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851 records in US in 2005
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Education Savings for Students Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the maximum annual contribution limit for Coverdell education savings accounts from $2,000 to $5,000.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Prevention First Act - Title X Family Planning Services Act of 2005 - Authorizes appropriations for family planning services grants and contracts under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). Family Planning State Empowerment Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow States to provide family planning services and supplies to certain individuals not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and PHSA to prohibit a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer providing group coverage, from excluding or restricting benefits in any way for prescription contraceptive drugs, devices, and outpatient services if the plan provides benefits for other outpatient prescription drugs, devices, or outpatient services. Amends PHSA to apply those prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market. Emergency Contraception Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and disseminate information on emergency contraception to the public and to health care providers. Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act - Requires hospitals, as a condition of receiving Federal funds, to offer and to provide, upon request, emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. Preventing Teen Pregnancy Act - Amends PHSA to authorize the Secretary to award grants to public and private entities to establish or expand teenage pregnancy prevention programs. Truth in Contraception Act - Requires that any information concerning the use of a contraceptive provided through specified federally funded education programs be medically accurate and include health benefits and failure rates.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Marriage, Opportunity, Relief, and Empowerment Act of 2005 or the MORE Act - Makes permanent specified provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 relating to tax benefits for children and marriage penalty relief. Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone Act or the PRIDE Act - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) revise the program of grants to States for temporary aid to needy families (TANF) to, among other things, extend the authority for family assistance grants, promote family employment and self-sufficiency programs, and establish a responsible fatherhood program; (2) extend the authority for the sexual abstinence education program; (3) revise child support enforcement requirements; (4) extend the authority for approving certain child welfare demonstration projects; and (5) extend the Transitional Medical Assistance Program (TMA). CARE Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to charitable giving, including to: (1) allow nonitemizing taxpayers to claim a tax deduction for charitable contributions; (2) permit tax-free distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes; and (3) allow individual taxpayers to claim a tax deduction for contributions of food and book inventories. Revises various disclosure and oversight requirements relating to tax-exempt organizations. Restores and increases funding for the Social Services Block Grant Program. Savings for Working Families Act of 2005 - Allows certain low income individuals to establish individual development accounts for accumulating assets for homeownership, education, business startup and other purposes. Allows an investment tax credit for contributions to an individual development account. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award grants to and enter into cooperative agreements with nongovernmental organizations to assist nonprofit community-based organizations in delivering social services. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to contract for an evaluation of maternity group homes under the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Quality Education for All Act - Extends authorizations of appropriations under: (1) the Head Start Act (HSA); and (2) the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (CCDBGA). Revises HSA provisions for: (1) Indian and migrant and seasonal programs; (2) expanded access to Early Head Start and Head Start; (3) part-day to full-day programs; (4) school readiness standards; (5) staff training, development, and salaries; and (6) tribal college or university partnership. Revises CCDBGA requirements for staff training and child care quality improvement activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to rural local educational agencies for purchasing new school buses. Expresses the sense of the Senate regarding: (1) fully funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by 2011; (2) funding for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and (3) increasing the maximum Pell Grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Revises ESEA requirements for: (1) public school choice, supplemental educational services, and teacher quality; (2) adequate yearly progress determinations; (3) technical assistance; (4) assessment and accountability; and (5) prohibiting discrimination. Revises HEA to provide for: (1) extending and increasing authorizations of appropriations for TRIO and GEARUP programs; (2) no reduction of student aid eligibility based on updates to tax tables; (3) demonstration grants to help low-income students enroll in summer courses to complete their college degrees; and (4) tuition-free college for mathematics, science, and special education teachers, through additional amounts of student loan forgiveness. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) expand the deduction for higher education expenses; (2) establish a credit for interest on higher education loans; and (3) make Hope and Lifetime Learning credits refundable.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Loan Forgiveness for Head Start Teachers Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend to certain Head Start teachers eligibility for cancellation of repayment obligations for specified types of student loans.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Vocational and Technical Entrepreneurship Development Act of 2005 - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish a program under which the Administrator shall make grants to, or may enter into cooperative agreements with, State small business development centers to provide, on a statewide basis, technical assistance to secondary schools, or to post-secondary vocational or technical schools, for the development and implementation of curricula designed to promote vocational and technical entrepreneurship. Provides for the minimum amount of a grant to not be less than $200,000. Directs the association of small business development centers to act as an information clearinghouse regarding vocational and technical entrepreneurship education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
College Savings Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the maximum annual contribution limit for Coverdell education savings accounts from $2,000 to $5,000; and (2) allow a tax deduction up to $5,000 for contributions to an education savings account.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Strengthen the Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement for the establishment and operation of a student loan fund with any public or other nonprofit school that offers a graduate program in professional psychology. Revises provisions concerning the collection of health professions data, sex discrimination in medical education programs, and definitions to make these applicable to "professional" (rather than "clinical") psychologists.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Fulfilling Our Duty to America's Veterans Act of 2005 - States that, upon enactment, funding for the programs, functions, and activities of the Veterans Health Administration shall be provided through a combination of discretionary and mandatory funding in order to ensure access to health care for all veterans. Requires: (1) the Comptroller General to report to Congress on the extent to which such funding has achieved its objectives; and (2) congressional consideration of such report via the joint resolution process. Provides for: (1) post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for veterans of service in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Global War on Terrorism; and (2) a review by each military department of the sufficiency of its military health care programs. Authorizes Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacies to dispense medications to Medicare-eligible veterans on prescriptions written by private practitioners. Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2005 - Requires the full concurrent payment of military retired pay and service-connected disability compensation. Requires a joint report from the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs on the development of interoperable electronic records for military personnel and veterans that are utilized by both departments. Expands preseparation physical examination and counseling requirements. Authorizes such Secretaries to carry out epidemiological studies relating to health conditions that develop as a result of occupational exposure during military service. Requires such Secretaries to develop protocols to facilitate the sharing of members' and veterans' duty assignments and medical conditions information. Increased Government Commitment to Veterans' Education Act - Provides for the: (1) exclusion of basic pay contributions for participation in veterans' educational assistance from computations used to determine eligibility for student financial aid; and (2) opportunity to enroll in a basic educational assistance program for certain individuals who participated, or were eligible to participate, in the post-Vietnam era veterans' educational assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Lifetime of Education Opportunities Act of 2005 - Expresses the sense of the Senate regarding: Head Start; elementary and secondary education; career and technical education; mathematics and science education; loan forgiveness for teachers; teacher preparation; teacher incentives; teacher tax credits; higher education and lifelong learning opportunities; minority serving institutions; making education more affordable; and a refundable tax credit for public or private school tuition and transportation costs. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise requirements and reauthorize appropriations for teacher quality enhancement grants for States and partnerships. Makes permanent specified affordable education requirements under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Workforce Investment Act Amendments of 2005 - Amends title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) to revise requirements and reauthorize appropriations for workforce investment systems for job training and employment services, including the Job Corps. Adult Education and Family Literacy Act Amendments of 2005 - Amends title II of WIA, also known as the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, to revise requirements and reauthorize appropriations for adult basic skills education, including adult education and family literacy programs. Amends the Wagner-Peyser Act to: (1) require employment services offices in each State to be co-located with comprehensive one-stop centers under WIA-I; and (2) revise requirements and reauthorize appropriations for the workforce and labor market information system to be carried out through grants or cooperative agreements with the States. Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 2005 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to revise requirements and reauthorize appropriations for vocational rehabilitation services. Amends the Helen Keller National Center Act to reauthorize appropriations for such Act in general and for the Helen Keller National Center Federal Endowment Fund. Give Back to Parents Act of 2005 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a refundable tax credit for education, tuition, and transportation expenses of students assigned to schools identified for school improvement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2005
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the maximum Federal Pell Grant for which a student should be eligible during award year 2005-2006 should be $4,500; and (2) the authorized levels for the Federal Pell Grant maximum amount under the Higher Education Act of 1965 should be set high enough to accommodate a Federal Pell Grant amount of $9,000 by award year 2010-2011.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Makes majority party appointments to the Joint Economic Committee and the following Senate Committees for the 109th Congress: (1) Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (5) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (6) Energy and Natural Resources; (7) Environment and Public Works; (8) Finance; (9) Foreign Relations; (10) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; (11) Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; (12) Intelligence; (13) Judiciary; (14) Aging; (15) Budget; 16) Ethics; (17) Indian Affairs; (18) Rules and Administration; (19) Small Business and Entrepreneurship; and (20) Veterans' Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Makes minority party appointments to the Joint Economic Committee and the following Senate Committees for the 109th Congress: (1) Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (5) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (6) Energy and Natural Resources; (7) Environment and Public Works; (8) Finance; (9) Foreign Relations; (10) Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; (11) Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; (12) Judiciary; (13) Rules and Administration; (14) Small Business and Entrepreneurship; (15) Veterans' Affairs; (16) Aging; (17) Budget; (18) Ethics; (19) Indian Affairs; and (20) Intelligence
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Preserving Educational Opportunities for Immigrant Children Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to define "transplanted child" as an alien who has been granted cancellation of removal or who has such an application pending. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996 to eliminate the provision prohibiting postsecondary education benefits based on State residency for an illegal alien unless a U.S. citizen or national is eligible for similar benefits without regard to such residency. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to add transplanted children to the definition of "qualified alien" (thus making them eligible for public benefits). Amends the INA to authorize the Attorney General to cancel the removal of, and adjust to permanent resident status, certain aliens who are under the age of 18, or who are 18 and older, with qualifying years of continuous U.S. residency.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Rural and Urban Health Care Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise admission requirements for H-1C nonimmigrant nurses by, among other things: (1) allowing aliens who received a nursing education in Canada to claim licensure equivalency; (2) requiring aliens who twice fail to pass a State licensure examination to depart the United States; (3) substantially increasing the total number of available H-1C visas; and (4) increasing the type of qualifying employer-facilities. Increases the number of annual two-year foreign residency requirement waivers available to interested State agencies for aliens receiving graduate medical education or training in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to: (1) include bullying and harassment under the definition of violence; and (2) provide for programs to address and prevent bullying and harassment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Enhancing Resources Utilized in Developing Investments for Tuition Expenditures Act of 2003 [sic] - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a new lump sum contribution amount for Coverdell education savings accounts whenever the contribution limit for such accounts is increased.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2005 - Directs the President to establish or designate an Interagency Committee to plan and coordinate Federal efforts in manufacturing research and development, with an Advisory Committee from the non-Federal sector. Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (NIST Act) to establish: (1) a pilot program of collaborative manufacturing research grants; (2) manufacturing sciences research fellowships; (3) manufacturing extension center competitive grants; and (4) standards education grants to develop higher education curricula on the role of standards in engineering, business, science, and economics. Revises requirements under the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce for the following NIST programs: (1) scientific and technical research and services laboratory activities; (2) the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980); (3) construction and maintenance of facilities; (4) Teacher Science and Technology Enhancement Institute; (5) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (through the Secretary or other appropriate Federal agencies); (6) Collaborative Manufacturing Research Pilot Grants; and (7) Manufacturing Fellowships.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Bullying and Gang Prevention for School Safety and Crime Reduction Act of 2005 - Amends: (1) the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act to cover bullying and gang (as well as drug and violence) prevention; and (2) the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize (with respect to juvenile accountability block grants) accountability-based programs designed to enhance school safety, which may include research-based bullying and gang prevention programs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Early Detection of Dyslexia in Children Act of 2005 - Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to Congress on methods for identifying and treating children with dyslexia in kindergarten through third grade.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2005 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through 2010 for certain surface transportation research and development (R&D) activities. Amends Federal highway law to revise requirements for transportation: (1) research strategic planning, requiring development of a five-year transportation R&D strategic plan to guide Federal transportation R&D activities; and (2) deployment grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a National Multimodal Trends Policy Research Program that systematically addresses critical short-term, medium-term, and long-term social science issues affecting and affected by the transportation system. Directs the Secretary to implement programs to promote and demonstrate the application of innovative pavement technologies and technologies in highway safety. Establishes the Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Education Program. Directs the Secretary to arrange with the National Research Council to develop a National Transportation Information Needs Assessment. Requires the Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to establish an Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics. Directs the Secretary to establish a Future Strategic Highway Research Program. Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to revise the Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 1998 and rename it the Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 2005. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through 2010 for: (1) transit R&D; (2) highway safety R&D; and (3) motor carrier R&D. Directs the Secretary to establish an Innovative Practices and Technologies Demonstration and Deployment Program. Amends Federal transportation law to authorize the Secretary (or the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development when required for urban transportation planning) to make grants to nonprofit institutions of higher learning to: (1) conduct competent R&D and investigations into the theoretical or practical problems of urban transportation; and (2) train individuals to conduct further R&D or obtain employment in an organization that plans, builds, operates, or manages an urban transportation system. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a motor carrier R&D program; (2) a multimodal energy and climate change program to study the relationship of transportation, energy, and climate change as part of the National Climate Change Technology Initiative and the Climate Change Research Initiative; (3) a national cooperative freight transportation R&D program; (4) data exchange formats to ensure that highway and transit monitoring systems data, including statewide incident reporting systems, can readily be exchanged across jurisdictional boundaries; and (5) a planning capacity building initiative to support enhancements in transportation planning. Directs the President shall establish a Next Generation National Transportation Policy Study Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an exclusion from gross income of student loan payments made for an employee by an employer. Imposes upon such an employer a tax for failure to make comparable payments on certain education loans of employees.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Recognizes the College of St. Catherine's, in St. Paul, Minnesota, for its 100 years of service and continuing commitment to the education of women. Commends the College's President, alumni association, Board of Trustees, and founding order, the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Elects specified Members to the following standing committees of the House of Representatives: (1) Agriculture; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Budget; (5) Education and the Workforce; (6) Energy and Commerce; (7) Financial Services; (8) Government Reform; (9) Homeland Security; (10) House Administration; (11) International Relations; (12) Judiciary; (13) Resources; (14) Rules, (15) Science; (16) Small Business; (17) Transportation and Infrastructure; (18) Veterans' Affairs; and (19) Ways and Means.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2005
Elects specified Members to the following standing committees of the House of Representatives: (1) Agriculture; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Budget; (5) Education and the Workforce; (6) Energy and Commerce; (7) Financial Services; (8) Government Reform; (9) Homeland Security; (10) International Relations; (11) Judiciary; (12) Resources; (13) Rules; (14) Science; (15) Small Business; (16) Transportation and Infrastructure; (17) Veterans' Affairs; and (18) Ways and Means.
United States · United States Senate · 4 January 2005
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Comprehensive Learning Assessment for Students and Schools (CLASS) Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise certain requirements regarding student assessments and adequate yearly progress which were added by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to restore audit funds under the Child and Adult Care Food Program to 1.5 percent (from 1 percent) for FY 2005 through 2007.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Parental Consent Act of 2005 - Prohibits Federal funds from being used to establish or implement any universal or mandatory mental health screening program. Prohibits Federal education funds from being used to pay any local educational agency or other instrument of government that uses the refusal of a parent or legal guardian to provide consent to mental health screening as the basis of a charge of child abuse or education neglect until the agency or instrument demonstrates that it is no longer using such refusal as a basis of such charge. Defines universal or mandatory mental health screening as any mental health screening program in which a set of individuals is automatically screened without regard to whether there was a prior indication of a need for mental health treatment, including: (1) any program of State incentive grants to implement recommendations in the July 2003 report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health; and (2) any student mental health screening program that allows mental health screening of individuals under 18 years of age without the express, written, voluntary, informed consent of the parent or legal guardian of the individual involved.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of student loan forgiveness for borrowers who agree to remain employed, for at least three years, as public attorneys who are: (1) State or local criminal prosecutors; or (2) State, local, or Federal public defenders in criminal cases. Directs the Secretary of Education to provide such student loan repayment benefits for such public attorneys on a first-come, first-served basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. Requires priority to be given to borrowers who received repayment benefits for the preceding fiscal year and have completed less than three years of the first required service period. Allows the borrower and the Secretary to enter into an additional agreement, after the required three-year period, for a successive period of service which may be less than three years. Limits the amount paid under such program on behalf of any borrower to $6,000 per calendar year and $40,000 total. Includes public defenders among those eligible under a current HEA program of cancellation of student loans for certain public service.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2005 - Amends title IV (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to reauthorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to award state family assistance grants. Authorizes States to use grants for marriage promotion activities and requires the Secretary to make bonus grants to each State that has achieved formulated employment goals. Revises requirements for: (1) the consideration of certain child care expenditures in determining State compliance with contingency fund requirements; (2) State work participation standards, incorporating a 40-hour work week standard, and creating a State superachiever participation rate credit; and (3) the use of TANF grants. Replaces personal responsibility plans with family self-sufficiency plans. Authorizes the Secretary to establish TANF performance goals and plans. Makes appropriations for research, demonstrations, and technical assistance. Promotion and Support of Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Marriage Act of 2005 - Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit community entities for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of various approaches to create a Fatherhood Program. Permits States the option to make TANF programs mandatory partners with one-stop employment training centers. Caring for Children Act of 2005 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to specify consumer education information States are required to collect and disseminate. Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to income tax benefits. Reauthorizes funding for State child care entitlement programs and revises State requirements for child support payments. Amends: (1) SSA title XI (General Provisions) to eliminate specified limitations on the Secretary's authority to approve demonstration projects and grant waivers; and (2) SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to review State agency blindness and disability determinations. Authorizes the administering Secretary to authorize innovative State demonstration projects involving individual programs, or integrating multiple public assistance, employment security, and other programs to support working families. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require the Secretary to establish a program to make grants to States to provide food assistance and funds to operate employment and training programs for needy individuals. Extends abstinence education funding and reauthorizes transitional medical assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2005 - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), acting through the Associate Administrator for Small Business Development Centers, to establish a program to provide regulatory compliance assistance to small businesses through participating Small Business Development Centers (Centers), the Association for Small Business Development Centers (Association), and Federal compliance partnership programs. Requires the Administrator to enter into arrangements with participating Centers to provide: (1) access to regulatory information and resources; (2) training and education activities; (3) confidential counseling to owners and operators of small businesses regarding compliance with Federal and State regulations; and (4) technical assistance. Directs the Administrator to contract with the Association to act as the repository of and clearinghouse for data and information submitted by Centers. Requires the Administrator, giving substantial weight to the Association's recommendations, to select the Centers programs of two States from each of ten groups of States for participation in the program. Authorizes the Administrator to make additional selections after three years, with a preference for programs that have a plan for consulting with Federal and State agencies to ensure that assistance provided under this Act is not duplicated by any other Federal or State program. Sets forth the formula for determining program grant amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Emergency Loan Abuse Prevention Act of 2005 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce certain special allowance payments to holders of student loans. Appropriates, for each fiscal year after enactment of this Act, an additional amount to increase the maximum Pell grant for that fiscal year. Makes such amount equal to the amount by which expenditures for such special allowances are reduced by this Act for that fiscal year, as determined by the Congressional Budget Office.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to Congress on the rate at which Native Americans (including Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians) and students who reside in American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam drop out of secondary schools in the United States. Requires recommendations for increasing the numbers of such students who graduate from secondary school. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report to Congress three years after enactment of this Act on the Federal programs funded during such period which were designed to decrease or otherwise address the rate at which students cease attending secondary schools in the United States before they have graduated.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Act - Reestablishes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Department of Commerce (DOC), headed by an Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere who shall serve as the Administrator of NOAA. Establishes within NOAA the positions of: (1) Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; (2) Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; (3) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere; (4) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology, Education, and Outreach; and (5) General Counsel. Places within NOAA: (1) the National Weather Service; (2) programs to support operations of ongoing data collection and direct services and products regarding satellite, observations, and coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes information; (3) programs to conduct and support research and education and the development of technologies relating to weather, climate, and the coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes; and (4) a Science Advisory Board. Requires the Administrator to develop: (1) an assessment of the adequacy of the environmental data and information systems of NOAA, including a strategic plan that sets forth modernization and improvement objectives for an integrated national environmental data access and archive system; and (2) a strategic plan for science and technology research and development (R&D) at NOAA. Sets forth certain requirements that prohibit the Administrator from closing, consolidating, relocating, subdividing, or establishing a facility of NOAA unless there has been public notification and an assessment of any proposed changes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Preservation and Restoration of Orphan Works for Use in Scholarship and Education (PRO-USE) Act of 2005 - Preservation of Orphan Works Act - Provides that the limitation on rights of reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works does not apply to the authority of libraries or archives, during the last 20 years of any term of copyright of a published work, to reproduce, distribute, display, or perform in facsimile or digital form a copy or phonorecord of such work for purposes of preservation, scholarship, or research when certain conditions apply. National Film Preservation Act of 2005 - Amends the National Film Preservation Act of 1996 to direct the Librarian of Congress to carry out preservation activities, including: (1) generating public awareness of the National Film Registry; (2) updating the national film preservation program with technological advances; and (3) utilizing the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center to ensure that Registry films are properly stored and disseminated in accordance with copyright law and any relevant agreements. Directs the National Film Preservation Board to review special projects submitted for its approval by the National Film Preservation Foundation. Reauthorizes film preservation provisions. Allows the Foundation's board of directors to determine the location of its principal office. Authorizes appropriations to the Library of Congress for the Foundation. Directs the Foundation to design and support cooperative film preservation and access initiatives, with the approval of the Librarian and the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Child Safety Lock Act of 2005 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to define a firearm "locking device." Makes it unlawful for a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun without a locking device and specified warnings to any person other than a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer, with exceptions for law enforcement officers and governmental entities. Sets forth civil penalties, including suspension or loss of license, for related violations. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) prescribe such regulations governing the design, manufacture, and performance of trigger lock devices as are necessary to reduce or prevent the unintentional discharge of handguns, including setting a minimum safety standard to prevent children who have not attained age 18 from operating a handgun; and (2) in developing the standard, to consider such devices that are not detachable. Authorizes the Attorney General to issue an order prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transfer, or delivery of a trigger lock device which the Attorney General finds has been designed, manufactured, transferred, or distributed in violation of this Act. Grants the Attorney General specified authority regarding: (1) recall, repair, replacement, or refund with respect to such devices; and (2) inspections. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) assess a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation; and (2) revoke a Federal firearms license for a violation of this Act. Imposes criminal penalties for knowingly violating this Act. Directs that a portion of firearms tax revenue be used for public education programs on the safe storage and use of firearms.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt elementary and secondary schools from the fee imposed on employers filing petitions for temporary nonimmigrant workers under the H-1B (specialty occupations) visa program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Prevention of Predatory Lending Through Education Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States, units of local government, and nonprofit organizations for counseling, referral, and education programs for the prevention of predatory lending. Directs the Secretary to establish a toll-free telephone number for predatory lending complaints. Establishes in the Department of Housing and Urban Development a Predatory Lending Advisory Council, which shall: (1) advise the Secretary on issues concerning predatory lending practices; and (2) conduct a study of the causes of home loan defaults and foreclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
SouthEast Crescent Authority Act of 2005 - Establishes a SouthEast Crescent Authority for all parts of the following southeastern states not eligible for assistance from the Appalachian Regional Commission or the Delta Regional Authority: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Directs the Authority to perform various functions, including: (1) formulating plans and programs to spur economic development, and approving grants to States and public and nonprofit entities toward that end; (2) establishing priorities in a development plan for the region; (3) supporting local development districts, and creating them where they do not exist; and (4) encouraging private investment in the region. Permits the Authority to request and receive Federal, State and local government personnel as employees. Stipulates that Authority grants for infrastructure development may be made only to State or local governments. Permits other Authority grants for job training, employment-related education, business development, assisting severely distressed and poor areas, or for other purposes in accordance with the Act. Allows the Authority to designate annually: (1) distressed counties; and (2) isolated areas of distress in nondistressed counties. Directs the Authority to garner public participation in the development, revision, and implementation of its plans and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
School Environment Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) establish a National School Integrated Pest Management Advisory System to develop and update uniform standards and criteria for implementing integrated pest management systems in schools; (2) establish a National School Integrated Pest Management Advisory Board; (3) provide grants to local educational agencies to develop such systems. Prohibits: (1) the application of a pesticide when a school or school ground is occupied or in use; or (2) the use of an area or room treated by a pesticide, other than a least toxic pesticide, during the 24-hour period beginning at the end of the treatment. Requires each local educational agency or school to provide notice of the integrated pest management system of the school district at the beginning of each school year and to give prior notice of any use of a pesticide (other than a least toxic pesticide). Prescribes procedures to be followed if a pest cannot be controlled after having used an integrated pest management system and least toxic pesticides. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of this Act. Establishes the Integrated Pest Management Trust Fund to carry out education, training, propagation, and development activities under school integrated pest management systems. Prohibits, no later than six years after this Act's enactment, the use of any pesticide other than a least toxic pesticide in schools unless the Administrator has met the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Higher Education Affordability Resource Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to include coverage of other qualified higher education expenses under the HOPE scholarship tax credit. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of student loan forgiveness for: (1) highly qualified teachers in low-income communities; (2) highly qualified teachers of mathematics, science, and bilingual and special education; (3) nurses who serve low-income or needy communities in a clinical setting or as members of the nursing faculty at an accredited school of nursing; (4) child welfare workers with a degree in social work or a related field with a focus on serving children and families in public or private child welfare services; and (5) firefighters, police officers, or emergency medical technicians (first responders) who serve low-income communities. Directs the Secretary of Education, without case-by-case consideration, to allow a student to receive two Pell grants during a single award year under certain conditions. Excludes from consideration as student assets, for purposes of HEA student financial needs analysis, qualified education benefits from prepayment or savings plans that meet certain IRC requirements. Requires lenders to provide certain student loan borrowers with special transition assistance plans at specified interest rates. Establishes a partnership grant program to support academic transfer credits, to help students complete bachelor's degrees, through developing and implementing articulation and guaranteed transfer agreements between institutions of higher education. Prohibits an eligible institution from refusing to certify, or reduce the amount certified for, a loan under the part B Federal Family Education Loan Program in order to require the student to borrow a loan under the part D Federal Perkins Loans program if the student has remaining loan eligibility under part B.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Ensuring College Access for All Americans Act - Prohibits the application of the annual updates (prescribed in the Federal Register on December 23, 2004) to the allowance for State and other taxes in the tables used in the Federal Needs Analysis Methodology to determine a student's expected family contribution for the award year 2005-2006 under the Higher Education Act of 1965, to the extent such updates will reduce the amount of Federal student assistance for which the student is eligible.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
College Fire Prevention Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive demonstration grants to private or public colleges or universities, fraternities, or sororities for up to half the cost of installing fire sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention technologies, in student housing and dormitories owned or controlled by such entities. Requires grant priority to be given eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest financial need. Reserves the following portions of grant funds made available for each fiscal year: (1) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and tribally controlled colleges and universities; and (2) at least ten percent for eligible entities that are social fraternities and sororities. Provides that any application for assistance under this Act, any negative determination on the part of the Secretary with respect to such application, or any statement of reasons for the determination, shall not be admissible as evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, or other entity (except a proceeding to enforce an agreement entered into between the Secretary and an eligible entity under this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Suzanne Lyall Campus Safety Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to adopt and implement plans providing for prompt and coordinated investigations with local law enforcement agencies of: (1) serious violent felonies occurring at the institutions or on their grounds; and (2) reports of missing students.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
David Shick Honesty in Campus Justice Act - Amends the General Education Provisions Act to require an institution of postsecondary education to disclose to the alleged victim of any crime of violence or a nonforcible sex offense (or to a deceased victim's next of kin) the final results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by such institution against a student who is the alleged perpetrator. (Current law states that such disclosure is not prohibited.)
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Dollars to the Classroom Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education award grants to States for use by States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve classroom services and activities for students. Prescribes requirements for participation of private school children and teachers in activities and services. Repeals authority for specified programs and activities under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, including: (1) mandatory independent evaluations of State student assessments; (2) grants for schools to develop comprehensive school reforms; (3) the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund; (4) mathematics and science partnerships; (5) the Innovation for Teacher Quality; (6) Enhancing Education through Technology; (7) the Fund for Improvement of Education; and (8) Education for Homeless Children.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to extend to families of home-schooled children certain educational and privacy rights currently available to families of public school students. Revises the definition of student for purposes of coverage regarding such family educational and privacy rights (under GEPA provisions which are also known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974). Includes under such coverage any person educated at a home school (whether or not State law treats a home school as a home school or a private school), if an educational agency or institution maintains education records or personally identifiable information on such person (whether or not the home-schooled person is in attendance at the agency or institution). (Current law excludes all those who are not in attendance at the agency or institution.)
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Higher Education Science and Technology Competitiveness Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants for articulation agreements between institutions of higher education that specifies the acceptability of courses in transfer toward meeting specific degree requirements, especially in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. Allows the use of grant funds to establish articulation agreements: (1) statewide, among public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education, to provide a seamless transition for the transfer of students through a common core curricula that reflects the workforce needs of private industry; and (2) within community colleges, between occupational competency or certification programs and associate degree programs, to increase the proportion of students who enroll to complete their associate degree. Allows such grants also to be used to: (1) collect data on transfers from two-year to four-year institutions, for monitoring purposes; (2) develop a statewide articulation guide in consultation with public colleges and universities to provide students with descriptions of articulation requirements; and (3) develop a plan for professional development of two-year college faculty.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2005
Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to: (1) expand the fruit and vegetable pilot program to five States, including New York; and (2) include Head Start programs (as well as elementary and secondary schools) in the program.