United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2017
Fair and Equal Housing Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Housing Act (FHA) under the Civil Rights Act of 1968 to add sexual orientation and gender identity as classes protected against discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing. (Currently, the FHA prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.) The bill defines: (1) "gender identity" as gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth; and (2) "sexual orientation" as homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. The bill also extends prohibitions against housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, handicap, familial status, or national origin to include discrimination based on: (1) an individual's association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; and (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2017
No State Resources for Immigration Enforcement (NSRIE) Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from entering into a written agreement with a state or political subdivision pursuant to which any state or subdivision officer or employee is authorized to carry out an immigration function in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States (including the transportation of such aliens across state lines to detention centers). (Currently, the Department of Justice is authorized to enter into such agreements.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2017
Gun Violence Research Act This bill amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 to eliminate the prohibition on the Department of Health and Human Services using federal funds to advocate or promote gun control.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2017
Raise And Index to Sustainably and Efficiently Invest in Transportation Act of 2017 or the RAISE IT Act This bill expresses the sense of Congress that by 2027 the gas tax should be repealed and replaced with a more sustainable, stable funding source. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the excise tax on motor fuels, to increase the rate of tax on: gasoline other than aviation gasoline to 26.3 cents per gallon in 2018, 30.3 cents per gallon in 2019, and 33.3 cents per gallon after 2019 and before 2030; diesel fuel or kerosene to 32.3 cents per gallon in 2018, 36.3 cents per gallon in 2019, and 39.3 cents per gallon after 2019 and before 2029; and diesel-water fuel emulsion. The bill delays the termination of such increased rates from the end of FY2022 to December 31, 2028, and requires an adjustment for inflation to such increased rates beginning after 2019. It also: (1) increases allocations in the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund in 2018, 2019, and after 2019; and (2) imposes a floor stocks tax on rate increases for gasoline, diesel fuel, and kerosene (other than aviation-grade kerosene), subject to specified exemptions for exempt uses and low-volume producers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2017
Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to deem an individual receiving outpatient observation services in a hospital to be an inpatient for purposes of satisfying the three-day inpatient hospital-stay requirement with respect to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing facility services.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2017
Fair and Clear Campaign Transparency Act This bill directs the Federal Communications Commission to require online public inspection files that must be uploaded to the Internet by television broadcast stations, AM or FM radio broadcast stations, cable operators, direct broadcast satellite service providers, or satellite digital audio radio service providers to be made available to the public in a machine-readable format that supports automated searching, bulk downloading, aggregation, manipulation, and sorting. Public inspection files include political files that contain records of requests to purchase broadcast time by or on behalf of candidates for public office or to communicate a message relating to a political matter of national importance.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2017
Keeping Our Campaigns Honest Act of 2017 This bill directs the Federal Communications Commission to revise its sponsorship identification rules to require the disclosure announcements required for broadcast matter or origination cablecasting matter that is political or that involves the discussion of a controversial issue of public importance to include the names of significant donors to the person whose identity is required to be disclosed in such an announcement.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Veterans Visa and Protection Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) establish a program to permit eligible deported noncitizen veterans to enter the United States as, and to permit eligible noncitizen veterans in the United States to adjust their status to that of, a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence; and (2) cancel the removal of eligible noncitizen veterans and allow them to similarly adjust their status. An "eligible" veteran is a veteran who: (1) was not ordered removed, or removed, from the United States due to a criminal conviction for a crime of violence or for a crime that endangers U.S. national security for which the noncitizen served at least five years' imprisonment; and (2) is not inadmissible to, or deportable from, the United States due to such a conviction. DHS may waive such eligibility requirements for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, due to exceptional service in the U.S. Armed Forces, or if such waiver otherwise is in the public interest. A noncitizen veteran or service member shall not be removed from the United States unless he or she has a criminal conviction for a crime of violence. A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this bill shall be eligible for naturalization through service in the U.S. Armed Forces, except that: (1) the grounds on which the noncitizen was ordered removed from, or rendered inadmissible to or deportable from, the United States shall be disregarded when determining whether the noncitizen is a person of good moral character; and (2) any period of absence from the United States due to the noncitizen having been removed or being inadmissible shall be disregarded when determining if the noncitizen satisfies any requirement relating to continuous residence or physical presence. A noncitizen who has obtained the status of a noncitizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence under this bill shall be eligible for all military and veterans benefits for which the individual would have been eligible if he or she had never been been removed from, or voluntarily departed, the United States. DHS shall: (1) identify cases involving service members and veterans at risk of removal from the United States, and (2) annotate all DHS immigration and naturalization records relating to any noncitizen involved and afford an opportunity to track the outcome.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Reserve Component Benefits Parity Act This bill makes reserve component members who are deployed to support pre planned operations of a combatant command eligible for: (1) pre-mobilization health care, (2) transitional health care, (3) consideration of active duty service to reduce the age for retired pay, (4) the high-deployment allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments and frequent mobilizations, (5) Post-9/11 educational assistance, and (6) non-reduction in pay while serving in the uniformed services or National Guard. The bill makes reserve component members who are deployed in response to a major disaster or emergency eligible for Post-9/11 educational assistance. The bill makes all such reserve component members eligible for extension of the time limitation during deployment with respect to: (1) educational assistance, and (2) training and rehabilitation assistance for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2017 This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit people from knowingly slaughtering a dog or cat for human consumption. In addition, the bill prohibits people from knowingly transporting, possessing, buying, selling, or donating: (1) a dog or cat to be slaughtered for human consumption, or (2) dog or cat parts for human consumption. The bill subjects a violator to imprisonment for up to a year, a fine, or both. The bill applies to conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Cancer Drug Coverage Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require group and individual health plans that cover anticancer medications administered by a health care provider to provide no less favorable cost sharing for patient-administered anticancer medications. This requirement applies to medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration that is prescribed based on a finding by the treating physician that the medication is medically necessary for cancer treatment and is clinically appropriate in terms of type, frequency, extent site, and duration. To comply with this requirement, health plans may not, for anticancer medications: (1) change or replace benefits to increase out-of-pocket costs; (2) reclassify benefits to increase costs; or (3) apply more restrictive limitations to orally administered medications than to intravenously administered or injected medications.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Arbitration Fairness Act of 2017 This bill prohibits a predispute arbitration agreement from being valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute. The validity and enforceability of an agreement to arbitrate shall be determined by a court, under federal law, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract containing such agreement. Nothing in this bill applies to arbitration provisions in a contract between an employer and a labor organization or between labor organizations, except that no such arbitration provision shall have the effect of waiving the right of an employee to seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under the U.S. Constitution, a state constitution, a federal or state statute, or related public policy.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2017
Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2017 or the FAST Voting Act of 2017 This bill requires the Election Assistance Commission to award grants, on a competitive basis, to states to: (1) improve voter participation, such as by providing flexible registration opportunities, early voting, or absentee voting; (2) improve voting system security, such as by providing voting machines that are less than 10 years old, updating voting equipment to provide a verifiable paper trail at polling places, or implementing strong chain of custody procedures for voting equipment and paper records; and (3) implement automatic voter registration.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2017
This bill designates the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, as the "Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic."
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2017
Animal Welfare Accountability and Transparency Act This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to maintain and publicly disclose records relating to the administration of the Animal Welfare Act and the Horse Protection Act, including specified details regarding inspections, enforcement actions, regulations, registrations, and licenses under the two laws. Within 90 days of the enactment of this bill, USDA must make the records available to the public in an online searchable database in a machine-readable format on its website. The bill also amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a taxpayer who has been convicted or assessed civil penalties for violating certain provisions of the Animal Welfare Act or the Horse Protection Act to use the alternative depreciation system that increases the number of years over which property is depreciated. The taxpayer must use the system for any property placed in service during the five-year period beginning with the year in which the period for seeking judicial review of a civil penalty has lapsed or in which there has been a final judgment entered with respect to the violation, whichever is earlier.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program under which HHS may make grants to states for the purpose of: (1) reviewing pregnancy-related and pregnancy-associated deaths (maternal deaths); (2) establishing and sustaining a maternal mortality review committee to review relevant information; (3) ensuring that the state department of health develops a plan for ongoing health care provider education in order to improve the quality of maternal care, disseminate findings, and implement recommendations; (4) disseminating a case abstraction form to aid information collection for HHS review and preserve its uniformity; and (5) providing for the public disclosure of information included in state reports. The bill defines "pregnancy-associated death" as the death of a woman while pregnant or during the one-year period following the date of the end of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death. It defines "pregnancy-related death" as the death of a woman while pregnant or during the one-year period following the date of the end of pregnancy, irrespective of the pregnancy's duration, from any cause related to, or aggravated by, the pregnancy or its management, excluding any accidental or incidental cause. States shall develop procedures for mandatory reporting to their departments of health by health facilities and professionals concerning maternal deaths and for voluntary reporting of such deaths by family members. States shall investigate each case and prepare a case summary for each case, to be reviewed by the committee and included in applicable reports. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to direct HHS to take specified steps to eliminate disparities in maternal health outcomes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Scientific Integrity Act This bill requires, subject to Freedom of Information Act disclosure restrictions and privacy requirements, federal agencies that fund or conduct scientific research to: (1) promote and maximize the communication and open exchange of scientific data and findings to other agencies, policymakers, and the public; and (2) prevent the suppression or distortion of such data and findings. The bill amends the America COMPETES Act to require federal agencies that fund or conduct scientific research to develop and enforce a scientific integrity policy and submit it to Congress and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). A scientific integrity policy must, at a minimum, ensure that scientific conclusions are not made based on political considerations. It must be made available to the public on agency websites and be disseminated to each new agency employee and contractor. Agencies must also develop and require training on the policy for its employees and contractors. The OSTP shall enter into an agrement with the National Academy of Public Administration to study the appropriateness of scientific integrity policies.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Women's Health Protection Act of 2017 This bill prohibits any government from imposing on abortion services: a requirement that a medical professional perform specific tests or medical procedures; a requirement that the same clinician who performs a patient's abortion also perform additional tests, services or procedures; a limitation on an abortion provider's ability to prescribe or dispense drugs or provide services via telemedicine; a requirement or limitation concerning the physical plant, equipment, staffing, or hospital transfer arrangements of facilities where abortions are performed, or the credentials, hospital privileges, or status of personnel at those facilities; a requirement that, prior to obtaining an abortion, a patient make medically unnecessary in-person visits to any individual or entity; a limitation on medical training for abortion procedures; a prohibition prior to fetal viability, including a prohibition on a particular abortion procedure; a prohibition after fetal viability when continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the woman's life or health; a restriction on a woman's ability to obtain an immediate abortion when a delay would pose a risk to the woman's health; or a restriction on obtaining an abortion prior to fetal viability based on a woman's reasons or perceived reasons or that requires her to state her reasons before obtaining an abortion. A measure or action that is similar to a requirement or limitation listed above is prohibited if it singles out abortion services or makes abortion services more difficult to access and does not significantly advance women's health or the safety of abortion services.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act This bill amends the Clean Air Act to address the limitations on Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) that are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season. The bill applies the Reid vapor pressure requirements that are applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol. Thus, the waiver given to E10 gasoline, which allows an increase in the Reid Vapor Pressure volatility, is extended to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act of 2017 This bill requires a business that employs 50 or more call center employees, excluding part-time employees, or 50 or more call center employees who in the aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, exclusive of overtime, to notify the Department of Labor at least 120 days before relocating such center outside of the United States. Violators are subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day. Labor must make publicly available a list of all such employers that relocate a call center. It may remove from the list an employer that has relocated the call center from a location outside the United States to a location inside the United States. Employers must remain on the list for up to three years after each relocation. An employer is ineligible for federal grants or federal guaranteed loans for five years after being added to the list, except where the employer demonstrates that a lack of such loan or grant would threaten national security, result in substantial job loss in the United States, or harm the environment. Federal or state executive agencies or military departments, when awarding a civilian or defense-related contract, must give preference to a U.S. employer that does not appear on the list. Businesses that initiate or receive a customer service communication must require each of their employees or agents participating in the communication to disclose their physical location at the beginning of each such communication unless all involved employees or agents are located in the United States. The bill exempts any communication: (1) initiated by a consumer if the consumer knows or reasonably should know that the employee or agent is located outside the United States, or (2) related to the provision of emergency services. Upon request, businesses must transfer a customer to a customer service agent who is physically located in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may exclude certain classes or types of business entities or customer service communications from the requirements of this bill under exceptionally compelling circumstances. The bill sets forth authority for the FTC to enforce against violations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act This bill prohibits funds from being made available to Honduras for the police or military (including for equipment and training), and directs the Department of the Treasury to instruct U.S. representatives at multilateral development banks to vote against any loans for the police or military of Honduras, until the Department of States certifies that the government of Honduras has: prosecuted members of the military and police for human rights violations and ensured that such violations have ceased; established the rule of law and guaranteed a judicial system capable of bringing to justice members of the police and military who have committed human rights abuses; established that it protects the rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights defenders, government critics, and civil society activists to operate without interference; withdrawn the military from domestic policing; and brought to trial and obtained verdicts against those who ordered and carried out the attack on Felix Molina and the killings of Berta Caceres, Joel Palacios Lino, Elvis Armando Garcia, and over 100 small-farmer activists in the Aguan Valley.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2017
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Women's History Month. Recognizes and honors the women and organizations in the United States that have fought for and continue to promote the teaching of women's history.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Helping Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a center of excellence in the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and rehabilitation of health conditions relating to exposure to burn pits and other environmental exposures in Afghanistan or Iraq. The VA shall, in selecting the center's site, consider entities that: are equipped with the specialized equipment needed to study, diagnose, and treat health conditions relating to such exposure; have a track record of publishing information on post-deployment health exposures among veterans who served in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom; have access to animal models and in vitro models of dust immunology and lung injury consistent with the injuries of members of the Armed Forces who served in support of such operations; and have expertise in allergy, immunology, and pulmonary diseases. The VA shall ensure that the center collaborates with the Department of Defense (DOD), institutions of higher education, and other appropriate public and private entities to: provide for dissemination within the VA of best practices for the treatment of such conditions and the training of health professionals, provide guidance for the VA and DOD health systems in determining the personnel required to provide quality health care for members of the Armed Forces and veterans with such conditions, establish, and oversee a program to train VA and DOD health professionals in the treatment of such conditions, facilitate advancements in the study of the short-term and long-term effects of such exposure, conduct basic science and translational research on such conditions for the purposes of understanding the etiology of such conditions and developing preventive interventions and new treatments, and provide medical treatment to veterans diagnosed with medical conditions specific to exposure to burn pits and other environmental exposures. The center shall have access to and make use of the data accumulated by the burn pits registry.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
CT Colonography Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide Medicare coverage for screening computed tomography colonography (CTC) as a colorectal cancer screening test, and (2) exclude screening CTC from a special Medicare payment rule applicable to certain imaging services.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Improving Access to Mental Health Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) increase the Medicare reimbursement rate for clinical social worker services, (2) exclude clinical social worker services from the prospective payment system in which predetermined amounts form the basis for payment under Medicare, and (3) alter the definition of “clinical social worker services” as it relates to Medicare. Under current law, “clinical social worker services”: (1) include services performed for the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses, and (2) exclude services furnished to an inpatient of a skilled nursing facility as a condition of the facility's participation in the Medicare program. The bill repeals these provisions and instead specifies that such services include certain types of health behavior assessment and intervention.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Expresses hope that the academy will continue to improve the nation's health by advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education, and advocacy.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Washington, D.C. Admission Act This bill provides for admission into the United States of the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall be admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the other states. The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall issue a proclamation for the first elections to Congress of two Senators and one Representative of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall consist of all Washington, DC territory as of enactment of this bill, with specified exclusions for federal buildings and monuments. The Commonwealth may not impose taxes on federal property except as Congress permits. The bill applies current DC laws to the Commonwealth and continues pending judicial proceedings. The bill maintains: (1) DC as the seat of the federal government, and (2) the federal government's authority over military lands and specified other property. The bill provides for expedited consideration of a joint resolution repealing the Twenty-Third Amendment to the Constitution (which provides for the appointment of electors for President and Vice President).
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Respect for Peace Corps Volunteers Act This bill amends the Peace Corps Act to allow the official seal or emblem and the name "Peace Corps" to be used on any death announcement, plaque, grave stone, or other grave marker of a former volunteer, officer, or employee of the Peace Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2017
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income payments under the federal veterinary medicine loan repayment program or any state loan repayment or forgiveness program that is intended to provide for increased access to veterinary services in such state.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2017
CPI-E Act of 2017 This bill bases cost-of -living increases in benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System, the Federal Employees Retirement System, military retirement and survivor benefit programs, the Social Security old-age, survivors, or disability insurance benefit program, and other specified veterans benefits programs on increases in the Consumer Price Index for the elderly.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2017
Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act or the BEST Practices Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD), by no later than: (1) October 1, 2020, to complete the development, testing, and validation of human-based training methods for training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment of combat trauma injuries, with the goal of replacing live animal-based training methods; and (2) October 1, 2022, to use only use human-based training methods for such purposes. No animals may be used in such training after the latter date. DOD shall submit an annual report to Congress regarding the development and implementation of the human-based training methods.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2017
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins, 400,000 $1 coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins in recognition and celebration of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The coins shall be in the shape of a dome, and the design on the common reverse of the coins shall depict a basketball. Treasury shall hold a competition to determine the design of the common obverse of the coins, which shall be emblematic of the game of basketball. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by Treasury to the Hall to fund an endowment for increased operations and educational programming.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2017
Protecting the Rights Of Towns against federal Eforcement contrary to Constitutional Tenets for Immigration Act of 2017 or the PROTECT Immigration Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that the authority to inquire about or verify immigration or citizenship status and to investigate, apprehend, arrest, or detain an individual for a violation of such Act is restricted to immigration officers and authorized employees of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and subject to limits set forth in other provisions of law. DHS authority to enter into written agreements with a state or state subdivision to perform immigration-related investigations, apprehensions, or detentions of aliens in the United States is eliminated. The bill exempts from the restriction under this bill DOJ authority to enter into other state and local agreements: (1) in the event of an actual or imminent mass influx of aliens representing urgent circumstances; and (2) with respect to immigration-related detentions in non-federal facilities, including personnel and facilities construction. The bill also exempts from such restriction state and local enforcement authority to arrest and detain certain previously-deported illegal aliens who have been convicted of a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2017
Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that the Act's regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties do not apply to with respect to marijuana. It removes marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols from schedule I. (A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that: has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.) Additionally, it eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who imports, exports, manufactures, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute marijuana. The bill does, however, make it a crime to knowingly ship or transport marijuana into a state where its receipt, possession, or sale is prohibited. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to one year, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2017
Save America's Science Act This bill requires each federal agency to: (1) maintain each data asset of the agency, including any asset collected for the agency under a contract, in accordance with its records management program; (2) establish safeguards against the removal or loss of such assets; and (3) make any requirements and penalties related to such removal or loss known to agency officials and employees. Each agency shall: (1) notify the Archivist of the United States and Congress of any actual or threatened unlawful removal, defacing, alteration, or other destruction of data assets in the agency's custody; and (2) initiate action through the Attorney General for the recovery of such assets. In any case in which an agency does not initiate recovery within a reasonable period after being notified of any such unlawful action, or is believed to be participating in any such unlawful action, the Archivist shall request the Attorney General to initiate recovery and notify Congress when such a request has been made. Each data asset that has been made available to the public by an agency shall remain available to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Social Security Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to repeal the "government pension offset" and the "windfall elimination provision." Under current law, those provisions reduce OASDI benefits for individuals who receive a pension based on earnings in government employment that was not covered under the Social Security program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Mortgage Choice Act of 2017 This bill amends the Truth in Lending Act to specify that neither escrow charges for insurance nor affiliated title charges shall be considered "points and fees" for purposes of determining whether a mortgage is a "high-cost mortgage."
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Furthering Access to Stroke Telemedicine Act of 2017 or the FAST Act of 2017 This bill specifies that, under Medicare, telehealth services include telehealth-eligible stroke services provided to an individual soon after the onset of acute-stroke symptoms. Certain originating-site requirements applicable to telehealth services under Medicare shall not apply with respect to such stroke services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act This bill deems as active military service for Department of Veterans Affairs purposes any service as a member of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps between July 1, 1943, and December 31, 1948 (qualified service). The Department of Defense shall issue an honorable discharge within one year to each person whose qualified service warrants one. Retroactive benefits shall not be paid to persons as a result of enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Disclosure of Information on Spending on Campaigns Leads to Open and Secure Elections Act of 2017 or the DISCLOSE 2017 Act This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: revise the definition of "independent expenditure;" expand the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications; require certain organizations making campaign-related disbursements to file a statement with the Federal Election Commission; require campaign-related radio or television communications that are not authorized by a candidate or candidate's political committee to include an individual or organizational disclosure statement, together with other information; repeal the prohibition against political contributions by individuals age 17 or younger; and require certain organizations that submit regular, periodic reports to shareholders, members, or donors to include in each report information regarding campaign-related disbursements . The bill amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require the semiannual reports on certain election campaign contributions filed with the Senate or the House of Representatives by registered lobbyists (or persons or organizations required to register as lobbyists) to contain: (1) the amount of any independent expenditure of $1,000 or more made by each such person or organization, along with the name of each candidate being supported or opposed and the amount spent supporting or opposing that candidate; and (2) the amount of any electioneering communication of $1,000 or more made by such person or organization, along with the name of the candidate referred to in the communication and whether the communication was in support of or in opposition to the candidate.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Medicare Mental Health Access Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to expand the definition of "physician," for purposes of the Medicare program, to include a clinical psychologist with respect to the furnishing of qualified psychologist services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2017 This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month waiting period for disability insurance benefits for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a progressive neurodegenerative disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord). Under current law, individuals must wait five months after becoming disabled before their disability insurance benefit payments can begin.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Hygiene Assistance for Families of Infants and Toddlers Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Administration for Children and Familes of the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to states or local governments, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, or nonprofit organizations to conduct demonstration projects to help low-income families address the diapering needs of their children.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act This bill amends the Native American Programs Act of 1974 to reauthorize through FY2022 and revise a grant program administered by the Administration for Native Americans at the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of Native American languages. The minimum number of enrollees in educational programs funded by grants is reduced from 10 to 5 enrollees in Native American language nests and from 15 to 10 enrollees in the Native American language survival schools. The bill increases the maximum duration of grants.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Condemns the permanent position of Steve Bannon on the National Security Council (NSC). Urges: (1) President Trump to remove Bannon from the NSC, and (2) Congress to expend any necessary resources to protect U.S. national security and remove Bannon from such position.
![Official portrait of Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_mn_4_mccollum_betty_200.jpg)