hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Don't Default on Military Families Act

Bill: 112-hr-2654
Sponsor: Rep. Ellison, Keith [D-MN-5]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Appropriations
Budget deficits and national debt
Consumer credit
Defense spending
Department of Defense
Executive agency funding and structure
Housing finance and home ownership
Military personnel and dependents
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
Don't Default on Military Families Act - Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to, during a funding gap affecting the Armed Forces: (1) require a court order to evict a servicemember (or dependents) from a primary residence during a period of the servicemember's military service (currently, such a court order is required only when monthly rent for the residence is below a specified amount); (2) bar subjecting such premises to distress; and (3) prohibit, after a servicemember enters military service, rescinding or terminating a contract for the purchase, lease, or bailment of real or personal property for a breach occurring before or during that person's military service (currently, such protections apply only when a servicemember pays a deposit or installment before entering military service).
 
Modifies existing requirements for staying proceedings, adjusting obligations, or selling, foreclosing, or seizing property for a breach of obligation when an underlying mortgage or other secured interest on real or personal property originates before a funding gap that is the cause of such actions (currently, such protections apply only when the obligations originated before the period of the servicemember's military service).
 
 Prohibits a servicemember's failure or delay to make a mortgage payment (without regard to other considerations) from providing a basis for an adverse credit report if in good faith such servicemember notifies the creditor that such a funding gap is the cause of the failed or delayed payment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2655
Sponsor: Rep. Gerlach, Jim [R-PA-6]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Economic development
Financial services and investments
Income tax credits
Inflation and prices

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend the new markets tax credit through 2016, (2) provide for an inflation adjustment to the limitation amount for such credit after 2012, and (3) allow an offset against the alternative minimum tax (AMT) for such credit (determined with respect to qualified equity investments made before January 1, 2017). 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act

Bill: 112-hr-2657
Sponsor: Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-18]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Crimes against animals and natural resources
Legal fees and court costs
Outdoor recreation
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act - Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to prohibit the use or possession of body-gripping traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System. 
 
Imposes on persons who possess or use such traps in the System: (1) for a first offense, a civil fine of up to $500 for each body-gripping trap possessed or used; and (2) for subsequent offenses, a civil fine of up to $1,000 for each body-gripping trap possessed or used, imprisonment for up to 180 days, or both such a civil fine and imprisonment. 
 
Makes any body-gripping traps that are possessed or used in violation of this Act, and any wildlife captured by the use of such traps, including the pelts and raw fur, subject to civil forfeiture. 
 
Requires persons found to be in violation of such prohibition to pay all associated court costs. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-28
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
Access to Birth Control Act

Bill: 112-hr-2659
Sponsor: Rep. Maloney, Carolyn B. [D-NY-14]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Civil actions and liability
Family planning and birth control
Health care coverage and access
Health technology, devices, supplies

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
Access to Birth Control Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to contraceptives, including: (1) providing a customer a contraceptive without delay if it is in stock; (2) immediately informing a customer if the contraceptive is not in stock and either transferring the prescription to a pharmacy that has the contraceptive in stock or expediting the ordering of the contraceptive and notifying the customer when it arrives, based on customer preference, except for pharmacies that do not ordinarily stock contraceptives in the normal course of business; and (3) ensuring that pharmacy employees do not take certain actions relating to a request for contraception, including intimidating, threatening, or harassing customers, interfering with or obstructing the delivery of services, intentionally misrepresenting or deceiving customers about the availability of contraception or its mechanism of action, breaching or threatening to breach medical confidentiality, or refusing to return a valid, lawful prescription. 
 
Provides that a pharmacy is not prohibited from refusing to provide a contraceptive to a customer if: (1) it is unlawful to dispense the contraceptive to the customer without a valid, lawful prescription and no such prescription is presented; (2) the customer is unable to pay for the contraceptive; or (3) the employee of the pharmacy refuses to provide the contraceptive on the basis of a professional clinical judgment.
 
Provides that this Act does not preempt state law or any professional obligation of a state board that provides greater protections for customers.
 
Sets forth civil penalties and establishes a a private cause of action for violations of this Act. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1411)
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to waive the requirement to report the arrival at any port or place within the United States of a vessel of Canada if the vessel does not anchor or dock at any harbor within the customs territory of the United States.

Bill: 112-hr-2661
Sponsor: Rep. Owens, William L. [D-NY-23]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Business records
Canada
Marine and inland water transportation
Navigation, waterways, harbors

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to waive the requirement that Canadian vessels report immediately to the nearest customs facility upon arrival at any U.S. port or place or the Virgin Islands if, in fact, they do not anchor or dock at any harbor within the U.S. customs territory.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
Health Equity Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2662
Sponsor: Rep. Ribble, Reid J. [R-WI-8]
Introduced: 2011-07-26 in the House
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Employee benefits and pensions
Employment taxes
Health care costs and insurance
Income tax exclusion
Physical fitness and lifestyle

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: 
Health Equity Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax deduction allowed to self-employed individuals for health insurance costs; (2) allow a new tax deduction for the health care insurance costs of a taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, and dependents; and (3) expand the tax deduction for medical expenses to include costs for a membership in a fitness program or athletic club, fitness equipment, or weight loss program up to $1,200 in a taxable year and allow tax-free reimbursements for such expenses up to $1,200 a year under flexible spending arrangements and health reimbursement arrangements.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-26
text: Introduced in House
America Pays Its Bills Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2663
Sponsor: Rep. Welch, Peter [D-VT-At Large]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Budget deficits and national debt

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
America Pays Its Bills Act of 2011 - Increases the statutory limit on the public debt from $14.294 trillion to $16.7 trillion.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Reauthorization of Water Desalination Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2664
Sponsor: Rep. Napolitano, Grace F. [D-CA-38]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Alternative and renewable resources
Energy research
Environmental technology
Research and development
Water quality
Water resources funding
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Reauthorization of Water Desalination Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to operate, manage, and maintain facilities to carry out research, development, and demonstration activities to develop technologies and methods that promote brackish groundwater desalination as a viable method to increase water supply in a cost-effective manner. Includes among such activities: (1) the development of renewable energy technologies for integration with desalination technologies to reduce the capital and operation costs, and minimize the environmental impacts, of desalination and to increase public acceptance of desalination as a viable water supply process; (2) research regarding various desalination processes, including reverse and forward osmosis technologies; (3) the development of innovative methods and technologies to reduce the volume and cost of desalination concentrated wastes in an environmentally sound manner; (4) an outreach program to create partnerships with states, academic institutions, private entities, local public agencies, and other appropriate organizations to conduct research, development, and demonstration activities, including the establishment of rental and other charges to provide revenue to help offset the costs of operating and maintaining the facility; and (5) an outreach program to educate the public on desalination and renewable energy technologies and the benefits of using water in an efficient manner.
 
Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to: (1) develop new water and energy technologies with widespread applicability; and (2) create new supplies of usable water for municipal, agricultural, industrial, or environmental purposes.
 
Authorizes appropriations through FY2016 to carry out the Water Desalination Act of 1996.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-04-17
text: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
action_date: 2011-07-29
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Stop Outsourcing Security Act

Bill: 112-hr-2665
Sponsor: Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Afghanistan
Asia
Congressional oversight
Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Iraq
Middle East
Military operations and strategy
Military procurement, research, weapons development
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Stop Outsourcing Security Act - Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that only U.S. government personnel provide diplomatic security services to personnel working on behalf of the United States at U.S. diplomatic or consular missions in areas of: (1) contingency operations; and (2) other significant military operations, other than combat operations, where security personnel may be called upon to use deadly force. 
 
Requires the President to report to Congress, by June 1, 2012, on the status of planning for the transition away from the use of private contractors for specified mission critical or emergency essential functions by January 1, 2013, in all areas of such operations. Directs any individual or entity under contract with the federal government to provide mission critical or emergency essential functions after such date to allow Congress to examine their accounting practices. Outlines additional requirements relating to renewals of such contracts.
 
Authorizes specified congressional access to contracts and task orders in excess of $5 million entered into by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of State, the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the period beginning October 1, 2001, and ending on the last day of the month during which this Act is enacted for work to be performed in areas of such operations.
 
Requires certain reports to Congress regarding contracts for the performance of work in areas of such operations.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Border Tax Equity Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2666
Sponsor: Rep. Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [D-NJ-8]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Foreign Trade and International Finance
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Free trade and trade barriers
Tariffs
Trade agreements and negotiations

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Border Tax Equity Act of 2011 - Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to certify to Congress whether or not U.S. objectives for revision of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on border tax treatment of goods and services from countries with indirect tax systems have been met in WTO negotiations.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on imports of goods and services from any foreign country that employs an indirect tax system and grants rebates of indirect taxes paid on goods or services exported from that country. Requires deposit of such taxes into a special account.
 
Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), acting through the Commissioner responsible for the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, upon request of a U.S. exporter, to grant a rebate from this special account to an exporter of goods or services from the United States to such a foreign country of the equivalent of any indirect taxes the foreign country imposes or applies to such goods and services at its border, with certain adjustments.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2667
Sponsor: Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [D-MI-14]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Bankruptcy
Wages and earnings

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends federal bankruptcy law to: (1) increase the limits governing trustee compensation in a case under chapter 7; and (2) authorize the court, in determining the amount of reasonable compensation to be awarded to a trustee under chapter 7, to treat such compensation as a commission. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-25
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Jobs for Americans Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2670
Sponsor: Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Immigration
Subjects: Border security and unlawful immigration
Civil actions and liability
Intergovernmental relations
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Jobs for Americans Act of 2011 - Authorizes states and their political subdivisions to enact and enforce laws that help identify illegal aliens, deter illegal aliens from entering the United States, apprehend illegal aliens, or encourage or cause illegal aliens to leave the United States. 
 
Prohibits states and their political subdivisions from enacting or enforcing laws that are inconsistent with federal statutes that define the lawful status of persons who are in the United States.
 
Prohibits any law from preempting any state or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions upon persons who knowingly aid or abet, in any way, the presence of an illegal alien within the borders of the United States.
 
Exempts from civil and criminal liability any person or entity for taking an action or failing to take an action that was undertaken in good faith to comply with the law.
 
 Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding the unlawful employment of aliens to prohibit any law from preempting any state or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions upon persons who knowingly employ, recruit, or refer for a fee an unauthorized alien.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-25
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Charles August Long Undiagnosed Diseases Research and Collaboration Network Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2671
Sponsor: Rep. Carter, John R. [R-TX-31]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Government information and archives
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Charles August Long Undiagnosed Diseases Research and Collaboration Network Act of 2011 or the CAL Undiagnosed Diseases Research and Collaboration Network Act of 2011 - Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish and maintain an undiagnosed diseases patient network. Includes among the purposes of the CAL Network to: (1) provide physicians who are handling cases of undiagnosed diseases with a means to search for similar cases and to network and collaborate with physicians handling similar cases; (2) better enable and examine cross-disease research; (3) better describe the types and prevalence of cases of undiagnosed diseases in the United States; and (4) provide such data necessary to better understand the length of time for a diagnosis to be rendered and to identify barriers to diagnoses and reasons for misdiagnosis of diseases. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public or private nonprofit entities for: (1) the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on cases of undiagnosed diseases and other disorders that can often go undiagnosed or be misdiagnosed as other diseases or disorders; and (2) the establishment of separate undiagnosed disease programs. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
Preserving Access to Orphan Drugs Act of 2011

Bill: 112-hr-2672
Sponsor: Rep. Gerlach, Jim [R-PA-6]
Introduced: 2011-07-27 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health care costs and insurance
Prescription drugs
User charges and fees

Summary:
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: 
Preserving Access to Orphan Drugs Act of 2011 - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to exclude any drug or biological product which is approved or licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing solely for one or more rare diseases or conditions from the annual fee on manufacturers or importers with branded prescription drug sales exceeding $5 million. 
 
Makes this Act effective as if included in PPACA. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-08-01
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2011-07-27
text: Introduced in House