zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the eligibility of certain small insurance companies (other than life insurance companies) for the alternative corporate income tax by increasing the premium limitation used to determine such eligibility to $2.012 million (from $1.2 million), with an annual inflation adjustment after 2013.

Date: 2013-07-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
Captive Insurers Clarification Act - Amends the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 to define "captive insurance company" as an insurance company wholly owned directly or indirectly: (1) by a single parent company and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of that single parent company or its affiliates; (2) by a group of companies and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of that group or its affiliates; and (3) by an industry, trade, or service group or association, and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of any member in that group or association, including any member affiliate.

Excludes a captive insurance company from the meaning of a "nonadmitted insurer" (that is not licensed to engage in the business of insurance in a state), and from any requirements (including state tax requirements) applying to a nonadmitted insurer.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Policyholder Protection Act of 2015

 (Sec. 2) This bill amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to declare that any action of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that requires a bank holding company to provide funds or other assets to a subsidiary depository institution is neither effective nor enforceable with respect to a savings and loan holding company that is also an insurance company, an affiliate of an insured depository institution that is an insurance company, or any other company that is an insurance company and directly or indirectly controls an insured depository institution (entities) if:

 such funds or assets are to be provided by the entity, and the relevant state insurance authority determines that such an action would have a materially adverse effect on the entity's financial condition. The bill declares that requiring a bank holding company that is an insurance company to serve as a source of financial strength shall be deemed the kind of action of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that requires a bank holding company to provide funds or other assets to a subsidiary depository institution for specified purposes of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended, with respect to systemic risk determination and the treatment of insurance companies and their subsidiaries, to authorize the FDIC to stand in the place of the appropriate regulatory agency and file a judicial action to place such companies into orderly rehabilitation under state law if the appropriate regulatory agency has not done so.

The FDIC, when funding the orderly liquidation of an insurance company or its subsidiary, shall notify the relevant state insurance authority promptly of its intention to take a lien on the company's assets.

The FDIC may take such a lien only: to secure repayment of funds made available to such covered financial company or covered subsidiary; and if it determines that the lien will neither unduly impede nor delay the liquidation or rehabilitation of the insurance company, or the recovery by its policyholders.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the eligibility of certain small insurance companies (other than life insurance companies) for the alternative corporate income tax by increasing the premium limitation used to determine such eligibility to $2.2 million (from $1.2 million), with an annual inflation adjustment to such increased amount after 2015.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
International Insurance Standards Transparency and Policyholder Protection Act of 2015 

This bill prescribes negotiating objectives for international insurance regulatory frameworks, including: (1) standards, requirements, and rules focused solely upon protection of policy holders, as reflected in the U.S. solvency regime; and (2) a negotiated international insurance regulatory framework that recognizes U.S. prudential measures as equivalent to foreign measures.

U.S. representatives are prohibited from agreeing to, accepting or establishing , any international standard applicable to:

 insurers, capital standards, and rules designed for banks; any insurer that has not been designated a systemically important financial institution under U.S. law or a global systemically important insurer by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, capital standards and rules designed for systemically important bank or non-bank financial institutions, and any capital standard or rule governing U.S. insurance entities (except entities designated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act) unless it is designed solely to help ensure that sufficient funds are available to pay claims to an insurer's policyholders in the event of the entity's liquidation. The President must fulfill specified congressional consultation and public notice requirements with respect to any international insurance regulatory framework.

Date: 2015-04-30
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Equality in Insurance Act of 2015 

This bill requires an insurer, when rating and underwriting any insurance policy that takes into consideration the marital status of the proposed insured, to consider the proposed insured to be married if the proposed insured is in a legal marriage, a civil union, or a domestic partnership with substantially the same legal obligations and consequences as a legal marriage under the laws of any jurisdiction (including any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or any foreign jurisdiction).

Any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act may bring a civil action for damages and relief, including equitable relief.

Date: 2015-06-23
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Claims Licensing Advancement for Interstate Matters Act or the CLAIM Act

This bill authorizes an independent insurance claims adjuster to apply to the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers for Membership for the purpose of licensure in any state that requires a license for such adjusters that is not among such states that have enacted, within four years of this Act's enactment: (1) uniform laws and regulations governing the licensure of individuals and entities authorized to adjust claims within the state, and (2) reciprocity laws and regulations governing the licensure of nonresident individuals and entities authorized to adjust such claims within those states.

The Department of the Treasury must annually determine a state's continued compliance with such requirements.

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Nonprofit Property Protection Act

This bill:

 amends the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986 to rename it the Risk Retention Act of 1986; and exclude from "commercial insurance" covered by the Act any health, life, or disability insurance or workers compensation insurance or express contractual obligations owed to a consumer as a result of a personal, family, or household transaction, where the consumer pays a separate consideration for the express contractual obligation. The bill expands the kinds of state laws pertaining to business insurance from which a risk retention group shall be exempt to include laws pertaining to other lines of commercial insurance offered by a risk retention group to an entity organized and operated exclusively as a federal tax-exempt nonprofit charitable or educational institution, as long as the group meets specified criteria.

Date: 2015-10-21
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the tax treatment of certain life insurance contract transactions.

The bill establishes reporting requirements for acquisitions of life insurance contracts in a reportable policy sale. Specified details must be reported regarding:

 the payments, contracts, and people involved in the acquisition; the seller's basis; and payments of death benefits. A "reportable policy sale" is the acquisition of an interest in a life insurance contract, directly or indirectly, if the acquirer has no substantial family, business, or financial relationship with the insured apart from the acquirer's interest in such life insurance contract.

The bill also: (1) specifies that no basis adjustment shall be made for mortality, expense, or other reasonable charges incurred under an annuity or life insurance contract; and (2) exempts the transfer of a life insurance contract, or any interest therein, in a reportable policy sale from the transfer for valuable consideration rule.

(Under current law, the transfer for valuable consideration rule provides that, if a life insurance contract or an interest in a contract is transferred for a valuable consideration, the tax exclusion for amounts received under a life insurance contract due to the death of the insured is limited to the sum of the actual value of the consideration and the premiums and other amounts subsequently paid by the transferee.)

Date: 2016-09-08
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the taxable income of a life insurance company or other insurance company: (1) any non-taxed reinsurance premium; (2) any additional amount paid by an insurance company with respect to the reinsurance for which such non-taxed reinsurance premium is paid; and (3) any return premium, ceding commission, reinsurance recovered, or other amount received by an insurance company with respect to the reinsurance for which such non-taxed reinsurance premium is paid.

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
U.S. Insurance Regulation Works Act of 2016

This bill requires parties representing the federal government on international insurance regulatory proposals to ensure that any proposals they assent to:

 are consistent with, and reflective of, existing federal and state insurance laws and regulations, including the primacy of policyholder protection in solvency regulation; and recognize existing federal and state laws and regulations as satisfying such proposals. Federal government representatives must consult with, and seek to include, state insurance commissioners in meetings of any international regulatory, standard-setting, or supervisory forum or in any negotiations of international agreements relating to insurance.

Date: 2016-12-05
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Policyholder Protection Act of 2015

 Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to declare that any regulation, order, or other action of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that requires a bank holding company to provide funds or other assets to a subsidiary depository institution shall not be effective nor enforceable with respect to an entity that is a savings and loan holding company that is also an insurance company, an affiliate of an insured depository institution that is an insurance company, or any other company that is an insurance company and that directly or indirectly controls an insured depository institution if: (1) such funds or assets are to be provided by the entity, and (2) the state insurance authority for the insurance company determines that such an action would have a materially adverse effect on the entity's financial condition.Declares that requiring a bank holding company that is an insurance company or such an entity to serve as a source of financial strength shall be deemed the kind of action of the Board to which this Act applies.

Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with respect to systemic risk determination and the treatment of insurance companies and their subsidiaries, to authorize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to stand in the place of the appropriate regulatory agency and file a judicial action to place such companies into orderly rehabilitation under state law if the appropriate regulatory agency has not done so.

Requires the FDIC, when funding the orderly liquidation of an insurance company or its subsidiary, to notify the relevant state insurance authority promptly of its intention to take a lien on the company's assets.

Prohibits the FDIC from taking such a lien if the state insurance authority informs it that doing so would have a materially adverse effect upon the insurance company's policyholders.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the eligibility of certain small insurance companies (other than life insurance companies) for the alternative corporate income tax by increasing the premium limitation used to determine such eligibility to $2.2 million (from $1.2 million), with an annual inflation adjustment to such increased amount after 2015. This increase is applicable to taxable years beginning after the enactment of this Act.

The Department of the Treasury must submit to the Senate Finance Committee by February 11, 2016, a report on the abuse of captive insurance companies for estate planning purposes, including legislative recommendations for addressing any such abuses.

(Sec. 2) This bill also increases from 30% to 45% the rate of the continuous levy on payments made after 180 days after the enactment of this Act to Medicare providers and suppliers for unpaid taxes.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
International Insurance Capital Standards Accountability Act of 2015

This bill establishes at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System the Insurance Policy Advisory Committee on International Capital Standards and Other Insurance Issues, a 21-member committee representing diverse expert perspectives from the U.S. insurance industry (including life insurance, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, agents and brokers, academics, consumer advocates, or experts on issues facing underserved insurance communities and consumers).

The Secretary of the Treasury and the Board Chairman shall report annually to certain congressional committees on their efforts with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners regarding global insurance regulatory or supervisory forums.

The Secretary, the Board Chairman, and the Director of the Federal Insurance Office, before supporting or consenting to the adoption of any key element in any international insurance proposal or international insurance capital standard, must study its impact upon U.S. markets and consumers.

The Secretary and the Board Chairman must also report, as well as testify to Congress on their efforts to increase transparency at meetings of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors.

Date: 2015-04-27
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Captive Insurers Clarification Act

 Amends the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 to define "captive insurance company" as an insurance company wholly owned directly or indirectly: (1) by a single parent company and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of that single parent company or its affiliates; (2) by a group of companies and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of that group or its affiliates; and (3) by an industry, trade, or service group or association, and whose primary purpose is to insure the risks of any member in that group or association, including any member affiliate.

Excludes a captive insurance company from the meaning of a "nonadmitted insurer" (that is not licensed to engage in the business of insurance in a state), and from any requirements (including state tax requirements) applying to a nonadmitted insurer.

Date: 2015-06-11
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Offshore Reinsurance Tax Fairness Act

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to define "qualifying insurance corporation," for purposes of the insurance business exception to passive foreign investment company rules, as a foreign corporation: (1) that would be subject to U.S. taxation if it were a domestic corporation, and (2) the applicable insurance liabilities of which constitute more than 25% of its total assets. Allows an alternative facts and circumstances test for insurance corporations whose applicable insurance liabilities are not at least 25% of total assets if such percentage is at least 10% and the corporation is predominantly engaged in an insurance business.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: Taxation
Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2016

This bill allows a beneficiary of a Holocaust-era life, dowry, education, annuity, property, or other insurance policy to bring a civil action in a U.S. district court against the insurer for the covered policy to recover proceeds due or, otherwise, to enforce any rights under the policy.

 The bill covers any policy that was: (1) in effect at any time from January 31, 1933, to December 31, 1945; and (2) issued to a policy holder domiciled in any area that was occupied or controlled by Nazi Germany, an ally or friendly government, or the territorial jurisdiction of Switzerland.

 The bill requires the award: (1) to a prevailing beneficiary of the amount of the proceeds due under the policy, plus prejudgment interest at 6% per year, compounded annually, calculated from the date the amount was originally due; and (2) of treble damages against any insurer that acted in bad faith.

 A civil action under this bill must be filed within 10 years after enactment of this bill.

 A prior judgment or release entered for any claim arising under a covered policy in any civil action in a federal or state court shall not impair a claim brought under this bill.

Any executive agreement between the United States and a foreign government or any executive foreign policy of the U.S. government shall not supercede or preempt any state law or compromise, settle, extinguish, waive, preclude, bar, or foreclose any claim brought under this bill.

 A claim brought under state law within 10 years after enactment of this bill shall not be deemed untimely on the basis of any state or federal statute of limitations or on the basis of any other legal or equitable rule or doctrine governing timeliness.

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Domestic Commerce (Insurance Regulation)
Subject: International affairs
Requires the House of Representatives and the Senate each to establish in its Committee on Appropriations a Subcommittee on Intelligence with jurisdiction over all the Committee's activities relating to intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the federal government. Requires public disclosure of certain intelligence funding information by the President and the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

Date: 2007-01-09
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Congress
Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to require the head of an element of the intelligence community (IC), no later than 24 hours after receiving a request for information regarding an officer, employee, or agent of such element from a federal department, agency, or office that is not an element of the IC, to report such request to the Attorney General and the congressional intelligence committees. Revises the definition of "covert agent" for purposes of such Act.

Date: 2007-01-16
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Department of Homeland Security Procurement Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require: (1) the Chief Procurement Officer to provide homeland security procurement training to acquisition employees, including establishing training objectives, standards, requirements, and courses; and (2) the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a Council on Procurement Training to make policy and training curriculum recommendations. Directs the Secretary to require any offeror for a contract to provide goods or services to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to submit, as part of the offeror's bid: (1) an attestation disclosing any substantial role the offeror, the offeror's employees, or any corporate parent or subsidiary may have played in creating a solicitation, request for proposal, or statement of work or objectives for DHS; (2) a description of safeguards used to prevent the offeror from receiving information through such role that could provide an undue advantage in submission of a contract offer; and (3) a written certification indicating whether the offeror is in default or delinquent on any tax payment to the federal government. Requires the Secretary to: (1) consider the contractor's past performance based on a review of information submitted regarding performance of government and private sector contracts; and (2) contact the relevant official who administered each such contract performed during the five-year period preceding the review. Requires the Secretary to review, strengthen, and issue DHS-wide guidance on the policy governing the use of DHS purchase cards by employees to conduct official business. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress on DHS contracting processes.

Date: 2007-02-05
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Emergency management
Intelligence Community Audit Act of 2007 - Reaffirms the authority of the Comptroller General to audit and evaluate financial transactions, programs, and activities of elements of the intelligence community (those elements identified in the National Security Act of 1947) and obtain access to records for such purposes. Allows the Comptroller General to conduct an audit or evaluation of intelligence sources and methods or covert actions only upon a request of a congressional intelligence committee or the majority or minority leader of the Senate or the House of Representatives. Requires the Comptroller General to disclose the results of any such audit or evaluation only to the original requestor, the Director of National Intelligence, and the head of the relevant element of the intelligence community. Requires the Comptroller General to establish safeguards to protect the unauthorized disclosure of all classified and other sensitive information furnished to the Comptroller General in conducting an audit or evaluation.Requires elements of the intelligence community to cooperate with the Comptroller General in providing documentation and information necessary for audits and evaluations.

Date: 2007-02-09
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 - Authorizes appropriations for FY2007 for the conduct of intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the: (1) Office of the Director of National Intelligence; (2) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); (3) Department of Defense (DOD); (4) Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA); (5) National Security Agency (NSA); (6) Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; (7) Departments of State, the Treasury, Energy, and Justice; (8) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); (9) National Reconnaissance Office; (10) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; (11) Coast Guard; (12) Department of Homeland Security; and (13) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Specifies that the amounts authorized and the authorized personnel ceilings as of September 30, 2007, for such activities are those specified in the classified Schedule of Authorizations, which shall be made available to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees and the President. Allows the Director of Central Intelligence, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to authorize employment of civilian personnel in excess of the number authorized for FY2007 when necessary for the performance of important intelligence functions. Requires notification of the congressional intelligence committees on the use of such authority. Authorizes appropriations for the Intelligence Community Management Account for FY2007, as well as for full-time personnel for elements within such Account. Authorizes appropriations for FY2007 for the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability Fund. Specifies that the authorization of appropriations by this Act shall not be deemed to constitute authority for the conduct of any intelligence activity which is not otherwise authorized by the Constitution of laws of the United States.

Date: 2007-02-27
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
National Security Letter Judicial and Congressional Oversight Act - Prohibits a national security letter from issuing unless a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or a designated U.S. Magistrate Judge finds that: (1) the information sought is relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities; (2) such an investigation of a U.S. person is not conducted soley upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution; and (3) there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. Requires the court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to establish an electronic system for the submission of documents and other information relating to such proceedings, and for the issuance of orders relating to national security letters. Expresses the sense of Congress that, in the case of a challenge to a nondisclosure requirement of a national security letter, a certification by the Attorney General or other appropriate head or deputy head of a federal department, agency, or instrumentality that disclosure of such a letter may endanger U.S. national security or interfere with diplomatic relations should not be considered conclusive evidence but only a rebuttable presumption that such disclosure would do so. Directs the Attorney General to establish minimization and destruction procedures to ensure that information obtained pursuant to a national security letter regarding persons no longer of interest in an authorized investigation is destroyed.

Date: 2007-03-28
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Law
Interagency Reform Study Act of 2007 - Directs the: (1) Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Center for the Study of the Presidency to conduct a study on the national security interagency system; and (2) Center to report study results to Congress and the President.

Date: 2007-05-03
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Office for National Capital Region Coordination Restoration Act - Provides that the Office for National Capital Region Coordination shall be administered within the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security as provided in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Excepts such Office from the Secretary's reorganization authority.

Date: 2007-05-09
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Emergency management
First Responder Funding Modernization Act of 2007 - Prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from limiting the amount of grant funds provided under the Urban Area Security Initiative or the State Homeland Security Grant Program that may be used to pay salaries or overtime pay of law enforcement officials engaged in antiterrorism activities. Requires DHS to treat such a proposed use of grant funds as at least as effective as all other proposed uses.

Date: 2007-07-10
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to redefine "electronic surveillance" as: (1) the installation or use of an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device for acquiring information by intentionally directing surveillance at a particular person believed to be in the United States when that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes; or (2) the intentional acquisition of the contents of any communication when that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes, if both the sender and all intended recipients are believed to be in the United States.

Date: 2007-07-24
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to state that nothing in the FISA definition of "electronic surveillance" shall be construed to encompass surveillance directed at a person located outside the United States. Authorizes the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Attorney General (AG), for periods up to one year, to acquire foreign intelligence information concerning persons outside the United States under specified procedures subject to review by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Court). Allows the DNI and AG to issue a directive to require a person to: (1) provide appropriate information to accomplish an acquisition while protecting the secrecy of the information acquired and producing a minimum of interference with services provided to the acquisition target; and (2) maintain appropriate records concerning the acquisition. Outlines procedures to be followed in the case of a failure to comply with a directive. Directs the: (1) AG to submit to the Court the procedures by which the government determines that acquisitions conducted pursuant to the above authority do not constitute electronic surveillance; and (2) Court to assess such procedures. Requires the AG to report semiannually to the congressional intelligence and judiciary committees on incidents of noncompliance with directives issues by the DNI and AG.

Date: 2007-08-02
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Improving Foreign Intelligence Surveillance to Defend the Nation and the Constitution Act of 2007 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to provide that a court order is not required for the acquisition of communication between non-U.S. persons who are not located within the United States for collecting foreign intelligence information, whether or not the communication passes through the United States or the surveillance device is located within the United States. Allows the Attorney General (AG), upon authorization of the President, to apply to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Court) for an order, or the extension of an order, authorizing for up to one year the acquisition of communications of persons outside the United States who are non-U.S. persons. Allows the AG to authorize such surveillance without a court order for up to 15 days if the AG determines that an emergency situation exists with respect to obtaining such information before an order authorizing the surveillance can be obtained. Authorizes the AG, in either case, to direct a communications service provider, custodian, or other person who has access to such information to furnish the AG with the required information and to maintain appropriate records concerning acquisition of the information.

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Improvement and Enhancement Act of 2007 - Prescribes the federal law provisions governing domestic electronic surveillance. Directs the President to brief each member of the congressional intelligence committees on: (1) the Terrorist Surveillance Program of the National Security Agency (NSA); and (2) any program which involves the electronic surveillance of U.S. persons in the United States for foreign intelligence purposes which is conducted by any federal department or entity without fully complying with the prescribed federal law provisions. Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) concerning electronic surveillance to: (1) extend the period for the application for orders for emergency electronic surveillance; (2) increase the number of judges with jurisdiction to hear applications for and grant orders approving electronic surveillance within the United States; and (3) provide for the acquisition of foreign communications between or among non-U.S. persons. Provides for the implementation of a document management system for, and authorizes additional personnel for the preparation and consideration of, electronic surveillance applications. Expands electronic surveillance authority under specified conditions, including when Congress is unable to convene because of an attack upon the United States. Repeals the Protect America Act. States that on December 31, 2009: (1) this Act shall cease to have effect; and (2) the provisions of law amended by this Act are amended to read as they read before this Act's enactment.

Date: 2007-10-09
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Supporting Prosecutions of International Espionage Schemes Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) revise criminal prohibitions against unauthorized gathering and disclosure of national defense information and recklessly losing such information; (2) increase maximum prison terms for the crimes of misprision of treason, rebellion, and thefts of classified information and financial records by computer; (3) impose a fine and/or prison term of up to 30 years for damaging or impeding the operation of a nuclear facility or attempting or conspiring to do so; and (4) impose a fine and/or prison term of up to 20 years for violations of certain export control requirements.Directs the Attorney General to: (1) notify appropriate officials at the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), State, and Commerce of any indictments, convictions, or dispositions of any criminal investigations under the Arms Export Control Act or the Export Administration Act; (2) develop an Internet import and export control database; and (3) provide technical assistance to investigators and prosecutors to improve and increase enforcement and prosecution of export control laws.

Date: 2007-10-10
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Detainee Interrogation Recording Act of 2007 - Requires the President to take such actions as are necessary, in accordance with specified laws and treaties, to ensure the videotaping of each strategic interrogation and other pertinent interaction between detainees or prisoners under the effective control of the U.S. and members of the Armed Forces, U.S. intelligence operatives, or U.S. contractors. Directs the President to provide for the appropriate classification of videotapes or recordings made under that requirement. Requires such videotapes to be made available, under seal if appropriate, to both prosecution and defense attorneys to the extent that they are material to any military or civilian criminal proceeding. Defines strategic interrogation as an interrogation at: (1) a corps or theater-level detention facility; or (2) a detention facility outside of the area where the detainee or prisoner was initially captured, including one owned, operated, borrowed, or leased by the U.S. government and a detention facility of a foreign government. Prohibits construing this Act to require videotaping during direct tactical combat operations. Requires the President to ensure that representatives of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent are granted access to detainees or prisoners in the custody or effective control of the Armed Forces. Directs the Judge Advocates General to jointly develop guidelines to ensure that the videotaping required by this Act is sufficiently expansive to prevent any abuse of detainees and prisoners and violations of specified laws and treaties.

Date: 2007-12-13
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Amends the Protect America Act of 2007 (currently set to expire on February 1, 2008) to extend its authority for 15 days.

Date: 2008-01-23
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Department of Homeland Security Component Privacy Officer Act of 2008 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate a full-time privacy official for each of the following Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components: (1) the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); (2) the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS); (3) Customs and Border Protection (CBP); (4) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); (5) the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); (6) the Coast Guard; (7) the Directorate of Science and Technology; (8) the Office of Intelligence and Analysis; and (9) the Directorate for National Protection and Programs. Grants each component's privacy official primary responsibility for implementing the privacy policy for DHS established by DHS's privacy officer.Requires each designated privacy official to report directly to both the component head and DHS's privacy officer. Lists the responsibilities of each component privacy official, including: (1) serving as DHS's privacy officer's main point of contact at the component to implement that officer's policies and directives; (2) advising the component head on privacy considerations when any law, regulation, or guideline is proposed, developed, or implemented; (3) assuring that the use of technologies sustains or enhances privacy protections; (4) identifying privacy issues related to component programs; (5) monitoring the component's compliance with all applicable federal privacy laws and regulations; (6) assisting in drafting and reviewing privacy impact assessments, privacy threshold assessments, and system of records notices; (7) implementing and monitoring privacy training for component employees and contractors in coordination with DHS's privacy officer; and (8) providing DHS's privacy officer with written materials and information regarding the relevant activities of the component, including privacy violations and abuse, that are needed to successfully prepare reports for Congress and on behalf of DHS.Directs each component head to ensure that the component's privacy official: (1) has the information, resources, and access to material and personnel necessary to fulfill his or her responsibilities; (2) is advised of proposed policy changes and the development of new programs, regulations, procedures, or guidelines during the planning stages; and (3) is included in decision-making.

Date: 2008-01-29
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Civil rights and liberties, minority issues
Amends the Protect America Act of 2007 (currently set to expire on February 16, 2008) to extend its authority for 21days.

Date: 2008-02-12
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008 or FISA Amendments Act of 2008 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to authorize the Attorney General (AG) and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to jointly authorize, for periods up to one year, the targeting (electronic surveillance) of persons located outside the United States in order to acquire foreign intelligence information, under specified limitations and requirements. Authorizes the AG and DNI to direct an electronic communication service provider to: (1) immediately provide the government with all information, facilities, and assistance necessary to accomplish an acquisition of communications; and (2) maintain under security procedures any records concerning such acquisition. Requires the AG and DNI, at least every six months, to: (1) assess compliance with required targeting and minimization procedures; and (2) submit assessment results to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Court) and the congressional intelligence committees. States that FISA and the procedures of chapters 119 (Wire and Electronic Communications Interception and Interception of Oral Communications), 121 (Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access), and 206 (Pen Registers and Trap and Trace Devices) of the federal criminal code shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance and the interception of domestic wire, oral, or electronic communications may be conducted. Allows the AG to authorize the emergency employment of electronic surveillance if the AG, among other things: (1) determines that an emergency exists; (2) informs a Court judge of such determination; and (3) applies for a Court order authorizing such surveillance. Requires the AG, after authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device on an emergency basis, to apply to the Court for an authorization order within seven days (current law requires 48 hours) after the emergency installation and use. Authorizes the Court to sit en banc when: (1) necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of Court decisions; or (2) the proceeding involves a question of exceptional importance. Authorizes the acquisition of foreign intelligence information in order to prevent the international proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Prohibits: (1) civil actions against a communication service provider, or individual other than such a provider, furnishing surveillance assistance requested from an element of the intelligence community; and (2) a state from conducting investigations, imposing sanctions, or commencing or maintaining a civil action or other proceeding against a provider furnishing requested assistance.

Date: 2008-02-14
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Prohibits funds from being obligated or otherwise made available for an item (earmark) listed in the joint explanatory statement accompanying the conference report on H.R. 2082 (Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008) of the 110th Congress (H. Rept. 110-478) in compliance with Rule XXI (Restrictions on Certain Bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives and Rule XLIV (Congressionally Directed Spending and Related Items) of the Standing Rules of the Senate, unless the President certifies that amounts would be obligated for such item without regard to its appearance in such statement. (Thus, rescinds earmarks designated in such Act.)

Date: 2008-03-10
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Citizen and Community Preparedness Act of 2008 - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish: (1) a Community Preparedness Division in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); and (2) a Citizen Corps Program in the Division, through which the Secretary of Homeland Security shall bring community and government leaders together to coordinate efforts to strengthen community involvement in emergency preparedness, planning, mitigation, response, and recovery for acts of terrorism and natural disasters.Gives the Director of that Division primary responsibility within DHS for assisting the efforts of state, local, and tribal governments in preparing citizens for emergencies. Requires the Director to consider the unique preparedness challenges faced by specified underserved populations, including persons with disabilities and limited English proficiency, socially and economically disadvantaged households, the elderly, children, and individuals with pets.Directs the Secretary to make grants to states to: (1) form and sustain a state or local Citizen Corps Council; and (2) develop and implement educational programs for the public on terrorism and natural disaster preparedness and volunteer responsibilities. Conditions receipt of funds by states on outreach efforts to underserved populations, neighborhoods bordering critical infrastructure, and specified communities and community service organizations.Establishes in the Division: (1) a Community Emergency Response Team Program; (2) a Fire Corps Program; and (3) a National Citizen Corps Council.Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out a public affairs campaign; and (2) commence a pilot program to enhance citizen preparedness at primary and secondary schools and on university and college campuses.

Date: 2008-04-24
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Emergency management
Transparency and Accountability in Intelligence Contracting Act of 2008 - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to require the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to prepare an annual assessment for such element of the intelligence community (IC) that assesses such element's use of private contractors and private contractor personnel. Requires each assessment to be submitted to the congressional intelligence committees. Directs that each contract, subcontract, or task or delivery order entered into with an IC element shall require the contractor to provide to the IC element contracting officer certain information on the personnel performing contracting activities, including their training, the process used to hire the individuals, and the number of foreign nationals employed. Prohibits the use of private contractors for the arrest, interrogation, detention, or transportation or transfer of persons under government custody or control. Requires a report from the DNI to Congress describing the personal services activities performed by contractors across the IC, the impact of such contractors on the IC workforce, plans for conversion of contractor employment into government employment, and accountability mechanisms governing the performance of such contractors.

Date: 2008-05-06
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Homeland Security Relief Corps Act of 2008 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to maintain within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a Response and Recovery Corps to perform functions related to the collective response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and other emergencies. Requires the Corps to consist of individuals who do not ordinarily have the duties of a full-time DHS officer or employee. Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) each Corps member receives core training in functions relating to emergency response or post-incident recovery and rebuilding efforts, or both; and (2) at least 30% of Corps members assigned to carry out a project reside, or resided prior to an act of terrorism, natural disaster, or other emergency, in the region in which the project is conducted. Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify response and recovery projects that warrant support from the Corps; (2) direct and oversee Corps activities; (3) govern the selection of Corps members; and (4) formulate and administer a system of uniform periodic reports on the number of individuals employed by, and the number of individuals and households receiving relief from, the Corps. Authorizes the Secretary to appoint a Corps member into federal service for the purpose of participation in Corps activities without regard to provisions governing appointments in the competitive service. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan for directing the Corps to assist in recovery and rebuilding efforts for the Gulf Coast region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Date: 2008-06-26
Topic: Defense (Intelligence)
Subject: Emergency management