hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Save Our Postal Worker Jobs Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1688
Sponsor: Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government trust funds
Postal service
U.S. Postal Service

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Save Our Postal Worker Jobs Act of 2011 - Prescribes the "average pay" to be used in determining annuities for civilian employment with the United States Postal Service (USPS) for purposes of provisions relating to future benefits attributable to such employment in order to calculate the amount of any USPS surplus or supplemental liability under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). 
 
Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM): (1) within six months after enactment of this Act, to determine (or, if applicable, redetermine) the amount of such surplus or liability as of the close of the most recently ending fiscal year using the methodology required under this Act; and (2) if the result is a surplus, to transfer the surplus amount to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund within 15 days after the determination of a surplus. 
 
Provides for an alternate determination of a USPS surplus or supplemental liability for FY2016-FY2020. 
 
Requires transfer of certain surplus postal retirement contributions in FY2011 to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund or the Employees' Compensation Fund under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. 
 
Expresses the intent of Congress that this Act shall apply to allocations of past, present, and future benefit liabilities between the USPS and the Treasury.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6463-6464)
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1689
Sponsor: Sen. Toomey, Patrick [R-PA]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Crime prevention
Crimes against women
Criminal investigation, prosecution, interrogation
Criminal justice information and records
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Government information and archives
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health personnel
Nursing
Sex offenses
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop and implement, by February 1, 2012, a centralized and comprehensive policy on reporting and tracking sexual assaults and other safety incidents at each medical facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including: (1) risk-assessment tools; (2) mandatory security training; (3) physical security precautions (surveillance camera systems and panic alarm systems); (4) criteria and guidance for employees communicating and reporting incidents to specified supervisory personnel, VA law enforcement officials, and the Office of Inspector General; (4) an oversight system within the Veterans Health Administration; (5) procedures for VA law enforcement officials investigating, tracking, and closing reported incidents; and (6) clinical guidance for treating sexual assaults reported over 72 hours after assault.
 
Requires the Secretary to: (1) submit an annual report to Congress on such incidents and policy implementation, and (2) prescribe applicable regulations.
 
 Repeals required annual reports concerning registered nurse staffing at VA health care facilities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1690
Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Arizona
Forests, forestry, trees
Land transfers
Land use and conservation
Mining
Parks, recreation areas, trails

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Northern Arizona Mining Continuity Act of 2011- Prohibits the extension, renewal, or issuance of a notice of segregation or withdrawal of the public lands and National Forest System lands (including a part of such land) identified in Public Land Order 7773 (concerning emergency withdrawal of such lands in Coconino and Mohave Counties, Arizona), except by an express authorization by Congress that refers to this Act. 
 
Prohibits any such notice from having any legal effect. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6464-6465)
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act

Bill: 112-s-1691
Sponsor: Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Firearms and explosives
Licensing and registrations
Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) allow licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors (licensees) to sell or deliver any firearm (currently, rifles or shotguns) to a resident of a state other than the state in which the licensee is located or temporarily located if the licensee meets with the purchaser to complete the sale or delivery and the transaction complies with the laws of the state in which the transfer is conducted and the purchaser's state of residence; and (2) eliminate the requirement that a licensee must conduct business at a gun show only in the state that is specified on the licensee's license. 
 
Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition: (1) between licensed firearms dealers at any location in any state; or (2) by a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to an unlicensed person at a temporary location in any state. 
 
Amends definitions for federal firearms provisions to: (1) revise the definition of a &quot;member of the Armed Forces on active duty&quot; to include a resident of the state in which the member maintains legal residence or in which the member maintains a place of abode from which he or she commutes each day to the permanent duty station, and (2) provide that an officer or employee of the United States (other than a member of the Armed Forces) stationed outside the United States for a period exceeding one year is a resident of the state in which the member maintains legal residence.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
County Payments Reauthorization Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1692
Sponsor: Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Forests, forestry, trees
Rural conditions and development
State and local finance
State and local taxation

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
County Payments Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Amends the Secure Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to establish, for FY2012 and each following fiscal year, an amount that is equal to 95% of the full funding amount used for the previous fiscal year to make secure payments to eligible states and counties that contain certain lands. 
 
Permits a resource advisory committee under the Act to propose using up to 10% of certain project funds of an eligible county for administrative expenses associated with that committee's operations. 
 
Keeps the annual percentage for FY2010-FY2011 in place under the merchantable timber contracting pilot program for the implementation of approved projects in participating counties involving the sale of merchantable timber using separate contracts through FY2016. 
 
Extends the Act's provisions through FY2016. 
 
Entitles counties or other eligible units of local government in which U.S.-owned entitlement land is located to certain payments under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program through FY2017. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S6465-6466)
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prevent the avoidance of tax by insurance companies through reinsurance with non-taxed affiliates.

Bill: 112-s-1693
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Corporate finance and management
Insurance industry and regulation
Life, casualty, property insurance
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the taxable income of a life insurance company or other insurance company: (1) any non-taxed reinsurance premium; (2) any additional amount paid by an insurance company with respect to the reinsurance for which such non-taxed reinsurance premium is paid; and (3) any return premium, ceding commission, reinsurance recovered, or other amount received by an insurance company with respect to the reinsurance for which such non-taxed reinsurance premium is paid. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Defense Cost-Type Contracting Reform Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-1694
Sponsor: Sen. McCain, John [R-AZ]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Department of Defense
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Defense Cost-Type Contracting Reform Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to modify Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition regulations to prohibit the DOD from entering into cost-type contracts for the production of certain major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs).
 
Amends the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 to expand the conditions required to be met before the Milestone Decision Authority may authorize a cost-type contract for development of certain MDAPs. Requires such conditions to include additional written determinations that: (1) all reasonable efforts have been made to define the requirements sufficiently to allow for the use of a fixed-price contract for such development; and (2) the DOD, despite these efforts, cannot define requirements sufficiently to allow for the use of such a fixed-price contract.
 
Requires the Secretary, at least 30 days before issuing a solicitation for the development of an MDAP, to submit to Congress a notice of the proposed award including the written determinations required under such Act and the reasons supporting the determinations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act

Bill: 112-s-1695
Sponsor: Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Broadcasting, cable, digital technologies
Consumer affairs
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Government studies and investigations
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Telephone and wireless communication

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act - Requires a person selling advanced wireless mobile broadband service (4G service or a successor technology) directly to a consumer to prominently, clearly, and accurately disclose service terms and conditions in marketing materials and upon sale. 
Excludes from such requirements transactions in which the consumer receives a device allowing access to a specified quantity of prepaid advanced wireless mobile broadband service when the average consumer would not expect the selling agents to have expertise regarding the terms and conditions. Directs a person: (1) packaging such prepaid service for ultimate sale to consumers to accurately and clearly display the terms and conditions on all marketing materials and packaging, and (2) selling wholesale service to another person for ultimate sale to consumers to disclose the information necessary to permit such other person to comply with this Act.
 
Sets forth required disclosures including: (1) the guaranteed minimum transmit and receive data rates for Internet protocol packets, (2) reliability ratings, (3) service-based pricing, (4) network management policies, (5) utilized technology services, and (6) a website showing complete terms of service and coverage area maps.
 
Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) promulgate implementing regulations, and (2) set minimum signal strength and data rates for a location to be within the coverage area of such service.
 
Directs the FCC to complete an annual study evaluating the speed and pricing of advanced wireless mobile broadband service offered in the United States by the 10 largest service providers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Dairy and Sheep H-2A Act

Bill: 112-s-1697
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Department of Labor
Foreign labor
Housing industry and standards
Immigration status and procedures
Labor standards
Migrant, seasonal, agricultural labor
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Dairy and Sheep H-2A Act or the DASH Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include within the H-2A nonimmigrant visa category (temporary agricultural workers) an alien coming temporarily to the United States to work as a sheepherder, goat herder, or dairy worker. 
 
Provides: (1) for a three-year initial period of admission with additional three-year extensions, and (2) that no period of U.S. absence may be required for approval of such extensions.
 
Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue housing regulations for such workers.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Enemy Expatriation Act

Bill: 112-s-1698
Sponsor: Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I. [ID-CT]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Citizenship and naturalization
Conflicts and wars

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Enemy Expatriation Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include engaging in or purposefully and materially supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which U.S. nationals would lose their nationality.
 
Defines &quot;hostilities&quot; as any conflict subject to the laws of war.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Act

Bill: 112-s-1699
Sponsor: Sen. Kohl, Herb [D-WI]
Introduced: 2011-10-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health personnel
Home and outpatient care
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Medicaid
Medicare
Military medicine
Prescription drugs
Public contracts and procurement
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: 
Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program requiring a manufacturer to provide a rebate to the Secretary for drugs or biologicals furnished under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).
 
Requires the Secretary to negotiate a contract with a manufacturer to establish the amount of payment under Medicare part B for any drug or biological for which the Medicare part B program is the majority purchaser.
 
Requires that payment for both a drug or biological functionally equivalent to another drug or biological and that other drug or biological to be the same as for the least costly of them.
 
Directs the Secretary of HHS to study physician reimbursement for drugs and biologicals furnished under Medicare part B.
 
Imposes on a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) specified fiduciary duties to the head of each federal agency with which the PBM contracts.
 
Requires the Secretary to develop a form for use by physicians and practitioners to certify that any off-label use (not approved by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA]) for which an applicable drug is prescribed under Medicare is for a medically accepted indication.
 
Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) include among &quot;340B&quot; program-covered entities (permitted to buy outpatient drugs at significant discounts) the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE); and (2) direct the Secretary to establish a mechanism to ensure that a manufacturer does not pay a duplicate discount with respect to a drug subject to a 340B program agreement if the PACE program receives any rebate (including any negotiated price concessions) for the drug under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program).
 
Makes an organization offering prescription drug coverage eligible to receive from the Secretary 10% of the estimated annual savings to the federal government as a result of the organization's participation in the drug discount program under the Public Health Service Act.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-10-12
text: Introduced in Senate
Medical Device Regulatory Improvement Act

Bill: 112-s-1700
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2011-10-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Congressional oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Government ethics and transparency, public corruption
Government studies and investigations
Health technology, devices, supplies

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: 
Medical Device Regulatory Improvement Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in determining the least burdensome appropriate means of evaluating device effectiveness, to: (1) not request information unrelated or irrelevant to demonstration of reasonable assurance of device safety and effectiveness; (2) consider alternative approaches to evaluating device safety and effectiveness; (3) use all reasonable mechanisms to lessen review times and render regulatory decisions; (4) determine whether pre-clinical data can meet the statutory threshold for approval; and (5) utilize, whenever practicable, alternatives to randomized, controlled clinical trials if clinical data are needed.
 
Requires the Secretary, in determining the least burdensome means of determining substantial equivalence, to: (1) focus on whether the device has the same intended use as the predicate device and is as safe and effective as a legally marketed device, (2) not request or accept information unrelated or irrelevant to the substantial equivalence evaluation, (3) review the labeling of the device to assess the intended use of the device and not evaluate issues that do not present a major impact on the intended use as set forth in the labeling, (4) consider alternative approaches to evaluating substantial equivalence, and (5) use all reasonable mechanisms to lessen review times and render regulatory decisions.
 
Repeals conflict-of-interest provisions that are specific to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and provides for the continued applicability of conflict-of-interest provisions otherwise applicable to advisory committees, federal employees, and special government employees.
 
Requires the Secretary to contract with an eligible entity for a review of the management and regulatory processes at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to provide that the rules of the Environmental Protection Agency entitled "National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines" have no force or effect with respect to existing stationary compression and spark ignition reciprocating internal combustion engines operated by certain persons and entities for the purpose of generating electricity or operating a water pump.

Bill: 112-s-1702
Sponsor: Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Introduced: 2011-10-13 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Agricultural equipment and machinery
Air quality
Electric power generation and transmission
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Public utilities and utility rates
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: 
Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in implementing the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule, with respect to any farm, to require certification of compliance with such rule by: (1) a professional engineer for a farm with an individual tank with a storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, an aggregate storage capacity of at least 42,000 gallons, or a history that includes a spill; or (2) the owner or operator of the farm (via self-certification) for a farm with an aggregate storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less than 42,000 gallons and no history of spills. Exempts from all requirements of such rule any farm with an aggregate storage capacity of at least 10,000 gallons and no history of spills.
 
Excludes all containers on separate parcels that have a capacity that is less than 1,320 gallons from the aggregate storage capacity of a farm.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2011-10-13
text: Introduced in Senate