Education

A resolution designating October 21 through October 27, 2007, as "National Save for Retirement Week".

United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2007

Designates October 21 through October 27, 2007, as "National Save for Retirement Week." Supports the goals and ideals of National Save for Retirement Week, including raising public awareness about the importance of adequate retirement savings and the availability of employer-sponsored retirement plans. Calls on the federal government, states, localities, schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, businesses, other entities, and the people of the United States to observe the week with appropriate programs and activities with the goal of increasing the retirement savings of all the people of the United States.

A resolution celebrating the accomplishments of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, also known as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, and recognizing the need to continue pursuing the goal of educational opportunities for women and girls.

United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2007

Celebrates: (1) the accomplishments of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, also known as the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in increasing opportunities for women and girls in all facets of education; and (2) the magnificent accomplishments of women and girls in sports.

America's Partnership for Nursing Education Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2007

America's Partnership for Nursing Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to states that are experiencing explosive population growth and have a substantial projected shortage of nurses to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty in college and university nursing programs in the state.

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the position of Director of Physician Assistant Services within the office of the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health.

United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2007

Establishes within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) the position of Director of Physician Assistant Services, who shall report to the VHA's Under Secretary for Health on all matters relating to the education and training, employment, appropriate utilization, and optimal participation of physician assistants within VHA programs and initiatives.

RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS TO FACILITATE ADOPTION OF SOLAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES

United States · United States House of Representatives · 19 June 2007

Max Cleland Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2007

Max Cleland Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act - Establishes within the National Science Foundation (NSF) an Office of Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology to: (1) award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements (assistance) to eligible institutions to provide educational instruction in digital and wireless network technologies; and (2) strengthen the national digital and wireless infrastructure by increasing national investment in telecommunications and technology infrastructure at eligible institutions. Requires the NSF Director to establish an advisory council on the best approaches for involving eligible institutions in supported activities and for reviewing and evaluating submitted proposals. Requires the council to include members from minority serving institutions. Makes the following institutions eligible for such assistance: (1) a historically Black college or university; (2) a Hispanic-, Alaska Native-, or Native Hawaiian-serving institution; (3) a tribally controlled college or university; or (4) an institution determined to have enrolled a substantial number of minority, low-income students who received assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Provides a matching funds requirement.

Small Business Energy Efficiency Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2007

Small Business Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 - Sets a deadline for final rules establishing a small business education and assistance program regarding energy efficiency. Creates in the Small Business Administration (SBA) the position of Assistant Administrator for Small Business Energy Policy. Establishes a Small Business Energy Efficiency Pilot Program to provide energy efficiency assistance to small businesses through small business development centers. Makes centers selected for the program eligible for grants. Creates a pilot program to provide information regarding telecommuting to small businesses and to encourage the businesses to offer telecommuting options to employees, including outreach regarding individuals with disabilities. Amends the Small Business Act to require the SBA Administrator, in carrying out duties related to Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) solicitations by federal agencies, to ensure that the agencies give priority to small businesses that participate in or conduct energy efficiency or renewable energy system research and development projects. Allows loans to be made under the Express Loan Program for purchasing a renewable energy system or for an energy efficiency project for an existing business.

Higher Education Amendments of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007

Higher Education Amendments of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise and reauthorize various programs. Allows proprietary institutions of higher education (IHEs), for student aid eligibility purposes, to enroll students who are also enrolled in secondary schools. Establishes new college cost and assistance information resources for students, parents, and the public. Establishes a new Teacher Quality Partnership grant program under title II for high-need local educational agencies, high-need schools, and IHEs, replacing the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants for States and Partnerships program. Revises title III Institutional Aid programs providing grants to IHEs serving high percentages of minority and low-income students, establishing a new grant program for Native American-serving non-tribal institutions. Revises and reauthorizes title IV Student Assistance programs. Alters the Pell grant minimum and maximum, allows year-round grants, and eliminates tuition-sensitivity. Broadens the array of students eligible for Academic Competitiveness grants. Eliminates the 21st Century Scholar Certificates, Academic Achievement Incentive Scholarships, and Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships programs. Increases the information to be provided to federal student loan borrowers by IHEs, lenders, and guaranty agencies. Prohibits certain business arrangements and inducements between lenders, guaranty agencies, and IHEs. Increases the loan origination fee charged lenders under the Federal Family Education Loan program. Prohibits IHEs from serving as lenders or lenders from serving as school trustees under such program after a specified date. Expands the types of public service occupations for which Perkins loans may be canceled. Excludes certain military housing benefits from title IV need analyses. Requires the development of simplified and electronic student aid application forms and a system providing students and parents with early aid information and eligibility estimates. Revises the title V Developing Institutions grant program for Hispanic-serving institutions. Establishes a new grant program for graduate programs at such institutions. Revises and reauthorizes title VI International Education programs and title VII Graduate and Post-Secondary Improvement programs. Establishes new Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education programs. Eliminates the Urban Community Service grant program. Establishes programs relating to: (1) mathematics and science scholars; (2) assessment of postsecondary education costs; (3) job skill training in high-growth occupations or industries; (4) additional capacity for registered nursing students or graduate-level nursing students; (5) knowledge of American history, free institutions, and Western civilization; (6) Teach for America, the national teacher corps; (7) Patsy T. Mink graduate fellowships; (8) college enrollment rates of secondary schools; (9) Predominantly Black Institutions; (10) Early Childhood Education Professional Development and Career Task Forces; (11) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, especially for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students; (12) the persistence in community college of low-income students with dependent children; and (13) student safety and campus emergency management. Revises and reauthorizes various programs under the Education of the Deaf Act of 1986, the United States Institute of Peace Act, the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, and the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978. Creates: (1) a cultural experiences grant program for deaf and hard-of-hearing children under the Education of the Deaf Act of 1986; and (2) a grant program for two tribally controlled postsecondary career and technical institutions under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978. Repeals certain programs under the Higher Education Amendments of 1998. Navajo Nation Higher Education Act of 2006 - Reauthorizes appropriations for the Navajo Community College Act.

A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007

Establishes specified benchmarks which must be met before the guest worker and legalization programs under this Act may be initiated respecting: (1) operational control of the the border with Mexico; (2) Border Patrol increases; (3) border barriers, including vehicle barriers, fencing, radar, and aerial vehicles; (4) detention capacity for illegal aliens apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border; (5) workplace enforcement, including an electronic employment verification system; and (6) Z-visa (as established by this Act) alien processing. Establishes in the Treasury the Immigration Security Account to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in meeting benchmark requirements. Sets forth border security and enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) personnel and asset increases and enhancements, including Shadow Wolves units; (2) a National Strategy for Border Security and a National Land Border Security Plan; (3) border security initiatives, including biometric data enhancements, document integrity, and additional ports of entry; (4) a biometric entry-exit system; (5) cooperation with Mexico; (6) forfeiture of conveyances; (7) border security on federal lands; (8) a border relief grant program for a tribal, state, or local law enforcement agency in a border-proximate or high-impact area county; and (9) increased federal detention space. Northern Border Prosecution Initiative Reimbursement Act - Directs the Attorney General to carry out the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative to reimburse northern border entities for costs incurred for handling case dispositions of criminal cases that are federally initiated but federally declined-referred. Secure and Safe Detention and Asylum Act - Sets forth detention procedures and standards. Establishes: (1) an Office of Detention Oversight; and (2) a detention alternatives program. Sets forth interior enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) additional immigration personnel; (2) detention and removal; (3) alien sex offenders and protection of immigrants from convicted sex offenders; (4) alien street gang members; (5) illegal entry and reentry; (6) passport and immigration fraud; (7) criminal aliens, including continuation of the Institutional Removal Program (IRP); (8) voluntary departure; (9) detention and alternatives; (10) criminal penalties; (11) alien smuggling; (12) tribal lands security; (13) state and local enforcement of immigration laws; (14) expedited removal; and (15) the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transfer System. Makes it unlawful to knowingly hire, recruit, or refer for a fee an unauthorized alien. Sets forth employment eligibility verification system provisions. Provides for: (1) disclosure of certain taxpayer identity information to DHS; (2) establishment of the state records improvement grant program which may be used to help states comply with REAL ID requirements; and (3) establishment of the voluntary advanced verification program to verify employee identity. Sets forth Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) immigration-related enforcement provisions. Establishes a temporary Y-visa program for non-seasonal (Y-1) and seasonal workers (Y-2) (which replaces the H-2B category). Provides for: (1) a two-year Y-1 admission with two additional two-year extensions (must be outside the United States for 12 months after working in the United States for two years), and a 10-month Y-2 admission; (2) issuance of Y-3 nonimmigrant visas for accompanying or following spouse and children; (3) three-year Y-1 commuter workers; (4) establishment in the Treasury of a State Impact Assistance Account and a state impact assistance grant program; (5) U.S. worker protection; (6) employer requirements; (7) specified annual admissions caps; and (8) bilateral agreements with countries of Y-visa nonimmigrants as a condition of making such visas available. Establishes the Standing Commission on Immigration and Labor Markets. Requires the Department of Labor to establish a publicly available electronic job registry link to state job registries. Replaces the seasonal agricultural nonimmigrant temporary worker (H-2A visa) labor certification requirement with a labor condition application filing. Revises work condition provisions. Establishes the Commission on Agricultural Wage Standards. Provides for a 10-month period of admission with a dairy worker exception. Revises student visa provisions respecting: (1) off campus work; (2) distance learning; (3) dual intent; and (4) graduate students in mathematics, engineering, natural sciences, or information technology. Revises H-1B visa (specialty occupation) provisions, including: (1) annual admissions cap increases; (2) employer requirements; (3) degree requirements; (4) merit-based extension of stay; and (5) government requirements. Revises L-visa (intracompany transfer) provisions, including limitations on start-up company petition approvals. Provides L-visa and H-1B visa whistleblower protections. Makes the Conrad J-1 visa (foreign physicians in medically underserved areas) waiver program permanent. Increases family-sponsored immigrant visas until backlogs are adjudicated. Establishes a merit-based immigrant evaluation system. Redefines "immediate relative." Eliminates specified family categories. Creates a new: (1) preference category for parents of U.S. citizens who are at least 21 years old; and (2) hardship category for persons who would have met eliminated categories. Eliminates the diversity visa program. Creates a new special visitor visa for parents of U.S. citizens and for spouses and minor children of Y-1 visa holders. Increases per-country-limits for family-based and employment-based immigrants. Establishes a nonimmigrant Z-visa category for illegal aliens who have been continuously physically present in the United States since January 1, 2007, and are: (1) employed and seek to continue working or studying (Z-1); (2) spouses, ex-spouses who were victims of domestic abuse, and parents over 65 years old of such workers (Z-2); or (3) children under 18 years old on the date of application who are the natural born or legally adopted child of the working Z-visa holder (Z-3). Prohibits nonimmigrant status adjustment. Permits permanent resident status adjustment under a specified earned adjustment process, including: (1) a probationary period; (2) filing at a U.S. consulate abroad; and (3) payment of penalty. Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) ineligibility; (2) fees and penalties; (3) security and law enforcement checks; (4) tax liability; (5) four-year admission and four-year extensions; (6) benefits termination; (7) employment; (8) administrative and judicial review; and (9) information disclosure. Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 or DREAM Act of 2007 - Authorizes adjustment to permanent resident status for certain Z-visa long-term U.S. residents who entered the United States before reaching 16 years old. Exempts Z-visa aliens from the provision denying an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence. Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2007, or AgJOBS Act of 2007 - Establishes a nonimmigrant Z-A visa category for agricultural workers and their dependents who have performed qualifying periods of agricultural work in the United States during the two-year period ending December 31, 2006. Permits permanent resident status adjustment under a specified earned adjustment process, including: (1) a probationary period; (2) filing at a U.S. consulate abroad; and (3) payment of penalty. Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) admissibility; (2) security and background checks; (3) application requirements; (4) Z-visa caps; (5) five-year ineligibility for certain federal benefits; (6) visa termination; and (7) fines and penalties. Establishes in the Treasury the Agricultural Worker Immigration Status Adjustment Account. Provides that fingerprints provided by a qualifying individual at the time of military enlistment shall satisfy naturalization fingerprint requirements. S.I. Hayakawa National Language Amendment Act of 2007 - Makes English the national language of the U.S. government. Directs the U.S. government to preserve and enhance the role of English as the U.S. national language. Renames the Office of Citizenship as the Office of Citizenship and Integration. Directs the Office to provide grants to states and municipalities for creation of New Americans Integration Councils. Establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship. Directs: (1) the Secretary of Education to develop an electronic English learning program; (2) the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an American competitiveness scholarship program; and (3) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the immigration appeals appellate process. Unaccompanied Alien Child Protection Act of 2007 - Addresses the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children with no lawful immigration status and no parent or legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and physical custody. Directs immigration officers who find such children at U.S. land borders or ports of entry to permit them to withdraw their applications for admission and return to their country of nationality or last habitual residence. Gives the Office of Refugee Resettlement jurisdiction over the care and custody of all unaccompanied alien children with specified exceptions. Requires federal departments or agencies to transfer such children in their custody to the Office. Specifies the order of preference for placing released children, including custody rights of parents and legal guardians. Requires the Office to protect such children from smugglers and traffickers. Prohibits the placement of such children in adult detention facilities or in facilities housing delinquent children unless they exhibit violent or criminal behavior. Expresses the sense of Congress that children should not be repatriated into threatening settings. Requires the Executive Office for Immigration Review to implement model guidelines for the legal representation of alien children in immigration proceedings. Revise special immigrant juvenile visa provisions. Requires such children apprehended by DHS, except those subject to contiguous country rules, to be placed in removal proceedings. Exempts such children from certain bars to asylum. Makes the Office responsible for: (1) placement suitability assessments; and (2) ensuring that minimum standards of care are met for residential alternatives to detention. Wartime Treatment Study Act - Establishes: (1) the Commission on Wartime Treatment of European Americans; and (2) the Commission on Wartime Treatment of Jewish Refugees.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008

United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2007

Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2008 - Makes FY2008 appropriations for the Department of State (Department) for: (1) administration of foreign affairs and diplomatic and consular programs; (2) the Capital Investment Fund; (3) the Office of Inspector General; (4) educational and cultural exchange programs; (5) representation allowances; (6) protection of foreign missions and officials; (7) U.S. embassy security, construction, and maintenance; (8) emergencies in the diplomatic and consular service; (9) the repatriation loans program account; (10) the American Institute in Taiwan; (11) the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (12) international organizations, peacekeeping, and commissions; (13) the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico; (14) plan preparation and construction of authorized projects; (15) the International Joint Commission and the International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada; (16) international fisheries commissions; (17) the Asia Foundation; (18) the Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue Trust Fund; (19) the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, Incorporated; (20) the Israeli Arab Scholarship Program; (21) the National Endowment for Democracy; (22) the Broadcasting Board of Governors; (23) the Commission for Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; (24) the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; (25) the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (26) the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China; and (27) the United States Institute of Peace. Makes FY2008 appropriations for: (1) the Export-Import Bank, including the Office of Inspector General, direct and guaranteed loan and insurance programs, and administrative expenses; (2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) credit and insurance programs, including administrative expenses, and for the cost of direct and guaranteed loans; and (3) the Trade and Development Agency. Makes FY2008 appropriations for: (1) expenses of the President in carrying out certain programs under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; (2) the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for child survival and disease programs; (3) specified development assistance; (4) international disaster and famine assistance; (5) democracy transition and long-term development of countries in crisis; (6) direct loans and guaranteed loans for micro and small enterprise development and urban programs; (7) operating expenses of USAID, and the USAID Office of Inspector General; (8) the Capital Investment Fund; (9) the Economic Support Fund (ESF); (10) the International Fund for Ireland; (11) assistance for the new Independent States of the former Soviet Union; (12) the Inter-American Foundation, the African Development Foundation, the Peace Corps, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation; (13) international narcotics control and law enforcement; (14) counterdrug activities in the Andean region of South America; (15) migration and refugee assistance; (16) the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund; (17) nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs and activities; (18) the Department of the Treasury for international affairs technical assistance activities; and (19) debt restructuring of concessional loans, guarantees, and credits made to, and the canceling of amounts owed to, the United States by foreign countries. Makes FY2008 appropriations for: (1) international military education and training; (2) foreign military financing grants; and (3) international peacekeeping operations. Makes FY2008 appropriations for the US contribution to: (1) the Global Environment Facility of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank); (2) the International Development Association (IDA); (3) the Enterprise for the Americas Multilateral Investment Fund; (4) the Asian Development Fund; (5) the African Development Bank; (6) the African Development Fund; (7) the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and (8) other international programs. Sets forth certain limits and prohibitions on the use of appropriations for specified activities.

University of the District of Columbia Graduate Programs Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2007

University of the District of Columbia Graduate Programs Act - Amends the Higher Education Act to: (1) make the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) David A. Clarke School of Law and other UDC qualified graduate programs eligible for federal grants for postgraduate programs substantially contributing to the legal, medical, dental, veterinary, or other graduate education opportunities in mathematics, engineering, or the physical or natural sciences for black Americans; and (2) authorize appropriations for FY2008-FY2013 for such grant program.

Nurse Faculty and Physical Therapist Education Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

Nurse Faculty and Physical Therapist Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish a Nurse Faculty Education Program to ensure an adequate supply of nurse faculty through awarding grants to eligible entities to: (1) hire new faculty, retain existing faculty, and purchase educational resources; (2) increase enrollment and graduation rates for students from doctoral programs; and (3) assist graduates in serving as nurse faculty in schools of nursing. Requires the Comptroller General to report on activities to increase participation in the nurse educator program. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide Geriatric Academic Career Awards to promote the career development of eligible individuals as geriatric nurse faculty. Requires the Secretary to establish a Nurse and Physical Therapist Distance Education Pilot Program to award grants for activities to increase accessibility to nursing and physical therapy education, including to: (1) assist individuals in rural areas who want to study nursing or physical therapy; (2) promote the study of nursing and physical therapy at all educational levels; (3) establish additional slots for nursing and physical therapy students at existing schools and programs; and (4) establish new nursing and physical therapy education programs at institutions of higher education Requires the Secretary to: (1) report on the country of origin or professional school of origin of newly licensed nurses and physical therapists in each state; and (2) contract with the Institute of Medicine to study the nursing and physical therapy workforce.

Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2007 - Establishes requirements for the promulgation of safety standards for towing vessels. Requires a variety of measures to reduce the risk of oil spills, including Coast Guard inspections, regulations regarding the transfer of oil to or from a tank vessel, identification of the types of human errors that cause oil spills and near-miss oil spill incidents and actions designed to reduce human error risks, routing or other navigational measures, and an oil spill prevention and education program for small vessels. Amends the the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to codify the establishment of the Oil Spill Advisory Council. Authorizes state enforcement of any marine resource law enforced by the Secretary and allows state inspection of vessels. Allows owners and operators of tank and non-tank vessels to form nonprofit cooperatives to comply with National Response System provisions. Requires completion of the electronic navigation chart suite for all U.S. coastal waters. Requires a rapid response system to collect and predict in situ information about oil spill behavior. Allows Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund amounts to be used for response and damage assessment capabilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Prohibits using Fund amounts for claims under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Requires owners of certain tank vessels to maintain evidence of financial responsibility. Makes owners of oil (in addition to vessel owners) transported in single hull tank vessels with a poor safety or operational record liable for removal costs and damages. Establishes the Federal Oil Spill Research Committee. Establishes grant programs: (1) for new technologies to prevent, detect, or mitigate oil discharges and to protect the environment; and (2) to develop cost-effective technologies for detecting discharges of oil from vessels and to improve detection and recovery of submerged and sinking oils.

DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

DSHEA Full Implementation and Enforcement Act of 2007 - Authorizes and makes appropriations to: (1) carry out the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) and all applicable regulatory requirements for dietary supplements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and (2) expand research and development of consumer information on dietary supplements by the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to fully and appropriately use such funds to regulate dietary supplements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the implementation and enforcement of DSHEA.

Retirement Savings for Working Americans Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

Retirement Savings for Working Americans Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the tax credit for retirement savings contributions (saver's credit) to: (1) require the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit saver's credit amounts directly into the designated retirement account of the taxpayer; (2) expand income eligibility levels for the saver's credit; (3) allow taxpayers that contribute to a qualified tuition program or a Coverdell education savings account to claim such contributions as retirement savings contributions; and (4) adjust the saver's credit maximum contribution amount for inflation beginning after 2007.

To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop, and the Secretary of Defense to distribute to members of the Armed Forces upon their discharge or release from active duty, information in a compact disk read-only memory format that lists and explains the health, education, and other benefits for which veterans are eligible under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

Directs: (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary) to develop and maintain, in a compact disk (CD) read-only memory format, information that lists and explains the health, education, and other benefits for which veterans are eligible through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); (2) that a copy of such CD be included as part of the preseparation counseling provided to each member of the Armed Forces being discharged or released from duty; and (3) the Secretary, Secretary of Defense, and head of any other relevant government agency to each maintain an Internet website containing an explanation of the benefits administered by that Secretary or agency head to which veterans are entitled, and how veterans can secure those benefits.

FARM 21 Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2007

Food and Agriculture Risk Management for the 21st Century Act of 2007 or FARM 21 Act of 2007 - Prohibits, after 2007, any direct, counter-cyclical or transition payment to an individual or entity whose adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to offer to enter into a risk management account with a qualifying farm or ranch operator. Extends direct payments and reduces payment amounts. Requires specified payment percentages, and 100% for FY2012, to be deposited into a risk management account. Links such payments to environmental stewardship. Extends counter-cyclical payments. Repeals: (1) the milk price support program; (2) specified commodity support programs; and (3) the sugar tariff quota. Directs the Secretary to establish a recourse loan program for all commodities, including sugar, for which marketing loans were available. Reduces the crop insurance administrative and operating reimbursement rate. Extends: (1) the environmental quality incentives program; (2) the conservation innovation grants program; (3) the wetlands reserve program; (4) the grasslands reserve program; (5) the wildlife habitat incentives program; (6) the farm and ranchland protection program; and (7) the healthy forests reserve program. Extends: (1) the fruit and vegetables in school program; (2) the farm to school program; and (3) the farmers market promotion program. Directs the Secretary to assist eligible trade organizations increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables in the United States to meet federal health guidelines. Extends the McGovern-Dole international food for education and child nutrition program. Extends: (1) the biorefinery grant and loan program; (2) the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program; and (3) the biomass research and development program. Sets forth specified rural development project eligibility criteria. Extends: (1) the value-added producer grant program; (2) the rural broadband access program; (3) the rural business opportunity grant program; and (4) the farmworker training grant program. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural entrepreneurship and microenterprise program to provide low- and moderate-income individuals with skills and technical and financial assistance to establish new small businesses in rural areas. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants and carry out a rural microloan program. Directs the Secretary to use specified Commodity Credit Corporation funds for: (1) water or waste disposal grants or loans; (2) emergency community water assistance grants; (3) community facilities grants and loans that support projects that assist rural first responders; (4) broadband access loans; and (5) distance learning and telemedicine grants. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to: (1) combat pay and retirement account exclusions; (2) standard deduction increases; (3) child care deduction limits; (4) state cost-sharing during natural disasters; (5) minimum benefits; (6) program reauthorization; (7) program administration; (8) cash payment pilot projects; (9) block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa; (10) the commodity distribution program; (11) outreach grants; (12) the emergency food assistance program; and (13) community food projects. Directs the Secretary to offer to enter into a contract or grant agreement with a primary nongovernmental organization to establish the National Food for the Hungry Transportation Fund to track, collect, and deliver time-sensitive food products.

Nursing Education and Quality of Health Care Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Nursing Education and Quality of Health Care Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to, or enter into contracts with, schools of nursing, health care facilities, or partnerships of such schools and facilities to educate nurses to serve in rural areas and areas of nurse specialty shortage, including by developing distance learning education. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award grants to such schools, facilities, or partnerships for the establishment of demonstration projects that will expand the number of nurse faculty within schools of nursing, including by developing recruitment programs and offering scholarships. Allows the Secretary, in the case of a nurse faculty shortage, to obligate more than 10% of traineeships for advanced nursing education programs to individuals in doctoral degree programs. Requires the Secretary to: (1) award grants to, and enter into contracts with, eligible entities to increase the nursing opportunities for individuals who reside in rural communities, including by increasing and expanding pipeline programs and supporting a web-based health care workforce development system; (2) award grants to entities for demonstration projects that advance the education, delivery, or measurement of quality and patient safety in nursing practice; and (3) award grants to collect data and study the potential benefits of basic and advanced nursing education levels or certification status in the efforts to promote quality improvement strategies and enhance patient outcomes and cost saving measures.

Federal Aviation Research and Development Reauthorization Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Federal Aviation Research and Development Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2011 for specified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) civil aviation research and development (R&D) projects and activities. Amends the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to: (1) provide for a Director to head of the Next Generation Air Transportation System Joint Planning and Development Office; (2) revise Office responsibilities; and (3) reauthorize the Office through FY2011. Requires each one of specified federal agencies to designate a senior official to implement its agency's Next Generation Air Transportation System activities with the Office. Authorizes the conduct of developmental work and service testing to improve unmanned aircraft for eventual integration into the national airspace system. Directs the FAA Administrator to establish: (1) a research initiative to assess the impact of aviation on the climate and to evaluate approaches to mitigate such impact; (2) a program of research grants to universities and non-profit research foundations for research and technology demonstrations to improve runway surfaces; (3) a joint research program on methods to improve certification of new technologies for introduction into the national airspace system; (4) a permanent airport cooperative research program; (5) a research grant program involving colleges and universities to conduct research by undergraduate students on subjects of relevance to the FAA; and (6) a research program on the impact of space weather on aviation. Requires the Administrator to continue R&D into technologies to modify aviation piston engines to operate using leaded aviation fuel. Increases the federal share of costs of establishing and operating regional centers of air transportation excellence and related research activities. Sets the federal share of costs for individual grants to institutions of higher education to establish and operate such centers at no more than 90%.

To reauthorize the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program.

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to one or more nonprofit educational organizations established to research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad. Requires each grant agreement to require the organization to: (1) establish a facility to house, display, and interpret the artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad; (2) demonstrate substantial private support for the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a state or local public entity and a private entity providing certain matching funds; (3) create an endowment to fund shortfalls in the costs of ongoing facility operations; (4) establish a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad; and (5) establish the capability to link the facility electronically with other local and regional facilities with interpretive Underground Railroad collections and programs.

Children's Hope Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Children's Hope Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of up to $100 ($200 for joint returns) for charitable contributions to an education investment organization that disburses 90% of its contributions to provide grants to students for elementary and secondary education expenses, if at least 50% of such disbursements go to students who qualify for free or reduced-cost school lunches. Requires a taxpayer claiming such credit, as a condition of eligibility to receive it, to first claim a state qualified scholarship tax credit.

To suspend implementation of an Absolute Priority issued by the Department of Education on July 3, 2006.

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Directs the Secretary of Education to immediately suspend, until expressly authorized by statute, enforcement of the Notice of Final Priority, including the evaluation described within it. (The Absolute Priority, issued by the Department of Education on July 3, 2006, which is the subject of the Notice: (1) sets rules regarding which high school students will be given priority for participation in the Upward Bound college preparation program; and (2) calls for an evaluation of the program using a control group of students who do not receive Upward Bound services.)

Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2007

Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 - Amends federal veterans' benefits provisions to entitle to educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill certain individuals who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces (including the reserves) on or after September 11, 2001. Requires such individuals to complete the requirements of a secondary school diploma (or its equivalent) before applying for such assistance. Establishes the duration of such assistance (in most cases 36 months) and assistance amounts. Requires programs of education pursued with such assistance to be approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Allows for the pursuit of an approved program of education while on active duty. Allows, under such assistance, for the pursuit of: (1) programs on less than a half-time basis; (2) apprenticeship or other on-job training; (3) correspondence courses; (4) flight training; (5) tutorial assistance; and (6) licensure and certification tests. Requires such educational assistance to be used within 15 years of the individual's discharge or release from active duty (with exceptions). Allows individuals currently under the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program to elect to participate in the post-9/11 educational assistance program with respect to any unused entitlement.

Clean, Reliable, Efficient and Secure Energy Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Clean, Reliable, Efficient and Secure Energy Act of 2007 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to establish the Appliance Efficiency Standards Commission. Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to: (1) require an electric utility to demonstrate that alternative investments in advanced grid technologies have been considered before undertaking investments in nonadvanced grid technologies; and (2) prescribe a Clean Energy Portfolio Standard, including a credit program. Establishes the Clean Energy Technology Trust Fund. Transfers to the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) specified lands for use for high-level radioactive waste disposal and spent nuclear fuel. Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to require the Secretary to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a license to construct and operate facilities to receive and store spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain (Nevada) site. Instructs the Secretary to construct the FutureGen Facility to demonstrate integrating commercial-scale gasification combined cycle power plant technologies with advanced clean coal energy technologies. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) prescribe average fuel economy standards for automobiles; and (2) implement a traffic signal coordination program. Amends the Clean Air Act to instruct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations to ensure that diesel fuel contains a certain volume of biodiesel fuel. Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to: (1) authorize appropriations for coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid projects; (2) establish the Appliance Efficiency Standards Commission [ sic ]; and (3) revise requirements for the national greenhouse gas emissions registry. Requires the total amount of fuel utilized by the Department of Defense in a calendar year to be coal-to-liquid fuel, gas-to-liquid fuel, or both. Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to revise requirements about the availability of certain areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for leasing. Prescribes requirements governing energy efficiency in federal buildings and public schools. Instructs the Secretary of Interior to develop a methodology for conducting a national assessment of the geological storage capacity for carbon dioxide. Establishes the Regulatory Reform for Carbon Sequestration Commission. Requires studies and reports to Congress on: (1) replacement of residential HVCAR equipment that does not meet minimum efficiency requirements; (2) fuel economy standards for heavy trucks; (3) synthetic fuel in commercial aircraft; (4) infrastructure needs for renewable fuels; and (5) strategic natural gas reserve. Directs the Secretary to implement an education program to increase public awareness of measures that consumers can take to increase energy efficiency. Reestablishes the Office of Technology Assessment in the legislative branch.

A bill to reauthorize the Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program.

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to one or more nonprofit educational organizations established to research, display, interpret, and collect artifacts relating to the history of the Underground Railroad. Requires each grant agreement to require the organization to: (1) establish a facility to house, display, and interpret the artifacts related to the history of the Underground Railroad; (2) demonstrate substantial private support for the facility through the implementation of a public-private partnership between a state or local public entity and a private entity providing certain matching funds; (3) create an endowment to fund shortfalls in the costs of ongoing facility operations; (4) establish a network of satellite centers throughout the United States to help disseminate information regarding the Underground Railroad; and (5) establish the capability to link the facility electronically with other local and regional facilities with interpretive Underground Railroad collections and programs.

College Cost Reduction and Access Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to alter the Pell Grant program by: (1) increasing the maximum Pell grant; (2) removing the tuition sensitivity provision reducing the Pell Grant available to students attending low cost schools; (3) allowing year-round Pell grants; (4) increasing students' Pell grant eligibility by increasing their income protection allowance; (5) altering the formula for determining whether a student qualifies for a simplified means test and zero-expected family contributions; and (6) excluding certain income and assets from student need determinations. Alters HEA student loan programs by: (1) cutting the interest rate charged undergraduate student borrowers under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Direct Loan (DL) programs; (2) increasing limits on federally-insured loans; (3) reducing special allowance payments to lenders; (4) eliminating exceptional performer status for lenders; (5) reducing the lender insurance percentage; (6) reducing the percentage of defaulted loan collections a guaranty agency may retain; (7) changing the formula for determining the account maintenance fees paid to guaranty agencies; (8) increasing the loan fee charged certain lenders; and (9) requiring lenders and guaranty agencies to provide institutions of higher education (IHEs) and third-party servicers with student loan information to prevent loan defaults. Provides student loan forgiveness to borrowers who serve in areas of national need as early childhood educators, nurses, foreign language specialists, librarians, certain highly qualified teachers, child welfare workers, speech language pathologists, National Service participants, and public sector employees. Forgives the balance due on DLs by borrowers who have been public sector employees for 10 years and made 120 income contingent payments on such loans. Makes FFEL and DL repayments by student borrowers income contingent. Allows such borrowers to have their loans forgiven after 20 years of payments. Redefines economic hardship to include borrowers whose earnings do not exceed 150% of the poverty line. Eliminates deferral limits on FFELs, DLs, and Perkins loans. Includes such deferrals in maximum payment periods. Withholds specified HEA funding from states that reduce their current higher education funding. Requires that the College Opportunity On-Line (COOL) website be redesigned to include additional college affordability information, including a school's placement on affordability alert status due to its costs increasing at twice the consumer price index over a specified period of time. Provides IHEs with additional funding to raise Pell grant amounts by specified percentages if they keep, or guarantee to keep, their tuition increases at no more than the increase in the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI). Provides cooperative education grants to IHEs that keep tuition increases at or below increases in the HEPI, to increase the availability and quality of programs offering students alternating or parallel periods of academic study and related employment. Establishes a TEACH Grant program providing tuition assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who commit to teaching a high-need subject in a high-need school for four years. Awards competitive grants to minority serving IHEs to establish centers of excellence that improve the preparation and support of highly-qualified teachers. Establishes a College Access Challenge Grant program providing matching grants to philanthropic organizations for financial aid, mentoring, and outreach services to increase the number of needy students from underserved populations who enter and complete college.

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program for the provision of readjustment and mental health services to veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to provide to veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, particularly veterans who served in such Operations while in the National Guard and reserves: (1) peer outreach and support services; (2) readjustment counseling and related services; and (3) mental health services. Directs the Secretary to also provide to immediate family members of such veterans, during the three-year period following the return of the veterans from such a deployment, education, support, counseling, and mental health services to assist in: (1) readjustment to civilian life; (2) recovery from an injury or illness incurred during such deployment; and (3) readjustment of the family following the veteran's return. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with community health centers and other qualified entities to provide such services in areas not adequately served by health care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a program to train veterans to provide the peer outreach and support services; and (2) conduct a training program for clinicians of community health centers and entities contracted to provide such services. Extends the eligibility for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for veterans who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations from two to five years after their discharge or release from such duty.

IMPACT Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act or the IMPACT Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to expand an existing grant program for training for health profession students to include the treatment of individuals who are overweight, obese, or have eating disorders. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants for the training of primary care physicians and other health professions on how to identify, treat, and prevent obesity or eating disorders and aid individuals who are overweight or obese or who suffer from eating disorders. Requires the Secretary, acting though the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants for the planning and implementation of programs that promote healthy eating behaviors and physical activity. Allows the Secretary, acting through the National Center for Health Statistics, to provide for the collection and analysis of data for determining the fitness levels and energy expenditures of children and data collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Requires the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to review the research to determine if the information might be important for the health disparities report. Permits states to use preventive health and health services block grants for activities and community education programs designed to address and prevent obesity and eating disorders. Requires the Secretary to report to the relevant congressional committees on: (1) the causes and health implications of being overweight, obese, or having an eating disorder; and (2) the effectiveness of campaigns to change children's behaviors and reduce obesity.

HALE Scouts Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Help to Access Land for the Education of Scouts or HALE Scouts Act - Requires the conveyance of specified National Forest System land in the Ouachita National Forest in Oklahoma to the Indian Nations Council, Inc., of the Boy Scouts of America.

College Affordability and Accountability Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

College Affordability and Accountability Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require state maintenance of effort in providing funding to public institutions of higher education (IHEs). Requires all IHEs to plan, engage in, and report on cost containment strategies. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to conduct research on such strategies. Directs the Secretary to publish an annual report on college affordability and to disseminate certain data, including the net price tuition index (NTPI) for each IHE through a college price calculator on an enhanced college opportunities on line (COOL) website. Establishes a Pell Plus program to provide an increased award to each Pell Grant recipient at IHEs that maintain specified types of: (1) low tuition; (2) guaranteed tuition; or (3) affordable tuition. Establishes a program of grants for cooperative education for IHEs that restrain tuition increases. Authorizes grants and contracts for cooperative education demonstration and innovation projects, training and resource centers, and research. Directs the Secretary to commission the National Research Council to study the viability of developing and implementing standards in environmental, health, and safety areas to provide for differential regulation of: (1) industrial laboratories and facilities; and (2) research and teaching laboratories. Authorizes the Secretary to select IHEs, IHE systems, or IHE consortia for voluntary participation in an articulation agreement demonstration program to specify the acceptability of courses in transfer toward meeting specific degree requirements, as a means to lower tuition prices for students. Directs the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to convene a task force of experts to: (1) determine the best methods to finance higher education in the long-term; (2) help public institutions utilize long-term budgeting; (3) review the trends of financing of higher education; and (4) define the role played by the states, the federal government, families, and outside entities in financing higher education, and determine the best methods to strengthen this partnership.

Real Access to College Education Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2007

Real Access to College Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers (and their spouses if a joint return is filed) a tax deduction from gross income for post-secondary educational expenses, including tuition and related expenses and room and board. Limits the annual amount of such deduction to $13,150, subject to an adjustment based on the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income.

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reduce class size through the use of fully qualified teachers, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to reduce class size through the use of fully-qualified teachers. Allots funds to states and local educational agencies to recruit, hire, and train additional teachers, in order to: (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades one through three, to an average of 18 students per classroom; and (2) improve teaching in those grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade.

Education for Public Service Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007

Education for Public Service Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to forgive the balance due on Direct Loans and direct consolidation loans by individuals who have been public sector employees for 10 years and have made 120 income contingent payments on such loans. Revises income contingent Direct Loan repayment schedules for married borrowers to attribute to the borrower one-half (rather than all) of the combined adjusted gross income of the borrower and the borrower's spouse.

Early Educator Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2007

Early Educator Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to replace the loan forgiveness demonstration program for child care providers with a program providing student loan forgiveness or cancellation under the Federal Family Education Loan or Direct Loan programs to borrowers who are employed for at least five consecutive complete school years as early childhood educators who work directly with children in eligible preschool or early childhood education programs in low-income communities. Requires such educators to have completed a baccalaureate or advanced degree in early childhood development, early childhood education, or in a field related to early childhood education. Limits such forgiveness or cancellation to no more than $5,000 of the borrower's loan outstanding upon completion of five years of service.

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT: CURRENT AND PROSPECTIVE FLEXIBILITY UNDER NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

United States · United States House of Representatives · 7 June 2007

Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Minority Health Improvement and Health Disparity Elimination Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) develop an Internet Clearinghouse within the Office of Minority Health; (2) provide for programs of excellence in health professions education for underrepresented minorities; and (3) support demonstration projects designed to improve the health and health care of racial and ethnic minority groups through improved access to health care, patient navigators, primary prevention activities, health promotion and disease prevention activities, and health literacy education and services. Provides for grants to: (1) promote positive health behaviors; (2) implement culturally and linguistically appropriate, evidence-based, and community-driven sustainable strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic health and health care disparities; (3) implement systems of primary care practices to eliminate disparities in the delivery of health care and improve the health care provided to all patients; and (4) address long-standing unmet health needs in the Mississippi Delta. Requires the Secretary to establish the Health Action Zone Initiative demonstration program to support comprehensive state, tribal, or local initiatives to improve the health of racial and ethnic minority groups. Provides for research to improve the health of racial and ethnic minority groups. Requires the Secretary to ensure the collection of data from federally conducted or supported health programs by race, ethnicity, geographic location, socioeconomic position, primary language, and, when practicable, health literacy. Sets forth duties for the Office of Minority Health. Requires the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Minority Health.

Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a three-to-five-year grant to not more than one public-private partnership in each state to promote school readiness by improving the quality of, and access to, early childhood development opportunities for children throughout the state from birth to kindergarten. Requires each partnership to include the state and at least one tax-exempt organization and be led by a board of directors. Reduces the federal share of the cost of activities assisted under this Act from 50% in the first year of a grant to 30% in the third and any succeeding year of the grant.

Teaching Residency Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Teaching Residency Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to partnerships of high-need local educational agencies (LEAs), nonprofit community agencies, and institutions of higher education to support one-year teaching residency programs under which recent college graduates or professionals outside the field of education engage in rigorous master's level coursework while undertaking a guided teaching apprenticeship alongside a trained and experienced mentor teacher. Requires program participants to earn a master's degree and attain full state teaching certification or licensure prior to completing the program and accept placement for three years thereafter in a high-need school served by the high-need LEA.

A bill to amend title 11, United States Code, with respect to exceptions to discharge in bankruptcy for certain qualified educational loans.

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Revises federal bankruptcy law with respect to the exemption from the exception to discharge in bankruptcy for certain educational loans if excepting such debt from discharge would impose an undue hardship on the debtor and debtor's dependents. Limits such exemption to the existing ones for: (1) an educational benefit overpayment or loan made, insured, or guaranteed by a governmental unit; and (2) an obligation to repay funds received from a governmental unit as an educational benefit, scholarship, or stipend. Repeals the current exemption for: (1) any loan made under any program funded in whole or in part by a governmental unit or nonprofit institution; and (2) any other qualified education loan incurred by an individual debtor on behalf of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any dependent, including indebtedness used to refinance a qualified education loan. (Thus makes both kinds of loans nondischargeable in bankruptcy.)

Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to establish programs related to mental health services for children and adolescents, to include: (1) entering into contracts with qualified individuals to pay educational loans in exchange for providing mental health services to children and adolescents; (2) awarding scholarships to students who agree to work as child and adolescent mental health service professionals after graduation or completion of residency or fellowship; (3) awarding competitive grants to higher education institutions to establish or expand internship or other field placement programs for students receiving specialized training or clinical experience in child and adolescent mental health; (4) awarding grants to state-licensed mental heath organizations to pay for programs for preservice or in-service training of paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health workers; and (5) awarding grants to higher education institutions to establish or expand graduate child and adolescent mental health programs. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to adjust the graduate medical education program to: (1) exclude a reasonable number of residents or fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry when calculating the maximum number of residents in the field of allopathic or osteopathic medicine for which the hospital may be paid; and (2) extend the period of board eligibility for residents and fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry. Directs the Administrator to study and report to Congress on the distribution of, and need for, child mental health service professionals and on a comparison of such distribution and need on a state-by-state basis.

Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Early Childhood Investment Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award a three-to-five-year grant to not more than one public-private partnership in each state to promote school readiness by improving the quality of, and access to, early childhood development opportunities for children throughout the state from birth to kindergarten. Requires each partnership to include the state and at least one tax-exempt organization and be led by a board of directors. Reduces the federal share of the cost of activities assisted under this Act from 50% in the first year of a grant to 30% in the third and any succeeding year of the grant.

HeLP America Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention America Act or the HeLP America Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to convene a task force on childhood obesity. Provides for: (1) healthy school nutrition environment incentive grants; (2) the establishment of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative to certify a hospital as a baby friendly hospital/center for breastfeeding excellence; and (3) programs to prevent youth problem behaviors. Healthy Workforce Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a wellness program credit for employers; and (2) exclude from an employee's income the fees paid by an employer to an athletic or fitness facility on the employee's behalf. Requires the Secretary to establish a National Advisory Committee on Community Sports Programs for Individuals with Disabilities. Provides incentives for states to ensure the safety and convenience of all users of a transportation system, including pedestrians and bicyclists. Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to require employers to provide lactation periods and lactation facilities to permit employees to breastfeed eligible children. Promoting Lifelong Active Communities Every Day Act or the PLAY Every Day Act - Provides for the development of a tool to measure community barriers to participating in physical activity and provides for grants to plan model communities of play. Requires certain restaurants and vending machines to provide nutritional information about each food offered, including the number of calories. Directs the Secretary to: (1) impose penalties on the tobacco industry for failure to achieve specified goals to reduce youth cigarette use; and (2) encourage a state program to recognize school-based health centers as a model of delivery for primary care for children eligible for federal medical assistance. Establishes the HeLP (Healthy Lifestyles and Prevention) America Trust Fund to fund smoking cessation drugs and other programs required by this Act. Provides for research on obesity, physical activity in schools, and dietary sodium intake.

Empowering Children with Autism through Education Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Empowering Children with Autism through Education Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Education to establish the Empowering Children with Autism through Education Task Force to identify and disseminate evidence-based educational strategies and promising best practices to improve the quality of learning for individuals with autism in grades K-12, including regarding: (1) learning models, interventions, and services that demonstrate improvements in reading, writing, and math proficiency; (2) the cost-effectiveness of these learning models, interventions, and services, and their applicability for local education agencies; (3) professional development needs of educators; (4) methods for incorporating state-, local- and community-based programs and services into the classroom to provide comprehensive support; (5) identification of barriers to successful implementation of programs and services and recommendations to address those barriers; and (6) dissemination of findings to Congress, all relevant agencies, and states and U.S. territories to improve the quality of learning for individuals with autism.

Preparing Excellent Teachers Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Preparing Excellent Teachers Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make competitive, three-year, matching grants to high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish and support teacher residency programs under which residents engage in rigorous master's level coursework at a college or university with which the LEA has an agreement while undertaking a guided teaching apprenticeship alongside a mentor teacher. Requires mentor teachers to have at least five years of teaching experience at a school in the high-need LEA and a master's degree in education or teaching. Requires program participants to attain full state teaching certification prior to completing the program and accept placement for at least five academic years thereafter in a school chosen by the high-need LEA.

Teacher and Nurse Support Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Teacher and Nurse Support Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase to a maximum of $17,500 the aggregate student loan obligation eligible for forgiveness or cancellation under the Federal Family Education Loan or Direct Loan programs for teachers who serve full-time in certain elementary or secondary schools that enroll a high proportion of disadvantaged students. Includes, under these student loan forgiveness and cancellation programs, nurses who serve in a clinical setting or as a member of the nursing faculty at an accredited school of nursing. Directs the Secretary of Education to repay such loan obligation in annual installments up to specified maximum amounts after each of five years of such service.

Mentoring America's Children Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Mentoring America's Children Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to make miscellaneous changes to the Mentoring grant program under title IV that include: (1) improvement of school connectedness and character education among mentoring's purposes; (2) corporations, universities, and other entities among program providers; (3) a requirement that mentors help children become responsible and successful adults; (4) suburban children in high crime areas and children living in high gang involvement, drug use, or dropout areas among those most in need of mentoring; (5) limitation of each mentor to no more than three children; and (6) mandatory information on grant applicants about plans for monitoring mentor/mentee matches and the satisfaction of grant matching requirements that increase from 10% to 50% over the three-year grant term; Allows grantees to be considered for new grants if: (1) their prior performance was satisfactory; (2) they propose to use the new grant exclusively for expanded service to a new area or population; and (3) they are able to provide a 50% match to the new grant funds. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide training and technical assistance to, and track and evaluate the performance of, grantees; and (2) arrange for research on school-based mentoring, the results of which are to be provided to the mentoring community. Includes mentoring in ESEA programs for: (1) Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaskan Native education; (2) the transitioning of youth offenders into education; and (3) school violence and drug abuse prevention.

Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 - Defines "child soldier." Prohibits, with a national interest waiver, funds appropriated or otherwise made available for specified military and related areas from being obligated or otherwise made available to the government of a country identified by the Department of State as having governmental armed forces or government supported armed groups, including paramilitaries, militias, or civil defense forces, that recruit or use child soldiers. Directs the Secretary of State to notify any government so identified. Authorizes the President to reinstate assistance upon certifying to Congress that a government is implementing: (1) compliance measures; and (2) mechanisms to prohibit future use of child soldiers and to ensure that no children are recruited, conscripted, or otherwise compelled to serve as child soldiers. Authorizes the President to provide assistance to a country for international military education and training otherwise prohibited under this Act upon certifying to Congress that such assistance is for programs that implement measures to demobilize child soldiers and for programs to support professionalization of the military.

Supporting efforts to increase childhood cancer awareness, treatment, and research.

United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2007

Calls for Congress to support: (1) efforts to promote awareness about the incidence, symptoms, and treatment options of cancer among children; (2) increased investment in childhood cancer research; (3) incentives to encourage medical trainees and investigators to enter the field of pediatric oncology; (4) incentives to encourage the development of drugs and biologics designed to treat pediatric cancers; (5) policies that encourage participation in clinical trials; (6) medical education curricula designed to improve pain management for cancer patients; and (7) enhanced education, services, and other resources related to late effects from treatment.

21st Century Community Learning Centers Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2007

21st Century Community Learning Centers Act of 2007 - Amends the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program under title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to include the provision of service learning and nutrition education and, in place of recreation programs, physical fitness and wellness programs, among the activities for which community learning centers will receive funding. Raises from 3% to 5% the percentage of program funds a state may use for monitoring, evaluating, and providing training and technical assistance to community learning center grantees. Makes community learning center grants renewable for a period of between three and five years.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Resiliency Act of 2007

United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2007

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Resiliency Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary), acting through the Center for Mental Health Services, to provide for comprehensive state mental health plans that exclusively meet the mental health needs of children and adolescents. Requires the Secretary to provide for child and adolescent mental health early intervention and prevention services. Requires the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide for access to mental health and case management services in educational settings; and (2) develop guidelines that encourage schools to provide counseling and positive behavioral supports. Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant) of the Social Security Act to provide for appropriate mental health promotion and mental health services to at-risk mothers, grandmothers who are legal guardians, and their children. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to foster the ability of local case managers to work across the mental health, substance abuse, child welfare, education, and juvenile justice systems in a state; (2) provide for the development and implementation of three technical assistance centers to support full consumer and family participation in decision-making about mental health services for children and adolescents; (3) establish an interagency coordinating committee to develop policy across the federal government with respect to child and adolescent mental health; and (4) provide for the development of child and adolescent mental health services and support systems that address gaps in mental health service delivery.