hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1003
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Disaster relief
Disasters
Emergency Management
Emergency medicine
Federal advisory bodies
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Hospital care
Hospitals
Law
Liability (Law)
Medical fees
Medical malpractice
Medical personnel
Medical records
Medical screening
Medical tests
Medicare
Physicians
Pregnant women
Quality of care
Social Welfare
Women

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 2007 - Establishes the United States Bipartisan Commission on Access to Emergency Medical Services to: (1) identify and examine factors in the health care delivery, financing, and legal systems that affect the effective delivery of screening and stabilization services furnished in hospitals that have emergency departments pursuant to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA); and (2) make specific recommendations to Congress with respect to federal programs, policies, and financing needed to assure the availability of such screening and stabilization services and the coordination of state, local, and federal programs for responding to disasters and emergencies. 

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for additional payments for certain physicians' emergency services furnished pursuant to EMTALA.
 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to convene a working group that includes experts in emergency care, inpatient critical care, hospital operations management, nursing, and other relevant disciplines to develop boarding and diversion standards for hospitals and guidelines, measures, and incentives for implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of such standards.
 
Requires the CMS working group to: (1) identify barriers contributing to delays in timely processing of patients requiring admission as inpatients who initially sought care through the hospital's emergency department; (2) identify best practices to improve patient flow within hospitals; and (3) report to Congress and the Secretary a detailed description of the standards, guidelines, measures, and incentives developed, as well as identified barriers and best practices.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a mechanism to make public information regarding any hospital that fails to report information requested by the CMS working group.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Restoring Integrity in Contracting Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1004
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Affiliated corporations
Commerce
Corporate mergers
Crime and Law Enforcement
Data banks
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Government contractors
Government paperwork
International Affairs
Law
Office of Management and Budget
Partnerships
Science, Technology, Communications
State-sponsored terrorism
Stocks
Subsidiary corporations
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Restoring Integrity in Contracting Act of 2007 - Disqualifies an acquiring corporation, or any subsidiary of such a corporation, that enters into a corporate expatriation transaction from federal contract awards for five years. Authorizes the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy to extend the period of ineligibility as a penalty for failure to disclose such a transaction.

Authorizes a presidential waiver in the interest of national security.

 Disqualifies any entity doing business with, or having a parent or subsidiary doing business with, a state sponsor of terrorism or foreign terrorist organization from federal contract awards for at least five years. Exempts entities selling food, agricultural commodities, medicine, or medical products under the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.

Requires the revision of the Federal Acquisition Regulation issued under the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require every contractor that submits a bid for a government contract to submit a certification describing whether: (1) the contractor or a parent company has entered into a corporate expatriation transaction; and (2) the contractor, a domestic parent company, or any subsidiary is doing or has done business with a state sponsor of terrorism or a foreign terrorist organization.

Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require the Administrator to establish and maintain a database of corporate expatriation transactions and transactions with state sponsors of terrorism or foreign terrorist organizations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1005
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Armed Forces and National Security
Armed forces reserves
Authorization
Business education
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Disabled
Economics and Public Finance
Entrepreneurs
Federal advisory bodies
Government Operations and Politics
Government lending
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Grants-in-aid
Iraq compilation
Labor and Employment
Law
Management
Small Business Administration
Small business
Veterans' employment

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) authorize grants of up to $25,000 for small business assistance for members of the reserves called or ordered to active duty (reservists); (2) allow the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make noncollateralized small business loans to such reservists; (3) direct the Administrator to establish a loan preapproval process for small business loans to such reservists; and (4) direct the Administrator to develop an outreach and technical assistance program with respect to loans and grants made to such reservists.
 
National Reservist Enterprise Transition and Sustainability Act of 2007 - Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide business planning assistance to small businesses owned and operated by reservists.
 
Authorizes SBA loans of up to $100,000 to new veteran entrepreneurs.
 
Provides increased funding for FY2008-FY2010 for the SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development.
 
Extends permanently the SBA's Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4051-4053)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4050-4051)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to deny qualified dividend income treatment to certain foreign dividends.

Bill: 110-s-1006
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commerce
Dividends
Finance and Financial Sector
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign corporations
Income tax
Tax credits
Tax deductions
Tax rates

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny preferential tax rates (5 to 15%) for dividends paid by a foreign corporation if: (1) such dividends are allowed as a tax deduction or credit under the tax laws of the country in which such foreign corporation is established; (2) such foreign corporation is not treated as a corporation, is exempt from taxation, or is a passive foreign investment company under the laws of its foreign country; or (3) such dividends are paid with respect to an instrument which is not treated as stock under the tax laws of the foreign country from which such dividends are paid. 

Revises the definition of &quot;qualified foreign corporation&quot; for purposes of qualifying dividends paid by such a corporation for preferential tax rates to require such corporations be created or organized in a foreign country that has a comprehensive tax system (as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4053-4054)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4053)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to improve and strengthen the safety inspection process of nuclear facilities.

Bill: 110-s-1008
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Law
Licenses
Nuclear power plants
Radiation safety

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to: (1) develop an independent safety assessment procedure for nuclear facilities; and (2) create a team to inspect the design, construction, maintenance, and operational safety performance of a facility.
 
Declares that a final NRC decision on whether to extend an operating license, approve an extended power uprate, or continue to operate a facility shall not be made until: (1) the NRC has completed the independent safety assessment of the facility; and (2) the licensee has fully accepted and implemented each NRC-approved finding and recommendation of the assessment report.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4055)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4054-4055)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Retirement Security for Life Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1010
Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Annuities
Cost of living adjustments
Economics and Public Finance
Finance and Financial Sector
Income tax
Indexing (Economic policy)
Labor and Employment
Life insurance
Retirement income
Tax exclusion

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Retirement Security for Life Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an exclusion from gross income for 50 percent of the amount otherwise includible in gross income as guaranteed payments from certain annuity or life insurance contracts. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $20,000 in any taxable year. Provides for an inflation adjustment of the $20,000 limitation beginning in 2009.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Recognizing Addiction as a Disease Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1011
Sponsor: Sen. Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Alcoholism
Drug abuse
Drug abuse prevention
Drug abuse treatment
Drug addiction
Laboratories
Maryland
Medical research
Names
Research centers
Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Recognizing Addiction as a Disease Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and related enactments to redesignate: (1) the National Institute on Drug Abuse as the National Institute on Diseases of Addiction; and (2) the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as the National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-08-01
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 294.
action_date: 2007-08-01
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-08-01
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Kennedy with an amendment. Without written report.
action_date: 2007-06-27
text: Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4056)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Consumer Rental-Purchase Agreement Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1012
Sponsor: Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Advertising
Business records
Civil actions and liability
Consumer credit
Consumer education
Consumer protection
Contracts
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal liability
Damages
Deceptive advertising
District courts
Evidence (Law)
Federal Reserve System
Federal Trade Commission
Federal preemption
Fees
Finance and Financial Sector
Financial statements
Fines (Penalties)
Fraud
Garnishment
Government Operations and Politics
Government liability
Government paperwork
Independent regulatory commissions
Injunctions
Insurance premiums
Labeling
Labor and Employment
Law
Lease and rental services
Leases
Liability (Law)
Liability insurance
Limitation of actions
Maintenance and repair
Negotiable instruments
Parties to actions
Prices
Property insurance
Rent
Restrictive trade practices
Small business
State laws
Surety and fidelity
Taxation
Warranties

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Consumer Rental-Purchase Agreement Act of 2007 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prescribe consumer protection guidelines for rental-purchase transactions, including: (1) the determination of rental-purchase cost; (2) disclosure requirements; (3) prohibitions against confessions of judgment, wage assignments, and waiver of consumer claims or defenses; (4) furnishing of statements of account; (5) point-of-rental disclosures; and (6) rental-purchase advertising disclosures.
 
Declares that an action for civil liability may be brought against a merchant's assignee only if the violation is apparent on the face of a rental-purchase agreement to which it relates, including, but not limited to, a disclosure that can be determined to be incomplete or inaccurate from the face of the agreement. 
 
Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate implementing regulations. 
 
Grants enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission and to state attorneys general. 
 
Subjects to criminal penalties any willful and knowing violation of the information disclosure requirements of this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Smoke Free Mothers and Babies Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1013
Sponsor: Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Drug abuse prevention
Drug therapy
Government Operations and Politics
Health counseling
Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Maternal health services
Medicaid
Pregnant women
Smoking
Social Welfare
Women
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Smoke Free Mothers and Babies Act of 2007 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require coverage, without cost-sharing, of counseling and pharmacotherapy for cessation of tobacco use by pregnant women. Provides for an increased federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for tobacco cessation counseling services and medications. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Empowering Parents Through Choice Act

Bill: 110-s-1014
Sponsor: Sen. Alexander, Lamar [R-TN]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Compensatory education
Congressional reporting requirements
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational accountability
Educational tests
Elementary and secondary education
Elementary education
Federal aid to education
Government Operations and Politics
Language arts
Mathematics
Nondiscrimination provisions
Nonprofit organizations
Private schools
Reading
Religion
Religious liberty
Scholarships
School choice
School districts
Science, Technology, Communications
Scientific education
Secondary education
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Empowering Parents Through Choice Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide students with Promise Scholarships, covering the cost of attending private elementary or secondary schools chosen by their parents, if their schools are subject to restructuring for failing to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) pursuant to state academic performance standards.
 
Requires: (1) each scholarship to remain in effect until the student completes the grade that is the last grade taught at the school from which the student transfers; and (2) such students to be assessed in reading, language arts, mathematics, and science at the same grade levels as public school students to determine if the schools and LEAs are making AYP. 
 
Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states, LEAs, or nonprofit organizations to support projects that enable students from low-income families that have been attending schools subject to restructuring, as well as their siblings, to receive: (1) Opportunity Scholarships to attend the private elementary or secondary school of their parents' choice or a public school of their parents' choice outside their school district, if allowed by state law; and (2) intensive, sustained supplemental educational services on an annual basis.
 
Requires grantees to: (1) continue each scholarship until the student completes the grade that is the last grade taught at the school from which the student transferred, or the student's family income exceeds a specified poverty level higher than the level required for initial eligibility; and (2) fund the scholarships before funding supplemental educational services.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
National Writing Project Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1015
Sponsor: Sen. Cochran, Thad [R-MS]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Authorization
Colleges
Department of Education
Economics and Public Finance
Elementary and secondary education
Elementary education
Federal aid to education
Government Operations and Politics
Higher education
Language arts
Nonprofit organizations
Secondary education
Social Welfare
Teacher education
Teaching

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
National Writing Project Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to raise monetary caps on the federal share of National Writing Project teacher training costs.
 
Reauthorizes the National Writing Project through FY2013.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4057)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4056-4057)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Captive Supply Reform Act

Bill: 110-s-1017
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural prices
Animals
Cattle
Commerce
Competition
Contracts
Livestock
Meat packing industry
Restrictive trade practices
Swine

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Captive Supply Reform Act - Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 respecting livestock producer-packer forward contracts to: (1) require the inclusion of fixed dollar amount base pricing and public bidding; (2) prohibit formula pricing; (3) limit individual contract size; and (4) exclude from the definition of "formula price" futures-based prices and base adjustments resulting from factors outside packer control.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4058-4059)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Global Climate Change Security Oversight Act

Bill: 110-s-1018
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2007-03-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Arctic and polar regions
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Congress
Congress and foreign policy
Congress and military policy
Congressional reporting requirements
Diplomacy
Emergency Management
Emigration
Environmental Protection
Ethnic relations
Food supply
Hurricanes
Immigration
International Affairs
International environmental cooperation
Logistics
Military bases
Military doctrine
Military maneuvers
Military operations
Military personnel
Military research
Military strategy
Military training
Minorities
Refugees
Science, Technology, Communications
Weather

Summary:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: 
Global Climate Change Security Oversight Act - Requires the Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congress a National Intelligence Estimate on the anticipated geopolitical effects of global climate change and the implications of such effects on U.S. national security.

Requires the Director to prepare the estimate using the mid-range projections of the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to make assessments and recommendation concerning the risks posed by global warming and the security implications, opportunities, and consequences of global warming.

Requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on the projected impact on the military installations, capabilities, and operations of the effects of global climate change as assessed in the estimate and to recommend research and analysis needed to further assess the impacts on the military of global climate change as assessed in the estimate.

Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary should address the findings of the estimate regarding the impact of global climate change and potential implications of such impact on the Armed Forces and for the size, composition, and capabilities of Armed Forces in the next Quadrennial Defense Review.

Requires the Secretary of State to report to Congress on the potential for: (1) large migration flows in countries of strategic interest or humanitarian concern as a response to changes in climate and the implications for U.S. security interests; and (2) diplomatic opportunities and challenges facing U.S. policy makers as a result of social, economic, or political responses of groups or nations to global changing climate.

Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to research the impacts of global climate change on military operations, doctrine, organization, training, material, logistics, personnel, and facilities, and the actions needed to address those impacts.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence. (text of measure as introduced: CR S4060-4061)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4059-4060)
action_date: 2007-03-28
text: Introduced in Senate