zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Supporting Military Families Act of 2009 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to revise its requirements for exigency leave with respect to employees belonging to the family of members of the Armed Forces, particularly the requirement that an employee's spouse, son, daughter, or parent be on active duty in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation. Repeals the condition "in support of a contingency operation," and requires only that the Armed Forces member be on duty during deployment to a foreign country. Entitles to coverage by the Act an eligible employee who is a family member caring for a veteran undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness who was a member of the Armed Forces (or of the National Guard or Reserves) at any time during the five-year period preceding the date on which the veteran undergoes that treatment, recuperation, or therapy. Defines a veteran's serious injury or illness of a veteran to be one: (1) incurred by the veteran as an Armed Forces member in the line of duty while on active duty in the Armed Forces, or which existed before the beginning of the member's active duty but was aggravated by service in line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces; and (2) that manifested itself before or after the Armed Forces member became a veteran. Amends federal civil service law to entitle civilian federal employees to the same leave allowance with respect to family members who are: (1) members of the Armed Forces in deployment to a foreign country; or (2) ill or injured veterans for whom they are caring.

Date: 2009-07-30
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Severely Injured Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 2009 - Increases rates of the following veterans' benefits: (1) wartime disability compensation for veterans in need of regular aid and attendance or higher levels of care; and (2) the non-service-connected disability pension for veterans of a period of war whose disability is rated permanent and total and who are permanently housebound. Makes disabled veterans with severe burn injuries eligible for automobile and adaptive equipment assistance. Makes veterans who suffer traumatic brain injury eligible for wartime disability compensation. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase the rate of the special pension for persons entered on Medal of Honor rolls. Extends to September 30, 2021, provisions concerning the treatment of pension amounts of Medicaid-covered veterans who are receiving nursing facility services.

Date: 2009-07-30
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Supporting Uniformed Personnel by Providing Oversight and Relevant Treatment for Substance Use Disorders Act or SUPPORT for Substance Use Disorders Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive review of Department of Defense (DOD) programs and activities for the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and management of, and research on, substance use disorders among members of the Armed Forces. Requires the Secretary to submit to the congressional defense and appropriations committees a plan for the improvement and enhancement of such programs and activities for members and their dependent family members, which shall include mechanisms to ensure the availability of appropriate treatment for such disorders and facilitate their prevention and reduction. Requires the plan to include instructions on: (1) the prevention of such disorders; (2) the appropriate training of health care professionals in the treatment of such disorders; (3) services for the dependents of members with such disorders; and (4) the dissemination of disorder prevention materials. Directs the Secretary to study such disorders in members and establish within DOD a Center of Excellence in the Prevention, Diagnosis, Mitigation, Treatment, and Management of Substance Use Disorders.

Date: 2009-07-30
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to automatically enroll in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical system certain veterans who served on active duty in combat operations during a period of war after the Persian Gulf War or in combat against a hostile force during a period of hostilities after November 11, 1998. Gives such veterans the option of declining enrollment.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
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.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Pensions Protection Act - Excludes monetary veterans' benefits paid to a veteran from a state or municipality from consideration as income for purposes of pension benefits paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Thomas G. Schubert Agent Orange Fairness Act - Presumes to be service-connected, and therefore compensable through veterans' disability compensation, cancers of any tissues through the opening of the gastrointestinal tract to the end, becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10% or more.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Increases the monthly rates of the educational assistance allowance payable on behalf of veterans' survivors and dependents.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Hardship Outreach for Priority Eights (HOPE) Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide grants and other assistance to states for the purpose of providing outreach to veterans who may be able to apply for a change in priority under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patient enrollment system due to hardship. Requires priority for such grants and assistance be given to states with: (1) veteran populations of at least 500,000; and (2) unemployment rates exceeding the national average unemployment rate. Sets a limit on the amount of such grants and assistance provided to any one state in any fiscal year.

Date: 2009-07-31
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
National Cemeteries Expansion Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), in selecting a location for the establishment of a new national cemetery, to give priority to a location where at least 110,000 veterans reside within a 75-mile radius. Requires the Secretary, in conducting an annual performance measure of the percentage of veterans served by a cemetery, to: (1) use census tracts, rather than counties, to test and identify potential cemetery locations and to determine the percentage of veterans served; (2) use methods to avoid the double counting of veterans in overlapping service areas; and (3) count veterans who reside in counties bisected by a service area using a proportional overlay method.

Date: 2009-09-09
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Hiring Heroes Tax Incentive Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a tax credit for up to 15% of the first $10,000 of wages paid to a Ready Reserve-National Guard employee or a recently-separated veteran (i.e., honorably discharged within the past five years). Terminates such credit after 2012.

Date: 2009-09-22
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include on the main page of the Internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) a hyperlink with a drop-down menu titled "Veterans Employment" that includes a direct hyperlink to the VetSuccess Internet website, USA Jobs Internet website, Job Central website, and any other appropriate employment Internet websites, especially those that focus on jobs for veterans. Requires the purchase of advertising in national media outlets to promote awareness of the VetSuccess Internet website to veterans. Provides for outreach to veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom to inform them of the VetSuccess Internet website.

Date: 2009-09-30
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Seniors and Veterans Economic Stimulus Act of 2009 - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend through the first three months of 2010 the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to make a payment of $250 to each eligible individual age 18 or over who, during the three-month period immediately preceding enactment of such Act (for purposes of payments made for calendar year 2009), or the three-month period beginning with December 2009 (for purposes of payments made for calendar year 2010), was entitled to Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, railroad retirement benefits, or veterans disability compensation or pension benefits. Repeals the limitation to one payment only to an individual regardless of whether the individual is entitled to, or eligible for, more than one benefit or cash payment. Entitles such individual to a payment in each of calendar years 2009 and 2010. Rescinds from the unobligated balance of the discretionary appropriations made available by division A of such Act the amount determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be required to offset the increase in spending resulting from this Act.

Date: 2009-10-01
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Prohibits any funds from being obligated or expended to increase the number of U.S. Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan on the date of enactment of this Act.

Date: 2009-10-01
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Armed Forces Tax Relief Act of 2009 - 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.

Date: 2009-10-01
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Strengthening America's Military Families Act of 2009 - 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.

Date: 2009-10-01
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Veterans Economic Opportunity Administration Act of 2009 - Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) a Veterans Economic Opportunity Administration, headed by the Under Secretary for Veterans Economic Opportunity, to administer VA programs of economic opportunity assistance to veterans and their dependents and survivors. Requires the Administration to administer the following VA programs: (1) vocational rehabilitation and employment; (2) educational assistance; (3) veterans' housing loan and related programs; (4) veterans' entrepreneurship; and (5) homeless veterans. Establishes as an interagency committee the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Labor-Small Business Administration Joint Executive Committee on Economic Opportunity to recommend to the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs and Labor and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) strategic direction for the joint coordination and sharing of efforts to promote and administer veterans economic opportunity programs for education and training, vocational rehabilitation, employment, small business, and homelessness, and to oversee implementation of those efforts.

Date: 2009-10-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Service Members' Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit and related provisions through November 30, 2009, for members of the uniformed services, members of the Foreign Service of the United States, and employees of the intelligence community serving on official extended duty outside the United States for at least 180 days in 2009.

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Honors as a veteran any person entitled to retired pay for nonregular (reserve) service or, but for age, would be so entitled. Provides that such person shall not be entitled to any benefit by reason of such recognition.

Date: 2009-10-08
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Makes the rate of per diem payments provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to organizations assisting homeless veterans the greater of: (1) the daily cost of care, as adjusted by other sources of income received by the organization; or (2) $60 per bed provided by the organization. Directs the Secretary to ensure that 25% of the funds available for such payments are made available to organizations that: (1) meet each, some, or at least one of the transitional and supportive services criteria prescribed by the Secretary; and (2) furnish services to homeless individuals, of which less than 75% are veterans. Provides a higher priority in the making of such per diem payments for organizations that meet all or most of the transitional and supportive services criteria.

Date: 2009-10-13
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Transparency for America's Heroes Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make available on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website redacted records and documents (but not personal identifying information) created by the VA as part of a medical quality-assurance program. Requires the Secretary to ensure that any such records or documents created during the two-year period before the enactment of this Act are also made available in the same manner.

Date: 2009-10-15
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a pilot program for assessing the effectiveness of addressing post-deployment mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms through a therapeutic medium of assistance dog training and handling for veterans with disabilities. Requires the pilot program to be carried out at: (1) at least three and not more than five VA medical centers over a five-year period; and (2) centers that provide a training area for educating veterans with mental health conditions in the art and science of assistance dog training and handling. Directs the Secretary, in hiring instructors under the program, to give a preference to veterans who have successfully graduated from PTSD or other residential treatment programs and received certification in assistance dog training. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress during the duration of the program.

Date: 2009-10-21
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Providing Military Honors for our Nation's Heroes Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reimburse a member of a veterans' service organization or other organization approved by the Secretary for transportation and other appropriate expenses incurred in connection with the voluntary provision of a funeral honors detail at the funeral of a veteran, including when requested by a funeral home.

Date: 2009-10-21
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Families of Disabled Veterans Work Opportunity Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a work opportunity tax credit for wages paid to a certified family member of a veteran with a service-connected disability who is unable to work.

Date: 2009-10-22
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Armed Forces Breast Cancer Research Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to jointly conduct a study on the incidence of breast cancer among members of the Armed Forces and veterans and report study results to Congress.

Date: 2009-10-26
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Servicemember Student Loan Interest Relief Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty in hostile areas to benefit from the provision barring the accrual of interest on their student loans under the Federal Direct Loan program regardless of the date their loan was first disbursed. (Currently, their loan must be disbursed on or after October 1, 2008, to qualify for such treatment.) Eliminates the restriction of such benefit on direct consolidation loans to that portion of the loan which is used to repay direct loans.

Date: 2009-10-28
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Education
Helping Heroes Keep Their Homes Act of 2010 - Amends the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to extend through December 31, 2015, specified protections for servicemembers relating to mortgages and mortgage foreclosures. Delays until January 1, 1916, revival of provisions of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: (1) allowing, or upon servicemember application requiring, a stay of court proceedings to enforce and adjust a mortgage obligation when the servicemember's ability to comply with such obligation is materially affected by military service; and (2) invalidating the sale, foreclosure, or seizure of property due to a servicemember's breach of obligation, except in certain circumstances. Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to state that its requirements governing a servicemember's real or personal property secured by a mortgage apply also to the surviving spouse of a servicemember who dies while in military service and whose death is service-connected, if the spouse is the successor in interest to such property.

Date: 2009-10-29
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Veterans Services Outreach and Training Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a program to make competitive grants to provide financial assistance to state departments of veterans affairs for the training of rural county veteran service officers in order to improve outreach and assistance to veterans, as well as their spouses, children, and parents, who may be eligible to receive veterans' or veterans-related benefits and who are residing in rural counties. Limits each grant to $2 million. Requires grants to be made on an annual basis.

Date: 2009-11-05
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide collaborative recovery coordinator training at a qualified nursing or medical school. Authorizes the qualified nursing or medical school to train 45 recovery coordinators.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Small Business and Military Family Assistance Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2011 the tax credit for differential wages paid to employees while on active duty in the uniformed services for a period of more than 30 days.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Military Spouse Pin Act - Requires the design of a spouse-of-a-combat-veteran lapel button to identify and recognize the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who is serving in a combat zone for a period of more than 30 days. Directs the: (1) Secretary of the military department concerned to present the button to such a spouse; and (2) Secretary of Defense (DOD) to make the button available to qualifying spouses of veterans of military conflicts that took place before the enactment of this Act.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
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.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Burial Benefits Improvement Act of 2009 - Increases the authorized allowance for burial and funeral expenses for deceased veterans who: (1) at the time of death were in receipt of veterans' disability compensation or veterans' pension benefits; or (2) were veterans of any war or were discharged or released from active military service for a service-connected disability and for whom there is no next of kin or sufficient resources to cover funeral and burial costs. Increases the burial plot allowance for veterans who, at the time of death, were receiving hospital or nursing home care in or through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Authorizes the annual adjustment of such allowances by the same percentage increase as adjustments to benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans to Work Pilot Program Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to establish the Veterans to Work pilot program to determine: (1) the maximum extent to which apprentices may be employed on designated military construction projects; (2) the maximum extent to which such apprentices are veterans; and (3) the feasibility of expanding the employment of apprentices to military construction projects other than those designated. Requires the Secretary, for each of FY2011-FY2015, to designate for the pilot program at least 20 military construction projects, taking into account specified considerations. Requires each contractor or subcontractor on a designated project to assure that it participates in a qualified apprenticeship or other training program for each craft or trade classification of worker that it intends to employ on the construction project.

Date: 2009-11-06
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Rural Veterans Reimbursement Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use the travel allowance or reimbursement rate in effect for federal employees traveling on official business in reimbursing a veteran for travel in connection with treatment for a service-connected disability or a scheduled compensation and pension examination when such travel is either more than 150 miles from the veteran's residence or requires lodging and subsistence because of inclement weather (as determined by the Secretary).

Date: 2009-11-16
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fort Hood Families Benefits Protection Act - Treats members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD) who were killed or wounded in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, as members killed or wounded in a combat zone or civilian employees killed or wounded in a terrorist attack or while serving in a contingency operation, respectively, for purposes of specified laws, regulations, and policies concerning compensation, awards, and other benefits for which such members and employees are eligible. Provides the maximum amount of coverage ($400,000) under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance for any member killed in such shootings, as well as any member who dies of wounds sustained in the shootings, notwithstanding that the member elected to be insured in a lesser amount. Excludes from the above provisions members whose wounds or death is the result of willful misconduct.

Date: 2009-11-17
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Prohibits the Department of Justice (DOJ) from prosecuting any unprivileged enemy combatant (any individual who has engaged in or supported hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners or was a part of al Qaeda) for any offense.

Date: 2009-11-18
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2009 - Provides that if a veteran claimant submits evidence in support of a case for which a substantive appeal has been filed to the Board of Veterans' Appeals, such evidence shall be submitted directly to the Board and not to a regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), unless the claimant requests that the evidence first be reviewed by the regional office. Empowers the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to affirm, modify, reverse, remand, or vacate and remand a decision of the Board after deciding all relevant assignments of error raised on appeal. Provides that whenever the Court reverses a decision on the merits of a particular claim and orders an award of benefits, the Court need not decide any additional assignments of error relating to that claim. Establishes the Veterans Judicial Review Commission to evaluate and make specific decisions to improve the administrative and judicial appellate review processes of veterans' and survivors' benefits determinations.

Date: 2009-11-19
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Requires trial by military commission when an unprivileged enemy belligerent is being tried for alleged conduct for which a term of incarceration or the death penalty may be sought or obtained.

Date: 2009-11-19
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Makes permanent the authority of the Secretary of the Army to accept and expend funds contributed by non-federal public entities to expedite the evaluation of permits under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army.

Date: 2009-12-01
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Water resources development
Honest and Open Testimony Act - Includes within communications by a member of the Armed Forces that are protected from retaliatory personnel actions any testimony provided in a congressional hearing regarding the disclosure of sexual orientation, including that the member is homosexual, bisexual, or transgender.

Date: 2009-12-02
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that a veteran may receive Post-9/11 educational assistance payments through direct deposit.

Date: 2009-12-03
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Department of Veterans Affairs Acquisition Improvement Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to include in the responsibilities of the Assistant Secretaries responsibilities for acquisition, construction, and asset management functions. Requires the Secretary to assign one Deputy Assistant Secretary to each of the following: (1) information technology acquisition; (2) acquisition services for the Veterans Benefits Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, and the Department headquarters; (3) construction acquisitions and leasing; (4) acquisition services for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA); (5) national contracts, including contracts for health care products and services awarded by the National Acquisition Center (other than contracts for information technology); (6) policy; and (7) asset enterprise management and logistics. Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) a Chief Acquisition Officer, with the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Construction, and Asset Management serving as the Chief Acquisition Officer; (2) a Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Construction, and Asset Management; and (3) seven Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Acquisition, with the seven functions listed in the preceding paragraph. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a Department-wide acquisition program under which the Secretary shall develop, implement, and enforce a streamlined approach to entering into contracts and purchasing goods and services. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into personal services contracts for medical specialist services and the sharing of VA health care resources. Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to include under the term "competitive procedures" the procedures established by the Secretary for the use of federal supply schedules that are open to all responsible sources and result in the lowest cost alternative to meet the needs of the government. Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations to provide procedures for soliciting, negotiating, awarding, and administering such supply schedules. Revises VA small business contracting goals. Prohibits the Secretary from including in a database of small businesses owned and controlled by veterans a small business that is the vendor of a commercial item unless the vendor is the manufacturer or regular dealer of the item, unless the Secretary specifically provides a waiver with respect to that vendor. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish specific criteria for verifying the status of each small business proposed to be included in the database; and (2) specify the North American Industry Classification System code or codes of the goods and services that may be procured from each small business so listed.

Date: 2009-12-08
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Military Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act - Provides whistleblower protections to a member of the Armed Forces who complains or discloses evidence of ideologically based threats or actions of another member that the providing member reasonably believes could be counterproductive or detrimental to U.S. interests or security.

Date: 2009-12-10
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act or BEST Practices Act - Requires the Secretary of Defense (DOD), no later than October 1, 2013, to only use human-based training methods for training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment of combat trauma injuries and the management of chemical and biological casualties. Prohibits the use of animals in such training.

Date: 2009-12-10
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to provide that the federal share of the cost of projects assisted by economic adjustment grants made to communities that have suffered economic injury as a result of a military base closure or realignment, defense contractor reduction in force, or Department of Energy (DOE) defense-related funding reduction shall be 100%.

Date: 2009-12-11
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Housing and community development
Amends the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 to expand access to Department of Defense (DOD) homeowners assistance for qualified members of the Armed Forces permanently reassigned during a designated mortgage crisis to allow the Secretary of Defense greater flexibility regarding the dates of the availability of such assistance. Directs the Secretary, in exercising such authority, to consult with the Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Treasury regarding the condition of housing markets in the area of a base or installation.

Date: 2009-12-15
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Securing Patriots Access to Convenient and Economic Air Travel Act of 2009 or SPACE-A Travel Act of 2009 - Requires transportation on Department of Defense (DOD) aircraft, on a space-available basis and on the same basis as a spouse of a retired member of the Armed Forces, for: (1) the unremarried surviving spouse of a retired member; (2) the unremarried surviving spouse of a former member who is entitled to dependency and indemnity compensation; and (3) any dependents accompanied by such surviving spouses.

Date: 2009-12-16
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Terrorist Detention and Prosecution Act of 2010 - Replaces the term "unprivileged enemy combatant" in federal military law with the term "unlawful enemy combatant." Includes in the definition, and therefore makes subject to trial by military commissions, an individual who: (1) is closely associated with or has provided material support to al Qaeda or any other organization dedicated to committing acts of terrorism against the United States; (2) has taken up or conspired to take up arms on behalf of al Qaeda; and (3) has committed or conspired to commit acts of terrorism against the United States or American citizens or targets, regardless of the location of the individual's capture. Allows the President to authorize the detention of any unlawful enemy combatant until determining that the individual is no longer a threat to the United States or its allies.

Date: 2010-01-12
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Waives, during FY2011, the basic military pay adjustment tied to increases in the Employment Cost Index. Increases, effective January 1, 2011, such basic pay by 1.9%.

Date: 2010-01-12
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Combat Operations and Medical Benefit Authorization for Our Troops Act of 2010 or COMBAT Act - Increases the maximum monthly rates of: (1) hazardous duty pay; (2) hostile fire or imminent danger pay; (3) special pay for service as a member of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team; (4) special pay for members extending duty at designated overseas locations; (5) combat-related injury rehabilitation pay; and (6) the family separation allowance. Increases the maximum annual rates of special pay for: (1) officers serving as psychologists and nonphysician health care providers; and (2) special warfare officers extending their active-duty period.

Date: 2010-01-13
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Employment Today Act of 2010 or the VET Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the work opportunity tax credit for the hiring of disabled and unemployed veterans.

Date: 2010-01-13
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Military Tribunals for Terrorists Act of 2010 - Requires trial only by a military commission for any foreign national who: (1) engages or has engaged in an offense relating to a terrorist attack against persons or property in the United States or U.S. government property or personnel outside the United States; and (2) is subject to trial for that offense by a military commission under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Date: 2010-01-19
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Prevent Terrorists from Reuniting with Terrorist Cells Act - Prohibits the transfer or repatriation for release or detention of any individual detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a nation or region that is recognized by the Department of State or the Department of Defense (DOD) as a haven for terrorist activity or that has been classified as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Date: 2010-01-19
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members deployed in support of a contingency operation. States that if a motion for change of custody of a child of such a member is filed while the member is so deployed, no court may enter an order modifying or amending a previous child custody judgment, except if the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child. Prohibits any court from considering a member's absence due to deployment, or possible deployment, in support of a contingency operation in determining the best interest of the child.

Date: 2010-01-19
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Ensuring the Collection of Critical Intelligence Act of 2010 - Requires the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, or the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to consult with the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense before allowing any DOJ officer or employee to institute a prosecution of an alien in a United States District Court for a terrorist offense or to interrogate any such alien in a criminal investigation or prosecution of a terrorist offense.

Date: 2010-01-26
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to permit a state home to provide VA nursing home care to parents who had any children who died while serving in the Armed Forces.

Date: 2010-01-26
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Extends through 2013 eligibility for the concurrent receipt of military retired pay and veterans' disability compensation for veterans who were retired or separated due to physical disability, regardless of their disability rating or years of service.

Date: 2010-01-26
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Pensions Protection Act of 2010 - Excludes from annual income, for purposes of eligibility for pensions for veterans and their surviving spouses and children, reimbursements resulting from: (1) any accident; (2) any theft or loss; (3) any casualty loss; (4) medical expenses resulting from any such accident, theft, or loss; and (5) pain and suffering (including insurance settlement payments and general damages awarded by a court) related to such accident, theft, or loss.

Date: 2010-01-27
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Establishes the State Veterans' Benefits Commission to evaluate the total amount of benefits provided by each state to resident veterans with a total and permanent disability rating, as well as the method in which each state establishes the amount of such benefits based on such disability rating. Requires the Commission to report evaluation results to the congressional veterans committees.

Date: 2010-02-02
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
TBI Treatment Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (Secretaries) to carry out a five-year pilot program under which each Secretary establishes a process for providing payments to facilities for treatments of traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) received by members of the Armed Forces and veterans in facilities other than military treatment facilities or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities. Subjects such payments to specified conditions, including approved treatment or study protocols. Requires the VA Secretary to notify each veteran with a service-connected injury or disability of the opportunity to receive such treatment or study protocol. Requires the Secretaries to jointly: (1) develop and maintain a database containing data from each patient case involving the use of such treatments; and (2) report annually to Congress on the implementation of this Act.

Date: 2010-02-02
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
GI Bill Enhancement Act of 2010 - Increases from $19 million to $24 million the annual amount available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reimburse state agencies for expenses incurred in approving courses of education for participation in the veterans' educational assistance program. Directs the Secretary, for each fiscal year, to adjust such amount to account for changes in the cost of living.

Date: 2010-02-02
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Energy Jobs for Veterans Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a five-year pilot program (to be known as the Veterans Energy-Related Employment Program) to award competitive grants to three states to establish and administer a program of grants to energy industry employers and labor management organizations that provide training, apprenticeships, and certification classes to veterans employed by an energy employer. Requires annual reports from the Secretary to Congress for the duration of the pilot program. Authorizes appropriations.

Date: 2010-02-03
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Asian Carp Action Plan Act of 2010 - Requires the Secretary of the Army to coordinate and lead federal actions with respect to preventing the spread of Asian carp in the Great Lakes and its tributaries. Authorizes the Secretary to implement projects to prevent the spread of Asian carp in the Great Lakes and its tributaries, including: (1) installing electric, acoustic, air bubble, and other barriers; (2) applying pesticides; and (3) improving locks. Requires the Secretary to implement measures recommended in the dispersal barrier efficacy study, or provided in interim reports, authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 to prevent aquatic nuisance species from bypassing the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Dispersal Barrier Project and dispersing into the Great Lakes. Authorizes the Secretary to take actions at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois to prevent the spread of Asian carp. Requires the Secretary to study and report to Congress on strategies to prevent the spread of Asian carp with respect to the Great Lakes and its tributaries.

Date: 2010-02-04
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Water resources development
Corporal Dustin Lee Memorial Act - Provides that, for purposes of determining the appropriateness of the adoption of a military working dog (dog) before the end of the dog's useful life, the unusual or extraordinary circumstances that must exist in such case may include situations in which the handler is killed in action, dies of wounds received in action, or is so seriously wounded in action that the member will, or most likely will, receive a medical discharge. Provides that, under such circumstances, if the Secretary of the military department concerned determines that an adoption is justified, the dog will be made available for adoption only by the immediate family of such member.

Date: 2010-02-22
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program establishing a childcare center at Bay Pines Medical Center, Florida, for the children of: (1) veterans receiving treatment there; (2) employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA contractors, and veterans service organizations; and (3) active-duty military personnel whose duty station is in such area and does not have childcare services made available by the Secretary of Defense.

Date: 2010-02-23
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2010 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase, as of December 1, 2010, the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, 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) of the Social Security Act, on the same effective date.

Date: 2010-02-23
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Military Spouse Job Continuity Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces (military spouse) who moves with such member to another state under a permanent change of station order a tax credit for up to $500 of qualified relicensing costs incurred by such spouse. Defines "qualified relicensing costs" as costs for a state license or certification to engage in the profession that such military spouse engaged in while residing in the former state.

Date: 2010-02-25
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Military Spouses Employment Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include spouses of members of the Armed Forces on extended active duty (more than 90 days or for an indefinite period) as members of a targeted group for purposes of the work opportunity tax credit (thus giving employers a tax incentive for hiring military spouses).

Date: 2010-03-04
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Taxation
Includes within authorized work-study activities, for individuals entitled to work-study allowances through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in connection with VA rehabilitation, education, or training programs, the following activities carried out at offices of Members of Congress: (1) the distribution of information to members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their dependents concerning available benefits and services under governmental and nongovernmental programs; and (2) the preparation and processing of papers and other documents, including those used to assist in the preparation and presentation of veterans' benefits claims.

Date: 2010-03-04
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Fort Hood Victims and Families Benefits Protection Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) any member of the Armed Forces who was killed or wounded in the attack at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009, and the family members of those victims, should receive the same treatment and benefits as the victims and families of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States; (2) such members and families have made tremendous sacrifices, and the United States should provide them with the maximum level of benefits available, identical to that available to those killed or wounded in an overseas combat zone such as Iraq or Afghanistan; and (3) the Department of Defense (DOD) should honor the Americans killed or injured in such attack with awards that recognize their sacrifices, including the Purple Heart for members and the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Defense of Freedom for civilian DOD employees. Treats members and DOD civilian employees killed or wounded in the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, as members killed or wounded in a combat zone or civilian employees killed or wounded in a terrorist attack or while serving in a contingency operation, respectively, for purposes of specified laws, regulations, and policies concerning compensation, awards, and other benefits for which such members and employees are eligible.

Date: 2010-03-09
Topic: Defense (Personnel Issues)
Subject: Armed forces and national security