Electronic government information Legislation - Federal Government

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the provision of scientifically sound information and support services to patients receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally and postnatally diagnosed conditions. 4/21/2008--Reported to Senate amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act - (Sec. 3) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through either the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to authorize and oversee certain activities relating to Down syndrome or other prenatally or postnatally diagnosed conditions. Includes among such activities the awarding of grants, contracts or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to: (1) collect,[...]

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To amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to reform the ethics process, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Accountability and Transparency in Ethics Act - Establishes an independent Investigations Commission within the legislative branch. Requires annual ethics training for Members and employees of the House of Representatives and for registered lobbyists. Amends Rule XXV (Limitations on Outside Earned Income and Acceptance of Gifts) of the Rules of the House to require advance authorization by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of any privately-funded trip by any Member, officer, or employee of the House. Amends such Rule and Rule XXXV (Gifts) of the Standing Rules of the Senate with respect to: (1) the market value of a flight on an airplane not licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate for compensation or hire; (2) a ban on gifts worth less than $50; and (3) disbursements for a national party convention [...]

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To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to enforce restrictions on employment in the United States of unauthorized aliens through the use of improved Social Security cards and an Employment Eligibility Database, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Illegal Immigration Enforcement and Social Security Protection Act of 2007 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require inclusion of encrypted machine-readable electronic identification strips on Social Security cards. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to: (1) develop the strip in a manner that enables employers to access the Employment Eligibility Database (EED) established by this Act; and (2) transmit to the Secretary of Homeland Security necessary information from an individual's application for a Social Security card or number for inclusion in the EED. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain the EED. Requires the EED to [...]

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To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at events that provide a venue for the sale, offer for sale, transfer, or exchange of firearms, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to provide for regulation of firearms transfers at special firearms events (events at which 75 or more firearms are offered or exhibited for sale, exchange, or transfer if one or more of the firearms has been shipped or transported in, or otherwise affects, interstate or foreign commerce, excluding an offer or exhibit of firearms: (1) by an individual, from that individual's personal collection, at that individual's private residence, if the individual is not required to be licensed; and (2) at events conducted and attended by permanent or annual dues paying members of private, not-for-profit organizations whose primary purpose is owning and maintaining real property for hunting activities).[...]

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A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by establishing minimum nurse staffing ratios at certain Medicare providers, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2007 - Amends part D (Miscellaneous) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require each participating hospital to adopt and implement a staffing system that ensures a number of registered nurses on each shift and in each unit of the hospital to ensure appropriate staffing levels for patient care; (2) provide for the public reporting of certain staffing information, including a daily posting for each shift in the hospital of the current number of licensed and unlicensed nursing staff directly responsible for patient care; (3) prescribe recordkeeping, data collection, and evaluation requirements for participating hospitals; (4) specify civil monetary penalties for violations of such requirements; and [...]

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A bill to establish a United States Boxing Commission to administer the Act, and for other purposes. 3/1/2007--Reported to Senate without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2007 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 to: (1) authorize a tribal organization to establish a boxing commission to regulate professional boxing matches held on Indian land; and (2) provide that its provisions shall apply to professional boxing matches held on tribal lands to the same extent and in the same way as they apply to such matches held in any state. Requires health and safety standards and licensing requirements for matches to be at least as restrictive as: (1) standards and requirements in the state in which the Indian land is located; or (2) the guidelines established [...]

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To amend the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish a program to provide regulatory compliance assistance to small business concerns, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. National Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 2007 - 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 [...]

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To reform Federal procedures relating to intercountry adoption. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Intercountry Adoption Reform Act of 2007 or the ICARE Act - Establishes an Office of Intercountry Adoptions within the Department of State to be headed by the Ambassador at Large for Intercountry Adoptions. Transfers to the Office all functions with respect to intercountry adoptions currently performed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise: (1) conditions for automatic citizenship for children born outside the United States, including for adopted children; and (2) requirements concerning the history of parents' physical presence in the United States or its possessions. Defines the term "full and final adoption." Prescribes procedural requirements for the adoption of foreign-born children by U.S. citizens.Establishes a nonimmigrant W-visa for an adoptable child coming into the United States for adoption by [...]

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To enable America's schools to use their computer hardware to increase student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century workplace, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Education for the 21st Century (E-21) Act - Establishes assistance programs for: (1) middle school computer literacy; and (2) high-quality educational software for all schools.Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states (especially those with a priority on training middle school teachers) that integrate into the state curriculum the goal of making all middle school graduates in the state technologically literate. Requires use of such grants for teacher training in technology, emphasizing programs preparing teachers in elementary, middle, and secondary schools to become technology leaders and then serve as experts and train other teachers. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants for students at secondary schools and institutions of higher education [...]

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To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program. 9/17/2008--Passed House without amendment.    (There are 2 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization of 2008 - Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to reauthorize the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program through FY2015 and to revise program requirements to: (1) provide for competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist in locating missing patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; (2) expand such program to include locating other missing elderly individuals; (3) require the Attorney General to solicit grants for program applications in the Federal Register and on the Department of Justice (DOJ) website;[...]

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To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish a program of fees relating to generic new animal drugs. 7/30/2008--Reported to House amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Animal Generic Drug User Fee Act of 2008 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess and collect fees for an abbreviated application for a generic new animal drug, including application fees, product fees, and sponsor fees.Sets forth total revenue to be collected for each type of fee for FY2009-FY2013.Provides for fee adjustments. Requires the Secretary to establish such fees each fiscal year.Provides for fee waivers where the Secretary finds that the generic new animal drug is intended solely to provide for a minor use or minor species indication.Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2013.Requires the Secretary to report to Congress and make publicly available information [...]

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To require certain standards and enforcement provisions to prevent child abuse and neglect in residential programs, and for other purposes. 6/25/2008--Passed House without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2008 - (Sec. 3) Directs the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to require each location of a covered program to meet specified minimum standards if individually or together with other locations it has an effect on interstate commerce. Defines "covered program" as one operated by a public or private entity that with respect to one or more children unrelated to the program owner or operator: (1) provides a residential environment; and (2) operates with a focus on serving [...]

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An original bill making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. 6/23/2008--Reported to Senate without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2009 - Title I: Department of Homeland Security Departmental Management and Operations - Makes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for FY2009 for the Offices of the Secretary, the Under Secretary for Management, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Information Officer, the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding, and the Inspector General.Title II: Security, Enforcement, and Investigations - Makes appropriations for FY2009 for: (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including [...]

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To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to extend expiring provisions under the Medicare Program, to improve beneficiary access to preventive and mental health services, to enhance low-income benefit programs, and to maintain access to care in rural areas, including pharmacy access, and for other purposes. 7/15/2008--Public Law.    (There are 3 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on June 24, 2008. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 - Title I: Medicare - Subtitle A: Beneficiary Improvements - Part 1: Prevention, Mental Health, and Marketing - (Sec. 101) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, to cover additional preventive services. Includes body mass index and end-of-life planning among initial [...]

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To establish a scholarship program to encourage outstanding graduate students in mission-critical fields to pursue a career in the Federal Government. 5/22/2008--Introduced. Roosevelt Scholars Act of 2008 - Establishes the Theodore Roosevelt Scholarship Foundation as an independent establishment in the executive branch. Directs the Foundation to award scholarships in an annual nationwide competition to individuals (to be known as "Roosevelt Scholars") who are: (1) enrolled in or seeking admission to accredited full-time graduate studies that prepare such individuals for occupations that are critical to the missions of federal agencies; and (2) nominated by persons that have direct knowledge of their academic or work experience. Sets the maximum scholarship amount at $60,000 for each of up to five academic years, covering tuition, room and board, books, and fees. Requires Roosevelt Scholars to: (1) agree to serve in the federal government for [...]

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To provide for an evaluation factor for defense contractors employing or subcontracting with recipients of certain special immigrant visas. 5/13/2008--Introduced. Defines, for this Act: (1) "covered contract" as a Department of Defense (DOD) procurement contract in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom regarding which proficiency in Arabic or knowledge of Iraq is useful; and (2) "covered special immigrant visa" as a visa issued under specified provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (relating to special immigrant status for certain Iraqis) or the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (relating to special immigrant status for persons serving as translators with the U.S. Armed Forces). Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, in evaluating any bid or proposal for a covered contract, to use as an evaluation factor whether an entity intends to carry out the contract using an employee or individual subcontractor [...]

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A bill to improve food safety through mandatory meat, meat product, poultry, and poultry product recall authority, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to improve communication about recalls with schools participating in the school lunch and breakfast programs, and for other purposes. 5/1/2008--Introduced. Safe School Lunch Act of 2008 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to order an immediate halt to the distribution of meat, meat food products, poultry, or poultry products upon finding that they may cause a serious, adverse health consequence or be adulterated. Gives persons subject to such an order the opportunity for an informal hearing, within 10 days after the order's issuance, on the actions required by the order and on whether it should be amended to require a recall of the targeted items. Requires the Secretary to order the recall of such items upon affirming that the order [...]

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