H. R. 2673—341
Provided, That prior to the transfer of any such recovery
to an appropriations account, the Secretary shall notify
the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations of
the amount and reasons for such transfer: Provided further,
That for purposes of this section, the term ‘‘improper pay-
ments’’, has the same meaning as that provided in section
2(d)(2) of Public Law 107–300.
SEC. 519. The Secretary of Transportation is authorized to
transfer the unexpended balances available for the bonding assist-
ance program from ‘‘Office of the Secretary, Salaries and expenses’’
to ‘‘Minority Business Outreach’’.
SEC. 520. None of the funds made available by this Act shall
be available for any activity or for paying the salary of any Govern-
ment employee where funding an activity or paying a salary to
a Government employee would result in a decision, determination,
rule, regulation, or policy that would prohibit the enforcement of
section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
SEC. 521. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation—
(1) shall, without regard to any fiscal year limitation, main-
tain in full force and effect the restrictions imposed under
Federal Aviation Administration Notices to Airmen FDC 3/
2122, FDC 3/2123, and FDC 2/0199; and
(2) may not grant any waivers or exemptions from such
restrictions, except—
(A) as authorized by air traffic control for operational
or safety purposes;
(B) with respect to an event, stadium, or other venue—
(i) for operational purposes;
(ii) for the transport of team members, officials
of the governing body, and immediate family members
and guests of such team members and officials to and
from such event, stadium, or venue;
(iii) in the case of a sporting event, for the trans-
port of equipment or parts to and from such sporting
event;
(iv) to permit a broadcast rights holder to provide
broadcast coverage of such event, stadium, or venue;
and
(v) for safety and security purposes related to such
event, stadium, or venue; and
(C) to allow the operation of an aircraft in restricted
airspace to the extent necessary to arrive at or depart
from an airport using standard air traffic control proce-
dures.
(b) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of the funds appro-
priated or otherwise made available by title I of this Act may
be obligated or expended to terminate or limit the restrictions
imposed under the Federal Aviation Administration Notices to Air-
men referred to in subsection (a), or to grant waivers of, or exemp-
tions from, such restrictions except as provided under subsection
(a)(2).
(c) BROADCAST CONTRACTS
NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in this
section shall be construed to affect contractual rights pertaining
to any broadcasting agreement.
SEC. 522. No part of any appropriation contained in this Act
shall be available to pay the salary for any person filling a position,
other than a temporary position, formerly held by an employee
H. R. 2673—342
who has left to enter the Armed Forces of the United States and
has satisfactorily completed his period of active military or naval
service, and has within 90 days after his release from such service
or from hospitalization continuing after discharge for a period of
not more than 1 year, made application for restoration to his former
position and has been certified by the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment as still qualified to perform the duties of his former position
and has not been restored thereto.
SEC. 523. No funds appropriated pursuant to this Act may
be expended by an entity unless the entity agrees that in expending
the assistance the entity will comply with sections 2 through 4
of the Act of March 3, 1933 (41 U.S.C. 10a–10c, popularly known
as the ‘‘Buy America Act’’).
SEC. 524. (a) PURCHASE OF AMERICAN-MADE EQUIPMENT AND
PRODUCTS.—Hereafter, in the case of any equipment or products
that may be authorized to be purchased with financial assistance
provided under this Act, it is the sense of the Congress that entities
receiving such assistance should, in expending the assistance, pur-
chase only American-made equipment and products.
(b) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In providing finan-
cial assistance under this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
provide to each recipient of the assistance a notice describing the
statement made in subsection (a) by the Congress.
SEC. 525. Hereafter, if it has been finally determined by a
court or Federal agency that any person intentionally affixed a
label bearing a ‘‘Made in America’’ inscription, or any inscription
with the same meaning, to any product sold in or shipped to
the United States that is not made in the United States, such
person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or subcontract
made with funds provided pursuant to this Act, pursuant to the
debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures described in
sections 9.400 through 9.409 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.
SEC. 526. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law,
not to exceed 50 percent of unobligated balances remaining available
at the end of fiscal year 2004 from appropriations made available
for salaries and expenses for fiscal year 2004 in this Act, shall
remain available through September 30, 2005, for each such account
for the purposes authorized: Provided, That a request shall be
submitted to the Committees on Appropriations for approval prior
to the expenditure of such funds: Provided further, That these
requests shall be made in compliance with reprogramming guide-
lines.
SEC. 527. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used by the Executive Office of the President to request from
the Federal Bureau of Investigation any official background inves-
tigation report on any individual, except when—
(1) such individual has given his or her express written
consent for such request not more than 6 months prior to
the date of such request and during the same presidential
administration; or
(2) such request is required due to extraordinary cir-
cumstances involving national security.
SEC. 528. The cost accounting standards promulgated under
section 26 of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (Public
Law 93–400; 41 U.S.C. 422) shall not apply with respect to a
contract under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program
established under chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code.
H. R. 2673—343
SEC. 529. For the purpose of resolving litigation and imple-
menting any settlement agreements regarding the nonforeign area
cost-of-living allowance program, the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment may accept and utilize (without regard to any restriction
on unanticipated travel expenses imposed in an Appropriations
Act) funds made available to the Office pursuant to court approval.
SEC. 530. No funds appropriated or otherwise made available
under this Act shall be made available to any person or entity
that has been convicted of violating the Buy American Act (41
U.S.C. 10a–10c).
SEC. 531. No funds appropriated by this Act shall be available
to pay for an abortion, or the administrative expenses in connection
with any health plan under the Federal employees health benefits
program which provides any benefits or coverage for abortions.
SEC. 532. The provision of section 531 shall not apply where
the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried
to term, or the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest.
SEC. 533. None of the funds provided in this Act, provided
by previous appropriations Acts to the agencies or entities funded
in this Act that remain available for obligation or expenditure
in fiscal year 2004, or provided from any accounts in the Treasury
derived by the collection of fees and available to the agencies
funded by this Act, shall be available for obligation or expenditure
through a reprogramming of funds that—
(1) creates a new program;
(2) eliminates a program, project, or activity;
(3) increases funds for any program, project, or activity
for which funds have been denied or restricted by the Congress;
(4) proposes to use funds directed for a specific activity
by either the House or Senate Committees on Appropriations
for a different purpose;
(5) augments existing programs, projects, or activities in
excess of $5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is greater; or
(6) reduces existing programs, projects, or activities by
$5,000,000 or 10 percent, whichever is greater,
unless prior approval is received from the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations.
SEC. 534. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to require a State or local government to post a traffic
control device or variable message sign, or any other type of traffic
warning sign, in a language other than English, except with respect
to the names of cities, streets, places, events, or signs related
to an international border.
SEC. 535. EXEMPTION FROM LIMITATIONS ON PROCUREMENT OF
FOREIGN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THAT IS A COMMERCIAL ITEM.
(a) EXEMPTION.—In order to promote Government access to commer-
cial information technology, the restriction on purchasing non-
domestic articles, materials, and supplies set forth in the Buy
American Act (41 U.S.C. 10a et seq.), shall not apply to the acquisi-
tion by the Federal Government of information technology (as
defined in section 11101 of title 40, United States Code, that is
a commercial item (as defined in section 4(12) of the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(12)).
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 11101(6) of title 40, United States
Code, is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after ‘‘storage,’’ the
following: ‘‘analysis, evaluation,’’; and
H. R. 2673—344
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘ancillary equipment,’’
and inserting ‘‘ancillary equipment (including imaging periph-
erals, input, output, and storage devices necessary for security
and surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be con-
trolled by the central processing unit of a computer,’’.
SEC. 536. It is the sense of the House of Representatives that
empowerment zones within cities should have the necessary flexi-
bility to expand to include relevant communities so that empower-
ment zone benefits are equitably distributed.
SEC. 537. It is the sense of the House of Representatives that
all census tracts contained in an empowerment zone, either fully
or partially, should be equitably accorded the same benefits.
SEC. 538. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce—
(1) the proposed rule relating to the determination that
real estate brokerage is an activity that is financial in nature
or incidental to a financial activity published in the Federal
Register on January 3, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 307 et seq.); or
(2) the revision proposed in such rule to section 1501.2
of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations.
SEC. 539. It is the sense of Congress that, after proper docu-
mentation, justification, and review, the Department of Transpor-
tation should consider programs to reimburse general aviation
ground support services at Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport, and airports located within fifteen miles of Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport, for their financial losses due to
Government actions after the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001.
SEC. 540. It is the sense of the House of Representatives that
public private partnerships (PPPs) could help eliminate some of
the cost drivers behind complex, capital-intensive highway and
transit projects. The House of Representatives encourages the Sec-
retary of Transportation to apply available funds to select projects
that are in the development phase, eligible under title 23 and
title 49, United States Code, except 23 U.S.C. 133(b)(8), and that
employ a PPP strategy.
SEC. 541. Section 414(h) of title 39, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘2003’’ and inserting ‘‘2005’’.
SEC. 542. None of the funds in title I of this Act may be
used to adopt rules or regulations concerning travel agent service
fees unless the Department of Transportation publishes in the
Federal Register revisions to the proposed rule and provides a
period for additional public comment on such proposed rule for
a period not less than 60 days.
SEC. 543. (a) Section 103 of the Presidential Recordings and
Materials Preservation Act (Public Law 93–526; 44 U.S.C. 2111
note) is amended by striking the second sentence and inserting
the following: ‘‘The Archivist may transfer such recordings and
materials to a Presidential archival depository in accordance with
section 2112 of title 44, United States Code.’’.
(b) Nothing in section 103 of the Presidential Recordings and
Materials Preservation Act (Public Law 93–526; 44 U.S.C. 2111
note), as amended by subsection (a), may be construed as affecting
public access to the recordings and materials referred to in that
section as provided in regulations promulgated pursuant to section
104 of such Act.