For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 10, 2004

Statement on House and Senate Resolutions

On Friday, December 10, 2004, the President signed into law:

H.R. 2655, Amendment and Extension of the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program, which provides non-immigrant visas to young people from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to receive employment experience and training in the United States.

H.R. 4302, "District of Columbia Mental Health Civil Commitment Modernization Act of 2004," which makes various changes to civil commitment procedures for patients in the District of Columbia. S. 437, "Arizona Water Settlement Act," which addresses various Arizona and New Mexico water matters.

S. 1466, "Alaska Land Transfer Acceleration Act," which amends several statutes relating to Alaska to facilitate the timely conveyance of land in Alaska to the State, Alaska native corporations, and individual Alaska natives.

S. 2192, "Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2004," which amends patent law to extend the patentability of inventions resulting from cooperative research. S. 2486, "Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004," which modifies certain education, employment, housing, and other miscellaneous benefits for veterans.

S. 2873, United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa authority extension, which authorizes additional locations for holding Federal court proceedings in six States.

S. 3014, "Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004," which authorizes and amends the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998.

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