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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 3, 2003

Statement by the Press Secretary

On Wednesday, December 3, 2003, the President signed the following bills into law:

H.R. 23, the "Tornado Shelters Act", which authorizes communities to use Community Development Block Grant funds for construction of tornado-safe shelters in manufactured home parks;

H.R. 2744, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 514 17th Street in Moline, Illinois, as the David Bybee Post Office Building;

H.R. 3175, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2650 Cleveland Avenue, NW in Canton, Ohio, as the Richard D. Watkins Post Office Building;

H.R. 3379, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3210 East 10th Street in Bloomington, Indiana, as the Francis X. McCloskey Post Office Building;

S. 117, the "Florida National Forest Land Management Act of 2003," which authorizes the Department of Agriculture to sell or exchange certain parcels of land in the State of Florida;

S. 286, the "Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities Prevention Act of 2003," which authorizes appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services' National Center on Birth Defects and Disabilities and makes changes to the Center's authorities;

S. 650, the "Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003," which authorizes the Food and Drug Administration to require drug manufacturers to test drugs and biological products for their effectiveness and safety on children;

S. 189, the "21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act," which authorizes the implementation of a National Nanotechnology Program, and authorizes appropriations for FYs 2005 through 2008 for Federal nanotechnology research and development programs;

H.R. 1683, the "Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2003," which provides a cost of living increase for the beneficiaries of veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation;

H.R. 1685, the "Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003," which extends and expands the Homeland Security Department's Basic Employment Eligibility Confirmation Pilot Program and extends a pilot program within the Department's Immigrant Investor Program;

S. 1720, which establishes Plano, Texas, as an additional place for holding Federal court in the Sherman Division of the Eastern District of Texas; and

S. 1824, the "Overseas Private Investment Corporation Amendments Act of 2003," which reauthorizes the Overseas Private Investment Corporation through September 30, 2007.

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