hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Accountability for Defense Contractors Act

Bill: 111-s-3909
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Government liability
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Accountability for Defense Contractors Act - Amends the Act authorizing the making, amending, or modification of federal contracts in order to facilitate the national defense (P.L. 85-804) to direct the Secretary of Defense, if the Department of Defense (DOD) takes any action under the authority of such Act during any year, to report to Congress on all such actions taken by DOD during the preceding year. Requires additional report information with respect to an action taken that involves actual or potential costs to the United States in excess of $1 million.
 
Prohibits a DOD contractor from being indemnified for: (1) government claims against the contractor; (2) a claim, loss, or damage caused by gross negligence, willful misconduct, or lack of good faith on the part of any of the contractor's principal officials; or (3) a claim, loss, or damage resulting from an unusually hazardous or nuclear risk not specified in the contract terms and discovered on the site where the contract is performed, or that reasonably should have been discovered there.
 
Allows a DOD contract to provide for contractor indemnification as the Secretary determines necessary only if the contract complies with: (1) the congressional notification requirements of this Act; and (2) the prohibitions on indemnifications described above.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to update each water control manual of the Corps of Engineers regarding the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system to include reallocation of storage to meet current and future municipal and industrial water supply needs, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-3910
Sponsor: Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Florida
Lakes and rivers
Water storage
Water use and supply
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to update each water control manual of the Corps of Engineers regarding the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system to include reallocation of storage to meet current and future municipal and industrial water supply needs. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to require the Secretary of the Army to operate the Buford Dam/Lake Sidney Lanier Project and the Allatoona Dam and Reservoir Project, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-3911
Sponsor: Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Georgia
Lakes and rivers
Water resources funding
Water storage
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to operate the Buford Dam/Lake Sidney Lanier Project and the Allatoona Dam and Reservoir Project: (1) for the purpose of municipal and industrial water supply; and (2) to include storage in each project for water supply. Makes this provision inapplicable unless the non-federal sponsor of the water supply storage pays the cost for the capital investment for reallocated storage space in accordance with each procedure that the Secretary deems necessary.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
HARVEST Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3912
Sponsor: Sen. Chambliss, Saxby [R-GA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative remedies
Foreign labor
Immigration status and procedures
Lawyers and legal services
Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
Visas and passports
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely and Temporarily Act of 2010 or the HARVEST Act of 2010 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to redefine &quot;H-2A worker&quot; to include a nonimmigrant who: (1) is seeking to perform agricultural labor in the United States in a job for which U.S. workers are not available and willing to perform such service or labor; and (2) commutes each day across the U.S. border and returns to his or her foreign residence and place of abode at the end of each business day.
 
Defines &quot;Level 2 H-2A worker&quot; as an H-2A worker who has been employed as an H-2A worker for at least 30 months, has not violated a material term of H-2A employment, and works in a supervisory capacity.
 
 
Sets forth employer and employee association petition and attestation requirements. 
 
Requires H-2A employers to participate in the the E-Verify program.
 
Requires: (1) the Secretary of Labor to conduct investigations and random audits of employer work sites; and (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide each H-2A worker with a single machine-readable, counterfeit-resistant document that authorizes the alien's U.S. entry, serves as an employment eligibility document, and has at least one biometric identifier.
 
 
Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) penalties; (2) working conditions, wages, transportation, and housing; (3) admissions and extensions of stay; and (4) worker replacement. 
 
Amends the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to: (1) limit the conditions under which the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) may provide legal assistance for any alien, or provide financial assistance to any person or entity that provides legal assistance for any alien; (2) require a good faith mediation attempt prior to bringing a civil action for damages on behalf of an H-2A worker; (3) require an H-2A employer to post LSC contact information in the dwelling and at the work site of each nonimmigrant employee in a language in which all employees can understand; and (4) require that the LSC pay a prevailing defendant's costs.
 
Authorizes appropriations to adjudicate H-2A petitions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Guardians of Freedom Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3913
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Department of Defense
Military command and structure
National Guard and reserves

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Guardians of Freedom Act of 2010 - Directs the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Chief) to serve as an advocate and liaison for the National Guard of each state, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands (the states and such areas) and inform such National Guards of all actions that could affect their federal or state missions, including any equipment level or force structure changes.
 
Requires the Chief to: (1) be a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with responsibility for advocating for the National Guards of the states and such areas; and (2) consult with state governors and adjutant generals before any changes are made in National Guard force structure or equipment levels.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to complete payments under such title to local educational agencies eligible for such payments within 3 fiscal years.

Bill: 111-s-3914
Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Amends title VIII (Impact Aid) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to complete Impact Aid payments to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) within three fiscal years of their appropriation. (The Impact Aid program compensates LEAs for the financial burden of federal activities affecting their school districts.)
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7811)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7811)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study and report on the impact on consumers of permitting an increase in the amount of ethanol blended with gasoline for use in gasoline-powered engines used in vehicles operated in interstate commerce, on public streets and roads, or offroad, appliances such as lawn mowers and other nonvehicular devices, and marine engines, and to require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study and report on any safety or reliability impact of such an increase on motor vehicle engines and fuel systems.

Bill: 111-s-3916
Sponsor: Sen. Hutchison, Kay Bailey [R-TX]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Air quality
Alternative and renewable resources
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Government studies and investigations
Motor fuels
Product safety and quality
Transportation safety and security

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to study and report to specified congressional committees on the potential impact on consumers of increasing the amount of ethanol blended with gasoline or other petroleum products for use as fuel for internal combustion engines.
 
Directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to study and report to specified congressional committees on whether the use of ethanol-gasoline blends of more than 10% by volume ethanol in motor vehicles will have an adverse impact on tailpipe emissions, exhaust temperatures, catalytic converters, and motor vehicle engine performance and durability.
 
Declares the sense of Congress that federal departments and agencies should withhold from approving any increase in the use of ethanol or ethanol-gasoline blends as fuel for internal combustion engines until 30 days after both such reports have been submitted.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7811)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act

Bill: 111-s-3917
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Electric power generation and transmission
Land transfers
Utah

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act - Requires the Secretary of the Interior, if the Strawberry Water Users Association conveys its interest, if any, in an electric distribution system to the South Utah Valley Electric Service District, and the District agrees to assume from the United States all liability for the administration, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the electric distribution system, to convey and assign to the District: (1) all interest of the United States in all fixtures owned by the United States as part of the electric distribution system and the federal lands and interests where the fixtures are located; (2) license for use of the shared power poles; and (3) a license for use and access to all Strawberry Valley Project land and interests in irrigation and power facilities lands on which the electric distribution system is located that are necessary for other Project facilities, including land underlying the Strawberry Substation, if the ownership of such underlying land or interest is retained by the United States, and any corridors in which federal land and interests are abutting public streets and roads and would provide access to those facilities. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to authorize the United States participation in, and appropriations for, the United States contribution to the ninth replenishment of the resources of the Asian Development Fund and the United States subscription to the fifth general capital increase of the Asian Development Bank.

Bill: 111-s-3918
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Asia
Cambodia
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Coal
Conflicts and wars
Congressional oversight
Electric power generation and transmission
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Environmental technology
Floods and storm protection
Food supply, safety, and labeling
Foreign loans and debt
Laos
Multilateral development programs
Oil and gas
Thailand
Vietnam
Water quality
Water use and supply
Watersheds

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Amends the Asian Development Bank Act to authorize the United States Governor of the Asian Development Bank to: (1) contribute on behalf of the United States to the ninth replenishment of the resources of the Asian Development Fund; and (2) subscribe on behalf of the United States to additional shares of the capital stock of the Bank.
 
Authorizes appropriations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to remove the gray wolf from the list of threatened species or the list of endangered species published under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes.

Bill: 111-s-3919
Sponsor: Sen. Hatch, Orrin G. [R-UT]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Animals
Subjects: Endangered and threatened species
Mammals

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Declares that the inclusion of the gray wolf on any list of endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 shall have no force or effect.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7811-7812)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to address national security threats and vulnerabilities that could undermine economic recovery and financial markets.

Bill: 111-s-3920
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Scott P. [R-MA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Budget deficits and national debt
Economic performance and conditions
Financial crises and stabilization

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Economic Security Defense Act of 2010 - Establishes a Security Threats to Financial Markets and Economic Recovery Commission to examine and report to Congress on security threats and vulnerabilities to the U.S. economic recovery and financial markets.
 
Requires the Commission to make legislative recommendations to Congress and the President designed to address: (1) potential threats to financial markets and economic recovery from both state and non-state actors; (2) vulnerabilities in financial markets that could be exploited and would result in major economic implications; (3) the divide between national security and economic concerns; and (4) national security vulnerabilities associated with current federal debt levels.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Furthering International Nuclear Safety Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3922
Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight
International organizations and cooperation
Nuclear power
Performance measurement

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Furthering International Nuclear Safety Act of 2010 - Directs The President to instruct the U.S. delegate to the Convention on Nuclear Safety to use U.S. influence to encourage: (1) parties to more systematically assess progress in improving nuclear safety and increase the number and public dissemination of related reports and other information; (2) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to further its support of the Convention; and (3) all countries that have or are considering the establishment of a civilian nuclear power program to formally join the Convention.
 
 Directs the Secretary of State to develop and submit to Congress the U.S. government's strategic plan for international nuclear safety cooperation for operating power reactors.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7813)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7812-7813)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Let the States Innovate on Sustainable Energy Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3923
Sponsor: Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alternative and renewable resources
Electric power generation and transmission
Public utilities and utility rates
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
 Let the States Innovate on Sustainable Energy Act of 2010 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to allow a state legislature or regulatory authority to set the rates for a sale of electric energy by a facility generating electric energy from renewable energy sources pursuant to a state-approved production incentive program under which the facility voluntarily sells electric energy and an electric utility is required to purchase such energy at a specified rate.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Public Accountability in Health Care Implementation Act

Bill: 111-s-3924
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
 Public Accountability in Health Care Implementation Act - Sets forth procedures for rules implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Requires a federal official responsible for issuance of a rule under PPACA to promulgate the final rule not later than: (1) 60 days after the termination of any specified comment period for the interim final rule, taking into account any comments received during such period; or (2) 90 days after such an interim final rule is issued if the federal official responsible fails to provide for such comment period, taking into account comments received during a subsequent comment period.
 
 Applies this Act to any interim final rule issued under PPACA prior to, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the 60-day and the 90-day periods for any interim final rules issued prior to enactment of this Act to commence upon enactment of this Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Pike National Historic Trail Study Act of 2010

Bill: 111-s-3926
Sponsor: Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Colorado
Historic sites and heritage areas
Kansas
Louisiana
Missouri
Nebraska
New Mexico
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Texas

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Pike National Historic Trail Study Act of 2010 - Amends the National Trails System Act to require a study for the designation of Pike's Trail, a series of routes that follow the route taken by Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike during the 1806-1807 Pike expedition that began in Fort Bellefontaine, Missouri, and ended in Natchitoches, Louisiana, as a national historic trail.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Establishment Act

Bill: 111-s-3927
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2010-09-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: California
Historic sites and heritage areas
Lakes and rivers

Summary:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: 
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Establishment Act - Establishes the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area in California.
 
Designates the Delta Protection Commission as the management entity for the Heritage Area.
 
Requires the Commission to submit a proposed management plan for the Heritage Area to the Secretary of the Interior for approval. 
 
Bars approval of the management plan until the Secretary has received certification from the Commission that the Delta Stewardship Council has reviewed such plan for consistency with the plan adopted by the Council pursuant to state law. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S7833)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7832-7833)
action_date: 2010-09-29
text: Introduced in Senate