hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
To amend title 35, United States Code, to provide recourse under the patent law for persons who suffer competitive injury as a result of false markings.

Bill: 111-hr-4954
Sponsor: Rep. Issa, Darrell E. [R-CA-49]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Intellectual property

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Amends federal patent law to revise the authorization of civil suits to collect one-half of the $500 penalty for false marking.
 
Limits the right to file a civil action in a U.S. district court to persons who have suffered a competitive injury as a result of a violation of the prohibition against false marking. (Thus repeals the right of any person to sue for the penalty.) Allows a person who has suffered a competitive injury to file a civil action to recover damages adequate to compensate for the injury. (Current law allows any person to collect up to one-half of $500 for every such offense.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education Act

Bill: 111-hr-4955
Sponsor: Rep. Kosmas, Suzanne M. [D-FL-24]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
School administration
Science and engineering education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Transforming Undergraduate STEM Education Act - Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to make changes to the program requiring the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to expand previously implemented reforms of undergraduate science, mathematics, engineering, or technology (STEM) education.
 
Expands grant uses to allow their use in: (1) implementing, rather that just expanding, research-based reforms in undergraduate STEM education; (2) creating multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary STEM courses or programs; (3) expanding undergraduate STEM research opportunities to include interdisciplinary research and research in industry, at federal labs, and at international research institutions or research sites; (4) implementing or expanding bridge, cohort, tutoring, or mentoring programs that enhance student recruitment or persistence; (5) implementing STEM faculty development programs; (6) supporting the participation of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in instructional or assessment activities at primarily undergraduate IHEs; and (7) researching STEM teaching and learning at the undergraduate level related to the proposed reform effort.
 
Gives priority, among proposals that expand existing reform efforts beyond a single academic unit, to proposals for which a senior institutional administrator serves as the principal investigator.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
action_date: 2010-04-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Education and Labor
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Science and Technology
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Stop Oxy Abuse Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4956
Sponsor: Rep. Bono Mack, Mary [R-CA-45]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Stop Oxy Abuse Act of 2010 - Directs the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (FDA), within 90 days, to take such actions as may be necessary to modify the approval of, and limit any subsequent approval of, any drug containing controlled-release oxycodone hychloride to use for the relief of severe-only pain instead of moderate-to-severe pain.
 
Applies any such modification to drugs introduced into interstate commerce 180 days after enactment of this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Healthy Children Through School Nutrition Education Act

Bill: 111-hr-4958
Sponsor: Rep. Baca, Joe [D-CA-43]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Child health
Elementary and secondary education
Nutrition and diet
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Healthy Children Through School Nutrition Education Act - Amends the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 to require local educational agencies participating in the school lunch or breakfast programs to include in their school wellness policies the requirement that each student receive 50 hours of nutrition education each school year.
 
Requires such instruction to meet specified standards, including that it is consistent with rules promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture requiring food served under the school lunch and breakfast programs to satisfy the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Global Conservation Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4959
Sponsor: Rep. Carnahan, Russ [D-MO-3]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
Executive Office of the President
Executive agency funding and structure
Foreign aid and international relief
Forests, forestry, trees
International organizations and cooperation
Land use and conservation
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Multilateral development programs
Water use and supply
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Global Conservation Act of 2010 - Directs the President, through the Coordinator for Global Conservation, to establish the International Conservation Strategy to help combat global natural resource and biodiversity degradation in developing countries. 
 
Directs the Coordinator to establish the Interagency Working Group on Global Conservation.
 
Directs the President to establish the President's Advisory Committee for Global Conservation.
 
Urges the President to work with the world's major foreign assistance donor countries to: (1) develop an international conservation assistance strategy; (2) identify multilateral coordinating mechanisms; and (3) promote existing multilateral initiatives designed to identify meaningful levels of interim funding for forest conservation in developing countries.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
To eliminate sweetheart deals under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Bill: 111-hr-4960
Sponsor: Rep. Buchanan, Vern [R-FL-13]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Appropriations
Building construction
Connecticut
Environmental health
Hawaii
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Intergovernmental relations
Louisiana
Medical research
Medicare
Michigan
Montana
State and local finance
Tennessee
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Repeals provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) related to: (1) the disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment for Tennessee and Hawaii; (2) an adjustment to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for qualifying disaster-recovery states; (3) the establishment of a floor on the area wage index for a frontier state for purposes of a geographic adjustment to Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient services; (4) the eligibility for Medicare coverage of certain individuals exposed to environmental health hazards; and (5) the appropriation of funds for debt service on, or direct construction or renovation of, a health care facility that provides research, inpatient, tertiary care, or outpatient clinical service.
 
Amends PPACA to eliminate revisions to the formula for determining the wage index applicable to Section 508 hospitals. (&quot;Section 508&quot; refers to Section 508 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which allows the temporary reclassification of a hospital with a low Medicare area wage index, for reimbursement purposes, to a nearby location with a higher Medicare area wage index, so that the &quot;Section 508 hospital&quot; will receive the higher Medicare reimbursement rate.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Ways and Means
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Energy and Commerce
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Haitian Private Sector Encouragement Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4961
Sponsor: Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-11]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Agricultural trade
Caribbean area
Congressional oversight
Executive agency funding and structure
Foreign aid and international relief
Foreign loans and debt
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Haiti
Latin America
Property rights
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Haitian Private Sector Encouragement Act of 2010 - Authorizes the President to designate one private, nonprofit organization established under state law as the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund, which shall be eligible to receive funds and support under this Act. 
 
Authorizes the President, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to provide a grant to the Fund to promote policies and practices conducive to the development of private property rights for Haitian citizens, particularly citizens of limited economic means, through integration of extralegal property arrangements into property recordation systems that fix the economic potential of assets, integrate ownership information into one system, hold citizens accountable, make assets fungible, and protect commercial transaction integrity.
 
Directs USAID to monitor Fund activities.
 
Applies the enterprise fund provisions of the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 to the Fund in the same manner as such provisions apply to other similar U.S.-established enterprise funds. 
 
Authorizes the President to establish the Haitian-American Economic Oversight Panel to monitor Fund activities and all other U.S. economic development initiatives for Haiti.
 
Authorizes FY2011 appropriations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Healthy Milk and Dairy Choices in Schools Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4963
Sponsor: Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Child care and development
Child health
Elementary and secondary education
Food assistance and relief
Nutrition and diet
Poverty and welfare assistance
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Healthy Milk and Dairy Choices in Schools Act of 2010 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the fat content of milk served in school lunches to be consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
 
Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to include nonprofit schools and child care institutions that participate in the school lunch or breakfast programs in the special milk program. (Currently, the special milk program reimburses nonprofit schools and child care institutions which do not participate in the school lunch or breakfast programs for the milk they provide to children.)
 
Establishes a three-year pilot program under which the Secretary of Agriculture purchases low-fat cheeses, in addition to commodities currently purchased, for use in the school lunch and breakfast programs. Requires the Secretary to evaluate and report to Congress on the program.
 
Allows the Secretary, through FY2016, to satisfy the requirement that at least 12% of school lunch program assistance be in the form of commodity assistance by using commodities procured by the Secretary under any provision of law.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
CARS Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4964
Sponsor: Rep. Diaz-Balart, Mario [R-FL-25]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Commuting
Income tax deductions

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Commuter Aid and Relief for Suburbs Act of 2010 or the CARS Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers a deduction for a specified percentage of their qualified commuting expenses. Defines &quot;qualified commuting expenses&quot; as reasonable expenses paid or incurred for transportation (including public transportation and associated parking fees) between an individual's residence and place of employment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Targeted Job Creation and Business Investment Act

Bill: 111-hr-4965
Sponsor: Rep. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN-2]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Employment taxes
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Research and development
Unemployment

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Targeted Job Creation and Business Investment Act - Allows a reduction in 2010 and 2011 of an employer's payroll taxes by a specified percentage of the amount by which such employer increases aggregate payroll over the preceding calendar year for employees in high unemployment areas hired after February 3, 2010, and before January 1, 2012.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities, bonus depreciation, and the increased (to $250,000) expensing allowance for depreciable business assets.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Stored Value Device Registration and Reporting Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4966
Sponsor: Rep. Giffords, Gabrielle [D-AZ-8]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Currency
Department of the Treasury
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Government studies and investigations
Human trafficking
Licensing and registrations
Small business
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Stored Value Device Registration and Reporting Act of 2010 - Treats as a financial institution subject to federal regulation any person engaged in the business of issuing stored value devices or processing transactions related to such devices, including accessing information pertaining to the funds stored on a device, retrieving such funds, or adding funds to be stored on the device.
 
Treats such stored value devices as monetary instruments. Prescribes procedures for mandatory registration of such devices with the Secretary of the Treasury. Subjects to a civil penalty noncompliance with such requirement
 

 
Instructs the Secretary to: (1) prescribe regulations establishing a threshold point under which small stored value device businesses are exempt from such registration requirements; and (2) study and report to Congress on specified uses of such devices, including the extent to which they are used to provide payments related to drug trafficking and human trafficking or financial support to terror cells operating within the United States.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an exception to the arbitrage rules for prepayments for electricity generated from renewable resources.

Bill: 111-hr-4967
Sponsor: Rep. Giffords, Gabrielle [D-AZ-8]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Contracts and agency
Electric power generation and transmission
Financial services and investments
Income tax exclusion
Securities
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify bond arbitrage rules to provide that an investment-type property does not include a prepayment under a qualified renewable electricity contract, thus exempting such prepayments from arbitrage restrictions. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
To authorize the National Science Foundation to award grants for implementing or expanding research-based reforms in master's and doctoral level STEM education that emphasize preparation for diverse careers in the STEM workforce.

Bill: 111-hr-4968
Sponsor: Rep. Giffords, Gabrielle [D-AZ-8]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Education programs funding
Higher education
Science and engineering education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award grants to institutions of higher education for the implementation or expansion of research-based reforms in master's and doctoral level STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education that emphasizes preparation for diverse careers in the STEM workforce, including at institutions of higher education, in industry, and at government agencies and research laboratories. Describes the activities that may be supported by grants awarded under this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-04-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
action_date: 2010-04-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Education and Labor
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to House Science and Technology
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
To require the Attorney General to make recommendations to the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision on policies and minimum standards to better protect public and officer safety.

Bill: 111-hr-4969
Sponsor: Rep. Inslee, Jay [D-WA-1]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Government studies and investigations
Intergovernmental relations
Law enforcement officers
Mental health
Sex offenses
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Directs the Attorney General to make recommendations to the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision established by the Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Adult Offenders and report to Congress on: (1) whether minimum standards in such Compacts should be updated to better protect public and officer safety; and (2) policies regarding the transfer of supervision of an adult offender from an originating state of jurisdiction to a receiving state.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-06-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
Department of Justice Global Advisory Committee Authorization Act of 2010

Bill: 111-hr-4970
Sponsor: Rep. Inslee, Jay [D-WA-1]
Introduced: 2010-03-25 in the House
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Criminal justice information and records
Intergovernmental relations
Judicial procedure and administration
Law enforcement administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: 
Department of Justice Global Advisory Committee Authorization Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical and financial assistance and support to the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative Advisory Committee. Expands the activities of the Committee to include the gathering of views from federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and other agencies that work to support public safety and justice and to provide recommendations for improving the administration of justice and the protection of the public through information sharing.
 
Expresses the sense of Congress that state, local, and tribal governments and other relevant entities should use the recommendations developed by the Committee to evaluate, improve, and develop effective strategies and technologies to improve public safety and information sharing.
 
Directs the Attorney General to review the state of information sharing between corrections and law enforcement agencies and report recommendations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-06-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2010-03-25
text: Introduced in House