zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 relating to the authority of the Secretary of the Navy to enter into multiyear contracts for the procurement of F/A-18E, F/A-18F, and EA-18G aircraft to: (1) extend from March 1, 2010, to September 1, 2010, the required date of a certification by the Secretary of Defense that certain contract conditions have been met; and (2) provide that such contract authority shall be deemed to meet the requirement that a multiyear contract equal to or greater than $500 million may not be entered into unless the contract is specifically authorized by law and provided for in an appropriations Act.

Date: 2010-09-14
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Includes certain disclosures made by a Department of Defense (DOD) contract employee to his or her employer among those for which reprisal (discharge, demotion, or other discriminatory acts) is prohibited.

Date: 2011-04-07
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Stop Outsourcing Security Act - Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that only U.S. government personnel provide diplomatic security services to personnel working on behalf of the United States at U.S. diplomatic or consular missions in areas of: (1) contingency operations; and (2) other significant military operations, other than combat operations, where security personnel may be called upon to use deadly force. Requires the President to report to Congress, by June 1, 2012, on the status of planning for the transition away from the use of private contractors for specified mission critical or emergency essential functions by January 1, 2013, in all areas of such operations. Directs any individual or entity under contract with the federal government to provide mission critical or emergency essential functions after such date to allow Congress to examine their accounting practices. Outlines additional requirements relating to renewals of such contracts. Authorizes specified congressional access to contracts and task orders in excess of $5 million entered into by the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of State, the Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the period beginning October 1, 2001, and ending on the last day of the month during which this Act is enacted for work to be performed in areas of such operations. Requires certain reports to Congress regarding contracts for the performance of work in areas of such operations.

Date: 2011-07-27
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Iraq Withdrawal Accountability Act of 2011 - Declares that it is the policy of the United States to withdraw all U.S. Armed Forces and military contractors from Iraq by December 31, 2011. Prohibits any agreement between the United States and Iraq amending the timeline for such withdrawal in a manner obligating the United States to a security commitment to respond to internal or external threats against Iraq after such date from being in force with respect to the United States unless the agreement is in the form of a treaty requiring advice and consent of the Senate (or is intended to take that form in the case of an agreement under negotiation) or is specifically authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after enactment of this Act. Prohibits, except for protection of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, the use of funds to: (1) maintain U.S. Armed Forces or military contractors in Iraq after December 31, 2011; and (2) establish any military installation or base for the permanent stationing of such forces in Iraq. Prohibits the use of funds to exercise U.S. control over any oil resource of Iraq.

Date: 2011-08-01
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Contingency Operation and Emergency Oversight Act of 2011 - Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations (OSIG-OCO), headed by a Special Inspector General (SIG), who shall conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the treatment, handling, and expenditure of amounts appropriated for overseas contingency operations, and of the programs, operations, and contracts carried out with such funds, in order to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse. Directs the SIG to appoint an Assistant Special Inspector General for Auditing and another for Investigations. Requires such audits and investigations to include activities funded or undertaken outside the United States, by the Department of Defense (DOD) and either the Department of State or U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to: (1) build or rebuild physical infrastructure; (2) establish a political, security, or societal institution; (3) provide products or services to people of a foreign country; and (4) respond to emergencies, destabilization, armed conflict, or other circumstances requiring rapid response. Directs the SIG to report to Congress on the obligations, expenditures, and revenues of such operations (including a project-by-project, program-by-program accounting of incurred costs and an estimate of the costs to complete each project and program): (1) quarterly during overseas contingency operations, and (2) annually when the United States is not engaged in such operations. Requires such reports to be made public, subject to exceptions for national security, criminal investigations, and presidential waivers for national security reasons. Requires the SIG to establish the Center on Contingency Contracting to: (1) archive findings of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, reports by the Special Inspectors General for Iraq and Afghanistan Reconstruction, and reports by other Inspectors General and Congress on contracting for activities relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; (2) hold related symposia and events; and (3) support wartime contracting scholarship. Terminates the Office of the Special Inspector General for: (1) Iraq Reconstruction by September 30, 2012; and (2) Afghanistan Reconstruction by February 28, 2013. Transfers the assets and obligations of such offices to the OSIG-OCO.

Date: 2011-09-09
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: International affairs
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the best possible security and force protection for members of the Armed Forces garrisoned and housed in Afghanistan (members) should be provided, (2) better security and force protection for such members can be provided by U.S. military personnel than by private security contractors or members of the Afghan Public Protection Force, (3) the President should take action in light of the increased risk to such members during the drawdown period and the increasing number of insider attacks, and (4) the United States remains committed to mission success in Afghanistan in light of the national security interests in the region and the sacrifice and commitment of the Armed Forces over the last ten years. Prohibits funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) from being obligated or expended for: (1) entering into a contract for the performance of security-guard functions at a military installation or facility in Afghanistan at which members deployed to Afghanistan are garrisoned or housed, (2) otherwise employing private security contractors to provide security for such members, or (3) employing the Afghan Public Protection Force to provide such security or to perform security-guard functions at such a military installation or facility. Allows the President to waive such prohibition after a certification to Congress that the Afghan Public Protection Force or private security contractors can provide protection at least equal to that provided by the Armed Forces. Directs the President to ensure that as many appropriately trained members of the U.S. Armed Forces as necessary are available to provide: (1) the security-guard functions at the installations and facilities at which members deployed to Afghanistan are garrisoned, (2) security for all members deployed to Afghanistan, and (3) counterintelligence support for such members.

Date: 2012-03-01
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned, as a condition of each contract awarded in connection with a military construction or family housing project, to require the contractor (and any appropriate subcontractor) to comply with workforce licensing requirements imposed by the state and other jurisdictions in which the project is conducted for all employees of the contractor (and any appropriate subcontractor) who work at the project location. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to waive such requirement on a case-by-case basis for national security purposes.

Date: 2012-03-08
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Veterans Employment Act of 2012 - Instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to consider all qualified veterans before any non-veterans for employment in the competitive service at the VA. Requires the VA to consider, among qualified veterans, those with a service-connected disability having a rating of 30% before considering non-service-connected disabled veterans. Requires the Director of the VA to submit annual reports to Congress with respect to the hiring of veterans in the competitive service.

Date: 2012-09-11
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Lieutenant Colonel Dominic "Rocky" Baragona Justice for American Heroes Harmed by Contractors Act - Directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to: (1) permit the debarment or suspension of U.S. government contractors for evading service of process in civil or criminal proceedings brought against them by a U.S. citizen or national in connection with a contract obligation, or for failing to appear in federal court in such proceedings; and (2) require such contractors performing federal contracts of $5 million or more outside the United States to consent to personal jurisdiction over them by the federal courts in any future action brought by the United States alleging wrongdoing associated with contract performance and in any future civil action alleging a rape or sexual assault of or serious bodily injury to a member of the Armed Forces, a federal civilian employee, or an employee of a company performing work for the United States who is a U.S. citizen or national.

Date: 2011-01-31
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Defense Cost-Type Contracting Reform Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Defense to modify Department of Defense (DOD) acquisition regulations to prohibit the DOD from entering into cost-type contracts for the production of certain major defense acquisition programs (MDAPs). Amends the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 to expand the conditions required to be met before the Milestone Decision Authority may authorize a cost-type contract for development of certain MDAPs. Requires such conditions to include additional written determinations that: (1) all reasonable efforts have been made to define the requirements sufficiently to allow for the use of a fixed-price contract for such development; and (2) the DOD, despite these efforts, cannot define requirements sufficiently to allow for the use of such a fixed-price contract. Requires the Secretary, at least 30 days before issuing a solicitation for the development of an MDAP, to submit to Congress a notice of the proposed award including the written determinations required under such Act and the reasons supporting the determinations.

Date: 2011-10-12
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Requires that, in the evaluation of competitive proposals for defense contracts, cost or price to the government be given at least equal importance as all other evaluation factors combined. Allows the waiver of such requirement by the agency head concerned. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to submit to Congress, and post publicly, a report on each waiver issued.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Afghanistan Suspension and Debarment Reform Act - Amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (the Act) to add to the powers of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Inspector General), who is required to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the treatment, handling, and expenditure of funds appropriated by the U.S. government, and of the programs, operations, and contracts carried out using such funds in Afghanistan, in order to prevent and detect waste, fraud, and abuse.

Empowers the Inspector General to refer to the lead agency a potential covered case for suspension or debarment of a person from procurement or nonprocurement activities of the federal government.

Defines a "covered case" as one involving a person that is an Afghan national or foreign national or foreign company operating in Afghanistan that has received in the past, is receiving, or may receive in the future, funds from any covered prime contract or subcontract.

Requires the Inspector General to notify the Interagency Committee on Debarment and Suspension and Congress if such a referral is made.

Requires the lead agency, after the referral of such a suspension or debarment case, to accept or decline the case.

Requires the Interagency Committee, if the lead agency declines to accept a suspension or debarment case, or fails to respond to the referral, to determine whether the Inspector General shall act as the lead agency.

Requires the lead agency, on the other hand, if it accepts a suspension or debarment case, to either suspend or debar the person that is the subject of the case or decline.

Authorizes the Inspector General (or designee), if the Interagency Committee determines that the Inspector General may act as lead agency, to suspend or debar the person from federal procurement or nonprocurement activities.

Allows the Inspector General (or designee), when exercising such authority, to grant an exception permitting a person otherwise debarred or suspended to submit an offer for or be awarded a particular contract, grant, or procurement or nonprocurement activity.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO), after the termination of the Office of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, to study the Inspector General authority and the process for determining a lead agency in a suspension or debarment case.

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: International affairs
Requires that, in the evaluation of competitive proposals for defense contracts, cost or price to the government be given at least equal importance as all other evaluation factors combined. Allows the waiver of such requirement by the agency head concerned. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to submit to Congress, and post publicly, a report on each waiver issued.

Date: 2014-01-10
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
American Jobs Matter Act of 2013 - Requires an executive agency to include the effects on employment within the United States (a jobs impact statement) in the evaluation factors that must be considered in each solicitation for competitive proposals for covered contracts. Defines a "covered contract" as a contract in excess of $1 million for the procurement of manufactured goods, goods or services listed in a required report of industrial base capabilities, or any item procured as part of a major defense acquisition program.

Allows an offeror's jobs impact statement to include a guarantee that jobs created or retained in the United States will not be moved outside the United States after award of the contract unless doing so is required to provide the goods or services stipulated in the contract or is in the best interest of the federal government.

Requires each agency to: (1) assess, annually, the accuracy of such a statement submitted by an offeror awarded a contract; and (2) track the number of jobs created or retained during the performance of such contract. Allows the agency, if the number of jobs created or retained falls short of agency estimates, to consider this as a factor that affects a contractor's past performance in the award of future contracts.

Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to report annually on the frequency of use within the Department of Defense (DOD) of jobs impact statements in the evaluation of competitive proposals, and (2) revision of the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act.

Date: 2013-06-27
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Military Equitable Reimbursement Act of 2013 - Requires any amounts received by the Department of Defense (DOD) after enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 as reimbursement for expenses incurred by DOD as a result of providing assistance to a nongovernmental entertainment-oriented media producer to be credited to the applicable appropriations account or fund from which such expenses were charged.

Date: 2013-11-07
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
American Jobs Matter Act of 2015

Requires an executive agency to include the effects on employment within the United States (a jobs impact statement) in the evaluation factors that must be considered in each solicitation for competitive proposals for contracts in excess of $1 million for the procurement of: (1) manufactured goods, (2) goods or services listed in a required report of industrial base capabilities, or (3) any item procured as part of a major defense acquisition program.

Allows an offeror's jobs impact statement to include a guarantee that jobs created or retained in the United States will not be moved outside the United States after award of the contract unless doing so is required to provide the goods or services stipulated in the contract or is in the best interest of the federal government.

Requires each agency to: (1) assess, annually, the accuracy of such a statement submitted by an offeror awarded a contract; and (2) track the number of jobs created or retained during the performance of such contract. Allows the agency, if the number of jobs created or retained falls short of agency estimates, to consider this as a factor that affects a contractor's past performance in the award of future contracts.

Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to report annually on the frequency of use within the Department of Defense of jobs impact statements in the evaluation of competitive proposals, and (2) revision of the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act.

Date: 2015-01-22
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Government operations and politics
American Jobs Matter Act of 2015

Requires an executive agency to include the effects on employment within the United States (a jobs impact statement) in the evaluation factors that must be considered in each solicitation for competitive proposals for contracts in excess of $1 million for the procurement of: (1) manufactured goods, (2) goods or services listed in a required report of industrial base capabilities, or (3) any item procured as part of a major defense acquisition program.

Allows an offeror's jobs impact statement to include a guarantee that jobs created or retained in the United States will not be moved outside the United States after award of the contract unless doing so is required to provide the goods or services stipulated in the contract or is in the best interest of the federal government.

Requires each agency to: (1) assess, annually, the accuracy of such a statement submitted by an offeror awarded a contract; and (2) track the number of jobs created or retained during the performance of such contract. Allows the agency, if the number of jobs created or retained falls short of agency estimates, to consider this as a factor that affects a contractor's past performance in the award of future contracts.

Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to report annually on the frequency of use within the Department of Defense of jobs impact statements in the evaluation of competitive proposals, and (2) revision of the Department of Defense Supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act.

Date: 2015-01-06
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Veterans Small Business Opportunity and Protection Act of 2015

Treats the surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran who acquires the ownership interest in a small business of the deceased veteran as such veteran, for purposes of eligibility for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA's) service-disabled small business contracting goals and preferences, for a period of: (1) 10 years after the veteran's death, if such veteran was either 100% disabled or died from a service-connected disability; or (2) 3 years after such death, if the veteran was less than 100% disabled and did not die from a service-connected disability.

Treats a small business acquired by the surviving spouse or dependent from a member killed during active duty as a small business owned and controlled by a service-disabled veteran, for purposes of VA small business contracting goals and preferences. Continues such treatment for the period beginning on the date of the member's death and ending on the earlier of: (1) the date on which the surviving spouse remarries or relinquishes, or the date on which the surviving dependent relinquishes, such ownership interest; or (2) ten years after the member's death.

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Extends whistleblower protections to employees of contractors, subcontractors, or grantees of elements of the intelligence community who disclose information regarding such an element, or its activities, if the employee complies with procedures to report urgent concerns to Congress by first submitting the information to an appropriate agency Inspector General under the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 or the Inspector General Act of 1978. (Currently, employees of contractors of the intelligence community are excluded from certain whistleblower protections that are provided to employees of contractors of the Department of Defense and other federal agencies.)

Requires courts that receive a disclosure of information required by executive order to be kept classified (in the interests of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs) to treat the information in a manner consistent with the interests of the national security of the United States, including through the use of summaries or ex parte submissions if the element of the intelligence community concerned advises the court that such procedures are warranted.

Date: 2015-03-18
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Defense Acquisition Contractor Workforce Improvement Act of 2015 

This bill includes certain contractor personnel in the defense acquisition workforce for purposes of the Department of Defense annual strategic workforce plan.

Date: 2015-05-12
Topic: Defense (Contractors)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
United States Physician Shortage Elimination Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY2007-FY2011 to: (1) carry out the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and Loan Repayment Program to assure an adequate supply of physicians and other health professionals to provide primary health services; (2) assist schools in supporting programs of excellence in health professionals education for underrepresented minority individuals; and (3) assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to undertake education to enter a health profession. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to community health centers to: (1) establish new or alternative-campus accredited medical residency training programs affiliated with a hospital or other health care facility; or (2) fund new residency positions within existing accredited medical residency training programs at the centers and their affiliated partners. Requires the Secretary to give preference to funding medical residency training programs focusing on primary health care. Allows the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to make grants to community health centers to: (1) increase the number of medical service providers associated with such centers; and (2) increase primary health care capabilities through the construction, expansion, or renovation of facilities.

Date: 2007-01-11
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Nursing School Capacity Act of 2007 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to request that the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) conduct a study to: (1) identify constraints encountered by schools of nursing in admitting and graduating the number of registered nurses necessary to ensure patient safety and meet the need for quality assurance in the provision of health care; and (2) develop recommendations to alleviate the constraints on a short-term and long-term basis. Directs the Secretary to provide that the study consider the perspectives of: (1) nurses and physicians in inpatient, outpatient, and residential facilities; (2) faculty and administrators of nursing schools; (3) providers of health plans or health insurance; and (4) consumers.

Date: 2007-01-24
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to award a grant to each eligible school of nursing to increase the number of nursing faculty and students. Requires such schools to formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at least two of specified goals, which include: (1) establishing or significantly expanding an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months; (2) establishing cooperative interdisciplinary training between schools of nursing and other specified health related fields; (3) increasing admissions, enrollment, and retention of qualified individuals who are financially disadvantaged; (4) increasing enrollment of minority and diverse student populations; (5) increasing enrollment of new graduate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate programs that educate nurse faculty members; (6) developing post-baccalaureate residency programs to prepare nurses for practice in specialty areas where nursing shortages are more severe; and (7) increasing integration of geriatric content into the core curriculum. Requires the Comptroller General to study ways to increase participation in the nurse faculty profession and to submit a report to Congress that includes: (1) a discussion of the master's degree and doctoral degree programs that are successful in placing graduates as faculty in schools of nursing; and (2) an examination of compensation disparities throughout the nursing profession and between higher education instructional faculty generally and higher education instructional nursing faculty.

Date: 2007-01-31
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase, over five cost reporting periods, the Medicare caps on the total number of full-time equivalent residents in the field of allopathic or osteopathic medicine (graduate medical education (GME) positions) for states with a shortage of residents.Requires the aggregate number of such increases for a state to be at least 15, but no more than the state resident cap increase.

Date: 2007-02-15
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Physical Therapist Student Loan Repayment Eligibility Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) include physical therapy within the definition of "primary health services"; and (2) make physical therapists eligible for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (to assure an adequate supply of physical therapists among other health professionals).

Date: 2007-02-16
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to veterinary schools or institutions offering training for veterinarians to improve public health preparedness through increasing the number of veterinarians in the workforce. Requires the Secretary to give preference to applicants that demonstrate a comprehensive approach by involving more than one such school or institution.

Date: 2007-02-28
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Mitigating the Impact of Uncompensated Service and Time Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain physicians a bad debt tax deduction for their costs in providing uncompensated care as required under the Social Security Act to emergency room patients and pregnant women in labor.

Date: 2007-02-28
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Taxation
Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act - Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to require the Secretary of Labor to establish and carry out a health professions training demonstration project that awards grants to eligible entities to train certain unemployed workers from the manufacturing or service sector for employment as health care professionals in communities with manufacturing and service sector job loss and health care professional shortages.

Date: 2007-03-05
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Labor and employment
Allows employees of federally-qualified health centers to enroll in an approved health benefits plan under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

Date: 2007-03-14
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Expanding, Rebuilding, and Improving Access to Qualified Health Care Professionals in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Affected Areas Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish: (1) the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Public Health Workforce Scholarship Program to ensure an adequate supply of public health professionals in state and local public health agencies in areas directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita; and (2) the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program for individuals agreeing to work at a public health agency. Provides for an additional loan repayment incentive amount for working in a Hurricane Katrina or Rita priority service area. Provides for grants to test, implement, and evaluate models of cultural competence training. Reauthorizes appropriations for: (1) assistance to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to undertake education to enter a health profession; (2) assistance to schools for programs of excellence in health professions education for underrepresented minorities; and (3) a loan repayment program for qualified health professionals that agree to conduct certain prevention activities. Allows the Secretary to make grants for scholarships to individuals changing careers to a health profession. Gives priority to individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds and who seek to work in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita. Requires the Secretary to make additional payments under title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to states directly affected by Hurricane Katrina or Rita for: (1) health services; (2) health professional recruitment, training, and retention programs; and (3) repair, renovation, and construction of health facilities.

Date: 2007-03-20
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Family Health Care Accessibility Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem volunteer practitioners who provide medical services to patients at certain nonprofit health centers in underserved areas as employees of the Public Health Service (thus extending the liability protections of the Federal Tort Claims Act to such practitioners).Defines "volunteer practitioner" as a licensed physician or licensed clinical psychologist who provides services to patients of a health center without compensation or reimbursement at a health center site or a site designated by a health center.

Date: 2007-03-21
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
National Health Service Corps Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the definition of "primary health services" for purposes of the National Health Service Corps to include optometry health services.Includes optometrists within: (1) the fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas; (2) the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program; and (3) the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.

Date: 2007-04-17
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Medicare Academic Anesthesiology and CRNA Payment Improvement Act of 2007- Amends title XVIII (Medicare) part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of the Social Security Act to set forth a special payment rule for teaching anesthesiologists (TAs) and teaching certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). Requires payment of 100% of the fee schedule amount otherwise applicable for anesthesia services personally performed by the TA alone when the TA is training physician residents or student nurse anesthetists in a single anesthesia case or two concurrent anesthesia cases, if: (1) the TA is present during all critical or key portions of the anesthesia service or case involved; and (2) either the TA or an anesthesiologist or a CRNA with whom the TA has made special arrangements is immediately available to furnish anesthesia services during the entire case. States that this special payment rule shall not apply in the case of physician services furnished by an anesthesiologist who medically directs a CRNA involved in the training of student nurse anesthetists in a single anesthesia case or two concurrent anesthesia cases. Applies to a CRNA medically directed or medically supervised by a physician in the performance of anesthesia services the current fee schedule amount of one-half of the amount for a physician's medical direction of the performance of such services, regardless of whether or not the CRNA is involved in the training of student nurse anesthetists in a single case or two concurrent cases. Requires payment, however, of 100% of the fee schedule amount otherwise applicable for anesthesia services personally performed by a teaching CRNA alone when the teaching CRNA is not medically directed but is involved in the training of student nurse anesthetists in a single anesthesia case or two concurrent anesthesia cases, if: (1) the teaching CRNA is present during all critical or key portions of the anesthesia service or case involved; and (2) the teaching CRNA (or other CRNA or anesthesiologist with whom the CRNA has made special arrangements) is immediately available to furnish anesthesia services during the entire case.

Date: 2007-04-18
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Medicare Anesthesiology Teaching Funding Restoration Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to set forth a special payment rule of 100% of the fee schedule amount for teaching anesthesiologists involved in the training of physician residents, if certain presence and availability requirements are met.

Date: 2007-04-26
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to establish programs related to mental health services for children and adolescents, to include: (1) entering into contracts with qualified individuals to pay educational loans in exchange for providing mental health services to children and adolescents; (2) awarding scholarships to students who agree to work as child and adolescent mental health service professionals after graduation or completion of residency or fellowship; (3) awarding competitive grants to higher education institutions to establish or expand internship or other field placement programs for students receiving specialized training or clinical experience in child and adolescent mental health; (4) awarding grants to state-licensed mental heath organizations to pay for programs for preservice or in-service training of paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health workers; and (5) awarding grants to higher education institutions to establish or expand graduate child and adolescent mental health programs. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to adjust the graduate medical education program to: (1) exclude a reasonable number of residents or fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry when calculating the maximum number of residents in the field of allopathic or osteopathic medicine for which the hospital may be paid; and (2) extend the period of board eligibility for residents and fellows in child and adolescent psychiatry. Directs the Administrator to study and report to Congress on the distribution of, and need for, child mental health service professionals and on a comparison of such distribution and need on a state-by-state basis.

Date: 2007-04-30
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Nurse Staffing Standards for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require hospitals to implement staffing plans that meet specified ratios for direct care registered nurse-to-patient staffing levels for each unit and other requirements, including for receiving input from nurses. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to further limit such ratios as needed to ensure public safety and to establish ratios for units not specified. Provides an exception to such staffing requirements for a declared state of emergency. Requires hospitals to provide the Secretary with their staffing plan and annual updates. Requires the Secretary to conduct audits to ensure the implementation of adequate staffing plans. Requires the Secretary: (1) acting through the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to complete a study of licensed practical nurse staffing and its effects on patient care in hospitals; and (2) to establish requirements for hospitals based on the outcome of the study. Requires the Secretary to adjust payments to cover additional Medicare costs that are attributable to this Act. Requires the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to submit to Congress and the Secretary a report estimating total costs and savings attributable to compliance with nurse staffing requirements. Provides nurses with the right to refuse to accept assignments that would violate staffing requirements or for which they are not prepared. Prohibits retaliation by hospitals for such refusals or for reporting violations of staffing requirements.

Date: 2007-05-03
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Dedicated Dental Service for HIV/AIDS Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement under which an individual agrees to serve as a dentist for a not less than two years at a facility with a critical shortage of dentists in an area with a high incidence of HIV/AIDS in exchange for the Secretary making payments on the individual's dental education loans. Requires such payments to equal 30% of the principal and interest on such loans after the first and second years of service and 25% after the third year of service.

Date: 2007-05-03
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Nurse Faculty Higher Education Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the Secretary of Education to award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, partnerships composed of an accredited school of nursing at an institution of higher education and a hospital or other health facility to establish pilot projects to enable such a facility to retain its staff of experienced nurses while providing a mechanism to have these individuals become faculty members of such a school. Requires such individuals to teach for two years for each year of support received under the program.

Date: 2007-05-17
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Education
Geriatricians Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007- Amends the Public Health Service Act to include each year of fellowship training in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry required in order to obtain a certificate of added qualification in those fields as a year of obligated service under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Requires an individual to provide services in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry during the period of obligated service upon completion of training.

Date: 2007-05-24
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Physician Workforce Enhancement Act of 2008 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to establish a hospital residency loan program that provides loans to eligible public or nonprofit hospitals to establish a residency training program. Requires that such program be an allopathic or osteopathic physician residency training program in the fields of family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics or gynecology, behavioral or mental health, or pediatrics. Requires the Administrator to give preference to hospitals in a rural area.Sets forth terms for repayment of loans under this Act. Prohibits the Administrator from charging or collecting interest on such loans.Requires the Administrator to establish penalties for hospitals that violate provisions of this Act.Sets forth reporting requirements.Authorizes appropriations for FY2010-2014.Prohibits any loan from being made under this Act after December 31, 2013.

Date: 2007-06-06
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
High-Need Physician Workforce Incentives Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, to make grants to critical shortage health facilities for scholarships to individuals agreeing to serve as a physician at such facility after completing residency in the fields of family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, general surgery, or obstetrics-gynecology. Excludes such scholarship funds from an individual's gross income.Requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator, to: (1) establish a loan repayment program for individuals agreeing to serve as physicians in specified fields in areas that are not health professional shortage areas, but that have a critical shortage of physicians in such field; (2) make grants to states to provide care management fees to physicians in medically underserved communities to support the provision of targeted, accessible, continuous, coordinated, and patient-centered care through a qualified medical home; and (3) make grants to board-certified entities to establish or expand geriatric fellowship programs to train physicians practicing in rural areas or in specified fields in geriatric medicine. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from an individual's gross income compensation received by a physician from a local government for medical care performed: (1) in a medically underserved community; and (2) under a contract with the local government for a period of not less than four years.

Date: 2007-06-06
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
America's Partnership for Nursing Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to states that are experiencing explosive population growth and have a substantial projected shortage of nurses to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty in college and university nursing programs in the state.

Date: 2007-06-20
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize appropriations for FY2007-FY2011 for National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment programs. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reserve a portion of such funds for scholarships to individuals who are enrolled in a course of study or program that leads to a degree in medicine or osteopathic medicine.

Date: 2007-06-28
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Preventive Medicine and Public Health Training Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to award grants to or enter into contracts with certain eligible entities to provide training to graduate medical residents in preventive medicine specialties. Requires grant funds to be used for: (1) residency programs for preventive medicine or public health; (2) financial assistance to resident physicians who plan to specialize in preventive medicine or public health; (3) preventive medicine or public health program costs, including curriculum development and practicum costs; and (4) the improvement of academic administrative units.

Date: 2007-08-03
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Safe Schools and Health Care Professional Pipeline Act of 2007 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a grant to a qualified youth serving organization to establish and expand emergency preparedness pipelines consisting of: (1) health science curricula in secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and continuing education programs that prepare students for careers as health care professionals; and (2) school-based emergency preparedness chapters. Requires such a chapter to recruit and prepare students for federal, state, community, and school public health emergencies under the administration of such an organization and to provide training that is implemented uniformly, coordinated with and integrated into the school's health science curriculum, and provided through certified health science instructors serving as chapter advisors.Defines a "qualified youth serving organization" as a nonprofit organization that prepares youth exclusively for career entry and advancement opportunities in the health professions, offers a national recognition and competitive events program, and operates at least 2,500 chapters in at least 40 states.Requires the Secretary to make a grant each year to such an organization to conduct a national leadership conference that includes representatives of health science programs, emergency preparedness chapters, and the Medical Reserve Corps.

Date: 2007-09-20
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Health
Health Care Access Improvement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a primary health service provider (i.e., a physician, clinical psychologist, or clinical social worker) a tax credit for the value of professional services provided to individuals in a health professional shortage area.

Date: 2007-09-20
Topic: Health (Manpower)
Subject: Taxation