hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Congressional Foreign Travel Reform Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-882
Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Timothy V. [R-IL-15]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Congressional officers and employees
Congressional operations and organization
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government information and archives
House of Representatives
International monetary system and foreign exchange
Legislative rules and procedure
Members of Congress
Senate
Transportation costs
Travel and tourism

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
Congressional Foreign Travel Reform Act of 2011 - Authorizes the House of Representatives and the Senate to obtain local currencies of foreign nations to provide a per diem allowance to a Member, officer, or employee of each chamber on official foreign travel, if the individual obtains an authorization to receive such an allowance from the appropriate specified congressional officer or committee chairman.
 
Limits such local currency to up to the equivalent of $75 per day per person, or the authorized maximum per diem allowance for federal employees while traveling in a foreign country, whichever is greater, exclusive of the actual cost of transportation.
 
Prohibits any Member or employee of the House from undertaking any official foreign travel unless, within 14 days before and within 14 days after such travel, the individual prepares and makes available for public inspection a specified statement containing certain travel-related information.
 
Prohibits a vacation stopover for annual leave at any point during official foreign travel.
 
Specifies restrictions on official foreign travel by Member and House committee employees, except travel to a military installation or to a theater of operations of the Armed Forces.
 
Requires Members of the House and employees who undertake official foreign travel to: (1) take necessary actions to reduce travel costs, and (2) return any per diem remaining unexpended at conclusion of the travel.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
Adult Day Achievement Center Enhancement Act

Bill: 112-hr-883
Sponsor: Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-9]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Families
Subjects: Adult day care
Disability and paralysis
Health programs administration and funding
Neurological disorders
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
Adult Day Achievement Center Enhancement Act - Requires the Assistant Secretary for Aging to initiate a comprehensive survey of current adult day programs that provide care and support to individuals living with neurological diseases or conditions such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or traumatic brain injury. Requires the Assistant Secretary to identify ongoing successful adult day programs and develop a set of best practices to help guide the establishment and replication of additional successful adult day programs.
 Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a competitive grant program for awarding grants annually to fund adult day programs. 
Defines an &quot;adult day program&quot; as a program that provides comprehensive and effective care and support services to individuals living with neurological diseases or conditions and to their family caregivers and that may assist participants in ways that: (1) maintain or improve their functional abilities or otherwise help them adjust to their changing functional abilities; (2) prevent the onset of complications associated with severe forms of the disease or condition; (3) promote alternatives to placement in nursing homes; (4) reduce the strain on family caregivers taking care of a family member living with such diseases or conditions; (5) focus on supporting the emotional, social, and intellectual needs of a younger adult population; or (6) address the needs of veterans living with such diseases or conditions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
District of Columbia Fiscal Year 2011 Local Funds Continuation Act

Bill: 112-hr-884
Sponsor: Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Appropriations
District of Columbia
State and local finance

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
District of Columbia Fiscal Year 2011 Local Funds Continuation Act - Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 to authorize the District of Columbia to continue to expend local funds for certain programs and activities through FY2011.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act

Bill: 112-hr-885
Sponsor: Rep. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD-8]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Area studies and international education
Earth sciences
Education programs funding
Educational technology and distance education
Elementary and secondary education
Geography and mapping
Higher education
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a geography education grant program under title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement).
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award a grant to a national nonprofit educational organization or consortium, with 75% to be used for matching subgrants to institutions of higher education associated with state geographic alliances, nonprofit educational organizations, or state or local educational agencies.
 
Requires program participants to use their grants and subgrants to enhance the geographic literacy of students in kindergarten through grade 12 by supporting specified activities, including: (1) educational research; (2) teacher training; (3) the development of effective teaching tools and learning materials; (4) the application of rigorous academic standards and assessment techniques; (5) comparative studies of world cultures, economies, and environments; and (6) the exchange of information regarding the state of geographic literacy and strategies for its improvement.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-21
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to submit a report on Indian land fractionation, and for other purposes.

Bill: 112-hr-887
Sponsor: Rep. Young, Don [R-AK-At Large]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Federal-Indian relations
Government liability
Indian lands and resources rights
Legal fees and court costs

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to report to Congress on: (1) Indian land fractionation; (2) the Secretary's plan for consolidating highly fractionated Indian lands pursuant to the Indian Land Consolidation Act and the Class Action Settlement Agreement dated December 7, 2009, in the case entitled 
Elouise Cobell et al. v. Ken Salazar et al.
; and (3) any alternative to that plan that meets specified conditions. (Indian land fractionation occurs when lands allotted to Indian individuals and their families, and held in trust by the federal government, passes to succeeding generations of heirs through intestate succession.)
 
Caps the total amount that may be awarded for legal fees and costs in the Class Action Settlement Agreement cited above.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-04-05
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
action_date: 2011-03-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
To amend title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies that educate alien children admitted to the United States as citizens of one of the Freely Associated States.

Bill: 112-hr-888
Sponsor: Del. Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [D-GU-At Large]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Oceania
Palau

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
Amends the Impact Aid program (which compensates local educational agencies [LEAs] for the financial burden of federal activities affecting their areas) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to compensate LEAs for educating children who are admitted into this country as citizens of one of the Freely Associated States (the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-21
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E404)
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-889
Sponsor: Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30]
Introduced: 2011-03-02 in the House
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Research administration and funding
Science and engineering education
Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination
Teaching, teachers, curricula
Women's employment
Women's rights

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: 
 Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Act of 2011 - Defines a "federal science agency" as any federal agency responsible for at least 2% of total federal research and development funding to institutions of higher education (IHEs), according to National Science Foundation (NSF) data. 
 
Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop a policy for federal science agencies to carry out a program of workshops that educate specified federally funded researchers about methods that minimize the effects of gender bias in the evaluation of federal research grants and in the related academic advancement of the recipients of these grants. 
 
Authorizes federal science agencies to make grants to eligible organizations to carry out workshops. 
 
Requires OSTP to support at least one workshop every two years among the federal science agencies in the major science and engineering disciplines. 
 
Requires the Director to develop a policy to extend research grant support and provide interim technical support for federally funded researchers who are caregivers. 
 
Requires federal science agencies to collect specified standardized annual data for all applications for research and development grants to IHEs and to submit the data collected to the NSF. 
 
 Requires NSF to report statistical summary data on the demographics of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) faculty at IHEs in the United States and report to Congress on how NSF will gather such data.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-02
text: Introduced in House
Stop Asian Carp Act

Bill: 112-hr-892
Sponsor: Rep. Camp, Dave [R-MI-4]
Introduced: 2011-03-03 in the House
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Aquatic ecology
Fishes
Floods and storm protection
Government studies and investigations
Great Lakes
Hydrology and hydrography
Illinois
Indiana
Lakes and rivers
Marine and inland water transportation
Mississippi River
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: 
Stop Asian Carp Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to study the watersheds of the Illinois, Chicago, and Calumet Rivers, including their tributaries, that drain directly into Lake Michigan to determine the feasibility and best means of implementing the hydrologic separation of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basins to prevent the introduction or establishment of populations of aquatic nuisance species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins through the Chicago Area Water System (CAWS) and other aquatic pathways.

Requires the study to: (1) include options to address flooding, Chicago wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, waterway safety operations, and barge and recreational vessel traffic alternatives; and (2) contain a detailed analysis of the environmental benefits and costs of each option.

Directs: (1) the Secretary to carry out this Act at full federal cost; and (2) the President, or the Council on Environmental Quality as a designee to the President, to oversee the study to ensure its thoroughness and timely completion.

Requires the Director of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to: (1) monitor and survey all waters that connect to the Great Lakes Basin or could connect to it due to flooding, underground hydrological connection, or human-made diversion to identify additional threats that could allow Asian Carp to enter the Basin; and (2) prioritize each threat and help identify means to impede the passage of Asian Carp to the Basin.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs.
action_date: 2011-03-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
action_date: 2011-03-04
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 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: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
To provide for the issuance and sale of a semipostal by the United States Postal Service for the fight against colorectal cancer.

Bill: 112-hr-893
Sponsor: Rep. Dent, Charles W. [R-PA-15]
Introduced: 2011-03-03 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Cancer
Health programs administration and funding
Medical research
Postal service
Research administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: 
Directs the United States Postal Service to issue and sell a semipostal (a postage stamp sold at a premium to help providing funding for a cause) the proceeds of which shall be allocated to the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program and the National Institutes of Health for colorectal cancer research and to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for colorectal cancer control programs.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-15
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Readiness.
action_date: 2011-03-08
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Armed Services, 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: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Armed Services, 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: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Armed Services, 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: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-894
Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2011-03-03 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Child health
Government information and archives
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Medical research
Research administration and funding
Sex and reproductive health
State and local government operations
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: 
Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to states for: (1) mandatory reporting to the state department of health by health care providers and other entities of pregnancy-related deaths; (2) establishment of a state maternal mortality review committee on pregnancy-related deaths occurring within such state; (3) implementation and use of the comprehensive case abstraction form by such committee to preserve the uniformity of the information collected; and (4) annual public disclosure of committee findings.
 
Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to: (1) organize a national workshop to identify definitions for severe maternal morbidity and make recommendations for a research plan to identify and monitor such morbidity in the United States; and (2) develop uniform definitions of severe maternal morbidity, a research plan, and possible data collection protocols to assist states in identifying and monitoring such cases.
 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to carry out specified research and demonstration activities to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-11
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
Sudan Cessation of Support for the Lord's Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-895
Sponsor: Rep. Royce, Edward R. [R-CA-40]
Introduced: 2011-03-03 in the House
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Africa
Sanctions
Sudan
Terrorism
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: 
Sudan Cessation of Support for the Lord's Resistance Army Certification Act of 2011 - Provides for the continuation of restrictions against the Republic of Sudan as a state sponsor of terror unless the President certifies to Congress that Sudan is no longer engaged in training, harboring, supplying, financing, or supporting the Lord's Resistance Army, its leader Joseph Kony, or his top commanders.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.
action_date: 2011-03-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
Medical Justice Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-896
Sponsor: Rep. Burgess, Michael C. [R-TX-26]
Introduced: 2011-03-03 in the House
Policy area: Law
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Evidence and witnesses
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Judicial procedure and administration
Legal fees and court costs

Summary:
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: 
Medical Justice Act of 2011 - Sets forth provisions regulating civil actions for an injury or death as the result of health care.
 
Sets forth limits on: (1) the non-economic damages that an individual may recover from health care practitioners and health care institutions, and (2) the total damages that a person may recover from any single liable health care practitioner.
 
Declares that an insurer of a health care practitioner or health care institution that rejects a reasonable settlement offer within policy limits is not, by reason of such rejection, liable for damages in excess of the liability of the insured.
 
Sets forth requirements for qualified expert reports.
 
Allows periodic or accrual payment for future damages.
 
Prohibits a jury from awarding punitive or exemplary damages against a health care practitioner or health care institution unless the jury is unanimous.
 
Makes each person liable only for a proportionate share of the total damages that directly corresponds to that person's responsibility.
 
Makes a person liable for litigation costs incurred after rejection of a settlement offer if such person receives a judgment at trial that is significantly less favorable than the terms of the settlement offer.
 
Sets forth a time frame within which claims related to any health care act or omission must be brought. 
 
Makes a health care practitioner or health care institution that provides emergency health care on a Good Samaritan basis immune from liability for damages caused by that care, except for willful or wanton negligence or more culpable misconduct.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-03-21
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-03-03
text: Introduced in House