United States · United States Congress · 11 August 2023
Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 2023 This bill eliminates provisions that reduce Social Security retirement benefits for certain beneficiaries who are younger than full retirement age and who have outside income above a certain threshold, also known as the Retirement Earnings Test (RET). Under the RET, benefits are reduced for beneficiaries who are younger than full retirement age if they earn more than the annual limit ($21,240 for 2023). Withheld benefits are subsequently added to monthly benefits once the beneficiary reaches full retirement age.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2023
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, as the "Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
Stillbirth Health Improvement and Education for Autumn Act of 2023 or the SHINE for Autumn Act of 2023 This bill authorizes grants and establishes other programs to improve data collection on stillbirths. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may award grants for surveillance and data collection on stillbirths, and HHS must issue guidelines for health departments and vital statistics units concerning the collection of stillbirth data. HHS must also develop educational awareness materials about stillbirths and make them publicly available. Furthermore, HHS must implement a fellowship program to provide training in perinatal autopsy pathology and otherwise support research on stillbirths and fetal autopsies. The bill also requires HHS to issue a report with educational guidelines on stillbirths and stillbirth risk factors.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
This resolution condemns Iran for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. It also urges the Biden Administration and U.S. allies to publicly condemn the massacre and to pressure Iran to provide information to the families of the victims.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2023
Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act of 2023 This bill establishes accounts to fund the construction of physical barriers along the U.S. southern border and to provide grants to address fentanyl abuse. These accounts shall be funded from the sale of assets belonging to cartels that have been seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The bill defines cartel as (1) an organization with operations in Mexico and the United States designated as a significant transnational criminal organization; (2) certain named organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Juarez Cartel; and (3) other organizations as designated by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2023
ACES Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study and report on the prevalence and mortality of cancers among veterans who served on active duty as aircrew members and regularly flew in fixed-wing aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Dietary Supplements Access Act This bill allows expenditures from health savings accounts and flexible spending and health reimbursement arrangements for dietary supplements (i.e., products, other than tobacco, intended to supplement the diet that bear or contain either vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, or an amino acid, and are labeled as dietary supplements).
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Stop China’s Continuous Purchase of Land Act or the Stop CCP Land Act This bill requires states that receive certain federal program funds to restrict the purchase of agricultural land by a covered foreign country. Covered foreign country means a country included in Department of State regulations as subject to certain prohibitions (i.e., Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela), as well as Russia. Specifically, a state may not receive funds for certain programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (e.g., certain energy efficiency and conservation programs) unless that state has a law prohibiting a covered foreign country (or persons acting on behalf of the country) from purchasing agricultural land in the state. Further, a state must require that a person from a covered foreign country that holds agricultural land in the state prior to the state law's enactment submit an annual report to the state on the agricultural holdings. The Department of Agriculture must submit a report to Congress on how the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 should be updated to ensure accurate documentation and monitoring of foreign investment in agricultural land. The Government Accountability Office must submit a report to Congress that includes (1) an assessment of this bill's impact on national security, and (2) any measures that can be taken to better secure U.S. real estate from foreign manipulation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Education Needs Today Act or the STUDENT Act This bill revises the federal charter for the National Education Association. The bill specifies that the corporation and its state and local affiliates may only accept payment of membership dues or fees from a state or local government employee if the employee (1) has been notified of the employee's right under the First Amendment to refrain from membership and payment of associated dues or fees, (2) has clearly and affirmatively consented to membership and payment of associated dues or fees, and (3) has authorized the transmittal of membership dues or fees without the use of payroll deduction. Further, the corporation and its state or local affiliates must process and honor cancellation requests for membership or payment of dues as soon as practicable following receipt of the request. The bill also outlines requirements for the corporation, such as prohibiting the corporation or its directors or officers from contributing to, supporting, or participating in political activities; requiring each officer of the corporation to be a U.S. citizen; requiring the corporation to submit annual reports to Congress; prohibiting the corporation and its affiliates from requiring staff, officers, affiliates, or members to affirm, adopt, or adhere to certain principles related to race or sex; and prohibiting the corporation and its affiliates from calling or participating in a strike, work stoppage, or slowdown affecting a state or local government. The bill repeals the corporation's exemption from District of Columbia property taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Unfair Tax Prevention Act This bill imposes reciprocal taxes on foreign jurisdictions that attempt to impose certain surtaxes on U.S. business operations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Main Street Tax Certainty Act This bill makes permanent the tax deduction for qualified business income. (Under current law, the deduction expires after December 31, 2025.) Qualified business income is defined as the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction and loss with respect to any trade or business, excluding capital gains or losses, dividends, interest income, or income earned outside the U.S.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2023
This resolution affirms that Israel is not a racist or apartheid state. The resolution also (1) rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia, and (2) affirms that the United States will always be a staunch partner of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2023
Saving Organs One Flight at a Time Act This bill requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to jointly issue regulations, as necessary, to enable air carriers to transport human organs for transplant above wing (i.e., in the cabin of an aircraft). Among other things, the regulations must include consideration of protocols for air control outages; a requirement that air carriers implement a protocol for a person to accompany organs to and from the aircraft and between connecting flights; and a standardized process for commercial air carriers to accept, handle, and manage organs in transit. The TSA and the FAA must also consult with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to identify metrics for the handling of organs and organ-related tissue by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2023
Protecting Education Privacy Act This bill limits the release of students' personally identifiable information contained in education records. The bill includes local educational authorities among the officials designated as authorized representatives of an education agency with access to student records. Authorized representatives must be under the direct control of the agency. The bill prohibits (1) the use of students' personally identifiable information for the development of commercial products or services without the written consent of their parents, and (2) the Department of Education from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that defines early childhood education program or education program for any purpose under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 on or after this bill's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2023
Disarming Felons Act This bill extends federal restrictions on the receipt, possession, shipment, and transportation of firearms and ammunition to a new category of persons: persons who while 15, 16, or 17 years of age commit an act of juvenile delinquency that would have been a felony if committed by an adult.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2023
U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial VA Clinic Act This bill designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Plano, Texas, as the U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson Memorial VA Clinic.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2023
United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act This bill expresses the approval of Congress for the June 1, 2023, agreement regarding trade between the United States and Taiwan. The bill also imposes requirements on the negotiations of certain further trade agreements between the United States and Taiwan. (The June 1, 2023, agreement, which addresses issues such as customs administration and regulatory practices, is the first of several expected agreements under the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade.) The June 1, 2023, agreement may enter into force no earlier than 30 days after the President certifies in writing to Congress that Taiwan has taken measures necessary to comply with the agreement. The bill also imposes requirements on the negotiation of further agreements under the United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, such as requiring the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to (1) share any U.S. negotiating texts with Congress prior to sharing the text with Taiwan or any parties outside of the executive branch, (2) share any negotiating texts from Taiwan within three days of receipt, and (3) provide daily briefings to certain Members of Congress during negotiating rounds. A further agreement shall not take effect unless (1) the President, at least 60 days before entering into the further agreement, makes the text publicly available on a USTR website; and (2) a bill is enacted into law expressly approving the further agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2023
Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act This bill requires the Small Business Administration to ensure that for each fiscal year the cost to small businesses of the administration's rulemaking (including the modification or repeal of a rule) is not greater than zero. The administration also must report on any regulations issued by other federal agencies that have an impact on small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2023
Stop Funding Rioters Act This bill makes a person convicted of an offense relating to the assault of a law enforcement officer or a person convicted of a felony in connection with a riot that results in the destruction of a small business ineligible for any assistance or program administered by the Small Business Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2023
Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act This bill addresses unfair trade practices by making various changes to U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty law. Antidumping provides relief to U.S industries and workers that are materially injured or threatened with injury due to imports of like products sold in the U.S. market at less than fair value, while countervailing duty provides such relief from imports of products subsidized by a foreign government or public entity. Specifically, the bill establishes a process for successive antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Successive investigations may be concurrent (an ongoing investigation of the same product) or recently completed (not more than two years before the date of the initiation of the successive investigation). Further, the bill establishes a time line for the Department of Commerce to issue determinations in successive investigations. Among other provisions, the bill authorizes Commerce to apply countervailing duty law to subsidies provided by a foreign government or public entity to a company operating in a third country, use another method for calculating the cost of production in specific circumstances, and require importers to provide a certification that the imported merchandise is not subject to an antidumping or countervailing duty order. Additionally, the bill statutorily establishes procedures for Commerce to conduct circumvention inquiries, including by specifying the deadlines for preliminary and final determinations. The bill also provides statutory authority for Commerce to investigate currency undervaluation as a countervailable subsidy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2023
Tax Cuts for Working Families Act This bill renames the standard tax deduction as the guaranteed deduction. It allows an additional bonus amount of $2,000 ($4,000 for married couples filing jointly) in taxable years beginning in 2024 and 2025 but reduces the bonus amount for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 ($400,000 for joint filers).
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the final rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau titled Small Business Lending under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) and published on May 31, 2023. The rule requires financial institutions to collect and report to the bureau credit application data for small businesses. On July 31, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ordered the bureau not to implement or enforce the rule until a related pending case is resolved.
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 2023
Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act or the SHIP Act This bill requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against foreign persons that knowingly transport, process, refine, or otherwise deal in petroleum and petroleum products originating in Iran. These sanctions also extend to certain foreign persons associated with the sanctioned individual, such as adult family members and any entities owned or controlled by the sanctioned individual.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2023
Defending American Jobs and Investment Act This bill provides for the enforcement of remedies against foreign countries that have extraterritorial or discriminatory taxes. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of the Treasury to periodically submit a report to Congress that lists each foreign country that has one or more extraterritorial or discriminatory taxes. Treasury must commence enhanced bilateral engagement with each foreign country included in the report. This engagement must (1) express the concern of the United States with respect to the adverse trade and economic effects of tax policies that violate bilateral tax treaties and international tax norms, (2) urge the repeal of extraterritorial and discriminatory taxes that target U.S. persons, and (3) advise the foreign country of remedial actions (as outlined by this bill). The bill increases income tax and withholding tax rates on certain foreign citizens, corporations, and partnerships of any foreign country listed in Treasury's report. The bill provides the executive branch with additional tools to enforce against extraterritorial and discriminatory taxes. These tools include authorizing the President to prohibit government contracting or procurement of goods or services from a foreign country listed in Treasury's report, directing Treasury to consider these taxes in assessing whether to enter into or update a bilateral tax treaty with the foreign country, and requiring the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce to consider these taxes in assessing whether to enter into any free trade agreement or executive agreement with the foreign country.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2023
Financing Our Energy Future Act This bill expands the types of partnerships that qualify for treatment as publicly traded partnerships instead of as corporations for tax purposes. Under current law, partnerships that meet certain gross income requirements (i.e., at least 90% of the partnership's gross income in a taxable year consists of qualifying income) are excepted from being treated as a corporation for tax purposes. This bill expands the sources of income that are considered qualifying income and make a partnership eligible for such an exception. Specifically, the bill provides that income derived from the generation of specified alternative energy, alternative fuel projects, or the associated property, storage, or transportation for such projects (e.g., the conversion of renewable biomass into renewable fuel or the storage or transportation of such fuel) is considered qualifying income.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2023
Protecting Federal Funds from Human Trafficking and Smuggling Act of 2023 This bill prohibits a nonprofit entity from receiving federal funds (and denies a tax exemption) unless the entity certifies compliance with certain federal laws (e.g., laws with respect to human trafficking and smuggling). The bill also establishes reporting requirements, including that the Government Accountability Office must annually report to Congress on those nonprofit entities that do not certify their compliance with these laws. Finally, the bill removes the provision of federal law that exempts nonprofit charitable organizations that provide federal public benefits from having to verify the eligibility of program participants.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2023
Kazakhstan Permanent Normal Trade Relations Act of 2023 This bill authorizes the President to extend nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of Kazakhstan.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2023
Promoting Access to Treatments and Increasing Extremely Needed Transparency Act of 2023 or the PATIENT Act of 2023 This bill expands hospital price transparency requirements and establishes additional reporting requirements with respect to prescription drugs and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). The bill also extends funding for various programs such as the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, Community Health Center program, and National Health Service Corps. Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for the requirement that hospitals publish an annual list of shoppable services they provide, including specified pricing information. Beginning in 2025, a hospital may not use an internet-based price estimator tool to meet the publication requirement for shoppable services. The bill also modifies the health insurance plan disclosure requirements to include the rates for certain in-network services and prescription drug payment information. The bill further requires providers of diagnostic laboratory tests under Medicare to publish online certain price information. Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations must report information about payments made to providers in which the MA organization has an ownership interest. Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors must report certain price information for covered drugs. Additionally, the bill requires health insurance plan issuers (or the PBM providing services on behalf of the plan) to report to the plan sponsor specified information about prescription drugs dispensed under the plan. This includes rebates, fees, alternative discounts, or other remuneration the plan receives from drug manufacturers. Finally, the bill requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with PBMs under Medicaid.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2023
Secure Testing Resources Instead of Prosecuting Act or the STRIP Act This bill exempts the possession, sale, or purchase of fentanyl drug testing equipment, including test strips, from criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2023
Facilitating Accountability In Reimbursements Act or the FAIR Act This bill requires health care providers to use separate, unique health identifiers when submitting a claim to a health insurance issuer for services provided at an off-campus outpatient department.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2023
This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to transfer to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas unused materials obtained for constructing a border wall in each respective state.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2023
Combating Predatory Lending in Higher Education Act of 2023 This bill includes Direct PLUS Loans that are made to graduate students and parents on behalf of dependent students in an institution of higher education's (IHE's) cohort default rate. This rate is the percentage of an IHE's borrowers who enter repayment and default on certain student loans. Further, the Department of Education must include this information in its annual report on cohort default rates.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2023
Higher Standards for Higher Education Act This bill requires the Department of Education, in its annual report on cohort default rates (generally, a percentage of how many current and former students default on their student loans in a fiscal year), to collect and report additional data for institutions of higher education with an endowment of $1 billion or more.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2023
Housing Promotes Livelihood and Ultimate Success Act of 2023 or the Housing PLUS Act of 2023 This bill modifies the requirements under which the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must award grants under the Continuum of Care Program, which provides funding for nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families. Specifically, the bill bars HUD from prohibiting, limiting, or restricting Continuum of Care grants to recipients that (1) require program participants to receive supportive services, (2) require program participants to be sober or drug-free, or (3) are faith-based organizations. The bill also requires that at least 30% of Continuum of Care grant funds be set aside for eligible grant recipients that provide or offer access to wraparound services.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2023
Protect Lifesaving Anesthesia Care for Veterans Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from modifying its policy relating to anesthesia care in a manner that would provide any medical professional other than a physician anesthesiologist with full practice authority for the furnishment of anesthesia care to veterans under VA health care laws. The VA is also prohibited from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the provisions relating to anesthesia care of the proposed rule titled Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (81 Fed. Reg. 33155), or any substantially similar rule.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2023
Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023 This bill prohibits federal officials or employees from taking any action to recognize a Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad. The bill also expands existing sanctions related to the Syrian conflict to cover additional activities and persons (individuals and entities). Current law requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons engaged in certain activities related to the conflict in Syria. For example, such sanctions must be imposed on those that knowingly (1) are responsible for serious human rights abuses against the Syrian people, or (2) provide aircraft or spare aircraft parts for military purposes on behalf of the Syrian government to a foreign person operating in certain areas of Syria. This bill expands the types of activities that would subject a foreign person to sanctions, including knowingly (1) providing any type of aircraft or spare aircraft parts to the Syrian government, (2) diverting humanitarian assistance intended for the Syrian people, or (3) confiscating property in Syria or owned by a Syrian citizen for personal gain or political purposes. The bill also extends these sanctions to entities owned or controlled by a sanctioned person and to a sanctioned person's adult family members. Additionally, the bill removes an exception to the sanctions related to the importation of goods. The Department of State must provide Congress with a strategy to counter foreign government efforts to normalize relations with the Bashar al-Assad regime.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2023
Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act of 2023 This bill makes changes to various laws pertaining to sanctions, including by revising the definition of what constitutes a foreign opioid trafficker. Specifically, for the purposes of the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, the bill changes the definition of foreign opioid trafficker to specify that the term includes certain Chinese entities and government officials that fail to take steps to prevent opioid trafficking, potentially subjecting them to sanctions. The bill imposes additional requirements before the President can publish regulations under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which authorizes the President to regulate a variety of economic transactions following a declaration of national emergency. For example, the President must consider the costs and benefits of available statutory and regulatory alternatives prior to publishing such regulations. The bill also provides 10-year statutes of limitation for violations of two federal laws that authorize sanctions (the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act).
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2023
Permanent Tax Cuts for American Families Act of 2023 This bill permanently increases the standard tax deduction for nonitemizing taxpayers. It also requires an inflation adjustment to the increased deduction amounts.
![Official portrait of Rep. Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/677461060b34857ecc9091af_200.jpg)