hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Safer Skies Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3621
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Air piracy
Aviation safety
Commercial aircraft
Department of Transportation
Firearms
Government Operations and Politics
Law
Police

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Safer Skies Act of 2006 - Amends federal transportation law to direct the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security to prescribe regulations that permit qualified local law enforcement officers to carry accessible weapons while onboard an aircraft to the same extent and subject to the same limits as federal law enforcement officers are permitted to do so.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6805-6806)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6805,  S6806)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
North American Investment Fund Act

Bill: 109-s-3622
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Broadband
Canada
Congress
Congress and foreign policy
Congressional reporting requirements
Economic assistance
Economic development
Economic growth
Economic integration
Economic stabilization
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Gross national product
Higher education
Housing and Community Development
Income
Infrastructure
Infrastructure (Economics)
International competitiveness
Labor and Employment
Latin America
Mexico
Negotiations
North America
Poverty
President and foreign policy
Road construction
Rural economic development
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Taxation
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
North American Investment Fund Act - Authorizes the President to negotiate with Canada and Mexico to create a North American Investment Fund to: (1) increase the global economic competitiveness of North America; (2) promote economic development in Mexico in the areas of infrastructure, education, technology, and job training; and (3) reduce the wealth gap between Mexico and Canada, and between Mexico and the United States. 
 
States that the Fund shall: (1) be funded by all three countries, with conditions on U.S. and Canadian contributions based upon revenue measures to be taken by Mexico; and (2) operate for an initial ten-year period, and cease operation unless Canada, Mexico, and the United States agree to its continuation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6806)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Energy Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3623
Sponsor: Sen. Bunning, Jim [R-KY]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Armed Forces and National Security
Aviation fuels
Carbon cycle
Coal
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Defense contracts
Department of Energy
Economics and Public Finance
Energy facilities
Energy research
Environmental Protection
Federally-guaranteed loans
Finance and Financial Sector
Government Operations and Politics
Government lending
Governmental investigations
Gulf of Mexico
Laboratories
Law
Licenses
Military bases
Petroleum reserves
Petroleum storage
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Research and development
Research and development facilities
Science, Technology, Communications
Strategic materials
Synthetic fuel
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Energy Act of 2006 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to include among the projects eligible for Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees large-scale coal-to-liquid facilities that use a feedstock, the majority of which is domestic coal resources, to produce at least 10,000 barrels a day of liquid transportation fuel.
 
Instructs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to establish a federal loan program for coal-to-liquid facilities.
 
Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to support the development of coal-to-liquid manufacturing facilities and associated infrastructure on DOE and other federal lands, including military bases and military installations closed or realigned under the defense base closure and realignment.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to construct storage facilities: (1) in the vicinity of pipeline infrastructure and at least one military base; but (2) outside the boundaries of any state on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to acquire, place in storage, transport, or exchange coal-to-liquid products, not to exceed 20% of the total quantity of petroleum products in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
 
Authorizes appropriations for the Air Force Research Laboratory to continue support efforts to test, qualify, and procure synthetic fuels developed from coal for aviation jet use.
 
Amends federal law governing Armed Forces fuel procurement to authorize the Secretary of Defense to enter into agreements with private companies to develop and operate coal-to-liquid facilities on or near military installations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Helping Sole Community Hospitals Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3624
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Hospital rates
Hospitals
Medicare
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise requirements for disproportionate share hospital treatment for sole community hospitals under the Medicare program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to provide for the reliquidation of certain entries of certain small diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard, line and pressure pipe from Romania.

Bill: 109-s-3625
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Tariff

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Directs the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to provide for the reliquidation of certain entries of certain small diameter carbon and alloy seamless standard line and pressure pipe from Romania.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Estate Tax Relief and Reform Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3626
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Commerce
Congress
Economics and Public Finance
Estate tax
Families
Family enterprises
Family farms
Farms
Gift tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
Inheritance tax
Real estate appraisal
Sunset legislation
Tax deductions
Tax exclusion
Tax rates

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Estate Tax Relief and Reform Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the estate tax exclusion to $5 million in 2010; (2) adjust such exclusion amount for inflation; (3) impose a flat 35% estate tax rate; (4) increase to $5 million the reduction in fair market value for certain inherited farm and business property; and (5) increase to $2.5 million the maximum estate tax deduction for family-owned business interests and make such deduction permanent.
 
Provides that the general termination date of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (i.e., December 31, 2010) shall not apply to its estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax provisions that are not amended by this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6806-6807)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Mercury Market Minimization Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3627
Sponsor: Sen. Obama, Barack [D-IL]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security
Congress
Congressional oversight
Export controls
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Mercury
Military and naval supplies
Storage
Transportation and Public Works
Transportation of hazardous substances

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
Mercury Market Minimization Act of 2006 - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy from conveying, selling, distributing, or otherwise transferring elemental mercury. Exempts the transfer of elemental mercury to any storage or other facility established pursuant to this Act.
 
Prohibits the export of elemental mercury from the United States, effective on January 1, 2010, and authorizes the President to prohibit the export of any mercury compound as necessary to achieve the full force and effect of such elemental mercury export ban. 
 
Requires the President to establish the capacity (including storage facilities) to safely store covered mercury and mercury compounds in excess of quantities necessary for domestic consumption. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S6808-6809)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6807-6808)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
EXTEND the Energy Efficiency Incentives Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3628
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Air conditioning
Computer software
Electric power production
Energy
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Fuel cells
Heat pumps
Heating
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Investment tax credit
Labor and Employment
Science, Technology, Communications
Solar energy
Tax credits
Tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
EXTEND the Energy Efficiency Incentives Act of 2006 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) to allow individual taxpayers a tax credit, through 2010, for residential energy efficiency expenditures certified to achieve certain levels of energy savings; (2) modify standards for nonbusiness energy property (i.e., air conditioners, heat pumps, water heaters, etc.) and extend the tax credit for such property through 2010; (3) revise the tax credit for solar electric and hot water property to include all technologies for solar-derived electricity; (4) extend through 2010 the tax credits for residential energy efficient property and new energy efficient homes; (5) extend through 2011 the tax deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings and increase the maximum amount of such deduction; (6) allow a tax deduction for energy efficient low-rise buildings (four stories or less); (7) extend through 2011 the investment tax credit for solar energy and fuel cell property; and (8) allow a business-related tax credit for qualified training and certification costs and equipment expenditures for certifying residential energy savings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6809-6810)
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
POWER Act

Bill: 109-s-3629
Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Introduced: 2006-06-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Commerce
Compensation for victims of crime
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Education
Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Government corporations
Government procurement
Imports
Imprisonment
Labor and Employment
Manufacturing industries
Prison labor
Rehabilitation of criminals
Subcontractors

Summary:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: 
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.

Directs the Attorney General to establish the Foreign Labor Substitute Panel to review pilot projects by U.S. companies for the manufacture of goods by federal convicts that would otherwise be manufactured by foreign labor.

Revises federal criminal code provisions to restate the mission, operating objectives, performance standards, and other requirements for Federal Prison Industries.

Requires the Comptroller General to provide for annual independent evaluations of the operations of Federal Prison Industries and to report to Congress on such evaluations (currently, the Board of Directors of Federal Prison Industries is required to report to Congress). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize a program relating to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, and for other purposes.

Bill: 109-s-3630
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2006-07-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Authorization
Economics and Public Finance
Environmental monitoring
Federal aid to water pollution control
Lakes
Louisiana
Mississippi
Restoration ecology
Water Resources Development
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2006-07-10
text: 
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to extend through FY2011 the authorization of appropriations for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program in Louisiana and Mississippi.

action_date: 2006-09-27
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to extend through FY2011 the authorization of appropriations for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program in Louisiana and Mississippi.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 646.
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Inhofe without amendment. With written report No. 109-352.
action_date: 2006-09-27
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Inhofe without amendment. With written report No. 109-352.
action_date: 2006-09-13
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2006-07-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2006-07-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act

Bill: 109-s-3631
Sponsor: Sen. Obama, Barack [D-IL]
Introduced: 2006-07-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Business records
Child health
Chlorine
Commerce
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental health
Families
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Hazardous wastes
Health
Health surveys
Labor and Employment
Law
Manufacturing industries
Mercury
Occupational health and safety
Women
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: 
Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act - Declares that the United States should develop policies and programs that will reduce: (1) mercury use and emissions; (2) mercury releases from the reservoir of mercury currently in use or circulation; and (3) exposures to mercury, particularly exposures of women of childbearing age and young children.
 
Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells, effective January 1, 2012. Requires the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali facility to submit to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator and the state in which the facility is located an annual report for 2007-2012 concerning mercury waste, emissions, and content in products.
 
Requires: (1) EPA to conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory covering the life and closure of chlor-alkali facilities that cease operations on or after July 1, 2008; (2) EPA to establish regulations to facilitate the transfer and storage of mercury located at closed facilities, including the allocation of costs and potential liabilities; and (3) beginning on July 1, 2008, the transfer of elemental mercury located at a closed facility that has ceased operations to a storage facility established by EPA in accordance with such regulations.
 
Requires EPA, in coordination with the Adminstrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Administrator, by July 1, 2009, to conduct a health assessment of employees at chlor-alkali facilities that continue to operate as of July 1, 2008.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Introduced in Senate
action_date: 2006-06-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6807-6808)
A bill to provide for the sale of approximately 25 acres of public land to the Turnabout Ranch, Escalante, Utah, at fair market value.

Bill: 109-s-3632
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2006-07-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Economics and Public Finance
Government trust funds
Land transfers
Land use
National monuments
Real estate appraisal
Utah

Summary:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: 
 Directs the Secretary of the Interior, if Turnabout Ranch of Escalante, Utah, submits an offer to the Secretary to acquire specified federal land for the appraised value, to convey to the Ranch all right, title, and interest to such land. 
 
Requires Turnabout Ranch to pay: (1) to the Secretary an amount equal to the appraised value of the federal land; and (2) any costs of the conveyance of such land. 
 
Modifies the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah to exclude the federal land conveyed to Turnabout Ranch when the conveyance is completed.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7333)
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Introduced in Senate
Protection against United Nations Taxation Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3633
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2006-07-11 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congress
Congress and foreign policy
Congressional oversight
Congressional reporting requirements
Fees
Government Operations and Politics
House rules and procedure
Income tax
International agencies
Legislation
Legislative resolutions
President and foreign policy
Senate rules and procedure
Taxation
United Nations finances

Summary:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: 
Protection against United Nations Taxation Act of 2006, the PUNT Act of 2006, or the Helms-Biden Reauthorization Act of 2006 - Requires the withholding of 20% of U.S. contributions to the regular budget of the United Nations (U.N.) and other applicable international organizations until the President certifies that neither the United Nations (or U.N. agencies) nor any other international organization has authority under U.S. law to impose, or has imposed or proposed, taxes or fees on the U.S. government, states, or U.S. corporations or nationals. 
 
States that such provision shall not apply to: (1) fees for publications or other fees that are not tantamount to a tax on U.S. citizens; (2) the World Intellectual Property Organization; or (3) staff assessment costs of the United Nations and its agencies. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7333-7334)
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Introduced in Senate
Spent Nuclear Fuel Control and Accounting Act of 2006

Bill: 109-s-3634
Sponsor: Sen. Jeffords, James M. [I-VT]
Introduced: 2006-07-11 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Business records
Commerce
Data banks
Environmental Protection
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Independent regulatory commissions
Law
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear fuels
Nuclear reactors
Radioactive wastes
Science, Technology, Communications
Storage
Transportation and Public Works
Transportation of hazardous substances

Summary:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: 
Spent Nuclear Fuel Control and Accounting Act of 2006 - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to promulgate regulations requiring: (1) each civilian nuclear power reactor to report a detailed record of each individual spent fuel rod, and each fragment of a spent fuel rod, that results from the loading or dismantling of a fuel assembly; and (2) annual inspections to determine the compliance of the civilian nuclear power reactor with NRC regulations relating to the material control and accounting of spent nuclear fuel.
 
Requires the NRC to develop and make available to each civilian nuclear power reactor guidance that describes: (1) best management practices for storing individual fuel rods and fragments; and (2) suitable annual inventory practices.
 
Directs the NRC to develop an electronic data management and waste tracking system to: (1) store and access the records of each civilian nuclear power reactor; and (2) track the location of spent nuclear fuel, including individual rods and fragments.
 
Instructs the NRC to: (1) develop a detailed manifest form for the onsite transportation of spent fuel that indicates whether the package containing the spent fuel contains individual rods or fragments; and (2) promulgate regulations requiring each civilian nuclear power reactor to provide the NRC a complete detailed manifest form to identify and track any spent fuel rod or rod fragment transported within the reactor's premises.
 
Directs the NRC to identify any spent fuel rod or rod fragment transported outside the premises of the civilian nuclear power reactor through use of manifests used by the Department of Transportation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7335-7336)
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7334-7335)
action_date: 2006-07-11
text: Introduced in Senate