hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Nanoscience to Commercialization Institutes Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1908
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2005-10-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Agricultural research
Agriculture and Food
Biomass energy
Coal
Commerce
Commercialization
Electronics
Energy
Energy research
Federal aid to research
Grants-in-aid
Health
Medical research
Medical technology
Nanotechnology
Nuclear energy
Research centers
Research grants
Semiconductors
Textile fabrics

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-21
text: 
Nanoscience to Commercialization Institutes Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Under Secretary of Technology of the Department of Commerce to award grants to eligible entities to establish up to eight Nanoscience to Commercialization Institutes throughout the United States to assist in the commercialization of nanotechnology. 
 
Instructs the Under Secretary to ensure that each Institute is located at either a public university or federal laboratory.
 
Requires grants awarded pursuant to this Act to be used to establish at least one Institute in each of the following areas of nanotechology or microtechnology: (1) energy; (2) printable electronics; (3) medical; (4) transportation; (5) textiles; and (6) agriculture.
 
Specifies matching requirements for for-profit manufacturing companies conducting research and development in micro- and nanotechnologies. 
 
Makes any institution of higher education that has a federally funded nanotechnology center or that is the primary lead of a nanotechnology center not eligible for a grant under this Act. 
 
Directs the Under Secretary to establish a peer review committee to review the goals and progress made by each Institute. Requires each grant recipient to submit a report to such committee describing its Institute's accomplishments and goals as a condition of continued grant funding.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S11746)
action_date: 2005-10-21
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11745-11746)
action_date: 2005-10-21
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1909
Sponsor: Sen. Burns, Conrad R. [R-MT]
Introduced: 2005-10-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Arts, Culture, Religion
Authorization
Chronically ill
Clinics
Colleges
Commerce
Community health services
Computer networks
Cost effectiveness
Data banks
Department of Health and Human Services
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Educational technology
Elementary and secondary education
Equipment and supplies
Federal aid to health facilities
Foundations
Government Operations and Politics
Government and business
Health education
Higher education
Hospitals
Housing and Community Development
Libraries
Medical education
Medical records
Medicare
Mental care facilities
Nonprofit organizations
Nursing
Nursing homes
Quality of care
Rural economic development
Rural health
School health programs
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Statistics
Technology assessment
Telemedicine

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: 
Medicare Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act regarding telehealth services (services furnished via a telecommunication system by a physician to an enrolled individual) to: (1) remove current geographic restrictions on the provision of such services; (2) add to the kinds of facilities authorized to participate in the telehealth program; (3) provide for the expansion of use of store-and-forward technology; (4) add new kinds of practitioners eligible to furnish telehealth services; (5) extend the meaning of covered telehealth services to any professional service meeting certain requirements; and (6) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to facilitate adoption of provisions allowing for multistate practitioner licensure across state lines.
 
Directs the Secretary to make grants for expanding access to health care services for individuals in rural areas, frontier areas, and urban medically underserved areas through the use of telehealth.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11769-11770)
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Electronic Prescription Drug Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1910
Sponsor: Sen. Sununu, John E. [R-NH]
Introduced: 2005-10-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Communication in medicine
Drugs
Electronic data interchange
Government Operations and Politics
Medicare
Physicians
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: 
Electronic Prescription Drug Act of 2005 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for payments to physicians for writing electronic prescriptions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Flag Protection Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1911
Sponsor: Sen. Bennett, Robert F. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2005-10-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Commemorations
Destruction of property
Fines (Penalties)
Flags
Government Operations and Politics
Government property
Larceny
Public Lands and Natural Resources
State laws
Violence

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: 
Flag Protection Act of 2005 - Amends the federal criminal code to revise provisions regarding desecration of the flag to prohibit: (1) destroying or damaging a U.S. flag with the primary purpose and intent to incite or produce imminent violence or a breach of the peace; (2) intentionally threatening or intimidating any person, or group of persons, by burning a U.S. flag; or (3) stealing or knowingly converting the use of a U.S. flag belonging to the United States, or belonging to another person on U.S. lands, and intentionally destroying or damaging that flag.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance Act

Bill: 109-s-1912
Sponsor: Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [D-CT]
Introduced: 2005-10-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Animal diseases
Animals
Birds
Communication in medicine
Data banks
Education
Epidemiology
Government Operations and Politics
Health information systems
Health surveys
Higher education
Influenza
Medical education
Medical laboratories
Medical research
Medical statistics
Science, Technology, Communications
Veterinary medicine
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: 
Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance Act - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Influenza Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to offer to enter into a contract with one or more eligible organizations to establish a Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance (GNAIS). Requires the eligible organization to manage an international surveillance program under which federal GNAIS partners: (1) monitor and test for the presence or arrival of avian influenza and other significant avian pathogens; (2) use trained professionals to collect samples and other data; (3) use the GNAIS for conducting disease surveillance, field investigations, training and capacity-building activities, and research; and (4) transmit information related to global distribution and characteristics of avian influenza to the Secretary.
 
Requires the Secretary, acting through the eligible organization, to: (1) use surveillance reports and other sources to identify and investigate local disease outbreaks of avian influenza; (2) develop a long-term baseline of regional data to identify when and where outbreaks might occur and paths of dispersal; (3) provide technical assistance for disease prevention and control programs; (4) provide analytical disease findings to the Influenza Branch of CDC and other federal GNAIS partners; and ( 5) manage, map, and make available on an Internet database all results and information gathered under this Act. 
 
Directs the Secretary to request accredited colleges of veterinary medicine and other GNAIS partners to train members of the GNAIS network to: (1) monitor important bird areas around the world; and (2) test for the presence or arrival of avian influenza and other significant avian pathogens of zoonotic concern.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2005-10-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Southern Nevada Readiness Center Act

Bill: 109-s-1914
Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Introduced: 2005-10-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security
Land transfers
Military bases
National Guard
Nevada

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: 
Southern Nevada Readiness Center Act - Permits Clark County, Nevada, to convey between 35 and 50 acres of land in Clark County to the Nevada Division of State Lands for use by the Nevada National Guard. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Introduced in Senate
Virgie S. Arden American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

Bill: 109-s-1915
Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Introduced: 2005-10-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Arts, Culture, Religion
Auctions
Authorization
Commerce
Crime and Law Enforcement
Department of Agriculture
Economics and Public Finance
Exhibitions
Fines (Penalties)
Government Operations and Politics
Horses
Law
Meat packing industry
Protection of animals
Searches and seizures
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: 
 Virgie S. Arden American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act - Amends the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to detain for examination, testing, or the taking of evidence: (1) any horse at any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction which is sore or which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is sore; and (2) any horse or other equine which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is being shipped, transported, moved, delivered, received, possessed, purchased, sold, or donated in violation of such prohibition.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11824-11825)
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Introduced in Senate
Employment Verification Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1917
Sponsor: Sen. Hagel, Chuck [R-NE]
Introduced: 2005-10-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Alien labor
Bankruptcy
Citizenship
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Data banks
Discrimination in employment
Electronic data interchange
Federal employees
Finance and Financial Sector
Fines (Penalties)
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Identification devices
Labor and Employment
Law
Local employees
Misconduct in office
Personnel records
Recruiting of employees
Right of privacy
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Social security numbers
State employees
Trusts and trustees

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: 
Employment Verification Act of 2005 - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Act) to establish a mandatory electronic worker verification system on a two-to-five year phased-in basis (depending on the number of employees). 
 
Provides: (1) for protection from unauthorized disclosure and discrimination; and (2) that employers who use the system will be considered to be in compliance with specified employment verification requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
 
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to review the impact of the employment eligibility verification system (established under the Act) on each class of employers, and certify for each such class that the system: (1) does not result in increased discrimination; and (2) does not interfere with the hiring process for employers or cause a waiting period longer than five days before a new hire can be confirmed as employment eligible.
 
Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to identify the sources of false or expired Social Security numbers and take steps to eliminate them from the Social Security system.
 
 Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) fully integrate all system databases and data systems and provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) with access to such information; (2) establish rules, policies, and operating and auditing procedures for collecting, removing, and updating system data; and (3) establish a clearinghouse bureau for the public to correct system information. 
 
Amends INA to provide that documents establishing employability shall be: (1) a qualifying Social Security card; or (2) A U.S.-issued machine readable employment authorization card.
 
Establishes civil and criminal penalties for employment-related false citizenship claims. Increases civil monetary penalties for hiring, recruiting, referral, and paperwork violations.
 
Amends the Social Security Act to establish criminal penalties for misuse of Social Security account numbers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11825-11826)
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Introduced in Senate
Immigrant Accountability Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1919
Sponsor: Sen. Hagel, Chuck [R-NE]
Introduced: 2005-10-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative fees
Administrative remedies
Admission of nonimmigrants
Alien labor
Aliens
Armed Forces and National Security
Citizenship
Compulsory military service
Confidential communications
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal justice information
Deportation
Economics and Public Finance
Employers' liability
Families
Fines (Penalties)
Fingerprints
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Identification devices
Identification of criminals
Illegal aliens
Immigrants
Income tax
Judicial review
Labor and Employment
Law
Married people
Personnel records
Social Welfare
Tax administration
Taxation
Visas
Welfare eligibility

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: 
Immigration Accountability Act of 2005 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create an earned permanent resident status adjustment program for long-term undocumented aliens who have satisfied requirements respecting: (1) security and law enforcement clearance; (2) U.S. residency and employment duration; (3) admissibility; (4) payment of federal and state income taxes; (5) citizenship skills; and (6) selective service registration. 
 
Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) criminal penalties for false application statements; (2) public benefits eligibility; (3) administrative and judicial review; (4) fees; (5) employer protections; and (6) derivative status for the spouses and children. 
 
 Creates a program for qualifying illegal aliens who cannot meet the earned adjustment program work or residence requirements under which such aliens may be granted deferred mandatory departure status (three-year maximum) in order to leave the United States and subsequently seek immigrant or nonimmigrant admission. Sets forth provisions respecting: (1) U.S. residency and employment; (2) admissibility (and ineligibility); (3) medical examination; (4) security and law enforcement clearance; (5) registration at time of departure; (6) terms of status; (7) criminal penalties for false application statements; (8) fees; (9) employability; and (10) judicial review.
 
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to allow aliens granted adjustment of status under this Act to correct social security records without criminal prosecution.
 
 Amends INA to exempt immediate relatives from the family-sponsored immigration cap. Expands the definition of immediate relatives to include spouses and children of lawful permanent residents. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11825-11826)
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Introduced in Senate
Renewable Diesel Standard Act of 2005

Bill: 109-s-1920
Sponsor: Sen. Obama, Barack [D-IL]
Introduced: 2005-10-25 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Agriculture and Food
Alcohol as fuel
Alternative energy sources
Coal
Diesel motor
Energy
Energy supplies
Environmental Protection Agency
Government Operations and Politics
Law
Motor vehicle pollution control
Oils and fats
Petroleum recycling
Recycling of waste products
Refuse as fuel
Standards
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: 
Renewable Diesel Standard Act of 2005 - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations to ensure that the U.S. diesel fuel supply contains a specified annual volume (in gallons) of renewable fuel in 2008 through 2015. (Requires the percentage of renewable fuel in the U.S. diesel motor pool to be .006 for 2008 if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations.) Directs the Administrator to set the standard for renewable fuel content for 2016 and thereafter in consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy, according to a specified formula, taking into consideration certain economic and environmental factors. 
 
Establishes a program of credits for diesel fuel producers who exceed the renewable fuel standards established by this Act.
 
Authorizes the Administrator, upon the petition of one or more states, to waive renewable fuel content requirements for economic, environmental, or supply reasons.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11826-11827)
action_date: 2005-10-25
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity by repealing the income tax and other taxes, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, and replacing such taxes with a national sales tax and a business tax.

Bill: 109-s-1921
Sponsor: Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC]
Introduced: 2005-10-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Accounting
Campaign funds
Capital
Capital gains tax
College costs
Commerce
Corporation taxes
Customs administration
Department of the Treasury
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Estate tax
Executive reorganization
Families
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Gift tax
Government Operations and Politics
Government trust funds
Higher education
Home ownership
Housing and Community Development
Housing finance
Imports
Income tax
Inheritance tax
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Minimum tax
Poverty
Presidential elections
Profit
Sales tax
Saving and investment
Social Welfare
Tax administration
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax penalties
Tax rates
Tax refunds
Tax simplification
Tax-exempt organizations
Taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: 
Repeals: (1) the income tax, including the tax on capital gains and the alternative minimum tax; (2) estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes; and (3) the Financing of Presidential Election Campaigns provisions. 
 
Imposes a sales tax of 8.4% on the use or consumption of taxable property or services, to be administered and collected by the states. Allows certain credits against such tax for, among other things, business use conversion, export sales, bad debt, insurance proceeds, and previously taxed property. Grants a family consumption allowance for certain low-income families.
 
Repeals the corporate income tax and related provisions. Imposes a business tax of 8.4% of the annual gross profit on the sale of taxable property and services in the United States by a business entity. Defines &quot;gross profits&quot; as the taxable receipts of a business entity over the allowable deductible amounts for such entity, including the cost of business purchases and loss carryover deductions. 
 
Sets forth rules for the taxation of income from the non-exempt business activities of governmental entities. Revises the tax treatment of charitable and other nonprofit organizations.
 
Imposes a tax of 8.4% of the customs value of all property brought into the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing.
 
Revises tax administration provisions, including registration, accounting, penalty, and taxpayer rights provisions.
 
Prohibits funding of the Internal Revenue Service after FY2010.
 
Savings for Working Families Act of 2005 - Allows certain low-income individuals to establish individual development accounts (IDAs) to accumulate assets for, among other things, higher education expenses, first-time home purchases, and business capitalization or expansion costs. Provides for federal matching funds to certain financial institutions for investment in IDAs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to authorize appropriate action if negotiations with Japan to allow the resumption of United States beef exports are not successful, and for other purposes.

Bill: 109-s-1922
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND]
Introduced: 2005-10-26 in the Senate
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Congress
Congressional oversight
Congressional reporting requirements
East Asia
Exports
Import restrictions
Imports
Japan
Meat
Tariff
Trade negotiations

Summary:
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: 
Directs: (1) the U.S. Trade Representative to certify to Congress by December 15, 2005, that Japan is no longer prohibiting the importation of U.S. beef; (2) the Secretary of the Treasury, if such certification is not made, to impose additional tariffs (which shall continue until the certification is submitted to Congress) on Japan by December 31, 2005; and (3) the Secretary of Agriculture to begin negotiations with Japan to end such beef import prohibitions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2005-10-26
text: Introduced in Senate