H.R. 2486House109th Congress (2005-2007)In Committee

Dietary Supplement Tax Fairness Act of 2005

Legislative Activity

Stay on top of the latest movement without scrolling through every action

1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Ways and Means Committee

May 19, 2005

View full timeline

HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

May 19, 2005

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Ways and Means Committee

May 19, 2005

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 2486 on the floor

1 Democrat

Rep. Bob EtheridgeD-NC-2 · Sep 19, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to reauthorize NOAA and call on the agency to work to develop an inland warning system. Six years ago I held a Hurricane Summit in the Second…

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation to reauthorize NOAA and call on the agency to work to develop an inland warning system. Six years ago I held a Hurricane Summit in the Second District of North Carolina. This was in response to the devastation that was brought to my State by Hurricane Floyd. Hurricane Floyd was one of the most devastating storms to hit the United States in more than 25 years. When Hurricane Floyd roared ashore in North Carolina in September of 1999, the storm took at least 56 lives, and left damages upwards of $6 billion from the Carolinas to New England.

Although the National Weather Service uses the Saffir-Simpson Scale to classify hurricane strength according to wind speed, Hurricane Floyd showed us that much more damage, death, and destruction can be created by unexpected inland flooding. One year ago this fact was displayed again with disastrous intensity during Hurricane Katrina when the damage was not just limited to the immediate coastal areas of the gulf coast. After the storms there were inland areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that were inaccessible for weeks following the severe flooding.

The purpose of my Hurricane Summit was to bring together meteorological experts from universities, the National Hurricane Center, and the National Weather Service to develop a more accurate index for inland flood monitoring. With the information gathered at this summit, I drafted legislation to ensure that NOAA and the National Weather Service make significant improvements to their inland flood warning system. H.R. 2486, the Inland Flood Forecasting and Warning System Act of 2002, was passed in the 107th Congress and enjoyed wide bipartisan support.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation directed NOAA and the National Weather Service to improve the capability to forecast inland flooding associated with tropical storms and hurricanes, to develop a distinctive inland flood warning index for emergency management officials, and to train emergency management officials, National Weather Service personnel, and meteorologists to use these improved forecasting techniques for inland flooding.

An important part of this legislation requires the National Weather Service and NOAA to report annually to Congress on the progress of this new flood index. I would like to continue to work with the members of the Science Committee and the Appropriations Committee to ensure that NOAA provides these reports to the Congress in a timely manner.

Congress must provide the proper oversight to NOAA to ensure that the progress in developing an improved inland flooding index can be put in place to save lives.

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

Reading Mode

Raw Text PDF XML

Introduced in HouseIssued May 19, 2005

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2486

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 19, 2005

Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Paul, Mr. Terry, and Mr. Gerlach) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that amounts paid for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, or medical foods shall be treated as medical expenses.

Short title

This Act shall be known as the Dietary Supplement Tax Fairness Act of 2005.

Findings

The Congress finds that—

(1)

the inclusion of foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, and medical foods in the deduction for medical expenses does not subject such items to regulation as drugs,

(2)

the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 treats such items as allowable for the medical expense deduction, but only if such items are prescribed drugs,

(3)

such items have been shown through research and historical use to be a valuable benefit to human health, in particular disease prevention and overall good health, and

(4)

children with inborn errors of metabolism, metabolic disorders, and autism, and all individuals with diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and chronic inflammatory conditions, frequently require daily dietary interventions as well as medical interventions to manage their conditions and such dietary interventions often become a significant economic burden on such individuals.

Amounts paid for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, or medical foods treated as medical expenses

(a)

In general

Paragraph (1) of section 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to medical, dental, etc., expenses) is amended by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:

(C)

for foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements (as defined in section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), and medical foods,

(b)

Special rule for insurance covering foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, and medical foods

Subsection (d) of section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to medical, dental, etc., expenses) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(12)

Special rule for insurance covering foods for special dietary use, dietary supplements, and medical foods

Amounts paid for insurance covering foods and supplements referred to in paragraph (1)(C) shall be treated as described in paragraph (1)(E) only if such foods and supplements comply with applicable good manufacturing practices prescribed by the Food and Drug Administration or with other comparable standards.

(c)

Conforming amendments

(1)

Subparagraph (E) of section 213(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated by subsection (a), is amended by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C).

(2)

The last sentence of section 213(d)(1) of such Code is amended by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting subparagraph (E).

(3)

Paragraph (6) of section 213(d) of such Code is amended—

(A)

by striking and (C) and inserting (C), and (D), and

(B)

by striking paragraph (1)(D) in subparagraph (A) and inserting paragraph (1)(E).

(4)

Paragraph (7) of section 213(d) of such Code is amended by striking and (C) and inserting (C), and (D).

(5)

Sections 72(t)(2)(D)(i)(III) and 7702B(a)(4) of such Code are each amended by striking section 213(d)(1)(D) and inserting section 213(d)(1)(E).

(d)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.