U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee - Larry E. Craig, Chairman - Jade West, Staff Director
Publications Issue List Vote Analysis Main Page
May 24, 2001

Senate Accomplishments for the

107th Congress, to Date

The following descriptions represent some of the successful efforts of the GOP-led Senate during the 107th Congress's first four months of legislating.

Abolishing the Clinton Ergonomics Regulation
Public Law 107-5 (S. J. Res. 6)
Invalidates the Clinton Occupational Safety & Health Administration's ergonomics regulation, which would have eliminated jobs by fruitlessly exposing employers to excessive fines and litigation, even while a report by the National Academy of Sciences found none of the common musculoskeletal disorders is caused uniquely by work exposures.

Approving the Deficit-Reduction Budget Blueprint
Passed Senate and House (H. Con. Res. 83)
Puts in place the broad outline of Republican priorities to continue to reduce the debt, provide families with broad-based tax relief to stimulate the economy and reduce the record tax burden, and increase investments in education, health care, and our national defense.

Approving the President's Tax Relief Package
Passed Senate and House (H.R. 1836)
Implements the President's plan to reduce the tax burden for every taxpayer by cutting income tax rates, repealing the death tax, fixing the marriage penalty, increasing the child tax credit, expanding Education IRAs, and enhancing pension benefits. This bill is the largest tax relief package passed by the Congress in 20 years.

Bankruptcy Reform Act
Passed Senate (S. 420)
Provides common-sense reforms to curb many abuses of the current bankruptcy system. Creditors lose more than $3 billion every year because of bankruptcies filed by persons who could repay some of their debts. Those costs are then passed along to all Americans in higher prices for goods, services, and credit.

Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act
Passed Senate (S. 350)
Provides authority to assess and clean up abandoned and underutilized brownfield sites, which are parcels of real property not redeveloped because of the possibility they contain hazardous substances or pollutants. Some 450,000 parcels of land fall into this category, blighting communities, posing hazards, eroding local tax bases, and contributing to urban sprawl and loss of farmland. This bill will address potential hazards, and lead to new jobs, increased revenues, and more open space and parks.

Competitive Market Supervision Act
Passed Senate (S. 143)
Reduces excess user fees and taxes on investments that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) collects for registrations, mergers, and transactions of securities. The fees originally were enacted to fund the SEC but in recent years have dramatically exceeded the agency's funding needs. The reduction of these fees lowers the cost of savings and investment for consumers, and reduces the fee burden on businesses that raise capital in the securities markets.

Construction of a Memorial Honoring Those Who Served in World War II
Public Law 107-11 (S. 580/H.R. 1696)
Directs construction to go forward on building a memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. honoring the 16 million men and women who served in the Second World War.

Enhanced Penalties for Criminals Using Body Armor
Agreed to by Senate (S. 166)
Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase the penalty for commission of a violent crime or a drug trafficking crime for criminals who used body armor; prohibits the purchase or possession of body armor by violent felons; and permits federal agencies to donate body armor to state and local law enforcement

Intellectual Property and High Technology Amendments
Passed Senate (S. 320)
Clarifies and simplifies the copyright laws to make them easier to use. Inventiveness and creativity always have been important engines of America's economic growth and influence, but in the Internet age, the need for understandable and useable patent, trademark, and copyright laws has become even more important. The bill also makes it easier for individual inventors to sit on the relevant government advisory committee.

International Child Abduction Treaty Compliance
Agreed to by Senate (H. Con. Res. 69)
Addresses the increasing number of parental child abductions from the United States to a foreign country (hundreds each year) by urging all countries that are signatories to a treaty on international child abduction to enforce the treaty so as to assure that abducted children be returned to their parents in their home country.

Pipeline Safety Improvement Act
Passed Senate (S. 235)
Strengthens the enforcement of pipeline safety law by providing requirements to reduce risks and enhance protection of the environment. The funds for carrying out the safety programs governing natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines come from the Pipeline Safety Fund and the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

Strengthened Small Business Advocacy
Agreed to by Senate (S. 395)
Increases autonomy of the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, which serves as the independent voice for the small business community within the federal government.

United Nations Peacekeeping Assessment Adjustment
Passed Senate (S. 248)
Because reforms mandated by Congress in 1999 to improve the workings of the United Nations largely have been met, this bill temporarily adjusts statutory limits on U.S. contributions to the U.N. Once this phase-in period has ended, the U.S. contributions will remain at no higher than 25 percent.

Veterans' Survivor Benefits Improvements
Slated to pass Senate prior to Memorial Day (H.R. 801)
Improves healthcare and insurance benefits provided to survivors of deceased veterans.

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