Top Legislation - View All

Latest Action: 09/11/2007 - For Further Action See Title III of H.R. 2954.

Bill Text
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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Latest Action: 09/14/2007 - Signed by President.

Bill Text
A bill to provide greater transparency in the legislative process. 9/14/2007--Public Law.    (There are 3 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on July 31, 2007. The summary of that version is repeated here.)Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 - Title I: Closing the Revolving Door - (Sec. 101) Amends the federal criminal code to extend from one to two years the ban on lobbying contacts by former: (1) very senior executive personnel with any Member, officer, or employee of the entity in which such person served before his or her tenure terminated; and (2) Senators with any Member, officer or employee of either chamber, or employee of any other legislative office.Continues the one-year ban on lobbying contacts by former: (1) Members of the House of Representatives with any Member, officer, or employee of either chamber, or employee of any other legislative office; (2) [...]

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Latest Action: 01/09/2007 - Star Print ordered on the bill.

Bill Text
A bill to expand access to preventive health care services that help reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Prevention First Act - Title X Family Planning Services Act of 2007 - Authorizes appropriations for family planning services grants and contracts under the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 2007 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and PHSA to prohibit a group health plan and a health insurance issuer providing group coverage from excluding or restricting benefits in any way for prescription contraceptive drugs, devices, and outpatient services if the plan or coverage provides benefits for other outpatient prescription drugs, devices, or outpatient services. Applies such prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market. Emergency Contraception Education Act of 2007 - Directs [...]

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Latest Action: 02/02/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Bill Text
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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Latest Action: 05/22/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Bill Text
A bill to promote simplification and fairness in the administration and collection of sales and use taxes. 5/22/2007--Introduced. Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act - Grants the consent of Congress to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (Agreement), the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Agreement provides sufficient simplification and uniformity to warrant federal authorizations to states that are parties to it (member states) to require remote sellers (sellers without a physical presence in the taxing state) to collect and remit the sales and use taxes of such states and their local taxing jurisdictions.Authorizes each member state, after 10 states (comprising at least 20% of all states imposing a sales tax) have petitioned for and become member states, to require all sellers, except those sellers with gross remote taxable sales nationwide [...]

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Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Bill Text
A bill to improve the tracking of stolen firearms and firearms used in a crime, to allow more frequent inspections of gun dealers to ensure compliance with Federal gun law, to enhance the penalties for gun trafficking, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Anti-Gun Trafficking Penalties Enhancement Act of 2007 - Amends the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 to repeal restrictions on disclosure of the content of the Firearms Trace System database. Directs the Attorney General to provide state and local governments or law enforcement agencies with information from such database upon receipt of a written request.Requires federal law enforcement agencies investigating a crime to provide information about firearms stolen or used in such crime to the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives (BAFTE). Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require state and local law enforcement [...]

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Latest Action: 03/01/2007 - Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Inouye without amendment. With written report No. 110-28.

Bill Text
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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Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the unlawful acquisition and use of confidential customer proprietary network information, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Protecting Consumer Phone Records Act - Makes it unlawful to: (1) acquire or use customer proprietary network information without written consent; (2) represent that another person has consented in order to acquire such information; (3) obtain unauthorized access to certain systems or records in order to acquire such information; (4) sell or offer for sale such information; or (5) request that another person unlawfully obtain such information. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for a civil forfeiture penalty for violation of this Act. Imposes on IP-enabled voice service providers a duty to protect the confidentiality of specified proprietary information. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to require each telecommunications carrier [...]

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Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.

Bill Text
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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Latest Action: 02/02/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

Bill Text
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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Latest Legislation - View All

Latest Action: 09/26/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9709-9710)

Bill Text
A bill to improve the calculation of, the reporting of, and the accountability for, secondary school graduation rates. 9/26/2008--Introduced. Every Student Counts Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require, beginning by the 2011-2012 school year, states, local educational agencies (LEAs), and secondary schools annually to include on the report cards required under title I of the Act: (1) their four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate; (2) their cumulative graduation rate; (3) the number of students graduating in more than four years with a regular secondary school diploma; (4) the number of students who have been removed from the adjusted cohort; (5) the percentage of students from an adjusted cohort who remain in secondary school after four years; and (6) the percentage of secondary school students in each grade, except the graduating grade, prepared to advance to the next grade. Requires such data, except for data on students who remain [...]

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Latest Action: 09/25/2008 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Bill Text
A bill to encourage, enhance, and integrate Silver Alert plans throughout the United States, to authorize grants for the assistance of organizations to find missing adults, and for other purposes. 9/25/2008--Introduced. National Silver Alert Act - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a national Silver Alert communications network within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to assist regional and local search efforts for missing seniors; (2) assign a DOJ officer to serve as the Silver Alert Coordinator to coordinate the network with states; and (3) award grants to states for support of Silver Alert plans and the network. Defines "missing senior" as any individual who is reported as missing to or by a law enforcement agency and who meets state requirements for designation as a missing senior. Directs the Coordinator to: (1) establish minimum standards for the issuance and dissemination of alerts issued through the network; and (2) make available to states,[...]

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Latest Action: 09/27/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E2043)

Bill Text
To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools and secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and to support programs in international education that supplement core curricula in such schools, and for other purposes. 9/25/2008--Introduced. U.S. and the World Education Act - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to require the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education to: (1) assist the Secretary of Education in administering this Act's grant program; and (2) develop an international education research repository and make it available to states and local educational agencies (LEAs). Directs the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, to award competitive grants to LEAs, or partnerships between LEAs and private organizations or institutions of higher education that provide their LEA partners with funding, to promote international education in elementary and secondary [...]

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Latest Action: 09/24/2008 - Committee on Foreign Relations. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Dodd. With written report No. 110-496.

Bill Text
An original bill to authorize appropriations under the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for security assistance for fiscal years 2009 and 2010, and for other purposes.
Latest Action: 09/18/2008 - The House Committee on Appropriations reported an original measure, H. Rept. 110-862, by Mr. Price (NC).

Bill Text
Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. 9/18/2008--Reported to House without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary) Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2009 - Title I: Departmental Management and Operations - Makes appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for FY2009 for executive management, analysis and operations, and 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 for automation modernization, customs and border protection fencing, infrastructure, and technology (with obligations subject to the DHS Secretary [...]

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