jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-15 00:00:00

Veterans Health Care Quality Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe standards for appointment and practice as a physician within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requires: (1) applicants to provide certain information, including each lawsuit, civil action, or other claim against the individual for medical malpractice or negligence, and their results; (2) each appointee to disclose any judgments against the individual for medical malpractice or negligence and any payments made; and (3) physicians already employed within the VHA to disclose such information. Prohibits a new appointment without approval of the director of the Veterans Integrated Services Network (Network) in which the individual will serve. Directs the Secretary to encourage directors to hire physicians who are board-eligible or board-certified. Requires: (1) the VHA's Under Secretary of Health to designate a National Quality Assurance Officer for the VHA quality assurance program; (2) each Network regional director to appoint a quality assurance officer; and (3) the director of each VHA medical facility to appoint a quality assurance officer. Directs the Secretary to review VA policies for maintaining health care quality and patient safety at VA medical facilities. Requires the Secretary, in order to recruit and retain VHA physicians in hard-to-fill positions, to: (1) repay certain educational loans for individuals who agree to serve for at least three years as a VHA physician; (2) reimburse tuition for medical students who agree to serve as a VHA physician after such education; and (3) enroll in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program an individual who agrees to serve as a VHA physician for at least five days per month. Encourages the Secretary to undertake additional incentives to encourage individuals to serve or practice as VHA physicians.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-15 00:00:00

Extends the authorized concurrent receipt of disability severance pay from the Department of Defense (DOD) and compensation for the same disability under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to include all veterans with a combat-related disability. (Under current law, such concurrent receipt is limited to those veterans who incur a disability in the line of duty in a combat zone or during the performance of duty in combat-related operations.) Makes such amendment effective as of January 28, 2008 (the date of enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008).
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-21 00:00:00

Disabled Veterans Insurance Act of 2009 - Increases from $20,000 to $40,000 the maximum amount of supplemental service disabled veterans' insurance for totally disabled veterans.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-21 00:00:00

Military Retiree Survivor Comfort Act - Requires the United States to forgive any overpayment of military retired or retainer pay for any period after the death of the recipient through the last day of the month in which such death occurs, if such payment is electronically deposited to a joint account bearing the name of the decedent and the decedent's designated beneficiary. Provides a special effective date for the first annuity payment to a survivor under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) when an overpayment is so forgiven.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-21 00:00:00

Jobs for Veterans Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an increased work opportunity tax credit for the hiring in 2009 or 2010 of veterans discharged or released from active military duty after September 11, 2001.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-23 00:00:00

Military Valor Roll of Honor Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish the Military Valor Roll of Honor registry which shall: (1) contain the names and citations of all members of the Armed Forces, members of the U.S. merchant marine (including the Army Transport Service and the Naval Transport Service), and civilians affiliated with the Armed Forces who have been awarded the medal of honor or any other medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces, the U.S. merchant marine, or affiliated civilians; and (2) be a publicly available database.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-26 00:00:00

Military Environmental Responsibility Act - Requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and defense-related agencies (the Department of Energy [DOE], the Nuclear Regulatory Commission [NRC], the Office of Naval Nuclear Reactors, and any others as designated by the President) to fully comply with designated federal and state environmental laws, including those related to public health and safety, to the same extent as any other entities subject to such laws. Waives any immunity of the United States with respect to such laws as applied to DOD and any defense-related agency. Provides for administrative enforcement actions. Requires the Secretary of Defense, for each weapon system for which congressional budget justification is required, to ensure that all development and procurement decisions comply with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Repeals: (1) a federal provision prohibiting the use of certain military appropriation accounts for the payment of fines and penalties for environmental noncompliance; and (2) a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 which prohibits the use of defense funds to conduct treatment, storage, or disposal activities at sites designated under the Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-27 00:00:00

Supply Our Soldiers Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide for a program under which postal benefits are provided to a member of the Armed Forces who is on active duty and who is either: (1) serving in Iraq or Afghanistan; or (2) hospitalized at a military medical facility as a result of such service. Provides the postal benefits in the form of coupons or other evidence of credit (vouchers) to use for postal-free mailings.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-27 00:00:00

Home Front to Heroes Postal Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide for a program under which postal benefit vouchers are provided during FY2010 for members of the Armed Forces who are serving in overseas operations or who are hospitalized due to a disease or injury incurred as a result of such service. Permits the vouchers to be transferred to another person to allow that person to mail correspondence and small parcels to the member. Limits vouchers to one per month. Allows a voucher earned during FY2010 to be used after the end of that fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to transfer to the Postal Service an amount representing the amount of the vouchers used.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-28 00:00:00

Treats the service as a member of the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II of any individual who was honorably discharged therefrom as active service for purposes of eligibility for, and the computation of, retired pay for members of the Armed Forces. Makes such provision applicable for retired pay for months beginning on or after August 9, 2000.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-28 00:00:00

Authorizes the burial in a national cemetery of a parent of a deceased veteran who, at the time of the parent's death, does not have a spouse, surviving spouse, or child who has been interred, or who, if deceased, would be eligible to be interred, in a national cemetery.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-01-28 00:00:00

Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act - Repeals certain provisions which require the offset of amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities for the surviving spouses of former military personnel who are entitled to military retired pay or who would be entitled to retired pay except for being under 60 years of age. Prohibits requiring repayment of certain amounts previously paid to SBP recipients in the form of a retired pay refund. Repeals the optional authority of (and instead requires) the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to a member's dependent children when there is no eligible surviving spouse. Directs the Secretary concerned to restore annuity eligibility to a surviving spouse who earlier agreed to transfer such eligibility to a surviving child or children of a member.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-03 00:00:00

Reduces from age 57 to age 55 the age after which the remarriage of the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran shall not result in termination of dependency and indemnity compensation otherwise payable to that surviving spouse. Prohibits payment of retroactive benefits. Permits eligibility for such benefits by an individual who but for having remarried would be eligible for such benefits by reason such age reduction and whose remarriage was before the date of the enactment of this Act and after the individual had attained age 57 only if the individual submits an application for such benefits within one year of enactment.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-03 00:00:00

Retired Pay Restoration Act - Allows the receipt of both military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation with respect to any service-connected disability (under current law, only a disability rated at 50% or more). Provides a phase-in for the concurrent receipt of retired pay with respect to retirees with service-connected disabilities rated at 40% or less. Makes eligible for the full concurrent receipt of both veterans' disability compensation and either military retired pay or combat-related special pay those individuals who were retired or separated from military service due to a service-connected disability.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-03 00:00:00

Amends veterans' benefit provisions to provide for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to the survivors of veterans rated totally disabled at the time of death who were former prisoners of war (under current law, to the survivors of such veterans who died after September 30, 1999).
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-03 00:00:00

Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act - Establishes in the Department of Defense (DOD) an Office of the Victims' Advocate to facilitate access to services for victims of domestic or family violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the military. Directs the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Director of the Office, to require DOD policies for victim assistance, family advocacy, and equal opportunity programs to provide for a victims' advocates program within each military department. Authorizes the Secretary to award contracts to: (1) support DOD crisis intervention services for victims of such violence; and (2) provide training on prevention of such violence. Prohibits any person from restricting a member of the Armed Forces in communicating with the Office or from taking or withholding a personnel action in retaliation for making such a communication. Provides for: (1) employment of a sexual assault nurse examiner, a psychiatrist, and a complimentary clinical team at each DOD military treatment facility; and (2) DOD community level programs and shelter services for active duty members and their families who are victims of such violence shelter . Specifies the rights of victims of such violence reported to a military law enforcement agency. Directs a military commanding officer who receives a qualifying complaint alleging such violence to investigate it and report. Specifies circumstances under which military law enforcement officers shall arrest a person for committing domestic violence. Establishes a Director of Special Investigations in DOD to review investigations of allegations of such violence and refer cases for prosecution.Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice to: (1) include as "aggravated assault" and specify penalty limits for an assault involving domestic or family violence; and (2) provide for court-martial punishment of violations of no contact or protective orders. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) contract for treatment services for members of the Armed Forces who have committed such violence; and (2) ensure that sex offender treatment providers in the contracted program meet the state licensing or certification standards. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) ensure that Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care providers receive training in the screening and referral of veterans who have suffered military sexual trauma; and (2) conduct related pilot programs. Prohibits the Secretary of the military department concerned from approving a financial award or a promotion for an officer or employee who has been convicted of or disciplined for committing such violence. Directs the Secretary to study: (1) the prevalence and nature of such violence, of intimate partner violence, and of child maltreatment, abuse, suicide, and homicide in the Armed Forces; and (2) military procedures after an incident is reported.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-09 00:00:00

Amends the TRICARE program (a Department of Defense [DOD] managed care program) to require that, when a member of the Armed Forces dies on or after September 11, 2001, because of a combat-related injury incurred while on active duty for a period of more than 30 days, the member's dependents receiving benefits under a contract for medical and dental care shall continue to be eligible for benefits under TRICARE Prime.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-09 00:00:00

Veterans' Medical Personnel Recruitment and Retention Act of 2009 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to appoint personnel for health care positions within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) not specifically listed as authorized categories for appointment, as long as the Secretary provides prior notification to the congressional veterans' committees and the Office of Management and Budget. Requires newly-appointed nurses to serve a probationary period. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) appoint nurse assistants; and (2) waive required pay offsets for federal annuitants reemployed in VA health care positions. Sets the minimum rate of basic pay for appointees to certain positions in the Office of the Under Secretary for Health at the lowest rate of basic pay for a Senior Executive Service position. Allows for the payment of: (1) comparability pay of up to $100,000 annually for Office positions which are not physicians or dentists; and (2) special incentive pay of up to $40,000 annually to a VHA pharmacist executive. Removes or waives certain pay restrictions for: (1) physicians or dentists occupying administrative or executive leadership positions; (2) nurses; and (3) certified registered nurse anesthetists. Revises locality pay scale computations. Increases from $25,000 to $100,000 the special pay for nurse executives. Makes part-time nurses eligible for additional nurse pay. Provides limitations on overtime duty, weekend duty, and alternative work schedules for nurses, with exceptions for emergency situations. Reinstates the VA's health professionals educational assistance scholarship program, and increases maximum assistance amounts. Authorizes the Secretary to provide an educational loan repayment program for clinical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-09 00:00:00

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program of job training in skills relevant to the job market for discharged veterans who are either currently not paid at more than 150% of the federal minimum wage, or: (1) had a military occupational specialty of limited transferability to the civilian job market; (2) are not otherwise eligible for veterans' education or training services; (3) have not acquired a marketable skill since leaving military service; (4) were discharged under conditions not less than honorable; and (5) have been unemployed for at least 90 of the previous 180 days. Designates the program as the MOST (military occupational specialty transition) Program. Directs the Secretary to contract with employers to provide on-the-job training or apprenticeship programs for such veterans. Limits payments under the program to $20,000 per veteran and 24 months in duration.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-10 00:00:00

Veterans Employment Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a work opportunity tax credit for the hiring in 2009 or 2010 of unemployed veterans discharged from active duty between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2010.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-10 00:00:00

Veterans Self-Employment Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a five-year pilot project to test the feasibility and advisability of the use of educational assistance under certain programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to pay for training costs associated with the purchase of a franchise enterprise. Prohibits the use of such assistance unless: (1) training is required and provided in connection with the purchase and operation of a franchise; and (2) such training, and the training entity, are approved by the Secretary. Provides training and entity approval requirements.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-10 00:00:00

Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 2009 - Amends federal veterans' benefits provisions with respect to former prisoners of war (POWs) to repeal the currently required 30-day minimum period of internment prior to the presumption of service connection for certain listed diseases, for purposes of the payment of veterans' disability compensation. Adds diabetes (type 2) to the above listed diseases. Removes the requirement that, in order for osteoporosis to be included among the listed diseases, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs must determine that the veteran has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Requires: (1) such presumption also with respect to any disease that the Secretary determines warrants such presumption by reason of having a positive association with the experience of being a prisoner of war; and (2) the Secretary to make such a determination within 60 days after a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War that such presumption be established for a non-listed disease.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-10 00:00:00

Repeals specified exceptions to rights of certain Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees to engage in collective bargaining. Requires a final decision of the (VA) with respect to the review of an adverse personnel action against a (VA) employee to be issued not later than 60 days after such action has been appealed. Subjects such decision to judicial review in the appropriate U.S. District Court or, if the decision is made by a labor arbitrator, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-10 00:00:00

Compensation Owed for Mental Health Based on Activities in Theater Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Act or COMBAT PTSD Act - Defines "combat with the enemy," for purposes of proof of service-connection for veterans' disability compensation, as service on active duty: (1) in a theater of combat operations during a period of war; or (2) in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2009-02-11 00:00:00

Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act of 2009 - Places specified restrictions on the use of cluster munitions. Directs the President, within 90 days after the use of such munitions, to submit to the congressional defense, appropriations, and foreign relations committees a plan for cleaning up any such munitions or submunitions which fail to explode and continue to pose a hazard to civilians.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Education
Date: 2009-02-12 00:00:00

Fairness for Military Recruiters Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise the process for blocking the access of military recruiters or institutions of higher education (IHEs) to secondary school student information. Requires ESEA-assisted local educational agencies (LEAs) to notify each secondary school student's parent of the option to submit a written request to the LEA that the student's name, address, and telephone listing not be released to military recruiters or IHEs without the parent's prior written consent. Prohibits LEAs from providing military recruiters or IHEs access to such information once they have received such a request, unless the student's parent provides written consent to such access. Gives students the rights accorded to their parents when they reach age 18. Requires the Secretary of Defense to notify the Governor of the LEA's state and the Secretary of Education when an LEA denies access to military recruiters. Requires the Secretary of Education, upon receiving such notice, to determine whether: (1) the LEA has failed to comply substantially with the requirement to provide military recruiters with access to students and student information unless the parents have filed a prior consent request under this Act; and (2) the imposition of a penalty or remedy against the LEA is warranted.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2009-02-12 00:00:00

Ensuring Military Readiness Through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act - Prohibits any unit of the regular Armed Forces from being deployed for Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom unless the period between the most recent previous deployment and a subsequent deployment is equal to or longer than the period of the most recent previous deployment. Expresses the sense of Congress that the optimal minimum period between such deployments should be equal to or longer than twice the period of the most recent previous deployment. Prohibits any unit of the reserves from being deployed for such Operations unless the period between the most recent previous deployment and a subsequent deployment is at least three times longer than the period of the most recent previous deployment. Expresses the sense of Congress that units of the reserves should not be mobilized continuously for more than one year, and that the optimal minimum period between such deployments should be five years. Provides exceptions from deployment requirements. Authorizes the President or chief of staff of the military department concerned to waive such requirements under certain circumstances.