hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2411
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advisory bodies
Consumer affairs
Consumer credit
Federal Reserve System

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Credit Card Safety Star Act of 2007 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate rules to implement a Safety Star System, with one to five stars, to allow consumers to compare quickly and easily the terms, conditions, and levels of safety associated with various open end credit plan agreements.
 

 
Specifies a point structure for rating credit cards.
 
Assigns an automatic one-star rating (the lowest level of safety) to any open end credit plan: (1) that allows the card issuer to modify the terms of the agreement with a cardholder at any time or periodically for unspecified or unstated reasons; or (2) under which other accounts, or changes by a third party in the cardholder's credit rating, are used as a basis for adverse changes in the agreement (including universal default).
 

 

 
Establishes the Credit Card Safety Star Advisory Commission.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14789-14790)
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Aerial Firefighter Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2413
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Aircraft pilots
Aviation safety
Emergency Management
Families
Fire fighters
Fire prevention
Flight crews
Forest fires
Government contractors
Labor and Employment
Subcontractors
Survivors' benefits
Transportation and Public Works
Workers' compensation

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Aerial Firefighter Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include among persons eligible for public safety officer death benefits any individual serving a public agency or a contractor or subcontractor of a public agency in an official capacity, with or without compensation, as a pilot or a crew member of an aircraft carrying out a firefighting mission. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14797-14798)
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Reforming an Entitlement through Premium Adjustments based on Income Resources (REPAIR) Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2414
Sponsor: Sen. Ensign, John [R-NV]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Drugs
Economics and Public Finance
Income
Insurance premiums
Medicare
Prescription pricing
Social Welfare
Subsidies

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Reforming an Entitlement through Premium Adjustments based on Income Resources (REPAIR) Act of 2007 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require an income-related reduction in the part D premium subsidy.
 
 Declares that, in the case of an individual whose modified adjusted gross income exceeds a certain applicable threshold amount for a month after December 2008, the monthly amount of the part D premium subsidy shall be reduced (and the monthly beneficiary premium shall be increased) by the monthly adjustment amount determined according to a specified formula.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2415
Sponsor: Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: AIDS (Disease)
Child health
Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Congress and foreign policy
Congressional reporting requirements
Contraceptives
Crime and Law Enforcement
Crimes against women
Economic assistance
Education
Elementary and secondary education
Equality before the law
Families
Family planning and birth control
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Health
Health planning
Higher education
Human immunodeficiency viruses
Human rights
International agencies
International cooperation
Labor and Employment
Law
Preventive medicine
Rape
Sex crimes
Sex discrimination
Sexual abstinence
Women
Women's education
Women's employment
Women's health
Women's rights
World health

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Protection Against Transmission of HIV for Women and Youth Act of 2007 - States that it shall be U.S. policy to: (1) pursue a global HIV prevention strategy that emphasizes the needs of married and unmarried women and girls and addresses the factors that lead to gender disparities in HIV infection rates; and (2) balance funding for HIV prevention methods.
 
Directs the President to: (1) formulate and submit to the appropriate congressional committees, and make available to the public, a comprehensive and culturally appropriate global HIV prevention strategy that addresses the HIV vulnerability of married and unmarried women and girls and seeks to reduce the factors that lead to gender disparities in HIV infection rates; (2) ensure that the United States coordinates its overall HIV/AIDS policy and programs with foreign governments, international organizations, other donor countries, and indigenous organizations; and (3) provide clear guidance to U.S. field missions. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14798-14799)
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2416
Sponsor: Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Capital gains tax
Dividends
Finance and Financial Sector
Income tax
Minimum tax
Tax rates

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Taxpayer Choice Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the alternative minimum tax on individual taxpayers after 2006; and (2) allow taxpayers to elect an alternative income tax system.

Makes permanent the capital gains and dividends rate reductions enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 524.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title 31, United States Code, to require the inscription "In God We Trust" to appear on a face of the $1 coins honoring each of the Presidents of the United States.

Bill: 110-s-2417
Sponsor: Sen. Brownback, Sam [R-KS]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Church and state
Coins and coinage
Commemorations
Government Operations and Politics
Religion
Terms and phrases

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Revises federal coin design requirements for $1 coins honoring each of the Presidents of the United States. Transfers from the edge of such a coin to either the obverse or the reverse face the inscription &quot;In God We Trust.&quot;


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Ending Agricultural Threats: Safeguarding America's Food for Everyone (EAT SAFE) Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2418
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2007-12-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agriculture in foreign trade
Border patrols
Commerce
Consumer education
Crime and Law Enforcement
Defective products
Economics and Public Finance
Employee training
Federal employees
Fines (Penalties)
Food safety
Foodborne diseases
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Grants-in-aid
Health
Health education
Immigration
Imports
Internet
Laboratories
Law
Licenses
Meat inspection
Poultry
Science, Technology, Communications
Smuggling
Terrorism
Test facilities
Web sites

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: 
Ending Agricultural Threats: Safeguarding America's Food for Everyone (EAT SAFE) Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) establish food safety and agroterrorism training programs for appropriate federal employees and border patrol agents; (2) hire additional Food Safety and Inspection Service personnel; (3) provide notification of smuggled food products to the public and to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and (4) provide the public with notification of recalled food products.
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide notification of smuggled food products to the public and to DHS.
 
Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to establish civil penalties for illegally imported meat and poultry products.
 
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require federal certification of food safety labs.
 
Amends the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 to direct the Secretary, through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, to establish a foodborne illness education and outreach grant program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text of measure as introduced: CR S14799-14801)
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14799)
action_date: 2007-12-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Working Families Flexibility Act

Bill: 110-s-2419
Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Labor and Employment
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Arts, Culture, Religion
Congress
Congressional agencies
Congressional employees
Employee rights
Federal employees
Federal libraries
Fines (Penalties)
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Government Operations and Politics
Governmental investigations
Hours of labor
Judicial review
Law
Library of Congress

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Working Families Flexibility Act - Authorizes an employee to request from an employer a change in the terms or conditions of the employee's employment if the request relates to: (1) the number of hours the employee is required to work; (2) the times when the employee is required to work; or (3) where the employee is required to work. Sets forth certain employer duties with respect to such requests.
 
Makes it unlawful for an employer to interfere with any rights provided to an employee under this Act. Authorizes an employee to file a complaint with the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor for any violations of such rights. Provides for the investigation and assessment of civil penalties or the award of relief for alleged violations, including the review in federal courts of appeal of orders of the Administrator.
 
Requires the Secretary of Labor to carry out a research, education, and technical assistance program for employers, labor organizations, and the general public regarding compliance with this Act.
 
Applies the requirements of this Act to certain classes of employees, including employees of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Library of Congress.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14849-14850)
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Wrongful Convictions Tax Relief Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2421
Sponsor: Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal justice information
Ex-offenders
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Imprisonment
Income tax
Pardons
Prisoners
Sentences (Criminal procedure)
Social Welfare
Social security taxes
Tax credits
Tax exclusion
Tax refunds

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Wrongful Convictions Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow wrongfully incarcerated individuals: (1) an exclusion from gross income for compensation received relating to their incarceration and for the first $50,000 of annual income received by such an individual after release from incarceration; and (2) a refundable tax credit for 50% of payroll taxes on employment and self-employment income, up to $50,000 of such income. Limits the duration of such tax benefits to the lesser of 15 years or the number of years such an individual was incarcerated.

Defines &quot;wrongfully incarcerated individual&quot; as an individual who was convicted of a criminal offense and was then pardoned or found not guilty of such offense because of innocence after serving all or a portion of a prison term. Disqualifies individuals with prior convictions punishable by more than one year of imprisonment.

Requires: (1) the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to report annually to the Secretary of the Treasury on individuals who are wrongfully incarcerated and whose criminal convictions are reversed or vacated; and (2) states to report annually to the Secretary on wrongfully incarcerated individuals.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14850-14851)
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act

Bill: 110-s-2422
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Animals
Computer crimes
Computer software
Fines (Penalties)
Hunting
Interactive media
Science, Technology, Communications
Sports and Recreation

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Computer-Assisted Remote Hunting Act - Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit and to establish penalties for knowingly making available a computer-assisted remote hunt (i.e., using a computer or other device, equipment, or software to allow a person remotely to control the aiming and discharge of a weapon to kill or injure an animal while not in the physical presence of the weapon). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Emission Allowance Market Transparency Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2423
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Auctions
Commerce
Crime and Law Enforcement
Economics and Public Finance
Emissions trading
Environmental Protection Agency
Fines (Penalties)
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Law
Prices
Restrictive trade practices

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Emission Allowance Market Transparency Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations to facilitate price transparency in markets for the sale of emission allowances (any allowance, credit, or other permit issued for use in offsetting the emissions of any pollutant by an individual or entity), including regulations to provide for the timely dissemination of information regarding the availability and prices of emission allowances with respect to the Administrator, state regulatory authorities, buyers and sellers of emission allowances, and the public. Directs the Administrator to use information and services provided by publishers and providers of trade processing services to the maximum extent practicable.

Prohibits: (1) knowingly providing to the Administrator false information relating to the price or quantity of emission allowances sold, purchased, transferred, banked, or borrowed with the intent to fraudulently affect the data; (2) using, in connection with the purchase or sale of an emission allowance, any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance in contravention of regulations prescribed to protect the public interest or consumers; or (3) cheating or defrauding another market participant, client, or customer. Directs the Administrator to monitor trading to prevent false reporting, manipulation, and fraud.

Requires the Administrator, to prevent excessive speculation, to adopt limitations on: (1) the quantity of trading transactions allowed and the positions that may be held in any emission allowance market; and (2) emission allowance auctions. Sets penalties for violations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S14852-14853)
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S14851-14852)
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
National Health Literacy Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2424
Sponsor: Sen. Coleman, Norm [R-MN]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Commerce
Conferences
Consumer education
Department of Health and Human Services
Economics and Public Finance
Executive reorganization
Federal aid to health facilities
Government Operations and Politics
Government publicity
Health education
Health surveys
Medical research
Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
National Health Literacy Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to establish within the Agency a Health Literacy Implementation Center to enhance efforts to eliminate low health literacy by improving measurements, research, development, and information dissemination. Defines &quot;health literacy&quot; as an individual's ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health care decisions.

Directs the Center to: (1) make health literacy resources available to researchers, health care providers, and the public; (2) sponsor demonstration and evaluation projects; (3) develop the next generation of health literacy interventions and tools; (4) identify and fill research gaps relating to health literacy that have direct applicability to quality improvement; (5) assist federal agencies in establishing specific objectives and strategies for carrying out the Center's purpose and in monitoring programs; (6) enter into implementation partnerships to promote adoption of literacy interventions and tools; and (7) enter into an interagency agreement to facilitate coordination of health literacy activities within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Education.

Requires: (1) the Center to convene at least one annual public meeting to help raise awareness about the problem of health literacy and federal and state efforts to address the issue; (2) the Director of the Center to award grants to states to provide for the establishment of a network of state or regional health literacy resource centers; (3) a state health literacy resource center to meet at least annually to share a model of best practices; and (4) the HHS Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine to identify opportunities within HHS to improve the public's health literacy through the Medicare and Medicaid programs and at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Border Wait Times Study Act

Bill: 110-s-2425
Sponsor: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Boundaries
Canada
Congressional reporting requirements
Economic impact statements
Economics and Public Finance
Governmental investigations
International Affairs
Latin America
Mexico
Motor vehicles
Traffic congestion
Trucking

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Border Wait Times Study Act - Directs: (1) the Secretary of Transportation to study, and report the results to Congress on, the traffic patterns of commercial and passenger vehicles that enter and exit U.S. international land ports along the northern and southern borders; and (2) the Secretary of Commerce to study, and report the results to Congress on, the negative economic impact, if any, on U.S. wait times at such ports.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Congressional Oversight of Iraq Agreements Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-2426
Sponsor: Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY]
Introduced: 2007-12-06 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security
Congress
Congress and foreign policy
Congress and military policy
Congressional oversight
Congressional-executive relations
Constitutional law
Defense budgets
Economics and Public Finance
Government Operations and Politics
Iraq
Iraq compilation
Law
Middle East and North Africa
Military agreements
President and foreign policy
Presidential powers
Treaty-making power

Summary:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: 
Congressional Oversight of Iraq Agreements Act of 2007 - Directs the Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State to provide Congress with the justification (including the constitutional authority) for the President's decision to deny Congress its constitutionally protected role by concluding an agreement on the future of the security relationship between the United States and Iraq as an executive agreement.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that any bilateral agreement between the United States and Iraq involving &quot;commitments or risks affecting the nation as a whole,&quot; including a status of forces agreement (SOFA), that is not a treaty approved by two-thirds of the Senate under Article II of the Constitution or authorized by legislation does not have the force of law. Prohibits the use of funds to carry out such an agreement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2007-12-06
text: Introduced in Senate