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United States · Official source
1,719 records where Rep. Schweikert, David [R-AZ-1] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2014
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 161 Live Oak Street in Miami, Arizona, as the "Staff Sergeant Manuel V. Mendoza Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2014
Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014 - States that it shall be U.S. policy to: (1) prevent Hezbollah's global logistics and financial network from operating in order to curtail funding of its domestic and international activities; and (2) utilize diplomatic, legislative, and executive avenues to combat Hezbollah's criminal activities in order to block that organization's ability to fund its global terrorist activities. Directs the President to report to Congress: (1) a list of satellite, broadcast, or other providers that knowingly transmit the content of al-Manar TV; and (2) the identity of those providers that have or have not been sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13224. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly: (1) facilitates the activities of Hezbollah or its agents, instrumentalities, affiliates, or successors; (2) facilitates the activities of a person acting on behalf of or owned or controlled by an agent, instrumentality, affiliate, or successor; (3) engages in money laundering to carry out such an activity; (4) facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services to carry out such an activity, including services that involve a transaction of gold, silver, platinum, or other precious metals; or (5) facilitates any of these activities, conspires to facilitate or participate in such an activity, or is owned or controlled by a foreign financial institution that knowingly engages in such an activity. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe reporting, information sharing, and due diligence requirements for domestic financial institutions that maintain a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such requirements if in the U.S. national security interests, and with congressional notification. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to identify to Congress every 180 days each foreign central bank that carries out an activity prohibited under this Act. Sets forth penalty requirements for specified violations under this Act. Directs the President to designate Hezbollah as: (1) a significant foreign narcotics trafficker if Hezbollah meets meets the criteria set forth under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, and (2) a significant transnational criminal organization if Hezbollah meets the criteria set forth under specified executive orders and statutes. Requires the President to report to Congress which of these criteria the President determines that Hezbollah has not met, if it does not. Directs the Secretary of State to report to Congress regarding Hezbollah's involvement in the trade in rough diamonds outside of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme. Declares that nothing in this Act shall apply to authorized U.S. intelligence activities. States that any requirement of this Act shall cease to be in effect 30 days after the President certifies to Congress that Hezbollah: (1) is no longer designated as a foreign terrorist organization; (2) is no longer listed in the Annex to Executive Order 13224 (blocking property and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit or support terrorism); and (3) poses no significant threat to U.S. national security, interests, or allies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2014
American Indian Trust Responsibility Review Act of 2014 - Establishes the American Indian Trust Review Commission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive review of the unique trust relationship between the United States and federally recognized Indian tribes, and (2) report to Congress within two years of this Act's enactment. Requires the study to analyze: the attributes of that relationship; the policies, practices, structure, and effectiveness of the federal agencies that have trust responsibilities toward Indian tribes; the feasibility of authorizing willing Indian tribes to assume duties currently performed by the federal government; the data necessary for the Commission to get a better understanding of tribal needs; the feasibility of creating high-level federal positions to increase tribal participation in policy formation and program development; the viability of a mechanism to ensure the continuation of critical programs for Indian tribes; the appropriate role of state and local governments in federal activities affecting Indian tribes; and modifications to laws, procedures, regulations, policies, and practices that might further the federal government's trust relationship with Indian tribes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2014
Internet Stewardship Act of 2014 - Prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from relinquishing or agreeing to relinquish the responsibilities of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) with respect to Internet domain name functions (including the authoritative root zone file, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, or the related root zone management functions) unless such relinquishment is permitted by a statute enacted after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 2014
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 100 North Taylor Lane in Patagonia, Arizona, as the "Jim Kolbe Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2014
Recognizes the 150th anniversary of Mayo Clinic.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2014
Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to require that no investigative hearing take place until at least 14 days after the filing of an election petition regarding collective bargaining representation when the NLRB has reasonable cause to believe that the petition raises a question of representation affecting commerce. Requires such hearings to be non-adversarial, and the hearing officer, in collaboration with the parties, to identify any relevant and material pre-election issues. Requires the NLRB, in cases where it finds that a question of representation exists, to: (1) direct an election by secret ballot as soon as practicable but not before 35 calendar days after the filing of the election petition; and (2) certify election results only after it has ruled on each pre-election issue not resolved before the election and any additional issue pertaining to the conduct or results of that election.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2014
Employee Privacy Protection Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), not earlier than seven days after it makes a final determination of the appropriate bargaining unit in a proposed election regarding collective bargaining representation, to acquire from the employer a list of all employees eligible to vote in the election, which shall: (1) be made available to all parties, and (2) include the employees' names as well as one additional form of personal contact information (such as telephone number, email address, or mailing address) chosen by the employee in writing.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2014
Jumpstarting Opportunities with Bold Solutions Act - Division I: Labor - Title I: Repeal of Davis-Bacon Act - Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works). States that references in any law to a wage requirement of the Davis-Bacon Act after the enactment of this Act shall be null and void. Title II: Union Contract Not a Bar to Higher Wages - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare that neither its prohibition against interference by an employer with employees' right to bargain collectively, nor the terms of a collective bargaining agreement entered into between employees and an employer after enactment of this Act, shall prohibit an employer from paying an employee higher wages, pay, or other compensation than the agreement provides for. Title III: Repeal of Provisions Relating to Official Time of Federal Employees for Purposes of Union Organizing - Repeals the requirements that: (1) a federal employee representing an exclusive representative in the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement be authorized official time for such purposes during the time the employee otherwise would be in a duty status; and (2) the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) determine whether any federal employee participating for, or on behalf of, a labor organization in any phase of proceedings before it shall be authorized official time for that purpose. Title IV: Rulemaking, Investigative, and Adjudicative Authority of the National Labor Relations Board - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to repeal the authority of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to issue, and prosecute before the Board, complaints with respect to unfair labor practices. Repeals the prohibition against: (1) review of an administrative law judge's report by any person other than a Board member or legal assistant; and (2) advice to or consultation with the Board by an administrative law judge with respect to exceptions taken to his or her findings, rulings, or recommendations. Limits the Board's rulemaking authority to rules concerning the internal functions of the Board. Prohibits the Board from promulgating rules that affect the substantive rights of a person, employer, employee, or labor organization. Revises Board powers to grant it the authority to investigate unfair labor practices, but repeals its power to prevent any person from engaging in them. Repeals the Board's power to issue a complaint against a person charging an unfair labor practice. Allows an aggrieved party to bring a civil action for relief (including injunctions) in U.S. district court or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in cases where it appears that a person has engaged, is engaging, or is about to engage in an unfair labor practice. Division II: Deregulation - Title V: Uniform Cost-Benefit Analysis of Regulations - Establishes additional requirements for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), including: identification by a federal agency, in the context of a coherent conceptual framework and supported with objective data, of the nature and significance of the market failure, regulatory failure, or other problem that necessitates regulatory action and why other alternatives, such as market forces or state or local regulations, could not address the problem better than federal regulation; establishment by an agency of an achievable objective for its regulatory action; development of at least three distinct regulatory options, in addition to not regulating, that the agency estimates will provide the greatest benefits for the least cost in meeting the regulatory objective; an estimate by each agency of the costs and benefits of each regulatory option developed, at least to the extent the agency is able to exclude options whose costs exceed their benefits, and rank such options by cost from lowest to highest; publication for public comment of all analyses, documentation, and data relating to the requirements of this Act for a public comment period of not less than at least 30 days; establishment, by rule, of the specific cost-benefit analysis methodology appropriate to the functions and responsibilities of the agency and establishment of an appropriate period for review of new rules to assess their cost-effectiveness; justification of why the agency does not select the least-cost regulatory option as its proposed rule; and agency review, every four years, of all rules of the agency that are in effect and a determination based on objective data of whether the rules are working as intended, furthering their objectives, imposing unanticipated costs, or generating a net benefit. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO), for purposes of congressional review, to examine and report on: (1) each agency cost-benefit analysis for compliance with the requirements of this Act, including the methodology for such analysis; (2) risk analysis pertaining to the cost-benefit analysis; and (3) agency quadrennial regulatory reviews for consistency with the requirements of this Act, with a report to Congress on the results of the examination of such reviews. Title VI: Periodic Review and Termination of Regulations - Sets forth requirements for agencies to review their significant rules to determine whether they should be modified, consolidated with another rule, or terminated (sunset review). Defines a "significant rule" as one that the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determines: (1) results in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, (2) is a major rule, or (3) was issued pursuant to a significant regulatory action. Provides for the sunset review of a rule that is not a significant rule upon petition by a person adversely affected or at the request of a congressional committee or a majority of the majority or non-majority party members of such a committee. Requires the Administrator to: (1) inventory existing rules; (2) publish annually an updated list of covered rules specifying the review deadline for each rule; (3) prioritize rules for review based on specified criteria, including the rule's cost to those regulated and the burden of reviewing it; (4) group related rules for simultaneous sunset review; (5) provide guidance to agencies on conducting sunset reviews; and (6) provide feedback to agencies on sunset reviews and results. Requires new significant rules to be reviewed within three years after taking effect. Requires each agency to: (1) designate a Regulatory Review Officer; (2) conduct a sunset review of its significant rules; (3) publish a sunset review notice, consider public comments, and issue a preliminary report; and (4) issue a final report recommending that a rule be continued without change or that it be changed or discontinued, in which case the agency shall conduct a rulemaking to modify, consolidate, or terminate such rule. Allows judicial review of a denial of, or a substantial inexcusable delay in granting or denying, a petition for sunset review of a rule. Terminates the provisions of this title 10 years after its enactment. Title VII: Regulation Costs to Small Businesses and Grace Period for Regulatory Violations - Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to conduct an annual study of the total costs to small business concerns of federal regulations and the amount such costs have increased over the prior year. Requires a federal agency, before any enforcement action is taken on any sanction on a small business for any violation of a rule or pursuant to an adjudication, to: (1) notify the small business that it may be subject to a sanction at the end of a six-month grace period following such notification; (2) delay further action for 15 days after such notification; (3) defer further action for the six-month period (allowing an additional three-month period upon application by the small business demonstrating reasonable good-faith efforts to remedy the violation or other conduct giving rise to the sanction); (4) make a further determination at the end of the applicable grace period as to whether the small business would still be subject to the sanction; and (5) upon a negative determination, waive the sanction. Makes the grace period inapplicable with respect to a violation that puts anyone in imminent danger, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Title VIII: Major Rules of the Executive Branch Be Approved by Congress - Revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking to require a federal agency promulgating a rule to include in its report to Congress and to the Comptroller General (GAO) a classification of the rule as a major or non-major rule. Requires a joint resolution of approval of major rules to be enacted before such rules may take effect (currently, major rules take effect unless a joint resolution disapproving them is enacted). Provides that if a joint resolution of approval is not enacted by the end of 70 session days or legislative days, as applicable, after the agency proposing the rule submits its report on such rule to Congress, the major rule shall be deemed not to be approved and shall not take effect. Permits a major rule to take effect for one 90-calendar day period without such approval if the President determines it is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement. Sets forth the congressional approval procedure for major rules and the congressional disapproval procedure for non-major rules. Prohibits an agency from allowing a major rule to take effect without the congressional review procedures set forth in this Act. Allows a court to review whether an agency has completed the necessary requirements under this Act for a rule to take effect (currently, no judicial review of a determination, finding, action, or omission in the rulemaking process is subject to judicial review). Limits the effect of a joint resolution of approval of a major rule. Makes this Act inapplicable to rules that concern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee. Provides that any rule promulgated by a federal agency that relates to a regulatory program for a commercial, recreational, or subsistence activity related to hunting, fishing, or camping, or any rule other than a major rule for which an agency for good cause finds that notice and public procedure thereon are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, shall take effect at such time as the agency determines. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to provide that any congressional approval procedure set forth in this Act affecting budget authority, outlays, or receipts shall be assumed to be effective unless it is not approved in accordance with this Act. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study to determine, as of the date of enactment of this Act: (1) how many rules were in effect, (2) how many major rules were in effect, and (3) the total estimated economic cost imposed by all such rules. Requires a report to Congress on such study within one year of the enactment of this Act. Title IX: Simplification of Mergers, Acquisitions and Sales of Small Business - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt from its registration requirements certain merger and acquisition (M&A) brokers and associated persons. Denies such registration exemption to brokers who: (1) receive, hold, transmit, or have custody of any funds or securities to be exchanged by parties to a transfer of ownership of an eligible privately held company; or (2) engage on behalf of an issuer in a public offering of securities that are subject to mandatory registration or securities with respect to which the issuer must file periodic information, documents, and reports. Prohibits the construction of this Act to limit any other authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to exempt any person or any class of persons from any provision of this Act, including any related rule or regulation. Division III: Energy - Title X: Offshore Energy and Jobs Act - Offshore Energy and Jobs Act - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to direct the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary in this title) to implement a leasing program that includes at least 50% of the available unleased acreage within each outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning area considered to have the largest undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources, with an emphasis on offering the most geologically prospective parts of the planning area. Instructs the Secretary, in developing a five-year oil and gas leasing program, to determine a specified domestic strategic production goal for the development of oil and natural gas as a result of that program. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop and submit a new five-year oil and gas leasing program, (2) conduct offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 220 within one year after enactment of this Act, and (3) make replacement lease blocks available in the Virginia lease sale planning area that are acceptable for oil and gas exploration and production if the Secretary of Defense proposes deferral from a lease offering due to defense-related activities irreconcilable with mineral exploration and development. Instructs the Secretary to conduct a lease sale within two years after enactment of this Act for areas off the coast of South Carolina that have the most geologically promising hydrocarbon resources and constituting at least 25% of the leasable area within the South Carolina offshore administrative boundaries. Directs the Secretary to: (1) offer for sale by December 31, 2014, leases of tracts in the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara/Ventura Basins of the Southern California OCS Planning Area, and (2) prepare a multisale environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for all lease sales required under this Act. Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to repeal the moratorium on oil and gas leasing, or preleasing, or any related activity in: (1) any area east of the Military Mission Line in the Gulf of Mexico, (2) any area in the Eastern Planning Area that is within 125 miles of the Florida coastline, or (3) specified areas within the Central Planning Area and within 100 miles of the Florida coastline. Allocates 37.5% of the amount of new federal leasing revenues to coastal states that are: (1) impacted by the leases under which those revenues are received by the United States, and (2) within 200 miles of the leased tract. Establishes in the Department of the Interior: (1) an Under Secretary for Energy, Lands, and Minerals; (2) an Assistant Secretary of Ocean Energy and Safety; (3) an Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management; (4) a Bureau of Ocean Energy; (5) an Ocean Energy Safety Service; and (6) an Office of Natural Resources Revenue. Instructs the Secretary to establish: (1) a National Offshore Energy Safety Academy, and (2) an Outer Continental Shelf Energy Safety Advisory Board. Requires the Secretary to: (1) certify annually that all Interior Department personnel having regular, direct official contact with government contractors, or conducting investigations, issuing permits, or overseeing energy programs; (2) comply fully with federal employee ethics laws and regulations; and (3) conduct a random drug testing program of such personnel. Abolishes the Minerals Management Service. Directs the Secretary to collect non-refundable fees from the operators of facilities subject to inspection. Establishes in the Treasury the Ocean Energy Enforcement Fund as depository for such fees. Prohibits the Bureau of Ocean Energy and the Ocean Energy Safety Service from developing, proposing, finalizing, administering, or implementing any limitation on activities under their jurisdictions as a result of the coastal and marine spatial planning component of the National Ocean Policy developed under Executive Order No. 13547. Redefines the OCS to include all submerged lands lying within the U.S. exclusive economic zone and the Continental Shelf adjacent to any U.S. territory. Prescribes requirements for filing complaints for judicial review. Directs the Secretary to issue rules to provide more clarity, certainty, and stability to the revenue streams contemplated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. Directs the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to publish by December 31, 2014, a record of decision on the Atlantic G&G Programmatic Final Environmental Impact Statement. Terminates in 2014 (currently, 2016) the allocation among Gulf producing states of revenues under the the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006. Title XI: Alaskan Energy for American Jobs Act - Alaskan Energy for American Jobs Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary in this title), acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to implement a competitive leasing program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources on the Coastal Plain of Alaska. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 to repeal the prohibition against leasing or other development leading to production of oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Deems any oil and gas leasing programs and activities authorized by this Act to be in compliance with the purposes of ANWR, so that no further findings or decisions are required to implement this determination. Authorizes the Secretary to designate up to 45,000 acres of the Coastal Plain as a Special Area, after consultation with the state of Alaska, the city of Kaktovik, and the North Slope Borough. Permits directional drilling in the Special Area. States that the Secretary's sole authority to close lands within the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing, exploration, development, and production is that set forth in this Act. Requires the Secretary, when possible and practicable, to encourage the use of U.S. workers and equipment manufactured in the United States in all construction related to mineral development on the Coastal Plain. Sets forth a "no significant adverse effect" standard to govern Coastal Plain activities. Prescribes procedures governing Coastal Plain lease sales and lease sale bids, as well as lease terms and conditions, including: (1) site-specific assessment and mitigation; (2) regulations to protect Coastal Plain fish and wildlife resources, subsistence users, and the environment; (3) compliance with environmental laws; (4) design safety and construction standards for pipelines and access and service roads; (5) reclamation and rehabilitation requirements; (6) restrictions affecting transportation modes, sand and gravel extraction, use of explosives, and hazardous and toxic waste disposal. Instructs the Secretary to develop a plan facility consolidation plan for the Coastal Plain. Prescribes guidelines for expedited judicial review of complaints. Requires deposit in the Treasury of 50% of all bonus, rental, and royalty revenues from federal oil and gas leasing and operations authorized under this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain for the transportation of oil and gas produced under leases under this Act, (2) convey to the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation the surface estate of specified lands, and (3) convey to the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation a certain subsurface estate to which it is entitled pursuant to a specified agreement. Title XII: State Control on All Available Federal Land - Authorizes a state to: (1) establish a program covering the leasing and permitting processes, regulatory requirements, and any other provisions by which the state would exercise its rights on available federal land in the state; and (2) as a condition of certification, submit a declaration to the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture (USDA), and Energy (DOE) that such a program has been established or amended. Considers each program certified under this Act as satisfying all applicable requirements of federal law and regulations, including: (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and (3) the National Historic Preservation Act. Requires, upon submission of a declaration by a state, the program to be certified, and the state to receive all rights from the federal government to develop all forms of energy resources covered by the program. Prohibits activities carried out in accordance with this Act from being subject to: (1) judicial review, and (2) the Administrative Procedure Act. Title XIII: Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act - Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act - Streamlining Permitting of American Energy Act of 2014 - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to revise requirements for the issuance of permits to drill in energy projects on federal lands. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary in this title) to extend the initial 30-day permit application review period for up to 2 periods of 15 days each, if the Secretary has given written notice of the delay to the applicant. Deems a permit application approved if the Secretary has not made a decision on it by 60 days after its receipt. Prescribes a notice requirement for denial of an application. Requires the Secretary to collect a single $6,500 permit processing fee per application from each applicant at the time the decision is made whether or not to issue a permit. Requires that specified minimum percentages of fees collected as annual wind energy and solar energy right-of-way authorization fees be available for the local Department of the Interior field office where they are collected, for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) permit approval activities, and to the Secretary for department-wide permitting activities. Requires the Secretary to collect a $5,000 documentation fee to accompany each protest for a lease, right of way, or application for permit to drill. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish a Federal Permit Streamlining Project in every BLM Field office with responsibility for permitting energy projects on federal land; and (2) enter into a related memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers. Requires federal signatories to such memorandum to assign staff with special expertise to BLM field offices. States that the Secretary shall not require a finding of extraordinary circumstances related to a categorical exclusion in administering the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA 2005) with respect to review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is required.) Sets forth procedures for judicial review of leasing of federal lands for the exploration, development, production, processing, or transmission of oil, natural gas, wind, or any other energy source of energy. Directs the Secretary to provide 50% matching funding for joint projects with states to conduct oil and gas resource assessments on federal lands with significant oil and gas potential. Providing Leasing Certainty for American Energy Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary, in conducting lease sales under the Mineral Leasing Act, to offer for sale at least 25% of the annual nominated acreage not previously made available for lease. Shields such acreage from protest and the test of extraordinary circumstances, but makes it eligible for certain categorical exclusions under EPA 2005 and NEPA. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the Secretary from: (1) withdrawing any covered energy project issued under that Act without finding a violation of lease terms by the lessee; (2) delaying indefinitely issuance of project approvals, drilling and seismic permits, and rights of way for activities under a lease; and (3) cancelling or withdrawing any lease parcel after a competitive lease sale has occurred and a winning bidder has made the last payment for the parcel. Instructs the Secretary to: (1) make nominated areas available for lease within 18 months after an area is designated as open under a current land use plan, (2) issue all leases sold 60 days after the last payment is made, and (3) adjudicate any lease protests filed following a lease sale. Prohibits additional lease stipulations (except certain emergency stipulations) after the parcel is sold without consultation and agreement of the lessee. Requires federal land managers to follow existing resource management plans and continue to actively lease in areas designated as open when resource management plans are being amended or revised, until such time as a new record of decision is signed. Declares without force or effect Bureau of Land Management Instruction Memorandum 2010-117. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal the requirement that notice of the proposed reinstatement of a terminated mineral lease be published in the Federal Register at least thirty days in advance of the reinstatement. Requires publication only in an annual report. Protecting Investment in Oil Shale the Next Generation of Environmental, Energy, and Resource Security Act or PIONEERS Act - Deems the final regulations regarding oil shale management published by the BLM on November 18, 2008, to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements under any law, including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, NEPA, and EPA 2005. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement those regulations, including the oil shale leasing program they authorize, without any other administrative action necessary. Deems the November 17, 2008, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments/Record of Decision for Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement also to satisfy all legal and procedural requirements under any law. Directs the Secretary to implement the oil shale leasing program in those areas covered by the resource management plans amended by such amendments, and covered by such record of decision, without any other administrative action necessary. Directs the Secretary to hold a lease sale, within 180 days after enactment of this Act, that offers an additional 10 parcels for lease for research, development, and demonstration of oil shale resources under the terms offered in the solicitation of bids for such leases published on January 15, 2009. Requires the Secretary, by January 1, 2016, to hold at least 5 separate commercial lease sales, in multiple lease blocs, in areas of at least 25,000 acres, which: (1) have been nominated through public comment, and (2) are considered to have the most potential for oil shale development. Planning for American Energy Act of 2014 - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to publish every four years a Quadrennial Federal Onshore Energy Production Strategy to direct federal land energy development and department resource allocation in order to promote the energy and national security of the United States in accordance with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mission to promote the multiple use of federal lands. Instructs the Secretary to consult with the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration on the projected energy demands of the United States for the next 30 years and on how energy derived from federal onshore lands can put the United States on a trajectory that meets such demand during the next four years, with a goal for increasing energy independence and production. Requires the Secretary to determine a domestic strategic production objective for the development of energy resources from such lands. Expresses the sense of Congress that federally recognized Indian tribes may elect to set their own production objectives as part of the Strategy. Grants the relevant Secretary all necessary authority to make determinations regarding which additional federal lands available for leasing at the time the lease sale occurs will be available to meet the production objectives established by the strategies. Directs the Secretary also to take all necessary actions to achieve such objectives unless the President determines that it is not in U.S. national security and economic interests to increase federal domestic energy production and to further decrease dependence upon foreign energy sources. Requires the Secretary, within 12 months of this Act's enactment, to complete a programmatic environmental impact statement in accordance with certain requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Deems such statement sufficient to be in compliance with NEPA requirements for all necessary resource management and land use plans associated with implementation of the Strategy. Requires the Secretary to submit to: (1) the President and Congress, each proposed strategy, together with comments received from the affected states, federally recognized tribes, and local governments prior to publishing it; and (2) Congress the first Strategy within 18 months of enactment. National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Access Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR) in Alaska remains explicitly designated to provide oil and natural gas resources to the United States, and (2) it is national policy to actively advance oil and gas development within the NPR. Amends the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 to require the mandatory program of competitive leasing of oil and gas in the NPR to include at least one lease sale annually in those areas of the NPR most likely to produce commercial quantities of oil and natural gas each year in the period 2015-2025. Directs the Secretary to ensure permits according to a specified timeline, for all surface development activities, including pipelines and roads construction to: (1) develop and bring into production any areas within the NPR that are subject to oil and gas leases, and (2) transport oil and gas from and through the NPR to existing transportation or processing infrastructure on the North Slope of Alaska. Instructs the Secretary to issue: (1) regulations establishing clear requirements to ensure that the Department of the Interior is supporting development of oil and gas leases in the NPR, (2) a new proposed integrated activity plan from among the non-adopted alternatives in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision issued by the Secretary of the Interior and dated February 21, 2013, and (3) an environmental impact statement for issuance of oil and gas leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Nullifies the February 21, 2013, Record of Decision, including its integrated activity plan and environmental impact statement. Requires the Secretary to assess all technically recoverable fossil fuel resources within the NPR, including all conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas. BLM Live Internet Auctions Act - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary to conduct onshore oil and gas lease sales through Internet-based live bidding methods. Requires each individual Internet-based lease sale to conclude within seven days. Directs the Secretary to analyze the first 10 such lease sales, including estimates of: (1) increases or decreases in such lease sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding; and (2) the total cost or savings to the Department of the Interior as a result of such sales, compared to sales conducted by oral bidding. Requires the report to evaluate the demonstrated or expected effectiveness of different structures for lease sales which may provide an opportunity to better maximize bidder participation, ensure the highest return to the federal taxpayers, minimize opportunities for fraud or collusion, and ensure the security and integrity of the leasing process. Native American Energy Act - Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to allow the Secretary, an affected Indian tribe, or a certified third-party appraiser under contract with the Indian tribe to appraise Indian land or trust assets involved in a transaction requiring the Secretary's approval. Gives tribes the option of waiving such appraisals. Requires each agency within the Department of the Interior involved in the review of oil and gas activities on Indian lands to use a uniform system of reference numbers and tracking systems for oil and gas wells. Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to make the environmental impact statement for major federal action on Indian lands available for review and comment only to the affected Indian tribe and individuals residing within the affected area. Prescribes judicial review procedural requirements relating to any energy-related action. Amends the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 to direct the Secretary to enter into agreements with Indian tribes to carry out demonstration projects that promote biomass energy production on Indian forest land and in nearby communities by providing tribes with reliable supplies of woody biomass from federal lands. Considers activities conducted or resources harvested or produced pursuant to a tribal resource management plan or an integrated resource management plan approved by the Secretary to be a sustainable when sustainability is federally required. Amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize the Navajo Nation to enter into commercial or agricultural leases of up to 99 years on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval, provided they are executed under tribal regulations approved by the Secretary. Allows the Navajo Nation to enter into mineral resource leases on their restricted lands without the Secretary's approval if they are executed under approved tribal regulations and do not exceed 25 years, though they may include a renewal option for one additional term not exceeding 25 years. Prohibits any Department of the Interior rule regarding hydraulic fracturing, used in oil and gas development or production, from having any effect on land held in trust or restricted status for Indians, except with the express consent of its Indian beneficiaries. Amends the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act to require the Secretary, upon submission of a substantially completed application, to issue or deny an eagle take permit for at least 30 years that authorizes taking of any bald eagle or golden eagle that is incidental to, but not the purpose of, an otherwise lawful activity. Deems any failure to issue or deny such a permit within a reasonable time (not exceeding one year) to be issuance of the permit, and shields the applicant from liability for any incidental take of a bald eagle or golden eagle that is in conformity with the information submitted as part of the permit application. Amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to change liability for violating the Act from strict to knowing and intentional only. Declares that a knowing and intentional violation does not include any taking, killing, or other harm to any migratory bird that is accidental or incidental to the presence or operation of an otherwise lawful activity. Title XIV: Hydraulic Fracturing - Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to prohibit the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing (including any component of that process), relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in any state that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for that activity. Requires the Department to recognize and defer to state regulations, permitting, and guidance, for all activities related to hydraulic fracturing relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on federal land. Defines "hydraulic fracturing" as the process by which fracturing fluids (including a fracturing fluid system) are pumped into an underground geologic formation to generate fractures or cracks, thereby increasing rock permeability near the wellbore and improving production of natural gas or oil. Requires each state to submit to the BLM a copy of: (1) its regulations that apply to hydraulic fracturing operations on federal land, and (2) any state regulations that require disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on federal land. Requires the Secretary to make such state regulations available to the public. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to examine the economic benefits of domestic shale oil and gas production resulting from the process of hydraulic fracturing. Prohibits the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding the process of hydraulic fracturing, or any component of it, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on any land held in trust or restricted status for the benefit of Indians, except with the express consent of the beneficiary on whose behalf such land is held in trust or restricted status. EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Study Improvement Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conducting the study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, with respect to which a request for information was issued in November 2012, to: prior to issuance and dissemination of any final or interim report summarizing EPA research on such relationship, consider such reports to be Highly Influential Scientific Assessments requiring peer review in accordance with specified EPA and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy documents; require the reports to meet the standards and procedures for the dissemination of influential scientific, financial, or statistical information set forth in the EPA's Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency , developed in response to guidelines issued by OMB under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001; and ensure that identification of the possible impacts included in such reports be accompanied by objective estimates of the probability, uncertainty, and consequence of each identified impact, taking into account the risk management practices of states and industry, and that estimates or descriptions of probability, uncertainty, and consequence are as quantitative as possible given the validity, accuracy, precision, and other quality attributes of the underlying data and analyses, but no more quantitative than the data and analyses can support. Title XV: Northern Route Approval - Northern Route Approval Act - Declares that a presidential permit shall not be required for the pipeline described in the application filed on May 4, 2012, by TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to the Department of State for the Keystone XL pipeline, including the Nebraska reroute evaluated in the Final Evaluation Report issued by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality in January 2013 and approved by the Nebraska governor. Deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State on August 26, 2011, coupled with such Final Evaluation Report, to satisfy all requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and of the National Historic Preservation Act. Grants original and exclusive jurisdiction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to determine specified issues (except for review by the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari). Deems the Secretary of the Interior to have issued a written statement setting forth the Secretary's opinion that the Keystone XL pipeline project will not jeopardize the continued existence of the American burying beetle or destroy or adversely modify American burying beetle critical habitat. States that any taking of the American burying beetle that is incidental to the construction or operation and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline shall not be considered a prohibited taking of such species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Deems the Secretary to have issued: (1) a grant of right-of-way and temporary use permit pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and (2) a special purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (described in a certain application filed with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for the Keystone XL pipeline). Directs the Secretary of the Army to issue permits pursuant the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act of 1899 for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline. Authorizes such Secretary to waive any procedural requirement that the Secretary considers desirable in order to accomplish the purposes of this Act. Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from prohibiting or restricting an activity or use of an area that is authorized under this Act. Requires any pipeline owner or operator required under federal law to develop an oil spill response plan for the Keystone XL pipeline to make that plan available to the governor of each state in which the pipeline operates to assist with emergency response preparedness. Title XVI: Relief from EPA Climate Change Regulations and Federal Prohibitions on Synthetic Fuels - Amends the Clean Air Act to redefine "air pollutant" to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, or sulfur hexafluoride (greenhouse gases). Declares that nothing in specified statutes addressing pollution control shall be treated as authorizing or requiring the regulation of climate change or global warming. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to repeal the prohibition against federal procurement of alternative or synthetic fuel. Declares the sense of the Congress that a carbon tax: (1) would be detrimental to American families and businesses, and (2) is not in the best interest of the United States. Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using the social cost of carbon in order to incorporate social benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, or for any other reason, in any cost-benefit analysis relating to an energy-related rule. Title XVII: Addressing the President's War on Coal - Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act of 2014 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) to authorize states to adopt and implement coal combustion residuals permit programs. Requires states that decide to implement such a program to: (1) certify that such program meets the specifications of this Act, and (2) maintain either an approved program or system for the disposal of hazardous waste from households or small quantity generators or an authorized state hazardous waste program. Requires the agency implementing such coal combustion residuals permit programs to apply the revised criteria established by this Act to owners or operators of structures that receive such residuals, including surface impoundments. Sets forth requirements for: (1) the preparation and maintenance of emergency action plans in the event of dam safety emergency for surface impoundments that pose a high hazard potential, and (2) the mitigation of such hazards. Directs such agency to require each structure that first receives coal combustion residuals after this Act's enactment to be constructed with a base located a minimum of two feet above the upper limit of the water table, with specified exceptions. Directs such agency to require structures to address wind dispersal of dust. Sets forth revised criteria for program structures with respect to: (1) design, groundwater monitoring, corrective action, closure, and post-closure care; (2) location restrictions in floodplains, wetlands, fault areas, seismic impact zones, and unstable areas; (3) air quality; (4) financial assurance; (5) surface water; and (6) record keeping. Sets forth revised criteria for: (1) run-on and run-off control systems for landfills and other land-based units other than surface impoundments that receive coal combustion residuals, and (2) run-off control systems for surface impoundments that receive coal combustion residuals. Establishes deadlines for owners and operators to comply with such criteria. Sets forth: (1) closure requirements for surface impoundments if they do not have specified liner systems and do not meet specified design criteria for municipal solid waste landfills, and (2) deadlines for compliance with the groundwater protection standard for structures subject to corrective action. Prohibits such a program from applying to the utilization, placement, and storage of coal combustion residuals at surface mining and reclamation operations. Prohibits this Act from being construed to alter the EPA's regulatory determination, entitled "Notice of Regulatory Determination on Wastes from the Combustion of Fossil Fuels," that the fossil fuel combustion wastes addressed do not warrant regulation as hazardous waste under SWDA. Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to require state programs for regulation of surface coal mining to incorporate the necessary rule concerning excess spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and intermittent streams published by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 12, 2008. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) publish notice of a determination when all states that wish to assume exclusive jurisdiction of such mining regulation have incorporated the rule in their programs; (2) assess the effectiveness of the rule's implementation during the five-year period following such notice; and (3) report to Congress an evaluation of the rule's effectiveness, any ways in which it inhibits energy production, and any proposed changes to the rule. Prohibits issuance of any regulations regarding stream buffer zones or protection before publication of the report, other than a rule necessary to implement incorporation of the December 2008 rule described in this Act. Requires each state with an approved program for regulation of surface coal mining to submit program amendments incorporating such rule within two years of enactment of this Act. Title XVIII: Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment - Satisfying Energy Needs and Saving the Environment Act of 2014 or SENSE Act of 2014 - Makes certain emission limits for hydrogen chloride and sulfur dioxide, in regulations entitled "Emission Limits for Existing EGUs," inapplicable to an electric utility steam generating unit in the subcategory "Coal-fired unit not low rank virgin coal" if the unit: (1) is in operation as of the date of enactment of this Act, (2) utilizes circulating fluidized bed technology to convert coal refuse into energy, and (3) derives at least 75% of its heat input from coal refuse or is a qualifying small power production or cogeneration facility as defined by the Federal Power Act. Title XIX: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reorganization Plan Codification and Complements - Nuclear Regulatory Commission Reorganization Plan Codification and Complements Act - Codifies and expands the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1980 governing the administration of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Identifies approval of the distribution of appropriated funds according to programs and purposes proposed by the Executive Director for Operations, in addition to functions concerned with policy formulation, rulemaking, and orders and adjudications, as functions that remain vested in the Commission. Revises provisions of such Reorganization Act relating to: (1) the appointment and replacement of NRC officers and employees, (2) the role of the NRC Chairman, (3) the scope of the emergency authority of the NRC Chairman, and (4) NRC reporting procedures. Sets forth NRC policy with respect to: (1) certification of documents transmitted to Congress, (2) time limits for review of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board decisions and actions, (3) allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the NRC Chairman, and (4) approval of international travel requests by NRC members. Title XX: Permitting for Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy - Advancing Offshore Wind Production Act - Exempts any project determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Defines an "offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project" as a project that is administered by the Department of the Interior and carried out on or in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf to test or monitor weather (including wind, tidal, current, and solar energy) using towers, buoys, or other temporary ocean infrastructure and that: (1) causes less than one acre of surface or seafloor disruption at the location of each meteorological tower or other device and no more than five acres of surface or seafloor disruption within the proposed area affected by the project (including hazards to navigation), (2) is decommissioned within five years of its commencement, and (3) provides meteorological information to the Secretary of the Interior. Directs the Secretary to: (1) require that any applicant seeking to conduct an offshore meteorological site testing and monitoring project on the outer Continental Shelf obtain a permit and right of way; (2) determine whether to issue such a permit and right of way within 30 days after receiving an application; (3) provide an opportunity for submission of comments by the public; (4) consult with the Secretary of Defense (DOD), the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the heads of other federal, state, and local agencies that would be affected by issuance of the permit and right of way; and (5) provide an applicant the opportunity to remedy deficiencies in an application that was denied. Reducing Regulatory Obstacles to Wind Energy Production Act - Exempts projects determined by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Forest Service to be meteorological site testing and monitoring projects from environmental impact statement requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Defines a "meteorological site testing and monitoring project" as a project that is carried out on land administered by BLM or the Forest Service to test or monitor weather using towers or other devices, that is decommissioned within five years of its commencement, that provides meteorological information to such agencies, that causes less than one acre of soil or vegetation disruption at the location of each meteorological tower or other device and no more than five acres of soil or disruption within the proposed right-of-way for the project, and that is installed: (1) using existing access roads, (2) in a manner that does not require off-road motorized access other than one installation activity and one decommissioning activity along an identified off-road route approved by the BLM Director or the Chief of the Forest Service, (3) without construction of new roads other than upgrading of existing minor drainage crossings for safety purposes, and (4) without the use of digging or drilling equipment vehicles other than rubber-tired vehicles with gross weight ratings under 8,500 pounds. Requires the BLM Director or Chief of the Forest Service: (1) to decide whether to issue a permit for such a project within 30 days after receiving an application for such permit; (2) during such period, to provide an opportunity for public comments and to consult with the heads of agencies that would be affected by issuance of the permit; and (3) to provide to the applicant reasons why an application is denied and an opportunity to remedy any deficiencies. Requires BLM and the Forest Service to treat the meteorological information provided under this Act as proprietary information and to protect it against disclosure. Title XXI: Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom - Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act - Declares that the importation of the natural gas, or the exportation of natural gas to a World Trade Organization member nation (currently, a nation with which there is in effect a free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas) shall be deemed to be consistent with the public interest, and applications for such importation or exportation shall be granted without modification or delay. Applies this expedited approval to all pending applications for which a notice has been published in the Federal Register before March 6, 2014. Division IV: Access to Capital - Title XXII: Small Business Access to Capital - Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to exempt private equity fund investment advisers from its registration and reporting requirements, provided that each private equity fund has not borrowed and does not have outstanding a principal amount exceeding twice its invested capital commitments. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promulgate final rules that: (1) require such investment advisers to maintain records the SEC determines necessary, taking into account fund size, governance, investment strategy, and risk; and (2) define the term "private equity fund" for purposes of this Act. Title XXIII: Community Lending Enhancement and Regulatory Relief - Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to publish in the Federal Register proposed revisions to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement on the Assessment of Financial and Managerial Factors that: (1) apply the policy to bank holding companies having pro forma consolidated assets of less than $5 billion (adjusted annually), no engagement in nonbanking activities involving significant leverage, and no significant amount of outstanding debt; and (2) increase from 1.1 to 3.1 the debt-to-equity ratio allowable for a small bank holding company in order to retain its eligibility both to pay a corporate dividend and to implement expedited processing procedures under Regulation Y of the Board. Amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to require the Board to exempt from certain escrow or impound requirements a loan secured by a first lien on a consumer's principal dwelling if the loan is held by a creditor with assets of $10 billion or less. Amends the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to exempt from its annual privacy policy notice requirement any financial institution which: (1) provides nonpublic personal information only in accordance with specified requirements, and (2) has not changed its policies and practices regarding disclosures of nonpublic personal information from those disclosed in the most recent disclosure sent to consumers. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct cost-benefit analyses of certain new or amended generally accepted accounting principles. Requires the SEC to determine, as a prerequisite to recognition of such new or amended principles, whether the benefits to investors significantly outweigh the costs. Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to exempt community banks having total assets on a consolidated basis of $10 billion or less from mandatory annual management assessment of internal controls. Amends TILA to: (1) add to the definition of a qualified residential mortgage loan that it is originated and retained in a portfolio for at least three years by a creditor having less than $10 billion total assets, and (2) redefine a balloon loan that is a "qualified mortgage" to specify a balloon loan extended by a creditor that originates and retains balloon loans in a portfolio for at least three years, and, together with all affiliates, has total assets of $10 billion or less. Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to provide either exemptions or adjustments from the mortgage loan servicing and escrow account administration requirements of the Act for servicers of 20,000 or fewer mortgage loans. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to require federal financial institutions regulatory agencies to establish a $250,000 threshold level at or below which a certified or licensed appraiser is not required to perform appraisals in connection with federally related transactions. Declares that, if an order to request for the transfer of funds (entry) is received via an automate clearing house, a receiving depository financial institution shall not be required to verify that the entry is not a prohibited transaction if the originating depository financial institution has warranted its compliance with the sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in connection with the entry.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014
Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA Act of 2014 or the SIGMA Act of 2014 - Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Requires the Special Inspector General to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Special Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. Places the Special Inspector General under the supervision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), but prohibits federal agencies involved in implementing or administering the Affordable Care Act from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2014
Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act - Amends the Natural Gas Act to require the expedited approval by the Federal Power Commission of applications for the export of natural gas from the United States to a World Trade Organization (WTO) member nation. (Currently, the expedited approval process applies to such applications where the United States has in effect with a foreign country a free trade agreement requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas.) Requires expedited approval of any applications for which a notice has been published in the Federal Register before March 6, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2014
Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to authorize the Financial Stability Oversight Council to determine that a bank holding company shall be subject to enhanced supervision and prudential standards by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, if the Council makes a final determination that material financial distress at the bank holding company, or the nature, scope, size, scale, concentration, interconnectedness, or mix of its activities, could threaten the financial stability of the United States. Requires that final determination to be based upon specified factors using an indicator-based measurement approach established by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to determine systemic importance. Exempts from any Council determination to subject a bank holding company to enhanced supervision and prudential standards a bank holding company with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or less. Prohibits the Council, before the effective date of this Act, from making a final determination concerning any material financial distress of a bank holding company identified by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Financial Institution.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2014
Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) remove any individual from the Senior Executive Service upon determining that such individual's performance warrants such removal, and (2) remove such individual from federal service or transfer the individual to a General Schedule position at any grade the Secretary deems appropriate. Requires: (1) the Secretary to notify the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs committees within 30 days after removing such an individual, and (2) such removal to be done in the same manner as the removal of a professional staff member employed by a Member of Congress. .
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2014
Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 - Amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is specifically identified and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results. Defines "covered action" as a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2014
Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to take the Blackwater Trading Post lands in Pinal County, Arizona, into trust for the benefit of the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation after the Community: (1) conveys such lands to the Secretary; (2) requests the Secretary to take such lands into trust for the Community; (3) if a survey is necessary, conducts one pursuant to this Act; and (4) pays the cost of any such survey. Treats the lands that are taken into trust as a part of the Gila River Indian Reservation. Prohibits the Community from conducting gaming on such lands.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2014
SNAP Verify Act of 2014 - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require a member or representative of a household that receives supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) to present photographic verification when using an electronic benefit card for a SNAP purchase.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2014
Constitutional Amendment - Limits Members of the Senate to two terms and Members of the House of Representatives to six terms.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2014
Faithful Execution of the Law Act of 2014 - Expands the circumstances under which the Attorney General is required to report to Congress regarding the enforcement of laws to include any instance in which the Attorney General, an officer of the Department of Justice (DOJ), or any other federal officer establishes or implements a policy to refrain from: (1) enforcing, applying, or administering any federal statute, rule, regulation, program, policy, or other law within the responsibility of the Attorney General or such officer; or (2) adhering to, enforcing, applying, or complying with, a final decision of any court of jurisdiction respecting the application of the Constitution, any statute, rule, regulation, program, policy, or other law within the responsibility of the Attorney General or such officer. (Currently, reports are not required with respect to the policies of other federal officers and reports concerning nonenforcement of a law are required only when the Attorney General or a DOJ officer refrains on grounds that the provision is unconstitutional.) Requires such reports to state the grounds for policies of nonenforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2013
Nullifying Unconstitutional Mandate By Evaluating Results Act or the NUMBER Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment, unless the Comptroller General certifies to Congress that at least 7 million individuals have been successfully enrolled in qualified health plans through a health care exchange during the enrollment period ending on March 31, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013 - Creates in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, who shall supervise and direct the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a National Mental Health Policy Laboratory to: (1) identify and implement policy changes and other trends likely to have the most significant impact on mental health services; (2) collect information from grantees; and (3) evaluate and disseminate to such grantees evidence-based practices and services delivery models, using the best available science shown to reduce program expenditures while enhancing the quality of care furnished to individuals by other such grantees. Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require the Assistant Secretary to establish: (1) an Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee; and (2) a four-year pilot program to award up to 50 grants each year to counties, cities, mental health systems, mental health courts, and any other entities with authority under state law to implement, monitor, and oversee assisted outpatient treatment programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish a program of tele-psychiatry and primary care physician training grants to states to promote the use of qualified telehealth technology for the identification, diagnosis, mitigation, or treatment of a mental health disorder. Directs the HHS Secretary (Secretary), in coordination with the Assistant Secretary, to award planning grants to enable up to 10 states to carry out 5-year demonstration programs to improve the provision of behavioral health services by federally qualified community behavioral health clinics. Requires the Assistant Secretary to certify federally qualified community behavioral health clinics that meet specified criteria. Requires the caregiver of an individual with a serious mental illness to be treated as the individual's personal representative with respect to protected health information, even though the individual has not consented to disclosure of such information to the caregiver, when the individual's service provider reasonably believes it is necessary for protected health information to be made available to the caregiver in order to protect the individual's health, safety, or welfare or the safety of one or more other individuals. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to allow an educational agency or institution to disclose to such a caregiver the individual's education record in certain related circumstances. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make available: (1) Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants for mental health programs and operations by law enforcement or corrections officers, and (2) public safety and community policing grants to provide specialized training to law enforcement officers to recognize and intervene properly with individuals who have mental illness. Reauthorizes and revises requirements for the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2004. Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to: (1) establish or expand veterans treatment court programs; and (2) enhance the capabilities of a correctional facility to identify, screen, and treat inmates with a mental illness, as well as develop and implement post-release transition plans for them. Requires any data prepared by or submitted to the Attorney General or the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with respect to homicides, law enforcement officers killed and assaulted, or individuals killed by law enforcement officers to include data about the involvement of mental illness in such incidences, if any. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to detail the cost of federal. state, or local imprisonment for persons who have serious mental illness. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit a state medical assistance plan from prohibiting payment for a same-day qualifying mental health service or primary care service furnished to an individual at a federally qualified community behavioral health center or a federally qualified health center on the same day as the other kind of service. Allows states the option to provide medical assistance for inpatient psychiatric hospital services and psychiatric residential treatment facility services for individuals age 21-65. Amends both SSA titles XIX and XVIII (Medicare) to cover prescription drugs used to treat mental health disorders. Amends the PHSA to increase funding for the brain initiative at the National Institute of Mental Health. Transfers responsibility for the administration of community mental health block grants to the Assistant Secretary from the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Revises requirements for the funding agreement under a formula block grant to a state for community mental health services to prescribe the general standard under state law for court ordered inpatient or outpatient mental health treatment as well as assisted outpatient treatment. Requires the Assistant Secretary to evaluate the combined paperwork burden of certain community mental health centers as well as of certified federally qualified community mental health clinics. Directs the Secretary of Education, along with the Assistant Secretary, to organize a national awareness campaign to assist secondary school students and postsecondary students in: (1) reducing the stigma associated with serious mental illness; (2) understanding how to assist an individual demonstrating signs of a serious mental illness; and (3) understanding the importance of seeking treatment from a physician, clinical psychologist, or licensed mental health professional when a student believes the student may be suffering from a serious mental illness or behavioral health disorder. Amends the PHSA to include as health care providers any behavioral and mental health professionals, substance abuse professionals, psychiatric hospitals, certain community mental health centers (including one operated by a county behavioral health agency), and residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare), with respect to incentives for meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR) technology under the pay schedule for physician's services, to include as additional eligible professionals clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services and clinical social workers. Subjects any additional eligible professionals, including those under a MedicareAdvantage (MA) plan, to reductions in incentive payments after a certain date for failure to be a meaningful EHR user. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to treat as Medicaid providers the following additional Medicaid providers: (1) public and certain private hospitals that are principally psychiatric hospitals, (2) certain community mental health centers, and (3) certain residential or outpatient mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities. Makes eligible Medicaid professionals certain clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services and certain clinical social workers. Amends the PHSA to accord health care professional volunteers at community mental health centers and federally qualified community behavioral health clinics the liability protections of Public Health Service employees. Requires the Assistant Secretary to transfer all functions and responsibilities of the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality to the National Mental Health Policy Laboratory. Revises the duties of the CMHS Director. Reauthorizes the Secretary's authority to address priority mental health needs of regional and national significance. Amends the PHSA to reauthorize and revise requirements for a youth interagency research, training, and technical assistance center to prevent suicides (the Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center). Expands the program's focus from youth suicides to suicides among all ages, particularly among groups that are at high risk for suicide. Repeals authority for grants to establish research, training, and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse and the justice system. Reauthorizes a program of grants for the development of state or tribal youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies. Reauthorizes and revises a grant program to enhance services for students with mental health or substance use disorders at institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary (who currently is merely authorized), acting through the CMHS Director, to award grants to enhance such services and to develop best practices for the delivery of such services. Permits grant funds to be used for the provision of such services to students and to employ appropriately trained staff. Requires the Secretary to give special consideration to applications for grants that describe programs that demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional mental and substance use disorder services and the greatest potential for replication. Requires the Assistant Secretary, before making a grant to a public entity for comprehensive community mental health services to children with a serious emotional disturbance, to consult with the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to ensure that the grant recipient will use evidence-based practices. Reauthorizes funding for such grants. Repeals current authority of the Secretary to carry out directly or through grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with public entities a program to assist local communities in developing ways to assist children in dealing with violence. Reauthorizes the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Amends the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act to reduce corresponding funding for protection and advocacy systems for mentally ill individuals. Prohibits lobbying by any such systems accepting federal funds to protect and advocate the rights of individuals with mental illness. Prohibits the SAMHSA Administrator from hosting or sponsoring any conference that will not be primarily administered by SAMHSA without giving at least 90 days prior notice to specified congressional committees. Prohibits the SAMHSA Administrator also from establishing (and the Secretary from delegating to the Administrator responsibility for) any program or project not explicitly authorized or required by statute. Terminates by the end of FY2014 any SAMHSA program or project not so explicitly authorized or required.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Freddie Mac REMIC Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 with respect to the exercise of options on mortgage-backed securities by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) or, during the term of any conservatorship or receivership of Freddie Mac, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Directs Freddie Mac (or FHFA as its conservator or receiver) to exercise any option on a mortgage-backed security with a clean-up call option Freddie Mac has issued if the residual holder of the security is willing to share at least 50% of any excess proceeds from the exercise of the option with FHFA as conservator or receiver, if such proceeds benefit the taxpayers of the United States. (A clean-up call option allows a transferor of assets, in this case mortgage assets, to buy them back after the outstanding asset values have been reduced substantially.) Defines mortgage-backed security as debt obligations issued in the form of participation certificates, collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage-backed commercial paper, and real estate mortgage investment conduits. Defines mortgage-backed security with a clean-up call option as any mortgage-backed security under which there is an option or right to redeem all remaining classes of the security whenever the aggregate remaining principal of the mortgage would be less than the optional redemption or clean-up call percentage. Directs the Director to prohibit Freddie Mac and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) from issuing any mortgage-backed security with a clean-up call option. Directs the Director to ensure that any excess proceeds received as a result of the exercise of any clean-up call options be used only to reduce the budget deficit of the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2013
Requires the House of Representatives to bring a civil action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for declaratory or injunctive relief to challenge any of the following policies or actions: the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) policy that, for health insurance coverage that is renewed for a policy year between January 1, 2014, and October 1, 2014, health insurance issuers may continue to offer coverage that would otherwise be terminated or cancelled for noncompliance with various requirements of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act (relating to health insurance coverage, individual group market reforms, and general reforms) and corresponding portions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and the Internal Revenue Code, as announced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on November 14, 2013; the one-year delay in the application of the reporting requirements of the Code (and its related requirements with respect to shared responsibility for employers regarding health coverage), as provided under Department of the Treasury Notice 2013-45, as announced by the Department on July 2, 2013; the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy to exercise prosecutorial discretion for individuals who came to the United States as children, as announced by DHS on June 15, 2012; and the authorization, approval, renewal, modification, or extension of any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project under the Social Security Act (SSA) that waives compliance with any of its mandatory work requirements through a waiver of SSA state family assistance plan requirements. Derives any amounts obligated or expended by the House to carry out this resolution during a fiscal year from existing appropriations for House salaries and expenses for that fiscal year. Provides that nothing in this resolution may be construed as authorizing an increase in the amount of budget authority available to the House for that fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2013
General Aviation Pilot Protection Act of 2013 - Directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue or revise FAA medical certification regulations to ensure that an individual may operate as a pilot of a covered aircraft without regard to any medical certification or proof of health requirement otherwise applicable under federal law if the flight meets certain criteria and the individual: (1) possesses a valid state driver's license, (2) complies with applicable medical requirements associated with that license, (3) is transporting five or fewer passengers, and (4) is operating under visual flight rules. Defines "covered aircraft" as an aircraft that: (1) is not authorized under federal law to carry more than six occupants, and (2) has a maximum certificated takeoff weight of no more than 6,000 pounds.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2013
Accelerating Innovation in Medicine Act of 2013 or AIM Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop an AIM list of medical devices for which, because of their inclusion on the list, insurance benefits and payments are prohibited under Medicare (either directly or on a capitated basis), with the result that no Medicare claim may be submitted and an individual who consents to receive such a device is responsible for paying for it and for any related services. Directs the Secretary to post on a public HHS website or other publicly accessible media an updated list of the medical devices on the AIM list.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2013
States that it is U.S. policy to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. Calls on the Senate to take immediate action on the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 to increase sanctions against Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2013
Safe and Secure Federal Websites Act of 2013 - Prohibits a federal agency from deploying or making available to the public a new Federal PII website until a certification is submitted to Congress that the website is fully functional and secure, as defined by this Act. Defines "new Federal PII website" as a website that: (1) is operated by (or under contract with) an agency; (2) elicits, collects, or stores personally identifiable information (i.e., information that can be associated with one individual through a social security account number, taxpayer identification number, state identification number, or other identifier) of individuals and is accessible to the public; and (3) is first made accessible or collects or stores personally identifiable information on or after July 1, 2013. Exempts beta websites designed for testing and development if users execute an agreement acknowledging the risks involved. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study and report on each current and future new Federal PII website.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2013
Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to prescribe whistleblower protections that prohibit a labor organization from discriminating against any of its employees who has: (1) provided information to the labor organization, the Department of Labor, or any other state, local, or federal government authority or law enforcement agency regarding any violation of the Act or any Department or National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) order; (2) testified in any Department or NLRB administrative or enforcement proceeding; (3) filed or instituted any such proceeding; or (4) refused to perform an assigned task that the employee reasonably believed to be in violation of any law, order, or prohibition enforced by the Department or the NLRB. Prescribes procedures for filing and processing complaints for violations of this Act. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) limit employees to remove elected or appointed union officials through a democratic election; or (2) preempt a state or local government from providing additional protections to such employees who allege a violation, provided such protections do not limit the ability of those employees to remove such officials through a democratic ballot.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2013
Israel Sovereignty and Security Recognition Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should recognize Israel's sovereignty and legal right to its lands, including the Golan Heights and Jerusalem as Israel's capital; and (2) the Secretary of State should transfer the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jerusalem, Israel, and either repurpose or sell the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. Amends the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 to eliminate the President's authority to waive certain funding limitations for Department of State acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad until the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2013
Declares that termination liability costs for the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Launch System, and the Orion crew capsule (covered programs) shall be provided only pursuant to this Act. Prohibits the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from reserving funds from amounts appropriated for a covered program, and instructs the Administrator to direct prime contractors not to reserve funds for potential termination liability costs respecting such a program. Declares that it is the intent of Congress that funds authorized to be appropriated for covered programs be applied in meeting established technical goals and schedule milestones. Declares void and unenforceable any provision in a prime contract entered into before enactment of this Act that provides for the payment of termination liability costs through any other means than as provided in this Act. Bars the Administrator from initiating termination of a prime contract on a covered program for the convenience of the government unless it is authorized or required by a law enacted after this Act's enactment. Requires notice to specified congressional committees before initiating termination of a prime contract for cause. Requires the Administrator to notify Congress if an authorization of appropriations is necessary in advance of a proposed program termination because sufficient unobligated appropriations are not available in the appropriations account funding the contract.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 2013
Sportsmen's Heritage And Recreational Enhancement Act of 2013 or the SHARE Act of 2013 - Title I: Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to exclude from the definition of "chemical substance" for purposes of such Act: (1) any component of any pistol, revolver, firearm, shell, or cartridge the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax, including shot, bullets and other projectiles, propellants, and primers; and (2) any sport fishing equipment the sale of which is subject to federal excise tax and sport fishing equipment components. Title II: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act - Amends the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to: (1) authorize a state to pay up to 90% of the costs of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range; (2) authorize a state to elect to allocate 10% of a specified amount apportioned to it from the federal aid to wildlife restoration fund for such costs; (3) limit the federal share of such costs under such Act to 90%; and (4) require amounts provided for such costs under such Act to remain available for expenditure and obligation for five fiscal years. Shields the United States from any civil action or claim for money damages for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is funded by the federal government pursuant to such Act or located on federal land, except to the extent provided under the Federal Tort Claims Act with respect to the exercise or performance of a discretionary function. Urges the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of BLM to cooperate with state and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any federal land used as a public target range to encourage its continued use for target practice or marksmanship training. Title III: Public Lands Filming - Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA), for any film crew of five persons or fewer, to require a permit and assess an annual fee of $200 for commercial filming activities or similar projects on federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary. Makes such a permit valid for such activities or projects that occur in areas designated for public use during public hours on all federal land and waterways administered by the Secretary for a 12-month period. Title IV: Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act - Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to issue a permit for the importation of any polar bear part (other than an internal organ) from a polar bear taken in a sport hunt in Canada to any person who submits proof that the polar bear was legally harvested before May 15, 2008 (currently by February 18, 1997), when polar bears were listed as a threatened species by the Department of the Interior. Title V: Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act - Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013 - Grants the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to authorize any state to issue electronic duck stamps. Sets forth state electronic duck stamp application requirements. Allows the Secretary to determine the number of new states permitted per year to participate in the electronic duck stamp program. Instructs the Secretary to require electronic stamp revenue and customer information collected by each state to be transmitted in accordance with a written agreement between the Secretary and the state. Title VI: Access to Water Resources Development Projects Act - Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Secretary of the Army from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Chief of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located. Title VII: Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture (USDA) on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. (Abolishes the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.) Title VIII: Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act - Declares that recreational fishing and hunting are environmentally acceptable and beneficial activities that occur and can be provided on public lands and waters without adverse effects on other uses or users. Requires a federal public land management official, in cooperation with the respective state and fish and wildlife agency, to exercise the authority of the official under law, including regarding land use planning, to facilitate the use of, and access to, federal public land for fishing, sport hunting, and recreational shooting, except as described in this Act. Requires the heads of federal public land management agencies to exercise their discretion in a manner that supports and facilitates hunting, recreational fishing, and recreational shooting opportunities, to the extent authorized under applicable law. Prohibits actions taken under this Act or actions concerning the National Wildlife Refuge System under the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 from being considered to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Prohibits public land management officials from being required to consider the existence or availability of recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting opportunities on adjacent or nearby lands in the planning for or determination of which public lands are open for these activities or in the setting of levels of use for these activities on public lands, unless the combination or coordination of such opportunities would enhance the opportunities available to the public. Requires that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service land, excluding land on the Outer Continental Shelf, be open to recreational fishing, hunting, or shooting unless the managing agency acts to close lands to such activity. Permits closures or restrictions on such land for purposes including resource conservation, public safety, energy or mineral production, energy generation or transmission infrastructure, water supply facilities, national security, protection of private property rights, or compliance with other law. Requires agencies to: (1) lease or permit use of federal public land for shooting ranges, and (2) designate specific land for recreational shooting activities. Declares that the provision of opportunities for hunting, fishing, recreational shooting, and the conservation of fish and wildlife to provide sustainable use recreational opportunities on designated wilderness areas on federal public lands constitutes the measures necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration of such areas. Provides that such declaration does not authorize or facilitate commodity development, use, or extraction, motorized recreational access or use that is not otherwise allowed under the Wilderness Act, or permanent road construction or maintenance within designated wilderness areas. Reaffirms the provisions of the Wilderness Act that stipulate that wilderness purposes are "within and supplemental to" the purposes of the underlying federal land unit. Requires the head of each federal agency, when seeking to carry out fish and wildlife conservation programs and projects or providing fish and wildlife dependent recreation opportunities on designated wilderness areas, to implement these supplemental purposes while not impeding on the underlying conservation purpose. Prohibits such implementation from authorizing or facilitating commodity development, use or extraction, or permanent road construction or use within designated wilderness areas. Requires biennial reports on closures of federal public lands to sport hunting, recreational fishing, or shooting. Sets forth requirements for specified closures or significant restrictions involving 640 or more contiguous acres of federal public land or water to hunting or recreational fishing or related activities. Instructs federal public land agencies to consult with the advisory councils specified in Executive Orders 12962 (relating to recreational fisheries) and 13443 (relating to the facilitation of hunting heritage and wildlife conservation) in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act - Requires 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 members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior service and major contributions during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Disapproves the President's: (1) failure to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," as required by the Constitution, and (2) usurpation of the legislative power of Congress through the rewriting of key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Reaffirms that the preservation of the Constitution's separation of powers is essential for the protection of individual liberty and the maintenance of the rule of law.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2013
Employee Rights Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization or its agents to interfere with the rights of employees to organize and select representation to collectively bargain. Adds a requirement that representatives be selected by secret ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a majority of the employees in a unit. Defines "majority" for purposes of determining the majority of employees in an election to mean the majority of all employees in the unit, and not the majority of employees voting in the election. Requires the NLRB, in cases where an existing certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of more than 50% of the unit's employees, to conduct a secret paper ballot among the unit employees: (1) between the 120th day and 110th day before the collective bargaining agreement's expiration or before the end of three years, if there is an agreement between the labor organization and the employer; or (2) within 30 days, if there is no agreement between such parties. Requires the NLRB to decide, before the election of a labor organization as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all employees of an appropriate unit, whether such unit shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision unit. Requires the NLRB to give 14 days advance notice before a hearing when it is investigating an election petition if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation affecting commerce exists. Revises the requirement that the NLRB direct an election by secret ballot, and certify its results, whenever it finds upon the record of such a hearing that a question of representation exists. Adds a requirement that the NLRB also review all post-hearing appeals before finding that such a question exists. Requires an employer to provide the NLRB a list consisting only of employee names and home addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days after an NLRB determination of the appropriate unit or following any agreement between the employer and the labor organization regarding eligible voters. Prohibits an election after the filing of a petition unless and until: (1) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing officer on any and all material, factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and (2) the issues are resolved by a regional Director, subject to appeal and review, or by the NLRB. Declares that election results shall not be final nor any labor organization be certified as a bargaining representative unless the NLRB has ruled on: (1) each pre-election issue not resolved before the election; and (2) the NLRB conducts a hearing and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or results of the election. Makes any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of their rights to form or join a labor organization or to refrain from forming or joining (including the filing of a decertification petition) liable for lost wages and unlawfully collected union dues and fees, if any, and an additional amount as liquated damages. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act) to permit an election by secret ballot to be conducted through votes cast by electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting booth. Requires every employee in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership status, to have the same right as members to vote by secret ballot to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to engage in, a strike or refusal to work of any kind against their employer. Prohibits the use of an employee's union dues for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization's collective bargaining, unless that employee authorizes such expenditure in writing. Prohibits a strike without the consent of a majority of all unit employees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agreement between the employer and the labor organization. Requires each labor organization to make the independently verified annual audit report of its financial condition and operations available to all of its members and represented nonmembers. Makes it unlawful for a person to use force or violence, or threaten the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate a person, or attempt to, in order to obtain from any person any right to represent employees, compensation, or other term or condition of employment. Subjects persons who willfully violate such prohibitions to both civil and criminal penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2013
Transportation Empowerment Act - Declares the purposes of the Act, including returning maximum discretionary authority and fiscal responsibility to the states for all elements of the national surface transportation systems (excluding the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways). Prescribes a limitation on funding of transportation programs and projects carried out under this Act. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY2015-FY2019 for specified core programs under the federal-aid highway program, including: (1) metropolitan transportation planning, (2) emergency relief for highways and roads, (3) the federal lands transportation program, and (4) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) administrative expenses. Authorizes a state to transfer and use excess federal-aid highway funds for any surface transportation project (including mass transit and rail). Limits federal assistance to states for highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation to bridges on the federal-aid highway system. Repeals the authorization of federal assistance to states for historic bridges. Repeals the transportation alternatives program. Declares that, beginning with FY2014, a highway construction or improvement project shall not be considered a federal project: (1) unless and until a state expends federal funds for the construction portion of such project, (2) solely by reason of the state expenditure of federal funds before the construction phase of the project (including for any environmental document or design work), or (3) upon state reimbursement to the federal government of the federal costs of such projects. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make amounts in the HTF available for expenditure for core highway programs through FY2020. Requires the Secretary of Treasury to transfer from the HTF amounts equivalent to motorboat and aviation fuel taxes collected before October 1, 2022, to: (1) the Land and Water Conservation Fund, (2) the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and (3) the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Requires the Secretary to pay from the HTF into the general fund of the Treasury amounts equivalent to the floor stocks refunds made before July 1, 2023. Prescribes a motor fuel tax rate schedule for financing of core highway programs. Terminates, on September 30, 2014, the authority of the Secretary to make certain transfers to the Mass Transit Account. Directs the Secretary, on October 1, 2014, to transfer all amounts in the Mass Transit Account to the Highway Account. Authorizes appropriations out of the HTF (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY2015-FY2019 for the highway research and development program. Directs the Secretary to allocate to the states for surface transportation projects (including mass transit and rail) any excess highway tax receipts appropriated to the HTF in FY2016-FY2019. Reduces the excise taxes imposed on: (1) gasoline from 18.3 cents to 3.7 cents, (2) diesel fuel or kerosene from 24.3 cents to 5.0 cents, and (3) diesel-water fuel emulsion from 19.7 cents to 4.1 cents. Requires credits or refunds of certain floor stocks taxes on liquids imposed before October 1, 2019. Declares that this Act shall become effective only if the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) certifies that it is deficit neutral.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Knife Owners' Protection Act of 2013 - Entitles any person who is not otherwise prohibited by federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a knife to transport a knife from any place where such person may lawfully possess, carry, or transport such a knife to any other place where such person may lawfully do so: (1) by motor vehicle if the knife is not directly accessible from the passenger compartment or is in a locked container, glove compartment, or console; or (2) by other means over land or through water or the air if the knife is in a locked container. Allows any knife or tool designed for enabling escape in an emergency incorporating a blunt tipped safety blade, a guarded blade, or both for cutting safety belts to be carried in the passenger compartment without being secured in a locked container, glove compartment, or console, except in the passenger cabin of aircraft whose passengers are subject to airport screening procedures of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Critical Infrastructure Protection Act or CIPA - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Assistant Secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate to: (1) include in national planning scenarios the threat of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) events; and (2) conduct a campaign to proactively educate owners and operators of critical infrastructure, emergency planners, and emergency responders at all levels of government of the threat of EMP events. Directs the Under Secretary for Science and Technology to conduct research and development to mitigate the consequences of EMP events, including: (1) an objective scientific analysis of the risks to critical infrastructures from a range of EMP events; (2) determination of the critical national security assets and vital civic utilities and infrastructures that are at risk from EMP events; (3) an evaluation of emergency planning and response technologies that would address the findings and recommendations of experts, including those of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack; (4) an analysis of available technology options to improve the resiliency of critical infrastructure to EMP; and (5) the restoration and recovery capabilities of critical infrastructure under differing levels of damage and disruption from various EMP events. Includes among the responsibilities of the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) relating to intelligence and analysis and infrastructure protection to prepare and submit to specified congressional committees: (1) a comprehensive plan to protect and prepare the critical infrastructure of the American homeland against EMP events, including from acts of terrorism; and (2) biennial updates of such plan.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Authorizes the disposal or use of the Winslow Hospitality Park located in Winslow, Navajo County, Arizona, for purposes other than public recreation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
If You Like Your Health Plan, You Can Keep it Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to prohibit anything in the Act from being construed to require an individual to terminate coverage under a group health plan or health insurance coverage in which the individual was enrolled during any part of the period beginning on the date of enactment of PPACA (March 23, 2010) and ending on December 31, 2013. Allows: (1) continuation of coverage under a group health plan or health insurance in which an individual was enrolled during any part of such period, regardless of whether the individual renews such coverage; (2) family members of the individual to join coverage under such a plan that is renewed; (3) new employees to join a group health plan that provides coverage during any part of such period; and (4) continuation of coverage maintained pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement that was ratified before the end of such period.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act or the USA FREEDOM Act - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to set forth additional requirements for obtaining orders for business records in counterterrorism investigations, including requiring that the records sought pertain to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or an individual in contact with, or known to a suspected agent of, a foreign power. Requires additional information if the applicant is seeking a nondisclosure requirement in connection with such request. Allows the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to apply for renewals of nondisclosure requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to require the production of call data records by the provider of a wire or electronic communication service. Amends the USA PATRIOT Improvements and Reauthorization Act of 2005 to require the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), for 2010 through 2013, to report on an examination of the minimization procedures (procedures designed to minimize the acquisition and retention of information and to prohibit its unauthorized dissemination) used in relation to business records orders. Imposes additional requirements on the authorized use of pen registers and trap and trace devices (devices for recording incoming and outgoing telephone numbers), including that: (1) the information sought must pertain to a foreign power, agent thereof, or individual in contact with or known to such an agent; and (2) the application must contain a statement of proposed minimization procedures. Requires audits of the effectiveness and use of such devices. Prohibits the searching of collections of communications of U.S. persons, except: (1) under an order or authorization for electronic surveillance or physical search, (2) with the consent of such person, or (3) under a reasonable belief that the life or safety of the person is threatened and the information is sought to assist that person. Limits the collection of wholly domestic communications of a U.S. person to those communications: (1) to which any party is a target of the acquisition; or (2) that contain an identifier of a target of an acquisition, only if the communications are acquired to protect against international terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Prohibits receiving into evidence any information obtained in an acquisition against any U.S. person for which a deficiency in the procedures for acquiring such information is identified by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court). Authorizes the FISA Court, if the government corrects any deficiencies so identified, to permit the use or disclosure of information acquired before the correction under such minimization procedures as the FISA Court shall establish. Repeals on June 1, 2015, FISA procedures regarding the targeting of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States in order to acquire foreign intelligence information. Requires reviews of surveillance targeting and minimization procedures by the IG of the Intelligence Community (IC), including mandatory review with respect to the privacy rights of U.S. persons. Establishes within the judicial branch an Office of the Special Advocate to participate in proceedings before the FISA Court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, request reconsiderations of FISA Court decisions, and participate in appeals and reviews. Requires the Special Advocate to vigorously advocate in support of legal interpretations that protect individual privacy and civil liberties. Requires the Attorney General to publicly disclose specified information in connection with FISA Court or FISA Court of Review decisions appealed by the Special Advocate. Requires the release of as much information regarding the facts and analysis in such decisions as is consistent with legitimate national security concerns. Authorizes the FBI Director to request from a communication service provider the name, address, length of service, and local and long distance billing records of a person as part of a national security investigation only if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or an individual in contact with, or known to a suspected agent of, a foreign power. Provides similar requirements with respect to an FBI request for information from financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies. Revises provisions prohibiting the disclosure of the receipt of a national security letter by such providers, institutions, and agencies to except disclosure to: (1) those persons to whom disclosure is necessary to comply with the request, (2) an attorney in order to obtain legal advice or assistance regarding the request, or (3) other persons as permitted by the FBI. Includes under such prohibition (with the same exceptions) national security letters issued in connection with the investigation of persons with access to classified information. Allows affected communications providers, financial institutions, and consumer reporting agencies to seek judicial review of requests for information. Requires the DOJ IG to report results of audits of national security letters issued during 2010 through 2013. Amends provisions of FISA, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, the National Security Act of 1947, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) concerning national security letters to, effective June 1, 2015, make such provisions read as they read on October 25, 2001. Allows electronic service providers to publicly report on information provided under FISA orders and national security letters. Exempts such providers from liability with respect to such reports. Revises requirements concerning government reporting on the use of FISA orders and national security letters. Amends the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to remove the AG as a required intermediary for subpoenas in connection with authorized activities of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to delay until 2016 the imposition of the annual fee on health insurance providers. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue guidance directing covered entities to return any amounts collected from consumers or other sources that were attributed to the annual fee that was scheduled to be imposed for 2014 and 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2013
Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act - Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) allow licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, dealers, or collectors (licensees) to sell or deliver any firearm (currently, rifles or shotguns) to a resident of a state other than the state in which the licensee is located or temporarily located if the licensee meets with the purchaser to complete the sale or delivery and the transaction complies with the laws of the state in which the transfer is conducted and the purchaser's state of residence; and (2) eliminate the requirement that a licensee must conduct business at a gun show only in the state that is specified on the licensee's license. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the sale or other disposition of a firearm or ammunition: (1) between licensed firearms dealers at any location in any state; or (2) by a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to an unlicensed person at a temporary location in any state. Amends definitions for federal firearms provisions to: (1) revise the definition of a "member of the Armed Forces on active duty" to include a member (or member's spouse) who is a resident of the state in which such person maintains legal residence or in which the member maintains a place of abode from which the member commutes each day to the permanent duty station; and (2) provide that an officer or employee of the United States (other than a member of the Armed Forces) stationed outside the United States for a period exceeding one year, or a spouse residing with such an officer or employee, is a resident of the state in which the person maintains legal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2013
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits Congress from making any law that is applicable to a U.S. citizen but not equally applicable to: (1) Congress; (2) the executive branch, including the President, Vice President, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and all other officers of the United States, including those provided for under the Constitution and by law; and (3) Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of inferior courts.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Authorizes and requests the President to award the Medal of Honor to Bennie G. Adkins and Donald P. Sloat of the U.S. Army for acts of valor during the Vietnam Conflict. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 to authorize the award of the Medal of Honor to a veteran who, although not a Jewish- or Hispanic-American veteran who was previously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, or the Air Force Cross, was identified during a review of service records and regarding whom the Secretary of Defense submitted, before January 1, 2014, a recommendation that the President award the Medal of Honor to that veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in Bay Pines, Florida, as the "C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center."
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Telehealth Enhancement Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), in order to provide a positive incentive for certain hospitals to lower their excess readmission ratios for inpatient services, to make an additional payment to a hospital in such proportion that provides for a sharing of the savings from better-than-expected performance between the hospital and the Medicare program. Authorizes the Secretary, in the case of a state that has amended its Medicaid plan to provide coordinated care through a health home for individuals with chronic conditions, to contract with the state medical assistance agency to serve eligible individuals with chronic conditions who select a designated provider, a team of health care professionals operating with such a provider, or a health team as the individual's health home. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with a national or multi-state regional center of excellence with a network of affiliated local providers to provide through one or more medical homes for targeted, accessible, continuous, and coordinated care to individuals under Medicare and Medicaid with a long-term illness or medical condition that requires regular medical treatment, advising, and monitoring. Authorizes an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) to include coverage of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services as supplemental health care benefits to the same extent as a Medicare Advantage plan is permitted to provide such coverage of such services as supplemental health care. Recognizes telehealth services and remote patient monitoring in the national pilot program on payment bundling. Includes among originating sites (at which an eligible telehealth individual is located at the time a service is furnished via a telecommunications system), but without receiving payment of a facility fee, any critical access hospitals, sole community hospitals, home telehealth sites, as well as specified others. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to give states the option to provide coordinated care for enrollees with high-risk pregnancies and births. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to specify additional health care providers to which universal telecommunications service support must be provided. Requires Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules for enhancing health care provider access to advanced telecommunications and information services to disregard provider location.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2013
Security Before Access Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, with respect to patient navigator services, to require recipients of grants for the development and operation of demonstration programs to implement procedures developed under this Act to protect the privacy of personally identifiable information (PII). Requires procedures specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to include at least those that: require for access to PII relating to an individual the express written consent of that individual; condition access by a certified application counselor, health insurance navigator, or non-navigator assistance personnel upon a criminal background and fingerprint check; and require the meeting of educational and licensure requirements that are identical or comparable to those currently applicable to health insurance agents and brokers within the state in which they seek to assist consumers. Prohibits a grant recipient from collecting PII until the Comptroller General (GAO) certifies to Congress that HHS and any other relevant federal agencies have implemented all appropriate and necessary actions to safeguard the information of individuals seeking enrollment in a health plan through a health insurance Exchange and to protect them from fraud and abuse. Provides procedures for development of guidance concerning liability, determinations of liable parties, and determinations of whether entities described in this Act are required to obtain professional liability coverage. Imposes criminal penalties for unauthorized access, including under the Internal Revenue Code in cases involving consumer tax return information. Requires the Secretary to permanently disqualify an individual with a criminal background or otherwise in violation of this Act from any further involvement in consumer assistance activities required under the patient navigator provisions or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Allows the disqualification and rescission of federal and Exchange-generated funds from the entity that employs or contracts with such an individual. Relieves consumers from responsibility for failure to meet a requirement under PPACA for obtaining qualified health insurance coverage through an Exchange unless the Secretary has demonstrated with reasonable certainty that effective and comprehensive PII protection is in place prior to any consumer disclosure for health insurance enrollment purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2013
Appropriates for FY2014, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2014 are not in effect, such sums as are necessary, at a rate for operations as provided in the applicable appropriations Acts for FY2013 and under the authority and conditions provided in such Acts, to administer and furnish the compensation, pension benefits, readjustment benefits, insurance and indemnities, housing benefits, and vocational rehabilitation benefits provided for under federal veterans' benefits laws. Requires the appropriations and funds made available and authority granted pursuant to this Act to remain available until whichever of the following first occurs: (1) enactment of an appropriation (including a continuing appropriation) for any purpose for which amounts are made available in this Act, (2) enactment of the applicable regular or continuing appropriations resolution or other Act without any appropriation for such purpose, or (3) January 1, 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2013
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 20, 2013, relating to "Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units" under the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Rewarding Achievement and Incentivizing Successful Employees Act or RAISE Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare that neither its prohibition against interference by an employer with employees' right to bargain collectively, nor the terms of a collective bargaining agreement entered into between employees and an employer after enactment of this Act, shall prohibit an employer from paying an employee higher wages, pay, or other compensation than the agreement provides for.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2013
American Health Care Reform Act of 2013 - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment. Restores or revives provisions amended or repealed by such Act or such health care provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow an income tax standard deduction for a specified percentage of an individual's health insurance costs, regardless of whether or not the taxpayer itemizes other deductions. Excludes the amount of such a deduction from employment taxes. Allows a taxpayer, for earned income credit purposes, to exclude from earned income any employer contributions to a qualified accident or health plan. Allows double additional contributions to a health savings account (HSA) if both spouses are age 55 or older and one spouse is not an account beneficiary. Prescribes special rules for HSA coverage eligibility for certain individuals: (1) participating in a Medicare Advantage Medical Savings Account (MSA), (2) receiving periodic hospital care or medical services for a service-connected disability, (3) eligible for Indian Health Service assistance, or (4) eligible for TRICARE coverage. Prescribes requirements for interaction of health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements with HSAs. Prohibits the payment of health insurance premiums from HSAs, with certain exceptions. Prescribes circumstances in which certain medical expenses incurred before establishment of an HSA may still be qualified expenses. Prescribes requirements for protection of any HSA in a bankruptcy proceeding. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to authorize additional health opportunity account demonstration programs. Treats membership in a health care sharing ministry as coverage under a high deductible health plan. Renames high deductible health plans as HSA qualified plans. Allows payments from an HSA for: (1) direct primary care service arrangements, (2) certain exercise equipment and physical fitness programs, (3) certain nutritional and dietary supplements, and (4) periodic fees paid to a primary care physician for the right to receive medical services on an as-needed basis. Increases the maximum limit on contributions to an HSA to match deductible and out-of-pocket expenses limitations. Prescribes requirements for establishment of child health savings accounts, for which an income tax deduction shall be allowed a taxpayer equal to the aggregate cash amount paid into the account during the taxable year. Amends the IRC to include in gross income any distributions from an HSA for an abortion. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), and the IRC to authorize premium and cost-sharing variances in group health plans based on certain financial incentives for participation (or lack of it) in a standards-based wellness program. Amends the PHSA to direct the Secretary to provide a grant of up to $5 million to each state for the costs of creation and initial operation of a qualified high risk pool if it has not created such a pool as of September 1, 2013. Limits participation in such a pool to U.S. citizens and nationals. Declares that the laws of the state designated by a health insurance issuer (primary state) shall apply to individual health insurance coverage offered by that issuer in the primary state and in any other state (secondary state), but only if the coverage and issuer comply with conditions of this Act. Prohibits a health insurance issuer from offering, selling, or issuing individual health insurance coverage in a secondary state if its insurance commissioner does not use a risk-based capital formula for determining capital and surplus requirements for all health insurance issuers. Amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to declare that nothing in it shall modify, impair, or supersede the operation of any of the antitrust laws with respect to the business of health insurance (including the business of dental insurance). Amends SSA title XI (General Provisions) to require the Secretary to make available to the public Medicare claims and payment data, including data on payments made to any provider of services or supplier. Authorizes a state to establish a Health Plan and Provider Portal website to standardize information on: (1) health insurance plans available in the state, and (2) price and quality information on health care providers (including physicians, hospitals, and other health care institutions). Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship or the practice of medicine. Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to eliminate the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. Amends ERISA to prescribe requirements for establishment and governance of association health plans, which are group health plans meeting certain ERISA certification criteria whose sponsors are trade, industry, professional, chamber of commerce, or similar business associations. Limits the commencement of a health care lawsuit, except in certain cases including fraud or intentional concealment, to three years after the date of manifestation of injury or one year after the claimant discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first. Limits to $250,000 the amount of noneconomic damages in such a lawsuit, but allows a claim for the full amount of any economic damages. Requires the court, in any health care lawsuit, to supervise the arrangements for payment of damages to protect against conflicts of interest that may have the effect of reducing the amount of damages awarded that are actually paid to claimants. Specifies criteria for the award of punitive damages, limited to the greater of $250,000 or double the amount of economic damages. Preempts state law with respect to health care lawsuits. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) require any health plan to provide coverage of or access to abortion services; or (2) allow the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Labor, or any other federal or non-federal person or entity in implementing this Act to require coverage of, or access to, abortion services. Prohibits the use of funds authorized or appropriated by this Act to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes abortion coverage, except: (1) if the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) in the case where a pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself.