United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2018
Stop Postal Closures Act This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from closing or consolidating postal facilities or carrying out any network rationalization activity until the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has certified that the USPS has met specified national service standards. The bill also prohibits any future post office closures or consolidations, unless the PRC has approved the closure or consolidation using procedures specified in the bill. The PRC must also rate the performance of the USPS.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2018
Electric Credit Access Ready at Sale Act of 2018 or the Electric CARS Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify and extend several tax credits related to electric cars. The bill extends the tax credit for new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles through 2028. In addition, the bill modifies the credit to: (1) remove the limitation on the number of vehicles per manufacturer that are eligible for the credit, and (2) allow a taxpayer to assign the credit to a financing entity. The bill also extends through 2028 the tax credits for: (1) alternative fuel vehicle refueling property, and (2) alternative motor vehicles.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2018
Restoring Oversight for Members of Congress Act This bill requires agencies or managers that control access to federal facilities to provide immediate access to Members of Congress, excluding the Vice President, unless access is denied for national security reasons with congressional approval.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Congressional Access to Children's Detention Facilities Act This bill requires the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of Health and Human Services to allow Members of Congress to tour any facility in which one or more foreign national minors (a noncitizen of the United States under age 18) are housed. The Departments must allow members of the press to accompany a visiting Member of Congress and may place limits on such tours based on the number of foreign national minors housed.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Family Unity Rights and Protection Act This bill requires the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, State, and Defense to ensure that alien children (i.e., children under the age of 18 removed from their parents or legal guardians at or near a port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S. border pursuant to a zero tolerance policy for criminal illegal reentry) are reunited at the earliest possible date with their parents and guardians from whom they were separated. It also requires notification of parents and guardians of procedures for reuniting with such children and for the location of such children. The bill requires the creation of an electronic registry for information used to locate such alien children and their parents and guardians. The information in such registry may only be used for locating such children and may not be used in any criminal prosecution or other immigration proceeding. The bill also sets forth conditions on the termination of parental rights in immigration proceedings and requires the consolidation of asylum and immigration proceedings involving alien children.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Puerto Rico Admission Act of 2018 This bill establishes a process to enable the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico to be admitted into the Union as a state.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Social Security Administration Fairness Act This bill (1) provides funding for certain administrative expenses of the Social Security Administration (SSA); (2) makes individuals eligible to receive Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits beginning in the first month of disability; (3) eliminates the Medicare waiting period for recipients of OASDI benefits; and (4) requires the SSA to satisfy certain public-notice and reporting requirements before closing or consolidating a field office or hearing office.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Repelling Encroachment by Foreigners into U.S. Elections Act or the REFUSE Act This bill (1) expands the ban on contributions by foreign nationals to elections to include corporations subject to specified levels of ownership or control by foreign nationals or governments; (2) prohibits certain types of tax-exempt, foreign-affiliated organizations from taking certain campaign-related actions, such as contributing to a super political action committee (super PAC); and (3) prohibits foreign nationals from participating in the decision-making process with regard to any person's election-related activities. The bill also makes various changes to the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA), such as by (1) repealing an exemption from FARA requirements for individuals registered as lobbyists, and (2) expanding filing and labeling requirements related to the transmission of informational materials in the interests of a foreign principal.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Leave No Americans Behind Act of 2018 This bill amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to eliminate the requirement that Department of State evacuation loans to private U.S. citizens or third-country nationals facing war, civil unrest, or natural disasters be reimbursable.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2018 or the DISCLOSE Act of 2018 This bill expands the ban on election contributions by foreign nationals to include corporations subject to specified levels of ownership or control by foreign nationals. The bill also expands (1) reporting requirements related to campaign contributions, and (2) disclosure requirements related to the funding sources of political advertisements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2018
Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2018 This bill requires the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to make a determination as to whether a state substantially provides for certain rights and responsibilities applicable to public employees, such as granting such employees the right to form or join a labor organization and to bargain collectively, and if the state does not substantially provide for such rights and responsibilities, then such state shall be subject to nationwide standards prescribed by the FLRA to protect public employee rights. No employer, emergency services employee, or law enforcement officer may engage in a lockout, strike, or any other organized job action of which a reasonably probable result is a measurable disruption of the delivery of emergency or public safety services. No labor organization may violate or attempt to violate this prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2018
Preventing Family Separation for Immigrants with Disabilities Act This bill prohibits an agent or officer of the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, or Health and Human Services from removing a protected individual (i.e., an individual with a developmental disability and no permanent immigration status) from a family member at or near the port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S. border unless a state court or state or county welfare agency determines that removal is in the best interest of such individual. The Chief Patrol Agent or the Area Port Director may also authorize removal upon a finding that the protected individual is a victim of trafficking or is at significant risk of being a victim of trafficking, there is a strong likelihood that the adult is not a family member of the protected individual, or the protected individual is in danger of abuse or neglect. A protected individual may not be removed from a family member solely for the policy goal of deterring individuals from migrating to the United States or for promoting compliance with civil immigration laws. DHS must provide the family member of a protected individual who was separated with information about the activities of such individual and certain other information on a monthly basis.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2018
Child Advocate Program Reauthorization Act This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to extend through FY2022 the authority of the Department of Health and Human Services to appoint independent child advocates for trafficking victims and other vulnerable unaccompanied alien children.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2018
Better Care for Kids Act This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to provide that specialized training for federal, state, and local personnel who have substantive contact with unaccompanied alien children shall include best practices for infant and toddler care.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2018
Fairness for Farm Workers Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with respect to agricultural workers. The bill requires employers, beginning in 2019, to compensate agricultural workers for hours worked in excess of their regular hours (i.e., 55 hours in 2019, 50 hours in 2020, 45 hours in 2021, and 40 hours in 2022) at not less than one and one-half times the employee's regular rate. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the overtime pay requirements begin in 2022. These overtime pay requirements do not apply, as in current law, to employees who are the parent, spouse, child, or other member of the employer's immediate family. The bill also repeals the exemption from overtime pay requirements for employers in various agriculture-related industries, including certain small farms, irrigation projects, sugar processing, and cotton ginning and compressing.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2018
Democratic Republic of the Congo Democracy and Accountability Act of 2018 This bill (1) urges the President to support efforts at the United Nations with respect to the humanitarian and political crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (2) provides statutory authority for specified sanctions related to the Congo, and (3) requires the Department of State to report on human rights abuses and corruption there.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2018
Recognizes the value of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as an effective prevention tool in combating HIV. Expresses support for the research, education, and usage of PrEP. Calls on Congress to increase funding to existing programs that work to educate the public and health care professionals about PrEP. Calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to review outreach efforts of HIV prevention programs and to study solutions regarding barriers to PrEP access.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2018
Central America Family Protection and Reunification Act This bill states that it shall be: (1) U.S. policy to not separate immigrant families as a deterrent and to reunite families that were separated due to the criminal prosecution of parents for illegal entry, and (2) Department of State policy to prioritize supporting governments and citizens to facilitate reunification of such families. The State Department shall submit to Congress: reports concerning gender-based violence in the Northern Triangle (the region encompassing Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador); reports concerning gang and organized-crime related violence in the Northern Triangle; strategies to use portions of funds for the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America to combat gender-based violence in the Northern Triangle, as well as to address the damage to the health and well-being of children and caregivers caused by separating children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The State Department shall establish an office to study serious crimes committed against aliens who were removed from the United States and against U.S. citizens who left the United States because of having an alien parent who was removed from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2018
Mental Health Care for Children Inhumanely Separated from Parents by the Federal Government Act of 2018 This bill requires the federal government to ensure that children who are separated from their parents at the border by the Department of Homeland Security receive mental health services for free, including a mental health assessment within 24 hours of such separation and annually thereafter. Children who have already been separated (since April 6, 2018) must receive a mental health assessment within 24 hours after enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2018
Reunite Children With Their Parents Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to reunite an alien who entered the United States with the alien's minor child (under the age of 18) who was separated from the child pending prosecution for improper entry or the adjudication of an asylum application.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2018
Patsy T. Mink and Louise M. Slaughter Gender Equity in Education Act of 2018 This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to establish an Office for Gender Equity to support state and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and elementary and secondary schools in fully implementing title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education programs or activities. The office may provide grants and perform activities to reduce or prevent discrimination, bias, harassment, or violence based on actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions or stereotypes in all areas of education. The office must provide technical assistance and annual training to title IX coordinators and develop a handbook for conducting self-evaluations of title IX compliance. The training must address "compound discrimination" (defined as discrimination based on sex and other characteristics, including race, ethnicity, national origin, disability status, religion, age, perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, and related stereotypes). The office may award grants to eligible entities and partnerships to: train students, teachers, faculty, and personnel; increase campus resources, facilities, and course offerings; support title IX coordinators in performing outreach, advocacy, and education; identify patterns or systemic problems in title IX compliance; strengthen prevention education and awareness programs; conduct campus climate and victimization surveys; identify gender inequities; and improve data collection and reporting of gender equity indicators from academic assessments, civil rights data, campus data, employment data, attendance and absenteeism data, or title IX coordinator-to-student ratios. ED must coordinate with the Institute of Education Sciences and other federal offices and entities to investigate, identify, and disseminate best practices to: (1) reduce and prevent sex stereotyping, bias, and discrimination in curricula and educational materials; (2) address sex-based harassment and violence on campuses; (3) develop counseling and career guidance training; (4) mitigate implicit bias in teaching and discipline; and (5) address the needs of students who face compound discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2018
Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education Act of 2018 or the GAAME Act of 2018 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to specify that Title I funds (which support the instructional needs of students from low-income families) may be used for arts and music programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2018
Keep Families Together Act This bill prohibits an agent or contractor of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, or the Department of Health and Human Services from removing a child who is under the age of 18 and has no permanent immigration status from his or her parent or legal guardian at or near the port of entry or within 100 miles of the U.S. border unless: an authorized state court determines that it is in the child's best interests to be removed; a state or county child welfare official with expertise in child trauma and development determines that it is in the child's best interests to be removed because of abuse or neglect; or the Chief Patrol Agent or the Area Port Director authorizes separation based on a documented finding that the child is a trafficking victim or is at significant risk of becoming a victim, a strong likelihood exists that the adult is not the parent or legal guardian, or the child is in danger of abuse or neglect. A child may not be removed from a parent or guardian unless an independent licensed child welfare expert authorizes the separation within 48 hours of such removal. An agency may not remove a child from a parent or legal guardian solely for the policy goals of deterring migration to the United States or of promoting immigration law compliance. The bill sets forth presumptions: (1) in favor of family and sibling unity and parental rights, and (2) that detention is not in the best interests of families and children. The bill limits the prosecution of asylum seekers.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2018
Recognizes the historical significance and supports the continued celebration of Juneteenth Independence Day, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2018
Stop Automatically Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States Act or the Save Voters Act This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit states from removing individuals from voting rolls on the basis of a change of address unless the state has obtained objective and reliable evidence of an individual's change of residence. States may not use the failure of a registered individual to vote or respond to a notice as the basis for initiating the removal of the individual from the voting rolls due to a change of address.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2018
Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act This bill specifies that individuals with metastatic breast cancer are not subject to certain waiting periods for disability insurance benefits under the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program and related Medicare coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2018
Workers' Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2018 This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act (NRLA) and related labor laws to extend protections to union workers. Specifically, it: revises the definition of "employee" and "supervisor" to prevent employers from removing employees from the protections of the labor laws, prohibits employers from interfering with certain rights granted to employees under the NLRA, expands unfair labor practices to include prohibitions against replacement of worker who strike or discrimination against them, imposes new penalties against employers who violate labor law requirements, allows workers to bring civil actions against employers for labor law violations and unfair labor practices, requires certain disclosures with respect to worker wages, and requires contractors seeking federal contracts over $500,000 to disclose labor law violations when applying for such contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2018
This bill specifies that an offense involving lynching is a hate crime act. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a prison term, a fine, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2018
Keeping Gun Dealers Honest Act of 2018 This bill establishes new requirements and penalties for individuals who engage in the business of dealing, importing, or manufacturing firearms. Among other things, the bill increases the allowable number of annual compliance inspections, strengthens criminal penalties for recordkeeping violations, and authorizes civil penalties for certain other violations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2018
Stretching Entity Resources for Vulnerable Communities Act or the SERV Communities Act This bill makes a series of changes to the 340B drug pricing program (i.e., a program that allows entities to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers), including alterations relating to program integrity, discrimination against participating entities, and program eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 51 Willow Street in Lynn, Massachusetts, as the "Thomas P. Costin, Jr. Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2018
Keep Our Cities Safe Act of 2018 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to protect from criminal penalties a federal, state, or local government officer or employee, or a contract entity officer or employee, who while acting in accordance with state or local law is engaged in conduct which would otherwise violate the INA prohibition on bringing in and harboring certain aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2018
Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States Act or the STATES Act This bill eliminates regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act for marijuana-related conduct and activities that are authorized by state or tribal law, subject to specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2018
Counting Our Unexpected Natural Tragedies' Victims Act of 2018 or the COUNT Victims Act This bill directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to contract with the National Academy of Medicine to conduct a study of matters concerning best practices in mortality counts as a result of a major disaster. A report on the study must be completed and transmitted to FEMA within two years after the contract date of September 30, 2018. The study shall address approaches to quantifying mortality and significant morbidity among populations affected by major disasters and shall include best practices and policy recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2018
International Human Rights Defense Act of 2018 This bill establishes in the Department of State a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex) Peoples who shall serve as the principal State Department advisor regarding human rights for LGBTI people and represent the United States in diplomatic matters relevant to the human rights of LGBTI people. The special envoy shall periodically provide Congress with a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTI people. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development may provide assistance to prevent and respond to such activities against LGBTI people. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended to require that annual country reports on human rights practices include information on criminalization, discrimination, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2018
This bill reauthorizes the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act through FY2023. The Act provides services and support for victims of family violence, domestic violence, or dating violence.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2018
Condemns Russia's destabilizing behavior in Ukraine and the region. Calls on the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and its associated international community to: (1) continue investigations into illicit Russian efforts to secure the World Cup, and (2) condemn Russia's transgressions against international law and FIFA values.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2018
Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018 This bill reauthorizes for FY2019-FY2023 grants for local and regional children's advocacy centers (CACs), as well as for technical assistance and training. CACs coordinate a multidisciplinary response to child abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2018
Condemns all forms of physical, mental, and sexual violence against children and youth globally. Commends the End Violence Against Children Solution Summit 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden, for its leadership.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2018
Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act or the HELP Separated Children Act This bill sets forth Department of Homeland Security apprehension procedures with respect to children involved in immigration enforcement actions, including detention center access to courts, welfare agencies, and consular officials.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2018
Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation Act or the POWER Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand the nonimmigrant U-visa category (crime victims and their immediate family members) to include an alien who: has suffered substantial abuse or harm resulting from a workplace violation claim; is a victim of specified criminal activity or a workplace violation and would suffer extreme hardship upon removal; has been helpful in a workplace violation investigation; or has filed, is a material witness in, or is likely to be helpful in the investigation of, a workplace claim and reasonably fears, or has been the victim of, employer retaliation. An alien who is a material witness in a workplace claim and who has been helpful in a related law enforcement action may remain and work temporarily in the United States. In a Department of Homeland Security workplace enforcement action a detained alien: (1) who is necessary as a witness shall not be removed until the appropriate law enforcement agency is notified and has an opportunity to interview such individual, and (2) who is entitled to a stay or abeyance of removal shall not be removed. An alien in removal proceedings who is a witness in a workplace claim or who has filed for U-visa status shall be entitled to a stay or abeyance of removal and permitted to work until the claim's disposition unless the alien has been convicted of a felony or filed a bad faith claim.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2018
Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act This bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from administering an oil and gas leasing, development, production, and transportation program in and from the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2018
This bill delays by one year (to January 1, 2020) the Medicaid federal matching rate reduction that is scheduled to take effect for states that fail to require an electronic visit verification system for personal care services (services that help certain individuals with basic needs of daily life).
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2018
Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2018 This bill requires the House of Representatives and the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. merchant mariners of World War II, in recognition of their service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2018
Disclosing Official Spending at Presidential Businesses Act This bill requires each executive agency to submit a quarterly report to the Office of Government Ethics listing each instance that the agency obligated or expended federal funds with any privately held company that is owned by the President. With respect to each such instance, the report shall include the amount of the obligation or expenditure and the name of the company. Not later than 10 days after receiving a report, the office shall publish the report on its public website.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2018
This bill prohibits federal funds from being used to transfer an F-35 aircraft or related intellectual property or technical data to Turkey unless the President certifies to Congress that Turkey is not: (1) degrading North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) interoperability or member country security, or exposing NATO assets to hostile actors; (2) seeking to import or purchase defense articles from a U.S.-sanctioned foreign country; (3) wrongfully or unlawfully detaining U.S. citizens or lawful permanent resident aliens; or (4) engaging in military action without following international legal norms to prevent civilian casualties.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2018
Food Security Improvement Act of 2018 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits to be calculated using a low-cost food plan. The Department of Agriculture must determine the requirements for the low-cost food plan using the diet described in the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's publication entitled "The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, 2007" and adjustments specified in this bill. The bill revises the amounts of nutrition assistance block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa and requires the amounts to be modified based on adjustments to the low-cost food plan.
![Official portrait of Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/117_rp_ma_2_mcgovern_james_200.jpg)