Government corporations Legislation - Federal Government

Proposing an amendment the Constitution of the United States relative to abolishing personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibiting the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens. 2/7/2007--Introduced. Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the U.S. government from engaging in any business, professional, commercial, financial, or industrial enterprise except as specified in the Constitution. Prohibits the constitution or laws of any state, or the laws of the United States, from being subject to the terms of any foreign or domestic agreement which would abrogate this amendment.Requires any activities of the U.S. government which violate the intent and purposes of this amendment to be liquidated and the properties and facilities affected to be sold within three years from the date of ratification of this amendment. Repeals the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution three years after ratification of this amendment and thereafter [...]

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A bill to provide increased rail transportation security. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Rail Security Act of 2007 - Directs the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to conduct a vulnerability assessment of freight and passenger rail transportation, and develop specific prioritized recommendations for improving rail security. Directs the Assistant Secretary to conduct a study on requiring security screening for passengers, baggage, and cargo on passenger trains. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to Amtrak for fire and life-safety improvements and infrastructure upgrades to tunnels on the Northeast Corridor. Directs Amtrak to submit to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) a plan to address the needs of families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary to award grants to Amtrak for certain system-wide Amtrak, freight,[...]

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A bill to provide improved rail and surface transportation security. 2/15/2007--Reported to Senate amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Surface Transportation and Rail Security Act of 2007 - Title I: Improved Rail Security - (Sec. 101) Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and other appropriate agencies, to establish a task force to complete a risk assessment of freight and passenger rail transportation. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, based on the assessment, to develop specific prioritized recommendations for improving rail security. Requires the development of plans for: (1) the federal government to provide adequate security support for freight and intercity passenger railroads at high threat levels of alert; (2) coordinating existing and planned rail security initiatives undertaken [...]

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A bill to reauthorize Amtrak, and for other purposes. 7/22/2008--Passed House amended.    (There are 3 other summaries) Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 - Title I: Authorizations - (Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2013 for: (1) Amtrak capital and operating grants, including capital grants to states, to the Amtrak Office of the Inspector General, and for accessibility improvements and barrier removal for individuals with disabilities; (2) Amtrak repayment of long-term debt and capital leases; and (3) the rail cooperative research program. Authorizes appropriations for FY2009 for grants to Amtrak and states participating in the Next Generation Corridor Train Equipment Pool Committee. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to withhold up to one-half of 1% of certain funds for the costs of project management oversight of capital projects carried out by Amtrak. (Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations [...]

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To provide for the security and safety of rail and rail transit transportation systems, and for other purposes. 1/17/2007--Introduced. Rail Transit Security and Safety Act of 2007 - Directs the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security to complete a vulnerability assessment of freight and passenger rail transportation, and develop specific prioritized recommendations for improving rail security. Directs the Under Secretary to establish the position of Federal Rail Security Manager. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants to Amtrak for certain fire and life-safety improvements and infrastructure upgrades to tunnels on the Northeast Corridor. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to award grants directly to public transportation agencies for allowable capital and operational security improvements based on the prioritized rail security recommendations. Sets forth certain whistleblower protections for rail employees [...]

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To ensure national security while promoting foreign investment and the creation and maintenance of jobs, to reform the process by which such investments are examined for any effect they may have on national security, to establish the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and for other purposes. 7/26/2007--Public Law.    (There are 4 other summaries) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on June 29, 2007. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to revise provisions concerning presidential authority to review certain mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers to direct the President, acting through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and upon receiving written notification from any parties to a possible merger, acquisition or takeover proposed or pending after [...]

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To amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to establish industrial bank holding company regulation, and for other purposes. 5/21/2007--Passed House amended.    (There are 2 other summaries) Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to apply the bank share or asset acquisition requirements of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to any company that is or would become an industrial bank holding company. States that an application filed to acquire control of an industrial bank shall be treated as an application for a deposit facility. Subjects an industrial bank to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) requirements regarding registration, reporting, and bank examinations. Authorizes the FDIC to accept reports that an industrial bank holding company or its subsidiary has provided to another federal or state supervisor or to any appropriate self-regulatory organization. Prohibits [...]

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A bill to amend the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to establish a governmentwide policy requiring competition in certain executive agency procurements, and for other purposes. 2/28/2007--Introduced. Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require an executive agency, when procuring Federal Prison Industries (FPI) products to: (1) use competitive procedures; or (2) make an individual purchase under a multiple award contract in accordance with applicable competition requirements. Requires an agency to: (1) timely notify FPI of procurements; and (2) consider a timely offer from FPI in the same manner as other offers. Requires agency heads to ensure that: (1) agencies do not purchase a FPI product or service unless an agency's contracting officer determines that the product or service is comparable to products or services available from the private sector that best meet the agencies' needs; and (2) FPI performs its contractual obligations to agencies [...]

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A bill to amend title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in order to authorize the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities to recruit, select, train, and support Expanded Learning and After-School Fellows that will strengthen expanded learning initiatives, 21st century community learning center programs, and after-school programs, and for other purposes. 3/6/2007--Introduced. Teaching Fellows for Expanded Learning and After-School Act of 2007 or the T-FELAS Act - Amends title IV (21st Century Schools) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to create an Expanded Learning and After-School Fellows program under which the Secretary of Education shall award competitive three-year grants to partnerships between local educational agencies and community organizations, institutions of higher education, community learning centers or other entities to recruit, select, train, and support exemplary recent college graduates [...]

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A bill to require a 50-hour workweek for Federal prison inmates, to reform inmate work programs, and for other purposes. 11/19/2008--Introduced. Prisoner Opportunity, Work, and Education Requirement Act or the POWER Act - Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require federal prison inmates to: (1) work for not less than 50 hours weekly; and (2) engage in job training and educational and life skills preparation study. Requires Federal Prison Industries (a government corporation) to employ inmates in manufacturing activities by subcontracting with private sector contractors. Requires inmate wages earned in a 50-hour work week program to be used for the costs of incarceration, victim restitution, inmate expenses, and related state and local prisoner programs.Repeals certain provisions restricting the funding of, and purchase of products from, Federal Prison Industries and prohibiting a public private competition for work performed by employees of the Bureau of [...]

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To amend title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in order to authorize the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities to recruit, select, train, and support Expanded Learning and After-School Fellows that will strengthen expanded learning initiatives, 21st century community learning center programs, and after-school programs, and for other purposes. 9/26/2008--Introduced. Teaching Fellows for Expanded Learning and After-School Act of 2008 or the T-FELAS Act - Amends title IV (21st Century Schools) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to create an Expanded Learning and After-School Fellows program under which the Secretary of Education shall award competitive three-year grants to partnerships between local educational agencies and community organizations, institutions of higher education, community learning centers or other entities to recruit, select, train, and support exemplary recent college graduates [...]

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Making supplemental appropriations for job creation and preservation, infrastructure investment, and economic and energy assistance for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes. 9/26/2008--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.) Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008 - Title I: Infrastructure Investments - Chapter I: Transportation - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2009 for infrastructure investments to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration, grants-in-aid for airports; (2) Federal Highway Administration, highway infrastructure investment; (3) Federal Railroad Administration, capital and debt service grants to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK); (4) Federal Transit Administration,[...]

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To promote development of a 21st century energy system to increase United States competitiveness in the world energy technology marketplace, and for other purposes. 9/23/2008--Introduced. 21st Century Energy Technology Deployment Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy, after consultation with the Energy Technology Advisory Council of the 21st Century Energy Deployment Corporation (both established by this Act), to develop and publish near-, medium-, and long-term goals for the deployment of clean energy technologies through the Corporation to establish or promote specified energy generation, transmission, and use and energy technology manufacturing capacities.Requires the Advisory Council to publish 5- and 10-year performance targets and to establish initial targets until those are published.Allows the Corporation to purchase, and make commitments to purchase, debt instruments associated with the deployment of clean energy technologies. Describes lending authorities [...]

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A bill to amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish Encore Service Programs, Encore Fellowship Programs, and Silver Scholarship Programs, and for other purposes. 9/11/2008--Introduced. Encore Service Act of 2008 - Amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to make eligible for assistance under the National Service Trust program Encore Service programs that engage individuals age 50 or older in national service addressing specific community needs. Gives Encore Service participants age 50 or older five options for their term of service, ranging from full-time to minimum time. Makes such participants eligible for national service educational awards, which they may transfer to others for use within 20 years. Expresses the sense of Congress that, by 2018, 25% of National Service Trust program participants should be age 50 or older. Requires the Corporation for National and Community Service to identify and address the barriers [...]

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A bill to increase the availability of domestically manufactured passenger cars for intercity passenger rail service, and for other purposes. 7/29/2008--Introduced. Creating American Rolling Stock Act of 2008 or the Train CARS Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to award grants to eligible applicants to purchase or rehabilitate domestically manufactured rolling stock for intercity passenger rail transportation. Prohibits Secretary approval of a grant project without a state rail plan. Sets forth certain Buy American requirements. Directs Amtrak to establish a Next Generation Corridor Equipment Pool Committee. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create an Intercity Passenger Rail Rolling Stock Account. Allows a tax credit to a holder of a qualified Amtrak bond issued for projects to purchase or rehabilitate domestically manufactured rolling stock for intercity passenger rail transportation (rail infrastructure investment). Requires [...]

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To waive sovereign immunity and extend the otherwise applicable statute of limitations for certain actions under the USEC Privatization Act. 7/24/2008--Introduced. Amends the USEC Privatization Act with respect to certain actions in U.S. district court related to accrued, vested pension benefits of employees of an operating contractor of the United States Enrichment Corporation (USE