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Sponsored Bills
- Amends the MINER Act to require the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, as soon as practicable after being notified of a mining accident involving a mine operator and resulting in a mine emergency response by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), to: (1) designate and publicize the name and phone number of a director of a family support service as a point of contact within the federal government for the families of miners involved and as a liaison between the operator and the families; and (2) designate an independent nonprofit organization with primary responsibility for coordinating the emotional care and support of the miners' families.
- Sets forth responsibilities of the MSHA and the designated organization in such an accident.
- Prohibits: (1) impeding the ability of MSHA or the designated organization to carry out their responsibilities or the ability of families to have contact with one another; (2) unsolicited communications by attorneys or parties to litigation to injured individuals or their families concerning a potential action for personal injury or wrongful death before the 45th day following the accident date; and (3) preventing a designated organization from providing mental health and counseling services.
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- Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to establish sustainability programs at institutions of higher education (IHEs).
- Directs the Secretary to contract with an IHE, nonprofit organization, or consortium of such institutions for administration of the grant program.
- Requires such programs to develop and implement: (1) sustainability practices, including in the areas of energy management, green building, waste management, purchasing, transportation, and toxics management; and (2) other aspects of sustainability that integrate campus operations with multidisciplinary educational programs and are applicable to the private and government sectors.
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- Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand research on lupus to include: (1) basic research to discover the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of the disease; and (2) research to validate lupus biomarkers.
- Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to work with a consortium of academic health institutions to undertake an epidemiological study to determine the prevalence and incidence of lupus in the United States. Requires the Director of CDC to: (1) enter into a cooperative agreement with such consortium to develop, implement, and manage a system for lupus data collection and analysis; and (2) ensure that such consortium represents different geographic areas and includes individuals of racial and ethnic backgrounds disproportionately affected by lupus.
- Requires the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Institute of Medicine to study and make recommendations related to lupus, to include: (1) evaluating federal and state activities related to lupus and recommending ways to expand such activities; (2) identifying gaps in federal research; and (3) recommending ways to improve the quality of life for people with lupus.
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- Sets forth entitlement standards and implementation guidelines for employee use of emergency leave to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking (domestic or sexual violence). Permits victims of domestic or sexual violence to substitute existing leave in lieu of emergency leave.
- Authorizes state use of funds under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) to provide nonrecurrent short-term emergency benefits for victims of domestic or sexual violence on emergency leave.
- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit denial of unemployment compensation to individuals separated from employment due to their experience of domestic or sexual violence. Amends the Social Security Act to require training of unemployment compensation and TANF personnel to provide necessary services to victims of domestic or sexual violence.
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- Community Forestry Conservation Act of 2007- Provides for the treatment of qualified forest conservation bonds as tax-exempt facility bonds under the Internal Revenue Code. Defines "qualified forest conservation bonds" as bonds issued for certain forestry organizations within 36 months after the enactment of this Act. Requires 95 percent or more of the net proceeds of such bonds to be used for specified forestry project costs, including the acquisition of forest lands subject to a conservation restriction.
- Exempts from income tax income, gains, and other tax incidents generated by certain harvesting activity on forest lands purchased with qualified forest conservation bonds.
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Co-Sponsored Bills
Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Small Public Water System Assistance Program, including a program for Indian tribes, to assist small water systems in complying with national primary drinking water regulations.
- Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish demonstration projects to: (1) increase public awareness about the factors that lead to chronic kidney disease, how to prevent it, how to treat it, and how to avoid kidney failure, as well as enhance surveillance systems and expand research to better assess the prevalence and incidence of kidney disease; and (2) enable individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to develop self-management skills.
- Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for Medicare coverage of kidney disease patient education services.
- Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish blood flow monitoring demonstration projects; and (2) arrange with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the barriers to increasing the number of individuals with ESRD who elect to receive home dialysis services or other treatment modalities under Medicare.
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- Prohibits the Secretary of a military department from discharging due to a personality disorder a member of the Armed Forces who has served on active duty in a combat zone until the later of the date of: (1) completion by the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) of a review of Department of Defense (DOD) policies and procedures for diagnosing such a disorder; (2) issuance by the Secretary of policies and procedures to ensure the appropriate use of such a discharge; (3) establishment by the Secretary of an independent review board for personality disorder discharges; (4) submittal by the Secretary of a report to Congress on progress in implementing the requirements under (1) through (3), above; or (5) the date that is 45 days after the date of the submission of the report referred to in (4), which period shall permit Congress to consider the report.
- Provides an exception to such requirement in the case of a member who, during recruitment for or enlistment in the Armed Forces, provided false or misleading information, or omitted providing information about past criminal behavior, that is material to a discharge for personality disorder.
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. (who performed the first successful coronary bypass, pioneered the field of telemedicine, was elected the first President of Baylor College of Medicine, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction and the National Medal of Science) in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the nation.
- Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay travel expenses for veterans receiving treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities at the rate provided to federal employees in connection with the performance of official duties.
- Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish and operate at least one and up to five centers of excellence for rural health research, education, and clinical activities; (2) establish a grant program to provide innovative transportation options to veterans in remote rural areas; (3) carry out demonstration projects to examine alternatives for expanding care for veterans in rural areas; and (4) report annually to Congress on matters related to VA care for veterans residing in rural areas.
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