United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2002
Expresses the sense of the Senate that Saudi Arabia should: (1) immediately dissolve its "martyrs" fund (designed to fund acts of violence or to compensate families of Palestinian suicide bombers); (2) fulfill its commitment to combat violence and terrorism; and (3) eliminate the funding of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2002
Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize qualified physical therapists to provide services for Medicare beneficiaries without the requirement of a physician referral. Provides for treatment of outpatient speech-language pathology services separately from outpatient physical therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 2005, the duty on a macroporous ion-exchange resin crosslinked with divinylbenzene, thiol functionalized.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 2005, the duty on ion-exchange resin crosslinked with Ethenylbenzene, aminophosphonic acid, sodium form.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 2005, the duty onion-exchange resin crosslinked with divinylbenzene, sulphonic acid, sodium form.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 2005, the duty on ion-exchange resin crosslinked with divinylbenzene, iminodiacetic acid, sodium form.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2002
Amends the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to include shoulder pads as a finding or trimming of foreign origin which will not make an article otherwise eligible for preferential treatment under such Acts ineligible, as long as the value of such shoulder pads does not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled article.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2002
Medicare Equity for Veterans Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS) and of Veterans Affairs (VA), under a new Medicare Subvention Project for Veterans, to establish a demonstration project under which the HHS Secretary shall reimburse the VA Secretary from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for Medicare health care services furnished to targeted Medicare-eligible veterans who volunteer for such project. Requires the demonstration project to be conducted at up to ten sites jointly designated by the Secretaries. Directs the VA Secretary to establish and operate coordinated care health plans to provide benefits to the enrolled veterans consistent with the program under SSA title XVIII part C (Medicare+Choice).
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2002
Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance Adjustment Act of 2002 - Provides incremental increases in the rates of educational assistance provided to veterans' survivors and dependents, including for full- and part-time courses, correspondence courses, special restorative training, and apprenticeship training. Entitles an eligible person who first files a claim for such assistance after enactment of this Act to assistance for up to 36 (currently 45) months. Increases the annual aggregate amount available to State educational approving agencies for the reimbursement of administrative expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2002
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to guarantee adjustable rate mortgages for veterans eligible for housing loan benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (replaces provisions that directed the Secretary to carry out a demonstration project to guaranty loans in a manner similar to the manner in which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development insured adjustable rate mortgages under the National Housing Act). Includes within such guaranteed mortgages hybrid adjustable rate mortgages (mortgages whose interest rates are adjusted after as few as three years) which do not correspond to a specified national interest rate index approved by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2002
Declares that the Senate: (1) stands in solidarity with Israel as it takes necessary steps to provide security to its people by dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas; (2) remains committed to Israel's right to self-defense; and (3) will continue to assist Israel in strengthening its homeland defenses. Condemns Palestinian suicide bombings. Demands that the Palestinian Authority fulfill its commitment to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas. Urges: (1) all Arab states, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to declare their unqualified opposition to all forms of terrorism, particularly suicide bombing, and to act in concert with the United States to stop the violence; and (2) all parties in the region to pursue vigorous efforts to establish comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Arafat Accountability Act - Expresses the support of Congress for the President's efforts to achieve comprehensive peace in the State of Israel. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should urge an immediate and unconditional cessation of all terrorist activities and the commencement of a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians; (2) the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) should immediately surrender to Israel for detention and prosecution those Palestinian extremists wanted by Israel for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi; and (3) Yasser Arafat and the PLO must take immediate and concrete action to publicly condemn all acts of terrorism, confiscate and destroy the infrastructures of terrorism, and end (and urge all Arab nations to end) financial support for terrorism. Prohibits the Secretary of State (Secretary) and the Attorney General, respectively, from issuing a visa or admitting to the United States any member of the PLO or official of the PA. Permits the President to waive this prohibition in the national security interest of the United States. Directs the Secretary to prohibit the operation of a PLO or PA office in the United States from carrying out any function other than those carried out prior to the Oslo Accords. Requires the Secretary to impose travel restrictions on the senior official of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine. Requires the Secretary and the Attorney General to identify and freeze United States assets of the PLO, the PA, and Yasser Arafat. Requires the President to report to specified congressional committees on PLO terrorist activities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Debt Relief Enhancement Act of 2002 - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to commence efforts immediately within the Paris Club of Official Creditors, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and other appropriate multilateral development institutions to modify the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative so that the amount of debt stock reduction approved for a country eligible for debt relief shall be sufficient to reduce, by a specified deadline, the net present value of the outstanding public and publicly guaranteed debt of the country, and the annual payments due, to levels determined according to certain formulae. Prohibits conditioning any such debt cancellation on an agreement by an impoverished country to implement or comply with policies that deepen poverty or degrade the environment. Prescribes other specified conditions and prohibitions with respect to country eligibility. Requires any country otherwise eligible to receive debt cancellation under the modifications to the Initiative made by this Act to agree to: (1) ensure that the financial benefits of debt cancellation are applied to programs to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty; and (2) implement transparent and participatory policymaking and budget procedures, good governance, and effective anticorruption measures. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the options and costs associated with expanding debt relief under the Initiative to poor countries not eligible for inclusion in it.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2002
Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Act of 2002 - Establishes a Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission to plan, develop, and carry out programs and activities appropriate to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Requires the Commission to award a grant in each of FY 2003 through 2015 to: (1) the U.S. Civil War Center at Louisiana State University, Louisiana; and (2) the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, Pennsylvania.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2002
Directs the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with specified provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, to issue a final rule relating to ergonomics.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2002
Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Medical Care Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, during and immediately following a disaster or emergency declared by the President or in which the National Disaster Medical System is activated, to furnish hospital care and medical services to individuals responding to, involved in, or otherwise affected by such disaster or emergency. Authorizes the Secretary, during such period, to: (1) furnish care and services to veterans without regard to their enrollment in the Department of Veterans Affairs annual patient enrollment system; and (2) give a higher priority to the care of individuals involved in or affected by the disaster or emergency over all other eligible groups except service-connected disabled veterans and active-duty military personnel responding to or involved in such disaster or emergency. Authorizes the Secretary, during and immediately following such a disaster or emergency, to furnish hospital care and medical services to active-duty military personnel responding to or involved in such disaster or emergency. Provides a priority for such personnel over all other eligible groups except service-connected disabled veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2002
Steel Industry Consolidation and Retiree Benefits Protection Act of 2002 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to establish a steel industry retiree benefits protection program administered by the Secretary of Commerce and the Board of Trustees of the Steel Industry Legacy Relief Trust Fund (created by this Act) to provide specified medical and death benefits to eligible steel retirees and beneficiaries. Prescribes qualifying events (acquisition, closing, election, or bankruptcy transfer) as a result of which the United States shall assume liability for the provision of steel retiree benefits for each eligible retiree and eligible beneficiary certified for participation in the retiree benefits program. Requires transfer to the Trust Fund by a qualified steel company and any applicable acquiring company of all assets which, under the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement, were required to be set aside under an employee benefit plan or otherwise for the provision of the steel retiree benefits. Requires contributions to the Trust Fund by such companies.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2002
Flight 93 National Memorial Act - Establishes at the site in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001, and as a unit of the National Park System, a memorial to honor the passengers and crewmembers who died. Establishes a Flight 93 Advisory Commission to recommend planning, design, construction, and long-term management of the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2002
Removes, for months beginning on or after October 1, 2002, the requirement that qualifying offsetting legislation be enacted before a member or former member of the armed forces may be paid military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation concurrently without deduction. Repeals, as of such date, a special compensation program for certain severely disabled military retirees.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2002
Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, respectively, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) prescribe initial and final pathogen performance standards for raw meat and raw poultry, and meat and poultry products processed in establishments inspected under such Acts; (2) identify, and publish a list of, such pathogens; (3) initiate pathogen surveys to determine existing levels of meat and poultry contamination; and (4) perform microbial compliance testing at such establishments, and prohibit non-complying establishments from labeling such products as "inspected and passed." Directs the Secretary to establish a National Advisory Committee for Microbiology Criteria for Foods.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2002
Designates March 8, 2002, as International Women's Day. Reaffirms the Senate's commitment to ending discrimination and violence against women, ensuring their safety and welfare, and pursuing policies that guarantee their basic rights both in the United States and in the world. Calls upon the U.S. people to observe International Women's Day with appropriate programs and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2002
National Defense Rail Act - Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak security assistance. Requires studies or assessments of: (1) foreign rail transport security programs; (2) the feasibility of passenger, baggage, and cargo screening; (3) existing rail safety regulations; (4) security priorities; and (5) rail crossing delay security issues. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) establish a national high-speed ground transportation policy; and (2) provide 100 percent financial assistance to develop and implement high-speed rail corridors according to designated priorities, including the elimination of hazards of railway-highway crossings. Requires such projects to comply with specified labor standards, including the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act. Defines the national rail passenger transportation system. Authorizes Amtrak to operate an intercity rail service or route not included in such system, as specified. Authorizes additional appropriations for Amtrak for principal and interest, and environmental and Americans With Disabilities Act compliance. Repeals the requirement that Amtrak be self-sufficient. Authorizes appropriations for the Northeast Corridor, long and short distance trains, and State-supported routes. Directs the Secretary to re-establish the Northeast Corridor Safety Committee. Revises requirements concerning the Amtrak board of directors. Requires an independent audit of Amtrak operations. Revises requirements of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 concerning loans and loan guarantees. Directs the Secretary to establish a rail passenger cooperative research program, including an advisory board.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2002
Declares that the Senate mourns the death of Daniel Pearl and expresses its condolences to his wife, unborn child, and family. Salutes Daniel Pearl for his principled and fearless pursuit of journalistic excellence.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2002
Congratulates the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, on its bicentennial anniversary. Recognizes it as an outstanding leadership development institution that upholds and promotes the highest virtues of American society. Commends all those who have led and taught at the Academy for inculcating its graduates with moral, ethical, and intellectual values and skills that are the foundations for the dedicated service so honorably given by those graduates to the Army, the Nation, and friends of freedom and liberty around the world for 200 years.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2002
Designates March 2, 2002, as Read Across America Day. Honors Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for his success in encouraging children to discover the joy of reading. Encourages parents to read with their children for at least 30 minutes on Read Across America Day in honor of Dr. Seuss and in celebration of reading.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2002
Supports the goals and ideas of National Donor Day. Encourages all Americans to learn about the importance of organ, tissue, bone marrow, and blood donation and to discuss such donation with their families and friends.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2002
Military Commission Procedures Act of 2002 - Authorizes each military commission established by the President to try an individual who is not a U.S. citizen if the President determines that there is reason to believe that the individual: (1) is or was a member of the al Qaeda organization; (2) has engaged in, aided or abetted, or conspired to commit acts of international terrorism that have caused or threatened to cause injury to, or adverse effects on, the United States or its citizens, national security, foreign policy, or economy; or (3) has harbored one of more of such individuals. Allows each commission to adjudicate only violations of the international law of war. Requires each such individual to be represented by counsel. Outlines trial procedures. Requires the prosecution to have the burden of proving guilt. Entitled convicted individuals to a review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Military Commissions (established under this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2002
Highway Funding Restoration Act - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to require that obligations for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs for FY 2003: (1) meet a specified minimum level; and (2) be distributed in accordance with that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2002
Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Services Act to prohibit: (1) performing or attempting to perform human cloning; or (2) shipping, receiving, or importing the product of nuclear transplantation for the purpose of human cloning. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict areas of biomedical, agricultural, and scientific research not specifically prohibited, including somatic cell nuclear transfer or other cloning technologies to clone molecules, DNA, cells, and tissues.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2002
Recognizes that America has lost one of its most dedicated and hardest working advocates for adoption, and honors Rex David "Dave" Thomas in his devotion to family, life, and business. Expresses the Senate's deep and heartfelt condolences to the family of Dave Thomas on their loss.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Establishes a National Commission on Terrorist Acts Upon the United States. Directs the Commission to: (1) investigate facts and circumstances relating to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; and (2) evaluate lessons learned from the such attacks regarding the Federal Government's abilities to detect, prevent and respond to such attacks. Empowers the Commission to hold hearings, collect relevant materials and subpoena witnesses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Amends the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Act of 1999 to extend the definition of a steel company qualified for a loan guarantee to include one that has placed on hot idle status any steel mill facilities used in steel production or manufacture. Increases the individual guarantee limit under the loan guarantee program. Requires the Loan Guarantee Board to utilize a form of unconditional and unqualified guarantee that U.S. commercial banks would typically require from a nongovernmental guarantor in a similar commercial loan transaction. Revises loan guarantee requirements to: (1) replace "reasonable assurance" of loan repayment with "fair likelihood" of repayment; and (2) include a Board determination that the applicant company's business plan maximizes job retention and capacity consistent with its long-term economic viability. Repeals the requirement that loan securities be guaranteed. Authorizes the Board, in lieu of such requirement, to: (1) require security in either existing or after-acquired assets for the guaranteed portion of the loan; and (2) provide the unguaranteed portion of the loan different payment preference or different terms than those provided to the guaranteed portion of the loan. Increases the maximum principal loan amount to be guaranteed from 85 percent to 95 percent, plus the amount of any unpaid interest on the loan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Amends the Federal criminal code with respect to trafficking in counterfeit goods or services to make a technical correction in the codification of title 36 (Patriotic and National Observances, Ceremonies, and Organizations) regarding the definition of a counterfeit mark.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Holocaust Victims' Assets, Restitution Policy, and Remembrance Act - Establishes the National Foundation for the Study of Holocaust Assets as an independent entity of the Executive branch to: (1) serve as a centralized repository for research and information about Holocaust-era assets; and (2) create tools to assist individuals and institutions to determine the ownership of Holocaust victims' assets and to enable claimants to obtain the speedy resolution of their personal property claims.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2001
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that if at any time 50 percent or more of the Members of the House of Representatives are unable to carry out their duties because of death or incapacity, each Governor of a State represented by such a Member shall appoint a qualified individual to take the Member's place as soon as practicable, but no later than seven days, after certification of the Member's death or incapacity. Requires an individual appointed to take the place of the Member to: (1) be a Member of the same political party as the Member who is being replaced; and (2) serve until a Member is elected to fill the vacancy by a special election to be held at any time during the 90-day period which begins on the date of the individual's appointment, in accordance with the applicable election laws of the State involved. Declares, however, that if a regularly scheduled general election for the office will be held during such period or 30 days thereafter, no special election shall be held and the Member elected in such regularly scheduled general election shall fill the vacancy upon election. Allows such appointed individual to be a candidate in such a special election or in such a regularly scheduled general election.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2001
Designates the lobby of the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse located at 601 Market Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Edward R. Becker Lobby.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2001
White House Commission on National Military Appreciation Month Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should establish the White House Commission on National Military Appreciation Month to make recommendations to the President on the proclamation of National Military Appreciation Month to be celebrated in May of each year; and (2) any such Commission should be composed of specified members. Expresses the sense of Congress that if such Commission is established, the President should also establish the Spirit of America Alliance to assist the Commission: (1) in the planning, organization, and conduct of an annual White House Conference on National Military Appreciation and other similar events; (2) in the promotion of the observance of such Month and other military commemorative events through appropriate means, subject to any guidelines developed by the Commission; (3) in the establishment of necessary incentives for Federal, State, and local governments and private sector entities to sponsor and participate in programs initiated by the Commission or the Alliance; (4) in the evaluation of the effectiveness of efforts by the Commission and the Alliance in carrying out this Act; and (5) by the performance of any other related duties that are assigned by the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2001
International Disability and Victims of Landmines, Civil Strife and Warfare Assistance Act of 2001 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to furnish assistance to individuals with disabilities, including victims of civil strife and warfare, in foreign countries. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) conduct programs in foreign countries related to individuals with disabilities, including victims of land mines and other victims of civil strife and warfare; and (2) provide grants to nongovernmental organizations for carrying out research, prevention, public awareness, and assistance programs for such individuals. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide: (1) advice and expertise on prosthetics, orthotics, physical and psychological rehabilitation and treatment, and disability assistance to other Federal agencies with respect to assistance programs for such individuals; and (2) technical assistance to private voluntary organizations with respect to the planning, development, operation, and evaluation of such land mine assistance, research, and prevention programs. Directs the Secretary of State to establish and chair an interagency group to coordinate all Federal programs that furnish assistance to such individuals and conduct land mine research, demining, and prevention programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2001
Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2001 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add provisions granting additional authorities to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning bioterrorism preparedness and responding to public health emergencies. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a plan which includes the development of specific criteria enabling measurements to be made of the progress made at the national, State, and local levels toward achieving the national goal of bioterrorism preparedness. Requires the maintenance of an adequate national pharmaceutical stockpile of vaccines (including a smallpox vaccine), therapies, and medical supplies for use at the Secretary's discretion in the event of a biological threat or attack or other public health emergency. Expands the role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a coordinated network of public health laboratories to assist with the detection of and response to a biological threat or attack. Provides for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary for Emergency Preparedness who shall head the Office for Emergency Preparedness. Provides for a National Disaster Medical System to provide appropriate health and social services to respond to a public health emergency, if the Secretary activates the System. Provides for enhanced regulatory control of biological agents and toxins. Establishes a State Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Block Grant Program to improve State and local preparedness and response capabilities. Amends the Clayton Act to provide for a limited antitrust exemption with respect to the development of new countermeasures against bioterrorism. Requires, under the Public Health Service Act, the development of a crisis communications and education strategy with respect to bioterrorist threats to the food supply. Expands animal and plant health inspection service activities and authorities. Amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration with respect to food presenting a serious threat to humans or animals. Requires the registration of food manufacturing, processing, and handling facilities. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize existing authorities to expand Agricultural Research Service and Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service programs to protect the food supply of the United States.
![Official portrait of Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000709_200.jpg)