United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 - Amends the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) and the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA, which is subchapter B of MLSA) to extend authorizations of appropriations and revise programs under such Acts. Prohibits projects which are determined to be obscene from receiving funds under MLSA. Amends MLSA to establish the National Museum and Library Services Board, within the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). (Eliminates a National Museum Services Board.) Requires the IMLS Director to: (1) ensure coordination with certain activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), and other Federal activities; and (2) conduct and publish analyses of museum and library services impact. Revises requirements for annual national awards to outstanding libraries and museums that have made significant contributions in service to their communities. Includes specified entities under the term museum, for MLSA purposes. Revises museum services activities. Entitles subchapter C of MLSA as the Museum Services Act. Amends LSTA to provide for: (1) an increased portion for administrative costs; (2) an increased alternative minimum allotment to States under certain conditions; (3) State plans once every five years, as determined by the IMLS Director; (4) additional uses of grants to States for library programs; and (5) recruitment of library and information science personnel under the program of national leadership grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Repeals requirements under the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act relating to Commission responsibilities to: (1) advise the IMLS Director; and (2) meet with the National Museum Services Board, which is eliminated by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act - Amends the Internet Tax Freedom Act to permanently ban: (1) taxes on Internet access; and (2) multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Social Security and Medicare Lock-box Act of 2003 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate, until there is both a social security and Medicare solvency certification by the Boards of Trustees of the social security and Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Funds, respectively, to consider: (1) any concurrent budget resolution that would use any portion of the baseline budget surpluses; or (2) any legislation or amendment if the enactment of such legislation or amendment would use any portion of such surpluses. Defines "baseline budget surplus" as the sum of the on- and off-budget surpluses contained in the most recent baseline budget projections by the Congressional Budget Office at the beginning of the annual budget cycle and no later than the month of March. Establishes conditions under which a portion of such surpluses is determined to be used in the case of legislation affecting revenues or direct spending or an appropriations bill.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Anti-Gunrunning Act of 2003 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit any licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer from selling, delivering, or transferring: (1) two or more handguns to any single person (other than a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer) during any 30-day period; or (2) a handgun knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the transferee has already received one or more handguns within the previous 30 days. Prohibits an unlicensed individual from receiving more than one handgun within any 30-day period. Specifies exceptions. Provides for imprisonment for up to five years (currently, one year) of a licensed dealer, importer, manufacturer, or collector knowingly making any false statement in connection with required firearms records. Requires a licensee, within three days of receiving a request from a prospective transferee, to notify the national instant criminal background check system of any check conducted within the previous 30 days that did not result in the transfer of a handgun.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Community Choice in Real Estate Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, and the Revised Statutes of the United States, to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, respectively, from determining that real estate brokerage activity or real estate management activity is financial in nature, is incidental to any financial activity, or is complementary to a financial activity. (In effect, prohibits financial holding companies and national banks from engaging, directly or indirectly, in real estate brokerage or real estate management activities.) Exempts from such prohibition: (1) activities of a bank holding company (or any affiliate) that directly relate to managing any real property owned by national banks or their affiliates; and (2) the right, power, or ability of any financial holding company to engage in any activity, or acquire or retain the shares of any company engaged in an activity authorized for financial holding companies on December 6, 2001 ("grandfather clause").
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Book Stamp Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a grant program (based on certain State allocations under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990) to promote child literacy and improve children's access to books at home and in early learning, child care, literacy and nutrition programs, by making books available through such programs. Requires State agencies to use such grants to enter into contracts with local child care resource and referral agencies to provide payments for eligible early learning program and other child care providers, on the basis of local needs, to make books available, promote child literacy, and improve children's access to books at home. Amends Federal law relating to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to require USPS to establish special postage stamps for child literacy, at the regular first-class rate plus a differential amount, for voluntary use by patrons. Requires USPS to pay certain amounts raised by stamp sales to HHS for child literacy promotion activities.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Energy and Science Research Investment Act of 2003 - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) conduct a comprehensive fundamental research program in designated sciences; and (2) upgrade and expand scientific user facilities maintained by the Office of Science in order to ensure that fundamental science programs aid the applied research and development programs of the Department of Energy (DOE). Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2007. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish within DOE: (1) an Under Secretary for Energy Research and Science, to serve as the Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary, and to exercise authority and responsibility over Assistant Secretaries implementing energy research and development, and energy technology functions; (2) an Assistant Secretary of Science to head the Office of Science (currently headed by a Director); (3) an additional position for Assistant Secretary; (4) the position of General Counsel; and (5) a Science Advisory Board composed of the chairs of the advisory panels for each of the programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Renames the Technology Assessment Act of 1972 as the Office of Technology Assessment Reestablishment Act of 2003. Authorizes appropriations for the Office of Technology Assessment for FY 2004 through 2009.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Medicare Physician Protection Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to specify the conversion factor (update) for payments under the Medicare physician fee schedule for 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2003 - Amends the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002 (TEUCA, which is title II of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, PL107-147) to extend the TEUCA program through weeks of unemployment ending before July 1, 2003. Provides for a transition period of continuing payments to individuals with amounts remaining in their TEUC account after June 30, 2003, for weeks beginning before December 31, 2003. Entitles eligible individuals in all States to a total of 26 weeks of TEUCA compensation (13 weeks beyond the current 13 weeks). Provides an additional seven weeks of TEUCA benefits for workers in high unemployment States (entitling them to a total of 33, which is 20 weeks beyond the current 13). Applies a revised adjusted insured unemployment rate State trigger. Sets an additional TEUCA benefit period State trigger based on total unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Notch Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to revise the formula for the computation of minimum Old Age Insurance benefits for individuals who reached age 65 in or after 1979 and to whom applies the 15-year transition period for the changes in benefit computation rules enacted in the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Sets forth a schedule of additional benefit increases for such beneficiaries (and related beneficiaries), with percentages declining from 55 percent to five percent and keyed to the year an individual became eligible for such benefits between 1979 and 1988. Allows such beneficiaries, in the alternative, to receive lump sum payments over four years totaling $5,000.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Economic Security Act of 2003 - Provides for a program of temporary enhanced unemployment compensation which may add the greater of 15 percent or $25 to the amount of weekly regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) for which an individual is eligible under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Modifies eligibility requirements for regular compensation, where applicable for purposes of benefits under this Act, to: (1) set an alternative base period ending at the close of the most recently completed calendar quarter; and (2) allow individuals to seek less than full-time work or not accept full-time work. Sets forth program requirements for Federal-State agreements, formulas for determining weekly benefits, nonreduction and coordination rules, payments to States, and financing. Applies program agreements to weeks of unemployment: (1) beginning after the date on which such an agreement is entered into; and (2) ending before July 1, 2004. Makes a modification relating to alternative base periods applicable only to initial claims filed after September 11, 2001. Makes a modification relating to part-time employment and increased benefits applicable to weeks of unemployment in such agreement period, regardless of the date on which an individual's claim for benefits is filed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Reservists Pay Security Act of 2003 - Entitles a person who is absent from his or her position of Federal employment to perform service in the uniformed services or the National Guard to receive from his or her agency an amount that, when added to the pay and allowances for such service, equals the basic pay which would have been payable to such employee for such period of service for which such employee is not otherwise compensated.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, relating to revisions to payment policies under the Medicare physician fee schedule for calendar year 2003, and the inclusion of registered nurses in the personnel provision of the critical access hospital emergency services requirement for frontier areas and remote locations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Clean Water Infrastructure Financing Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to remove certain requirements for States with respect to construction of treatment works under capitalization grant agreements. Requires architectural and engineering contracts to be awarded consistent with procedures under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 or an equivalent State qualifications-based requirement. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assist States in establishing simplified procedures for small water systems to obtain assistance under the Act. Requires revolving funds to be used only for providing assistance for activities which have as a principal benefit the improvement or protection of water quality of navigable waters. Makes revisions concerning uses of funds for: (1) innovative technologies; (2) administrative expenses; (3) small system technical, planning, and management assistance; and (4) financially distressed communities. Revises requirements related to consistency with plans and eligibility of treatment works not considered publicly owned. Requires States to make grants to financially distressed communities in any fiscal year in which the Administrator has more than $1.4 billion available for obligation and allows a State to give priority to such communities in making loans. Directs the Administrator to provide technical and financial assistance to owners and operators of publicly-owned treatment works for: (1) inventorying critical treatment works assets; (2) evaluating the performance and condition of these assets; and (3) developing a plan for maintaining and replacing treatment works. Reauthorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2008 for the revolving fund program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the full realization of the rights of women is vital to the development and well-being of people of all nations; and (2) the Senate should, therefore, give its advice and consent to the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2003
Expresses serious concern about the continuing menace posed by polio. Implores the private sector and various actors, including the United Nations, concerned States, and international financial institutions, to act hastily to eradicate polio. Calls upon the executive branch to provide the necessary human and material resources to end the scourge of polio, including closely monitoring laboratory stocks of the polio virus.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Chang-Lin Ten, model educator, diplomat, and mentor, on the occasion of his death. Extends condolences to the Tien family and to the faculty, staff, and students of the University of California-Berkeley.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2002
National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 - Authorizes appropriations to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for FY 2003 through 2005. Requires the NSF Director to: (1) carry out specified scientific research activities, including information technology, science, mathematics, and engineering, and plant genome research; (2) carry out the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research; (3) award grants for mathematics and science education partnership programs and for recruiting and training mathematics and science teachers; (4) award grants to establish Centers for Research on Learning and Education Improvement; (5) take steps to avoid NSF duplicative programs; (6) award grants to expand previously implemented reforms of undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering, or technology education; (7) assess gender differences in the careers of science and engineering faculty; and (8) assess any increases in the number and quality of students completing degrees in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. Instructs the Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering to describe NSF policies and activities to encourage the full participation of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities in science, mathematics, and engineering fields. Directs NSF and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to jointly establish an Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee. Authorizes the Director to establish a program to award grants to certain minority-serving institutions to enhance the quality of undergraduate science, mathematics, and engineering education. Requires the Director to provide for a study to determine discrepancies in Federal reports on obligations and actual expenditures of Federal research and development spending.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Roberto Cruz (founder and first president of the National Hispanic University) and extends condolences on his death to the Cruz family and to the University faculty, staff, and students.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2002
California Missions Preservation Act of 2002 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make matching grants to the California Missions Foundation to support its efforts to restore and repair the California missions, and to preserve associated artworks and artifacts.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advisory Board Act of 2002 - Establishes the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advisory Board which shall: (1) operate in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (2) provide advice to the President and the National Science and Technology Council on research investment policy, strategy, program goals, and management processes relating to nanoscience and nanotechnology. Directs the President to establish a National Nanotechnology Coordination Office to provide necessary technical and administrative support to the Advisory Board and to coordinate Federal nanotechnology activities between Federal agencies, private sector industry, and academia. Requires the Advisory Board to: (1) advise the President and the Council, and inform the Congress, on matters relating to the National Nanotechnology Program; (2) consult with academic industrial entities, State and local governments and agencies, and other appropriate entities conducting research on and using nanotechnology; (3) ensure that such Program considers fully the societal implications of nanoscale science and technology; and (4) transmit an annual report, which shall include a technology transition study, to the President, the head of each agency involved in the Program, and specified congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2002
Stop Taking Our Health Privacy (STOHP) Act of 2002 - Declares that modifications made by an August 14, 2002, final rule affecting medical privacy to a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section concerning consent for uses or disclosures to carry out treatment, payment, or health care operations shall have no force or effect. Directs that such CFR section shall be construed and applied to permit a health care provider to use or disclose an individual's protected health information without prior consent under specified circumstances, provided that the provider obtains written consent from the individual as soon as practicable. Declares that a CFR section dealing with uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required shall be construed and applied so that an authorization shall be invalid unless it meets specified criteria, including that it describes the specific marketing uses and disclosures authorized. States that the modifications made by the August 14 final rule dealing with permitted disclosures for public health activities shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2002
Recognizes and congratulates former President Jimmy Carter for his receipt of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, and commends him for his tireless work for and dedication to peace.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Responsibility in Federal Contracts Act - Prohibits the Federal government from entering into, or approving any subcontract under, a contract with any company filing certain periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 if, before the date on which the contract is expected to be awarded, a specified certification required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has not been made for the most recent periodic report due before such date. Retains such prohibition for the one-year period beginning on the date that the most recent periodic report was due. Authorizes the President to waive the prohibition if he determines that it is in the national security interest. Requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to make available to the public on a quarterly basis a list of companies that have failed to make the certification required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2002
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) supports the goals and ideals of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund; (2) salutes the Fund, and recognizes the efforts in support of equal opportunity in higher education of its president, its board of directors, and the presidents, faculties, staff, and trustees of its member institutions; and (3) commends the students who benefit from the Fund for their pursuit of academic excellence.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2002
Honors the life of Dr. Roberto Cruz (founder and first president of the National Hispanic University in California) and extends condolences on his death to the Cruz family and to the University faculty, staff, and students.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2002
Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002 - Amends Federal copyright law to: (1) include analog or digital transmissions of a copyrighted work within fair use protections; (2) provide that it is not a copyright infringement for a person who lawfully obtains or receives a transmission of a digital work to reproduce, store, adapt, or access it for archival purposes or to transfer it to a preferred digital media device in order to effect a non-public performance or display; (3) allow the owner of a particular copy of a digital work to sell or otherwise dispose of the work by means of a transmission to a single recipient, provided the owner does not retain his or her copy in a retrievable form and the work is sold or otherwise disposed of in its original format; and (4) permit circumvention of copyright encryption technology if it is necessary to enable a noninfringing use and the copyright owner fails to make publicly available the necessary means for circumvention without additional cost or burden to a person who has lawfully obtained a copy or phonorecord of a work, or lawfully received a transmission of it.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2002
Restoring Budget Disciplines Act of 2002 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to extend Pay-As-You-Go provisions through FY 2007. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should agree upon an extension of the discretionary spending limits by establishing caps for FY 2003 through 2007. Extends discretionary spending limits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2002
HOPE VI Program Revitalization Act of 2002 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend and authorize appropriations for the HOPE VI revitalization program. Revises grant selection criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2002
Firefighting Research and Coordination Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to direct the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration (Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)) to: (1) develop new, and utilize existing, measurement techniques and testing methodologies for evaluating new firefighting technologies; (2) evaluate the compatibility of new equipment and technology with existing technology; and (3) support the development of new standards through national voluntary consensus standards organizations for new firefighting technologies based on specified techniques and methodologies. Directs the Administrator to: (1) provide technical assistance and training to State and local fire service officials to establish nationwide and State mutual aid systems for dealing with national emergencies; and (2) develop and make model mutual aid plans for both intrastate and interstate assistance available to State and local fire service officials. Requires the Director of FEMA to revise FEMA's Federal Response Plan to incorporate plans for responding to terrorist attacks, particularly in urban areas. Authorizes the Superintendent of the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control to train fire service personnel in: (1) strategies for building collapse rescue; (2) the use of technology in response to fires; (3) response, tactics, and strategies for dealing with terrorist-caused national catastrophes; (4) use of and familiarity with the national plan; (5) leadership and strategic skills, including integrated management systems operations and integrated response; (6) strategies and tactics for fighting forest fires; (7) integration of terrorism response agencies into the national terrorism incident response system; and (8) response tactics and strategies for fighting fires at U.S. ports, including fires on the water and aboard vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2002
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act - Permits the Director of the National Institutes of Health (the "Director" of NIH), acting through the Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research on paralysis. Allows the Director to award grants to public or nonprofit entities to fund Christopher Reeve Paralysis Research Consortia for paralysis research. Permits the Director to solicit public input regarding paralysis research programs. Allows the Director, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development and the National Center for Rehabilitation Research and in collaboration with other agencies, to expand and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to research with implications for enhancing daily function for persons with paralysis. Permits the Director to make grants to multicenter networks of clinical sites that will collaborate on rehabilitation intervention protocols. Permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to study the unique health challenges associated with paralysis and other physical disabilities to improve the quality of life and long-term health status of individuals with such conditions. Allows the Secretary to undertake direct research and to make grants. Provides for the formation of a national paralysis and physical disability quality of life plan, a hospital-based paralysis registry, and a Comprehensive Paralysis and Other Physical Disability Quality of Life Program. Allows the Secretary to convene a working group for coordinating paralysis research, public health, and rehabilitation training at the Federal level.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2002
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase, for a corporate insider, the applicable tax by 50 percent of the amount realized by such insider from the disqualified disposition of stock (a sale violating specified restrictions) acquired by such corporate insider upon the exercise of a stock option granted by the corporation; (2) increase, for a publicly traded corporation, the applicable tax by 50 percent of the net cost to the corporation of personal perks provided to a retired executive of the corporation; and (3) include in the gross income of a corporate insider funded deferred compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2002
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a special rule allowing a minimum credit against the alternative minimum tax where stock acquired pursuant to an incentive stock option is sold or exchanged at a loss.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2002
Federal Bureau of Investigation Reform Act of 2002 - Rewrites provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978 to: (1) authorize the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing or administrative misconduct by DOJ employees, or to refer such allegations to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) or the appropriate internal affairs office; (2) direct the IG to refer to OPR counsel certain allegations of misconduct involving DOJ personnel; and (3) direct the Attorney General to ensure that any DOJ component receiving a non-frivolous allegation of criminal wrongdoing or administrative misconduct by a DOJ employee reports that information to the IG. Requires the IG to direct that one official of the IG's office be responsible for supervising and coordinating independent oversight of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) programs and operations until September 30, 2003. Allows continued individual oversight after that date. Directs the IG to submit a plan for FBI oversight. Expands the scope of FBI whistle-blower protections. Directs: (1) the Attorney General to establish policies and procedures regarding persons serving in FBI security positions, and a counterintelligence screening polygraph program for the FBI; and (2) the FBI Director, acting through a Director of Security, to establish a security career program board. Authorizes: (1) the Director to establish a permanent FBI police force to protect persons and property within FBI buildings and grounds; and (2) disciplinary suspensions of members of the Senior Executive Service for any length of time (currently for more than 14 days).
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2002
Recognizes September 11 as both a day to remember those taken from their families and a day for Americans to recommit to the Nation, to their freedom, and to each other. Extends deepest sympathies to the countless innocent victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, their families, friends, and loved ones. Honors the heroic actions of first responders, law enforcement personnel, State and local officials, volunteers, and others who aided the innocent victims. Expresses thanks and gratitude to the foreign leaders and citizens of all nations who have assisted and continue to stand in solidarity with the United States against terrorism. Remains resolved to pursue all those responsible for the terrorist attacks and their sponsors until they are discovered and punished.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2002
Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2002 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that a public safety officer who dies as the direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke suffered while on duty or within 24 hours after participating in a training exercise or responding to an emergency situation shall be presumed to have died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty, for purposes of survivor benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 2002
National AMBER Alert Network Act of 2002 - Requires the Attorney General to assign an AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator of the AMBER Alert communications network regarding abducted children. Requires the coordinator to: (1) seek to eliminate gaps in the network; (2) work with States to encourage the development of additional network elements and to ensure regional coordination; and (3) act as the nationwide point of contact for network development and for regional coordination of alerts on abducted children through the network. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) notify and consult with the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning each child abduction for which an AMBER Alert is issued; and (2) establish minimum standards for the issuance of alerts and for the extent of their dissemination (limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. Includes among permissible activities the development or enhancement of electronic message boards, and the placement of additional signage, along highways. Directs the Attorney General to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of programs and activities for the support of AMBER Alert communications plans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Tobacco Smuggling Eradication Act of 2002 - Amends chapter 52 (Tobacco Products and Cigarette Papers and Tubes) of the Internal Revenue Code to require all packages of tobacco products to carry a unique legibly printed serial number by which the Secretary of the Treasury can identify the manufacturer or importer and the location and date of manufacture or importation. Requires tobacco products sold on Indian reservations to be labeled as such. Requires a tobacco wholesaler to have a permit and to maintain certain records. Requires export warehouse proprietors to file certain reports with the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into certain tobacco related information agreements with foreign countries. Establishes new offenses relating to the distribution of tobacco. Raises the $1,000 civil penalty under chapter 52 to $10,000. Amends the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act to: (1) expand the applicability of such Act from cigarettes only to "tobacco product" (cigars, cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco); (2) define "contraband tobacco product" as a quantity of tobacco product that is equivalent to or more than 30,000 cigarettes (currently, 60,000) which bear no evidence of the payment of applicable State tobacco taxes; (3) establish new unlawful acts; and (4) require additional recordkeeping. Repeals Federal law provisions concerning reports required to State tobacco tax administrators by individuals engaged in interstate cigarette commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Internet Radio Fairness Act - Declares that the July 8, 2002, determination by the Librarian of Congress of rates and terms for the digital performance of sound recordings and ephemeral recordings shall not apply to transmissions and ephemeral recordings by a small business, small organization, or small governmental jurisdiction (small entities). Declares further that the first determination of terms and rates of royalty payments made after enactment of this Act shall apply to transmissions made by small business concerns during the period between the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the date provided for in that determination. Requires the copyright arbitration royalty panel to establish rates and terms in accordance with specified objectives. Amends Federal copyright law to declare that, except in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, it is not a copyright infringement for a transmitting organization entitled to transmit to the public a performance or display of a work, under a license or transfer of the copyright, or for a broadcast radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission that makes a broadcast transmission of a sound recording in a digital format on a nonsubscription basis, to make one or more copies or phonorecords of that work, if each copy or phonorecord is: (1) retained and used solely by the transmitting organization that made it; and (2) used solely for the purpose of making the transmitting organization's own transmissions or for purposes of archival preservation or security.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Energy and Science Research Investment Act of 2002 - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) conduct a comprehensive program of fundamental research, including chemical sciences, physics, materials sciences, biological and environmental sciences, geosciences, engineering sciences, plasma sciences, mathematics, and advanced scientific computing; (2) expand scientific user facilities maintained by the Office of Science and make them an integral part of the departmental mission for exploring the frontiers of fundamental science; (3) maintain a leading-edge research capability in the energy-related aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, advanced scientific computing, and genome research; and (4) ensure that its fundamental science programs help inform Department of Defense DOE applied research and development programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2003 through 2006. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to create the position of Under Secretary for Energy Research and Science to: (1) serve as Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of Energy; (2) monitor (DOE) research and development programs; and (3) exercise authority over Assistant Secretaries implementing certain energy research, development, and energy technology functions. Replaces the position of Director of the Office of Science with the position of Assistant Secretary of Science, who shall carry out DOE fundamental science and engineering research functions, including policy and management. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that leadership for departmental missions in nuclear energy should be at the Assistant Secretary level. Establishes in the Office of Science a Science Advisory Board to serve as the science advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Science.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Act to Save America's Forests - States that the purposes of this Act are to protect native biodiversity and ecosystems on Federal land from losses caused by: (1) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging operations; and (2) logging in ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed protection areas, and special areas. Amends the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to revise eligibility criteria for members of the land and resource management scientific committee. Revises the committee termination date to ten years after enactment of this Act. Provides for conservation and restoration of native biodiversity in forested areas. Prohibits clearcutting or other even-age logging operations on any stand or watershed on certain Federal land, National Forest System land, and National Wildlife Refuge System land. Provides for: (1) Federal enforcement; and (1) a private right of action. Describes special areas as Federal forest land parcels possessing outstanding biological, scenic, recreational, or cultural values which may not meet the definitions of ancient forests, roadless areas, or watershed protection areas. Designates specified special areas which shall be subject to restrictions on road construction and logging in the following States: (1) Alabama; (2) Alaska; (3) Arizona; (4) Arkansas; (5) California; (6) Colorado; (7) Georgia; (8) Idaho; (9) Illinois; (10) Michigan; (11) Minnesota; (12) Missouri; (13) Montana; (14) New Mexico; (15) North Carolina; (16) Ohio; (17) Oklahoma; (18) Oregon; (19) South Carolina; (20) South Dakota; (21) Tennessee; (22) Texas; (23) Vermont; (24) Virginia; (25) Wisconsin; and (26) Wyoming. Provides for the appointment of a committee of independent scientists to recommend additional special areas. Restricts road construction and logging on Federal land in ancient forests, special areas, roadless areas, and watershed protection areas. Provides for: (1) Federal enforcement; and (1) a private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Veterans Health Care Funding Guarantee Act of 2002 - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) make available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for programs, functions, and activities of the Veterans Health Administration for FY 2004 120 percent of the amount obligated during FY 2002; and (2) adjust the amount provided after FY 2004 based on the number of enrolled veterans and the number of others eligible for and provided care and the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. Repeals, as of October 1, 2003, requirements for the prior congressional approval of funding for Department major medical facilities projects or leases.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2002
Animal Fighting Enforcement Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to increase the imprisonment penalty for animal fighting violations from one year to two years. Makes it unlawful to ship in interstate commerce a knife, gaff, or other sharp instrument used in cockfighting. Revises enforcement provisions.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/671024d7ec807bca66057fcb_200.jpg)