United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2020
Department of Homeland Security Reform Act of 2020 or the DHS Reform Act of 2020 This bill makes extensive changes to the structure of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to the responsbilities of DHS components. Specifically, the bill, among other things creates a new Associate Secretary responsible for overseeing DHS's law enforcement functions; modifies the responsibilities of the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, including to engage with individuals and communities whose civil rights and liberties may be affected by DHS programs and activities; directs DHS to establish an employee engagement steering committee to identify factors that have a negative impact on employee engagement, morale, and communications within DHS; establishes within DHS a school security coordinating council; requires that DHS's use-of-force policy be updated to emphasize de-escalation; requires DHS to carry out an intelligence and cybersecurity diversity fellowship program; grants rights to Transportation Security Administration officers under the federal personnel system; and requires DHS to issue a DHS-wide strategy to enhance partnerships with historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutes that includes yearly goals.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2020
Keeping All Students Safe Act This bill prohibits the use of seclusion and limits the use of physical restraint in schools and Head Start programs that receive federal funding. It also establishes enforcement provisions, including a private right of action for a student who has been subjected to unlawful seclusion or restraint, and creates a grant program for state educational agencies to implement the procedures required by the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2020
This resolution expresses support for a National Day of Mourning for the lives lost as a result of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). It encourages Americans and the President to commemorate the day by observing a moment of silence and ordering flags flown at half-staff, respectively.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2020
This resolution congratulates the National Urban League on its 110 years of service and commends its efforts to continue addressing systemic racism and economic inequality and fighting for the rights of all Americans to live with freedom, dignity, and prosperity.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2020
This resolution expresses support for sustained dialogue between the United States, Russia, and China to reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons. The resolution calls on the President to extend the New START Treaty for five years and urges the current administration to withdraw its declared intent to leave the Treaty on Open Skies.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2020
This resolution encourages people around the world to work towards ending the HIV epidemic by 2030, and it commends efforts and achievements in combating HIV/AIDS. Further, it supports funding and other actions to promote prevention, care and treatment services, and research programs for communities and people impacted by HIV.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2020
This resolution urges the United States to uphold its commitments under U.S. law and international treaties related to asylum seekers and also urges the Department of Homeland Security to stop detentions for legitimate asylum seekers. The resolution also calls on the government of Cameroon to respect the fundamental rights of its citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2020
Saving the Civil Service Act This bill nullifies the executive order titled Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service , which was issued on October 21, 2020. The order places executive agency positions that are of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character, and that are not normally subject to change as a result of a presidential transition, in the excepted service instead of the competitive service.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2020
Fair Access to Financial Services Act of 2020 This bill prohibits financial institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also provides an aggrieved person with a private right of action for preventive relief.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2020
Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act This bill establishes grant programs to address neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), and contains other related provisions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall award grants to eligible entities to support research on and facilitate access to investigational drugs that diagnose or treat ALS. The Food and Drug Administration shall award grants to public and private entities to cover the costs of research and development of drugs that diagnose or treat ALS and other severely debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. HHS shall also establish the Collaborative for Neurodegenerative Diseases, which shall support the development and regulatory approval of drugs that address ALS and other rare neurodegenerative diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2020
This bill nullifies a September 22, 2020, executive order prohibiting government contractors and other entities from conducting specified workplace training related to race or sex.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2020
This resolution supports efforts to advance democratic reforms in Ethiopia, condemns actions to destroy and repress minority and protesting voices, and calls for specific measures to restore peace and foster democracy in Ethiopia.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2020
Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office Act This bill establishes in the legislative branch a Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office to determine whether the President is mentally or physically unable to discharge the powers and duties of office. The commission (1) within 72 hours after Congress adopts a concurrent resolution directing it to do so, shall conduct a medical examination to determine if the President is temporarily or permanently impaired by physical illness or disability, mental illness, mental deficiency, alcohol or drug use, or any other condition or contingency rendering the President unable to execute the powers and duties of the office of President; and (2) within 72 hours after completing the examination, shall report its findings and conclusions to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Any refusal by the President to undergo such examination shall be taken into consideration by the commission in reaching a conclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2020
Comprehensive Breast Reconstruction Act of 2020 This bill provides for Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance coverage of certain tattooing services in connection with post-mastectomy breast reconstruction, and aligns the scope of Medicare and Medicaid coverage of such breast reconstruction with that of private health insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2020
Judicial Ads Act This bill establishes requirements for federal judicial nomination communications (i.e., advertisements). First, the bill requires a covered organization (e.g., corporation, labor organization, or political committee) that spends more than $50,000 in a calendar year on federal judicial nomination communications to file a statement with the Federal Election Commission. Further, the bill outlines the timing requirements for the statement and its required contents, including the disclosure of certain donors. Next, the bill requires federal judicial nomination communications to contain disclaimers that identify the person who funded the communication. Finally, it prohibits foreign nationals and foreign-influenced corporations from funding a federal judicial nomination communication.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2020
Preventing Future Pandemics Act of 2020 This bill establishes measures to address global public health risks posed by wildlife markets, which are commercial markets that sell or slaughter wildlife for human consumption as food or medicine in communities where alternative nutritional or protein sources are available. Specifically, the bill prohibits importing, exporting, purchasing, or selling live wild animals in the United States for human consumption as food or medicine. The Department of the Interior must hire, train, and deploy at least 50 new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement attachés around the world, and the U.S. Agency for International Development must increase specified activities to address the threats and causes of zoonotic (animal-to-human transmission) disease outbreaks. Additionally, the United States must work with other United Nations member states to urge a global ban on commercial wildlife markets and enforcement of laws to end wildlife trafficking. Further, the President may impose sanctions against a foreign country or foreign nationals that the Department of State has determined are taking certain actions that enable or facilitate commercial wildlife markets. Among other reports required by the bill, the State Department must conduct a study and submit a report that includes an evaluation of (1) the impact that consumption of terrestrial wildlife as food or medicine has on the transmission of novel viral and other pathogens, (2) the role of consuming terrestrial wildlife as food or medicine in the transmission of microbes from animals to humans, and (3) the conditions at live wildlife markets that lead to this transmission.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2020
This resolution condemns the performance of unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their informed consent and recognizes the need for additional accountability, oversight, and transparency to protect individuals from such medical procedures while they are in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It also calls on the Department of Homeland Security to fully cooperate with investigations about, and take other actions related to, medical procedures in one of its detention centers.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2020
This resolution calls on Côte d'Ivoire to publicly commit to free, fair, peaceful, and transparent elections, and it reaffirms that the United States will continue to stand with the people of Côte d'Ivoire in support of peace, democracy, religious and ethnic tolerance, and stability.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2020
This resolution condemns the apparently purposeful poisoning of Russian anti-corruption activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The resolution urges the United States to support efforts to investigate the poisoning of Navalny and to investigate whether the poisoning constitutes use of a chemical weapon by Russia in contravention of international law.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2020
Jobs and Justice Act of 2020 This bill addresses a wide variety of domestic policy matters and focuses on economically distressed communities, opportunities for minorities and the disadvantaged, and civil rights enforcement. Included in the programs and requirements affected are those concerning the following areas: workforce development, including job training and wage standards; economic development, including through assistance to minority businesses; antipoverty measures, including programs to specifically address child poverty and persistent poverty; housing and savings matters, including housing affordability, discrimination, homelessness assistance, tenant protections, public housing funding, home ownership and foreclosure mitigation, and lead-safe housing; savings and consumer finance, including financial literacy and lending discrimination; public contracting; infrastructure development; job training for youth and older Americans; veterans' and military family benefits; health care coverage and access, including Medicare and Medicaid coverage; small business investment and commercial investment in underserved areas, including through tax benefits; elementary and secondary education, including education of girls and minorities and teacher preparation; higher education access, including through community college attendance; science, technology, and information security education; law enforcement officer conduct, resources and administration, juvenile justice, sentencing procedures, hate crimes, correctional facilities, and firearms sales and possession; election administration and voting rights; and environmental, agriculture, and energy matters, including climate change, environmental justice, and energy efficiency and transition to alternative and renewable resources.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2020
Protecting Our Democracy Act This bill addresses issues involving (1) abuses of presidential power; (2) checks and balances, accountability, and transparency; and (3) foreign interference in elections. Specifically, regarding abuses of presidential power, the bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the President to submit to Congress specified materials relating to certain pardons; prohibits self-pardons by the President; suspends the statute of limitations for any federal offense committed by a sitting President or Vice President; prohibits the acceptance of foreign or domestic emoluments, authorizes civil actions by Congress concerning foreign emoluments, and requires the President to make certain disclosures; and sets forth provisions regarding enforcement authority of the Office of Government Ethics and Office of Special Counsel jurisdiction. To address checks and balances, accountability, and transparency, the bill, among other things authorizes specified actions to enforce congressional subpoenas, requires appropriations to be made available for obligation in a timely manner, imposes limits on presidential declarations of emergencies, requires DOJ to maintain a log of communications between it and the White House regarding certain investigations, requires cause for removal of inspectors general, increases whistleblower protections, reauthorizes the Merit Systems Protection Board, and establishes penalties for political appointees who engage in prohibited political activities. To protect against foreign interference in elections, the bill requires federal campaign reporting of foreign contacts, requires federal campaigns to establish a foreign contacts compliance policy, and specifies that foreign donations to political campaigns and candidates of nonpublic information relating to a candidate are prohibited.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 2020
This resolution expresses support for the goals of a feminist foreign policy and outlines the governmental efforts necessary to ensure that these goals are met.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2020
Philippine Human Rights Act This bill imposes limitations on providing assistance to the police or military of the Philippines. No federal funds may be used to provide such assistance until the Philippines government has taken certain actions, including (1) investigating and successfully prosecuting members of its military and police forces who have violated human rights, (2) withdrawing the military from domestic policing activities, and (3) establishing that it effectively protects the rights of journalists and civil society activists. The President shall also direct U.S. representatives at multilateral development banks to vote against providing loans to the police or military of the Philippines.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2020
This resolution supports Peripheral Artery Disease Awareness Month and encourages the public to observe the month with appropriate awareness and educational activities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2020
This resolution supports the announcements of (1) the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain, and (2) the suspension of Israeli actions to apply sovereignty in parts of the West Bank. Further, it calls on each of these countries to encourage greater people-to-people normalization, and it calls on other Arab and Muslim countries to establish full relations with Israel. It also reaffirms the House of Representatives' support for a negotiated, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2020
Open Courts Act of 2020 This bill requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a single electronic system for all public court records that is publicly accessible for free. Under the existing Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, users are charged fees for accessing court documents. To fund the development of the new consolidated system, the Judicial Conference must temporarily establish a schedule of additional fees for persons that are higher-volume users of PACER. To fund the operations of the new system, the Judicial Conference shall collect an annual fee from the Department of Justice based on the amount of PACER fees paid by the department in 2018. The Judicial Conference may also establish reasonable filing fees based on specified factors, including the extent of a person's use and the interests of justice.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2020
Protecting the Employment Rights of Servicemembers Act This bill updates employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services by making arbitration requirements unenforceable unless the parties consent to such arbitration in relation to employment or reemployment claims.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2020
Ending Health Disparities During COVID-19 Act of 2020 or the EHDC Act of 2020 This bill expands COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) relief efforts, expands data collection and health literacy, supports research, promotes diversity in the health professional workforce, increases access to telehealth and other health care, and otherwise addresses the health of minority populations and immigrants. For example, the bill provides funding for emergency aid and services, grants to address COVID-19 health inequities, grants to address social determinants of health, and payments for language services. It also expands COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2020
This concurrent resolution (1) calls on the Members of Congress and all people of the United States to observe September 11, 2020, as a National Day of Service and Remembrance in honor of those who lost their lives or were injured in the September 11, 2001, attacks and in tribute to those who came to the aid of those in need and to the defense of the United States; and (2) recognizes the heroic actions of first responders and other citizens in New York, New York, the District of Columbia, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2020
Justice for Servicemembers Act of 2020 This bill updates employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed services by making arbitration requirements unenforceable unless the parties consent to such arbitration in relation to employment or reemployment claims.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2020
COVID Community Care Act This bill provides FY2020 supplemental funding for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Indian Health Service to implement programs to prevent and respond to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) in medically underserved areas and among tribal populations, respectively. The bill designates the funding as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits.
United States · United States Congress · 25 August 2020
Local and Regional Farmer and Market Support Act This bill provides emergency assistance to certain farmers, ranchers, and farmers' markets affected by COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019), including by directing the Department of Agriculture to prioritize providing assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and minority-owned businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 2020
Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2020 This bill addresses various provisions related to the operation and administration of prisons, detention centers, and other correctional facilities, such as banning for-profit prisons, imposing requirements on financial and communication services available to inmates, and requiring alternatives to detention for family units apprehended under immigration authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 2020
Delivering for America Act This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from making changes to operations or levels of service from those that were in effect on January 1, 2020. Specifically, the USPS may not, during the period beginning on enactment of this bill and ending on the last day of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency or January 1, 2021, whichever is later, implement or approve any change to the operations or the level of service that would impede prompt, reliable, and efficient services, including changes in the nature of services that will generally affect service on a nationwide basis; revisions of service standards; closures or consolidations of post offices or reduction of facility hours; prohibitions on payment of overtime pay to USPS officers or employees; changes that would prevent the USPS from meeting its service standards or that would reduce measurements of performance concerning those standards; changes that would have the effect of delaying mail, allowing non-delivery to a delivery route, or increasing the volume of undelivered mail.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 2020
This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment related to the fundamental right to vote. Specifically, it grants every U.S. citizen of legal voting age the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2020
Removing Barriers to Basic Needs Act of 2020 This bill modifies eligibility requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) to temporarily waive requirements related to the denial of assistance and benefits for certain drug-related convictions. Any state law, policy, or regulation that imposes conditions on eligibility for SNAP and TANF based on an individual's conviction of an offense related to a controlled substance shall have no force or effect until December 31, 2022.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2020
Healthy Flights Act of 2020 This bill provides authority for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose any requirements on passenger and cargo air travel to protect the health and safety of air carrier crewmembers and passengers and to reduce the spread of such infectious disease through the aviation system during public health emergencies such as COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Among other provisions, the bill sets forth requirements relating to the use of masks and other protective equipment for airline passengers and certain airline employees; requires the FAA to provide certain employees, including any air traffic controller and airway transportation systems specialist, with masks and other protective equipment; mandates the development of a national aviation preparedness plan to ensure the aviation system is prepared to respond to epidemics and pandemics of infectious diseases; directs each air carrier operating an aircraft with a seating capacity of 20 or more to implement appropriate measures on a flight in air transportation for the purpose of reducing the likelihood of any passenger or crewmember contracting an infectious disease; requires the FAA to enter into an agreement with the National Academies to conduct a study on the transmission of infectious diseases, including airborne diseases, in the cabins of passenger airplanes; and establishes a Center of Excellence for Infectious Disease Response and Prevention in Aviation within the FAA.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2020
Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement Act of 2020 or the IDEA Act This bill requires the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to request demographic information from the inventor on each patent application submitted to the USPTO. Inventors shall not be required to provide the requested information, which shall include gender, race, and military or veteran status. The USPTO shall (1) publish an annual public report about the collected data, including the collected data broken down by the types of technology covered by the patent applications; and (2) make the underlying data publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2020
Congressman John R. Lewis Election Day Act of 2020 This bill designates November 3, 2020, as a legal public (i.e., national) holiday known as John Lewis Election Day. It also urges U.S. private employers to give their employees the day off on November 3, 2020, so they may cast votes in elections held on that day.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2020
Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act of 2020 This bill authorizes the use of certain foreign assistance funds to provide comprehensive reproductive health care services in developing countries, including abortion services, training, and equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2020
Fairness for Seniors and People with Disabilities During COVID-19 Act of 2020 This bill restricts the recovery by the Social Security Administration (SSA) of certain overpayments of benefits made between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The bill also specifies that an individual who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or similar payments from a state, for any month during that period shall not be deemed ineligible for Medicaid coverage for that month on the basis that the individual is later determined to be ineligible for SSI or similar payments. Specifically, the SSA shall not recover any overpayments of Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits, SSI benefits, or benefits for certain World War II veterans made during this period, unless the overpayments resulted from fraud or the misuse of benefits by a representative payee. For actions underway to recover overpayments, including those initiated before March 2020, the SSA must also notify individuals of their opportunity to request a reduction or suspension of adjustments to their benefits or a suspension of certain installment payments during the specified period. Additionally, the SSA must report on the time frame for resuming overpayment processing and collection activities. Beginning in March 2020, the SSA has operated under modified work processes in response to the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2020) emergency, including the suspension of certain procedures for identifying changes to eligibility status and adjusting benefits to account for them. However, in August 2020, the SSA issued an interim final rule concerning the resumption of these procedures, which included a simplified waiver process for beneficiaries who incurred an overpayment between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2020
Airport Infrastructure Readiness Act of 2020 or the AIR Act of 2020 This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to apportion Airport Improvement Program funding for FY2022 and FY2023 to an airport sponsor based on the number of passenger boardings at such airport that would result in the highest apportioned amount during either calendar year 2018, calendar year 2019, or the full calendar year prior to the current fiscal year. Additionally, DOT shall not calculate a benefit-to-cost ratio with respect to an air traffic control tower participating in the Contract Tower Program on the basis of an annual aircraft traffic decrease in FY2020 and FY2021. Under the Contract Tower Program, air traffic control towers are staffed by employees of private companies rather than by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees. The FAA is required to perform a benefit-cost analysis to determine eligibility for participation in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2020
Save our Stages Act or the SOS Act This bill authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make grants to eligible live venue operators, producers, promoters, or talent representatives to address the economic effects of the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic on certain live venues. Specifically, the SBA may make (1) an initial grant of up to $12 million dollars to an eligible operator, promoter, producer, or talent representative; and (2) a supplemental grant that is equal to 50% of the initial grant. An initial grant must be used for costs incurred between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, but a supplemental grant may be used for expenses incurred through June 30, 2021. Such grants shall be used for specified expenses such as payroll costs, rent, utilities, and personal protective equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2020
This resolution supports the goals of BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month, including bringing attention to the mental health disparities faced by communities of color.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2020
No Funds for Apportionment Exclusion Act This bill prohibits using federal funds to carry out the July 21, 2020, presidential memorandum ordering the exclusion of aliens without legal immigration status from being counted for the purposes of apportioning representation in the House of Representatives following the 2020 census.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2020
Represent America Abroad Act of 2020 This bill requires the Department of State to establish the Represent America Mid-Career Foreign Service Entry Program to increase diversity in the Foreign Service by recruiting mid-career professionals who are from minority groups. As part of the program, the State Department shall (1) establish and publish eligibility criteria for participation; (2) carry out recruitment efforts to attract highly qualified, mid-career professionals from minority groups; and (3) include appropriate mentorship and other career development opportunities for program participants. The State Department must submit an annual report on the status of the program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2020
Mixed Earner Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act of 2020 This bill allows states to provide pandemic unemployment assistance to individuals who earn a combination of regular wages and a minimum of $7,250 of self-employed annual income (1) instead of regular unemployment compensation if they are otherwise eligible, or (2) if they are still employed at their regular-wage job, but unable to earn self-employed income due to circumstances related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Under current law, individuals earning such mixed income are only eligible for pandemic unemployment assistance if they are not eligible for regular unemployment and unable to work due to COVID-19.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2020
Lead Abatement for Families Act of 2020 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify federally assisted housing projects that use lead-based water pipes and allows HUD to award grants for the replacement of these pipes to public housing agencies and other owners.
![Official portrait of Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/j000288_200.jpg)