jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-01-31 00:00:00

Amends federal provisions relating to the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to change from October 1, 2008, to October 1, 2007, the effective date on or after which no reduction may be made in the retired pay of an SBP participant for any month after the later of: (1) the 360th month for which such pay was so reduced; and (2) the month during which the participant attains 70 years of age.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-05 00:00:00

Dr. James Allen Veteran Vision Equity Act of 2007 - Title I: Low-Vision Benefits Matters - (Sec. 101) Modifies the standard for awarding disability compensation to veterans for loss of vision to require payment of compensation for impairment of vision due to a service-connected disability resulting in 20/200 (currently, 5/200) visual acuity or less. (Sec. 102) Modifies the above standard in the case of impairment of vision (currently, blindness) involving both eyes due to a service-connected disability in one eye and a non-service-connected disability in the other eye to require payment in the case of impairment resulting in a visual acuity of 20/200 or less or of a peripheral field of 20 degrees or less in each eye. Title II: Matters Relating to Burial and Memorial Affairs - (Sec. 201) Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker for the grave of certain individuals buried in a private cemetery, to furnish a medallion or other device to signify the deceased's status as a veteran, to be attached to a headstone or marker furnished at private expense. (Sec. 202) Repeals, as of October 1, 2006, the time limit for a state's filing of a request for reimbursement for interment costs for veterans buried in cemeteries other than national cemeteries. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to a state for operating and maintaining a veterans' cemetery owned by such state. Limits to $5 million the amount of such grants awarded in a fiscal year. (Sec. 203) Makes permanent the authority of the Secretary to furnish government headstones or markers for the burial of veterans at private cemeteries. Title III: Other Matters - (Sec. 301) Requires the Secretary to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services with information for comparison with the National Directory of New Hires for income verification purposes in order to determine eligibility for certain veteran benefits and services. Requires the Secretary to: (1) seek only the minimum information necessary to make such determination; (2) receive prior written consent of the individual before seeking, using, or disclosing any such information; (3) independently verify any information received prior to terminating, denying, or reducing a benefit or service; and (4) allow an opportunity for an individual to contest negative findings. Terminates such authority at the end of FY2011. (Sec. 302) Extends, through June 30, 2010, the Secretary's authority to provide an educational allowance to persons performing qualifying work-study activities.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-02-07 00:00:00

Veterans Employment and Respect Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a work opportunity tax credit for hiring veterans of Afghanistan or Iraq who served after October 6, 2001, in the Operation Iraqi Freedom Area or the Operation Enduring Freedom Area.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Authorizes the Secretary of Defense, upon request of the Secretary of Homeland Security, to assign regular and reserve members of the Armed Forces to assist the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security in: (1) preventing the entry of terrorists, drug traffickers, and illegal aliens into the United States; and (2) the inspection of cargo, vehicles, and aircraft at U.S. points of entry to prevent the entry of weapons of mass destruction and their components, prohibited narcotics or drugs, or other terrorist or drug trafficking items. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to certify that such request is necessary to respond to a threat to national security. Requires the Secretaries to establish a training program that must be completed by military personnel serving in such capacity. Requires any member so serving to be accompanied by a civilian law enforcement officer from the agency concerned. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish ongoing joint task forces to respond to threats to national security posed by the entry of terrorists, drug traffickers, or illegal aliens. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to notify the governor and local governments of the state involved of the deployment of such members and the types of tasks to be performed.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Forgotten Military Widows Annuity Act of 2007 - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 to make eligible under a Department of Defense (DOD) survivor annuity program that currently allows a survivor annuity to be paid to the unremarried surviving spouses of certain members of the Armed Forces who died before October 1, 1978, those surviving spouses who: (1) remarried after age 55; or (2) remarried at any age, but whose subsequent marriage was terminated due to death, annulment, or divorce.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Veterans Travel Fairness Act - Makes the rate of reimbursement for private motor vehicle travel under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) beneficiary travel program the same as that for private vehicle travel for federal employees.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Law
Date: 2007-02-08 00:00:00

Civilian Agent Orange Act of 2007 - Establishes the: (1) Agent Orange Illness Compensation Program to provide compensation for federal employees or employees of contractors of the Department of Defense (DOD) who contracted an Agent Orange illness while employed during the Vietnam conflict and suffered injury or death by reason of that illness; and (2) Agent Orange Illness Compensation Fund to make such payments. Fixes the compensation amount at $100,000, payable either to the employee or his or her eligible survivor. Offsets such payment by any payment made on a claim based on the same illness, injury, or death on account of exposure to Agent Orange herbicides.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-02-15 00:00:00

Armed Forces Tax Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from employment taxes combat zone compensation of members of the Armed Forces which is excludable from gross income. Appropriates amounts to cover Social Security trust fund deficits resulting from such tax exemption.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-02-15 00:00:00

Strengthening America's Military Families Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow spouses of members of the Armed Forces to exclude from their gross income an amount equal to that amount which such members are able to exclude as combat zone compensation.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-16 00:00:00

Provides that, in the case of a member of the Armed Forces who dies while serving on active duty or inactive duty for training, and who dies without a surviving spouse but with one or more children under age 18 who will be in the custody of a parent, brother, or sister, the death gratuity for such member shall be payable to such parent, brother, or sister as designated by the member.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-16 00:00:00

Increases from $1,000 to $2,000 the monthly special pension paid to Medal of Honor recipients. Provides for payment of such pension to the surviving spouse of a deceased recipient as long as the surviving spouse was married to the recipient: (1) for one year or more; or (2) for any period of time if a child was born of the marriage or was born to them before the marriage.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-16 00:00:00

Fairness to All Vietnam Veterans Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to study and report to Congress: (1) to identify veterans who died after October 31, 1955, as a result of military operations in southeast Asia whose names are not eligible for inscription on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and (2) on the feasibility and equitability of revising the eligibility requirements to be more inclusive of such veterans or of creating an alternative means for recognizing them, including alternatives involving an education center at the Memorial.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2007-02-27 00:00:00

Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, subject to the appropriation of such funds as may be necessary, to pay the amount owed to the subcontractors of Pacific General, Inc.(PGI), for work performed at the Grand Canyon National Park between FY2002-FY2003 under a General Services Administration (GSA) indefinite deliver/indefinite quantity contract (IDIQ), provided that: (1) the primary contract between PGI and the National Park Service is terminated; (2) the amount owed to the subcontractors is verified; (3) all reasonable legal avenues or recourse have been exhausted by the subcontractors to recoup amounts owed directly from PGI; and (4) the subcontractors provide a written statement that payment of the amount verified represents payment in full by the United States for all work performed at the Park under the IDIQ with PGI between FY2002-FY2003.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-27 00:00:00

Prisoner of War Benefits Act of 2007 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions with respect to former prisoners of war (POW) 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 the following diseases to the above listed diseases diabetes (type 2) and osteoporosis. Requires: (1) such presumption also with respect to any disease that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 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: 2007-02-27 00:00:00

Veterans' Survivors Education Enhancement Act - Revises provisions concerning educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill to terminate the 45-month limitation on: (1) the use of such assistance for eligible veterans' survivors and dependents; and (2) the use of such assistance for special restorative training. Makes survivors and dependents eligible for educational assistance until their 30th (currently 26th) birthday. Makes the aggregate amount of educational assistance $80,000. (Currently, there are monthly limits for full-time, three quarter-time, or half-time educational pursuit.) Includes within authorized educational pursuits in such amounts: (1) a program of apprenticeship or other on-job training; and (2) a correspondence course. Makes survivors and dependents eligible for tutorial assistance.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-02-28 00:00:00

Expands the eligibility of certain commissioned officers of the Armed Forces for the basic educational assistance program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Sets a maximum age limit of 40 years for an original appointment to a position as a federal law enforcement officer in the case of individuals who have been discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces under honorable conditions. Increases the age at which such an individual must be separated from service as an officer to 60 years of age, with an authorized exemption until age 63.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Dignity for Wounded Warriors Act of 2007 - Requires each recovering servicemember who is assigned to a military barracks or dormitory to be assigned to one that is maintained at the highest service standard in effect for enlisted members of the Armed Forces. Requires at least semiannual inspections of, and appropriate repairs to, any such quarters, as well as alternate housing during periods of unremedied housing deficiencies. Outlines requirements to be implemented for recovering servicemembers and their families, including: (1) physical disability evaluation system changes; (2) supervising officer and caseworker support; (3) increased training for caseworkers and social workers on particular servicemember conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (4) increased support services, including an Ombudsman for Recovering Servicemembers; (5) a prohibition on discrimination in employment of family members caring for such servicemembers; and (6) meal benefits for recovering servicemembers and family members caring for such servicemembers. Establishes the Oversight Board for the Wounded.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Veterans' Pension Improvement Act of 2007 - Increases pension rates for: (1) veterans of a period of war for non-service-connected disability; and (2) surviving spouses and children of veterans.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Makes eligible for a $300 plot allowance for burial in a cemetery other than a national cemetery a veteran who is eligible for burial in a national cemetery and who: (1) was discharged from active service for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty; or (2) is a veteran of any war. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in lieu of furnishing a headstone or marker for an individual so entitled, to reimburse the person entitled to request such headstone or marker for acquiring a non-government headstone or marker for placement in any cemetery other than a national cemetery in connection with the burial or memorialization of the deceased individual.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase, as of December 1, 2007, the rates of veterans' wartime disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled adult children, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Requires each such increase to be the same percentage as the increase in benefits provided under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance [OASDI]) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt sons and daughters of Filipino World War II veterans who were naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Requires officers on the active-duty list of the Army or Air Force to complete a tour of duty of at least one year in a Guard or Reserve duty assignment (other than a Reserve Officers Training Corps unit) in order to be eligible for promotion to brigadier general. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to waive this requirement: (1) when necessary for the good of the service; (2) in cases where the proposed promotion is based primarily upon scientific and technical qualifications for which Guard or Reserve requirements do not exist; (3) in the case of specified medical, chaplaincy, or judge advocate positions; or (4) if the officer selected for appointment to brigadier general by a promotion board had completed at least 180 days of a Guard or Reserve duty assignment on the date such board was convened. Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations to carry out this Act that specifically identify those categories of officers for whom the waiver applicable to scientific and technical qualifications is available.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-05 00:00:00

Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2007 - (Sec. 2) Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide specially adaptive housing assistance for disabled members of the Armed Forces residing temporarily in housing owned by a family member if such military member suffers from a disability which is permanent and total in nature and is the result of an injury incurred or disease contracted or aggravated in the line of duty in active military service. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary to carry out the Department of Veterans Affairs Visual Impairment and Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Program to increase the supply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the country. Outlines eligibility requirements, including being a full- or part-time student in such fields of education or training. Requires: (1) full-time scholarship recipients to serve full-time in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in such field of clinical practice for three years during the six-year period following completion of such education or training; and (2) part-time recipients to serve a proportionately reduced period, but not less than one year. Limits to $15,000 per academic year the maximum scholarship for full-time participants. Requires pro rata repayment for unserved periods of obligated service. (Sec. 4) Requires the Secretary to include, within a currently-required annual report concerning veterans' reemployment rights: (1) the number of cases reviewed by the Secretary of Defense under the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve of the Department of Defense; and (2) an indication of which of the reported cases are disability-related. (Sec. 5) Increases from 15 to 16 the number of members on the Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-05 00:00:00

Veterans' Benefits Protection Act - Repeals the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe qualifications and standards of, and to set fees charged by, agents or attorneys representing veterans in claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Authorizes the Secretary to require that such individuals show that they are of good moral character, and qualified and competent to assist claimants. Removes some instances under which the Secretary may suspend or exclude an agent or attorney from such representation.Repeals the Secretary's authority to review and order a reduction in the fee charged to a claimant by an agent or attorney.Imposes fines and criminal penalties for soliciting, contracting for, charging, or receiving any part of a benefit or claim allowed to a claimant (or attempting such acts).
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-06 00:00:00

Amends the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 to extend the period during which members of the Armed Forces deployed in connection with Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, or Iraqi Freedom may request and receive reimbursement for purchasing protective helmet pads.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-06 00:00:00

Lane Evans Veterans Health and Benefits Improvement Act of 2007 - Makes a veteran who served on active duty during a period of war eligible for a mental health evaluation and hospital care, medical services, nursing home care, and family and marital counseling for any identified mental health condition, notwithstanding insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the condition is attributable to such service. Requires: (1) post-deployment medical and mental health screenings to be conducted within 30 days after a deployment; (2) each member, upon discharge, to be provided an electronic copy of all military records of such member; and (3) the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate outreach to members of the National Guard and reserves concerning benefits and services available upon discharge or deactivation. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a Global War on Terrorism Veterans Information System. Requires quarterly reports from the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Defense on the effects on veterans and on each such department of participation in the Global War on Terrorism.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-03-07 00:00:00

Disabled Veterans Sports and Special Events Promotion Act of 2007 - Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs an Office of National Veterans Sports Programs and Special Events, headed by a Director, to establish, carry out, and promote programs for the participation of disabled veterans in approved sporting and other events. Authorizes the Director to provide a monthly assistance allowance to service-connected disabled veterans participating in an event sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) or residing at a USOC training center. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the USOC to provide support and reimbursement for USOC expenditures for the military paralympic program.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2007-03-07 00:00:00

Homeland Security Transparency Act of 2007 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to: (1) require homeland security grant recipients to submit quarterly reports describing the nature and amount of each expenditure made using grant funds; and (2) publish such information and make it publicly available on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Internet website.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-03-08 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow members of the Armed Forces who have served on active duty in a combat zone for 90 days or more (including hospitalizations due to wounds, disease, or injury incurred while in combat) a tax deduction from gross income for two percent of their adjusted gross income up to $2,000.
Topic: Defense — Personnel Issues
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-03-08 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income 2% of the compensation of members of the Armed Forces for active service and inactive-duty training.