Richard Burr Significance Contest: Updated

Remember when Richard Burr weakened controls on the export of high-enriched uranium in the 2005 omnibus energy bill? You might not, since Burr's amendment to do so was actually defeated on the floor of the Senate (I was actually around for that vote). What you may not know is that Burr slipped his language back in while the bill was in conference. It's complicated, but basically the Burr Amendment allows for the exportation of uranium that's pure enough to be used in dirty bombs - all because a Canadian company (MDS Nordion) didn't want to pay the cost of making their medical radioisotopes from less dangerous low-enriched uranium.

For a summary, go here.

tl;dr - "The energy bill, including the Burr amendment, was passed by Congress on July 29, 2005, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005."

If you're in want of a Money Quote:

Enactment of the Burr amendment threatens to undermine the longstanding U.S. goal of phasing out commerce in bomb-grade uranium, thereby undermining the war on terror.

Richard Burr is good for something - making the world less safe from the spectre of nuclear war.

This is getting really sad.

Only a couple of legitimate entries so far. Two weeks to go.

S. 475. Burr was sponsor. Became law on Nov. 11, 2009
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:17:./temp/~bdgLfd::|/bss/|

Military Spouses Residency Relief Act.
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to guarantee the equity of
spouses of military personnel with regard to matters of residency, and
for other purposes.
(Basically, the bill guarantees spouses traveling with military personnel abroad don't lose their rights to vote, or rights to any other programs/services simply because they are out of the country or out of state with their military spouse. Definitely seems like a great piece of legislation to me.)

Major Congressional Actions:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:17:./temp/~bdgLfd:@@@R|/bss/|

FULL TEXT:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_publi...
[DOCID: f:publ097.111]

[[Page 123 STAT. 3007]]

Public Law 111-97
111th Congress

An Act

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to guarantee the equity of
spouses of military personnel with regard to matters of residency, and
for other purposes. <>

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, < Spouses Residency Relief Act. 50 USC app. 501 note.>>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Military Spouses Residency Relief
Act''.
SEC. 2. GUARANTEE OF RESIDENCY FOR SPOUSES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL
FOR VOTING PURPOSES.

(a) In General.--Section 705 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
(50 U.S.C. App. 595) is amended--
(1) by striking ``For'' and inserting the following:

``(a) In General.--For'';
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

``(b) Spouses.--For the purposes of voting for any Federal office
(as defined in section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971
(2 U.S.C. 431)) or a State or local office, a person who is absent from
a State because the person is accompanying the person's spouse who is
absent from that same State in compliance with military or naval orders
shall not, solely by reason of that absence--
``(1) be deemed to have lost a residence or domicile in that
State, without regard to whether or not the person intends to
return to that State;
``(2) be deemed to have acquired a residence or domicile in
any other State; or
``(3) be deemed to have become a resident in or a resident
of any other State.''; and
(3) in the section heading, by inserting ``and spouses of
military personnel'' before the period at the end.

(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501) is amended by striking the item relating
to section 705 and inserting the following new item:

``Sec. 705. Guarantee of residency for military personnel and spouses of
military personnel.''.

(c) <> Application.--Subsection (b) of
section 705 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 595), as added by subsection (a)
of this section, shall apply with respect to absences from States
described in such subsection (b) on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act, regardless of the date of the military or naval order
concerned.

[[Page 123 STAT. 3008]]

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION FOR TAX PURPOSES OF RESIDENCE OF SPOUSES OF
MILITARY PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Section 511 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
(50 U.S.C. App. 571) is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``A servicemember'' and inserting
the following:
``(1) In general.--A servicemember''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Spouses.--A spouse of a servicemember shall neither
lose nor acquire a residence or domicile for purposes of
taxation with respect to the person, personal property, or
income of the spouse by reason of being absent or present in any
tax jurisdiction of the United States solely to be with the
servicemember in compliance with the servicemember's military
orders if the residence or domicile, as the case may be, is the
same for the servicemember and the spouse.'';
(2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f) as
subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g), respectively;
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsection:

``(c) Income of a Military Spouse.--Income for services performed by
the spouse of a servicemember shall not be deemed to be income for
services performed or from sources within a tax jurisdiction of the
United States if the spouse is not a resident or domiciliary of the
jurisdiction in which the income is earned because the spouse is in the
jurisdiction solely to be with the servicemember serving in compliance
with military orders.''; and
(4) in subsection (d), as redesignated by paragraph (2)--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``or the spouse
of a servicemember'' after ``The personal property of a
servicemember''; and
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or the
spouse's'' after ``servicemember's''.

(b) <> Application.--Subsections
(a)(2) and (c) of section 511 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 571), as added
by subsection (a) of this section, and the amendments made to such
section 511 by subsection (a)(4) of this section, shall apply with
respect to any return of State or local income tax filed for any taxable
year beginning with the taxable year that includes the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF LAND RIGHTS RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR
SPOUSES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Section 508 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
(50 U.S.C. App. 568) is amended in subsection (b) by inserting ``or the
spouse of such servicemember'' after ``a servicemember in military
service''.
(b) <> Application.--The amendment
made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to servicemembers in
military service (as defined

[[Page 123 STAT. 3009]]

in section 101 of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 511)) on or after the date of
the enactment of this Act.

Approved November 11, 2009.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 475:
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SENATE REPORTS: No. 111-46 (Comm. on Veterans' Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 155 (2009):
Aug. 4, considered and passed Senate.
Nov. 2, considered and passed House.
DAILY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS (2009):
Nov. 11, Presidential statement.