lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-07-31 00:00:00

Veterans Dignified Burial Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) upon confirming the veteran status of a deceased veteran in the custody of a local medical examiner, funeral director, county service group, or other similar entity, to request from such entity the specific date of the scheduled interment of such veteran; and (2) during each 30-day period following such request, to repeat the request until such entity confirms that such veteran has been interred.

Requires the Secretary, by January 31 of each year, to submit to the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees a report on deceased veterans who were interred after the 30-day period following the date on which the Secretary made such request. Requires the report to include: (1) the number of deceased veterans who were not interred in such 30-day period during the prior year, (2) the number of such deceased veterans who are not interred as of the date of the report, and (3) the entity with custody of each such deceased veteran.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-07-31 00:00:00

Patriot Employer Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a Patriot employer a business-related tax credit for up to 10% of the first $15,000 of wages paid to any employee in a taxable year. Sets forth criteria for designation as a Patriot employer, including requirements that such employer: (1) maintains its headquarters in the United States and does not expatriate to avoid payment of U.S. income taxes, (2) complies with the employer mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage to its employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (3) compensates at least 90% of its employees at a level that is 150% of the federal poverty level for a family of three and provides 90% of its employees with a basic level of retirement benefits, (4) provides for differential wage payments to its employees who are members of the Uniformed Services, and (5) increases the number of its employees performing substantially all of their services inside the United States to offset the number of employees who work outside the United States.

Sets forth a rule for the deferral of the tax deduction for foreign-related interest expense.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-07-31 00:00:00

Servicemembers Access to Justice Act of 2014 - Waives a state's sovereign immunity with respect to the enforcement of uniformed services members' employment or reemployment rights or benefits under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

Makes unenforceable agreements between an employer and employee requiring arbitration of disputes arising under USERRA. Provides exceptions. Requires the validity and enforceability of such an agreement to be determined by a court (as opposed to the arbitrator).

Provides increased liquidated damages, and authorizes punitive damages, against state or private employer violations of USERRA. Provides a right to a jury trial in such cases.

Requires (under current law, authorizes) the award of attorney fees in actions to enforce USERRA.

Requires (under current law, authorizes) a court to use equitable relief, including injunctions and restraining orders when appropriate, for USERRA violations.

 Requires federal procurement contracts to include a notice that the contractor may have USERRA obligations.

Requires a Comptroller General (GAO) study on the effectiveness of federal education and outreach programs on employer obligations under USERRA.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-10 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Amends the federal charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States to describe the organization as a national association of veterans (currently, an association of men) who, as soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen, served this Nation in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign soil or in hostile waters.

Expands its purpose of assisting widows to that of assisting surviving spouses.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-11 00:00:00

Authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to Henry Johnson for acts of valor during World War I for which he was previously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-16 00:00:00

Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to select a medical center in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to serve as the national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of descendants (i.e., a biological child, grandchild, or great-grandchild) of individuals exposed to toxic substances while serving as members of the Armed Forces that are related to that exposure.

Requires the national research center to employ at least one licensed clinical social worker to coordinate the access of individuals to appropriate federal, state, and local social and health care programs and to handle case management.

Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory board to: (1) advise the national research center, (2) determine which health conditions in the descendants of individuals who were exposed to toxic substances while serving in the Armed Forces result from such exposure for purposes of determining those descendants' eligibility for VA medical care, and (3) study and evaluate claims of service-related exposure to toxic substances by current and former members of the Armed Forces.

Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to declassify documents (other than documents that would materially and immediately threaten national security) related to any known incident in which not less than 100 members of the Armed Forces were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least one case of disability.

Directs the Secretary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the DOD Secretary to jointly conduct a national outreach and education campaign directed at members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their family members to communicate information on: (1) incidents of exposure to toxic substances, health conditions resulting form such exposure, and the potential long-term effects of such exposure; and (2) the national research center.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-09-16 00:00:00

Incentives for our Nation's Veterans in Energy Sustainability Technologies or the INVEST Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the work opportunity tax credit for the hiring of a specified veteran who works in a field of renewable energy. Defines "specified veteran" as any veteran who is certified as: (1) having received a credential or certification from the Department of Defense (DOD) of a military occupational specialty or skill in a field of renewable energy or with respect to advanced manufacturing, machinist or welding, or engineering; (2) having completed a vocational degree in a field of renewable energy; or (3) having completed a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification with the United States Green Building Council.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-17 00:00:00

Protect Veterans Employment and Training Services Act of 2014 - Amends the disabled veterans' outreach program to authorize the Secretary of Labor to establish an order of priority for furnishing program services if state disabled veterans' outreach program specialists are unable to assist every eligible veteran seeking assistance.

Requires that priority order to be consistent with the program's purposes and the existing priority order of special disabled veterans, other disabled veterans, and other eligible veterans.

Allows a state disabled veterans' outreach program specialist to perform an initial intake and assessment of each veteran who seeks program services.

Authorizes local veterans' employment representatives to provide employment, training, and placement services directly to eligible veterans and eligible persons.

Requires those representatives to spend a majority of their time carrying out their principal duties of: (1) conducting outreach to local employers to assist veterans in gaining employment; and (2) facilitating the provision of state employment, training, and placement services to veterans.

Prohibits the Secretary from imposing restrictions on the duties that a state disabled veterans' outreach program specialist or a local veterans' employment representative may perform or the individuals they may assist other than those set forth in the law providing veterans with job counseling, training, and placement services.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Helping Wounded Warriors Cover Medical Expenses Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow tax-free distributions from a qualified tuition program account (529 tuition plans) for payment of the medical expenses of veterans with disability ratings of more than 50%; and (2) exclude such distributions from gross income, for income tax purposes.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Honoring the Hiring of Heroes Act - Directs the Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) jointly establish a program to award nonmonetary Employment Salute Awards to employers for veteran-friendly employment practices; and (2) establish criteria, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and Commerce, for determining award recipients.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) establish different categories of employers eligible for the awards based on the number of employees they have, and (2) publicize the award recipients by listing them in a separate section of the Department of Labor's website.

Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to assess a reasonable application fee on employers seeking such an award. Establishes an Employment Salute Award Fund into which those fees are to be deposited for use in carrying out the award program.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Foreign Investment and Economic Security Act of 2014 - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to provide for: (1) national security reviews of transactions involving the construction of a new facility in the United States by any foreign person (currently, national security reviews are conducted only for certain mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers by or with a foreign person); and (2) net benefit reviews of new construction, mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers by or with a foreign person to determine whether the transaction is of net benefit to the United States.

Makes net benefit reviews mandatory for transactions that meet specified requirements under the Clayton Act.

Directs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, for purposes of carrying out net benefit determinations, to consider the effect of the proposed or pending transaction on: (1) employment, resource processing, the utilization of parts and services produced in or imported into the United States, and U.S. exports; (2) industrial efficiency, technological development, technology transfers, and product innovation in the United States; (3) competition within any U.S. industry or between the United States and other countries; (4) compatibility with national industrial, economic, and cultural policies; and (5) public health, safety, and well-being of U.S. consumers.

Requires the Committee, in the case of a net benefit determination concerning a foreign government-influenced transaction, to consider additional factors including:

 the governance and commercial orientation of the foreign person engaging in such transaction; the extent to which the foreign person is owned, controlled, or influenced by the foreign government; and adherence to U.S. law and corporate governance standards, engagement of the foreign country with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the likelihood of operation on a commercial basis. Requires final determinations of the Committee to be certified to Congress.

Requires the Committee to refer to the President any of the Committee's final determinations that a transaction will not be of net benefit to the United States. Requires the President to announce the determination regarding such transactions.

Prohibits transactions that the President determines are not of net benefit to the United States. Requires the President to direct the Attorney General (DOJ) to seek appropriate relief in U.S. district courts to implement and enforce this Act. Bars judicial review of such determinations.

Revises, for purposes of carrying out net benefit determinations, the composition of the Committee.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-18 00:00:00

Veterans Health Administration Management Improvement Act - Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to: (1) conduct a five-year management review of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); and (2) submit annual reports to Congress on the matters reviewed, including recommendations for improving the VHA's management.

Directs the Secretary of the VA to establish a five-year pilot program to improve the VHA's management and accountability that:

 gives VHA employees an opportunity to learn, implement, and identify successful means of advancing the VHA's management and the delivery of care and services; and improves the management and delivery of care and services at VA medical facilities by implementing the GAO's recommendations, and any other appropriate recommendations, regarding the VHA's planning and evaluation capabilities. Requires the Secretary, during such pilot program, to: (1) establish an annual performance plan that uses logic modeling and risk assessment to coordinate the VA's operations with its goals; and (2) prepare an annual organization evaluation plan for the VHA that is informed by the GAO's recommendations.

Establishes an Office of the Management and Accountability Ombudsman within the VA to:

 assist the Secretary in conducting the pilot program; conduct inspections of VHA medical facilities, including non-VA facilities that provide VA contract care; and work with the Secretary and VHA employees in identifying and resolving problems with the VHA's management, administration, and delivery of care. Directs the GAO to review each budget the President submits to Congress during 2015-2020 to evaluate the proposed budget for VA health care.

Establishes a Veterans' Bill of Rights regarding health care, which is to be prominently displayed in each VA medical facility and about which the Secretary shall conduct outreach to veterans and ensure that VA employees receive training.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-09-19 00:00:00

Veterans' Toxic Wounds Research Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a master registry of veterans who experienced toxic exposures while serving in the Armed Forces. Includes in the master registry the registries for:

 Agent Orange; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment during the Persian Gulf War; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, Operation Enduring Freedom, or the Global War on Terror; exposure to toxins relating to a deployment to Bosnia, Somalia, or the Philippines; and exposure to toxins relating to being stationed at a military installation potentially contaminated by toxic substances. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to review published scientific information and studies, and make recommendations for future research, on the health effects: (1) of the toxic exposures covered in those registries, and (2) on the children and grandchildren of veterans who had a toxic exposure covered in those registries. Requires those reviews to inform the Secretary's selection of research to be conducted or funded by the VA.

Establishes a presumption of a service connection, for the purpose of veterans' disability and survivor benefits, for an illness that:

 the Secretary determines warrants such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with exposure to a toxic substance covered in the master registry; and becomes manifest, within the period the Secretary prescribes, in a veteran who experienced such exposure while serving in the Armed Forces. Requires the Secretary's service connection determinations to be based on sound medical and scientific evidence that a positive association exists between: (1) the exposure of humans or animals to a toxic substance covered in the master registry, and (2) the occurrence of a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness in humans or animals.

Directs the Secretary, in implementing the VA's electronic health record system, to include specified information in each individual's electronic health record, including whether the individual served in the Armed Forces and, if so, the locations and dates of such service.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-11-14 00:00:00

Veterans Care Financial Protection Act of 2014 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) work with federal agencies, states, and such experts as the Secretary considers appropriate to develop and implement federal and state standards that protect individuals who are eligible for increased pension for a non-service-connected disability or death or for service on the basis of need for regular aid and attendance from dishonest, predatory, or otherwise unlawful practices; and (2) submit such standards to specified congressional committees not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Requires the Comptroller General (GAO): (1) within one year after enactment of this Act, to report standards that would be effective in protecting such individuals if the Secretary fails to submit such standards within such 180 days; and (2) not later than 540 days after enactment of this Act, to complete a study on standards implemented under this Act and report the findings to such committees.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: International affairs
Date: 2014-11-19 00:00:00

Commends the veterans of the Korean Constabulary and thanks them for their support during the difficult times leading to the establishment of South Korea. (The Korean Constabulary undertook internal security tasks on behalf of the U.S. military government in Korea and the South Korean people from November 1945 to January 1949.)

Requires the Secretary of State to urge the South Korean government to: (1) reexamine Article 16-9 of South Korea's Military Pension Act, and (2) expeditiously locate the records and remains of 7,235 combat dead of the Korean Constabulary. (Article 16-9 of South Korea's Military Pension Act denies veterans of the Korean Constabulary coverage for their service prior to the establishment of South Korea.)

Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to submit a report that: (1) describes potential awards and recognition for officers and enlisted men of the Korean Constabulary, and (2) examines the possibility of establishing new awards and recognition for those individuals if no awards or recognition currently apply.

Includes among persons who are eligible for interment in national cemeteries any veteran of the Korean Constabulary who, at the time of death, resided in the United States and was a citizen of, or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in, the United States.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-11-20 00:00:00

Funeral Honors for World War II Veterans Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to include seven person firing parties in the funeral honors details for World War II veterans.
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Education
Date: 2014-12-10 00:00:00

Revamping the Education of our Veterans to Align Manufacturing through Partnerships with Community Colleges Act of 2014 or the REVAMP with Community Colleges Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to award grants to community colleges to: (1) analyze the demand for trained employees in their locality and the skills possessed by veterans who receive federal educational assistance and seek local employment, (2) provide those veterans with training that addresses local demand for trained employees, and (3) facilitate the establishment of an advisory board to provide guidance to the training program and assist trained veterans in their pursuit of local employment.

Requires the advisory board to be composed of local business representatives and an employee from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Topic: Defense — Other
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-07-30 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the work opportunity tax credit, to: (1) make such credit permanent, and (2) allow the transfer of credit amounts to an individual other than the employer for computer services performed by a qualified veteran (i.e. an unemployed veteran with a service-connected disability).