hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act

Bill: 110-s-1345
Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2007-05-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Discrimination in employment
Federal employees
Homosexuality
Labor and Employment
Sexual orientation

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: 
Clarification of Federal Employment Protections Act - Repudiates, in order to dispel any public confusion, any assertion that federal employees are not protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
 
Prohibits any federal employee who has authority to take, direct others to take, recommend, or approve any personnel action, from discriminating for or against any federal employee or applicant for federal employment on the basis of sexual orientation. Affirms that, in the absence of such prohibition, discrimination against federal employees and applicants for federal employment on the basis of sexual orientation is already prohibited under current law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-06-06
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5873)
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5872-5873)
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Introduced in Senate
Military and Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act

Bill: 110-s-1349
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2007-05-09 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Brain
Case management
Continuum of care
Families
Head injuries
Health
Iraq compilation
Medical research
Military dependents
Military discharges
Military medicine
Patients' rights
Science, Technology, Communications
Trauma care
Veterans' medical care
Veterans' rehabilitation
War casualties

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: 
Military and Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to jointly establish a program of treatment and rehabilitative services for traumatic brain injury (TBI) with respect to members of the Armed Forces and veterans.
 
Requires the: (1) Secretary of Defense to establish protocols for the detection and diagnosis of TBI; (2) Secretaries to inform members and veterans with TBI and their families as to treatment rights and options available; (3) Secretaries to assign a qualified lead case manager and lead primary care physician to each member and veteran that participates in the program; and (4) Secretaries to enter into cooperative agreements with entities with expertise in the treatment and rehabilitation needs of individuals with TBI.
 
Directs the Secretaries to establish protocols to ensure that members receive continuity of care and assistance during and after the transition from military service to civilian life.
 
Requires the Secretary of Defense to: (1) review certain previous decisions of discharge from the Armed Forces under other than honorable conditions to determine whether a TBI was a cause of action that precipitated the discharge and, if so, reconsider and redesignate the discharge; and (2) conduct specified TBI research.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5875-5877)
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5874-5875)
action_date: 2007-05-09
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform the diversity visa program and create a program that awards visas to aliens with an advanced degree.

Bill: 110-s-1350
Sponsor: Sen. Gregg, Judd [R-NH]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Alien labor
Education
Engineers
Higher education
Immigrants
Labor and Employment
Life sciences
Mathematics
Science, Technology, Communications
Scientists
Visas

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include immigrants with advanced degrees in the diversity immigrant category. Establishes the annual worldwide limit for such immigrants at 18,333 for diversity immigrants and 36,667 for advanced degree immigrants. Provides that immigrants with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math shall have a separate limitation equal to that for advanced degree immigrants, which shall include economic and workforce considerations. 
 
Directs the Secretary of State to maintain age, education, and occupation information on diversity and advanced degree immigrants.
 
Provides for the carryover of advanced degree and diversity visas.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
H-1B Visa Program Modernization Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1351
Sponsor: Sen. Gregg, Judd [R-NH]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Admission of nonimmigrants
Alien labor
Governmental investigations
Labor and Employment
Recruiting of employees
Visas

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
H-1B Visa Program Modernization Act of 2007 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase the annual H-1B nonimmigrant visa (specialty occupation) cap, with a 20% increase for the following year if the previous year's quota is reached. 

Revises H-1B provisions with respect to: (1) application fraud and misrepresentation; (2) employer penalties; (3) Department of Labor investigations; (4) Department of Labor and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information sharing; (5) information provided to an H-1B nonimmigrant upon visa issuance; (6) employment advertising; and (7) prohibiting an employer of fewer than 50 employees in the United States from having more than 50% H-1B nonimmigrant employees.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Internet Radio Equality Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1353
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Administrative remedies
Copyright
Intellectual property
Internet
Law
Nonprofit organizations
Public broadcasting
Radio broadcasting
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Sound recording and reproducing
Standards

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Internet Radio Equality Act of 2007 - Declares to be ineffective: (1) the March 2, 2007, Determination of Rates and Terms of the U.S. Copyright Royalty Judges regarding rates and terms for the digital performance of sound recordings and ephemeral recordings; (2) the April 17, 2007, modification of that determination by an order denying motions for rehearing; and (3) the April 23, 2007, Final Determination of Rates and Terms and any subsequent modification by the Copyright Royalty Judges published in the Federal Register. 

Replaces standards for determining reasonable rates and terms of royalty payments for public performances of sound recordings by means of eligible nonsubscription transmission services and new subscription services with a requirement that such rates and terms be established in accordance with stated objectives of the Copyright Royalty Judges. (Currently, rates and terms are required to distinguish among different types of eligible nonsubscription transmission services and include a minimum fee for each type.) Allows a minimum annual royalty for each provider subject to such rates and terms. Provides a transition rule for payment of royalties by providers of digital audio transmissions that would have been subject to the rates and terms nullified by this Act.

Revises royalty payment provisions concerning the use of certain works in noncommercial broadcasting to include: (1) sound recordings; and (2) performance or display by nonprofit organizations and public broadcasting entities. Provides a transition rule for the payment by a public broadcasting entity to owners of copyrights in sound recordings.

Allows a credit of any royalties received under the Determination of Rates and Terms deemed ineffective by this Act against other royalties required to be paid under this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-07-29
text: Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced in Senate: CR S5931-5932)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5931)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Law Enforcement Officers Retirement Equity Act

Bill: 110-s-1354
Sponsor: Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Annuities
Civil service retirement
Crime and Law Enforcement
Department of the Treasury
Families
Federal employees
Federal law enforcement officers
Income tax
Labor and Employment
Mandatory retirement
Social Welfare
Survivors' benefits
Tax administration
Tax evasion
Tax returns
Taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Law Enforcement Officers Retirement Equity Act - Redefines the term "law enforcement officer" under provisions of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) to include: (1) federal employees not otherwise covered by such term whose duties include the investigation or apprehension of suspected or convicted individuals and who are authorized to carry a firearm; and (2) such employees of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whose duties are primarily the collection of delinquent taxes and the securing of delinquent returns. 
 
Requires that such service which is performed by an incumbent law enforcement officer be treated: (1) on or after the enactment date of this Act, for all purposes, as service performed as a law enforcement officer, irrespective of how such service is treated under the following; and (2) before, on, or after such date, for purposes of CSRS and FERS, as service performed as such an officer, but only if an appropriate written election is submitted to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) five years after such date or before separation from government service, whichever is earlier. 
Provides that nothing under current law respecting mandatory separation from government service under CSRS or FERS shall cause the involuntary separation of an officer before the end of the three-year period beginning on such date.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-06-06
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Spaceport Equality Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1355
Sponsor: Sen. Martinez, Mel [R-FL]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Airports
Bonds
Commerce
Finance and Financial Sector
Income tax
Leases
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Space activities
Terminals (Transportation)
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Spaceport Equality Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the issuance of tax-exempt facility bonds for spaceports. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced in Senate: CR S5933-5934)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5932-5933)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1356
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bank capital
Bank examination
Bank holding companies
Bank management
Bank mergers
Bank records
Commerce
Deposit insurance
Foreign Trade and International Finance
Foreign banks and banking
Nonbank banks
Subsidiary corporations

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to apply the bank share or asset acquisition requirements of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to any company that is or would become an industrial bank holding company.

Subjects an industrial bank to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) requirements regarding registration, reporting, and bank examinations.
 
Prohibits the FDIC from imposing capital or capital adequacy requirements on functionally regulated affiliates of any depository institution controlled by industrial bank holding companies meeting certain criteria.
 
Requires a federal supervisory agency of an industrial bank holding company to forego examination of any depository institution subsidiary of the holding company.
 
Authorizes the FDIC to require from either a regulatory agency or a holding company that controls an industrial bank any information necessary to: (1) assess risk to the industrial bank; or (2) determine its condition.
 
Prohibits an industrial bank from being controlled by a commercial firm, except in certain circumstances.
 
Prescribes activity and branching limitations affecting industrial bank subsidiaries of certain commercial firms.

Authorizes a federal supervisory agency to order a holding company or a nonbank subsidiary to terminate an activity or its ownership or control over certain depository institution subsidiaries if the activity or ownership or control of a nonbank subsidiary represents a serious risk to a depository institution subsidiary of the holding company.

Subjects foreign bank acquisition or control of an industrial bank to approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Requires a holding company of an industrial bank to serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary banks.
 
Subjects an industrial bank holding company to: (1) enforcement by the FDIC, including its nonbank subsidiaries; and (2) the prompt corrective action requirements of the FDIA.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Federal Law Enforcement Pension Adjustment Equity Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1357
Sponsor: Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Annuities
Armed Forces and National Security
Civil service retirement
Cost of living adjustments
Crime and Law Enforcement
Department of the Interior
Department of the Treasury
Federal law enforcement officers
Labor and Employment
National parks
Police
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Salaries
Secret service

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Federal Law Enforcement Pension Adjustment Equity Act of 2007 - Amends the Law Enforcement Pay Equity Act of 2000 to apply a prohibition against treatment of the conversion of positions and members of the U.S. Park Police and the Secret Service Uniformed Division to a new salary schedule and the associated initial adjustments in basic pay rates with respect to any payment made prior to January 1, 2007, as an increase in salary for purposes of increased annuitant pension benefits. (Thus permits cost-of-living adjustments in pension benefits for annuitants of the U.S. Park Police and the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division for payments made in 2007 and in subsequent years.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-06-06
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
10 by 10 Act

Bill: 110-s-1358
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Alcohol as fuel
Alternative energy sources
Business records
Commerce
Consumer education
Energy
Environmental Protection Agency
Gasoline
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Labeling
Law
Motor vehicle pollution control
Service stations
Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
10 by 10 Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to make it unlawful after December 31, 2009, for any person to sell, supply, offer for sale or supply, dispense, transport, or introduce into commerce, for use in any motor vehicle, any gasoline with less than 10% renewable fuel by volume.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. (text of measure as introduced in Senate: CR S5934)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5934)
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Lupus Research, Education, Awareness, Communication, and Healthcare Amendments of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1359
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Asian American ethnic groups
Autoimmune diseases
Blacks
Communication in medicine
Data banks
Economics and Public Finance
Education
Epidemiology
Federal aid to health facilities
Federal aid to research
Government Operations and Politics
Health education
Health information systems
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Indian medical care
Medical education
Medical research
Medical statistics
Medical tests
Minorities
Minority health
Nonprofit organizations
Quality of life
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Women
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Lupus Research, Education, Awareness, Communication, and Healthcare Amendments of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand research on lupus to include: (1) basic research to discover the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of the disease; and (2) research to validate lupus biomarkers.
 
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to work with a consortium of academic health institutions to undertake an epidemiological study to determine the prevalence and incidence of lupus in the United States. Requires the Director of CDC to: (1) enter into a cooperative agreement with such consortium to develop, implement, and manage a system for lupus data collection and analysis; and (2) ensure that such consortium represents different geographic areas and includes individuals of racial and ethnic backgrounds disproportionately affected by lupus.
 
Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine to study and make recommendations related to lupus, to include: (1) evaluating federal and state activities related to lupus and recommending ways to expand such activities; (2) identifying gaps in federal research; and (3) recommending ways to improve the quality of life for people with lupus.
 
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Office on Women's Health, to conduct and support a national lupus public awareness and health professional education campaign, with an emphasis on reaching populations at highest risk for the disease.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Higher Education Affordability, Access, and Opportunity Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1360
Sponsor: Sen. Dole, Elizabeth [R-NC]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Accreditation (Education)
Charities
College administration
College costs
Commerce
Community development banking
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Dislocated workers
Distance education
Economics and Public Finance
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational accountability
Educational statistics
Educational technology
Federal aid to education
Finance and Financial Sector
Government Operations and Politics
Government lending
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Governmental investigations
Higher education
Housing and Community Development
Industry-university relations
Job hunting
Labor and Employment
Law
Licenses
Public-private partnerships
Recruiting of employees
Rural education
Scholarships
Science, Technology, Communications
Small business
Social Welfare
Standards
Student aid
Student loan funds
Teacher education
Teacher supply and demand
Vocational and technical education

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Higher Education Affordability, Access, and Opportunity Act of 2007 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a student loan program for workforce development for high-growth occupations or industries.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for: (1) job skill training in high-growth occupations or industries to partnerships of community colleges and workforce investment boards; and (2) training and job skills for small business owners or operators to partnerships of institutions of higher education (IHEs) and entities that help small business development.
 
Prohibits, under the student loan program, IHEs and accrediting agencies and associations from restricting transfers of credits in specified ways.
 
Requires studies and dissemination of comparative data on college costs and related matters. 
 
Revises requirements for teacher quality enhancement grants with respect to high-need local educational agencies and eligible partnerships.
 
Allows states to submit applications, under the leveraging educational assistance partnership program, with philanthropic organizations and public or private IHEs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate
Leasehold Improvement Depreciation Act of 2007

Bill: 110-s-1361
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND]
Introduced: 2007-05-10 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commerce
Depreciation and amortization
Earnings
Income tax
Leases
Profit
Tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: 
Leasehold Improvement Depreciation Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the accelerated depreciation of qualified leasehold improvement property (i.e., a 15-year recovery period); and (2) modify the rule for determining the adjustment to earnings and profits for depreciation of such property.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2007-05-10
text: Introduced in Senate