hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend the transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters.

Bill: 108-s-1093
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Bicycles
Commuting
Fringe benefits
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Tax exclusion
Transportation and Public Works
Travel costs

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include a bicycle commuting allowance as a qualified transportation fringe benefit.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6857-6858)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Clean Ocean Preservation Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1094
Sponsor: Sen. Corzine, Jon S. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Dredging
Environmental Protection Agency
Government Operations and Politics
Hazardous wastes
Law
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine pollution
Polychlorinated biphenyls
Sedimentation
Waste disposal in the ocean
Waste disposal sites
Water Resources Development
Water pollution control

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Clean Ocean Preservation Act of 2003 - Establishes a final criterion of 113 parts per billion of polychlorinated biphenyls for remediation material at the Historic Area Remediation Site, New Jersey.
Requires any Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to be at least as protective as this criterion.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Vision Rehabilitation Services Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1095
Sponsor: Sen. Sununu, John E. [R-NH]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Ambulatory care
Eye care
Medical fees
Medicare
Physicians
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Medicare Vision Rehabilitation Services Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of outpatient vision rehabilitation services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-23
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7115-7116)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6858-6859)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that certain postsecondary educational benefits provided by an employer to children of employees shall be excludable from gross income as part of an educational assistance program.

Bill: 108-s-1096
Sponsor: Sen. Bayh, Evan [D-IN]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Education
Employee benefit plans
Families
Higher education
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Student aid
Tax exclusion

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that certain postsecondary educational benefits (up to $2,000 per year) provided by an employer to children of employees shall be excluded from gross income as part of an educational assistance program.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Renal Dialysis Payment Fairness Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1098
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Home care services
Kidney diseases
Medical economics
Medical fees
Medical technology
Medicare
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Technological innovations

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Medicare Renal Dialysis Payment Fairness Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for an update in the renal dialysis composite rate.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century with respect to national corridor planning and development and coordinated border infrastructure and safety.

Bill: 108-s-1099
Sponsor: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Arizona
Boundaries
California
Canada
Crime and Law Enforcement
Customs unions
Economics and Public Finance
Federal aid to law enforcement
Federal aid to transportation
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Free trade
Highway finance
Infrastructure
International Affairs
Latin America
Mexico
New Mexico
North America
Road construction
Texas
Trade agreements
Traffic accidents and safety
Transportation safety
Trucking

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: 
Amends the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century to require the Secretary of Transportation, in implementing the national corridor planning and development program (which allocates Federal highway funds to States and metropolitan planning organizations for construction of corridors of national significance, economic growth, and international or interregional trade), to provide consideration to corridors where traffic has increased since enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Implementation Act and is projected to increase in the future. Revises corridor eligibility requirements to authorize the Secretary to make allocations with respect to certain identified high priority corridors that connect to the border between the United States and Mexico or the United States and Canada.
 
Authorizes necessary funding for the national corridor planning and development and coordinated border infrastructure programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6863-6864)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6863)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Securing Judicial Independence Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1100
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Annuities
Appellate courts
Armed Forces and National Security
Congress
Congressional oversight
Congressional-judicial relations
Cost of living adjustments
District courts
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Judges
Judicial compensation
Judicial officers
Labor and Employment
Military pensions
Supreme Court justices
Survivors' benefits
Widowers
Widows
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: 
Securing Judicial Independence Act of 2003 - Increases Federal judicial salaries by 25 percent.
 
 Repeals provisions: (1) authorizing annual judicial salary adjustments equal to the most recent change in the Employment Cost Index; (2) prohibiting the years of military service for which credit is allowed for the purposes of retirement or retired pay under any other provision of law from being included as allowable years of service for purposes of the computation of the annuities for survivors of Federal judicial officials; or (3) the service used in the computation of Federal judicial official survivor annuities from also be credited in computing any other survivor annuity. 
 
Increases the notification period for survivor annuity coverage for a judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6864)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6864)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Prevention and Recovery of Missing Children Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1102
Sponsor: Sen. Dodd, Christopher J. [D-CT]
Introduced: 2003-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Arrest
Criminal justice information
DNA
Data banks
Driver licenses
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Ex-offenders
Families
Federal aid to law enforcement
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Identification devices
Identification of criminals
Law
Limitation of actions
Missing children
Motor vehicle registration
Photography
Prisoners
Science, Technology, Communications
Sex offenders
State laws
Student records
Transportation and Public Works
Warrants (Law)

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Prevention and Recovery of Missing Children Act of 2003 - Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require each State reporting on missing children to: (1) ensure that no law enforcement agency within the State establishes or maintains any policy that requires the removal of an entry from its State law enforcement system or the National Crime Information Center computer network based solely on the person's age; and (2) provide that any relevant information shall be entered within two hours of receipt (currently, immediately).
Revises the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act to require the responsible official to obtain from a sex offender who is required to register: (1) information regarding the offender's anticipated future residence, employer's name and address, license plate number and vehicle, and student enrollment; and (2) fingerprints and a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample, unless they were obtained within the previous three months.
Sets forth requirements regarding State: (1) procedures involving offenders intending to move to another State; (2) timetables for the verification of registry information and the taking of photographs; and (3) procedures requiring offenders to obtain a driver's license or identification card from the State department of motor vehicles at the time of registration.
Requires States to: (1) designate a failure to comply with the registration and verification requirements as a felony and permit such failure to be grounds for the immediate issuance of an arrest warrant; and (2) consider a failure to comply as an ongoing offense and a failure to register each item of changed registry information as a separate offense.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6868-6869)
action_date: 2003-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act

Bill: 108-s-1103
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agriculture in foreign trade
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Department of Agriculture
Exports
Federal advisory bodies
Food industry
Food safety
Foodborne diseases
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Health
Imports
Labeling
Law
Meat inspection
Meat packing industry
Poultry
Science, Technology, Communications
Standards
Surveys

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Meat and Poultry Pathogen Reduction and Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act, respectively, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) prescribe initial and final pathogen performance standards for raw meat and raw poultry, and meat and poultry products processed in establishments inspected under such Acts; (2) identify, and publish a list of, such pathogens; (3) initiate pathogen surveys to determine existing levels of meat and poultry contamination; (4) perform microbial compliance testing at such establishments, and prohibit non-complying establishments from labeling such products as "inspected and passed "; and (5) report on the scientific feasibility of establishing health-based performance standards for pathogens in raw meat and meat products.
Directs the Secretary to establish a National Advisory Committee for Microbiology Criteria for Foods.
Directs the Secretary to enforce Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System requirements and other sanitation requirements in any official establishment. Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit non-complying establishments from labeling any meat or meat product, or poultry or poultry product, as "inspected and passed."

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6982-6984)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6981-6982)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for parental involvement in abortions of dependent children of members of the Armed Forces.

Bill: 108-s-1104
Sponsor: Sen. Brownback, Sam [R-KS]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Abortion
Families
Guardian and ward
Health
Military dependents
Military hospitals
Military medicine
Parent and child

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: 
Prohibits physicians from using facilities of the Department of Defense (DOD) to perform an abortion on a pregnant unemancipated minor who is a child of a member of the armed forces unless: (1) the physician gives at least 24 hours actual notice to the member, another parent of the minor, or a court-appointed conservator or guardian; (2) the judge of an appropriate district court issues an order authorizing the minor to consent to the abortion; (3) the appropriate district court by its inaction constructively authorizes such consent; or (4) the physician concludes that a condition exists that necessitates immediate abortion and certifies to the appropriate medical officer of DOD, and in the patient's medical record, the medical indications supporting such judgment. Outlines provisions concerning: (1) alternative notification; and (2) physician penalties for violations. 
 
Allows: (1) such a minor, under specified procedures, to file with the court an application for the performance of the abortion without parental or guardian notification; and (2) for judicial appeal of a denial of such application.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-23
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 114.
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
French Colonial Heritage National Historic Site Study Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1105
Sponsor: Sen. Bond, Christopher S. [R-MO]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Commemorations
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Europe
France
Historic sites
History
Missouri
National parks

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: French Colonial Heritage National Historic Site Study Act of 2003 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating the French Colonial Heritage Area within the Ste. Genevieve National Historic District, Missouri, as a unit of the National Park System.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6985)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Fishing Quota Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1106
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative fees
Administrative procedure
Animals
Data banks
Department of Commerce
Environmental Protection
Fish kills
Fisheries
Fishery management
Fishes
Fishing
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government statistics
Gulf of Mexico
Law
Leases
Licenses
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine ecology
Overfishing
Shellfish
Standards
Sustainable fisheries

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: 
Fishing Quota Act of 2003 - Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to require the Regional Fishery Management Councils and the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) or his designee, when developing a limited access system for fisheries to achieve optimum yield, to take into account: (1) the conservation requirements of this Act with respect to fisheries; and (2) the fair and equitable distribution of a public resource.
 
Authorizes the establishment of a fishing quota system in a fishery management plan or amendment prepared by any Regional Fishery Management Council or the Secretary.
 
Specifies fishing quota system: (1) requirements the Councils and Secretary must ensure that any proposal meet; (2) right, tittle, and interest scope and limitations; (3) eligibility requirements; (4) duration; and (5) referendum procedures. Prohibits approval or implementation by the Secretary of any fishery management plan (or amendment) unless it has been approved by more than two-thirds of those voting in a referendum among eligible permit holders.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to approve and implement a program submitted by a Council which reserves up to 25 percent of the fees collected from fisheries for costs related to the management and enforcement of fishing quota programs for issuance of obligations that aid in financing the: (1) purchase of fishing quotas by small vessel fishermen; and (2) first-time purchase of fishing quotas by entry level fisherman.
 
Requires the National Research Council to provide an independent review, every five years, of the effectiveness of fishing quota systems conducted in Federal fisheries.
 
Requires the Secretary to issue regulations which establish requirements for a fishing quota system. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6985-6987)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6985)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Build America Bonds Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1109
Sponsor: Sen. Talent, Jim [R-MO]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Airports
Bonds
Commerce
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Construction industries
Corporations
Finance and Financial Sector
Harbors
Income tax
Infrastructure
Infrastructure (Economics)
Mass rapid transit
Nonprofit organizations
Road construction
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Tax credits
Tax-exempt organizations
Transportation and Public Works
Waterways

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: 
Build America Bonds Act of 2003 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit to a taxpayer holding a Build America bond on a credit allowance date of such bond.
 
Defines a Build America bond as any bond issued by the Build America Corporation as part of an issue if 95 percent or more of the proceeds from the sale of such issue are to be used for expenditures incurred for any qualified project, or for deposit in the Build America Trust Account for repayment of Build America bonds at maturity.
 
Defines qualified project as the financing of capital improvements for any transportation infrastructure project of any governmental unit or other person, including highways, transit systems, railroads, airports, ports, and inland waterways, proposed by a State and approved by the Build America Corporation.
 
Establishes the non-profit Build America Corporation to: (1) issue Build America bonds for the financing of qualified projects; (2) establish and operate the Build America Trust Account; and (3) perform any other function the sole purpose of which is to carry out the financing of qualified projects through Build America bonds.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced:  CR S6989-6991)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1110
Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Agriculture in foreign trade
Business cycles
Commerce
Community development
Congress
Congressional oversight
Congressional reporting requirements
Congressional-executive relations
Department of Commerce
Depressed areas
Diversification in industry
Economic development
Economics and Public Finance
Executive reorganization
Fisheries
Fishing boats
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Housing and Community Development
Infrastructure
Labor and Employment
Law
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Rural economic development
Strategic planning
Trade adjustment assistance

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: 
Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities Act of 2003 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the program for trade adjustment assistance for communities negatively impacted by trade. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) establish a Trade Adjustment Assistance for Communities Program at the Department of Commerce; (2) provide for a coordinated Federal response to economic dislocation in communities negatively impacted by trade; and (3) make a determination if a community is negatively impacted by a trade and certify such community for assistance. 
 
Allows communities negatively impacted by trade to develop strategic plans for community economic adjustment and diversification. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to communities that devise such strategic plans and to give preference to rural communities.
 
Directs the Secretary to certify certain communities that were negatively impacted by trade on or after January 1, 1998, for adjustment assistance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6991-6994)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to provide suitable grazing arrangements on National Forest System land to persons that hold a grazing permit adversely affected by  the standards and guidelines contained in the Record of Decision of the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment and pertaining to the Willow Flycatcher and the Yosemite Toad.

Bill: 108-s-1111
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2003-05-22 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Amphibians
Animals
Birds
California
Department of Agriculture
Endangered species
Environmental Protection
Environmental assessment
Government Operations and Politics
Grazing
Law
Licenses
National forests
Public meetings

Summary:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide alternative grazing arrangements on National Forest System land to a person with a System grazing permit if such permittee's grazing privileges will be limited by implementation of the guidelines for the willow flycatcher and the Yosemite Toad (contained in the Record of Decision of the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment). States that such guidelines shall not apply in 2003 for grazing activities for which the Secretary is unable to provide alternative arrangements in specified allotments on the Lassen, Plumas, Tahoe, Stanislaus, and Sierra National Forests.
Authorizes the Secretary to provide certain environmental exclusions for such alternative grazing arrangements without first administratively establishing an applicable category of excluded actions.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6994)
action_date: 2003-05-22
text: Introduced in Senate