wage index before October 1, 2009.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2008
Serve America Act - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to create two new service-learning programs: (1) a Youth Engagement Zones to Strengthen Communities program, providing competitive grants to partnerships between local educational agencies that serve high-need, low-income communities and certain community-based or state entities to engage students and out-of-school youth in service-learning addressing specific challenges faced by their communities; and (2) a Campus of Service program, which annually grants up to 30 institutions of higher education (IHEs) with exemplary service-learning programs the funds to assist their students' pursuit of public service careers, and the right to nominate additional individuals for ServeAmerica Fellowships. Directs the Corporation for National and Community Service (Corporation) to contract for a 10-year, longitudinal service-learning impact study. Establishes the Commission on Cross-Sector Solutions to America's Problems to study ways in which the federal government and businesses can more effectively collaborate with nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to address pressing national and local challenges. Creates a Community Solutions Funds Pilot program awarding competitive matching grants to grantmaking institutions or partnerships between such institutions and state or local governmental entities which will use the grants to provide competitive matching subgrants to community organizations for use in replicating or expanding proven solutions to specifically identified community challenges. Establishes an Innovation Fellowships Pilot program awarding competitive grants to individuals who are veterans, or have completed at least one period of national service, to establish innovative nonprofit organizations that address national and local challenges. Creates a ServeAmerica Corps program providing formula grants to states and awarding competitive grants to states and nonprofit organizations to fund national service in low-income communities by: (1) Clean Energy Service Corps that improve certain clean energy indicators, including energy efficiency and conservation measures; (2) Education Corps that improve certain education indicators, including student engagement, achievement, and graduation; (3) Healthy Futures Corps that improve certain health indicators, including health care access; (4) Opportunity Corps that improve certain opportunity indicators, including financial literacy and access to housing, and employment-related services; and (5) Encore programs designed to take advantage of the skills of participants age 50 and older. Creates additional incentives for national service participation by individuals age 50 and older. Makes ServeAmerica Corps participants eligible for national service educational awards. Directs the Corporation to create a Civic Health Index enabling states and communities to assess their civic health. Establishes the ServeAmerica and Encore Fellowships program providing ServeAmerica Fellowships to IHE-nominated individuals and Encore Fellowships to individuals age 50 or older who agree to be placed with nonprofit organizations to carry out projects in specified areas of national need. Makes ServeAmerica fellows eligible for national service educational awards. Creates a Volunteer Generation Fund program awarding competitive matching grants to states and nonprofit organizations to increase the availability and capacity of volunteers to address state priorities with regard to areas of national need or work with nonprofit civic entities, including faith-based organizations, to address such needs. Establishes a National Service Reserve Corps of individuals who have completed a term of national service to respond to national disasters and other emergencies. Directs the Corporation, within 180 days of this Act's enactment, to conduct a nationwide Call to Service Campaign. Requires the Office of Volunteers for Prosperity (VfP) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a VfPServe program providing skilled professionals with fixed-amount stipends to offset their costs of volunteering abroad to address specified VfP objectives aimed at ameliorating living conditions in developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2008
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the dollar amount of the tax credit for new qualified hybrid motor vehicles that are school buses for vehicles placed in service during periods prior to January 1, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2008
Recognizes September 11, 2008, as a day of solemn commemoration of the events of September 11, 2001. Offers condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of the innocent victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Honors the heroic service, actions, and sacrifices of first responders, law enforcement personnel, state and local officials, volunteers, and others who aided the victims and, in doing so, risked and often gave their own lives. Recognizes the service, actions, and sacrifices of U.S. personnel who have given so much to support our freedom and defend our security. Reaffirms that the people of the United States will never forget the challenges our country endured on and since September 11, 2001, and will work to defeat those who attacked us.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2008
Nursing and Allied Health Education Preservation Act of 2008 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from denying provider-operated status for a nursing and allied education program that substantially meets certain requirements pertaining to the cost of approved activities for such programs, in effect as of October 1, 2006, on the basis of an organizational structure, contractual arrangements, or legal structure of the program, or a change in such a structure or arrangement, so long as a hospital, hospitals, or health system continues to substantially control the nursing or allied program. Prohibits denial of payments for the costs of approved educational activities for a nursing or allied health education program. Requires restoration to a hospital of any recoupment or denial effected for a previous cost reporting year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2008
Grants U.S. district courts original jurisdiction over any civil action for damages for personal injury or death that: (1) arose from the deportation of persons to Nazi concentration camps between January 1, 1942, and December 31, 1944; and (2) is brought by or on behalf of such person against a railroad that owned or operated the trains on which the persons were deported and that was organized as a separate legal entity. Provides that: (1) no law limiting the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts shall preclude any such action; and (2) no such action shall be barred because a statute of limitations has expired. Makes this Act applicable to any action pending on or commenced after January 1, 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Giving Incentives to Volunteers Everywhere Act of 2008 or the GIVE Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the standard mileage rate for use of a passenger automobile for charitable purposes to 70% of the current rate for business usage; and (2) exclude from the gross income of charitable volunteers reimbursements paid to them for the use of a passenger automobile for the benefit of a charitable organization.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Veterans Disability Benefits Claims Modernization Act of 2008 - Revises or adds provisions relating to the disability compensation system of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) establish in the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) an Office of Survivors Assistance to provide assistance to veterans' survivors and dependents regarding VA benefits and services; (2) require a study on adjusting the schedule for rating veterans' disabilities; (3) establish the Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation; (4) require a study on the employee work credit system of the VBA; (5) require a study on the VBA's work management system; (6) require the certification and training of VBA employees responsible for processing claims; (7) require an annual independent assessment of the VBA's quality assurance program; (8) provide for the expedited VBA treatment of fully developed claims and a checklist for individuals submitting incomplete claims; (9) require a study of the VBA's need to employ additional medical professionals to act as a medical reference for employees handling claims; (10) provide for the assignment of partial disability ratings to certain veterans; (11) require a review and revision of VBA use of information technology; and (12) allow a claim beneficiary to be substituted as a claimant in the case of the death of a veteran claimant while a claim is awaiting adjudication or appeal. Requires the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to report annually to the congressional veterans' committees on the Court's workload. Revises provisions concerning the jurisdiction and finality of decisions of the Court.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2008
Amends the National Oilheat Research Alliance Act of 2000 to adjust its focus upon oilheat to a focus upon oilheat fuel. Defines "oilheat fuel" as distillate liquid used as a fuel for nonindustrial commercial or residential space or hot water heating. Makes technical and conforming amendments. Revises the membership of the National Oilheat Research Alliance. Provides that, other than the public members of the Alliance, members shall be full-time managerial owners or employees of members of the oilheat fuel industry. Revises assessment requirements. States that the assessment rate for calendar years 2008 and 2009 shall be equal to two-tenths of 1% per gallon of distillate liquid (currently, No. 1 distillate and No. 2 dyed distillate). Declares that, beginning with calendar year 2010, the annual assessment rate shall be sufficient to cover the costs of the plans and programs developed by the Alliance. Sets forth: (1) a maximum assessment rate; and (2) limitations on any assessment increase. Prohibits any consumer education activity undertaken with funds derived from Alliance assessments from including a direct reference to a competing product. Repeals the termination date for the Act (thus making it permanent).
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
ADA Amendments Act of 2008 - Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to redefine the term "disability," including by defining "major life activities" and "being regarded as having such an impairment." Sets forth rules of construction regarding the definition of "disability," including that: (1) such term shall be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals under the Act; (2) an impairment that substantially limits one major life activity need not limit other major life activities in order to be a disability; (3) an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active; and (4) the determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity shall be made without regard to the ameliorative effects of specified mitigating measures. Prohibits employment discrimination against a qualified individual on the basis of disability. (Current law prohibits employment discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability.) Prohibits the use of qualification standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria based on an individual's uncorrected vision unless the standard, test, or other selection criteria, as used by the covered entity, is shown to be related to the position and is consistent with business necessity. Declares that nothing in the Act: (1) alters the standards for determining eligibility for benefits under state worker's compensation laws or under state and federal disability benefit programs; (2) alters the requirement to make reasonable modifications in policies or procedures, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations involved; or (3) provides the basis for a claim by an individual without a disability that the individual was subject to discrimination because of the individual's lack of disability. Declares that the authority of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations includes the authority to issue regulations implementing the definitions of this Act. Makes conforming amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park Act - Establishes in the City of Auburn, New York, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System. Establishes in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot Counties, Maryland, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park as a unit of the National Park System. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide grant funding and enter into cooperative agreements with certain entities for the historic preservation, rehabilitation, interpretation, and maintenance of such historical parks. Requires the Secretary to complete a general management plan for them.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to instruct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require specified annual reports of an issuer to disclose the total payments made to an agency or instrumentality of a foreign government: (1) for natural resources in a foreign country; or (2) in connection with the extraction of natural resources from a foreign country. Requires compilation of such information so that it is accessible by the public directly from the SEC website without separately accessing the annual reports of each issuer filing the information on the EDGAR system.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Improving Access to Mainstream Financial Institutions Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to award grants, including multi-year grants, to specified eligible entities to establish an account in a federally insured depository institution for low- and moderate-income individuals who currently do not have such an account. Includes among such eligible entities: (1) Alaska Native Corporations; (2) Native Hawaiian organizations; and (3) labor organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to award demonstration project grants to eligible entities to provide low-cost, small loans to consumers that will provide alternatives to more costly, predatory payday loans. Requires such entities to be: (1) tax-exempt charitable organizations; (2) federally insured depository institutions; (3) community development financial institutions; or (4) partnerships comprised of one or more of such entities. Requires grant recipients to offer financial literacy and education opportunities to each consumer provided with a loan pursuant to this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2008
Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2009 for public transportation formula grants. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make such grants for: (1) operating costs of equipment and facilities being used to provide the public transportation the grant recipient is no longer able to pay as a result of reducing fares; (2) operating and capital costs of equipment and facilities being used to provide transportation services that the recipient incurs as a result of expanding such services; (3) the avoidance of increased fares or decreased services; (4) the costs of acquiring clean or alternative fuel vehicle-related equipment or facilities; and (5) administrative costs in establishing or expanding services to provide commuters with information about alternatives to single occupancy vehicle use. Requires a grant that involves acquiring clean or alternative fuel vehicle-related equipment or facilities for complying with the Clean Air Act to be for 100% of the net project cost unless the grant recipient requests a lower percentage. Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users to require federal employees in urbanized areas served by fixed route public transportation to be offered transit pass transportation fringe benefits. Requires: (1) the Secretary to issue guidance on nationwide implementation of a transportation fringe benefit program; and (2) agencies to report on program implementation. Requires the Secretary to establish a pilot program to carry out vanpool demonstration projects in not more than three urbanized areas and two other areas. Requires a grant for a capital project during FY2008-FY2009 that involves additional parking facilities at an end-of-line fixed guideway station or at a park-and-ride lot that serves a fixed route commuter bus route that is more than 20 miles in length to be for 100% of the net capital cost of the project unless the grant recipient requests a lower percentage. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a national consumer awareness program on the environmental, energy, and economic benefits of public transportation alternatives to the use of single occupancy vehicles. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to allow a federal agency to enter into a contract to purchase a generally available fuel that is not an alternative or synthetic fuel or a fuel predominantly produced from a nonconventional petroleum source if: (1) the contract does not specifically require the contractor to provide such an alternative, synthetic, or nonconventional fuel; (2) the purpose of the contract is not to obtain such a fuel; and (3) the contract does not provide incentives for a refinery upgrade or expansion to allow a refinery to use or increase its use of fuel from a nonconventional petroleum source.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2008
Requires any claim of the United States to certain property relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, his family, or staff to be treated as having been waived and relinquished on the day before any person makes a gift of such property to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Describes such property as any part of the collection of documents, papers, and memorabilia relating to Roosevelt or any member of his family or staff that was originally in the possession of Grace Tully, that was retained by her at the time of her death, and that was included in her estate.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2008
Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008 - Amends federal copyright law to: (1) authorize, in lieu of a criminal action, civil copyright enforcement by the Attorney General; (2) provide that copyright registration requirements apply to civil (not criminal) infringement actions; and (3) provide a safe harbor for copyright registrations that contain inaccurate information. Amends the Trademark Act to: (1) revise treble damages provisions and double statutory damages in counterfeiting cases; and (2) prohibit the transshipment and exportation of goods bearing infringing marks. Prohibits the importation (current law), transshipment, or exportation, without the authority of the owner of copyright, of copies or phonorecords. Revises civil and criminal forfeiture provisions, including under the Economic Espionage Act. Directs the President to appoint an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator who shall: (1) chair the interagency intellectual property enforcement advisory committee established by this Act; and (2) coordinate the development, and assist in the implementation, of the Joint Strategic Plan against counterfeiting and piracy by such advisory committee. Amends the Computer Crime Enforcement Act to allow existing grants to combat computer crime to be used for activities relating to infringement of copyrighted works over the Internet. Requires the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make grants for training, prevention, enforcement, and prosecution of intellectual property theft and infringement crimes. Requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to: (1) create an operational unit to work with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section of the DOJ on the investigation and coordination of complex intellectual property crimes; and (2) implement a comprehensive intellectual property crime program. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) create a task force to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to investigate and prosecute international organized crime syndicates engaging in crimes relating to intellectual property theft; and (2) subject to appropriations, deploy five additional Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinators in foreign countries.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2008
Compensation and Respect for Energy Workers Act of 2008 or the CARE Act - Amends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to expand the diseases for which individuals who were exposed to radiation from nuclear testing may claim compensation to include chronic lymphocytic leukemia, posterior subcapsular cataracts, nonmalignant thyroid nodular disease, parathyroid adenoma, malignant tumors of the brain and central nervous system, and brochio-alveolar carcinoma, and benign neoplasms of the brain and central nervous system. Amends the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 to: (1) provide to potential claimants of compensation a list of physicians qualified to perform medical and impairment screenings and a written notice of benefits for which they may be eligible under such Act; (2) require exposure assessments of contaminated sites to identify by trade name (if any) any chemical commonly used in such sites; (3) require the Secretary of Labor to provide the public with site profiles and other information used to evaluate claims for compensation; (4) require payment of compensation to a claimant's estate if such claimant dies after filing a claim but before any compensation is paid and leaves no survivors; (5) expand the duties of the Office of the Ombudsman in the Department of Labor to include providing benefit information to claimants and contracting for expert services; and (6) extend to one year the limitation period for filing a petition for review in federal district court of any denial of a compensation claim. Allows claimants under the Act 120 days to respond to a request for information from the Secretary. Requires the promulgation of regulations for: (1) the direct payment to providers of personal care services and transportation expenses for claimants who receive medical benefits under the Act; (2) providing clear, concise, and easily understandable explanations of the claims process, including denials of claims; and (3) the retention of records in the Departments of Energy (DOE) and Labor that might be used by claimants in the claims process.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2008
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 West Main Street in Waterville, New York, as the "Corporal John P. Sigsbee Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2008
Grants congressional consent to and approval of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact as set forth in this resolution's preamble. Declares that current laws provide protection sufficient to prevent Great Lakes diversions until a Great Lakes water compact is ratified and enforceable.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2008
Honors and commemorates the selfless acts of heroism displayed by the late Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut and Detective John Michael Gibson of the U.S. Capitol Police on July 24, 1998. Expresses: (1) the condolences of the Senate to the wives, children, and other family members of Private First Class Chestnut and Detective Gibson on the 10-year anniversary of their passing; (2) gratitude and appreciation for the professional manner in which the U.S. Capitol Police carry out their diverse missions; and (3) appreciation for the dedication U.S. Capitol Police officers have for protecting the Capitol Complex. Commends the U.S. Capitol Police for their continued courage and professionalism in protecting the Capitol Complex and its employees and visitors.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2008
Veteran Voting Support Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to permit a state to designate facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) located in the state as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Requires any VA facility designated as a voter registration agency to: (1) provide information relating to the opportunity to request an absentee ballot; (2) make available absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots upon request, as well as assistance in completing them; and (3) work with local election officials to ensure the proper delivery of such applications and ballots. Directs the Secretary to permit a meaningful opportunity for nonpartisan organizations to provide voter registration information and assistance at VA facilities. Prohibits the Secretary from banning any election administration official, whether state or local, party-affiliated or non-party affiliated, or elected or appointed, from providing nonpartisan voting information to veterans at any VA facility. Directs the Secretary to provide reasonable access to VA facilities to state and local election officials for the purpose of providing nonpartisan voter registration services to individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2008
Providing Real Outreach for Veterans Act of 2008 or PRO-VETS Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Defense for the transfer of data to the Secretary for providing members of the Armed Forces and veterans with individualized information concerning veterans' benefits that each member and veteran may be eligible for. Requires the Secretary, after receiving such data, to: (1) compile a list of all benefits for which each member or veteran may be eligible; (2) notify the member or veteran (or their legal representative) of such benefits; and (3) provide a second notification if the member or veteran does not apply for a listed benefit within 60 days, as well as annual notifications thereafter. Requires additional notifications based on changed circumstances. Allows each member or veteran the option to decline further notifications. Directs the Secretary to use transferred data to reduce the amount of information that a member or veteran must provide when applying for benefits. Requires the Secretary of Defense to provide a member or veteran the opportunity to decline authorization for the transfer of information under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2008
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) prohibit tax-exempt employer pension or benefit plans from making a loan to any plan beneficiary through the use of a credit card or other intermediary; and (2) limit to three the number of loans a plan can make to a plan participant or beneficiary without tax consequences.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2008
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services relating to requirements set forth in the State Health Official Letter 07-001, dated August 17, 2007, issued by the Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the State Health Official Letter 08-003, dated May 7, 2008, from such Center, requiring states that expand the income eligibility level for children under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) above 250% of the federal poverty level to adopt the five crowd-out strategies described in the August 17, 2007, letter and to provide certain assurances described in such letter.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2008
Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to extend its coverage to energy commodities such as petroleum products and natural gas. Prohibits the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from permitting a foreign board of trade to provide its members or other participants subject to CFTC jurisdiction direct access to its electronic trading and order matching system unless it meets specified requirements. Authorizes the CFTC to require recordkeeping by any person either located within the United States or entering trades directly into the trade matching system of a foreign board of trade from the United States. Subjects such persons to liability for violation of CFTC rules and regulations. Directs the CFTC to convene a working group of international regulators to develop uniform international reporting and regulatory standards to ensure protection of energy futures markets from nonlegitimate hedge trading, excessive speculation, manipulation, location shopping, and lowest common denominator regulation, each of which poses systemic risks to all energy futures markets, countries, and consumers. Defines "legitimate hedge trading" as transactions by commercial producers and purchasers of actual physical petroleum and energy commodities for future delivery and the direct counterparties to such trades. Directs the CFTC to review oversight actions regarding all energy futures market participants or market activity in order to ensure that: (1) legitimate hedge trading is protected and promoted; and (2) excessive speculation is eliminated. Requires the CFTC to set maximum speculative position limits on nonlegitimate hedge trading. Instructs the CFTC to convene an advisory group to recommend an appropriate level for position limits designed for traders or entities that are not legitimate hedge traders. Authorizes the CFTC to exercise oversight over any disturbance in a commodity market that disrupts its liquidity and price discovery function from accurately reflecting a commodity's supply and demand ("major market disturbance"). Requires the CFTC to identify each large over-the-counter transaction or class of such transactions in order to detect and prevent potential price manipulation of, or excessive speculation in, any contract listed for trading on a registered entity. Instructs the CFTC to: (1) routinely require detailed reporting from index traders and swap dealers in markets under its jurisdiction; and (2) review the trading practices for index traders in markets under its jurisdiction to ensure that index trading is not adversely impacting the price discovery process. Requires the CFTC to disaggregate and make public monthly: (1) the number of positions and total value of index funds and other passive, long-only positions in energy markets; and (2) data on speculative positions relative to bona fide physical hedgers in energy markets. Directs the CFTC to appoint additional CFTC employees for enforcement purposes. Establishes a Working Group on Energy Markets to: (1) identify the factors that affect the pricing of crude oil and refined petroleum products, including market speculation; and (2) assess the roles, missions, and structures of relevant federal agencies, interagency coordination, and the gaps that need to be filled for federal oversight and regulation of markets critical to energy security. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to require each federal agency head to provide information to the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration for identification of each energy-producing company. Establishes within such Administration a Financial Market Analysis Office responsible for financial analysis of energy markets. Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to investigate and report to certain congressional committees on the role of financial institutions in natural gas markets. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to study and report to certain congressional committees on: (1) the international regime for regulating the trading of energy commodity futures and derivatives; and (2) the effects of noncommercial speculators upon energy futures markets and energy prices.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2008
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr., former Senator from North Carolina. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on July 7, 2008, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Helms.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2008
Small Business Energy Emergency Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration to make disaster loans to assist small businesses that have suffered or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury as the result of a significant increase in the price of heating fuel occurring on or after October 1, 2007. Prohibits such loan from being made if the total amount outstanding and committed to the borrower would exceed $1.5 million, unless the borrower is a major source of employment in its surrounding area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to farm operations that qualify as a small business and that have or are likely to suffer substantial economic injury on or after October 1, 2007, as the result of a significant increase in energy costs in connection with an energy emergency declared by the President or the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2008
Affirms the strong and historic ties between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Disapproves of the May 2008 Memorandum of Understanding between the government of the United States of America and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Concerning Cooperation in Nuclear Energy and Other Energy Fields. Reiterates that the United States is committed to nuclear weapons nonproliferation and to preventing the Islamic Republic of Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons. States that: (1) no agreement for nuclear cooperation between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia may enter into force on or after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (2) no nuclear materials and equipment or sensitive nuclear technology shall be exported or reexported, or transferred or retransferred, and no federal agency shall issue any license or authorization for the export or reexport, or transfer or retransfer of these items or assistance to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia if the end user is a nuclear production or utilization facility, or if the President determines that the material, equipment, technology, or item may be diverted to such a facility.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2008
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the harbor maintenance tax commercial cargo (other than bulk cargo) loaded at: (1) a port in the U.S. mainland and unloaded at another such port after transport solely by coastal route or river or unloaded at a port in Canada located in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System; or (2) such a port in Canada and unloaded at a port in the U.S. mainland. Defines the "Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System" as the waterway between Duluth, Minnesota, and Sept Iles, Quebec, Canada, encompassing the five Great Lakes, their connecting channels, and the Saint Lawrence River.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2008
Earned Income Credit Information Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require certain employers (with more than 25 employees) to provide their employees with a notice explaining the earned income tax credit and eligibility rules for such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2008
Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act - Makes appropriations for FY2008 for payments under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (LIHEAP Program).
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2008
Encourages all Americans to pause and remember Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner and the 44th anniversary of their deaths. Commemorates their lives and work, and those of all other brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of civil rights and voting rights for all Americans. Commemorates and acknowledges the legacy of the brave Americans who participated in the civil rights movement and the role that they played in changing the hearts and minds of Americans, and creating the political climate necessary to pass legislation to expand such rights.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2008
Port Authority of New York/New Jersey Port Security Task Force Implementation Act of 2008 - Amends federal port security law to revise mandatory elements of the secure system of transportation program. Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, acting through the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, to establish minimum program standards and procedures for verifying, at the point goods are placed in a cargo container for shipping, that such container is free of unauthorized contents, including hazardous chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material, and is securely sealed after verification of its contents. Prohibits the entry of any container that has not complied with such standards and procedures. Requires Area Maritime Transportation Security Plans to establish regional response and recovery protocols for transportation security incidents. Amends the SAFE Port Act to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that the Port Security Exercise Program utilizes Area Maritime Transportation Security Plans in conducting port security exercises. Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to develop and utilize a national standard for prioritizing and assessing security risks at U.S. ports, such as the Maritime Assessment Strategy Tool. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) use of the U.S. Coast Guard's Maritime Security Risk Assessment Model tool to conduct vessel and port facility security risk assessments; (2) establishment of maritime and cargo security integrated project teams; (3) sharing of port facility vulnerability assessments and integration of port security plans and systems with local port authority and law enforcement agencies; (4) policy for advanced notice of Coast Guard boarding of vessels for security or Port State Control inspections; (5) confiscation of fraudulent transportation worker identification cards (TWICs); (6) Federal Maritime Commission training and licensing of steamship agents; (7) designation of a U.S. person to be responsible for notifying emergency response entities in the event of a transportation security incident involving a U.S. or foreign vessel; (8) minimum incident command system training and performance standards for maritime security guards; (9) consideration of regional strategic risk management priorities for tier 1 and tier 2 ports in grant awards; and (10) the submission of security plans for supply, bunker, and fuel deliver and launch vessels conducting activities or providing services to other vessels at anchorage.
![Official portrait of Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000148_200.jpg)