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Bill· SS. 2003 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2003
Health Information for Quality Improvement Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish: (1) an Office of National Healthcare Information Infrastructure to develop a strategic plan to create such an infrastructure; and (2) a Medical Systems Safety Initiative to conduct research on improving and advancing medical care. Requires efforts to increase information technology usage and efficiency in health care to improve the quality of patient care and safety, while protecting privacy and security of information. Prohibits health insurers from denying and preventing individuals with serious illnesses participation in approved clinical trials. Supports research on: (1) how best to care for older patients with multiple chronic conditions; and (2) the effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs with a high level of use in federally funded health programs. Requires the development and use of standardized indicators of health care quality. Supports data collection and analysis to assess health care quality in communities and among people of different backgrounds. Requires a study on approaches to developing and disseminating practice guidelines that synthesize the scientific evidence to support clinical practice. Requires an evaluation of options to align health care performance with payment, including Medicare payments. Supports projects to assess the feasibility of using different organizations to disseminate information about health care quality to consumers. Awards grants for research on patient experiences. Requires the development of standardized materials to assist non-English speaking or functionally illiterate patients in the safe and appropriate use of prescription drugs.
Bill· SS. 1993 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2003
National Highway Safety Act of 2003 - Requires the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a highway safety improvement program to reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries on public roads. Requires a State, to receive funds under this Act, to have in effect a highway safety improvement program under which the State: (1) develops and implements a strategic highway safety plan that identifies and analyzes highway safety problems and opportunities; (2) produces a program of projects or strategies to reduce identified safety problems; and (3) evaluates the plan regularly to ensure the accuracy of the data and the priority of proposed improvements. Sets forth provisions regarding State plan requirements, eligible projects, and the Federal share. Provides for a reduction of funds to a State that fails to have in effect a primary safety belt law or that fails to demonstrate that the safety belt use rate in the State is at least 90 percent. Provides for a restoration of funds if, within three years, the State meets those requirements. Provides for reallocation of apportioned funds. Sets formulas for apportionment of highway safety improvement program funds. Requires at least $200 million of funds authorized and expended under this Act be available each fiscal year for the elimination of hazards and the installation of protective devices at railway-highway crossings.
Bill· SS. 1998 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2003
Essential Air Service Preservation Act of 2003 - Repeals provisions establishing the Essential Air Service local participation program (a pilot program under which designated essential air service communities are required to assume ten percent of their essential air service subsidy costs).
Bill· HRH.R. 3683 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2003
Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) evaluate devices and technologies to reduce child injuries and deaths occurring outside of parked motor vehicles in non-traffic, non-crash events or inside of parked vehicles when children are left unattended; (2) establish a database of, and collect data on, the number and types of injuries and deaths in such events; (3) evaluate technologies for detecting and preventing collisions with individuals and objects behind motor vehicles; (4) prescribe safety standards to require devices for detecting individuals and objects behind motor vehicles; and (5) prescribe safety standards for power windows and power sunroofs, including requirements for child-safe switches and auto reverse technology.
Bill· HRH.R. 3682 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2003
Protecting American Manufacturing Jobs Act of 2003 - Revises Buy America requirements applicable to Federal mass transportation assistance to define "manufactured goods" to mean each individual item specified in each line item of a procurement. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to publish a detailed written justification in the Federal Register when issuing a waiver from Buy America provisions as to why the waiver is in the public interest. Prohibits the Secretary from granting a waiver from Buy America provisions for microcomputer equipment. Allows any party adversely affected by an agency action related to Buy America provisions to seek administrative review under the Administrative Procedure Act. Provides that the amendments made by this Act shall not modify the scope or terms of an existing waiver granted to microprocessors or microcomputers, including software, incorporated in certain train control or communication equipment.
Bill· HRH.R. 3697 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2003
Entitles economically depressed communities to 100 percent of costs for an airport project if the community has: (1) an unemployment rate 1 percent higher than the national average for the preceding 24 months; (2) a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average; or (3) a special need such as substantial population loss, underemployment, military base closures, major disasters or emergencies, extraordinary depletion of natural resources, closure or restructuring of industrial firms essential to the area economies, and destructive impacts of foreign trade.
Bill· SS. 1978 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 2003
Surface Transportation Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Highway Safety Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal highway law to reauthorize the highway safety grant program. Revises requirements for highway safety research and outreach programs and the impaired driving program. Directs the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to make grants to States for: (1) enacting and enforcing specified occupant protection laws; and (2) traffic safety information system improvements. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services. Repeals authority for alcohol traffic safety programs. Amends Federal transportation law with respect to specified vehicle safety-related matters. Motor Carrier Safety Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to reauthorize specified programs of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Directs the Secretary to: (1) convene a commercial driver's license (CDL) program working group; and (2) establish a Medical Review Board. Revises specified requirements with respect to motor carrier safety. Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to issue regulations to establish an on-line Federal Unified Carrier Registration System to replace specified current systems. Household Goods Mover Oversight Enforcement and Reform Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to provide for enforcement of Federal laws and regulations with respect to the interstate transportation of household goods. Directs the Secretary to establish a consumer complaint system and database. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for failure of a mover to give up possession of household goods. Hazardous Material Transportation Safety and Security Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to revise requirements for specified matters relating to hazardous material transportation safety and security. Reauthorizes the program through FY 2009. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of random cargo inspections at U.S. points of entry to determine the extent to which undeclared hazardous material is being offered for transportation through them. Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services by regulation to require shippers, carriers by motor vehicle or rail vehicle, receivers, and other persons engaged in the transportation of food to use prescribed sanitary transportation practices. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish procedures for transportation safety inspections to identify suspected incidents of contamination or adulteration of food, meat, or poultry products. Sport Fishing and Recreational Boating Safety Act - Amends the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act to provide for distribution of FY 2004 through 2009 appropriations, including those for the multistate conservation grant program. Amends the Clean Vessel Act, with respect to grants for State marine sanitation device pumpout station programs, to repeal the priority consideration to grant applications that, in coastal States, propose constructing and renovating pumpout stations and waste reception facilities in accordance with a coastal State's approved plan. Amends Federal shipping law to increase from one-half to 75 percent the maximum percentage of a State's total cost for its recreational boating safety program represented by the Federal allocation the State receives. Extends the availability of such allocation from two years to three years. Requires a reduction of such allocation if the State's expenditures for the program for the previous fiscal year is below the average expenditures for the three preceding fiscal years (failure of maintenance of effort). Amends Federal transportation law to authorize appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for Amtrak operating expenses. Establishes the Rail Infrastructure Finance Corporation (not a Federal agency or establishment) to support rail transportation capital projects through the issuance of rail capital infrastructure bonds. Railroad Track Modernization Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law to: (1) repeal the Light Density Rail Line Pilot Projects program; and (2) replace it with a program of capital grants for the rehabilitation, preservation, or improvement of railroad track (including roadbed, bridges, and related track structures) of class II and class III railroads. Amends Federal transportation law to direct the Secretary to carry out a grant program to provide financial assistance for local rail line relocation projects involving a lateral or vertical relocation of any portion of the rail line within a municipality to avoid closing a grade crossing or constructing a road underpass or overpass in order to mitigate the adverse effects of rail traffic on safety, motor vehicle traffic flow, or economic development. Declares that the proceeds from the sale of any Federal bonds available to fund passenger rail projects may be used to fund a more cost-effective alternative qualified transportation infrastructure project proposed by a State, including a highway project, a transit system project, a railroad project, an airport project, a port project, and an inland waterways project.
Bill· SS. 1960 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 2003
Entitles economically depressed communities to 100 percent of costs for an airport project if the community has: (1) an unemployment rate 1 percent higher than the national average for the preceding 24 months; (2) a per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average; or (3) a special need such as substantial population loss, underemployment, military base closures, major disasters or emergencies, extraordinary depletion of natural resources, closure or restructuring of industrial firms essential to the area economies, and destructive impacts of foreign trade.
Bill· SS. 1961 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 2003
American Railroad Revitalization, Investment, and Enhancement Act of the 21st Century, or the Arrive 21 Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to assess and develop prioritized recommendations regarding the security risks associated with freight and intercity passenger rail transportation. Amends Federal transportation law with respect to: (1) Federal rail policy; (2) establishment of a rail cooperative research program; (3) State rail plans; (4) interstate railroad passenger high-speed transportation policy; (5) high-speed rail corridor planning; (6) rehabilitation, improvement, and security financing; (7) creations of a 50-year Intermodal Blueprint; and (8) the National Railroad Passenger Transportation (Amtrak) system. Designates specified high-speed rail corridors. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) from collecting payments for a specified direct loan to Amtrak. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to work with the Secretary to restructure Amtrak's long-term debt and capital leases. Prohibits Amtrak from contracting new secured debt. Repeals self-sufficiency requirements for Amtrak. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury annually to pay the equivalent of excess railroad retirement benefits to the Railroad Retirement Account with respect to Amtrak retirees. Authorizes appropriations for environmental compliance and station improvements, tunnel life safety, and Amtrak capital and operating expenses. Prescribes general procedures for: (1) establishment of an Amtrak grant process; and (2) development of an Amtrak five-year financial plan. Directs the Amtrak Board of Directors to develop a formula for equitable and fair funding of the operating costs of trains operating on routes of 750 miles or less (State-supported routes). Re-establishes the Northeast Corridor Safety Committee. Amends Federal transportation law to revise requirements for: (1) the Amtrak Board; and (2) intercity passenger train on-time performance and other standards. Requires establishment of a system for financial accounting of Amtrak operations by an independent auditor. Directs the Secretary to contract with an independent auditor or consultant to establish methodologies for Amtrak route and service planning decisions. Directs the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to develop new or improve existing metrics and minimum standards for measuring the service quality of intercity train operations. Establishes a nonprofit and nonpolitical Rail Infrastructure Finance Corporation (RIFC) to provide financial support for rail transportation capital projects through issuance of qualified rail infrastructure bonds. Requires the RIFC Board of Directors to establish a Rail Infrastructure Finance Trust. Authorizes the RIFC Board to establish: (1) an intercity passenger rail development grant program; and (2) a high priority projects grant program. Requires the RIFC Board to establish a freight rail infrastructure development grant program. Deems any person conducting rail operations over rail infrastructure constructed or improved with RIFC grant funds to be an employer for Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 purposes and a carrier for Railway Labor Act purposes. Requires collective bargaining agreements meeting specified criteria between any entity replacing another intercity passenger railroad service provider and the employees of the predecessor provider.
Bill· SS. 1927 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Airline Protection Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security to award grants for the production of bomb scanners for airline baggage. Limits grant eligibility to U.S.-based entities that have demonstrated the ability to produce scanners with false positive and false negative rates below specified percentages which are not cost prohibitive to install.
Bill· SS. 1917 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Clean Air and Water Investment and Infrastructure Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permit the issuance of tax-exempt bonds for certain air and water pollution control facilities; and (2) provide that the volume cap for private activity bonds shall not apply to bonds for such air and water pollution control facilities, facilities for the furnishing of water, and sewage facilities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3572 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
AGOA III Act - Declares the sense of Congress that beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries (SSA countries) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) will benefit if they: (1) implement specified existing obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO); and (2) take steps to promote regional integration, including through agreements to eliminate regional trade barriers. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to repeal the requirement that certain non-apparel articles that are the growth, product, or manufacture of an SSA country shall receive duty-free treatment only if the President determines that they are not import-sensitive in the context of imports from such countries. Extends duty-free treatment for AGOA articles from FY 2008 through FY 2020. Amends AGOA to revise requirements for textile and apparel products from SSA countries receiving duty-free and other preferential import treatment. Permits certain articles to contain fabric or yarn not originating from an SSA country or the United States (third country fabric), regardless of commercial availability in the United States (as long as it is not the component that determines the classification of the article under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States). Extends through FY 2008 the current special rule for lesser developed SSA countries. Extends duty-free treatment to: (1) apparel articles formed on seamless knitting machines in an SSA country from yarns originating either in the United States or one or more SSA countries; and (2) ethnic printed fabric of an SSA country meeting certain criteria. Authorizes the President to extend duty-free treatment, subject to specified conditions, for up to two additional years to a particular lesser developed SSA country lacking sufficient domestic fabric-making capacity, taking into account the extent to which the country has taken steps to increase such capacity by attracting investment. Declares the sense of the Congress that, in negotiating free trade agreements with other countries, the President should negotiate rules of origin for textile and apparel products that allow the use of inputs from SSA countries. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend duty-free treatment to agricultural products from SSA countries that would otherwise be excluded for exceeding a tariff-rate quota. Requires the President to assess a duty (according to a specified formula) on over-quota imports of any agricultural product for which preferential treatment is claimed, if the President determines that the product's unit import price when it enters the United States, determined on an F.O.B. basis, is less than the annual trigger price. Amends AGOA to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to develop a comprehensive plan for public policies and incentives for the private sector to: (1) identify SSA products that can be exported to the United States; (2) analyze critical constraints to U.S.-Africa agricultural trade; and (3) develop a strategy for increasing such SSA agricultural exports. Directs the President to assign at least 20 full-time personnel of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, to not less than ten eligible SSA countries with the greatest potential to increase marketable exports of agricultural products to the United States and the greatest need for technical assistance, particularly in conducting pest risk assessments. Authorizes the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide grants to governmental and nongovernmental entities located in eligible SSA countries that can provide assistance, consultation, and equipment to agribusinesses located in those countries in order to enable agricultural products to meet U.S. import requirements. Requires the Secretary to direct the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) to work with national African agricultural organizations to identify agricultural equipment and supply needs and implement programs that strengthen the ability of members of African agricultural organizations to fulfill these needs in conjunction with export credit guarantee programs. Amends AGOA to condition the President's termination of the designation of an SSA country upon Congress' not prohibiting it. Requires the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to focus funding on investments in agriculture, tourism, and nature tourism. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to waive certain prohibitions against OPIC issuance of any contract of insurance or reinsurance, guaranty, or agreement to provide financing for an eligible investor's proposed investment in an SSA country even if such investment is likely to cause a significant reduction in the number of employees in the United States. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Bank to implement regulations and procedures appropriate to ensure that full consideration is given to the extent to which any credit extension is likely to have a positive effect on industries, including the textile and apparel industry and agricultural production, in SSA countries. States the sense of Congress that USAID, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the African Development Bank, should continue to provide technical assistance to SSA countries in tax policy and revenue administration, especially domestic policies and measures to replace lost trade tax revenues resulting from trade liberalization. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to seek negotiations with those SSA countries which the Secretary determines will benefit most from an income tax treaty with the United States to avoid double taxation. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer a deduction from income for cash contributions to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Directs the USTR to seek to negotiate bilateral investment agreements with interested SSA countries. Directs the USAID Administrator to study the economy of each SSA country, identifying growth sectors and barriers impeding growth, as well as how the U.S. Government and the private sector can provide technical assistance to help dismantle such barriers and promote investment in such sectors. Directs the President to develop and implement policies to assist and encourage: (1) the development of infrastructure projects that will help to increase trade capacity and a sustainable ecotourism industry in SSA countries; and (2) investment in transportation, energy, agriculture, and telecommunications infrastructure in such countries. Directs the USAID Administrator to foster specified port-to-port and airport-to-airport relationships. Authorizes the USTR to provide grants to U.S. nongovernmental organizations and to U.S. representatives of the private sector to host AGOA forums. Directs the President to assemble an interagency task force to facilitate the goals and objectives of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3577 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for: (1) surface transportation research, development, and deployment; (2) training and education; (3) the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; (4) university transportation research; and (5) intellligent transportation systems research. Revises requirements for transportation: (1) research strategic planning to include development priorities; and (2) deployment grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to demonstrate the application of innovative technology in surface transportation infrsstructure construction and safety. Directs the Secretary to arrange with the National Academy of Sciences for establishment of 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 2003. Directs the Secretary 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. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for transit research and development. Amends Federal highway law to direct the Secretary to establish an Innovative Practices and Technologies Demonstration and Deployment Program. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) 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; and (2) a national cooperative freight transportation research program.
Bill· HRH.R. 3578 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
New Starts Enhancement and Local Investment Promotion Act of 2003 - Amends Federal transportation law with respect to grants or loans for new starts of a capital project for a new fixed guideway system or extension of an existing system. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to waive the prior approval requirement for a State or local governmental authority's undertaking a project in advance of Federal funding, if the authority agrees to provide 60 percent or more of the net cost of the project from non-Federal funds. Allows the authority, as a consequence, to carry out any pre-construction part of the project without regard to whether the Secretary has approved in advance the plans and specifications for that part. Declares that the application process for a new starts project approved for a full funding grant agreement shall serve jointly as an application for a secured loan, line of credit, and loan guarantee. States that the proceeds of a line of credit, for projects with an approved full funding grant agreement and a non-Federal revenue share of at least 60 percent of the project cost, shall be available for ten years after the date of substantial completion of the project to pay eligible project costs and to provide liquidity for a variable rate remarketing program. States further that any draw on the line of credit shall not represent a guarantee of debt payment, but shall represent a direct loan and shall be made and repaid only under the terms, rate, and conditions as agreed to by the project sponsor and Secretary. Provides that each new starts project with a full funding grant agreement shall be funded from amounts made available from the capital program grants and loans for each of FY 2004 through 2009 to carry out such project in accordance with the annual schedule contained in each agreement. Requires the Secretary to make loans available to a new starts project sponsor in an amount equal to the difference between the full funding grant agreement amount for a fiscal year, and the amount appropriated in the same year, if the appropriated amount is lower than the full funding agreement amount. Requires the Federal Government to repay the principal of any such secured loan through a subsequent appropriation from the new starts program. Prohibits the assignment to a specific new starts project of any interest expense paid. Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) making a loan for a project for which a grant (except a relocation payment grant) is made; or (2) imposing an overall limitation on the amount of Government financial assistance that may be expended for alternatives analysis and preliminary engineering for a project, or a project full funding grant agreement.
Bill· HRH.R. 3611 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Metropolitan Congestion Relief Act of 2003 - Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) to provide that 80 percent of specified funds apportioned to a State (currently, 62.5 percent of the remaining 80 percent) shall be obligated in urbanized areas of the State with populations of over 200,000 and in other areas of the State, in proportion to their relative share of the State's population. Modifies: (1) the allocation formula under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program; and (2) the Minimum Guarantee regarding programmatic distribution of funds. Directs that the funds apportioned to a State for a fiscal year for the National Highway System (NHS) be allocated between urbanized areas with a population of over 200,000 in the State and other areas in the State as follows: (1) 75 percent in the ratio that the total lane miles on the NHS in such urbanized areas in the State bears to the total lane miles on the NHS in all areas in the State; and (2) 25 percent in the ratio that the total vehicle miles traveled on the NHS in such urbanized areas in the State bears to the total vehicle miles traveled on the NHS in all areas in the State. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) establish a metropolitan congestion relief program; and (2) establish and implement an operational improvement program. Increases the percentage set aside for metropolitan planning.
Bill· HRH.R. 3585 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to develop and implement a process for the expedited environmental review and approval of safety emergency highway construction or maintenance projects that correct or improve hazardous locations on a highway. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations that: (1) allow the use of the process for any project correcting or improving hazardous locations on a highway within a State where the motor vehicle accident rate is at least 50 percent higher than the statewide average for similar classes of highways, if the project only includes roadway safety improvements that have a high potential to reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents; and (2) establish criteria for approving deviations from procedures established in regulations issued by the Secretary implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Requires each Federal agency that has jurisdiction over environmental issues that may be affected by such a project and the analysis of which would be part of any environmental document required by NEPA, or that may be required by Federal law to independently conduct an environmental review or analysis for such project, determine whether to issue a permit, license, or approval of the project, or render an opinion or recommendation on the project's environmental impact, to issue regulations providing for the expedited processing of, and approval of deviations for, the project. Exempts a Federal agency approving such a deviation from the requirement to consult with the Council on Environmental Quality.
Bill· HRH.R. 3576 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2003
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to provide for duty-free treatment for certain log forwarders (as well as parts) with cranes, designed for off-highway use, which are used as motor vehicles for the transport of goods.
Bill· SS. 1900 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
United States-Africa Partnership Act of 2003 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to repeal the requirement that certain non-apparel articles that are the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country (SSA country) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) shall receive duty-free treatment only if the President determines that they are not import-sensitive in the context of imports from such countries. Extends duty-free treatment for AGOA articles from FY 2008 through FY 2015. Amends AGOA to revise requirements for textile and apparel products from SSA countries receiving duty-free and other preferential import treatment. Permits certain articles to contain fabric or yarn not originating from an SSA country or the United States (third country fabric), regardless of commercial availability in the United States. Extends through FY 2008 the current special rule for lesser developed SSA countries. Extends duty-free treatment to ethnic printed fabric of an SSA country meeting certain criteria. Amends AGOA to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to develop a comprehensive plan for public policies and incentives for the private sector to: (1) identify SSA products that can be exported to the United States; (2) analyze critical constraints to U.S.-Africa agricultural trade; and (3) develop a strategy for increasing such SSA agricultural exports. Requires the President and the Secretary to direct the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to evaluate methods for training African agricultural producers and for implementing capacity building programs to help the producers meet U.S. food safety standards. Directs the President to assign at least 20 full-time APHIS personnel to at least ten eligible SSA countries with the greatest: (1) potential to increase marketable exports of agricultural products to the United States; and (2) need for technical training and capacity building in meeting phytosanitary standards for such products. Amends AGOA to condition the President's termination of the designation of an SSA country upon Congress' not prohibiting it. Requires the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to focus funding on investments in agribusiness, electronics, textiles, and apparel. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to waive certains prohibitions against OPIC issuance of any contract of insurance or reinsurance, guaranty, or agreement to provide financing for an eligible investor's proposed investment in an SSA country even if such investment is likely to cause a significant reduction in the number of employees in the United States. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Bank to implement regulations and procedures appropriate to ensure that full consideration is given to the extent to which any credit extension is likely to have a positive effect on industries, including the textile and apparel industry and agricultural production, in SSA countries. Requires the Secretary to direct the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) to work with national African agricultural organizations to identify agricultural equipment and supply needs and implement programs that strengthen the ability of members of African agricultural organizations to fulfill these needs in conjunction with export credit guarantee programs. States the sense of Congress that USAID, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), and the African Development Bank, should continue to provide technical assistance to SSA countries in tax policy and revenue administration. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to seek negotiations with those SSA countries which the Secretary determines will benefit most from an income tax treaty with the United States to avoid double taxation. Directs the USAID Administrator to study the economy of each SSA country, identifying growth sectors and barriers impeding growth, as well as how the U.S. Government and the private sector can provide technical assistance to help dismantle such barriers and promote investment in such sectors. Directs the President to develop and implement policies to encourage, and assist with, investment in transportation, energy, agriculture, and telecommunications infrastructure in SSA countries. Directs the USAID Administrator to foster specified port-to-port and airport-to-airport relationships. Directs the President to assemble an interagency task force to facilitate the goals and objectives of this Act. Authorizes the USTR to provide grants to U.S. nongovernmental organizations and to U.S. representatives of the private sector to host AGAO forums.
Bill· HRH.R. 3551 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 2003 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for: (1) surface transportation research, development, and deployment; (2) training and education; (3) the Bureau of Transportation Statistics; (4) university transportation research; and (5) intellligent transportation systems research. Revises requirements for transportation: (1) research strategic planning to include development priorities; and (2) deployment grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to demonstrate the application of innovative technology in surface transportation infrsstructure construction and safety. Requires the Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to: (1) develop an integrated, multimodal data strategic plan and revise it triennially; and (2) establish an Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics. Directs the Secretary to arrange with the National Academy of Sciences for establishment of 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 2003. Directs the Secretary 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. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for: (1) transit research and development; (2) highway safety research and development; and (3) motor carrier research and development. Amends Federal highway law to direct the Secretary to establish an Innovative Practices and Technologies Demonstration and Deployment Program. Authorizes 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 research and investigations into the theoretical or practical problems of urban transportation; and (2) train individuals to conduct further research 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 research and technology 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 research 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.
Bill· HRH.R. 3550 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users - Reauthorizes the Federal-aid surface transportation program through FY 2009. Reauthorizes appropriations from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for: (1) specified highway (including highway safety) programs; (2) research and technology; (3) motor carrier safety; and (4) transportation research. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a National Commission on Future Revenue Sources to Support the HTF. Establishes: (1) a National Commission on the Future of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate Defense Highways; and (2) a Commission on Intelligent Transportation Systems Procurement Policy. Requires States with an urbanized area population of over 200,000 to obligate specified funds for congestion relief. Federal Public Transportation Act of 2004 - Sets forth revised provisions governing public transportation funding and the Secretary's authority to make specified grants, including grants for capital projects, planning, and transit and for commercial driver's license program improvements. Directs the Secretary to establish programs involving: (1) long-term bridge performance; (2) innovative highway safety technologies; (3) freight planning capacity building; (4) freight transportation research; (5) future strategic highway research; (6) surface transportation congestion solutions research; and (7) commercial remote sensing products and spatial information technologies. Intelligent Transportation Systems Act of 2004 - Directs the Secretary to conduct an ongoing intelligent system transportation program to research, develop, and operationally test and advance nationwide deployment of intelligent transportation systems as a component of the U.S. surface transportation systems. Incorporates Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration planning provisions. Reauthorizes the hazardous materials transportation program. Makes the guaranteed funding levels provided under this Act dependent on identifying additional budgetary resources.
Bill· HRH.R. 3543 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2003
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, with respect to abatement actions because of the release of recycled oil and liability for costs or damages resulting from such oil's release in the course of disposal or transport, to limit liability of a service station dealer with respect to any period between November 8, 1986, and the effective date of certain corrective action regulations or standards promulgated under the Solid Waste Disposal Act if the dealer had complied with all applicable laws and regulations relating to such oil's disposal.
Bill· HRH.R. 3515 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2003
Department of State Review Act - Requires establishment of a nonpartisan independent Department of State Review Panel, which shall report to Congress on its review of the following matters concerning Department of State organization and operations: (1) current Department structures and possible reorganization; (2) changes to ensure effective diplomacy and implementation of U.S. foreign policy; (3) challenges through the year 2020 and beyond; (4) efficient handling of future risks; (5) planning assumptions; (6) positioning necessary for negotiation and conflict deterrence; (7) information infrastructure and technology; (8) the process of developing scenarios; and (9) future personnel policies.
Bill· HRH.R. 3494 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2003
Highway Trust Fund Commission Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a National Commission on Future Revenue Sources to Support the Highway Trust Fund to investigate and recommend alternatives to replace the fuel tax as the principal revenue source to support the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) over at least the next 30 years. Directs the Commission to consider: (1) the ability to generate sufficient revenues to meet anticipated long term surface transportation financing needs; (2) the roles of the various levels of government and the private sector; (3) administrative costs; (4) potential taxpayer privacy concerns; (5) likely technological advances; (6) alternative transportation vehicles, including alternative-fueled vehicles; (7) the equity and economic efficiency of each option; (8) the flexibility of different options to allow various pricing alternatives to be implemented; and (9) potential compatibility issues with States' tax mechanisms.
Bill· SS. 1833 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to improve minority health and healthcare and to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare. FamilyCare Act of 2003 - Amends the Social Security Act respecting: (1) family care; (2) Medicaid coverage for all residents with poverty level incomes; and (3) funding for the territories. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide for optional coverage of legal immigrants under Medicaid and SCHIP (State children's health insurance program). Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to revise provisions respecting program operations and funding. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration project to strengthen Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for migrant workers and farmworkers. Establishes the National Commission for Expanded Access to Health Care. Amends the Public Service Health Act to improve limited English speakers' access to health care. Directs the Secretary to establish a Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Healthcare. Provides for health workforce diversity, including provisions respecting: (1) career training and support; (2) data collection; (3) cultural training; (4) Hispanic-serving health professions schools; (5) student assistance, including online degree programs; (6) the Louis Stokes public health scholars program; (7) the Patsy Mink health and gender research fellowship program; (8) the Paul David Wellstone international health fellowship program; and (9) the Edward R. Roybal Healthcare scholar program. Environmental Justice Act of 2003 - Establishes: (1) the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice which shall provide guidance to Federal agencies for identifying disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental effects on minority, low-income, and Native American populations; and (2) the Federal Environmental Justice Advisory Committee which shall advise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Working Group on areas environmental justice. Border Health Security Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary, through the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, to award grants to eligible entities to improve the health of border area residents that are established by: (1) the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission; (2) the State border health offices; and (3) the Secretary. Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to make permanent authorizations of appropriations for activities under such Act. Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private health centers (including Indian Health Service Centers, tribal governments, urban Indian organizations, tribal organizations, clinics serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Alaska Natives, and rural health clinics) for model programs that provide health disparity populations with: (1) cancer and chronic disease prevention and treatment; (2) patient navigators to manage the care of individuals within such groups; and (3) outreach services. Authorizes similar grant programs through: (1) the National Cancer Institute; and (2) the Indian Health Service. Community Health Workers Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States or local or tribal units to promote positive health behaviors for women in target populations, especially racial and ethnic minority women in medically underserved communities. Extends funding for breast and cervical cancer preventive health measures. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to qualifying health centers, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions for cancer treatment and prevention programs for underserved minority and other populations, with consideration given to such population's language and cultural context. Provides for grants and activities respecting: (1) health empowerment zone programs in health disparity communities; (2) the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative; (3) infant mortality and sudden infant death syndrome rates in minority communities; (4) fetal alcohol syndrome treatment and diagnosis; (5) diabetes prevention and treatment activities with Indian tribes, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians; (6) diabetes programs, including youth and children's programs; (7) heart disease; (8) a national stroke education campaign; and (9) obesity treatment and prevention in underserved minority populations; (10) tuberculosis control and prevention; (11) asthma; (12) sickle cell disease; (13) autoimmune disease in minority populations; (14) sexually transmitted diseases; (15) children's dental disease coverage under Medicaid or SCHIP, and dental health services in underserved areas; (16) demonstration projects to reduce violence; (17) uterine fibroid research and education; (18) disease screening; (19) community outreach; (20) immunizations; (21) chronic disease management; and (22) racial and ethnic approaches to community health. Requires HHS funded or operated programs to collect race, ethnicity, and language data to detect ethnic and racial health care disparities. Authorizes demonstration program grants for health plan, health center, and hospital data collection. Amends the Social Security Act to require the Social Security Administration to collect similar data. Directs the Secretary to fund epidemiology centers in Indian health areas lacking such centers. Extends funding for the National Center for Health Statistics. Minority Health and Genomics Act of 2003 - Establishes the Minority Health and Genomics Commission, which shall conduct a study of, and develop recommendations on, issues relating to genomic research as applied to minority groups. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) civil rights compliance offices within each HHS agency that administers a health program; and (2) an Office of Minority Health within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Establishes the Indian Health Service as an agency of the Public Health Service. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the Office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants for demonstration programs to improve minority healthcare access and quality. Directs the Secretary to: (1) designate centers of excellence at hospitals and other health systems serving large numbers of minority patients; (2) provide financial assistance to designated healthcare providers and community health centers for facility and service improvements in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii; and (3) provide grants and loan guarantees from the Health Safety Net Infrastructure Trust Fund (established by this Act) for capital financing assistance to eligible healthcare facilities.
Bill· SS. 1838 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments to States and local governments to coordinate their budget-related actions with Federal Government efforts to stimulate the economy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2003 for such payments in an amount equal to the total amount appropriated for for FY 2003 for the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003, and subsequent appropriations Acts. Requires not less than one-third of such amount to be made available to local governments. Requires the Secretary to establish a formula for determining the allocation of payments, with priority consideration to the relative unemployment rate, median income, population, and poverty rate. Permits the use of funds received by States and local governments only for: (1) ordinary and necessary maintenance and operating expenses for education, public safety, public health, social services, roads, transportation, water infrastructure, and housing; and (2) ordinary and necessary capital expenditures authorized by law.
Bill· HRH.R. 3459 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Healthcare Equality and Accountability Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to improve minority health and healthcare and to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare. FamilyCare Act of 2003 - Amends the Social Security Act respecting: (1) family care; (2) Medicaid coverage for all residents with poverty level incomes; and (3) funding for the territories. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to provide for optional coverage of legal immigrants under Medicaid and SCHIP (State children's health insurance program). Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to revise provisions respecting program operations and funding. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration project to strengthen Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for migrant workers and farmworkers. Establishes the National Commission for Expanded Access to Health Care. Amends the Public Service Health Act to improve limited English speakers' access to health care. Directs the Secretary to establish a Center for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Healthcare. Provides for health workforce diversity, including provisions respecting: (1) career training and support; (2) data collection; (3) cultural training; (4) Hispanic-serving health professions schools; (5) student assistance, including online degree programs; (6) the Louis Stokes public health scholars program; (7) the Patsy Mink health and gender research fellowship program; (8) the Paul David Wellstone international health fellowship program; and (9) the Edward R. Roybal Healthcare scholar program. Environmental Justice Act of 2003 - Establishes: (1) the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice which shall provide guidance to Federal agencies for identifying disproportionately high and adverse health and environmental effects on minority, low-income, and Native American populations; and (2) the Federal Environmental Justice Advisory Committee which shall advise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Working Group on areas environmental justice. Border Health Security Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary, through the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission, to award grants to eligible entities to improve the health of border area residents that are established by: (1) the United States members of the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission; (2) the State border health offices; and (3) the Secretary. Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to make permanent authorizations of appropriations for activities under such Act. Patient Navigator, Outreach, and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private health centers (including Indian Health Service Centers, tribal governments, urban Indian organizations, tribal organizations, clinics serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Alaska Natives, and rural health clinics) for model programs that provide health disparity populations with: (1) cancer and chronic disease prevention and treatment; (2) patient navigators to manage the care of individuals within such groups; and (3) outreach services. Authorizes similar grant programs through: (1) the National Cancer Institute; and (2) the Indian Health Service. Community Health Workers Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States or local or tribal units to promote positive health behaviors for women in target populations, especially racial and ethnic minority women in medically underserved communities. Extends funding for breast and cervical cancer preventive health measures. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to qualifying health centers, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions for cancer treatment and prevention programs for underserved minority and other populations, with consideration given to such population's language and cultural context. Provides for grants and activities respecting: (1) health empowerment zone programs in health disparity communities; (2) the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative; (3) infant mortality and sudden infant death syndrome rates in minority communities; (4) fetal alcohol syndrome treatment and diagnosis; (5) diabetes prevention and treatment activities with Indian tribes, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians; (6) diabetes programs, including youth and children's programs; (7) heart disease; (8) a national stroke education campaign; and (9) obesity treatment and prevention in underserved minority populations; (10) tuberculosis control and prevention; (11) asthma; (12) sickle cell disease; (13) autoimmune disease in minority populations; (14) sexually transmitted diseases; (15) children's dental disease coverage under Medicaid or SCHIP, and dental health services in underserved areas; (16) demonstration projects to reduce violence; (17) uterine fibroid research and education; (18) disease screening; (19) community outreach; (20) immunizations; (21) chronic disease management; and (22) racial and ethnic approaches to community health. Requires HHS funded or operated programs to collect race, ethnicity, and language data to detect ethnic and racial health care disparities. Authorizes demonstration program grants for health plan, health center, and hospital data collection. Amends the Social Security Act to require the Social Security Administration to collect similar data. Directs the Secretary to fund epidemiology centers in Indian health areas lacking such centers. Extends funding for the National Center for Health Statistics. Minority Health and Genomics Act of 2003 - Establishes the Minority Health and Genomics Commission, which shall conduct a study of, and develop recommendations on, issues relating to genomic research as applied to minority groups. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) civil rights compliance offices within each HHS agency that administers a health program; and (2) an Office of Minority Health within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Establishes the Indian Health Service as an agency of the Public Health Service. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish an Office of Minority Affairs within the Office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants for demonstration programs to improve minority healthcare access and quality. Directs the Secretary to: (1) designate centers of excellence at hospitals and other health systems serving large numbers of minority patients; (2) provide financial assistance to designated healthcare providers and community health centers for facility and service improvements in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii; and (3) provide grants and loan guarantees from the Health Safety Net Infrastructure Trust Fund (established by this Act) for capital financing assistance to eligible healthcare facilities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3456 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2003
Port Anti-Terrorism and Security Act of 2003 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit damaging or destroying a vessel or maritime facility. Provides enhanced penalties where the vessel carried high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel. Prohibits placing in U.S. waters devices or substances likely to destroy or damage ships. Prohibits piracy, privateering, theft or intentional wrecking of a vessel, or use of a dangerous weapon or explosive on a passenger vessel. Provides sanctions for failure to heave to and for obstructing boarding or providing false information during a boarding. Prohibits the knowing discharge of hazardous substances in U.S. navigable waters or the adjacent shoreline with intent to endanger human life, health, or welfare or the marine environment. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) take specified actions to coordinate port-related crime data collection; and (2) establish an outreach program to work with State and local law enforcement officials to harmonize the reporting of data on cargo theft and with local port security committees to disseminate such information to appropriate law enforcement officials. Sets civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation of Federal prohibitions against theft or embezzlement related to interstate or foreign shipments by carrier. Amends the Tariff Act to increase penalties for falsity or lack of a manifest. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to submit to Congress a plan to inspect merchandise and containers at foreign facilities.
Bill· HRH.R. 3418 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2003
Local Participation in Railroad Operations Act - Amends Federal transportation law to prohibit rail carriers from constructing, developing, or expanding railroad maintenance facilities, intermodal rail transfer facilities, railroad sidings, railroad bridges, railroad yards, or other railroad facilities unless the Surface Transportation Board determines that the carrier has: (1) provided affected local communities with notice and an opportunity to be heard with respect to such activities; and (2) conducted an assessment of negative environmental impacts and appropriate mitigation actions pursuant to State or local law. Prohibits a rail carrier from constructing an at-grade crossing over a public road without first obtaining approval from the local governmental entity with jurisdiction over the location of the proposed grade crossing. Prohibits the Board from approving the consolidation, merger, and acquisition of control of a rail carrier by one or more rail carriers unless it has received assurances that the rail carriers have addressed adequately and will continue to address adequately problems identified with respect to the quality of life and safety of persons who live, work, or are for any other reason near railroad tracks. Repeals a section of the Noise Control Act of 1972 regarding railroad noise emission standards upon the issuance of the final regulations under this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 3417 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2003
Aircraft Noise Reduction Act of 2003 - Prohibits a person from operating any civil subsonic turbojet that fails to comply with stage three noise levels to or from an airport located in any of the 20 most populated U.S. metropolitan areas.
Bill· HRH.R. 3398 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2003
Goods Movement Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish a goods movement program to improve the productivity, security, and safety of freight transportation gateways, while mitigating congestion and community impacts in the area of such gateways. Declares that the purposes of the program shall be to: (1) facilitate and support multimodal freight transportation initiatives at the State, regional, and local levels to improve freight transportation gateways and mitigate congestion in the area of such gateways; (2) provide capital funding to address infrastructure and freight operational needs at freight transportation corridors and gateways; (3) encourage adoption of new financing strategies to leverage State, local, and private investment in freight transportation gateways; and (4) support military mobilization and readiness. Qualifies for funding under this Act intermodal freight transportation projects that provide community and highway benefits by addressing economic, congestion, security, safety, and environmental issues associated with freight transportation corridors and gateways, subject to specified limitations. Sets forth project selection and grant approval criteria. Requires a recipient of Federal financial assistance for a project with an estimated total cost of $100 million or more to submit to the Secretary an annual financial plan for the project. Repeals National Corridor Planning and Development Program provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.
Bill· HRH.R. 3386 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2003
New Partnership for Haiti Act of 2003 - Directs the President to work with the Government of Haiti and international organizations to establish a comprehensive and integrated strategy to combat infectious diseases in Haiti, including HIV/AIDS, and to establish a comprehensive health infrastructure in Haiti. Authorizes the President: (1) acting through the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to provide assistance to Haiti to develop its health sector, including by supporting infrastructure and education and prevention activities; and (2) acting through the Secretary of State and the Corps of Engineers, to provide assistance to develop Haiti's basic sanitation and transportation infrastructure. Directs the President to establish a program to recruit U.S. health care professionals and engineers to rebuild the health care and physical infrastructures of Haiti. Authorizes the President to provide financial incentives to encourage such individuals to participate in the program.
Bill· HRH.R. 3374 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2003
Commandant of the Coast Guard Advice and Recommendations Act of 2003 - Authorizes the Commandant of the Coast Guard, after informing the Secretary of Homeland Security, to make such recommendations to Congress relating to the Coast Guard as the Commandant considers appropriate.
Bill· SS. 1783 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2003
Requires each Federal agency in the National Capital Region to implement a program under which all qualified Federal employees serving in or under such agency shall be offered transit pass transportation fringe benefits as required under Executive Order 13150. Authorizes the use of a passenger carrier to transport a Federal officer or employee between his or her place of employment and a mass transit facility. Requires a Federal agency that provides such service to: (1) absorb the cost; (2) when possible, use alternative fuel vehicles; and (3) coordinate such transportation with other Federal agencies.
Bill· SS. 1776 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2003
Intermodal Equipment Safety and Responsibility Act of 2003 - Subjects controllers of interchangeable intermodal equipment to commercial motor vehicle safety regulation and liability, including systematic inspection, maintenance, and repair requirements. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to conduct inspections. Prohibits a controller from retaliating against any motor carrier in response to a request for safety maintenance or repair of equipment intended for interchange, including failing to provide requested safe equipment in a timely fashion. Prohibits controller delegation of this maintenance responsibility. Directs the Secretary to issue implementing regulations as part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3367 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2003
Directs the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish and carry out a program to provide for the efficient use of geospatial information, which shall include: (1) providing such geospatial information as may be necessary to implement the critical infrastructure protection programs; (2) providing leadership in meeting the requirements of, and populating the databases used by, those responsible for planning, prevention, mitigation, assessment and response to emergencies, critical infrastructure and other DHS functions; and (3) assuring interoperability and preventing unnecessary duplication of geospatial information among all users. Includes among the Chief Information Officer's responsibilities: (1) managing DHS geospatial information needs and activities; (2) establishing standards to assure the interoperability of geospatial information pertaining to homeland security among all users of such information within DHS, other agencies, State and local government, and the private sector; (3) coordinating with and providing liaison to the Federal Geographic Data Committee and carrying out DHS's responsibilities pursuant to Office of Management and Budget Circular A-16 and Executive Order 12906; (4) providing grants to fund data creation and to execute information sharing agreements with State, local, and tribal governments; and (5) ensuring that DHS utilizes available commercial geospatial data and services by awarding contracts to entities in the private sector.
Bill· SS. 1738 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2003 - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to extend its expiration date and authorization of appropriations through FY 2004. Authorizes the President, under such Act, to: (1) correct the industrial shortfall for radiation-hardened electronics to the extent that such action does not cause the aggregate outstanding amount of all such actions to exceed $200 million; and (2) obtain information in order to perform industry studies assessing capabilities of the U.S. industrial base to support the national defense. Defines "critical infrastructure." Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the House Financial Services Committee on the extent to which contracts entered into under such Act during the one-year period after the enactment of this Act have been contracts with minority- and women-owned businesses. States as the policy of Congress that the President shall designate the Secretary of Commerce to lead an interagency team to: (1) negotiate with foreign nations the elimination of offset arrangements, industrial participation, or similar arrangements in defense procurement; (2) make recommendations for modifications of memoranda of understanding with respect to such arrangements, pending their termination; and (3) notify the United States Trade Representative if a foreign country pursues a policy of offset or similar arrangements in connection with the purchase of defense equipment or supplies.
Bill· SS. 1731 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 2003
Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate the La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor in Texas as a high priority corridor on the National Highway System.
Law· HRH.R. 3289 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 2003
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004 - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 2004 for military and foreign affairs operations concerning Iraq and Afghanistan, including for Iraqi relief and reconstruction. Makes appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for: (1) military personnel; (2) operation and maintenance (O&M); (3) overseas humanitarian, disaster, and civic aid; (4) the Iraq Freedom Fund; (5) procurement; (6) research, development, test and evaluation; (7) Defense Working Capital Funds and the National Defense Sealift Fund; (8) the Defense Health Program; (9) drug interdiction and counter-drug activities related to Afghanistan; and (10) the Intelligence Community Management Account. Allows DOD O&M funds to be used to: (1) provide logistical support to coalition forces supporting military and stability operations in Iraq; and (2) enhance the capability of the New Iraqi Army and the Afghan National Army to combat terrorism and support U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Appropriates funds to DOD to be used only for recovery and repair of damage due to natural disasters, including Hurricane Isabel. Earmarks specified O&M funds for the Commander's Emergency Response Program (urgent Iraqi humanitarian relief). Makes appropriations for: (1) the Department of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard for costs related to Hurricane Isabel damage; (2) military construction; and (3) military family housing O&M. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to use O&M funds for military construction projects in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or the Global War on Terrorism. Makes appropriations for: (1) Department of Justice for general legal activities; (2) diplomatic and consular programs and emergencies in the diplomatic consular service; (3) embassy security, construction, and maintenance; (4) contributions for international peacekeeping activities; (5) international broadcasting operations; (6) the United States Agency for International Development; (7) the Economic Support Fund; (8) international disaster and famine assistance; (9) international narcotics control and law enforcement; (10) nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs; (11) the Foreign Military Financing Program; and (12) peacekeeping operations to support the global war on terrorism. Makes appropriations for: (1) the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund for security, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Iraq; and (2) the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. Requires: (1) public disclosure of noncompetitive contracting for the reconstruction of infrastructure in Iraq; (2) monthly reports from the Coalition Provisional Authority on Iraqi oil production and revenues; and (3) quarterly reports from the President on military operations and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bill· HRH.R. 3284 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Border Economic Recovery Act for Health and the Environment - Amends the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Act to authorize appropriations. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 with respect to funding for State-furnished emergency health services for undocumented aliens in the United States-Mexico border area ("border area"). Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, with respect to the special supplemental nutrition program, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to utilize partnerships for increased coordination of food and nutrition assistance for residents of colonias in the border area. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase funding for grants and loans for water and waste facilities in communities whose residents face significant health risks. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to selected colleges in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas to provide community resource centers to serve colonias. Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to funding of: (1) tuberculosis prevention activities in the border area; and (2) interdisciplinary, community-based linkages and centers addressing unmet health care needs in such area and in the State of Florida. Authorizes funding for the Border Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (concerning youth substance abuse prevention in the border area). Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make awards of grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) conduct cancer screenings in the border area and report diagnosis information to the appropriate State cancer registry; (2) expand a diabetes study; and (3) support community-based sexually transmitted disease control programs. Provides funding for the Department of HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative, reserving specified amounts for border area activities. Provides funding for: (1) the Materials Corridor Partnership Initiative; (2) the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy; (3) environmental infrastructure projects carried out by the International Boundary and Water Commission (and requires a long-range water supply strategic plan); (4) the U.S. contribution to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation; (5) innovative water conservation programs; (6) the International Consortium for the Environment established at Brooks Air Force Base; (7) the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission for environmental infrastructure projects; and (8) grants for high-priority projects carried out through the North American Development Bank's Border Environmental Infrastructure Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 3274 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Regional Comprehensive Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Coordination Act of 2003 - Requires each regional council to convene all local governments and Federal, State, and private sector stakeholders within its region to coordinate the development of a regional emergency and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery coordination plan. Directs the Governor, in States that do not have regional councils, to work with local officials to organize a regional approach involving local elected officials and establish a homeland defense regional planning advisory committee. Sets forth minimum elements of regional plans, including: (1) disaster, response equipment and personnel, and equipment needs assessments; (2) development of a regional communication system and a secure information repository; (3) emergency coordination information; and (4) specified elements regarding support facilities, infrastructure, transportation facilities, at-risk populations, potential targets, and debris disposal. Directs that planning activities include: (1) analyzing and documenting the possibility of a disaster and the potential consequences or impacts upon life, property, and the environment; and (2) planning for utilization of geographic information systems to assess hazards and evaluate the consequences of potential emergencies or disasters. Sets forth provisions regarding approval and updating of regional plans, the security of mapping and infrastructure information, and funding apportionment. Authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to withhold, reduce, or deny an apportionment if the Secretary determines that the State or regional council has not complied, or provided adequate assurances that it will comply, with this Act's requirements.
Bill· HRH.R. 3262 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Amends Federal transportation law to expand the Federal flight deck officer program (providing for the arming of pilots of passenger aircraft) to include pilots of cargo aircraft.
Bill· HRH.R. 3281 (108th)reported
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act - Amends Federal law to protect specified disclosures by Federal employees or applicants without restriction as to time, place, form, motive, context, or prior disclosure. Creates a rebuttable presumption regarding the performance of duty by employees with authority. Prohibits implementation or enforcement of nondisclosure documents absent a statement that the restrictions imposed are consistent with and do not supersede specified laws. Authorizes the Merit Systems Protection Board or any reviewing court to determine whether there was a violation of prohibited personnel practices in actions relating to security clearances and to provide specified relief. Authorizes the President to exclude agencies with certain intelligence functions from coverage under the whistleblower statute only if the exclusion decision, as it relates to a personnel action, is made before that personnel action. Includes compensatory damages in the list of authorized corrective actions the Board may impose. Authorizes the Board to impose a combination of discliplinary action and civil penalties. Permits representation by attorneys for the Office of the Special Counsel in specified civil actions. Authorizes the Office of Special Counsel to obtain judicial review of Board decisions. Allows petitions for review to be filed in any court of appeals of competent jurisdiction during the five-year period beginning on the effective date of this Act (restricted to the Federal Circuit thereafter). Lengthens the appeal period. Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that the disclosure of independently obtained critical infrastructure information is a protected disclosure.
Bill· HRH.R. 3266 (108th)open
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2003 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a State and Regional First Responder Grant Program under which the Secretary may make grants to States and eligible regional entities on the basis of the threat to a State or region's population and critical infrastructure, as determined by the Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, to evaluate and prioritize grant applications, considering factors such as threats to the population, specific economic sectors, major communications nodes and transportation systems, specific elements of the food supply, the water and energy supplies, civic infrastructure and emergency response capabilities, and specific structures of symbolic national importance. Bars the use of grant funds to supplant State or local funds that would otherwise be available for homeland security or first responder projects. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish the Advisory Council on First Responders, which shall report to the Secretary through the head of the Office of State and Local Government Coordination; and (2) revise the Homeland Security Advisory System to require that any designation of a threat level or other warning be accompanied by a designation of the geographic regions and economic sectors to which it applies. Directs the Under Secretary for Science and Technology to conduct a study of whether there is a need to assign additional bands of frequencies of electromagnetic spectrum to assist first responders.
Bill· HRH.R. 3286 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
HELP Commission Act - Establishes the Helping Enhance the Livelihood of People (HELP) Around the Globe Commission to: (1) identify objectives and beneficiaries of U.S. development assistance; (2) evaluate cases in which assistance has been successful; (3) study ways of expanding educational opportunities and investments in people, coordinating U.S. assistance programs with those of other countries and international organizations, ensuring the safety of development assistance workers, strengthening indigenous nongovernmental organizations in grassroots development, placing conditions on governments receiving assistance, and measuring results of targeting U.S. assistance to the least developed countries; (4) assess infrastructure needs; (5) study whether additional resources are needed for tangible results; (6) compare the effectiveness of increased and open trade with development assistance; (7) analyze how political pressures affect the assistance decision making process and how assistance decisions can involve more people of the recipient countries; (8) recommend standards for graduating recipient countries from U.S. assistance; (9) analyze whether assistance should be used to achieve foreign policy objectives; and (10) analyze how to evaluate the performance of the U.S. assistance programs, including in democratization efforts.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 394 (108th)passed
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2003
Recognizes the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for 100 years of service to the people of the United States as the technical society for the concrete industry. Encourages the designation of an ACI Centennial Day.
Bill· SS. 1704 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to States to establish systems of individualized mental health treatment and family support services for children who are in custody or in danger of entering the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires eligible States to: (1) have laws or policies in effect that ensure that children receive appropriate mental health services so that parents do not have to relinquish legal custody of such children; (2) provide matching funds; (3) establish infrastructure for interagency cooperation and cross system financing; and (4) expand public health insurance programs to cover these services after the grant expires. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children and youths as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
Bill· HRH.R. 3243 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Keeping Families Together Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants to States to establish systems of individualized mental health treatment and family support services for children who are in custody or in danger of entering the custody of the state for the purpose of receiving mental health services. Requires eligible States to: (1) have laws or policies in effect that ensure that children receive appropriate mental health services so that parents do not have to relinquish legal custody of such children; (2) provide matching funds; (3) establish infrastructure for interagency cooperation and cross system financing; and (4) expand public health insurance programs to cover these services after the grant expires. Establishes a Federal interagency task force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and the role of their agencies in promoting access by children and youth to mental health services. Amends the Social Security Act to permit the use of the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver to provide mental health services to children and youths as an alternative to care in inpatient psychiatric hospitals.
Bill· HRH.R. 3240 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to designate the La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor in Texas as a high priority corridor on the National Highway System.
Bill· HRH.R. 3235 (108th)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2003
Responsible and Secure ID Act - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to withhold 25 percent of the apportionment of specified Federal highway funds to any State that does not have in effect laws that require: (1) as a condition of issuing or renewing a driver's license, proof that the individual is a citizen or national of, or an alien lawfully present in, the United States; and (2) that a driver's license issued to an alien must expire not later than the last day of the period during which the alien is authorized to be present in the United States, unless the alien is lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence or the alien's lawful presence is not subject to termination on a date certain. Directs the Secretary to waive application of this Act to a State if the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies that the State's noncompliance does not pose a security risk to the United States. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the period of availability of withheld funds; (2) the apportionment of withheld funds after compliance; and (3) the availability of lapsed funds to the Secretary of Homeland Security for programs and activities to secure the borders of the United States and to enhance immigration enforcement activities.
Law· SS. 1680 (108th)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2003
Defense Production Reauthorization Act of 2003 - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to: (1) extend its expiration date and authorization of appropriations through FY 2008; (2) include in its declaration of policy that its authorities should be used to ensure the national security of the United States and its infrastructure against hostile attack and against other man-caused and natural hazards; (3) make permanent its provisions indemnifying persons for any act resulting from compliance with a rule, regulation, or order issued pursuant to such Act; and (4) define ''critical infrastructure" as systems and assets, whether physical or cyber-based, so vital to the United States that their degradation or destruction would have a debilitating impact on national security, national economic security, and/or national public health or safety. Authorizes the President to take action to correct an industrial resource shortfall for radiation-hardened electronics to the extent that such action does not cause the aggregate outstanding amount of all such actions for industrial resource shortfalls to exceed $200 million. Requires a report from the Secretary of Defense to specified congressional committees on the state of the domestic industrial base for, and Department of Defense requirements, intentions, and plans for, radiation-hardened electronics. Authorizes the President: (1) in allocating resources or requiring priority in the performance of contracts to promote the national defense, to directly assist a private sector critical infrastructure owner or operator in furtherance of critical infrastructure protection or restoration; and (2) to obtain information in order to perform industry studies assessing capabilities of the U.S.industrial base to support the national defense. .