United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Visa Overstay Enforcement Act of 2023 This bill imposes various penalties on non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law) who overstay a visa or lawful immigration status. An individual who overstays shall be fined or imprisoned for up to six months, or both. Such an individual may not be admitted into the United States for 5 years, and may not be granted a visa for 10 years. For subsequent offenses, the individual shall be fined or imprisoned for up to two years, or both, and may not be admitted into the United States or granted a visa. The Department of Homeland Security shall make case-by-case exceptions for individuals who overstay due to medical necessity, public safety, or national security reasons.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Build up Illegal Line Defenses with Assets Lawfully Lifted Act of 2023 This bill directs certain amounts from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Assets Forfeiture Fund to the deployment of additional border security measures. Specifically, DOJ must report annually on the amount of total deposits into the fund that are derived from Mexican cartels. The bill makes available 50% of that amount for the construction of additional physical barriers and roads near the border to deter illegal crossings into the United States. Additionally, the bill prohibits the release of seized currency or contraband that likely belongs to or supports a foreign illegal trafficking organization while a civil forfeiture action is pending.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People's Republic of China Act This bill requires the President to prohibit nonresident aliens, foreign businesses, and agents associated with China's government from (1) purchasing agricultural (including ranching) real estate located in the United States, or (2) participating in Department of Agriculture programs that are unrelated to food and safety regulatory requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from transmitting certain information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) utilized by licensed importers or dealers of firearms. Specifically, the bill prohibits the VA from transmitting personally identifying information of a veteran or a beneficiary to the NICS solely on the basis that such veteran or beneficiary has an appointed fiduciary to manage their benefits, unless there is an order or finding of a judicial authority that such veteran or beneficiary is a danger to themselves or others.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 This bill generally prohibits school athletic programs from allowing individuals whose biological sex at birth was male to participate in programs that are for women or girls. Specifically, the bill provides that it is a violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for federally funded education programs or activities to operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities that allow individuals of the male sex to participate in programs or activities that are designated for women or girls. (Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities, including in public elementary and secondary schools and in colleges and universities.) Under the bill, sex is based on an individual's reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The bill does not prohibit male individuals from training or practicing with programs or activities for women or girls as long as such training or practice does not deprive any female of corresponding opportunities or benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Feral Swine Act This bill extends through FY2028 the feral swine eradication and control pilot program to respond to the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, native ecosystems, and human and animal health.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Veterans for Mustangs Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to prioritize use of nonsurgical, medically safe on-range fertility controls to manage populations of wild, free-roaming horses and burros. In implementing such fertility controls, the Bureau of Land Management shall prioritize the recruitment of military veterans to train and become certified in the application of fertility controls, including the certified PZP applicator certification offered by the Science and Conservation Center's Certification Program. Interior shall provide appropriate compensation to military veterans participating in such a certification program. The bill authorizes Interior to contract with military veterans who have completed the training program to carry out fertility control activities.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act This bill repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works. References in any law to a requirement under the Davis-Bacon Act shall be null and void.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Sarah's Law This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) who is unlawfully present in the United States and has been charged with a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another person. ICE must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the identity of any victims of the crimes for which the detained individual was charged or convicted. ICE shall provide the victim, or a relative or guardian of a deceased victim, with information about the detained individual, including name, date of birth, nationality, immigration status, criminal history, and a description of any related removal efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act or the SHORT Act This bill removes certain short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other weapons from the definition of a firearm for purposes of regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The bill also eliminates certain restrictions that apply to the sale or transportation of such rifles and shotguns in interstate commerce. If a state or local registration or licensing requirement is determined by reference to the NFA, the bill treats persons who acquire or possess a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or other weapon in accordance with the Gun Control Act of 1968 as meeting the registration and licensing requirements. The bill preempts certain state or local laws that tax or regulate these rifles, shotguns, and weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must destroy records relating to the registration, transfer, or manufacture of applicable weapons described by this bill within one year after the enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act of 2023 or the PASS Act of 2023 This bill establishes requirements to address the national security risk to the agricultural sector of the United States. Specifically, the bill prohibits persons who are acting on behalf of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea from purchasing or investing in U.S. agricultural land and companies. The President may waive this prohibition, on a case-by-case basis, if the President determines that the waiver is vital to U.S. national security interests. The bill also places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and requires CFIUS to review certain transactions involving investments by foreign persons in the U.S. agricultural sector. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture must report on the risks that foreign purchases of U.S. businesses engaged in agriculture pose to the agricultural sector of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Disaster Reforestation Act This bill sets forth a special rule for the tax deduction for casualty losses of uncut timber (including pre-merchantable timber). It provides that in losses of any uncut timber from fire, storm, insects, invasive species, drought, or other casualty, or from theft, the basis for determining the amount of the deduction for such loss shall not be less than the excess of the value of such timber determined immediately before such loss was sustained, over the salvage value of such timber. To be eligible for the casualty loss deduction, the uncut timber subject to the loss must be reforested not later than the close of the five-year period beginning on the date of the loss.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2023
Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023 This bill bars the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture from prohibiting or regulating the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water that is under the jurisdiction of such departments and made available for hunting or fishing. The bill makes exceptions for specified existing regulations and where the applicable department determines that a decline in wildlife population at the specific unit of federal land or water is primarily caused by the use of lead in ammunition or tackle, based on the field data from such unit, and the state approves the regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2023
Stop the Cartels Act This bill addresses various issues including matters relating to immigration, law enforcement cooperation with Mexico, and drug cartels. The bill bars federal financial assistance for state or local jurisdictions that (1) restrict compliance with immigration detainers issued by the Department of Homeland Security, or (2) have any law or policy that violates immigration laws. Furthermore, under this bill, the detention of alien minors must be governed by specified sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act and not any judicial decree or settlement. (A 1997 settlement agreement imposes requirements related to the treatment of such minors, including limits on how long they may be detained under certain conditions.) The bill also makes various changes to asylum applications, including by (1) increasing the burden that an asylum applicant must meet to establish a credible fear of persecution, and (2) establishing refugee application and processing centers in Central America. In addition, certain Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development assistance may not be made available to Mexico's government until the State Department certifies that Mexico has removed certain barriers to law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing between the United States and Mexico. The bill also establishes the foreign Special Transnational Criminal Organization designation and establishes penalties related to designated organizations, such as making it a crime to knowingly provide material support to such an organization. The State Department must designate specified organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, with the designation, and may designate other organizations that fit criteria established in this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2023
This resolution recognizes and appreciates the dedication and devotion demonstrated by the men and women of law enforcement. It also condemns calls to defund, disband, dismantle, or abolish the police.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
This bill prohibits China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia from purchasing property within 10 miles of a sensitive site, such as a U.S. military installation. The prohibition also applies to leases or receiving concessions to property within 10 miles of a sensitive site. For the purposes of this bill, a sensitive site is public or private real estate in the United States that (1) functions as an air or maritime port, (2) is a U.S. military installation, (3) is a U.S. government facility that is sensitive for national security reasons, or (4) could expose U.S. national security activities or intelligence at a military installation or government facility to one of the prohibited countries. The prohibition shall apply to purchases, leases, and concessions made on or after this bill's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Credit Union Board Modernization Act This bill revises the required frequency of meetings held by a credit union's board of directors. Specifically, new credit unions and credit unions with a low soundness rating must meet monthly. All other credit unions must hold at least six meetings annually, with at least one meeting held during each fiscal quarter. Currently, all credit union boards must meet at least once a month.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
21st Century Dollar Act This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to establish a strategy to facilitate the position of the dollar as the primary global reserve currency. Treasury must submit a report that includes (1) steps taken to implement this strategy, legislative recommendations, and efforts by major foreign central banks to create an official digital currency; and (2) an evaluation of the role of the renminbi (the official currency of China) in international payments and foreign exchange reserves.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Educational Choice for Children Act This bill allows individuals and corporations a new tax credit after 2023 for charitable contributions to tax-exempt organizations that provide scholarships to elementary and secondary school students. Such students must be members of a household with incomes not greater 300% of the area median gross income and be eligible to enroll in a public elementary or secondary school. The bill excludes from the gross income of taxpayer dependents any scholarship amount for the elementary or secondary education expenses of eligible students. It also prohibits governmental control over scholarship granting organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2023
Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States Act or the A-PLUS Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture to revise its regulations to allow livestock market agencies (e.g., auction market owners) to hold an ownership interest in, finance, or participate in the management or operation of a meat packer with a cumulative slaughter capacity of (1) less than 2,000 animals per day or 700,000 animals per year for cattle and sheep, and (2) less than 10,000 animals per day or 3 million animals per year for hogs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
Freedom for Health Care Workers Act This bill nullifies the rule titled Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination , which was issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on November 5, 2021, and prohibits the issuance of any substantially similar rule. The rule requires health care providers, as a condition of Medicare and Medicaid participation, to ensure that staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
ATF Accountability Act of 2023 This bill establishes a federal statutory process for licensed gun dealers, importers, or manufacturers to appeal a ruling or determination by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
This concurrent resolution calls on the President to abandon the One China policy in favor of one that recognizes Taiwan as an independent country that is not a part of China. The resolution also urges the President to bolster diplomatic and economic relations between the United States and Taiwan through specified means.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2023
Foreign Adversary Risk Management Act or the FARM Act This bill places the Secretary of Agriculture on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. It also requires the committee to review any investment that could result in foreign control of any U.S. agricultural business. Further, the bill includes agricultural systems and supply chains in the definitions of critical infrastructure and critical technologies for the purposes of reviewing such investments. The Department of Agriculture and the Government Accountability Office must each analyze and report on foreign influence in the U.S. agricultural industry.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking Act or the SHIP IT Act This bill expands programs and special permits for trucks and truck drivers. Specifically, a state may issue a special permit for certain overweight vehicles based on a Presidential major disaster declaration or a Department of Transportation (DOT) declaration (1) of an emergency (including non-natural or financial), or (2) that the United States supply chain is having issues. Currently, a state may issue a special permit only based on a Presidential major disaster declaration. DOT must also, subject to the availability of funds, award competitive grants to construct or improve commercial vehicle parking facilities. Under the bill, the Department of Labor must provide Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants for entry level commercial motor vehicle driver training. The bill also establishes a limited tax credit, adjusted annually based on inflation, for eligible commercial driver's license holders. Further, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration must revise certain regulations related to commercial driver's license testing and permits, including to allow a third-party examiner to administer commercial driver's license tests. DOT must also establish a pilot program allowing states to issue permits for qualifying vehicles with six axles or more operating at greater than 80,000 pounds gross vehicle weight on a state's Interstate System. (Generally, the federal commercial vehicle weight limit is 80,000 pounds, with some exceptions.) The bill also exempts the battery weight from the gross vehicle weight for certain commercial motor vehicles powered primarily by electric battery power. Finally, existing driving time exemptions are expanded for truck drivers transporting agricultural commodities and farm supplies within a 150-mile radius.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Require Employees To Uniformly Return Now Act or the RETURN Act This bill prohibits Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees from teleworking during the period beginning five business days after the enactment of this bill and ending on the date on which the IRS certifies that the processing backlog for income tax returns for all taxable years has been eliminated. The Department of the Treasury may not obligate additional funds for the IRS until the date on which the IRS certifies that the backlog has been eliminated.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2023
Protecting Families from Fertility Fraud Act of 2023 This bill establishes a new federal criminal offense for knowingly misrepresenting the nature or source of DNA used in assisted reproductive technology or assisted insemination. The term assisted reproductive technology includes any treatment or procedure that involves the handling of human oocytes or embryos, such as in vitro fertilization, gamete intrafallopian transfer, and zygote intrafallopian transfer. The term assisted insemination includes any procedure that involves the handling of sperm including intrauterine insemination. A violation is subject to a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both. Additionally, the bill makes the violation a predicate offense (i.e., an underlying offense) for prosecutions under the federal racketeering statute.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Lead by Example Act of 2023 This bill provides that, beginning January 3, 2025, the only health care plan the federal government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff shall be health care provided through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). By September 15, 2023, the VA and the Office of Personnel Management shall jointly submit to Congress a plan to carry out this bill, including recommendations for any necessary legislative actions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Protect the UNBORN (Undo the Negligent Biden Orders Right Now) Act or the Protect the UNBORN Act This bill prohibits federal implementation of and funding for specified executive orders that address access to reproductive health care services, including services related to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Transparency Over Toys Spying Act or the TOTS Act This bill requires the Federal Trade Commission to issue rules requiring internet-connected toys to include a label indicating that the toy has the ability to connect to the internet and collect and transmit personal information of the user. The label must also indicate whether personal information collected by the toy is retained in the toy or by the manufacturer or another entity. Further, any user agreement or privacy policy associated with the toy must prominently state specified information about how personal information may be collected and used by the manufacturer or other entity. Internet-connected toys include entertainment devices that are targeted to, or likely to be operated by, children and are able to connect to the internet and collect and transmit personal information. The bill also authorizes the commission to enforce these rules.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Support And Value Expectant Moms and Babies Act of 2023 or the SAVE Moms and Babies Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving any new drug (either as a brand-name drug or a generic) intended to terminate a pregnancy and imposes additional restrictions on such drugs that are already approved. Under the bill, an already-approved drug intended to terminate a pregnancy may be dispensed to a patient only with a prescription. Furthermore, the FDA may not approve any labeling change that would authorize (1) using the drug after 70 days of gestation, or (2) dispensing the drug by any means other than in-person administration by the prescribing health care practitioner. The FDA must also impose additional restrictions on such already-approved drugs, including by (1) requiring the prescribing health care practitioner to receive a special certification, (2) prohibiting the practitioner from also acting as the dispensing pharmacist, and (3) requiring the practitioner to have the ability to provide surgical intervention to the patient. The bill also rescinds any investigational use exemption already granted to such a drug if the bill would have prohibited the FDA from granting the exemption. (Currently, the FDA may grant an exemption to certain market approval requirements if a drug is intended solely for use in safety and effectiveness investigations.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the award of federal funds to an institution of higher education (IHE) that hosts or is affiliated with a school-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions to its students or to employees of the IHE or the site. An IHE that hosts or is affiliated with a site must, in order to remain eligible for federal funds, annually certify that the site does not provide abortion drugs or abortions to students or employees.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Service Restoration Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to require a member of the Armed Forces, or a cadet or midshipman at a military service academy, to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, no such individuals may be subject to adverse action solely on the basis of a refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. At the request of an individual who was involuntarily separated from an Armed Force solely because of a refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, the military department concerned must reinstate the individual as a member of the Armed Force in the same rank and grade the individual held at the time of separation, expunge from the individual's military service record any reference to adverse action related to the refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, and include the period between the involuntary separation and reinstatement in the computation of retired or retainer pay of the individual. The bill requires that the discharge of members due to the failure to obey a lawful order to receive a COVID-19 vaccination must be categorized as an honorable discharge, including for individuals who were discharged prior to the enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2023
Life at Conception Act This bill declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2023
Mount Rushmore Protection Act This bill prohibits the use of any federal funds to alter, change, destroy, or remove any name, face, or other feature on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota and designates Mount Rushmore.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2023
Unleashing American Energy Act This bill requires a minimum amount of oil and gas lease sales a year on certain submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and limits delays on federal oil and gas leases on such lands. Specifically, this bill requires the Department of the Interior to annually conduct a minimum of two region-wide oil and gas lease sales in each of the following regions of the OCS: (1) the Gulf of Mexico region in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area and the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, and (2) the Alaska region. In addition, the bill requires the President to obtain congressional approval before delaying federal oil and gas leases on the OCS.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act This bill modifies provisions related to military retired pay. Specifically, the bill authorizes veterans with a service-connected disability of less than 50% to concurrently receive both retired pay and disability compensation. The bill also makes qualified disability retirees with less than 20 years of retirement-creditable service eligible for concurrent receipt, subject to specified reductions in retired pay.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
Standardizing Thresholds Of Penalties for Fentanyl Act or the STOP Fentanyl Act This bill reduces the drug quantity thresholds that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for a defendant who manufactures, distributes, imports, exports, or possesses with intent to distribute fentanyl. The bill also creates enhanced criminal penalties for certain violations involving fentanyl that was imported along the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, the bill reduces from 400 to 5 grams the fentanyl quantity and from 100 to 0.05 grams the fentanyl analogue quantity that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for high-level first-time or repeat offenders. It also reduces from 40 to 0.5 grams the fentanyl quantity and from 10 to 0.005 grams the fentanyl analogue quantity that trigger a mandatory minimum prison term for low-level first-time or repeat offenders. Additionally, the bill creates enhanced mandatory minimum prison terms for importing or exporting fentanyl that was imported along the U.S.-Mexico border.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
Close the Double Subsidy Loophole for Electric Vehicles Act This bill reduces the allowable amount of the tax credit for a new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle by any subsidy made available by the state in which the vehicle is registered and was placed in service.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
Authorization for the Use of Military Force to Combat, Attack, Resist, Target, Eliminate, and Limit Influence Resolution or the AUMF CARTEL Influence Resolution This joint resolution authorizes the President to use the Armed Forces against foreign nations, foreign organizations, or foreign persons affiliated with foreign organizations that the President determines are involved in trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances into the United States. The joint resolution also authorizes the use of force against those determined to have used force or violence in specified ways, such as engaging in violence or intimidation to control territory to be used for illicit means. The joint resolution deems nine named cartels as having met the criteria for the President to use force against them. Force authorized by this joint resolution may only be used against organizations and persons located outside of the United States. The authority expires five years after the date of this joint resolution's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
No Taxpayer Funding for the World Health Organization Act This bill prohibits the United States from providing any assessed or voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2023
American Workforce Empowerment Act This bill allows tax-preferred college savings plans (529 plans) to fund certain postsecondary certificate programs and apprenticeship programs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2023
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 20 23 This bill revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking. Specifically, the bill establishes a congressional approval process for a major rule. A major rule may only take effect if Congress approves of the rule. A major rule is a rule that has resulted in or is likely to result in (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises. The bill generally preserves the current congressional review process for a nonmajor rule.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2023
Vaccine Discharge Parity Act This bill ensures that members of the Armed Forces who were granted a general discharge under honorable conditions (on the sole basis that the members failed to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccine for COVID-19) are eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty and Post-9/11 GI Bill programs. The bill also extends certain loan fee rates through March 1, 2031, under the VA's home loan program.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2023
Preventing Unjust Red Flag Laws Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to implement or enforce red flag laws. The term red flag law means a risk-based, temporary, and preemptive protective order that authorizes the removal of a firearm without due process.