United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2015
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to the Freedom Riders in recognition of their contribution to civil rights, which inspired a movement to equality in interstate travel. Requires such medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution to be available for display and research. Expresses the sense of Congress that the medal should be made available for display elsewhere, particularly at locations associated with the Freedom Riders.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2015
CEO-Employee Paycheck Fairness Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a publicly held corporation a tax deduction for the payment of performance-based remuneration in excess of $1 million to any of its current or former officers or directors if such corporation does not meet the pay fairness requirement established by this Act. Deems the pay fairness requirement to be satisfied if: (1) the average compensation paid by the employer for all applicable U.S. employees for the taxable year exceeds the inflation and productivity growth adjusted average (i.e., $118,450 in 2015) of such compensation for the preceding taxable year; and (2) the aggregate compensation paid by the employer to or for all applicable employees for the taxable year is not less than the aggregate of such compensation for the preceding taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2015 or the FAIR Act This bill modifies general rules governing civil forfeiture proceedings to: (1) ensure that a person contesting a civil forfeiture has legal representation without regard to whether the property subject to forfeiture is being used by such person as a primary residence; (2) increase the federal government's burden of proof in civil forfeiture proceedings to clear and convincing evidence; (3) require the government, in addition to showing a substantial connection between the seized property and an offense, to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the owner of any interest in the seized property used the property with intent to facilitate the offense or knowingly consented or was willfully blind to the use of the property by another in connection with the offense; and (4) expand the proportionality criteria used by a court to determine whether a civil forfeiture was constitutionally excessive. To remove incentives for carrying out civil forfeitures, the bill requires proceeds from the disposition of seized property to be deposited into the General Fund of the Treasury, rather than to Department of Justice accounts for law enforcement activities. The bill adds a scienter requirement (i.e., a knowing violation) to the prohibition against structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. The bill requires: (1) a court to conduct a probable cause hearing to determine if there is a violation of the prohibition against structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements involving a monetary instrument and to return such instrument if probable cause is not established, and (2) the Attorney General to specify in reports to Congress and the public on forfeitures the amounts received from criminal and civil forfeitures.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Action for Dental Health Act 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize oral health promotion and disease prevention programs through FY2020. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may award grants or enter into contracts to obtain portable or mobile dental equipment and pay operational costs for the provision of free dental services to underserved populations. The CDC may also award grants or enter into contracts to collaborate with state, county, or local public officials and other stakeholders to develop and implement initiatives to: (1) improve oral health education and dental disease prevention; (2) make the health care delivery system providing dental services more accessible and efficient through the development and expansion of outreach programs that facilitate the establishment of dental homes; (3) reduce geographic, language, cultural, and similar barriers in the provision of dental services; (4) reduce the use of emergency departments by those who seek dental services more appropriately delivered in a dental primary care setting; or (5) facilitate the provision of dental care to nursing home residents who are disproportionately affected by lack of care.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Requires the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to designate New Jersey Task Force 1 as part of the National Urban Search and Rescue System.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore mail delivery service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2015
Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act of 2015 Allows federal employees to substitute any available paid leave for any leave without pay available for either the: (1) birth of a child, or (2) placement of a child with the employee for either adoption or foster care. Makes available (subject to specified requirements) for any of the 12 weeks of leave an employee is entitled to for such purposes: (1) six administrative weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth or placement involved, and (2) any accumulated annual or sick leave. Authorizes the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to promulgate regulations to increase the amount of paid parental leave available to such an employee to a total of 12 administrative workweeks, based on the consideration of: (1) the benefits to the federal government, including enhanced recruitment and employee retention; (2) the cost to the government; (3) trends in the private sector and in state and local governments; (4) the federal government's role as a model employer; and (5) the impact of increased paid parental leave on lower-income and economically disadvantaged employees and their children. Amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow the same substitution for covered congressional employees, Government Accountability Office (GAO) employees, and Library of Congress employees. Counts certain service by an employee of the executive branch, Congress, GAO, or the Library of Congress while on active duty as a member of the National Guard or Reserves as service for that branch or agency for purposes of determining such employee's eligibility to take or substitute leave as provided under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
International Megan's Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish within the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the Angel Watch Center, which shall: receive information on travel by child-sex offenders; establish a system to maintain and archive all relevant information, including decisions not to transmit notification abroad and responses of destination countries to notifications; establish an annual review process to ensure that the Center is consistent in procedures regarding providing notification to destination countries; and establish a mechanism to receive complaints from child-sex offenders affected by notifications of destination countries. Authorizes the Center to notify a destination country (including its visa-issuing agents in the United States) of impending or current international travel of a child-sex offender to that country. Prescribes requirements for reasonable efforts to provide constructive notice through electronic or telephonic communication to the child-sex offender before his or her arrival in the destination country, except in specified circumstances Requires the Center to engage in ongoing consultations with: nongovernmental organizations that have experience in identifying and preventing child sex tourism and rescuing and rehabilitating minor victims of international sexual exploitation and trafficking, the governments of countries interested in cooperating in the creation of an international sex offender travel notification system or that are primary destination or source countries for international sex tourism, and Internet service and software providers regarding technology to facilitate the implementation of an international sex offender travel notification system in the United States and in other countries. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) negotiate bilateral agreements with foreign governments to further the purposes of this Act; and (2) formally request foreign governments to notify the United States when a U.S. citizen has been arrested, convicted, or sentenced or has completed a prison sentence for a child-sex offense in the foreign country. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to include, as indicia of serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of trafficking in persons, a country's cooperation with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of such trafficking, including trafficking related to sex tourism. Encourages the President to use authorities under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to assist foreign countries in identifying sex offenders and providing and receiving notification of child sex offender international travel.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
Strengthening Child Welfare Response to Trafficking Act of 2015 Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to condition eligibility to receive a state grant for child abuse or neglect prevention and treatment programs on inclusion in the state plan of a certification by the governor that the state has in effect and is enforcing a state law, or is operating a statewide program, that includes provisions and procedures to: identify and assess reports involving children who are sex trafficking victims (and which may also involve children who are victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons), train representatives of the state child protective services about identifying and assessing such children, and identify services and procedures for appropriate referral to address the needs of such children. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on: the specific type and prevalence of severe forms of trafficking in persons to which children have been subjected who are identified for services or intervention under the placement, care, or supervision of state, Indian tribe, or tribal organization child welfare agencies; the practices and protocols utilized by states to identify and serve children who are, or are at-risk of becoming, victims of trafficking; and any barriers in federal laws or regulations that may prevent identification and assessment of children who are such victims.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
Human Trafficking Prioritization Act Expresses the sense of Congress that the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of the Department of State will be more effective in carrying out duties mandated by Congress in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and can do so without an increase in either personnel or budget, if: (1) the Office status is changed to that of a Bureau within the Department; and (2) the Office is headed by an Assistant Secretary with direct access to the Secretary of State, rather than an Ambassador-at-Large. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to change the status of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to that of the Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress: detailing for each current Assistant Secretary of State position the exact title and length of designation as Assistant Secretary, and whether that designation was legislatively mandated or authorized and, if so, the relevant statutory citation; and whether the Secretary intends to designate one of the Assistant Secretary of State positions as the Assistant Secretary of State to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and the reasons for that decision. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to prohibit subsequent inclusion for more than one consecutive year on the special watch list of countries whose compliance with minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking is full, partial, or insignificant of any country that: was included on the list for four consecutive years after enactment of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and was subsequently included on the exclusive Tier 3 list of countries not making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with such standards. States that no additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for diplomatic and consular programs to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act of 2015 Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act with respect to grants to states, localities, and private entities to carry out research, evaluation, demonstration, and service projects regarding activities designed to increase knowledge concerning, and to improve services for, runaway youth and homeless youth. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give priority to proposed projects relating to staff training in: the behavioral and emotional effects of severe forms of trafficking in persons and sex trafficking, responding to youth who are showing effects of severe forms of trafficking in persons and sex trafficking, and agency-wide strategies for working with runaway and homeless youth who are victims of trafficking. Extends the Secretary's authority to make grants to nonprofit private agencies for the purpose of providing street-based services to runaway and homeless, and street youth, who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, prostitution, or sexual exploitation. Extends the scope of such grants also to street-based services to runaway and homeless, and street youth, who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, severe forms of trafficking in persons and sex trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2015
Super Pollutant Emissions Reduction Act of 2015 or the SUPER Act of 2015 This bill requires the President to establish the Task Force on Super Pollutants to: review existing and potential policies and measures that promote the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants, in part by identifying and evaluating programs and activities of the federal government that contribute to a reduction; identify and recommend specific federal programs and activities that are duplicative and that can be consolidated to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness; identify gaps where programs do not exist and recommend programs and activities to fill these gaps to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, with an emphasis on industry standards and public-private partnerships; identify, compile, evaluate, and develop best practices for reducing short-lived climate pollutants; and report to Congress on its findings and recommendations. A "short-lived climate pollutant" is black carbon, methane, hydrofluorocarbons, tropospheric ozone and its precursors, or emissions from banks of ozone-depleting substances.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
This bill directs the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March during March of 1965, which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Disclosure of Information on Spending on Campaigns Leads to Open and Secure Elections Act of 2015 or the DISCLOSE 2015 Act Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to redefine the term "independent expenditure" as an expenditure by a person that, when taken as a whole, expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, or is the functional equivalent of express advocacy because it can be interpreted by a reasonable person only as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate, taking into account whether the communication involved mentions a candidacy, a political party, or a challenger to a candidate, or takes a position on a candidates, qualifications, or fitness for office. Expands the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications. Prescribes: (1) disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, and certain other entities; and (2) disclaimer requirements for campaign-related disbursements and for certain communications. Requires any communication transmitted through radio or television to include an individual or organizational disclosure statement, together with: (1) the Top Two Funders List of the persons providing the largest and second largest aggregate payments of $10,000 or more for a radio communication, and (2) the Top Five Funders List of the five persons providing the largest aggregate payments of $10,000 or more for a television communication. Repeals the prohibition against political contributions by individuals age 17 or younger. Requires a covered organization which submits regular, periodic reports to its shareholders, members, or donors on its finances or activities to include in each report, in a clear and conspicuous manner, the information included in the statements it has filed about campaign-related disbursements the organization has made during the period covered by the report. Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to require semiannual reports on certain election campaign contributions filed with the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of 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 involved was in support of or in opposition to the candidate.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Grand Jury Reform Act of 2015 Conditions a state or local government's eligibility for funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program on the state's compliance with this Act. Requires: (1) the chief officer of the law enforcement agency of a locality in which a death results from the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer of such agency to report the death to the elected prosecutor of that locality within 24 hours of such death, and (2) the elected prosecutor to report the death to the governor of the state within 24 hours after receiving such notice. Directs the governor: (1) within three days after receiving such report, to appoint a special prosecutor to present evidence on the state's behalf at a hearing before a judge to determine whether probable cause exists to bring criminal charges against the law enforcement officer; (2) to use a random process to select the special prosecutor from among all of the elected prosecutors in the state, excluding the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred; and (3) within 24 hours after being notified of such death, to report the death to the chief officer of the state's law enforcement agency, which shall assume exclusive control of the investigation of the death during the pendency of the probable cause hearing. Requires: (1) the hearing to be held within 90 days after the appointment of the special prosecutor, unless the judge determines that good cause exists to delay it; (2) the court to remain open to the public for such hearing, except as determined appropriate by the presiding judge; (3) the presiding judge, within five days of the hearing's conclusion, to issue a determination regarding probable cause and to submit such determination to the elected prosecutor of the locality in which the death occurred; and (4) the special prosecutor to submit recommendations to the elected prosecutor, including regarding whether criminal charges should be brought against the officer. Declares that the probable cause hearing shall have no binding effect on the elected prosecutor.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Constitutional Amendment Grants every U.S. citizen of legal voting age the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2015
Women's Health Protection Act of 2015 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; 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 · 21 January 2015
Government By the People Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow a refundable credit of 50% of qualified congressional House campaign contributions paid or incurred during the taxable year (contributions of cash by an individual to a House candidate or a political committee established and maintained by a national political party if the contribution is not prohibited under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 [FECA], to be known as "My Voice Federal" contributions). Directs the Government by the People Oversight Commission, established by this Act, to launch a pilot program under which it shall select three eligible states to operate a voucher pilot program. Requires a state under a voucher pilot program to provide each qualified individual during the election cycle, upon his or her request, with a "My Voice Voucher" worth $50, which will be assigned a routing number. Authorizes the individual to submit the My Voice Voucher to qualified federal election candidates, allocating a portion of its value in $5 increments. Requires the Commission to pay any candidate who transmits a My Voice Voucher that portion of its value which the individual allocated to the candidate. Considers this transaction a contribution by the individual to the candidate for purposes of FECA. Requires a state operating a voucher pilot program also to permit an individual to revoke a My Voice Voucher within two days after submitting it to a candidate. Requires such a state to establish a commission or designate an existing entity to oversee and implement the program in the state, except that no such commission or entity may be composed of elected officials. Amends FECA with respect to: benefits for participating House of Representatives candidates; Federal Election Commission (FEC) payments to such candidates; candidate use of payments; qualified small dollar contributions, expenditures, and fundraising requirements; certification of participating candidates; campaign administration; prevention of the unnecessary spending of public funds; establishment of the Freedom From Influence Fund in the Treasury and of a Government by the People Oversight Commission in the FEC; remittal of unspent funds to the Freedom From Influence Fund after an election; eligibility of participating candidates for additional payments; civil penalties for violation of contribution and expenditure requirements; a Commission action appeals process; and contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political party political committees on behalf of participating candidates. Prohibits a certified participating candidate's authorized committee from establishing a joint fundraising committee with any political committee other than another authorized committee of the candidate. Prohibits a certified participating candidate from establishing, financing, maintaining, or controlling a leadership PAC (political action committee). Prohibits use of contributions by a participating candidate for any purposes other than an election campaign. Revises bundler disclosure requirements to repeal a specified exception and so require disclosure of persons who provided bundled contributions to the reporting committee. Amends FECA to empower the FEC to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to appeal a civil action to enforce the Act. Requires all political committee designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under FECA to be filed: (1) directly with the FEC; and (2) in electronic form accessible by computers. Reduces to 24 hours after their receipt the deadline for the FEC to make designations, statements, reports, or notifications available to the public in the FEC office and on the Internet. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to set a station's lowest unit price for preemptible use as the charge for a broadcast by the national committee of a political party for an affiliated candidate. Authorizes the FEC to revoke a broadcast station license or construction permit only for at least three willful failures to allow reasonable access to, or to permit purchase of reasonable amounts of time for the use of, a broadcasting station or cable system by a legally qualified candidate for federal office. Amends the IRC to allow taxpayers to designate overpayments of tax for contribution to the Freedom From Influence Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Manufacturing Jobs for Veterans Act Directs the Secretary of Labor, as part of the Veteran's Workforce Investment Program, to carry out a five-year pilot program (to be known as the Veterans Manufacturing Employment Program) to award competitive grants to three states for the establishment and administration of a State Manufacturing Employment Program to make grants to manufacturing employers and labor-management organizations that provide training, on-job training, apprenticeships, and certification classes to eligible veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Human Trafficking Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery Act of 2015 Requires the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to conduct a review that: (1) surveys federal and state activities to deter individuals from committing trafficking offenses and to prevent children from becoming trafficking victims; (2) surveys academic literature on deterring individuals from committing trafficking offenses, preventing children from becoming trafficking victims, and the commercial sexual exploitation of children; and (3) identifies best practices and strategies to deter such actions. Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress regarding: (1) federal and state law enforcement efforts to combat human trafficking in the United States, and (2) information on each relevant federal grant program. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to authorize grants for programs that provide housing assistance to victims of trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Human Trafficking Prevention Act Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to require training for federal government personnel related to trafficking in persons to include at a minimum: a distance learning course on trafficking-in-persons issues and the Department of State's obligations under the Act, targeted for embassy reporting officers, regional bureaus' trafficking-in-persons coordinators, and their superiors; specific trafficking-in-persons briefings for all ambassadors and deputy chiefs of mission before they depart for their posts; and at least annual reminders to all such personnel and other federal personnel at each diplomatic or consular post of the Department of State located outside the United States of key problems, threats, methods, and warning signs of trafficking in persons specific to the country or jurisdiction in which each such post is located, and appropriate procedures to report information acquired about possible trafficking cases.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Home-Assembled Firearms Restriction Act of 2015 Considers as a banned hazardous product under the Consumer Product Safety Act: (1) any firearm receiver casting or firearm receiver blank (do-it-yourself assault weapon) that does not meet the definition of a firearm under the federal criminal code at the point of sale but that can be completed after purchase by the consumer to function as a firearm frame or receiver for a semiautomatic assault weapon or machine gun, or (2) an assault weapon parts kit or machine gun parts kit. Makes it unlawful to market or advertise any of such weapons for sale on any medium of electronic communications, including over the Internet. Requires marketing or advertising violations to be treated as unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Muhammad Ali Legacy Act Directs the Secretary of State to award grants to one or more eligible organizations that: (1) are established to promote global respect, understanding, and communication and to encourage character and leadership development world-wide; and (2) demonstrate a commitment to preserving the legacy of Muhammad Ali.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2015 Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to prohibit an insured depository institution from being an affiliate of any broker or dealer, investment adviser, investment company, or any other person or entity engaged principally in the issue, flotation, underwriting, public sale, or distribution of stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, or other securities. Prohibits officers, directors and employees of securities firms from simultaneous service on the boards of depository institutions, except in specified circumstances. Requires any such individual serving as an officer, director, employee, or other institution-affiliated party of any insured depository institution to terminate such service as soon as practicable after enactment of this Act. Requires an insured depository institution to wind-down in an orderly manner and terminate any affiliation prohibited by this Act. Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to expand its prohibition against the transaction of banking activities by securities firms. Declares that Congress ratifies the interpretation by the Supreme Court of specified statutory language in the case of Investment Company Institute v. Camp ( ICI ) regarding permissible activities of banks and securities firms. Declares that the reasoning of the Court in that case shall continue to apply to the limitations placed upon security affiliations under the FDIA as enacted by this Act. Prohibits a federal banking agency or federal court from issuing an interpretation regarding such security affiliations that is narrower than that of the Court in ICI . Makes technical and conforming changes to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Revised Statutes of the United States, and specified federal law. Requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, or another appropriate federal banking agency to report to Congress a detailed description of the basis for its decision each time it makes a determination or grants an extension concerning an affiliation between insured depository institutions and investment banks or securities firms.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a postage stamp honoring the holiday of Diwali, and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2015
Amends the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to reauthorize, for FY2016-FY2025, Historic Preservation Fund activities related to the preservation and restoration of historic buildings and structures on the campuses of historically black colleges and universities.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2015
New Columbia Admission Act Sets forth procedures for admission into the United States of the state of New Columbia. Requires the Mayor of the District of Columbia to: (1) submit to the eligible voters propositions for statehood and adoption of a State Constitution, and (2) issue a proclamation for the first elections to Congress of two Senators and one Representative of New Columbia. Requires the President, upon adoption of such propositions and certification of such elections, to issue a proclamation announcing the results and admitting New Columbia into the Union. Provides for conversion of District government offices to state offices. Provides that New Columbia shall consist of all territory of the District as of the enactment of this Act, excluding land within specified metes and bounds that shall remain the District of Columbia and that shall include the principal federal monuments, the White House, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court Building, the federal executive, legislative, and judicial office buildings located adjacent to the Mall and the Capitol Building, and certain military property. Prohibits New Columbia from imposing taxes on federal property except as provided by Congress. Maintains the applicability to New Columbia of current District laws and continues pending judicial proceedings. Maintains: (1) the District of Columbia as the seat of the federal government, and (2) the federal government's authority over military lands and specified other property. Requires each state that is the last place an individual resided before residing in the District of Columbia to permit such individual to vote in federal elections by absentee ballot. Sets forth a rule for expedited consideration of a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution to repeal the 23rd amendment (which provides for the appointment of electors for President and Vice President for the District).
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all businesses and residential customers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act Designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to include among the required uses of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's annual grant to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children operation of a cyber tipline to provide online users and electronic service providers an effective means of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the area of child sex trafficking, including child prostitution (currently, in the area of child prostitution).
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2015
Maya Angelou Congressional Gold Medal Act Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Maya Angelou in recognition of her achievements and contributions to American culture and the civil rights movement. Requires the medal to be given to the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution make it available for display, particularly at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or for loan as appropriate, particularly to locations associated with Angelou's life.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Ensuring Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2015 This bill amends the Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2009 to repeal the sunset of, and so extend indefinitely, the exclusion from resources under titles XVI (Supplemental Security Income) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, for eligibility purposes, of compensation in the amount of the first $2,000 per year received by individuals who participate in clinical trials for rare diseases or conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2015 Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. Sets forth the following transition period for employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas: for FY2015, 15% of such visas allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2016, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2017, 10% of such visas allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015. Sets forth the following per country distribution rules: (1) for transition period visas, not more than 25% of the total number of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country; and (2) for non-transition period visas, not more than 85% of EB-2 and EB-3 visas for natives of a single country. Provides that the amendments made by this Act will take place as if enacted on September 30, 2014, and shall apply beginning in FY2015.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2015 Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend through FY2018 the grant program for armor vests for law enforcement officers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Keeping Guns from High Risk Individuals Act Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person: (1) has been convicted of a crime of violence in the previous 10 years; (2) is under age 25 and has been adjudicated as having committed an offense that would have been a crime of violence if committed by an adult; (3) has been convicted on 2 separate occasions in any period of 3 consecutive years in the last 10 of an offense that has the possession or distribution of alcohol or a controlled substance as an element; or (4) has been convicted of stalking. Prohibits any such person from: (1) shipping or transporting in interstate or foreign commerce, or possessing in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or (2) receiving any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Firearm Safety Act of 2015 Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to remove from the definition of "consumer product" the exclusion for any article sold by a manufacturer, producer, or importer that would be subject to a firearms sales tax under the Internal Revenue Code for pistols, revolvers, and other firearms, including shells and cartridges, thereby permitting the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue safety standards for such articles.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2015
Requires the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to report annually to Congress on the effects of gun violence on public health and the status of actions taken to address those effects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2015
Respect for Marriage Act Amends the Defense of Marriage Act to repeal a provision that prohibited a state, territory, possession, or Indian tribe from being required to recognize any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other state, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a same sex marriage. Amends the federal rules of construction added by such Act concerning the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" to provide that, for purposes of any federal law in which marital status is a factor, an individual shall be considered married if that individual's marriage is valid in the state where the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into outside any state, if the marriage is valid in the place where entered into and the marriage could have been entered into in a state. Removes the definition of "spouse" (currently, a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife).
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2015
Breath of Fresh Air Act Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to: (1) purchase nebulizers for use in their schools, and/or (2) train school personnel to use nebulizers. Requires LEA grant applicants to demonstrate that for each of their schools that are to use the nebulizers: (1) a full-time certified nurse is on staff, (2) trained personnel and other resources necessary for nebulizer use are in place, (3) emergency services personnel are notified of nebulizer locations, (4) nebulizers are integrated into the school's emergency response procedures, and (5) procedures are in place to notify parents of the availability of nebulizers and to inform them how to provide the school with their child's prescription asthma medication and authorization to use a nebulizer to assist their child. Gives grant priority to LEAs that: (1) serve areas where the prevalence of asthma is at least 10% higher than the national average; (2) do not already have at least one nebulizer in each of their schools; (3) serve schools that typically have a significant number of students, staff, and visitors present during the day; and (4) have not received funds under the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000822_200.jpg)