hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3680
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2008-10-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Department of Energy
Executive reorganization
Government Operations and Politics
Idaho
Independent regulatory commissions
International Affairs
International cooperation in science
Laboratories
Law
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear energy research
Nuclear fuels
Nuclear power plants
Research and development facilities
Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: 
Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Secretary of Energy to establish, and provide funds to, an office for the regulation of thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation in each of: (1) the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (ONEST) of the Department of Energy; and (2) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
 
Directs the NRC Chairman to promulgate regulations for facilities and materials used in thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation. 
 
Requires the heads of the two Offices to: (1) implement demonstration projects for thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory; and (2) recommend to the Secretary methods of strengthening international partnerships to advance nuclear nonproliferation through thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation, and of providing incentives to nuclear reactor operators to use proliferation-resistant, low-waste thorium fuels in lieu of other fuels.
 

 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10488)
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5070 Vegas Valley Drive in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the "Joseph A. Ryan Post Office Building".

Bill: 110-s-3681
Sponsor: Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV]
Introduced: 2008-10-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Commemorations
Subjects: Congressional tributes
Government Operations and Politics
Names
Nevada
Postal facilities

Summary:
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 5070 Vegas Valley Drive in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the "Joseph A. Ryan Post Office Building."

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-12-09
text: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
action_date: 2008-12-09
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2008-11-24
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2008-11-20
text: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S10768)
action_date: 2008-11-20
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S10768)
action_date: 2008-11-20
text: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S10768)
action_date: 2008-11-20
text: Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S10768)
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10489)
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10488-10489)
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Introduced in Senate
Small Business Energy Innovation Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3682
Sponsor: Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2008-10-02 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Air pollution control
Alternative energy sources
Carbon cycle
Commerce
Economics and Public Finance
Electric power production
Electric power transmission
Energy efficiency
Environmental Protection
Environmental technology
Executive reorganization
Federally-guaranteed loans
Finance and Financial Sector
Fuel
Government Operations and Politics
Grants-in-aid
Science, Technology, Communications
Small Business Administration
Small business
Technological innovations
Water pollution control

Summary:
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: 
Small Business Energy Innovation Act of 2008 - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to direct the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), to make grants and loan guarantees to small business concerns for the development of innovative energy-efficient technologies and products. 

Amends the Small Business Act to establish in the SBA the position of Director of Energy Innovation to coordinate SBA energy innovation activities and technical assistance programs. Establishes an energy innovation grant program to provide grants, on a competitive basis, to private, nonprofit organizations, including institutions of higher education, that are capable to providing technical assistance relating to renewable and advanced energy efficiency systems, advanced transportation fuels, carbon capture and sequestration practices and technologies, and other energy efficiency technologies. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10489)
action_date: 2008-10-02
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to require approval by the Congress for certain expenditures for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Bill: 110-s-3683
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank failures
Congress
Congressional oversight
Economic stabilization
Economics and Public Finance
Financial crises
Legislative resolutions

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to revise the limitation on the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to purchase troubled assets through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).
 

 
Changes the Joint Resolution of Disapproval, regarding authority to purchase troubled assets, to a Joint Resolution of Approval. Prohibits the Secretary, that is, from exercising any authority to make any such purchases with regard to any TARP amount authorized, and unobligated as of November 14, 2008, unless within 15 calendar days after Congress receives a report of the Secretary's plan to exercise such authority, a joint resolution approving the plan is enacted into law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10544-10645)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an above-the-line deduction against individual income tax for interest in indebtedness and for State sales and excise taxes with respect to the purchase of certain motor vehicles.

Bill: 110-s-3684
Sponsor: Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Automobiles
Commerce
Consumer credit
Excise tax
Finance and Financial Sector
Government Operations and Politics
Income tax
Interest
Local taxation
Sales tax
State taxation
Tax deductions
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a deduction from gross income for: (1) interest paid on indebtedness (up to $49,500) incurred after November 12, 2008, and before January 1, 2010, for the purchase of a motor vehicle (i.e., passenger automobile or light truck) with a gross vehicle weight rating of not more than 8,500 pounds; and (2) state and local sales and excise taxes imposed on the purchase of such a motor vehicle.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10609-10610)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10579-10580)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit the selling and counterfeiting of tickets for a Presidential inaugural ceremony.

Bill: 110-s-3685
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Forgery
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Presidential inaugurations

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Makes it unlawful to knowingly and intentionally sell or forge a ticket to a presidential inaugural ceremony or to use, unlawfully possess, or exhibit a forged ticket with the intent to defraud. Exempts the sale of tickets to a presidential inaugural ceremony that has already occurred. Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to one year for violations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10582)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Foreclosure Diversion and Residential Mortgage Loan Modification Act

Bill: 110-s-3686
Sponsor: Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Counseling
Department of the Treasury
Economics and Public Finance
Executive reorganization
Federal aid to housing
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreclosure
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Home ownership
Law
Legal aid
Mediation
Mortgages
Personal budgets
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Foreclosure Diversion and Residential Mortgage Loan Modification Act - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to establish, in the Office of Domestic Finance of the Department of the Treasury, the Office of Foreclosure Evaluation (OFE), headed by a Director responsible for coordinating the foreclosure prevention responsibilities of the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and other federal government entities.
 
Requires the Director to study and report to Congress on: (1) the barriers to reasonable and timely residential mortgage loan modifications to prevent foreclosure of home loans; as well as (2) the success of programs designed to prevent foreclosures.
 
Establishes a Working Group on Foreclosure Prevention, chaired by the Director, to: (1) improve coordination of federal government efforts to prevent foreclosure and permit homeowners to remain in their homes; (2) build the capacity of federal, state, and local entities and nonprofit organizations to offer housing counseling and pro bono legal services to homeowners in areas that lack sufficient services; (3) share information and best practices concerning foreclosure prevention programs; and (4) review and provide input regarding the criteria used by the Chairperson, as OFE Director, to certify foreclosure prevention programs.
 
Amends the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to allow the use of amounts available for redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes to fund state and local mortgage foreclosure prevention programs that support or require counseling, conciliation, and mediation prior to sheriff sale or foreclosure.
 
Makes organizations certified by the OFE eligible for grants to provide a range of financial education and counseling services to prospective homebuyers.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10582-10584)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Protection from Enemy Combatants Act

Bill: 110-s-3687
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Aliens
Armed Forces and National Security
Caribbean area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Cuba
Detention of persons
Government Operations and Politics
Latin America
Military bases
Presidential powers
Prisoners
Visas

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Protection from Enemy Combatants Act - Defines a &quot;covered alien&quot; as an alien who was detained as an enemy combatant by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
 
Prohibits: (1) a U.S. court from ordering the release or parole into the United States of a covered alien; (2) the Secretary of State from issuing any visa to a covered alien that would permit such alien to enter, or be admitted to, the United States; and (3) the Secretary of Homeland Security from admitting or providing any type of immigration status to a covered alien that would permit such alien to enter, or be admitted to, the United States.
 
Authorizes the President to waive restrictions by the Secretaries if consistent with U.S. national security.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Homeowner Assistance and Taxpayer Protection Act

Bill: 110-s-3690
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2008-11-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Bank employees
Bank failures
Counseling
Debtor and creditor
Dividends
Estates (Law)
Executive compensation
Fees
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreclosure
Home ownership
Loan defaults
Mortgage banks
Mortgages
Secondary mortgage market
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: 
Homeowner Assistance and Taxpayer Protection Act - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), with respect to mortgages acquired by the Secretary of the Treasury, to direct the Secretary to use authority to require (currently, encourage) the servicers of the underlying mortgages to take advantage of the HOPE for Homeowners Program under the National Housing Act or other available programs to minimize foreclosures. Requires federal property managers holding, owning, or controlling mortgages, mortgage backed securities, and other assets secured by residential real estate to do likewise.
 
Directs a federal property manager to require (currently, encourage) loan servicers to implement specified loan modifications in any case in which the property manager does not own a residential mortgage loan, but holds an interest in obligations or pools of obligations secured by residential mortgage loans.
 
Requires lenders to participate in HOPE for Homeowners Program when homeowners elect to participate.
 
Amends Chapter 13 (Adjustment of Debts of an Individual with Regular Income) of the federal bankruptcy code to allow a debtor's plan to modify an allowed secured claim secured by the debtor's principal residence (mortgage), if, after deduction of permitted expenses, the debtor has insufficient remaining current monthly income to retain possession of the residence by curing a default and maintaining payments while the case is pending.
 
Waives the credit counseling requirement for a debtor whose home is in foreclosure.
 
Waives the liaibility of the debtor and the debtor's estate for certain fees arising in connection with a claim secured by the debtor's principal residence. 
 
Amends EESA to prohibit financial institutions from which troubled assets are purchased by the Secretary from paying increased dividends until such time as the troubled assets are no longer owned by the Secretary.
 
Requires that dividends be reduced to pay for excessive executive compensation in the case of any such financial institution.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10600-10601)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10599-10600)
action_date: 2008-11-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Financial Regulation Reform Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-3691
Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
Introduced: 2008-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Bank holding companies
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Commodity exchanges
Federal Reserve System
Federal advisory bodies
Futures trading
Government Operations and Politics
Independent regulatory commissions
Investment banking
Law
Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities fraud
Swaps (Finance)

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: 
Financial Regulation Reform Act of 2008 - Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to: (1) subject credit-default swap trading clearinghouses to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); and (2) direct the CFTC to set reporting and recordkeeping requirements for positions involving credit-default swaps.
 
Grants the Federal Reserve Board authority over investment-bank holding companies.
 
Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue final rules to: (1) designate clearinghouses for credit-default swaps; and (2) prohibit fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative acts or practices in connection with such swaps.
 
Establishes a temporary Commission on Financial Regulatory Reform to review the financial regulatory structure and propose a comprehensive framework for fundamental reform of financial regulation in the United States.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR 11/17/2008 S10549-10550)
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to rescind Treasury Notice 2008-83.

Bill: 110-s-3692
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2008-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Bank mergers
Department of the Treasury
Income tax
Internal revenue law
Law
Losses
Tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: 
Renders Treasury Notice 2008-83 (suspending restrictions on the offset of net operating losses and unrealized built-in losses against the taxable income of certain corporate entities that acquire or merge with other entities) null and void and of no effect.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate
Stop the Greed on Wall Street Act

Bill: 110-s-3693
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2008-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank employees
Bank failures
Economic stabilization
Economics and Public Finance
Executive compensation
Financial crises
Government Operations and Politics
Presidential compensation
Salaries

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: 
Stop the Greed on Wall Street Act - Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to limit the amount of aggregate annual compensation for employees and executives of financial institutions assisted under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to the salary of the President of the United States. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to limit obligations to $350,000,000,000, absent majority approval by the Congress.

Bill: 110-s-3694
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2008-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank failures
Congress
Congressional oversight
Economic stabilization
Economics and Public Finance
Financial crises
Legislative resolutions

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: 
Amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to revise the process for exercising the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to make purchases of troubled assets in any amount in excess of the $350 billion previously obligated.
 
Changes the Joint Resolution of Disapproval, regarding the exercise of such authority, to a Joint Resolution of Approval. Prohibits the Secretary, that is, from exercising any authority to make any such purchases unless within 15 calendar days after Congress receives a report of the Secretary's plan to exercise the authority, a joint resolution approving the plan is enacted into law.
 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate
POWER Act

Bill: 110-s-3695
Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Introduced: 2008-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Commerce
Compensation for victims of crime
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
Government Operations and Politics
Government corporations
Hours of labor
Labor and Employment
Manufacturing industries
Prison labor
Rehabilitation of criminals
Subcontractors

Summary:
action_date: 2008-11-19
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 and prohibiting a public private competition for work performed by employees of the Bureau of Prisons and 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: 2008-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2008-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate