lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Law
Date: 2015-04-29 00:00:00

Arbitration Fairness Act of 2015

Declares that no predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute.

Declares, further, that the validity and enforceability of an agreement to arbitrate shall be determined by a court, under federal law, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract containing such agreement.

Exempts from this Act arbitration provisions in a contract between an employer and a labor organization or between labor organizations. Denies to any such arbitration provision, however, the effect of waiving the right of an employee to seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under the U.S. Constitution, a state constitution, a federal or state statute, or related public policy.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2015-05-19 00:00:00

Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act of 2015 or the CEJA

 Amends the federal criminal code to grant jurisdiction over and impose penalties on federal contractors and employees who commit certain crimes outside of the United States while employed by or accompanying any agency of the United States other than the Department of Defense or while so employed and stationed or deployed in a country outside of the United States pursuant to a treaty or executive agreement in furtherance of a border security initiative with that country. Sets forth the crimes under federal law that are covered by this Act.

Provides for an optional venue for offenses under this Act involving federal employees and contractors overseas in the district in which is headquartered the U.S. agency that: (1) employs the offender, or any one or two or more joint offenders; or (2) the offender is accompanying, or that any one or two or more joint offenders is accompanying.

Requires the statute of limitations for an offense under this Act to be suspended for the period during which the alleged offender is outside the United States or is a fugitive from justice.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) assign personnel and resources through task forces to investigate allegations of criminal offenses by federal contractors and employees overseas, and (2) report to Congress annually on the number of prosecutions and actions taken. Grants the Attorney General principal authority for the enforcement of this Act.

Makes this Act inapplicable to the authorized intelligence activities of the U.S. government.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-06-08 00:00:00

Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2015

(Sec. 3) This bill modifies the design-build selection procedures used by federal agencies soliciting offers to enter into civilian contracts for the design and construction of a public building, facility, or work. Two-phase selection procedures (i.e., submission of qualifications and then the submission of price and technical proposals in response to a request for proposal) must be used when a contracting officer determines that a project has a value of $750,000 or greater. But for contracts valued at less than $750,000, the contracting officer makes the same determination under current law as to whether the use of two-phase selection procedures is appropriate when the officer anticipates at least three offers for the contract.

Federal agencies must report, each year through FY2021, on each instance where the agency awarded a design-build contract in which: (1) more than five finalists were selected for phase-two requests for proposals, or (2) the contract or order was awarded without using two-phase selection procedures. The Government Accountability Office must report on agency compliance with design-build contract procedures.

(Sec. 4) The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council must amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation to prohibit the use of reverse auctions as part of the two-phase selection procedure for awarding contracts for construction and design services. A "reverse auction," with respect to procurement by an agency, is: (1) a real-time auction conducted through an electronic medium among at least two offerors who compete by submitting bids for a supply or service contract with the ability to submit revised lower bids before the closing of the auction; and (2) the award of the contract, delivery order, task order, or purchase order to the offeror based on the price obtained through the auction process.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-06-15 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on July 27, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) Prohibits any person authorized by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to receive federal retirement payments on behalf of a minor or an individual of legal disability from embezzling or in any manner converting any amounts from such payments to a use other than for the benefit of such minor or individual.

Considers any willful neglect or refusal to make and file proper accountings or reports concerning such payments as required by law to be prima facie evidence of the embezzlement or prohibited conversion of such amounts.

Prohibits OPM from authorizing a person to receive payments on behalf of a minor or individual of legal disability if that person has been convicted of: (1) a violation of this Act, (2) fraud under the Social Security Act, or (3) misappropriation as a fiduciary under veterans' benefits provisions.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2015-07-23 00:00:00

Assuring Contracting Equity Act of 2015

This bill increases from: (1) 23% to 25% the government-wide small business procurement contract goal, (2) 5% to 10% the government-wide procurement goal for small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned businesses, and (3) 3% to 6% the government-wide procurement goal for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and HUBZONE (historically underutilized business zone) small businesses. The number of categories is limited for which a small business may qualify under such goals.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) must include within its report to the President and to Congress on these goals, the percentage of participation by small businesses for the total value of all prime contracts and subcontracts awards for a fiscal year, including the value of each contract awarded.

The SBA must consult with the heads of other federal agencies to develop and implement standards for procurement officers to take into consideration the past compliance of potential contractors with small business subcontracting goals when making contract awards.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-10-05 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on April 12, 2016. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics Act of 2015

(Sec. 3) This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish guidelines for federal agencies to establish financial and administrative controls to identify and assess fraud risks and design and implement control activities in order to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud, including improper payments.

The guidelines shall incorporate the leading practices identified in the report published by the Government Accountability Office on July 28, 2015, entitled "Framework for Managing Fraud Risks in Federal Programs."

The financial and administrative controls shall include:

 conducting an evaluation of fraud risks and using a risk-based approach to design and implement financial and administrative control activities to mitigate identified fraud risks; collecting and analyzing data from reporting mechanisms on detected fraud to monitor fraud trends and using that data and information to continuously improve fraud prevention controls; and using the results of monitoring, evaluation, audits, and investigations to improve fraud prevention, detection, and response. Each agency shall submit as part of its annual financial report a report on its progress in:

 implementing such financial and administrative controls, the fraud risk principle in the Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, and OMB Circular A-123 leading practices for managing fraud risk; identifying risks and vulnerabilities to fraud; and establishing steps to curb fraud. (Sec. 4) The OMB must establish a working group to: (1) improve the sharing of financial and administrative controls and other best practices and techniques for detecting, preventing, and responding to fraud, and the sharing and development of data analytics techniques; and (2) submit a plan for a federal interagency library of data analytics and data sets for use by agencies and Offices of Inspectors General to facilitate the detection, prevention, and recovery of fraud.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2016-03-17 00:00:00

Contractor Accountability and Transparency Act of 2016

This bill requires the head of each executive agency to post each covered contract (i.e., a contract for the procurement of property or services with a value greater than the simplified acquisition threshold) entered into by that agency on a publicly available website in a searchable format. The agency head may redact sensitive or classified information, trade secrets, or other proprietary information in such contracts.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-04-20 00:00:00

Buy American Act of 2016

This bill directs the the Department of Defense (DOD), in the case of athletic footwear needed by members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps upon their initial entry into the Armed Forces, to: (1) furnish such footwear directly instead of providing a cash allowance to the service members to purchase such footwear, and (2) comply with American source requirements in procuring such footwear.

A cash allowance may be provided for the purchase of footwear that is medically required to meet a service member's unique physiological needs that cannot be met with footwear furnished by DOD.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2016-04-20 00:00:00

Promoting Value Based Defense Procurement Act of 2016

This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to revise the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement to require that Lowest Price Technically Acceptable source selection criteria are used for new solicitations (solicitations issued starting 120 days after enactment of this bill) only in situations in which:

 DOD is able to clearly describe the minimum requirements expressed in terms of performance objectives, measures, and standards that will be used to determine offer acceptability; DOD would realize no, or minimal, value from a contract proposal exceeding minimum technical or performance requirements; the proposed technical approaches will require no, or minimal, subjective judgment of competing proposals; a review of technical proposals other than the lowest bidder's would result in no, or minimal, benefit to DOD; and the contracting officer has included a justification for the use of LPTA evaluation methodology if the contract is predominately for the acquisition of information technology services, systems engineering and technical assistance services, or other knowledge-based professional services. LPTA source selection criteria shall be avoided when the procurement is predominately for the acquisition of information technology services, systems engineering and technical assistance services, or other knowledge-based professional services.
Topic: Government Operations — Procurement & Contractors
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2016-07-06 00:00:00

Made in America Water Infrastructure Act

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring all of the steel used in projects funded by the drinking water state revolving fund program to be produced in the United States, unless: (1) it would be inconsistent with the public interest, (2) iron and steel products are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available quantities and of a satisfactory quality, or (3) inclusion of iron and steel products produced in the United States will increase the cost of the overall product by more than 25%.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Housing and community development
Date: 2007-01-11 00:00:00

Disabled Veteran Housing Simplification Act of 2007 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to exempt from the community service requirement applicable to adult residents of a public housing project an individual who has been determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be permanently and totally disabled, and who is unable to comply with such requirement, or is a primary caretaker of such individual.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-01-18 00:00:00

Home Ownership for America's Veterans Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend the eligibility period of veterans for mortgage financing; and (2) require annual inflation adjustments after 2010 to limits on state veteran bond amounts based on the Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (compiled by Freddie Mac).
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-01-24 00:00:00

Disabled Veterans Adaptive Housing Improvement Act - Increases from: (1) $50,000 to $60,000 the maximum amount authorized to be provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to certain disabled veterans for the construction of specially adapted housing; and (2) $10,000 to $12,000 the maximum amount authorized for specially adapted features in a home. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to annually increase such amounts to reflect increases in the cost of residential home construction.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-05-17 00:00:00

Services To Prevent Veterans Homelessness Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide financial assistance to eligible entities (private nonprofit organizations or consumer cooperatives) to provide and coordinate the provision of various supportive services for very low-income veteran families occupying permanent housing. Requires: (1) equitable geographic distribution of such assistance; and (2) the Secretary to provide training and technical assistance to participating entities regarding the planning, development, and provision of such services.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-05-24 00:00:00

Veteran Home Equity Conversation [sic] Mortgage Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to guarantee any home equity conversion mortgage (mortgage) made to an elderly (62 or older) veteran homeowner, as long as the Secretary determines that the mortgage: (1) is likely to improve the financial situation or otherwise meet the special needs of the homeowner; (2) will include safeguards to offset special risks associated with such a mortgage; and (3) has appropriate terms to ensure its acceptance in the secondary mortgage market. Allows such mortgage to be guaranteed only if it is secured by a dwelling, farm residence, or manufactured home permanently affixed to a lot that is owned and occupied by the elderly veteran homeowner. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) guarantee any mortgage given to refinance an existing home equity conversion mortgage guaranteed by the Secretary; (2) establish a mortgage guarantee fee; and (3) waive the mortgage guarantee fee in certain circumstances.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-09-20 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer to deduct from gross income interest incurred to acquire, construct, improve, or refinance a principal residence, whether or not such taxpayer itemizes other income tax deductions.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Housing and community development
Date: 2007-11-13 00:00:00

Veterans Homelessness Prevention Act - Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a pilot program to provide assistance to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to expand the supply of supportive housing for certain very low-income veteran families. Allows such assistance to be in the form of: (1) a grant for costs of planning a supportive housing project; (2) a capital advance for such project; and (3) project rental assistance. Requires the Secretary to coordinate with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that any housing assistance provided to veterans or veteran families includes a range of services tailored to the needs of very low-income veteran families. Requires HUD periodically to establish development cost limitations by market area for various types and sizes of such supportive housing. Establishes a special housing account. Requires the owner of such supportive housing to adopt HUD-approved tenant selection procedures. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to extend to all homeless veterans, regardless of medical condition, the program of rental vouchers for Department of Veterans Affairs supported housing, which is currently limited to homeless veterans who have chronic mental illnesses or chronic substance use disorders.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-12-13 00:00:00

Department of Veterans Affairs Loan Guaranty Cost Reduction Act of 2007 - Increases the maximum guarantee amount regarding home purchase or construction loans to certain veterans. Permits guaranteeing certain refinancing loans for 100% (currently, 90%) of reasonable value Modifies requirements regarding the fees veterans pay for the loan guarantees. Sets the maximum guarantee amount if the dwelling is determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be affordable housing and the veteran is the first owner-occupant. Allows amounts deposited in the existing Veterans Housing Benefit Program Fund that are not used for loan guarantees to be used to reduce loan closing costs.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-03-10 00:00:00

Veterans Mortgage Stimulus Clarification Act of 2008 - Amends the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 to provide a temporary increase, during the period beginning February 13, 2008, and ending on December 31, 2008, in the maximum veterans' loan guaranty amount for housing loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-03-10 00:00:00

Amends the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 to provide a temporary increase, during the period beginning February 13, 2008, and ending on December 31, 2008, in the maximum veterans' loan guaranty amount for housing loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-03-13 00:00:00

Amends the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 to provide a temporary increase, during the period beginning February 13, 2008, and ending on December 31, 2008, in the maximum veterans' loan guaranty amount for housing loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-03-31 00:00:00

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make available to veterans eligible for specially adapted housing assistance for disabled veterans, without cost to the veterans, a handbook containing appropriate designs for specially adapted housing. Requires the Secretary, at least every six years, to update the handbook to take into account any new or unique disabilities, including vision impairments, impairments specific to the upper limbs, and burn injuries.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-04-16 00:00:00

Veterans Mortgage Education Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a program to advise members of the Armed Forces who are returning from active duty abroad on actions to prevent or forestall mortgage foreclosures, including credit counseling and home mortgage counseling.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2008-06-04 00:00:00

American Heroes' Homeownership Assistance Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow current or former members of the Uniformed Services who perform duty in a combat zone between 2001 and 2010, or their surviving spouses, a one-time tax credit for 10% of the purchase price of a principal residence, up to $7,500. Limits such credit to residences purchased before January 1, 2011.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2008-07-31 00:00:00

Department of Veterans Affairs Loan Extension Act of 2008 - Extends through FY2019 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) demonstration projects on the guaranteeing of veterans' adjustable rate and hybrid adjustable rate mortgage loans in a manner similar to which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development insures such mortgages under the National Housing Act. Increases, from 2500 to 2600, the cap on the number of veterans for which programs of independent living services and assistance may be annually initiated.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-03-12 00:00:00

Military Access to Housing Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude military basic housing allowances from income for purposes of establishing eligibility for housing in qualified residential rental projects.
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-05-02 00:00:00

Makes eligible for veterans' mortgage life insurance members of the Armed Forces receiving specially adapted housing assistance through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Topic: Housing — Veterans
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2007-05-14 00:00:00

Repeals the requirement that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs adjust the per diem payments made to veterans under the homeless veterans' comprehensive services program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to exclude sources of income from other federal, state, or local governments, departments, agencies, or entities. Directs the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program to prevent veterans who are at risk of homelessness after discharge or release from active military duty from becoming homeless. Amends a demonstration program of referral and counseling for veterans transitioning from certain institutions who are at risk of homelessness to: (1) remove the "demonstration" designation of the program; (2) require the program to be carried out in 12 (under current law, at least six) locations; and (3) extend the program through FY2012. Allows homeless veterans' comprehensive services grant funds to be used to provide funding for service center staff. Repeals a provision limiting to FY2003 and FY2004 the funding for VA domiciliary care programs for homeless veterans. Requires the Secretary to ensure that such programs are adequate, with respect to capacity and safety, to meet the needs of women veterans.