H.R. 3963, Congressional Accountability Enhancement Act (D-Cooper)
· Applies to Congress Title II of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in places of public accommodation - like Member's offices or the Capitol building and provides whistleblower protections to legislative branch employees.

· Require that the disabled have equal access to all electronic information, like Members' websites and committee hearing broadcasts.

· Ensures Legislative Branch employees are protected from discrimination or termination for serving jury duty, declaring bankruptcy or having their wages garnished for debt - protections inadvertently excluded from CAA.

H.R. 2709, The Federal Election Administration Act (D-Meehan)
· It creates a strong chairman and reduces the number of commissioners from six to three, which will help make the organization less partisan, more nimble and break the gridlock that has paralyzed the FEC.

· It strengthens the enforcement of campaign law by using administrative law judges to streamline decisions on enforcement matters, which will no longer require a majority vote of the commissioners.

· And it empowers the Federal Election Administration to determine when violations have occurred, impose penalties and conduct random audits of campaign committees, which will expand and strengthen the scope of the organization.

H.R. 3285, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)
· Prohibits employers from making decisions about hiring, firing, promoting or compensating an employee based on sexual orientation;

· And it makes clear that preferential treatment and quotas are strictly prohibited, and that no claims will be permitted based on statistics about gays and lesbians in the workforce.

H.R. 1105, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (D - Maloney)
· Designates more than 18 million acres of new Wilderness Areas in
Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and Oregon (the Wild Rockies).

· Based on science rather than political boundaries.

· Will create more than 2,300 jobs in habitat restoration and the hunting, fishing and tourism industries.

· Will save taxpayers $237 million dollars over ten years.

H.R. 2451, The Recreational Camp Safety Act
The Recreational Camp Safety Act will require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect data regarding injuries occurring at camps and issue a report within two years. The Secretary then may issue advisories to States that will assist them in the prevention of deaths, injuries and illnesses at recreational camps. The legislation also calls on the President to establish an advisory council to develop model safety guidelines for recreational camps. It will also consider how States can be encouraged to adopt the model guidelines.

H.R. 3324, the Voluntary Grazing Permit Buyout Act (D - Grijalva)
· Authorizes a $100 million permit buyout program

· Allows public lands grazing permittees to sell their grazing permits back to the government in exchange for fair compensation ($175 per Animal Unit Month) and the permanent retirement of their grazing allotments. (Currently, the average West-wide market value of an animal unit month ranges from $35 to $75.)

· The federal grazing program costs $132 million each year to administer. Revenues to the federal treasury from grazing fees are approximately $6 million, resulting in an annual loss to U.S. taxpayers of $126 million every year. This legislation would begin to mitigate that loss.

H.R. 3630, the Congressional Research Accessibility Act (D-Inslee)
· Requires the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to make accessible to the public via a centralized electronic database all information available through the CRS web site that is not confidential nor the product of an individual, office, or committee research request, including all CRS issue briefs, reports, and authorization or appropriations products.

· Requires public access to the information to be provided through the websites maintained by Members and committees of the House of Representatives.

H.R. 3745, the Tribal and Local Community Relationship Improvement Act
· Requires state legislature approval of new gambling facilities;

· Directs the President to establish the Advisory Committee on Minimum Regulatory Requirements and Licensing Standards for Indian Gaming, which will create minimum requirements for federal regulation of Indian gaming; and

· Establishes a commission to report to Congress on living and health standards in Indian country, the effectiveness of federal programs designed to improve standards in these designated areas, and the economic, environmental and social impacts of Indian gaming facilities on local communities.

H.R. 4008, the Anti-Terrorism Protection of Mass Transportation and Railroad Carriers Act of 2004 (D-Ruppersberger)
· Clarifies the definitions mass transportation and transit systems including vehicles and ferries that carry passengers and cargo such as train, locomotive, tender, motor unit, freight or passenger car, transit buses, light rails, subways, commuter and interstate rail service. Expands the definition to include school, charter and sightseeing buses for the purposes of this act.

· Makes penalties for terrorist attacks on railroads and mass transit systems the same, providing for capital punishment if people are killed in an attack;

· Expands and clarifies the current definitions of domestic and international acts of terrorism, thus making it easier for law enforcement to detect and interrupt terrorist plots before they can be carried out by authorizing the interception wire, oral, or electronic communications in all cases involving domestic or international terrorism.

H.R. 3227, the National Preparedness Standards Act
· Establishes clearly defined standards and guidelines for Federal, State, and local government emergency preparedness and response capability, including standards and guidelines for training, interoperable communication systems, and response equipment.

· Requests the establishment of a separate minimum essential emergency preparedness and response capability standard for metropolitan areas and for rural areas with respect to weapons of mass destruction and terrorism-related disaster equipment and training.

H.R. 2022, the Leave No Securities Behind Act (Fannie-Freddie bill) (D-Meehan)
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the only publicly-traded companies on the Fortune 500 that are exempt from the federal securities laws. H.R. 2022 repeals these exemptions.

· Repeal Recommended by Key Financial Regulators. In 1992, the Federal Reserve System, the Treasury and the SEC jointly recommended repeal. Their reasons were clear: GSE debt securities do not have a government guarantee and thus do not have the unquestioned credit quality that warrants the exemption for government securities. The value of a GSE's equity rests on its financial condition as a going concern. Investors need the same basic information about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they need about any other publicly-traded company, and this information should be provided at the same time and in the same form as other companies provide it under the federal securities laws.

· Repeal Would Reduce Systemic Risk. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt securities play an important role in the capital markets. The volume of these securities reached $1.26 trillion in September 2001 and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now more highly leveraged than ever (with some estimates reaching more than 80:1). As a result, the Bush Administration in its Budget for FY 2003 expressed concern that "[f]inancial trouble of a large GSE could cause strong repercussions in the financial markets...."

· Repeal Would Protect Investors. The economic downturn and the rash of high profile bankruptcies have prompted a "flight to quality" that may make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt securities, with their perceived federal guarantee, more attractive. Moreover, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have begun to attract retail investors, a group whose protection has long been a focus of the federal securities laws. Repeal would also ensure that changes to the securities laws and accounting rules enacted in the coming months in response to the collapse of Enron will be applicable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the same manner as they are applied to all other publicly-traded companies.

· Repeal Would Increase Transparency. Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make financial disclosures now, repeal of their securities law exemptions would increase the flow of information (including data about financial risks and the management of those risks, operations issues and management compensation and stock transactions). Through the federal securities laws, Congress has acknowledged the need for a standardized system of continuous disclosure of all material information. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should not remain outside that system any longer.

· Repeal Would Not Harm Housing Mission. In recommending this legislation in March 2000, the Congressional Budget Office concluded that it would have "little effect on either the enterprises' profits or the interest rates paid by the borrowers they serve." Congress has already applied the federal securities laws to Farmer Mac and there is no evidence that its mission has been compromised. Furthermore, the legislation does not require Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to pay SEC fees.

H.R. 3724 - The Energy Efficient Housing Technical Correction Act
(D- Maloney)
Passed under suspension of the rules on February 3, 2004, and was signed into law by the President on April 1, 2004.

-This legislation restores FHA mortgage insurance availability for the construction of mid- and large-size energy-efficient housing projects in high-cost areas.

-H.R. 3724 corrects a technical error in the FHA Downpayment Simplification Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-326), which passed the 107th Congress by unanimous consent. This legislation made a seemingly unintentional change to the types of projects eligible for increased loan limits for FHA mortgage insurance. The language inexplicably excluded projects that are more than 5 units and are energy-efficient from being able to obtain FHA mortgage insurance.

H.R. 3441 - The School Nutrition Enhancement Act
-Introduced on November 5, 2003. This bill will, over five years, provide free meals under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to children whose family incomes are less than 185 percent of the poverty line.

-Under H.R. 3441, each year the income eligibility threshold for free meals would rise, so that by the beginning of the school year that starts on July 1, 2008, all children who are currently eligible for a reduced-price meal would be eligible for a free meal. In Connecticut's Fourth Congressional District, this means 3,943 more children would be eligible for free meals, an increase of 13 percent.

H.R. 3471 - The World Trade Center Site Historic Study Act
· Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the World Trade Center site to evaluate the national significance of the site after September 11, 2001 and the suitability and feasibility of establishing the site as a unit of the National Park System.

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