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![Official portrait of Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/j000288_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
6,346 records where Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Disapproves of an act by the President to grant to himself or any family member a reprieve, pardon, or commutation of a sentence for an offense against the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2017 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to extend through FY2022 and make appropriations for enhanced funding for the community health centers program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2017
Combat Sexual Harassment in Housing Act This bill amends the Fair Housing Act to specify that the following unwelcome conduct in or around a dwelling shall be considered sufficiently severe or pervasive as to constitute a discriminatory housing practice: (1) unwelcome touching of a sexual nature or groping; or (2) any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that is intended to be coercive, threatening, or intimidating.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2017
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex, rehabilitative, manual wheelchairs and accessories. (A competitive bidding program has replaced the use of established fee schedule amounts to determine payments under Medicare for certain durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 This bill provides emergency supplemental FY2017 appropriations to several federal departments and agencies for expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Harvey. The funding provided by this bill is designated as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. The bill provides FY2017 appropriations to: the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Legal Services Corporation, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill also specifies several requirements and restrictions for the use of funds provided by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Pre-Registration Of Voters Everywhere Act or the PROVE Act This bill requires each state to implement a process to allow an individual who has turned 16 years old to register to vote in federal elections that occur after the individual turns 18 years old.
United States · United States Congress · 1 September 2017
Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act This bill transitions away from fossil fuel sources of energy to clean energy sources (e.g., energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy). By 2027: (1) 80% of electricity sold must be generated from clean energy resources, (2) 80% of new vehicle sales from manufacturers must be sales of zero-emission vehicles, and (3) 80% of train rail lines and train engines must be electrified. By 2035: (1) 100% of electricity must be generated from clean energy resources, (2) 100% of vehicle sales from manufacturers must be zero-emission vehicles, and (3) 100% of train rail lines and train engines must be electrified. The bill establishes a car allowance rebate system within the Department of Transportation to provide economic incentives for consumers to purchase new, clean energy vehicles. No federal permits for new major fossil fuel projects may be issued in 2018 and thereafter. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) terminate specified fossil fuel subsidies, (2) permanently extend renewable electricity production tax credits for electricity generated from wind, and (3) permanently extend a business energy investment tax credit for solar or wind energy technologies. A Community Assistance Fund is established for specified industrial and energy efficiency programs. The bill permanently reauthorizes the Weatherization Assistance Program, which provides energy efficiency retrofits of low-income homes. It prohibits exports of domestically produced crude oil and natural gas, including liquefied natural gas. The Center for Clean Energy Workforce Development is established within the Department of Labor.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 2017
This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the President to remove the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in certain circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 2017
Censures and condemns President Trump for his inadequate response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, for his failure to condemn the White supremacist groups responsible for actions of domestic terrorism, for asserting that "both sides" were to blame and excusing the violent behavior of participants in the Unite the Right rally, and for employing people with ties to White supremacist movements in the White House. Urges President Trump to fire all White House advisors who have urged him to cater to the White supremacist movement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Special Counsel Independence Protection Act This bill sets forth requirements and limitations with respect to the removal from office of a special counsel appointed by the Attorney General, or of another official appointed by the Attorney General who exercises a similar degree of independence from the Department of Justice (DOJ) chain of command. Specifically, a special counsel or other appointed individual may be removed only if: (1) the Attorney General files an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and files a contemporaneous notice of the action with Congress; and (2) the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issues an order finding misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including violation of DOJ policies.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Condemns the role of white supremacist groups in inciting violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and denounces the increase in fear-mongering, racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry, and violence by white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups. Offers condolences to the families of those who died in Charlottesville, and wishes quick recoveries for those injured. Urges President Trump to: (1) disavow any support he has received from hate groups, (2) terminate the employment of any White House staff and administration officials who have supported white supremacists, and (3) use the office of the President and resources of the Cabinet to address the growing prevalence of domestic hate groups.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 2017
Free File Permanence Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to continue to operate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Free File Program. The program must work with state government agencies to enhance and expand the use of the program, while continuing to: provide free commercial-type online individual income tax preparation and electronic filing services to the lowest 70% of taxpayers by income; provide all taxpayers (regardless of income) with a basic, online electronic fillable forms utility; and work with the private sector to provide the free tax preparation and electronic filing services. Treasury must work with the private sector through the program to identify and implement innovative new program features to improve and simplify the taxpayer's experience with completing and filing individual income tax returns. The IRS and members of the tax software and electronic industry involved in the program must support and promote improvements within the program by mutually testing, piloting, and offering innovative solutions to: simplify the tax system, reduce compliance and reporting burdens, increase tax return accuracy through financial data authentication, strengthen the tax system against fraud through cybersecurity collaboration, avoid duplication, and maximize the use of electronic technology. The Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee must report annually to Congress regarding the program, including website statistics, cybersecurity standards, demographic information, marketing and education efforts, simplifications and innovations, and state and local participation.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants to states, local governments, or gun dealers to conduct gun buyback programs. The BJA may distribute smart prepaid cards for use by a state, local government, or gun dealer to compensate individuals who dispose of firearms. Additionally, the bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to use or accept a smart prepaid card in the acquisition or transfer of a firearm or ammunition. A violator is subject to a fine, up to two years in prison, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Requests the President and directs the U.S. Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any document or communication in their possession that refers or relates to: the firing of James B. Comey as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the participation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Comey's removal; the scope or application of Sessions's recusal from investigations of matters related to the presidential campaign and the application of such recusal to Comey's removal; the scope or application of executive privilege as applied to Sessions's testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 13, 2017; President Trump's Twitter statement on May 12, 2017, that "James Comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"; any system used by the White House to secretly record conversations between the President and Comey; any contemporaneous account of any meeting between such individuals; any communication Donald Trump, Jr., Paul Manafort, or Jared Kushner may have had with Sessions or Comey that relates to their June 9, 2016, meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, Rinat Akhmetshin, and Irakly Kaveladze; any analysis regarding the violation of any criminal law with respect to such meeting as it may pertain to a federal campaign's attempt to obtain information that would incriminate Hillary Clinton from a foreign government; and the disposition or review of any application for a security clearance submitted by Kushner or Sessions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
American Hope Act of 2017 This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct. In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings. The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Security Clearance Review Act This bill amends the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to authorize the Federal Bureau of Investigation to revoke, or prohibit the renewal of, a security clearance of a political appointee in the Executive Office of the President if necessary for national security purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make grants to states for the purpose of promoting awareness of the increasing prevalence of heart disease, including its relationship to type 2 diabetes, in South Asian communities in the United States. For the purpose of conducting research and related activities with respect to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and other health-related ailments among South Asian communities in the United States, the National Institutes of Health, in coordination with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: (1) may conduct or support, through funding opportunity announcements, grants, or cooperative agreements, basic, clinical, and translational research; and (2) may award grants and cooperative agreements to public or nonprofit private entities. The bill amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize the Department of Agriculture to award research and extension grants for developing and disseminating science-based tools and strategies to promote heart healthy nutrition among South Asian communities in the United States. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that medical schools in the United States that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education should include as part of their nutrition curriculum a focus on South Asian diet and ways to achieve optimal nutrition in South Asian communities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Expresses the ongoing concern of the House of Representatives regarding the deportation of Jose Escobar to El Salvador and his separation from his wife and two children. Encourages: (1) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to jointly investigate and consider all reasonable solutions to reunite Jose Escobar with his family, and (2) the Trump administration and Congress to work together to pass comprehensive immigration reform to prevent the inhumane deportation and tragic separation of families.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month. (PCOS is caused by a hormone imbalance. Symptoms can include infertility, weight gain, excess hair growth, and acne.) Recognizes the need for further research, improved treatment and care options, and a cure for PCOS. Acknowledges the struggles affecting all women and girls afflicted with PCOS.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Rightsizing Pension Premiums Act of 2017 This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) modify the formula that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) uses to calculate the funded percentage of single-employer pension plans, and (2) reduce single-employer PBGC premiums for pension plans that are sponsored by certain small employers or have specified PBGC funded percentages. The bill also prohibits the budget effects of provisions that change PBGC premiums from being counted for the purposes of determining budget points of order for legislation in the House or the Senate. (The PBGC is a federal agency that insures the benefits of private sector, defined benefit pension plans. The PBGC is financed by insurance premiums paid by sponsors of the plans, investment income, assets from pension plans taken over by the PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Cady Housh and Jason Flatt Teen Suicide Prevention Act of 2017 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require states receiving ESEA funds to establish and implement a youth suicide awareness and prevention policy that provides for an hour of training each school year to school employees.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Canadian Snowbird Visa Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Department of Homeland Security to admit into the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor for a period not to exceed 240 days during any single 365-day period a Canadian citizen who: (1) is at least 50 years old, (2) maintains a Canadian residence and owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of such stay, (3) is not inadmissible or deportable, (4) will not engage in employment or labor for hire in the United States other than for a non U.S.-based person or entity by whom the Canadian citizen was employed in Canada or for whom the Canadian citizen performed services in Canada, and (5) will not seek any form of assistance or benefit under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The spouse of such person may be admitted under the same terms except that he or she is not required to separately satisfy the residence/housing requirements. The bill grants a person so admitted nonresident alien tax status.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Office of Government Ethics Independence Act of 2017 This bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to specify that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics may be removed only pursuant to a finding by the President of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Southeast Crescent Regional Commission Reauthorization Act of 2017 This bill reauthorizes through FY2023 the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, the Southwest Border Regional Commission, and the Northern Border Regional Commission. These commissions support regional economic development.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Repatriate Our Patriots Act This bill prohibits a special veteran from being removed from the United States. A special veteran: (1) is an alien veteran who was discharged or released from military service under conditions other than dishonorable; (2) includes only an honorably discharged or released individual; and (3) excludes an individual convicted of voluntary manslaughter, murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, or terrorism-related offenses or an individual determined to be a child abuser or a pedophile. DHS: (1) shall process naturalization applications for special veterans within 90 days; and (2) may permit special veterans to file naturalization applications from abroad and take the oath of allegiance at U.S. embassies, consulates, and military installations. DHS shall: (1) cancel the removal of a special veteran in removal proceedings, and (2) allow a special veteran whose permanent resident status was rescinded to adjust back to such status. The Department of Justice, in the case of a special veteran who was ordered removed, shall rescind any outstanding order of removal and any finding that the individual is subject to removal or is inadmissible. DHS shall create a program to allow a special veteran who was removed to return to the United States as a lawfully admitted permanent resident. A special veteran who has been naturalized or who has obtained lawful permanent resident status pursuant to this bill shall be eligible for all military and veterans benefits for which such individual would have been eligible otherwise. DHS shall identify and maintain records of immigration cases involving special veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Stop Infant Mortality And Recidivism Reduction Act of 2017 or the SIMARRA Act This bill directs the Bureau of Prisons to establish a pilot program to allow incarcerated women who give birth and children born during such incarceration to reside together in a separate prison housing unit. It sets forth inmate eligibility criteria and program participation requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Anti-Pyramid Scheme Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to make it unlawful for any person to establish, operate, or promote a pyramid promotional scheme. "Pyramid promotional scheme" means any plan or operation in which individuals pay consideration for the right to receive compensation that is based upon recruiting other individuals into the plan or operation rather than primarily related to the sale of products or services to ultimate users. Furthermore, any person who establishes, operates, or promotes any plan or operation which sells or solicits the sale of consumer products or services in the home or otherwise outside of a permanent retail establishment, and which sells products or services to independent salespeople, shall have a bona fide inventory repurchase agreement. A violation of the bill shall be treated under the Act as an unfair or deceptive act or practice in, or affecting, commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that: child safety is the first priority of custody and parenting adjudications, and courts should resolve safety risks and claims of family violence before assessing other best interest factors; quasi-scientific evidence should be admitted by courts only when it meets admissibility standards for scientific evidence; evidence from court-affiliated or appointed fee-paid professionals regarding adult or child abuse allegations in custody cases should be considered only when the professional possesses documented expertise and experience in the relevant types of abuse, trauma, and the behaviors of victims and perpetrators; states should define required standards of expertise and experience for appointed fee-paid professionals who provide evidence to the court on behaviors of abuse victims and perpetrators, specify requirements for the contents of such professional reports, and require courts to find that any appointed professionals meet those standards; states should consider models under which court-appointed professionals are paid directly by the courts, with potential reimbursement by the parties after due consideration of the parties' financial circumstances; and Congress should schedule hearings on family courts' practices with regard to children's safety and civil rights.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2017 This bill amends the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 to impose specified sanctions on: (1) foreign persons that knowingly assist in or provide support for fund raising or recruitment activities for Hizballah; (2) agencies of foreign governments that provide Hizballah with financial support, arms, or other assistance (export license requirements are included in addition to sanctions if such government is a state sponsor of terrorism); and (3) Hizballah, including by reason of Hizballah's significant transnational criminal activities. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that sanctions should be placed on financial institutions that serve Lebanese government officials affiliated with Hizballah. The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is amended to sanction foreign financial institutions that facilitate efforts by Iran or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to aid Hizballah. The bill prescribes reporting requirements or reporting modifications with respect to: (1) foreign persons that knowingly assist or provide significant financial, material, or technological support for foreign persons assisting Hizballah; (2) financial institutions that are owned or organized under the laws of state sponsors of terrorism; (3) Hizballah's racketeering activities; (4) combating illicit tobacco trafficking networks used by Hizballah and other foreign terrorist organizations to finance their operations; (5) the estimated net worth of senior Hizballah officials and how these funds were acquired and used; and (6) countries that support Hizballah or in which Hizballah maintains important logistics networks or financial networks and steps such countries are taking to disrupt such networks.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors Act or the KIWI Act This bill makes New Zealand nationals eligible to enter the United States as nonimmigrant traders and investors as provided for under the Immigration and Nationality Act if New Zealand provides reciprocal nonimmigrant treatment to U.S. nationals.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Student Opportunity Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education to establish a program to refinance the outstanding principal, interest, and late charges on Federal Direct Loans (DLs) and Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) in order to give a borrower a fixed interest rate equal to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus .5 percentage point.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Bob Dole Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole in recognition for his service to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Human Trafficking Accountability Act This bill amends the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 to direct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to designate: at least one Human Trafficking Coordinator in each federal judicial district to implement the National Strategy for Combatting Human Trafficking and to prosecute cases, conduct outreach, and enforce laws related to human trafficking; and a National Human Trafficking Coordinator within DOJ to coordinate, promote, and support DOJ's work related to human trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Wounded Officers Recovery Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Capitol Police Board to make payments from the United States Capitol Police Memorial Fund to employees of the U.S. Capitol Police who have sustained serious line-of-duty injuries. The board is required to issue specific regulations governing the fund's use for making such payments. These regulations shall ensure that the payments are in addition to, and do not otherwise affect, other forms of compensation payable to the employee, including worker's compensation benefits. The bill requires amounts received by the board in response to the shooting incident at the practice for the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity on June 14, 2017, to be deposited into the fund.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2017
Applauds the United Nations General Assembly for uniting to honor President Mandela's contribution to international peace and freedom. Recognizes the global impact of President Mandela's legacy and commitment to nonviolence, respect, and dialogue. Supports the international community's recognition of United Nations Nelson Mandela International Day. Urges all U.S. citizens to reflect on the importance of peace, tolerance, democracy, human rights, and reconciliation in honor of Nelson Mandela International Day.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. Agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Veteran Education Empowerment Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) or consortia of IHEs for the establishment, maintenance, improvement, and operation of veteran student centers. A veteran student center is a dedicated space on a campus that provides students who are veterans or members of the Armed Forces with: (1) a lounge or meeting space for themselves, their spouses or partners, and veterans in the community; (2) a centralized office for veteran services that serves as a single point of contact to coordinate veterans support services; and (3) comprehensive academic and tutoring services to veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Requests the President and directs the U.S. Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any document or communication in their possession that refers or relates to: the firing of James B. Comey as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the participation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Comey's removal, the scope or application of Sessions's recusal from investigations of matters related to the presidential campaign and the application of such recusal to Comey's removal, the scope or application of executive privilege as applied to Sessions's testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on June 13, 2017, President Trump's Twitter statement on May 12, 2017, that "James Comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!", any system used by the White House to secretly record conversations between the President and Comey, and any contemporaneous account of meetings between such individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Second Chance for Students Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify federal student aid eligibility for a student who is convicted of a drug offense involving marijuana possession. Under current law, a drug offense conviction involving the sale or possession of a controlled substance triggers a suspension of federal student aid eligibility for a specified period of time. This bill allows a student who is convicted of a drug offense involving marijuana possession, without the intent to distribute, to resume or retain federal student aid eligibility while completing a drug rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2017 This bill amends various provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including by: (1) expanding the types of actions that would justify a court retaining jurisdiction to prevent a state or political subdivision from using new devices to limit the right to vote; and (2) imposing notice requirements on a state or political subdivision that makes changes to voting procedures, polling-place resources, or district boundaries. The bill also changes the calculation for determining whether a state or political subdivision is subject to preclearance requirements (i.e., requirements for certain jurisdictions to receive preapproval from the Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights).
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2017 This bill requires federal, state, and local governments to directly operate and perform core services at adult prisons and detention centers. It reestablishes parole for eligible federal prisoners sentenced on or after January 1, 2017. (The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 eliminated parole for offenders convicted of federal crimes committed after November 1, 1987.) It requires financial service providers at prisons and detention centers to impose reasonable and proportional fees and charges for money transfer services. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must assess such fees or charges. The Federal Communications Commission must cap prison phone call rates and connection charges, require telecommunications providers to offer collect and debit account call services, restrict commission payments and ancillary charges, and require correctional facility administrators to allow more than one telecommunications provider. The bill eliminates the requirement for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to maintain at least 34,000 detention beds. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must establish alternatives to detention programs and determine detention bed capacity based solely on detention needs. DHS must conduct annual inspections and routine oversight of detention facilities. The bill prohibits family detention; requires alternatives to detention programs for detained family units; and prohibits separating a family to detain a family member, except to detain an alien parent who is dangerous and inadmissible on terrorism grounds. Finally, the bill establishes a private right of action for a person aggrieved by a violation of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Do No Harm Act This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that: protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity"; require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. Under current law, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to: state that the term "intimate partner" includes a dating partner and any other person subject to a protection order under state domestic or family violence law; and expand the term "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner. The bill makes it a crime to knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. It also makes it a crime for such convicted stalker to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Requests the President to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any documents or communications in the possession of the General Services Administration (GSA) that refer or relate to: guidance or direction to the Acting Administrator or other staff of the GSA regarding responses to requests for information from Members of Congress, the lease agreement between the Trump Old Post Office LLC and the federal government (Ground Lease No. GS-LS-11-11307) or legal memoranda or opinions generated by the government related to such lease.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Anti-Voter Suppression Act This bill nullifies Executive Order 13799 (titled "Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity") and specifies that no funds shall be made available by any act of Congress to the commission described in the order or to any similar commission established for studying voter fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2017
Expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineman Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineman is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Restoring Confidence in America's Elections Act This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to: (1) prohibit the purchase or use in a federal election of an electronic voting system that does not produce a voter-verified paper record; (2) prohibit the imposition of conditions on voting by mail; (3) make mandatory the availability of early voting; and (4) require sufficient polling places, equipment, and resources to facilitate voting. The National Science Foundation shall make grants to: (1) study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy; and (2) research the development of election-dedicated voting system software. Each state shall, except when the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the votes, manually audit federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected. The bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to make it unlawful for a chief state election administration official, unless such official or an immediate family member is a candidate, to take an active part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which such official has supervisory authority. The Department of Justice must initiate an investigation of an allegation of voter intimidation or suppression within 30 days of receiving such an allegation. The Election Assistance Commission shall award grants for the development of voting systems that produce a voter-verified paper record of each vote cast, are compatible with commodity accessibility devices, and are fully accessible for the use of individuals with disabilities.