hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
A bill to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to double liability limits for single-hull tankers and tank barges for 2009, and for other purposes.

Bill: 110-s-2700
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2008-03-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Barges
Damages
Law
Liability for environmental damages
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Oil pollution
Tankers
Territorial waters
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: 
Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to increase the liability limits for damages resulting from the discharge of oil into U.S. navigable waters or the exclusive economic zone by a single-hull vessel (including a single-hull vessel fitted with double sides only or a double bottom) from $3,000 per ton to $6,000 per ton for 2009.

action_date: 2008-08-22
text: 
Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to increase the liability limits for damages resulting from the discharge of oil into U.S. navigable waters or the exclusive economic zone by a single-hull vessel (including a single-hull vessel fitted with double sides only or a double bottom): (1) from $3,000 per ton to $6,000 per ton for 2009; and (2) to the maximum amount allowable, consistent with the substantive due process requirements of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, for 2010, and beyond.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-08-22
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 940.
action_date: 2008-08-22
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Boxer under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/01/2008 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 110-445. Additional views filed.
action_date: 2008-08-22
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Boxer under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/01/2008 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 110-445. Additional views filed.
action_date: 2008-05-21
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery in the eastern Nebraska region to serve veterans in the eastern Nebraska and western Iowa regions.

Bill: 110-s-2701
Sponsor: Sen. Nelson, Ben [D-NE]
Introduced: 2008-03-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Cemeteries and funerals
Congressional reporting requirements
Iowa
Land transfers
Nebraska
Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: 
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a national cemetery in eastern Nebraska to serve the needs of veterans and their families in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Fracture Prevention and Osteoporosis Testing Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2702
Sponsor: Sen. Salazar, Ken [D-CO]
Introduced: 2008-03-04 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Access to health care
Bone fractures
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Governmental investigations
Medical fees
Medical tests
Medicare
Osteoporosis
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: 
Medicare Fracture Prevention and Osteoporosis Testing Act of 2008 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a national minimum payment amount for CPT code 77080 (relating to dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, or DXA, the most widely accepted method of measuring bone mass to predict fracture risk) and CPT code 77082 (relating to vertebral fracture assessment, or VFA), and any successor to such codes as identified by the Secretary (bone mass scans). 

Directs the Secretary to arrange with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies to conduct a study for a report to the Secretary and Congress on: (1) the ramifications of Medicare reimbursement reductions for DXA and VFA on beneficiary access to bone mass measurement benefits; and (2) the methods to increase use of bone mass measurement by Medicare beneficiaries.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-03-04
text: Introduced in Senate
Regulatory Relief and Fairness Act

Bill: 110-s-2703
Sponsor: Sen. Dole, Elizabeth [R-NC]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Bank holding companies
Bank management
Corporate accountability
Corporate management
Financial statements
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Independent regulatory commissions
Information disclosure (Securities law)
Law
Savings and loan associations
Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities regulation

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Regulatory Relief and Fairness Act - Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to require rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to permit an insured depository institution, a bank holding company, or a savings and loan holding company to elect voluntarily not to provide otherwise mandatory certifications regarding its quarterly or annual reports or its management assessment of internal controls.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2704
Sponsor: Sen. Lincoln, Blanche L. [D-AR]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Medical fees
Medical personnel
Medicare
Respiratory diseases
Social Welfare

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Medicare Respiratory Therapy Initiative Act of 2008 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover the services of a qualified respiratory therapist performed under the general supervision of a physician. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Troops to Nurse Teachers Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2705
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: College teachers
Continuing education
Education
Health
Higher education
Military medicine
Military pay
Military pensions
Nurses
Nursing education
Recruiting and enlistment
Retired military personnel
Scholarships

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Troops to Nurse Teachers Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out programs under which commissioned officers of the nurse corps: (1) serve as full-time faculty of accredited schools of nursing in exchange for additional service or in exchange for scholarships provided by the school to those accepting commissions in the nurse corps; (2) receive scholarships leading to a graduate degree in nursing in exchange for service as nursing school faculty and to undertake activities to encourage nurses to serve in the Armed Forces nurse corps; (3) receive nursing faculty career placement and continuing education assistance if they are retirement-eligible and have graduate degrees qualifying them as nurse instructors; or (4) receive, while serving after retirement as faculty at a nursing school, retired pay without reduction and a pay differential to ensure that compensation for faculty member service will not be less than the basic pay received before retirement.

Requires: (1) any program established under this Act to last at least two years; and (2) the Secretary to assess each program to determine if it should be continued.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act

Bill: 110-s-2706
Sponsor: Sen. Dorgan, Byron L. [D-ND]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Employee benefits and pensions
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan from imposing an aggregate lifetime benefit limit of less than: (1) $5 million for the first two plan years; (2) $10 million for the third and fourth plan years; and (3) adjusted amounts based on the consumer price index for subsequent plan years. Excludes from such prohibition a group health plan offered to employees of a small employer, except upon request of the employer for a consistent limit.

Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to contract with the Institute of Medicine for a study to determine the number of individuals who have reached the lifetime limitations set forth in this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act

Bill: 110-s-2707
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Arts, Culture, Religion
Authorization
Chesapeake Bay
Commemorations
Economics and Public Finance
Environmental Protection
Estuaries
Grants-in-aid
Historic sites
History
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Marine resources conservation
Sports and Recreation
Trails
Water Resources Development
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act - Amends the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to make permanent the authorization of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. 

action_date: 2008-06-27
text: 

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

Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Continuing Authorization Act - Amends the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act of 1998 to make permanent the authorization of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-06-27
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 859.
action_date: 2008-06-27
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Boxer without amendment. With written report No. 110-404.
action_date: 2008-06-27
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Boxer without amendment. With written report No. 110-404.
action_date: 2008-05-21
text: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2708
Sponsor: Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Education
Federal advisory bodies
Geriatrics
Gerontology
Government Operations and Politics
Higher education
Home care services
Long-term care
Medical education
Nurse practitioners
Nurses
Nursing
Nursing education
Physicians
Physicians' assistants
Scholarships
Social Welfare
Social work
Student loan funds

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish a Geriatric and Gerontology Loan Repayment Program to enter into contracts with physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, psychologists, and social workers trained in geriatrics or gerontology to pay educational loans in exchange for providing full-time clinical practice and service to older adults; and (2) establish the National Advisory Council on the Geriatric and Gerontology Loan Repayment Program.

Requires the Secretary to ensure that individuals eligible for the nurse loan repayment program include registered nurses who complete specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology and who elect to provide nursing services to older adults in home and long-term care settings.

Authorizes the Secretary to award nursing education grants and enter into contracts for programs that focus on specialty training in providing long-term care services for nursing personnel who provide services in home and long-term care settings.

Requires the Secretary to establish a Health and Long-Term Care Workforce Advisory Panel to conduct a research project to identify incentives for recruitment and retention of clinicians and providers who agree to serve vulnerable older adults in geriatric and long-term care settings.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Border Crossing Deterrence Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2709
Sponsor: Sen. Sessions, Jeff [R-AL]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Border patrols
Crime and Law Enforcement
Deportation
Destruction of property
Illegal aliens
Mandatory sentences
Prosecution

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Border Crossing Deterrence Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand Operation Streamline (the zero-tolerance prosecution policy for illegal entry and reentry) to all 20 border sectors. Authorizes appropriations.
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) revise and increase criminal penalties, including establishing mandatory minimum penalties, for an alien's entry into the United States at an improper time or place; and (2) revise criminal penalty and related provisions, and establish mandatory minimum sentences, respecting the reentry of an alien who has been removed from the United States.
 
Amends the federal criminal code to establish a mandatory minimum criminal penalty of five years for an alien's destruction of U.S. government-installed border barriers or infrastructure.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 594.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to authorize the Department of Homeland Security to use an employer's failure to timely resolve discrepancies with the Social Security Administration after receiving a "no match" notice as evidence that the employer violated section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Bill: 110-s-2710
Sponsor: Sen. Sessions, Jeff [R-AL]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Alien labor
Dismissal of employees
Employers' liability
Illegal aliens
Labor and Employment
Law
Social Welfare
Social security numbers
Tax returns
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to use an employer's failure to timely resolve discrepancies with the Social Security Administration (SSA) after receiving a &quot;no match&quot; notice as evidence that the employer violated unlawful employment provisions under such Act.
 
Provides that an employee's firing by an employer having constructive knowledge that the employee is not authorized to work in the United States based on SSA notice that the name and number provided by the employee do not match, and cannot be corrected to match, SSA records shall not be considered an unfair immigration-related employment practice.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to direct SSA to provide DHS with certain &quot;no match&quot; information.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 595.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Worksite Enforcement Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2711
Sponsor: Sen. Sessions, Jeff [R-AL]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Alien labor
Citizenship
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Counterfeiting
Crime and Law Enforcement
Criminal investigation
Department of Homeland Security
Department of the Treasury
Dismissal of employees
Driver licenses
Earnings
Economics and Public Finance
Employers' liability
Federal law enforcement officers
Fines (Penalties)
Fingerprints
Fraud
Government Operations and Politics
Government contractors
Government paperwork
Grants-in-aid
Identification devices
Identity theft
Illegal aliens
Injunctions
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Labor and Employment
Law
Social Welfare
Social security numbers
Tax returns
Taxation
Transportation and Public Works
Vital statistics

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Worksite Enforcement Act of 2008 - Sets forth immigration-related worksite enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) unlawful employment of aliens; (2) disclosure of taxpayer information; (3) social security cards and identity documents; (4) establishment of a voluntary advanced verification program to allow employers to verify an employee's fingerprints in order to determine identity and work status; (5) responsibilities of the Social Security Administration (SSA); (6) immigration-related activities of the SSA and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and (7) criminal penalties for misuse of social security numbers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 596.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
Complete the Fence Act

Bill: 110-s-2712
Sponsor: Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Appropriations
Arizona
Boundaries
California
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Construction costs
Economics and Public Finance
Illegal aliens
International Affairs
Latin America
Mexico
Pedestrians
Texas
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Complete the Fence Act - Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to: (1) provide that fencing that does not effectively restrain pedestrian traffic may not be used to meet the requirement that the Secretary of Homeland Security construct reinforced fencing along not less than 700 miles of the southwest U.S. border; (2) require the Secretary to complete construction of such fencing and installation of related equipment by December 31, 2010; and (3) prohibit any amounts appropriated for such fencing from being withheld because of the Secretary's failure to comply fully with consultation requirements regarding its impact on nearby communities and residents.

Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by June 30, 2009, on progress made in completing such fencing and on plans for completing it by the deadline.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 597.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to prohibit appropriated funds from being used in contravention of section 642(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Bill: 110-s-2713
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Appropriations
Citizenship
Community policing
Crime and Law Enforcement
Economics and Public Finance
Federal aid to law enforcement
Illegal aliens

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Prohibits appropriated funds for the community oriented policing services program from being used in contravention of section 642(a) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which provides that a federal, state, or local government entity or official may not prohibit or restrict any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 598.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to close the loophole that allowed the 9/11 hijackers to obtain credit cards from United States banks that financed their terrorists activities, to ensure that illegal immigrants cannot obtain credit cards to evade United States immigration laws, and for other purposes.

Bill: 110-s-2714
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Aliens
Bank accounts
Identification devices
Immigration
Passports
Social Welfare
Social security numbers

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
Authorizes a financial institution, when verifying the identity of a non-U.S. citizen or national who is seeking to open a bank account, to accept only: (1) a Social Security number; (2) a passport number and the country of issuance; (3) an alien identification card number; or (4) any combination of such items.
 
Prohibits a financial institution, for such verification purposes, from accepting identification documents issued by a foreign government, other than an unexpired passport.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 599.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate
National Language Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2715
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2008-03-05 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Bilingualism
English language
Government paperwork
Government publications

Summary:
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: 
National Language Act of 2008 - Requires: (1) English to be the national language of the federal government; and (2) the federal government to preserve and enhance the role of English as the national language.

Provides that no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the federal government act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English, unless specifically provided by statute.

Makes the English language version of a government form issued in a language other than English the sole authority for legal purposes.

Declares that this Act does not prohibit the use of a language other than English.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-03-06
text: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 600.
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1677)
action_date: 2008-03-05
text: Introduced in Senate