December 5, 2008
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House

H.R. 21, Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act
Sponsor: Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa
Introduced: Jan. 7, 2003
Committee: House Financial Services; Judiciary
Description: H.R. 21 seeks to curtail Internet gambling. The House passed a similar bill, H.R. 556, in the 107th Congress, but the Senate failed to act. The new measure, too, would make it illegal for credit-card firms and other financial institutions to process transactions for online gambling. Bill sponsor Jim Leach, R-Iowa, also said in a statement that it would close loopholes that allow individuals to use gambling sites as a means of conducting crime.
H.R. 122, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.
Introduced: Jan. 7, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 122 would make it illegal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail to wireless telephones. The ban would apply to text, graphics and images.
H.R. 131, Consumer Protection for Online Games Act
Sponsor: Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, D-Mich.
Introduced: Jan. 7, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 131 would require the FTC to monitor games of chance and skill offered on the Internet. If a state pursues a game provider, it would have to notify the FTC, which then could intervene and file petitions for appeal. The bill also would make it illegal for network game operators to make false claims about the odds of their games.
H.R. 936, Leave No Child Behind Act
Sponsor: Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.
Introduced: Feb. 26, 2003
Committee: House Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce; Education and the Workforce; Agriculture; Judiciary; Government Reform; Transportation and Infrastructure
Description: H.R. 936 aims to improve the lives of children by taking several steps, including regulating the sale of firearms over the Internet in an effort to limit children’s access to guns. The measure also would provide tax incentives for school construction and modernization and tax relief to low-income families. A Senate companion bill, S. 448, also was introduced.
H.R. 945, Jurisdictional Certainty Over Digital Commerce Act
Sponsor: Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Introduced: Feb. 26, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce; Judiciary
Description: H.R. 945 would exempt from sales taxes music, software and other intangible goods sold that are sold solely over the Internet. The bill would seek middle ground in the Internet tax debate -- between state officials who want to tap revenue from online sales and e-commerce companies that contend they could not comply with thousands of competing state and local sales-tax codes. Bill sponsor Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said the sales that would be covered under his bill represent only 0.8 percent of e-commerce.
H.R. 1220, Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act
Sponsor: Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas
Introduced: March 12, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 1220 would direct the FTC to issue rules prohibiting all types of pyramid schemes. The bill was introduced in response to the increased opportunity the Internet has presented to promote pyramid schemes and chain letters requiring financial contributions. Under the legislation, anyone who attempts to convince someone to participate in a pyramid scheme could be prosecuted.
H.R. 1223, Internet Gambling Licensing and Regulation Commission Act
Sponsor: Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.
Introduced: March 12, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary; Energy and Commerce; Financial Services
Description: H.R. 1223 would establish a commission to evaluate how to regulate online gambling in a way that would protect consumers, provide tax revenue and prevent criminal elements from penetrating this industry. The commission would explore whether the same conditions that afford safety and fair play in land-based casinos can exist for Internet-based casinos. It also would study whether money laundering, underage gambling and gambling addictions are better addressed by a ban on Internet gambling or by strict state regulation.
H.R. 1474, Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act
Sponsor: Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa.
Introduced: March 27, 2003
Committee: House Financial Services
Description: H.R. 1474 aims to improve the efficiency of the check-processing system by allowing banks to exchange checks electronically instead of having to physically present and return paper checks. The measure would give electronic versions of checks the same legal validity as paper checks, with the goal of clearing checks more quickly and providing consumers with greater access to capital. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill by voice vote on May 20, 2003.
H.R. 1481, Internet Growth and Freedom Act
Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
Introduced: March 27, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 1481 would extend the moratorium on Internet-related taxes for five years. The ban, which is set to expire in November 2003, applies to taxes on Internet access, taxes that discriminate against e-commerce and multiple taxes on, for example, telecommunications firms that provide Internet connections.
H.R. 1733, Stop Taking Our Health Privacy (STOHP) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
Introduced: April 10, 2003
Committees: House Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means; Veterans' Affairs; Administration
Description: H.R. 1733 looks to restore privacy protections modified by the medical privacy rules that took effect April 14, 2003. The bill addresses three areas: consent, marketing and disclosure. Under the measures, patients would have to give their permission before their personal medical information could be used or disclosed for treatment or payment. Drug companies could not pay pharmacies for patient names in order to contact those patients to sell particular drugs. And patient information could only be disclosed if keeping it private could put others at risk. That would include such things as disclosures about medical side effects to the Food and Drug Administration. The bill also would let U.S. consumers buy prescription drugs via online pharmacies based in Canada, where drugs are cheaper because of the regulated healthcare system.
H.R. 1933, Restrict and Eliminate the Delivery of Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail or Spam (REDUCE Spam) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
Introduced: May 1, 2003
Committees: House Judiciary; Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 1933 would require that bulk, unsolicited e-mail include in the subject line the tag “ADV” to signal that the messages are advertisements. The measure also would establish a bounty for the first person to track a spammer who violates the labeling requirement or another rule that consumers be given a mechanism to opt out of future spam e-mails. “The problem is not just the volume of spam; it’s tracking down the bad actors," bill sponsor Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. said in a press release. "Often, spammers use multiple e-mail addresses or disguise the routing information so that they can’t be identified.”
H.R. 1940, Medicare Telehealth Validation Act
Sponsor: Rep. Doug Ose, R-Calif.
Introduced: May 1, 2003
Committees: House Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means
Description: H.R. 1940 would let patients contact their doctors and specialists through remote technology. The bill would expand Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services to in-patient services without geographic restriction. It also would authorize $40 million in grants to the development and expansion of telehealth networks.
H.R. 2143, Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act
Sponsor: Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.
Introduced: May 19, 2003
Committee: House Financial Services
Description: H.R. 2143 is designed to stop Internet gamblers from using bank instruments such as credit cards and wire transfers as forms of payment. The bill would require payment systems to develop their own policies to enforce these rules. The measure sparked a fierce lobbying battle over state-authorized gaming outlets, such as casinos on American Indian reservations. The House passed the bill on a 319-104 vote on June 10, 2003.
H.R. 2214, Reduction in Distribution of Spam Act
Sponsor: Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Introduced: May 22, 2003
Committees: House Energy and Commerce; Judiciary
Description: H.R. 2214 looks to prevent unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. The measure would require sender of such e-mail pitches to identify their messages as advertisements and to provide the street address of the advertised business and a valid return e-mail address. Senders could not include fraudulent information in e-mail headers or send messages to e-mail addresses that are obtained illegally. The bill would allow a fine of $50 per e-mail for violations.
H.R. 2427, Pharmaceutical Market Access Act
Sponsor: Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.
Introduced: June 11, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2427 seeks to curb prescription drug costs by letting U.S. consumers buy drugs from 25 industrialized countries, including Canada, if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the medicines. The bill would legalize the acquisition of those types of prescriptions via the Internet, an activity that the FDA currently prohibits. House lawmakers passed the measure in July, but it was not included in a 2003 law on prescription drugs offered through Medicare.
H.R. 2473, Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif.
Introduced: June 17, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means
Description: H.R. 2473 is a Medicare reform bill that contains several technology-related provisions. First, the measure would create a program for electronically prescribing drugs. Hospitals and healthcare facilities could use federal grants to procure equipment and software to implement the e-drug system. Providers of prescription drugs and some agencies also would have to post certain information on the Internet. Similar language was enacted as part of broader Medicare legislation signed into law in November 2003.
H.R. 2497, Prescription Drug Parity for Americans Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt.
Introduced: June 17, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2497 would allow prescription-drug imports from Canada, which regulates the prices of medicines. Complaints about such imports have arisen because of orders for cheaper drugs from Canadian-based online pharmacies.
H.R. 2515, Anti-Spam Act
Sponsor: Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.
Introduced: June 18, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary; Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2515 is one of several initiatives to end the distribution of unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. The measure would let users "opt out" of all such e-mail and authorize civil and criminal retribution for violators.
H.R. 2577, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas
Introduced: June 24, 2003
Committee: House Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2577 would require the General Accounting Office to study how price controls by foreign governments on drugs affect U.S. prices and report back to Congress in one year and then every five years. The bill was introduced as controversy erupted over Americans buying drugs from Canada and other countries via online pharmacies. The measure also would examine how the U.S. trade representative could work to eliminate price controls.
H.R. 2629, New Aid For Trustworthy, Affordable (NAFTA) Drugs Act
Sponsor: Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.
Introduced: June 26, 2003
Committee: House Ways and Means; Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2629 seeks to reduce drug prices by permitting pharmaceutical imports from Canada and Mexico. The increasing interest of Americans in buying prescription drugs from online pharmacies in Canada, where prices are cheaper because of government regulation, has triggered a heated debate over the issue. The measure would require strict labeling and tracking procedures to ensure that the drugs are safe and authentic.
H.R. 2637, Wire Transfer Fairness and Disclosure Act
Sponsor: Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
Introduced: June 26, 2003
Committee: House Financial Services
Description: H.R. 2637 would require more disclosure to consumers of fees related to exchange rates and international, electronic transfers of money. Consumers would have to be told more clearly how much foreign currency they would receive. Such disclosures also would be required in advertising, receipts and transaction forms.
H.R. 2652, Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.
Introduced: June 26, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2652 would allow seniors to purchase less expensive pharmaceuticals from Canada and would establish standards designed to ensure medicinal safety. The measure would mandate that prescriptions be filled by licensed pharmacists. It also would require online pharmacies to have physical addresses and to post the sellers’ names, business addresses and telephone numbers.
H.R. 2717, Affordable Medicine Safety and Access Act
Sponsor: Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
Introduced: July 14, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2717 would establish a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) program to certify Internet and mail-order pharmacies in the United States. The voluntary program would award an FDA "seal of approval" to pharmacies in the United States that are certified by a state and meet business, consumer protection and safety standards.
H.R. 2769, Save Our Seniors (SOS) Act
Sponsor: Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.
Introduced: July 17, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 2769 is one of several bills that would regulate the importation of prescription drugs. Many U.S. customers use online pharmacies to purchase medicine at lower prices from countries like Canada, but drug companies and some lawmakers have expressed concern that the practice could compromise drug safety. The bill would establish a three-year test period during which drugs could be imported from Canada. If the program were deemed successful, imports from the European Union also would be allowed.
H.R. 3047, Tobacco Free Internet for Kids Act
Sponsor: Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass.
Introduced: Sept. 9, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 3047 would make it illegal for minors to purchase tobacco products over the Internet or through mail-order catalogues. Those purchasing the products would have to use government-issued identification to prove to delivery services that they are of legal age.
H.R. 3140, Fairness to Contact Lenses Consumers Act
Sponsor: Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C.
Introduced: Sept. 23, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 3140 would require optometrists or ophthalmologists to release prescription information to mail-order or Internet sellers of contact lenses if patients choose to use their services. Patients do not currently have the right to obtain copies of their prescriptions. Under the bill, doctors would have eight business hours to confirm or produce prescriptions as requested by third-party sellers of contact lenses.
H.R. 3143, International Consumer Protection Act
Sponsor: Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Introduced: Sept. 23, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 3143 seeks to enhance the FTC’s ability to enforce laws on cross-border fraud and deception. That would entail actions that could cause foreseeable injury within the United States. The FTC could gather information and evidence on particular cases and share that information with international bodies if necessary. The bill would authorize up to $100,000 per year to help support entities like the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network, which targets issues such as fraud and deception on the Internet, and the International Competition Network, which focuses on antitrust issues.
H.R. 3184, Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Act
Sponsor: Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla.
Introduced: Sept. 25, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 3184 would endorse the efforts by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) to simplify and harmonize state tax codes, and it would allow states that simplify their tax systems to mandate that Internet and catalog retailers collect taxes on sales. The bill would establish minimum requirements for simplified tax systems, including: a centralized, multistate registration process; uniform definitions of products; uniform rules for bad debts; an electronic system for filing and remitting taxes to the states; and a single, state-level administration of sales-tax policy.
H.R. 3220, Business Activity Tax Simplification Act
Sponsor: Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
Introduced: Oct. 1, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: H.R. 3220 would set standards for taxing "business activity" by outlining when out-of-state business could be charged taxes for branches outside their home states. The goal of the bill is to ensure that businesses cannot be taxed merely because someone in a state can view its Web site. The measure seeks to prevent double taxation of companies and to establish a standard requiring only companies that benefit from services in a state to pay taxes.
H.R. 3662, State and Local Access to Fair Prescription Drug Prices Act
Sponsor: Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine
Introduced: Dec. 8, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce
Description: H.R. 3662 would limit the amount that prescription-drug manufacturers could charge state and local governments for medicines used by government employees and retirees. The bill would cap the charges for those medicines at the “average foreign price,” which would be based on the prices in Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The issue became a hot topic in 2003, as more U.S. citizens began buying drugs through online pharmacies in Canada and other countries that regulate pharmaceutical prices. State and local governments, including bill sponsor Tom Allen’s home state of Maine, also began exploring such purchases even though the Food and Drug Administration has determined that they are illegal under current law.
H. Con. Res. 225, Untitled
Sponsor: Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.
Introduced: June 19, 2003
Committee: House Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means
Description: H. Con. Res. 225 would decry the illegal importation of prescription drugs as undermining U.S. regulatory protections. The non-binding resolution is a response to controversy about drugs available from offshore suppliers at lower costs than domestically. The resolution also would encourage the approval of legislation to reform Medicare in order to stem the flow of illegal, offshore medicines sold over the Internet.

Senate

S. 448, Leave No Child Behind Act
Sponsor: Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Introduced: Feb. 26, 2003
Committee: Senate Finance
Description: S. 448 aims to improve the lives of children by taking several steps, including regulating the sale of firearms over the Internet in an effort to limit children’s access to guns. The measure also would provide tax incentives for school construction and modernization and tax relief to low-income families. A House companion bill, H.R. 936, also was introduced.
S. 477, Preserving Prescription Drug Discounts Act
Sponsor: Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
Introduced: Feb. 27, 2003
Committee: Senate Finance
Description: S. 477 would deny tax breaks to drug companies that discriminate against Canadian pharmacies for selling discounted prescription drugs to Americans. Several major U.S. pharmaceutical companies last month pledged to stop supplying the drugs to Canadian online and mail-order pharmacies if they continue to sell the drugs at prices of up to 50 percent lower than the rates charged in the United States. The Canadian firms are able to offer lower prices because of healthcare regulations in their nation.
S. 563, Computer Owners' Bill of Rights
Sponsor: Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn.
Introduced: March 6, 2003
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 563 was introduced in response to consumer complaints about unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, and about poor customer service from major computer companies. The bill would require the FTC to establish an anti-spam registry similar to the "do not call" list for telemarketers. Companies that send e-mail to anyone who joins the list would be subject to $10,000 fines for each violation. The measure also would require the General Accounting Office to study the issue of customer service by computer companies and make recommendations to Congress on ways to aid consumers, and the FTC would have to craft industry standards for computer technical support.
S. 627, Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act
Sponsor: Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Introduced: March 13, 2003
Committee: Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Description: S. 627 is designed to ban online gambling transactions. The bill would prohibit the processing of online gambling transactions with credit cards, wire transfers or other "banking instruments," and it would require financial institutions to use designated methods to block or filter Internet gambling transactions. A House companion measure, H.R. 21, also was filed.
S.877, Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN SPAM) Act
Sponsor: Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
Introduced: April 10, 2003E
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 877 would prohibit senders of unsolicited commercial electronic mail, or spam, from disguising the sources of their messages. The bill also would give consumers the right to request that spammers quit sending them e-mail. Under the measure, Internet service providers and state attorneys general could bring legal action against recalcitrant spammers, and the FTC could impose civil fines on such firms.
S. 1052, Ban on Deceptive Unsolicited Bulk Electronic Mail Act
Sponsor: Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Introduced: May 13, 2003
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 1052 seeks to battle unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam, by giving people the right to opt out of receiving such e-mails through a system similar to the "do not call" list for telemarketing implemented in 2003. The measure also would make the sending spam subject to penalties under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a step that would let prosecutors seize the assets of anyone convicted of such a crime.
S. 1231, Stop Pornography and Abusive Marketing (SPAM) Act
Sponsor: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Introduced: June 11, 2003
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 1231 seeks to combat junk e-mail, particularly pornographic messages, that floods public inboxes. The measure would let consumers opt out of receiving such marketing by signing a "do not spam" registry. Under the bill, the FTC would craft a plan to implement the registry over the next nine months and then submit it to Congress. The measure also would target fraudulent e-mail messages. On Dec. 16, 2003, President Bush signed into law an anti-spam bill that includes language similar to S. 1231.
S. 1293, Criminal Spam Act
Sponsor: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah
Introduced: June 19, 2003
Committee: House Judiciary
Description: S. 1293 is one of several bills that aims to curb unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. The bill would establish criminal penalties spam sent from hijacked computer systems such as "open servers" or sent using other fraudulent means. Violators would face up to five years in prison.
S. 1327, Reduce Spam Act
Sponsor: Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J.
Introduced: June 25, 2003
Committee: Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Description: S. 1327 is among several bills that seek to curtail unsolicited commercial e-mail, or spam. The measure would make it illegal to send e-mails with false return addresses or misleading subject headings. It also would grant people who find frequent spammers a 20 percent bounty from the fines collected from those people. The bill also seeks to protect children from sexually explicit advertising online and would authorize a study on how to curb spam on an international level.
S. 1334, Check Truncation Act
Sponsor: Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Introduced: June 25, 2003
Committee: Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Description: S. 1334 would let banks approve digital images of checks rather than physically transporting paper checks among financial institutions. The current paper-based system is prone to delays when air transportation halts. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks lent urgency to the legislation, as banks resorted to slower ground transportation when planes were grounded. A House companion bill, H.R. 1474, was signed into law Oct. 28, 2003.

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