More Information
Wikipedia Article
Sponsored Bills
Congratulates the University of Arizona Wildcats for winning the 2007 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women's Softball Championship.
- Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to provide that the Secretary of Agriculture shall not be required to obligate funds to cover the cost of canceling a Forest Service stewardship multiyear contract until the contract is canceled.
- Authorizes cancellation costs to be paid from: (1) appropriations originally made available for the contract's performance; (2) appropriations currently available for procurement of the type of service concerned and not otherwise obligated; or (3) funds appropriated for payments for such performance or procurement.
- Provides that in a case in which payment or obligation of such funds would constitute an "Anti-Deficiency Act" violation the Secretary may: (1) seek a supplemental appropriation; or (2) request funds from a specified permanent judgment appropriation.
- Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to ensuring that the rights and standing of crime victims are accounted for in the federal criminal justice system.
- Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to allow for the involvement of crime victims in the various phases of the criminal justice process, including: (1) the initial court appearance of a defendant; (2) the preliminary hearing; (3) the pretrial conference; (4) transfers of trial venues; and (5) revocations or modifications of probation or supervised release. Sets forth requirements for giving notice to crime victims of criminal proceedings and their right to participate in such proceedings.
- Requires a court to consider the views of crime victims before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere.
- [View bill for full summary]
- Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) to convey to Resolution Copper Mining, LLC, all interest of the United States in and to specified federal land in Pinal County, Arizona, in exchange for Resolution Copper conveying to the United States title to: (1) the Secretary to specified non-federal land in Gila, Yavapai, Maricopa, Pinal, and Coconino Counties, Arizona, and (2) the Secretary of the Interior to specified non-federal land in Pinal and Gila Counties, Arizona.
- Directs the Secretary to convey specified land in Pinal County to the town of Superior, Arizona.
- Instructs Resolution Copper to deliver to the Secretary an executed document granting a permanent conservation easement for the easement area (the surface estate of the Apache Leap Conservation Easement Area) to an entity that is: (1) a qualified unit of government or Indian tribe; or (2) a land trust or other qualified organization. Requires Resolution Copper to determine whether the area covered by the easement should be managed to establish: (1) additional cultural and historical resource protections or measures; or (2) additional or alternative public access routes, trails, and trailheads to Apache Leap.
- [View bill for full summary]
- Sets forth border control provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) assets, personnel, and infrastructure; (2) ports of entry; (3) border security initiatives; (4) seizure of conveyances; (5) United States-Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology system (US-VISIT); (6) human smuggling: and (7) detention space.
- Northern Border Prosecution Initiative Reimbursement Act - Establishes the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative to reimburse eligible northern border entities for costs incurred in handling criminal case dispositions that are federally initiated but federally declined-referred.
- Sets forth interior enforcement provisions, including provisions respecting: (1) personnel; (2) detention and removal; (3) gang members; (4) alien smuggling; (5) illegal entry; (6) unlawful presence and illegal reentry; (7) passport, visa, and immigration fraud; (8) voluntary departure; (9) background checks; (10) state criminal alien assistance program; (11) state and local law immigration enforcement and federal transfer authority; (12) terrorists; (13) alien criminals; and (14) alien reporting requirements.
- [View bill for full summary]
View All
Co-Sponsored Bills
- Requires the withholding of 20% of U.S. contributions to the regular budget of the United Nations and other applicable international organizations until the President certifies that neither the United Nations (or U.N. agencies) nor any other international organization has authority under U.S. law to impose, or has imposed or proposed, taxes or fees on the U.S. government, states, or U.S. corporations or nationals.
- States that such provision shall not apply to: (1) fees for publications or other fees that are not tantamount to a tax on U.S. citizens; (2) the World Intellectual Property Organization; or (3) staff assessment costs of the United Nations and its agencies.
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), notwithstanding any other provision of any Act, from having the authority to require broadcasters to present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance, commonly referred to as the Fairness Doctrine.
- Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study of specified federal land in Coconino National Forest, state and private lands, and Walnut Canyon National Monument in Arizona (the study area) to evaluate: (1) the significance of the resources and public values of the study area as the resources and public values pertain to the management objectives of the Forest Service and the National Park Service (NPS); (2) the opportunities for maintaining existing public uses; and (3) a range of options for managing and conserving resources by the NPS or the Forest Service, or by both agencies, including the feasibility of a boundary adjustment to the Monument, designation of the study area as a National Recreation Area, maintaining the study area as managed by the Forest Service, and any other designation or management option that will accomplish the protection of resources and the maintenance of public use and access for such area.
- Requires the Secretaries to: (1) designate a lead agency; (2) consult with appropriate federal, state, county, and local government entities; (3) contract with a third-party consultant with experience in park and land use planning to prepare a draft study; and (4) collaborate with the Forest Supervisor of the Coconino National Forest, the Superintendent of the Flagstaff Area National Monuments, the Flagstaff City Council, and Coconino County Board of Supervisors in developing a scope of work for the draft study under the guidance of the third-party consultant.
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress should not take any action that will endanger U.S. military forces in the field, including the elimination or reduction of funds for troops in the field, as such action would undermine their safety or harm their effectiveness in pursuing assigned missions.
- Allows each state to enter into a five-year performance agreement with the Secretary of Education permitting it to receive federal funds on a consolidated basis that would otherwise be directed toward specific programs furthering the stated purpose of title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
- Requires each agreement to be approved by a combination of specified state parties, and list the programs for which consolidated funding is requested. Allows states to use such funds for any educational purpose permitted by state law, but requires states to make certain assurances that they will use fiscal control and fund accounting procedures, abide by federal civil rights laws, and advance educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. Allows amendments to the scope of performance agreements.
- Requires each agreement state to: (1) maintain an accountability system measuring annual student progress toward state proficiency standards; (2) annually disseminate student performance data disaggregated by specified student groups; and (3) keep aggregate spending on elementary and secondary education at no less than 90% of such spending for the school year coinciding with this Act's enactment.
- [View bill for full summary]
View All