hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Great Lakes Short Sea Shipping Enhancement Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1509
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2009-07-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Canada
Great Lakes
Marine and inland water transportation
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Saint Lawrence Seaway
Sales and excise taxes
Transportation costs

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: 
Great Lakes Short Sea Shipping Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the harbor maintenance tax commercial cargo (other than bulk cargo) loaded or unloaded at U.S. ports in the Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System. Defines the &quot;Great Lakes Saint Lawrence Seaway System&quot; as the waterway between Duluth, Minnesota, and Sept Iles, Quebec, Canada, encompassing the five Great Lakes, their connecting channels, and the Saint Lawrence River. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Supporting ColoRectal Examination and Education Now (SCREEN) Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1511
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2009-07-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Cancer
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Medicaid
Medical education
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Minority health

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: 
Supporting ColoRectal Examination and Education Now (SCREEN) Act of 2009 - Declares the sense of Congress that colorectal cancer screening tests and the provisions of this Act should be included as part of any basic benefit package in any legislation that may be enacted to provide health insurance coverage, public or private, to persons under age 65. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to states and Indian tribes for colorectal health programs.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a program to notify all beneficiaries annually about coverage of colorectal cancer screening tests under title XVII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA).
 
Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid), as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to require any state Medicaid plan that includes colorectal cancer screening tests to provide for a program to notify individuals at risk for colon cancer, including high-risk minorities, who are over an appropriate age, of the availability of medical assistance for colorectal cancer screening tests.
 
Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to eliminate coinsurance for colorectal cancer screening tests. 
 
Prescribes annual reporting requirements under the Medicare Advantage program with regard to colorectal cancer screening tests.
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a national minimum standard for basic knowledge, training, continuing education, and documentation for suppliers who furnish colorectal cancer screening tests; (2) determine age-based goal rates for such tests; and (3) establish an upward preventive service payment modifier for qualifying tests furnished on or after January 1, 2010, which reflects the Secretary's annual determination of the appropriate amount of additional payment sufficient to increase the rate of colorectal cancer screening tests.
 
Extends Medicare coverage to an office visit or consultation prior to a qualifying screening colonoscopy. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Nurse Training and Retention Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1512
Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2009-07-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Education programs funding
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Medical education
Nursing
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: 
Nurse Training and Retention Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a partnership grant program to award matching grants to eligible entities to carry out comprehensive programs to provide education to nurses and create a pipeline to nursing for incumbent ancillary health care workers who wish to advance their careers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8043-8044)
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8042)
action_date: 2009-07-23
text: Introduced in Senate
Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Implementation Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1514
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2009-07-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Arctic Ocean
Arctic and polar regions
Canada
International law and treaties
International organizations and cooperation
Marine and inland water transportation
Marine pollution
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Russia
Transportation safety and security
Water quality

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: 
Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment Implementation Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to work through the International Maritime Organization to establish agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, Russia, Canada, and other seafaring and Arctic nations to ensure in the Arctic: (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation; (2) appropriate icebreaking escort, tug, and salvage capabilities; (3) oil spill prevention and response capability; (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel tracking; and (5) search and rescue.
 
Directs the Committee on the Maritime Transportation System to coordinate the establishment of domestic transportation policies in the Arctic necessary to carry out this Act.
 
Authorizes the Secretary, subject to the availability of appropriations, to enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, or make grants to, individuals and governments to carry out this Act or any agreements.
 
Directs the Secretary to promote safe commercial maritime navigation by means of icebreaking when necessary.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to enter into such agreements or contracts with, or make such grants to, individuals to conduct demonstration projects to reduce emissions or discharges from vessels operating in the Arctic.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize funds to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services specific to the Arctic for safe navigation, delineating the United States extended continental shelf, and the monitoring and description of coastal changes.

Bill: 111-s-1515
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2009-07-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Arctic Ocean
Department of Commerce
Executive agency funding and structure
Hydrology and hydrography
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: 
Amends the Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations to the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for FY2011-FY2012: (1) to acquire hydrographic data, provide hydrographic services, and conduct coastal change analyses necessary to ensure safe navigation, and to improve the management of coastal change in the Arctic; and (2) to acquire hydrographic data and provide hydrographic services in the Arctic necessary to delineate the U.S. extended continental shelf.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Democracy Restoration Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1516
Sponsor: Sen. Feingold, Russell D. [D-WI]
Introduced: 2009-07-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Voting rights

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: 
 Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 - Declares that the right of a U.S. citizen to vote in any election for federal office shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense unless, at the time of the election, such individual is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution or facility. Provides for enforcement and remedies for violations of this Act.
 
Specifies that: (1) nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a state from enacting any state law that affords the right to vote in any election for federal office on terms less restrictive than those terms established by this Act; and (2) the rights and remedies established by this Act shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and shall not supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 
Prohibits any state, unit of local government, or other person from receiving or using any federal grant amounts to construct or improve a place of incarceration unless that person has a program to notify each U.S. citizen incarcerated in that person's jurisdiction, on release from such incarceration, of that individual's rights under this Act.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8096-8097)
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8095-8096)
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Domestic Energy Security Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1517
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2009-07-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alabama
Alaska
Arctic Ocean
Arctic and polar regions
Caribbean area
Cuba
Energy revenues and royalties
Florida
Gulf of Mexico
Indian lands and resources rights
Latin America
Licensing and registrations
Louisiana
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Mississippi
Oil and gas
Pipelines
Sanctions
Texas
Trade restrictions
Travel and tourism

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: 
Domestic Energy Security Act of 2009 - Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to: (1) prohibit the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) from offering, until June 30, 2022, any oil and gas exploration lease in the Eastern Planning Area of the Gulf of Mexico that is within 45 miles of the coastline of Florida. (The current leasing moratorium prohibits leasing activities within 125 miles of such coastline.)
 
Authorizes the Secretary to offer for leasing specified areas currently under moratorium.
 
Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to: (1) instruct the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to recommend to the President whether certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf (OCS) should remain under energy exploration restrictions; and (2) authorize the DOD Secretary to offer for leasing any areas made available for leasing under this Act.
 
Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit specified OCS revenues into a special account in the Treasury for disbursement to Gulf producing states.
 

 
Prescribes revenue sharing from OCS areas in certain coastal states, including coastal political subdivisions of states and areas in the Alaska Adjacent Zone.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to require oil transportation by pipeline in Arctic waters.
 
Authorizes: (1) all transactions necessary for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction from any foreign Exclusive Economic Zone contiguous to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone; and (2) exportation without license authority of all equipment necessary for hydrocarbon exploration or extraction.
 
Amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to instruct the Secretary of the Treasury to authorize under a general license specified travel-related transactions for travel to, from, or within Cuba in connection with hydrocarbon resources exploration in any part of a foreign maritime Exclusive Economic Zone that is contiguous to the United States' Exclusive Economic Zone.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-07-24
text: Introduced in Senate
Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1518
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2009-07-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Cancer
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Hospital care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Military facilities and property
Military personnel and dependents
North Carolina
Veterans' medical care
Water quality

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: 
Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act of 2009 - Provides hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care to veterans and family members who were stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, while the water there was contaminated by volatile organic compounds, including known human carcinogens and probable human carcinogens, for any illness.
 



Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-10-21
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 111-264.
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8136)
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to grant a Federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated.

Bill: 111-s-1520
Sponsor: Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD]
Introduced: 2009-07-27 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Federally chartered organizations
General Native American affairs matters
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: 
Grants a federal charter to the National American Indian Veterans, Incorporated (a nonprofit corporation organized in the United States). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2009-07-27
text: Introduced in Senate
IMPROVE Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1521
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Medicaid
Medicare

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
Improving Medicare-Medicaid Payment Policy for Reimbursement through Oversight and Efficiency Act of 2009 or the IMPROVE Act of 2009 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require provider and supplier payments under Medicare and Medicaid to be made through direct deposit or electronic funds transfer (EFT) at depository institutions that are federally insured or eligibile for federal insurance.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1522
Sponsor: Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Aging
Health care coverage and access
Health facilities and institutions
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Medicare
Mental health
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow as partial hospitalization services nutritional planning, meals, and transportation.
 
Directs the Secretary of Heatlh and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Behavioral Health Advisory Committee to address issues relating to: (1) discrimination against the chronically mentally ill, elderly, and U.S. veterans as it relates to receiving treatment for mental illness; and (2) the establishment of conditions of participation for community mental health centers that provide partial hospitalization services under the Medicare program.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act

Bill: 111-s-1523
Sponsor: Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Homelessness and emergency shelter
Housing and community development funding
Performance measurement

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
Services for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Administrator of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to design national strategies for providing services in supportive housing that will assist in ending chronic homelessness and to implement programs that address chronic homelessness.
 
Requires the Secretary to make matching grants to eligible entities to provide services that promote recovery and self-sufficiency and that address barriers to housing stability to chronically homeless individuals and families in, or who are scheduled to become residents of, permanent supportive housing and to other individuals and families who have voluntarily chosen to seek other housing opportunities after a period of tenancy in supportive housing.
 
Directs the Secretary to require grantees to report data regarding the performance outcomes of projects carried out under this Act, which shall include measuring and reporting specific performance outcomes related to the long-term goals of: (1) increasing stability within the community for individuals and families who have been chronically homeless; and (2) decreasing recurrence of periods of homelessness.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
National Capital Region Land Conservation Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1525
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: District of Columbia
Farmland
Fishes
Forests, forestry, trees
Historic sites and heritage areas
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Maryland
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Sports and recreation facilities
Urban and suburban affairs and development
Virginia
Watersheds
West Virginia
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
National Capital Region Land Conservation Act of 2009 - Amends the Capper-Cramton Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service (NPS), to make grants to Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia and their political subdivisions (the covered states and covered local governments) for assistance in acquiring lands and interests therein that affect or are within the National Capital region and will be used for: (1) parks; (2) open space; (3) green space corridors that link public lands, lands subject to conservation restrictions, or a combination of such lands; (4) agriculture; (5) forests; (6) fish and wildlife habitat; (7) watershed protection; (8) historic preservation; (9) sensitive environmental area protection; and (10) public recreation. 
 
Bars the use of any land and interest acquired through the assistance of such a grant for a purpose other than a purpose specified above. 
 
Limits grant amounts to 50% of the total cost of the acquisition the grant will assist, including costs related to purchase price, appraisal, survey, title clearance, and closing. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to covered states, covered local governments, and nonprofits to plan and evaluate acquisitions eligible for a grant for assistance under this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
No Firearms for Foreign Felons Act of 2009

Bill: 111-s-1526
Sponsor: Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Domestic violence and child abuse
Firearms and explosives

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
No Firearms for Foreign Felons Act of 2009 - Amends the federal criminal code to prevent any individual convicted of a felony or crime of domestic violence in a foreign court from possessing a firearm in the United States.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8201)
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8201)
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Unsafe Meat and Poultry Recall Act

Bill: 111-s-1527
Sponsor: Sen. Udall, Tom [D-NM]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Food supply, safety, and labeling
Meat

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
Unsafe Meat and Poultry Recall Act - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to: (1) direct a person (other than a household consumer or other exempted person) who believes a meat or poultry product that such person handled is adulterated or misbranded to notify the Secretary of Agriculture; (2) direct the Secretary, upon a determination of a public health risk from such adulteration or misbranding, to permit the person to voluntarily provide handler notification, cease distribution, recall such product, and provide consumer notice; and (3) authorize the Secretary, in the case of noncompliance, to require that the person take such actions (other than consumer notice which shall be provided by the Secretary). 
 
Defines &quot;person&quot; as any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other business unit.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8202)
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate
Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission Act

Bill: 111-s-1528
Sponsor: Sen. Feingold, Russell D. [D-WI]
Introduced: 2009-07-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional operations and organization
Congressional oversight
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information

Summary:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: 
Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission Act - Establishes in the legislative branch a Foreign Intelligence and Information Commission to undertake certain evaluations, and provide recommendations, relating to the collection, reporting, and analysis of foreign intelligence and information. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence.
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8202-8203)
action_date: 2009-07-28
text: Introduced in Senate