hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Honest Expenditure Limitation Program Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-360
Sponsor: Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Appropriations
Budget deficits and national debt
Budget process
Congressional oversight
Legislative rules and procedure

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Honest Expenditure Limitation Program Act of 2011 or HELP Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that includes any provision that would exceed specified non-security discretionary spending limits for FY2011-FY2021.
 
Limits non-security discretionary spending limits: (1) for FY2011-FY2016 to the levels provided in FY2008; and (2) for FY2017-FY2021 to such amount adjusted annually for inflation.
 
Defines &quot;non-security discretionary spending&quot; as discretionary spending other than spending for the Department of Defense (DOD), homeland security activities, intelligence-related activities within the Department of State, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and national security related activities in the Department of Energy (DOE).
 
Requires the President to issue a sequestration order, effective on issuance, if the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in its Final Discretionary Sequestration Report estimates that any sequestration is required.
 
Subjects to permanent cancellation any budgetary resources sequestered from any account, except those in special fund accounts or offsetting collections sequestered in appropriation accounts. Applies the same percentage sequestration to all programs, projects, and activities within a budget account.
 
Requires Discretionary Sequestration Preview Reports by: (1) OMB to the President and Congress; and (2) the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to Congress. Requires the OMB report to explain the difference between OMB and CBO estimates for each item.
 
Requires the Final Discretionary Sequestration Reports to set forth estimates for: (1) the current year and each subsequent year through 2021; (2) the current year, if applicable, and, the budget year, the new budget authority and the breach, if any; (3) the sequestration percentages necessary to eliminate the breach; and (4) the level of enacted sequesterable budget authority, and resulting estimated outlays to be sequestered for each account.
 
Sets forth sequestration enforcement mechanisms.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S793)
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act

Bill: 112-s-362
Sponsor: Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Cancer
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Drug therapy
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Medical education
Medical research
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Research administration and funding
Research and development

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish and implement a Pancreatic Cancer Initiative to assist in coordinating activities to address the high mortality rate associated with pancreatic cancer.
 
Requires the Secretary to establish the Interdisciplinary Pancreatic Cancer Coordinating Committee to: (1) provide advice on overall research objectives and benchmarks for pancreatic cancer research; (2) develop within six months of establishment of the committee and every five years thereafter a strategic plan for pancreatic cancer research awareness; and (3) conduct evaluations and make recommendations as needed to the Secretary, the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) regarding the prioritization and award of NIH research grants relating to pancreatic cancer.
 
Requires the Secretary to develop a primary care provider education program on pancreatic cancer.
 
Requires the Director of NCI and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a communication tool kit for patients and their families that focuses on specific pancreatic cancer issues relating to patient choices and patient care.
 
Allows the Secretary to award grants to research institutions for use in developing innovative compounds or technologies for the prevention, early detection, or treatment of those cancers with five-year survival rates of less than 50%. Requires the Secretary to focus on pancreatic cancer during the initial five fiscal years of awarding such grants.

Allows the Secretary to designate two additional Specialized Programs of Research Excellence focusing solely on pancreatic cancer research.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a new Small Business Savings Account.

Bill: 112-s-364
Sponsor: Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Business investment and capital
Employee benefits and pensions
Income tax exclusion
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for tax preferred Small Business Savings Accounts to pay for trade or business expenses, including operating capital, the purchase of equipment or facilities, marketing, training, incorporation, and accounting fees. Allows annual contributions to such accounts up to $10,000. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of contributions to and rollovers from such accounts, similar to rules governing individual retirement accounts (IRAs).


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-366
Sponsor: Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Arms control and nonproliferation
Bank accounts, deposits, capital
Banking and financial institutions regulation
Business ethics
Business records
Corporate finance and management
Department of the Treasury
Foreign and international banking
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Iran
Middle East
Sanctions
Securities
Terrorism
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
 Iran Transparency and Accountability Act of 2011 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require securities issuers to disclose in their mandatory annual or quarterly reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whether they or their affiliates have: (1) engaged in certain activities relating to Iran, terrorism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; (2) knowingly engaged in specified activities, or knowingly violated certain regulations prescribed under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010; (3) knowingly conducted any transaction or dealing with a person whose property and interests in property are blocked by certain Executive Orders; or (4) knowingly conducted a transaction or dealing with any person listed in the Iranian Transactions Regulations.
 
Specifies the contents of mandatory disclosures.
 
Requires the President to: (1) initiate an investigation into the possible imposition of sanctions when the SEC receives a report that an issuer or its affiliate has engaged in the cited activities; and (2) determine within 180 days of initiating an investigation whether sanctions should be imposed on the issuer or the affiliate concerned.
 
Directs the SEC to make publicly available the information it has received, and to provide it to the President and to certain congressional committees.
 
Requires promulgation within 90 days after enactment of this Act of regulations governing financial institutions maintaining accounts for foreign financial institutions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Hire A Hero Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-367
Sponsor: Sen. Brown, Scott P. [R-MA]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Appropriations
Income tax credits
National Guard and reserves
Small business
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Hire A Hero Act of 2011 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow employers a work opportunity tax credit for hiring a member of the Ready Reserve or the National Guard, and (2) make such credit permanent. 
 
Rescinds the amount of appropriated but unobligated discretionary funds determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be equal to the reduction in tax revenues resulting from this Act. Exempts unobligated funds of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or the Social Security Administration (SSA). Requires the Director to identify to which appropriation accounts such rescissions shall apply and report to the Secretary of the Treasury and Congress on such rescissions.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to suspend a limitation on the period for which certain borrowers are eligible for guaranteed assistance.

Bill: 112-s-368
Sponsor: Sen. Kohl, Herb [D-WI]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Government lending and loan guarantees

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to suspend, during the period December 31, 2010-December 31, 2013, the prohibition on the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to guarantee an agricultural operating loan for any year after the 15th year that a loan or loan guarantee is made to the borrower.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Giuseppe Garibaldi, and to Recognize the Republic of Italy on the 150th Anniversary of its Unification.

Bill: 112-s-369
Sponsor: Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Commemorative events and holidays
Congressional tributes
Europe
Italy
Political movements and philosophies
Sovereignty, recognition, national governance and status
World history

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal in recognition of the contributions of Giuseppe Garibaldi to the nation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to require contractors to notify small business concerns that have been included in offers relating to contracts let by Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

Bill: 112-s-370
Sponsor: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Commerce
Subjects: Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Public contracts and procurement
Small business

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Amends the Small Business Act to require an offeror with respect to a contract let by a federal agency that is to be awarded pursuant to the negotiated method of procurement that intends to identify a small business as a potential subcontractor: (1) notify the small business that the offeror intends to identify it as a potential subcontractor, and (2) include with the offer a written acknowledgment by the small business that it has received such notice. Provides penalties against offerors failing to provide such notification.
 
Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a reporting mechanism that allows subcontractors to report fraudulent activity by a contractor with respect to a federal small business subcontracting plan.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-371
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Advanced technology and technological innovations
Air quality
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Congressional oversight
Department of Transportation
Energy efficiency and conservation
Environmental health
Executive agency funding and structure
Government information and archives
Infrastructure development
Motor carriers
Navigation, waterways, harbors
Noise pollution
Performance measurement
Public-private cooperation
Railroads
Transportation programs funding
Transportation safety and security
Water quality

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to Help Transportation Act of 2011 - Declares U.S. policy with respect to freight transportation.
 
Establishes within the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) an Office of Freight Planning and Development. 
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a long-term National Freight Freight Transportation Strategic Plan to guide planning and investments in the national transportation system to move freight.
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop new or improve existing tools to support an outcome-oriented, performance-based approach to evaluate proposed freight-related and other transportation projects; (2) facilitate the collection of transportation-related data to support a broad range of evaluation methods and techniques to assist in making transportation investment decisions; and (3) consider improvements to the Commodity Flow Survey that reduce identified freight data gaps and deficiencies and help evaluate forecasts of transportation demand. 
 
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a competitive grant program for capital investment projects that improve the efficiency of the national transportation system to move freight, and (2) give priority to projects with the highest system performance improvement relative to their benefit-cost analysis.
 
Limits the federal share of project net capital costs at 80%.
 
Requires a grant recipient to submit to the Secretary: (1) a project management plan and an annual financial plan for a project with a total cost of $500 million or more, and (2) an annual financial plan for a project with a total cost of $100 million or more.
 
Repeals specified prohibitions against the transfer of amounts from the Highway Trust Fund to the Port Infrastructure Development Fund.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Cybersecurity and Internet Safety Standards Act

Bill: 112-s-372
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications
Subjects: Computer security and identity theft
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Crime prevention
Government studies and investigations
Infrastructure development
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Internet and video services
Internet, web applications, social media
Subversive activities
Terrorism

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Internet and Cybersecurity Safety Standards Act - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct an analysis to determine the costs and benefits of requiring Internet service providers, communications service providers, electronic messaging providers, electronic mail providers, and other persons who provide a service or capability to enable computers to connect to the Internet to develop and enforce voluntary or mandatory minimum cybersecurity and Internet safety standards for users of computers to prevent terrorists, criminals, spies, and other malicious actors from compromising, disrupting, damaging, or destroying computer networks, critical infrastructure, and key resources.

 Directs the Secretary to consider: (1) the effect that such standards may have on homeland security, the global economy, innovation, individual liberty, and privacy; and (2) any legal impediments that may exist to the implementation of such standards.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text of measure as introduced: CR S796-797)
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S796)
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Fair Prescription Drug Competition Act

Bill: 112-s-373
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2011-02-16 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Prescription drugs

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: 
Fair Prescription Drug Competition Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to prohibit a holder of a new, approved drug application from commencing to manufacture, market, sell, or distribute a generic version of such drug from the time of the receipt of notice from the generic manufacturer that an abbreviated new drug application has been submitted for approval until the expiration or forfeiture of the 180-day exclusivity period granted to the generic manufacturer. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S797)
action_date: 2011-02-16
text: Introduced in Senate
Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act

Bill: 112-s-374
Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2011-02-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Health care coverage and access
Hospital care
Medicare
Mental health

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: 
Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services. 
 

 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S872-873)
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Introduced in Senate
Good Neighbor Forestry Act

Bill: 112-s-375
Sponsor: Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY]
Introduced: 2011-02-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Ecology
Fires
Forests, forestry, trees
Insects
Intergovernmental relations
Pest management
State and local government operations
Water quality
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation and habitat protection

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: 
Good Neighbor Forestry Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), with respect to National Forest System land, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, to enter into cooperative agreements and contracts with state foresters to provide forest, rangeland, and watershed restoration and protection services that include: (1) activities to treat insect infected trees; (2) activities to reduce hazardous fuels; and (3) any other activities to restore or improve forest, rangeland, and watershed health, including fish and wildlife habitat. 
 
Permits state foresters to enter into subcontracts to provide such restoration and protection services. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-05-25
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 112-131.
action_date: 2011-04-14
text: Rereferred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2011-04-14
text: Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2011-04-14
text: Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment.

Bill: 112-s-376
Sponsor: Sen. Coburn, Tom [R-OK]
Introduced: 2011-02-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: 
Makes an individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt ineligible to be appointed, or to continue serving, as a federal employee.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-05-09
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Introduced in Senate
President Street Station Study Act

Bill: 112-s-377
Sponsor: Sen. Cardin, Benjamin L. [D-MD]
Introduced: 2011-02-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: Government studies and investigations
Historic sites and heritage areas
Land use and conservation
Maryland
Parks, recreation areas, trails
Railroads

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: 
President Street Station Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the President Street Station, a railroad terminal in Baltimore, Maryland, to evaluate the terminal's national significance and determine its suitability and feasibility for designation as a unit of the National Park System.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S874)
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S873-874)
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Introduced in Senate
I Teach Act of 2011

Bill: 112-s-378
Sponsor: Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV]
Introduced: 2011-02-17 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Education of the disadvantaged
Elementary and secondary education
Income tax credits
Rural conditions and development
Teaching, teachers, curricula

Summary:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Incentives to Educate American Children Act of 2011 or the I Teach Act of 2011- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a refundable tax credit of $1,000 for: (1) teachers in public elementary or secondary schools or public kindergartens in rural areas or areas with high poverty; and (2) teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Increases such credit to $2,000 for a teacher meeting both requirements.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S874)
action_date: 2011-02-17
text: Introduced in Senate