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![Official portrait of Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_il_9_schakowsky_janice_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
10,814 records where Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Support Earned Recognition for Veterans Act or the SERV Act - Excludes from the definitions of "active duty," "active duty for training," and "inactive duty training," for veteran benefit or employment preference purposes, any service performed at a preparatory school of a service academy by a student who is not otherwise a member of the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Women's Health Protection Act of 2013 - Makes the following limitations and requirements concerning abortion services unlawful and prohibits their imposition or application by any government: a requirement that a medical professional perform specific tests or follow specific medical procedures, unless generally required in the case of medically comparable procedures; a limitation on an abortion provider's ability to delegate tasks, other than one applicable to medically comparable procedures; a limitation on an abortion provider's ability to prescribe or dispense drugs based on her or his good-faith medical judgment, other than one generally applicable; a limitation on an abortion provider's ability to provide abortion services via telemedicine, other than one generally applicable; a requirement or limitation concerning the physical plant, equipment, staffing, or hospital transfer arrangements of facilities where abortions are performed, or the credentials, hospital privileges, or status of personnel at such facilities that is not otherwise imposed where medically comparable procedures are performed; a requirement that, prior to obtaining an abortion, a woman make medically unnecessary visits to the provider of abortion services or to any individual or entity that does not provide such services; and a requirement or limitation that prohibits or restricts medical training for abortion procedures, other than one generally applicable to medically comparable procedures. Makes unlawful a measure or action that restricts the provision of abortion services, or the facilities that provide them, that is similar to any of those described above if it singles out abortion services or make abortion services more difficult to access and does not significantly advance women's health or the safety of abortion services. Provides standards for the making of a prima facie case in a civil action challenging such restrictions and factors to be considered by a court in determining whether a measure or action impedes access to abortion services. Makes the following other restrictions on the performance of abortion unlawful and prohibits their imposition or application by any government: a prohibition or ban prior to fetal viability; a prohibition after fetal viability when, in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating physician, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the woman's life or health; a restriction that limits a woman's ability to obtain an immediate abortion when a health care professional believes, based on good-faith medical judgment, that delay would pose a risk to the woman's health; and a prohibition or restriction on obtaining an abortion prior to fetal viability based on a woman's reasons or perceived reasons or that requires her to state her reasons before obtaining an abortion prior to fetal viability. Requires courts to liberally construe the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Attorney General or an individual or entity aggrieved by (or a health facility or medical professional adversely affected by) a violation of this Act, to commence a civil action for injunctive relief. Preempts any provision enacted by a state or subdivision having the force of law that conflicts with any provision of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Mourns with the people of the Philippines and all of the countries affected by the horrific loss of life caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Expresses deepest condolences to the victims' families. Applauds the prompt commitments of support and humanitarian efforts by the international community, relief agencies, and private citizens. Commends the United States for providing $20 million of immediate humanitarian assistance and urges the United States to continue to provide recovery and reconstruction assistance to the Philippines. Reaffirms the friendship between the United States and the Philippines. Urges the United States to: (1) coordinate with the international community and humanitarian agents in prioritizing the protection of women and girls in the disaster's aftermath, and (2) continue to work with the Philippines to strengthen local and national disaster risk reduction and mitigation strategies.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 2013
Supports the goals and ideals of National Adoption Day and National Adoption Month. Encourages the implementation of inclusive adoption policies that allow a growing number of diverse families to adopt.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Restorative Justice in Schools Act of 2013 - Amends title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use title II subgrants to train school personnel in restorative justice and conflict resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to direct the court to impose a sentence for specified controlled substance offenses without regard to any statutory minimum sentence if the court finds that the criminal history category for the defendant is not higher than category two. (Currently, the court may disregard the statutory minimum if the defendant does not have more than one criminal history point.) Authorizes a court that imposed a sentence for a crack cocaine possession or trafficking offense committed before August 3, 2010, on motion of the defendant, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the government, or the court, to impose a reduced sentence as if provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time such offense was committed. Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, importing, or exporting specified controlled substances. Directs the Commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of such an offense under the CSA and CSIEA to ensure consistency with this Act and to consider specified factors, including: (1) its mandate to formulate guidelines to minimize the likelihood that the federal prison population will exceed federal prison capacity, (2) fiscal implications of changes, (3) relevant public safety concerns, (4) the intent of Congress that penalties for violent and serious drug traffickers who present public safety risks remain appropriately severe, and (5) the need to reduce and prevent racial disparities in sentencing. Requires the Attorney General to report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings resulting from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Stop Deducting Damages Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) deny a tax deduction for any amount paid or incurred for compensatory or punitive damages in connection with any judgment in, or settlement of, any action against a government; and (2) include in gross income any amount paid as insurance or otherwise due to liability for punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act or the USA FREEDOM Act - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to set forth additional requirements for obtaining orders for business records in counterterrorism investigations, including requiring that the records sought pertain to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or an individual in contact with, or known to a suspected agent of, a foreign power. Requires additional information if the applicant is seeking a nondisclosure requirement in connection with such request. Allows the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to apply for renewals of nondisclosure requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to require the production of call data records by the provider of a wire or electronic communication service. Amends the USA PATRIOT Improvements and Reauthorization Act of 2005 to require the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Justice (DOJ), for 2010 through 2013, to report on an examination of the minimization procedures (procedures designed to minimize the acquisition and retention of information and to prohibit its unauthorized dissemination) used in relation to business records orders. Imposes additional requirements on the authorized use of pen registers and trap and trace devices (devices for recording incoming and outgoing telephone numbers), including that: (1) the information sought must pertain to a foreign power, agent thereof, or individual in contact with or known to such an agent; and (2) the application must contain a statement of proposed minimization procedures. Requires audits of the effectiveness and use of such devices. Prohibits the searching of collections of communications of U.S. persons, except: (1) under an order or authorization for electronic surveillance or physical search, (2) with the consent of such person, or (3) under a reasonable belief that the life or safety of the person is threatened and the information is sought to assist that person. Limits the collection of wholly domestic communications of a U.S. person to those communications: (1) to which any party is a target of the acquisition; or (2) that contain an identifier of a target of an acquisition, only if the communications are acquired to protect against international terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Prohibits receiving into evidence any information obtained in an acquisition against any U.S. person for which a deficiency in the procedures for acquiring such information is identified by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court). Authorizes the FISA Court, if the government corrects any deficiencies so identified, to permit the use or disclosure of information acquired before the correction under such minimization procedures as the FISA Court shall establish. Repeals on June 1, 2015, FISA procedures regarding the targeting of non-U.S. persons located outside the United States in order to acquire foreign intelligence information. Requires reviews of surveillance targeting and minimization procedures by the IG of the Intelligence Community (IC), including mandatory review with respect to the privacy rights of U.S. persons. Establishes within the judicial branch an Office of the Special Advocate to participate in proceedings before the FISA Court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, request reconsiderations of FISA Court decisions, and participate in appeals and reviews. Requires the Special Advocate to vigorously advocate in support of legal interpretations that protect individual privacy and civil liberties. Requires the Attorney General to publicly disclose specified information in connection with FISA Court or FISA Court of Review decisions appealed by the Special Advocate. Requires the release of as much information regarding the facts and analysis in such decisions as is consistent with legitimate national security concerns. Authorizes the FBI Director to request from a communication service provider the name, address, length of service, and local and long distance billing records of a person as part of a national security investigation only if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or an individual in contact with, or known to a suspected agent of, a foreign power. Provides similar requirements with respect to an FBI request for information from financial institutions and consumer reporting agencies. Revises provisions prohibiting the disclosure of the receipt of a national security letter by such providers, institutions, and agencies to except disclosure to: (1) those persons to whom disclosure is necessary to comply with the request, (2) an attorney in order to obtain legal advice or assistance regarding the request, or (3) other persons as permitted by the FBI. Includes under such prohibition (with the same exceptions) national security letters issued in connection with the investigation of persons with access to classified information. Allows affected communications providers, financial institutions, and consumer reporting agencies to seek judicial review of requests for information. Requires the DOJ IG to report results of audits of national security letters issued during 2010 through 2013. Amends provisions of FISA, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, the National Security Act of 1947, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) concerning national security letters to, effective June 1, 2015, make such provisions read as they read on October 25, 2001. Allows electronic service providers to publicly report on information provided under FISA orders and national security letters. Exempts such providers from liability with respect to such reports. Revises requirements concerning government reporting on the use of FISA orders and national security letters. Amends the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to remove the AG as a required intermediary for subpoenas in connection with authorized activities of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013 - Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from: (1) increasing flood insurance risk premium rates to reflect the current risk of flood for certain property located in specified areas subject to a certain mandatory premium adjustment, or (2) reducing such subsidies for any property not insured by the flood insurance program as of July 6, 2012, or any policy that has lapsed in coverage as a result of the policyholder's deliberate choice (Pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map or pre-FIRM properties). Sets forth expiration dates for such prohibitions. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to prohibit the Administrator from providing flood insurance to prospective insureds at rates less than those estimated for any property purchased after the expiration of such six-month period (currently, any property purchased after July 6, 2012). Directs FEMA to: (1) restore during such six-month period specified estimated risk premium rate subsidies for flood insurance for pre-FIRM properties and properties purchased after such six-month period, and (2) submit to certain congressional committees a draft affordability framework addressing the affordability of flood insurance sold under the National Flood Insurance Program. Prescribes procedures for expedited congressional consideration of legislation on FEMA affordability authorities. Permits FEMA to enter into an agreement with another federal agency either to: (1) complete the affordability study, or (2) prepare the draft affordability framework. Directs FEMA submit to certain congressional committees the affordability study and report. Amends NFIA to authorize FEMA to reimburse homeowners for successful map appeals. Makes any community that has made adequate progress on the construction (as under current law) or reconstruction (new) of a flood protection system which will afford flood protection for the one-hundred year frequency flood eligible for flood insurance at premium rates not exceeding those which would apply if such flood protection system had been completed. Revises guidelines governing availability of flood insurance in communities restoring disaccredited flood protection systems to include riverine and coastal levees. Requires FEMA to: (1) rate a covered structure using the elevation difference between the floodproofed elevation of the covered structure and the adjusted base flood elevation of the covered structure; and (2) designate a Flood Insurance Advocate to advocate for the fair treatment of policy holders under the National Flood Insurance Program and property owners in the mapping of flood hazards, the identification of risks from flood, and the implementation of measures to minimize the risk of flood.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2013
Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act of 2013 - Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to require the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State to incorporate anti-trafficking and anti-slavery priorities into other aspects of foreign assistance to ensure that assistance programs do not contribute to vulnerability to, or the prevalence of, human trafficking and slavery. Requires a foreign labor contractor to disclose in writing in English and in the primary language of the worker being recruited specified information, including the identity of the employer and the recruiter, worker protections, and a signed copy of the work contract. Prohibits a foreign labor contractor from providing related false or misleading information. Prohibits certain recruitment fees. Requires a foreign labor contractor to obtain from the Secretary of Labor a certificate of registration which shall be valid for two years. Provides for a registration fee. Exempts from such certificate requirement an employer who engages in foreign labor contracting solely to find workers for the employer's own use without the participation of any other foreign labor contractor. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a list of all registered foreign labor contractors and a list of all such ontractors whose registration has been revoked; and (2) establish a process for receipt, investigation, and disposition of complaints. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require a consular officer, before issuing specified work visas, to: (1) provide the alien with certain trafficking information, and (2) review and include in the alien's visa file the foreign labor recruiter's disclosures. Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that: (1) each U.S. diplomatic mission has a person responsible for receiving information from any worker who has been subject to violations of this Act, and (2) consulates maintain and make public any information regarding the identities of foreign labor contractors and the employers to whom those contractors supply workers. Sets forth administrative and civil action enforcement requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2013
Annuity Safety and Security Under Reasonable Enforcement Act of 2013 or the ASSURE Act of 2013 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to direct the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) to issue regulations requiring any payment to a recipient of a federal or military pension (a benefit recipient) that diminishes the benefit recipient's ability to control payments from such pension to be treated as an extension of credit. Requires financial institutions to include the terms of such credit in consumer information disclosures. Prohibits the annual percentage rate of interest on such arrangements from exceeding the federal funds rate plus 6% or an equivalent aggregate amount of cash and property. Specifies conditions under which payment of consideration in exchange for the retired pay of enlisted military members is prohibited from assignment under veterans' benefits laws. Prohibits individuals from making allotments or assignments from annuities under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS), including any agreement under which another person acquires for consideration the right to receive payment from such annuities as well as any arrangement for collateral for security for such an agreement. Exempts union dues or payments to employee organizations from such prohibitions. Authorizes benefit recipients, individuals entitled to military retired pay, and annuity recipients to bring a private legal action in federal or state court against an assignee engaging in prohibited assignments. Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to direct the CFPB to issue regulations requiring persons offering federal or military pension-related products to provide additional disclosures when advertising or selling such products to allow consumers to understand how their pension relates to the product.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2013
Medicare Adult Day Services Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover certified adult day services furnished in a certified adult day services center and meeting specified requirements; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase by 3% the payment amount otherwise effective for such services furnished in a rural area on or after January 1, 2014, and before January 1, 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2013
Reimburse Educators who Pay for Academic Year Supplies Act of 2013 or the REPAY Supplies Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the deduction from gross income (above-the-line deduction) for the classroom-related expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center in Bay Pines, Florida, as the "C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center."
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Expresses support for efforts to: (1) provide protections and supports for sexually exploited and trafficked girls in the United States, and (2) create criminal or civil penalties for anyone who buys or sells a child through a system of child trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2013
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives, with respect to federal employees, that: Congress and the President should end the pay freeze and prevent any further cuts to pensions or benefits; employee contributions to their retirement system should not be increased; the annuity multiplier used to determine retirement benefits should not be decreased; the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) annuity supplement should not be eliminated and employees who are eligible to retire should be able to do so; plans for Social Security reform should not include using a Chained Consumer Price Index, which would reduce federal annuities; the number of employees hired should not be arbitrarily limited; neither current nor future employees should be subject to automatic termination as a result of delinquent taxes; federal agencies should be allowed to determine the hiring strategies that best meet their needs, rather than operating under an arbitrary, across-the-board hiring policy; the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) should not be turned into a voucher program that shifts the costs of health insurance to employees and retirees; the tax increase on new employees that funds part of the extension of the unemployment insurance program administered by the Department of Labor should be repealed; the work that federal employees perform on behalf of the American people should be honored and respected; and Congress should recognize that efforts to reduce the compensation and support provided to federal employees undermine our government's ability to meet its obligations to its citizens and hurt federal agencies' ability to recruit and retain a high-quality workforce.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2013
Teen Dating Violence Education Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the inclusion of information regarding the legal rights available to teenage victims of dating violence in the education programs created with grants to combat the impact on students of domestic violence.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2013
Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act - States that passage of this Act recognizes that the primary tenets of its success depend on securing U.S. sovereignty and establishing a coherent and just system for integrating those who seek to join American society. States that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) border security goal is to gain situational awareness and operational control of high traffic areas and operational control along the Southwest border of the United States. Establishes a Southern Border Security Commission if border security goals have not been achieved within five years. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHA) to: (1) implement metrics to measure security effectiveness at and between ports of entry and in the maritime environment, (2) submit to Congress a comprehensive strategy for gaining situational awareness and operational control of high traffic areas and operational control along the Southwest border of the United States, and (3) submit to Congress a plan to implement a biometric exit capability at ports of entry under the US-VISIT program. Prohibits the Secretary from processing applications for registered provisional immigrant status (RPI) until the Secretary has submitted to Congress the notice of commencement of implementation of the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy and the Southern Border Fencing Strategy. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting RPI aliens to lawful permanent resident status until the Secretary certifies to the President and Congress that: (1) the Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy is operational, (2) the Southern Border Fencing Strategy has been implemented, (3) a mandatory employment verification system to be used by all employers has been implemented, and (4) the mandatory electronic exit data system is in use at U.S. air and sea ports of entry. Directs the Secretary to implement: (1) a Comprehensive Southern Border Security Strategy for achieving and maintaining effective control between and at the ports of entry in all border sectors along the Southern border, and (2) a Southern Border Fencing Strategy to identify where fencing and technology should be deployed along the Southern border. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Trust Fund, and (2) the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Startup Account. Title I: Border Security - Increases the number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and CBP Air and Marine unmanned aircraft systems crew, marine agent, and personnel. Authorizes the transfer of officers and agents from the Northern border to the Southern border. Authorizes permanent funding for the Corporation for Travel Promotion. Establishes a program to recruit Armed Forces reservists and former members of the Armed Forces to serve in CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Authorizes the governor of a state, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense (DOD), to order National Guard units or personnel to perform operations in the Southwest border region to assist CBP in securing the southern border. Increases funding for additional attorneys, support staff, interpreters, pre-trial services, and U.S. marshals in order to increase the number of border crossing prosecutions in the Tucson sector of the Southwest border region. Directs the Secretary to enhance border infrastructure by: (1) constructing additional Border Patrol stations in the Southwest border region, (2) upgrading and establishing additional Border Patrol operating bases, and (3) establishing a grant program with the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to construct transportation improvements at international border crossings. Directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enhance law enforcement and operational readiness along the U.S. borders through Operation Stonegarden. Directs the President to appoint additional district judges for Arizona, California, and Texas. Increases the fee for filing a civil action in U.S. district court to $360. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) or the Secretary of the Interior to provide CBP personnel with security-related access to federal lands in the Southwest border region in Arizona. Requires CBP to deploy additional mobile, video, and portable surveillance systems, and unarmed, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in the Southwest border region. Establishes a grant program to improve emergency communications in the Southwest border region. Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) to reimburse state, county, tribal, and municipal governments for costs associated with the prosecution and pre-trial detention of federally initiated criminal cases declined by local offices of the United States Attorneys. Authorizes appropriations for the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP). Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide training for CBP officers, U.S. Border Patrol officers, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, U.S. Air and Marine Division agents, and agriculture specialists stationed within 100 miles of any U.S. land or marine border, or at any U.S. port of entry; (2) provide training for border community liaison officers; and (3) establish CBP child custody guidelines. Establishes the Department of Homeland Security Border Oversight Task Force. Terminates the Task Force 60 days after submission of a required report. Establishes within DHS an Ombudsman for Immigration Related Concerns. Directs the Secretary to consider safety and family concerns in any action related to the repatriation or prosecution of individuals apprehended for immigration violations. Prohibits the Secretary from establishing border crossing fees for individuals at land ports of entry along the Southern and Northern borders. Human Trafficking Reporting Act of 2013 - Includes severe forms of trafficking in persons among "part 1 violent crimes" required to be reported by states for the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for purposes of Bureau of Justice Assistance Grants and Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. Directs the Secretary to certify to Congress every six months that DHS has only deported or otherwise removed a migrant from the United States through an entry or exit point on the Southern border during daylight hours. Revises restrictions on payment of senior executives' compensation under contracts relating to border security. Title II: Immigrant Visas - Subtitle A: Registration and Adjustment of Registered Provisional Immigrants - Authorizes the Secretary, after conducting the required national security and law enforcement clearances, to grant RPI status to an alien unlawfully in the United States who: (1) meets specified eligibility requirements, (2) applies before the end of the application period, (3) has paid the required fee and penalty if applicable, and (4) has been physically present in the United States since December 31, 2011, and maintains such presence until RPI status has been granted. Establishes a processing fee for persons 16 years or older. Sets forth bars to eligibility based upon criminal convictions, terrorist activity, and grounds for excludability. Provides derivative RPI status to a qualifying spouse or child of an RPI alien. Authorizes a dependent spouse or child to apply for RPI status if the legal relationship between such person and the RPI alien ended due to death, divorce, or domestic violence. Grants RPI status for an initial six-year period, which may be extended under specified conditions. Permits an RPI alien to work and travel outside the United States under specified conditions. Enumerates the grounds under which the Secretary may revoke RPI status. Makes an RPI alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit, and considers such person to be a noncitizen for certain other federal benefits. Authorizes an RPI alien to: (1) be issued a Social Security number, and (2) enlist in the Armed Forces. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if such person meets specified eligibility requirements. Prohibits an RPI alien from applying for lawful permanent resident status until the Secretary of State certifies that immigrant visas have become available for all approved petitions filed before the date of enactment of this Act. Establishes a processing fee. States that an RPI alien may only adjust status under the merit-based system provided for by this Act. States that a lawful permanent resident who was lawfully present in the United States and eligible for work authorization for not less than 10 years before becoming a lawful permanent resident may be naturalized in three years upon compliance with specified requirements. Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2013 or DREAM Act 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an RPI alien to that of a lawful permanent resident if the person demonstrates that he or she: (1) has been in RPI status for at least five years; (2) was younger than age 16 when he or she entered the United States; (3) has earned a high school diploma or obtained a general education development certificate in the United States; (4) has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education or has completed at least two years in a program for a bachelor's or higher degree in the United States, or has served in the Uniformed Services for at least four years and, if discharged, received an honorable discharge; and (5) has provided a list of each secondary school attended in the United States. Prohibits the Secretary from adjusting the status of an RPI alien to lawful permanent resident status unless the person: (1) satisfies citizenship requirements, (2) submits appropriate biometric and biographic data, and (3) undergoes security and law enforcement background checks. Repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence unless a U.S. national is similarly eligible without regard to such state residence. Sets forth RPI program requirements regarding: (1) prohibited and required disclosures, (2) employer protections, (3) audits and information evaluation, (4) administrative review, (5) privacy and civil liberties, (6) judicial review, and (7) federal education benefits. Sets forth prohibitions on federal agency use or publishing of information furnished in a lawful status application pursuant to the DREAM ACT or the RPI programs. Establishes a criminal penalty for a person who knowingly misuses or publishes or permits the improper use of RPI application information. Establishes within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services a program to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations to assist RPI applicants. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act regarding: (1) state termination of parental rights, (2) children separated from parents and caregivers, and (3) proof of authorization to work in the United States for purposes of OASDI insured status. Extends authority to waive the termination of annuity payments for re-employed Foreign Service annuitants. Establishes a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands-only lawful permanent resident status for certain long-term Commonwealth legal residents. Authorizes such aliens to receive an immigrant visa or to adjust to lawful permanent (U.S.) resident status. Subtitle B: Agricultural Worker Program - Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2013 - Confers "blue card status" upon an alien who: (1) has performed specified periods of U.S. agricultural employment or is a qualifying alien's spouse or child, (2) applied for such status during the application period, and (3) is not ineligible under the grounds applicable to RPI aliens. Sets forth protections for aliens apprehended before or during the application period, or in removal proceedings. Permits qualified nonimmigrants who have participated in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program to apply from outside the United States. Prohibits the Secretary from granting blue card status unless the individual submits eligibility-related security and law enforcement biometric and biographic data. States that blue card status expires eight years after the date on which final blue card regulations are published. Establishes a processing fee for persons 16 years or old. Enumerates grounds under which the Secretary may revoke blue card status. Makes a blue card alien ineligible for any federal means-tested benefit. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust to RPI the status of an alien who has been granted blue card status if the alien is unable to fulfill the agricultural service requirement. Directs the Secretary to adjust a blue card alien (and spouse and children) to permanent resident status if the alien has fulfilled specified periods of agricultural employment. Requires payment of: (1) a $400 fine, and (2) any federal tax liability. Establishes criminal penalties for false application statements. Authorizes a blue card alien to correct certain social security records. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to create: (1) a W-3 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a written contract that specifies the wages, benefits, and working conditions of such full-time employment with a designated agricultural employer for a specified period of time; and (2) a W-4 nonimmigrant visa for an alien to perform agricultural services who has a full-time employment offer from a designated agricultural employer for such employment. Establishes the nonimmigrant agricultural (W-3 and W-4 visa) worker program. Establishes a program limit for the first five years which may be adjusted annually based upon demand and economic factors. Provides for a three-year period of admission with specified extension periods. Provides for worker portability. Prohibits derivative status for the spouses and children of program aliens. Excludes W-3 and W-4 workers from need-based federal financial assistance programs. Directs the Secretary to monitor program workers through E-Verify and an electronic monitoring system. Establishes a cut-off date for petitioning for H-2A temporary agricultural workers that is one year after the effective date of the regulations implementing the agricultural worker program under this Act. Subjects specified benefits programs to quarterly fraud investigations. Subtitle C: Future Immigration - Establishes a merit-based and points immigrant admissions system. Provides for: (1) 120,000 admissions per fiscal year, annual increases based upon specified admissions and employment conditions, and a maximum admissions cap of 250,000; (2) recapture of unused visas; and (3) lawful permanent resident status for such entrants. Provides that: (1) for FY2015-FY2017 the worldwide level of merit-based immigrant visas shall be available for skilled workers, professionals, and certain other workers; and (2) for subsequent fiscal years preference will be given to tier 1 and tier 2 aliens based upon a point allocation system. Awards tier 1 and tier 2 points to applicants for specified criteria. Establishes a $1,500 visa fee in addition to any application processing fee. Makes specified employment- and family-based applicants and long-term workers eligible for merit-based immigrant visas. Repeals the diversity immigrant program as of October 1, 2014. Permits aliens selected for FY2013 or FY2014 to retain program eligibility. Sets forth worldwide levels of employment- and family-based immigrants. Includes the spouse or minor child of a lawful permanent resident alien in the definition of "immediate family." Eliminates the per-country limit for employment-based immigrants and increases the per-country limit for family-based immigrants. Revises family-based immigrant visa allocations for: (1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, (2) married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens (requires that they be under 31 years old at time of filing), and (3) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. lawful permanent residents. Eliminates the visa category for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Exempts certain aliens from numerical limitations. Includes a community adversely affected by a recommendation of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission as a targeted employment area for purposes of certain employment creation visa set-asides. Revises nonimmigrant V-visa (spouses and children of lawful permanent residents coming to the United States to wait for completion of the immigrant visa process) requirements. Makes fiances of lawful permanent residents eligible for a nonimmigrant K-visa (fiance or fiancee). Redefines "child" for purposes of titles I and II of INA to include a stepchild under 21 years old. Permits children under 18 years old to be adopted. Provides specified relief for orphans and spouses. Authorizes an immigration judge to terminate removal proceedings. Revises waiver of inadmissibility requirements, including waiving inadmissibility for certain persons who entered the United States before age 16 who have earned a degree from a U.S. institution of higher education. Considers a lawful permanent resident alien (and spouse or child) who is a doctor or health care worker residing in an eligible country and working in such capacity to be physically present and residing in the United States for naturalization purposes. Extends the Iraqi special immigrant visa program and the Afghan special immigrant visa program. Makes the special immigrant non-minister religious worker and the EB-5 regional center programs permanent. Provides discretionary special immigrant status for the surviving spouse or child of a U.S. government employee killed abroad in the line of duty who had performed faithful service for at least 15 years. Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act - Exempts from worldwide or numerical limitations on immigrant visas the sons and daughters of a U.S. citizen and a parent who was a Filipino World War II veteran who was naturalized under the Immigration Act of 1990 or other specified federal law. Subtitle D: Conrad State 30 and Physician Access - Makes permanent the J-1 visa waiver program (Conrad state 30/medical services in underserved areas). Excludes from numerical immigration limitations any alien physicians who have completed national interest waiver requirements by working in a health care shortage area (including alien physicians who completed such service before enactment of this Act and their spouse and children). Sets forth specified employment protections and contract requirements for alien physicians working in underserved areas. Increases the number of alien physicians that may be allocated to a state. Provides for: (1) additional increases or decreases based upon demand, and (2) up to three visa waivers per fiscal year per state for physicians in academic medical centers. Subtitle E: Integration - Renames the DHS Office of Citizenship as the Office of Citizenship and New Americans. Revises Office functions. Establishes a Task Force on New Americans which shall establish a coordinated federal program and policy response to immigrant integration issues. Authorizes the Secretary, through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to: (1) establish the United States Citizenship Foundation to expand citizenship preparation programs, and (2) award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for immigration integration programs. Establishes a pilot program of grants to states, local governments, or other qualifying entities to carry out immigrant integration programs, or to establish New Immigrant Councils to carry out such programs. Waives with respect to naturalization: (1) English language and civics requirements for persons over age 65 who have lived in the United States for at least 5 years as lawful permanent residents, and (2) the English language requirement for persons over age 60 who have lived in the United States for at least 10 years as lawful permanent residents. Prohibits the Secretary, before October 1, 2020, from requiring an applicant or petitioner for permanent residence or citizenship to use an electronic method to file an application or access a customer account. Makes certain battered aliens eligible for housing assistance. Amends the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, regarding naturalization of an alien child adopted by a U.S. citizen, to: (1) apply its requirements to any individual who satisfies requirements for naturalization, regardless of the date on which they were satisfied; (2) permit one parent to satisfy the preadoption visitation requirement; (3) grant automatic citizenship to a child in the legal custody of the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission; and (4) provide for the naturalization of adopted children who lack legal status or physical presence in the United States. Applies these amendments to any child adopted by a U.S. citizen regardless of the date of the adoption. Title III: Interior Enforcement - Subtitle A: Employment Verification System - Prohibits an employer from: (1) hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee any alien who is not authorized to work in the United States; (2) failing to comply with E-Verify or document requirements; or (2) continuing to employ an unauthorized alien. Provides a good faith defense for an employer who has complied with document and E-Verify requirements. Sets forth: (1) employer and employee document requirements, and (2) employer penalties and civil rights protections. Sets forth E-Verify participation deadlines for federal agencies and departments, federal contractors, employers, agricultural laborers, tribal employers, and all other employers. Sets forth E-Verify program requirements. Declares that failure to participate in E-Verify shall constitute a civil violation. States that E-Verify remains in effect during the period of transition as provided for by this Act. Requires that within five years all Social Security cards issued shall be fraud-, tamper-, wear-, and identity theft-resistant. Makes specified forms of Social Security fraud punishable by fine, up to five years' imprisonment, or both. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (SSA) to establish a secure method to check specified employee data against SSA data in order to confirm identity and employment eligibility. Prohibits the release of tax return information except as authorized by the Internal Revenue Code. Makes it an unfair immigration-related employment practice, with specified exceptions, for a person, entity, or employment agency to discriminate based upon an individual's national origin or citizenship status with respect to hiring, firing, or verifying employment eligibility. Establishes within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the Office of the Small Business and Employee Advocate to assist small businesses and individuals comply with alien employment requirements. Subtitle B: Protecting United States Workers - Expands the U-visa (crime victims) category to include aliens who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse or harm, or who would suffer extreme hardship upon removal, as a result of having been a victim of the following covered violations: (1) certain workplace abuses, (2) slavery or trafficking in persons, or (3) deprivation of due process or constitutional rights. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Establishes in the Treasury the Interior Enforcement Account. Establishes: (1) a mandatory exit data system that shall include data collection from machine-readable visas, passports, and other travel and entry documents for all aliens exiting the United States from air and sea ports of entry; (2) a mandatory biometric exit data system at the 10 U.S. airports that support the highest volume of international air travel; and (3) a mandatory biometric exit data system at the Core 30 international airports in the United States. Directs the Secretary to implement an interoperable electronic data system to access database information from federal law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community for purposes of visa issuance, admissibility, or deportability. Requires an appropriate official of each commercial aircraft or vessel departing from the United States to any port or place outside the United States to ensure transmission to CBP of identity-theft resistant departure manifest information covering alien passengers, crew, and non-crew. Prohibits, with national security and specific suspect exceptions, federal law enforcement officers from using race or ethnicity in making routine law enforcement decisions. Increases penalties for cultivating or manufacturing controlled substances on federal property. Provides additional penalties under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for: (1) the use of hazardous substances on federal land, and (2) the use or possession of firearms in connection with drug offenses on federal land. Subtitle D: Asylum and Refugee Provisions - Eliminates the one-year time limit for filing an asylum claim. Permits reopening a claim denied because of failure to file within one year. Authorizes the spouse or child of a refugee or asylee to bring his or her accompanying or joining child into the United States as a refugee or asylee. Terminates the waiver of specified visa requirements for certain aliens who were born and reside in Vietnam and who were fathered by a U.S. citizen. Authorizes the President to designate refugee groups. Authorizes: (1) the Secretary to designate specific groups of individuals as stateless persons, and (2) the Secretary or the Attorney General to provide conditional lawful status to a qualifying stateless person and adjust such person to lawful permanent resident status after one year. Sets forth protections for stateless persons in the United States. Increases the number of annual U-visas. Provides employment authorization for nonimmigrant U-visa and T-visa (trafficking victim) aliens whose applications are pending. Prohibits an alien from being admitted as a refugee or asylee until such person's identity has been checked against all appropriate databases. Tibetan Refugee Assistance Act of 2013 - Makes 5,000 immigrant visas available in FY2014-FY2016 for individuals born in Tibet who have been continuously residing in India or Nepal. Terminates the refugee or asylee status of an alien who: (1) without good cause returns to the alien's country of nationality or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, returns to the country in which the alien last habitually resided; and (2) applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Makes such provision inapplicable to an alien eligible for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status pursuant to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. Subtitle E: Shortage of Immigration Court Resources for Removal Proceedings - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) increase the number of immigration court judges, support staff, and Immigration Board of Appeals staff attorneys; and (2) appoint counsel in certain removal proceedings involving an unaccompanied child, an individual with a serious mental disability, or a particularly vulnerable individual. Establishes within the Executive Office for Immigration Review an Office of Legal Access Programs to educate aliens regarding administrative procedures and legal rights. Subtitle F: Prevention of Trafficking in Persons and Abuses Involving Workers Recruited Abroad - Requires any person who engages in foreign labor contracting to disclose in writing in English and in the primary language of the worker being recruited specified information, including the identity of the employer and the recruiter, worker protections, and a signed copy of the work contract. Prohibits any person who engages in foreign labor contracting from discriminating in hiring. Prohibits certain recruitment fees. Requires a foreign labor contractor to register with the Secretary of Labor. Establishes a registration fee. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) maintain a list of all foreign labor contractors registered and a list of all foreign labor contractors whose registration has been revoked, and (2) establish a process for complaint investigation. Sets forth administrative and civil action enforcement requirements. Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act - Directs the Secretary to require the appropriate training of all personnel who come into contact with unaccompanied alien children. Sets forth child protection requirements. Directs the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement a best practices program to ensure the safe repatriation and reintegration of unaccompanied alien children into their country of nationality or of last habitual residence. Subtitle G: Interior Enforcement - Makes an alien who has been convicted of an offense for which an element was active and knowing participation in a criminal street gang inadmissible and deportable. Makes an alien: (1) inadmissible who is physically outside the United States and since the age of 18 knowingly participated in a criminal street gang, or (2) who is at least 18 years old ineligible for RPI status for criminal street gang activities. Makes an alien who has been convicted three or more times for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated inadmissible and deportable. Revises the definition of "aggravated felony" regarding the evidentiary determination of minority in instances of murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor. Revises criminal penalty and related affirmative defense requirements regarding illegal entry and reentry. Increases monetary penalties for owners and operators of vessels and aircraft regarding stowaways and execution of removal orders. Amends the federal criminal code to revise and increase criminal penalties for passport, visa, and immigration fraud. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action to enjoin any fraudulent immigration service provider from continuing to provide services that substantially interfere with the administration of the immigration laws or from continuing to willfully misrepresent such provider's legal authority to provide representation. Makes an alien convicted of a passport or visa violation under the federal criminal code inadmissible and removable. Makes certain aliens inadmissible who: (1) refuse to comply with a lawful request for biometric information; or (2) have been convicted of a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or are in violation of a domestic protection order. Prohibits an individual acting for financial gain from directing or participating in an effort to bring or attempt to bring five or more persons unlawfully into the United States. Establishes and increases monetary and/or prison penalties for such actions. Makes it a crime to transmit to another person the location, movement, or activities of law enforcement agents while intending to further an immigration-related crime. Prohibits the carrying or use of a firearm in an alien smuggling crime. Eliminates the provision permitting a U.S. national to renounce his or her citizenship during wartime. Authorizes special agents of the Department and the Foreign Service to investigate illegal passport or visa issuance or use, identity theft, document fraud, human trafficking, peonage, and federal offenses committed within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to use secure alternatives programs to maintain custody over detained aliens, except for terrorist aliens. Sets forth detention facility oversight requirements. Revises bond hearing and notice to appear requirements. Limits the use of solitary confinement, prohibiting it for persons younger than age 18. Directs the Secretary of State to prohibit visas to persons of a country whose government denies or unreasonably delays accepting back their citizens, subjects, nationals, or residents. Makes inadmissible an alien who has committed acts of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes, or systematic attacks on civilians. Subtitle H: Protection of Children Affected by Immigration Enforcement - Humane Enforcement and Legal Protections for Separated Children Act or HELP Separated Children Act - Sets forth apprehension procedures for DHS and cooperating entity immigration enforcement-related activities. Requires DHS detention centers to provide for access to children, child welfare agencies, courts, and consular officials. Title IV: Reforms to Nonimmigrant Visa Programs - Subtitle A: Employment-based Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes: (1) a nonimmigrant H-1B visa (specialty occupation) cap of 115,000 for the fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, and (2) a minimum of 115,000 visas and a maximum of 180,000 visas in subsequent years based upon market conditions. Sets forth fiscal year cap increases and decreases. Limits the exemption from H-1B numerical limitations to STEM occupations and increases the annual STEM allocation to 25,000. Authorizes an H-1B or L-visa (intra-company transferee) spouse to work if he or she is the national of a country that permits reciprocal employment. Provides deference to prior H-1B or L-visa adjudications involving the same employer and nonimmigrant absent material error, changed circumstances, or new information adversely affecting eligibility. Provides a 60-day lawful status period for an H-1B alien whose employment is terminated. Authorizes: (1) visa revalidation within the United States for specified nonimmigrant visa categories, and (2) waiver of consular interviews for low-risk applicants. Establishes in the Treasury the STEM Education and Training Account. Requires employers to submit a $1,000 fee along with an application for a certification. Sets aside specified amounts for: (1) a low-income STEM scholarship program, (2) K-12 STEM education, and (3) STEM capacity building at minority-serving institutions. Authorizes grants to eligible entities for American Dream Accounts for a group of low-income students. Requires an employer (except for nonprofit research institutions and nonprofit educational institutions) filing a petition to hire H-1B or L-visa aliens to pay a fee of: (1) $1,250 for each petition filed by any employer with not more than 25 full-time U.S. employees, and (2) $2,500 for each petition filed by any employer with more than 25 such employees. Subtitle B: H-1B Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Revises H-1B requirements for employer applications and application reviews. Revises requirements regarding (H-1C visa) nonimmigrant nurses in health professional shortage areas to: (1) permit a one-time three-year extension of admission, (2) reduce the maximum number of visas per fiscal year, and (3) authorize such a nonimmigrant to accept new employment as a registered nurse at any H-1C-qualifying facility. Prohibits an employer (other than an educational or research employer) that employs 50 or more employees in the United States from hiring additional H-1B or L-visa employees if the number of such employees exceeds specified limits. Revises H-1B employer complaint requirements. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish an H-1B recruitment website. Establishes: (1) specified filing fees for H-1B-dependent employers, and (2) a fee for premium processing of employment-based immigrant petitions. Revises portability requirements for beneficiaries of immigrant petitions. Subtitle C: L Visa Fraud and Abuse Protections - Prohibits outplacement of L-1 visa workers (employees of an international company with offices in the United States and abroad) by certain employers. Authorizes and enumerates the requirements for: (1) outplacement of L-visa nonimmigrants, including payment of a $500 fee; and (2) 12-month approvals of new office L-visa petitions. Sets forth L-visa filing fee requirements for certain employers. Authorizes the Secretary to initiate complaints against L-visa employers. Sets forth related penalty requirements. Requires DHS to report to Congress regarding the use of L-visa blanket petitions. Subtitle D: Other Nonimmigrant Visas - Authorizes dual intent for F-1 visa foreign students, including students who commute from Canada or Mexico to study in the United States. Revises the nonimmigrant E-visa (treaty trader) category to: (1) include aliens seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a bilateral investment treaty or a free trade agreement, (2) establish an E-4 visa for specialty occupation workers (other than from Chile, Singapore, or Australia) to enter the United States pursuant to a free trade agreement, (3) establish an E-5 visa for specialty occupation workers who are nationals of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and (4) establish an E-6 visa for qualifying workers who are nationals of certain sub-Saharan African or Caribbean Basin countries. Includes in the nonimmigrant E-3 visa category certain nationals of Ireland coming to the United States under a treaty of commerce to perform specialty occupation services. Extends portability to certain nonimmigrant O-1 visa holders (extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry). Permits specified nonimmigrant aliens granted employment authorization to continue employment with the same employer while an extension of stay application is adjudicated. Eliminates the 12-month attendance limit for elementary and secondary foreign students. Requires employers/sponsors to pay a $500 fee for each J-1 visa (cultural exchange visitor) alien admitted under the summer work travel program. Includes in the J-1 visa category persons coming to the United States to perform work involving a specialized knowledge or skill that requires proficiency in a language spoken in countries of which fewer than 5,000 nationals were lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the previous year. Establishes a $100 nonimmigrant F-1 (foreign student) visa fee. Directs the Secretary of State to develop a pilot program for processing B-visas (business or tourist visitors) using secure remote videoconferencing technology to conduct applicant interviews. Grants the Secretary of State access to all terrorism records and databases maintained by any U.S. agency or department in order to determine whether an applicant for admission poses a security threat. Authorizes the head of an agency or department to withhold such access if necessary to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information that identifies intelligence or sensitive law enforcement sources, methods, or activities. Requires every alien applying for U.S. admission to submit to biographic and biometric screening to determine whether the alien is listed in any U.S. terrorist watch list or database. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the entry of a listed person. Requires that notice of a revoked visa be immediately provided to the relevant consular officers, law enforcement, terrorist screening databases, and DHS port inspectors. Defines "abused derivative alien" as the spouse or child accompanying or joining a principal alien who has been subjected to the principal alien's battery or extreme cruelty. Directs the Secretary to grant or extend the admission status of an abused derivative alien for the longer of the same period for which the principal alien was admitted, or three years. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust the status of an abused derivative alien to that of a lawful permanent resident. Considers an alien crewman to have departed from Hawaii, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after leaving its territorial waters without regard to whether the alien arrives in a foreign state before returning to Hawaii, Guam, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Makes citizens of the Compact of Free Association States (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau) lawfully residing in the United States eligible for Medicaid. Subtitle E: JOLT Act - Jobs Originated through Launching Travel Act of 2013 or JOLT Act of 2013 - Establishes a pilot fee-based premium processing service to expedite visa interview appointments. Authorizes the admission into the United States of a qualifying Canadian citizen over age 55 and spouse (who is not required to be over age 55) for a period not to exceed 240 days in any 365-day period who maintains a Canadian residence and owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of such stay. Prohibits U.S. employment. Establishes a nonimmigrant Y-visa for: (1) an alien who invests (and maintains) at least $500,000 in U.S. residential real estate, of which at least $250,000 must be for a U.S. primary residence where such person will reside for more than 180 days per year; and (2) such alien's accompanying or joining spouse and children. Requires a Y-visa alien to: (1) be at least 55 years old, (2) have purchased a qualifying residence, (3) not need public assistance, (4) possess health insurance, (5) live in the United States for more than 180 days per year, and (6) pay a $1,000 fee. Limits U.S. employment. Directs the Secretary to make available each month data for the previous two years regarding visa appointment availability for each visa processing post to allow applicants to identify periods when wait times may be shorter. Revises the visa waiver program to authorize the Secretary (in lieu of the Attorney General) to designate any country as a program country if it provides machine-readable passports and the visa refusal rate and overstay rate for nationals of that country were both not more than 3% in the previous fiscal year. Directs: (1) the Comptroller General (GAO) to review the Secretary's methods of tracking entering and exiting aliens and detecting overstays, and (2) the Secretary to evaluate the security risks of aliens entering the United States without an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization verification. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary, in conducting evaluations of visa waiver countries, should prioritize reviews of countries in which such review is necessary or desirable. Makes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (PRC) eligible for program country designation. Authorizes the inclusion in registered traveler programs of individuals who meet security requirements and are employed and sponsored by an international organization which maintains a strong working relationship with the United States. Prohibits enrollment of an individual who is a citizen of a state sponsor of terror. Requires U.S. diplomatic and consular missions to: (1) conduct nonimmigrant visa application interviews expeditiously, consistent with national security and resource allocation considerations; and (2) explore expanding visa processing capacity in China and Brazil. Establishes a $5 B-visa fee. Subtitle F: Reforms to the H-2B Visa Program - Exempts returning workers from the nonimmigrant H-2B visa (temporary nonagricultural services) annual numerical limitations through FY2018. Sets forth H-2B employer requirements, including payment of a $500 labor certification application fee. Authorizes the temporary nonimmigrant admission of: (1) multinational executives, managers, and multinational company employees coming for work-related purposes; and (2) certain relief workers coming in response to a federal or state declared disaster. Authorizes a B-visa alien to accept certain honorarium payments and associated incidental expenses. Establishes a temporary nonimmigrant Z-visa for certain aliens coming to perform health and safety-related maintenance or repairs for common carriers on equipment or machinery manufactured outside of the United States. Establishes a $500 fee for each such alien. American Jobs in American Forests Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Labor, as a component of the H-2B (temporary nonagricultural workers) labor certification process for forestry employment, to take specified actions to recruit U.S. workers before hiring H-2B workers. Subtitle G: W Nonimmigrant Visas - Establishes the Bureau of Immigration and Labor Market Research which shall devise a methodology to: (1) determine the annual change to the nonimmigrant W-visa cap and use such methodology to set such caps, and and (2) designate shortage occupations by job zone. Establishes: (1) a nonimmigrant W-1 visa for an alien having a foreign residence who is coming to the United States to perform services or labor for a registered employer in a registered position, and (2) a nonimmigrant W-2 visa for such alien's accompanying or joining spouse or children. Provides that: (1) a certified alien may be granted W-visa status for an initial three-year period, with additional three-year extensions which may be made while in the United States; and (2) a W-visa alien must leave the United States if unemployed for more than 60 consecutive days. Requires an employer to pay a registered employer application fee. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) employer eligibility, registration, U.S. worker recruitment requirements,and related requirements; (2) W-visa nonimmigrant protections; (3) eligible and ineligible occupations; (4) fees; (5) enforcement; and (6) annual admission limits. Subtitle H: Investing in New Venture, Entrepreneurial Startups, and Technologies - Establishes a nonimmigrant X-visa for a qualified entrepreneur: (1) who has secured at least $100,000 in investments from an accredited investor, venture capitalist, or government entity for such alien's U.S. business; or (2) whose U.S. business has created at least three qualified jobs during the previous two years and has generated at least $250,000 in annual revenue in the United States. Provides for an initial three-year period of authorized admission with specified extension periods. Establishes a $1,000 X-visa fee. Establishes an EB-6 immigrant investor visa (capped at 10,000 per year) for qualifying entrepreneur aliens (including aliens with advanced STEM degrees) living in the United States whose U.S. business has met specified job creation, revenue, and/or venture capital or investment requirements. Makes the EB-5 visa (alien investor) regional center program permanent. Authorizes a commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center to file a preapproval petition. Authorizes a related premium processing (and fee) option. Authorizes termination of a previously approved regional center if persons in positions of authority have been involved in criminal, trafficking, espionage, or terrorist activity. Requires regional center compliance with securities laws. Terminates the status of an alien (and the alien's spouse and children) with conditional permanent resident status who is an employee of a federal national security, science and technology laboratory, center, or agency if the Secretary determines within one year of granting such status that: (1) the qualifying employment was intended as a means to evade U.S. immigration laws; (2) the alien has not completed, or is not likely to complete, the 12-month employment requirement; or (3) the alien was not meeting status requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to require an employment-based immigrant to pay an additional fee for a petition that includes the alien's spouse and child or children. Exempts spouses and children of EB-5 employment-based immigrants from EB-5 admissions limits. Increases the fiscal year EB-5 set-aside for qualified immigrants who invest in a new commercial enterprise which is investing capital and will create employment in a targeted employment area (TEA). Designates TEAs for a five-year renewable period. Authorizes concurrent filing of EB-5 petitions and applications for status adjustment to conditional lawful permanent resident Subtitle I: Student and Exchange Visitor Programs - Student Visa Integrity Act - Subjects to fine and a 15-year prison term an owner, official, employee, or agent of an educational institution who commits fraud or misuse of visas, permits, and other immigration documents in connection with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). Requires academic institutions (other than seminaries or other religious institutions) to be accredited for F-visa purposes if: (1) the institution is not already required to be accredited, and (2) an accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education is able to provide such accreditation. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a monetary fine and suspend authority to issue a Form I-20 with regard to an institution that fails to comply with the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) reporting requirements. Authorizes the Secretary, upon reasonable suspicion that an owner of, or a designated school official at, an approved institution of higher education, another educational institution, or a designated exchange visitor program, has committed SEVP-related fraud, to suspend: (1) SEVP certification, and (2) such official's or such school's SEVIS access. Disqualifies permanently an owner or school official who is convicted of SEVP-related fraud from filing future petitions and from having an ownership interest or a management role in any U.S. educational institution that enrolls nonimmigrant alien students or nonimmigrant alien vocational students. Prohibits an individual from serving as a designated school official or from being granted SEVIS access unless the individual: (1) is a U.S. national or a lawful permanent resident alien who, during the most recent three-year period, has undergone a specified background check; and (2) has completed SEVP and SEVIS training. Authorizes the Secretary to collect a fee for each such security check. Prohibits any U.S. flight school from accessing SEVIS or issuing a Form I-20 to an alien seeking a student or vocational student visa if the flight school has not been certified to the satisfaction of the Secretary and by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Requires: (1) an accrediting agency, at the time it is required to notify the Secretary of Education and the appropriate state licensing agency of the final denial, withdrawal, suspension, or termination of an institution's accreditation, to notify the Secretary of such determination; and (2) the Secretary to withdraw the school from SEVP and prohibit the school from accessing SEVIS. Directs the Secretary to implement both phases of the second generation Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS II) within two years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2013
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act - Provides for compensation of federal employees furloughed due to any lapse in appropriations that begins on or about October 1, 2013, for the period of such lapse in appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2013
Benefits Fairness for Filipino Veterans Act of 2013 - Provides that, with respect to eligibility for benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of Filipino veterans who are lawful U.S. residents, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not determine that such a person is not an individual residing in the United States solely because the person is outside the United States for any period of less than one year.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2013
Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act of 2013 - Authorizes the President to provide assistance to: (1) support the achievement of universal access to sexual and reproductive health in developing countries and to ensure that individuals and couples can freely and responsibly determine the number, timing, and spacing of their children and have the means to do so; (2) reduce the incidence of unsafe abortion in developing countries and provide care for women experiencing injury or illness from complications of unsafe abortion; (3) ensure that sexual and reproductive health services are provided in developing countries at every phase of a humanitarian emergency; and (4) ensure access to sexual and reproductive health care for young people in developing countries. Directs the President to implement a strategy to improve and create linkages among the various components of sexual and reproductive health to ensure that individual men and women are provided with a continuum of appropriate sexual and reproductive health services. States that assistance under this Act shall: (1) promote coordination between and among donors, the private sector, nongovernmental and civil society organizations, and governments in order to support sexual and reproductive health programs in developing countries; and (2) be used for the conduct of formative research and to monitor and evaluate program effectiveness.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2013
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) achievement of a two-state solution that enhances stability and security in the Middle East can ensure Israel's survival as a secure Jewish and democratic state and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own; and (2) while the United States remains indispensable to any viable effort to achieve that goal, only the Israelis and the Palestinians can make the choices necessary to end their conflict. Commends Secretary of State Kerry for his efforts with Israeli, Palestinian, and other Arab leaders to advance a negotiated two-state solution. Supports a U.S. diplomatic initiative to facilitate direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, with the support of other Arab states and the international community, to reach an agreement to end their conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2013
Battlefield Excellence through Superior Training Practices Act or the BEST Practices Act - Requires the Secretary of Defense (DOD), no later than: (1) October 1, 2016, to develop, test, and validate human-based training methods for training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment of combat trauma injuries, with the goal of replacing live animal-based training methods; and (2) October 1, 2018, to use only use human-based training methods for such purposes. Prohibits the use of animals in such training after the latter date. Requires an annual report from the Secretary to the congressional defense committees on the development and implementation of the human-based training methods.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2013 - Amends provisions of federal civil service law to extend employment-related and retirement benefits to domestic partners of federal employees and to set forth requirements for establishing and terminating a domestic partnership, including the filing of an affidavit attesting to the existence and legitimacy of the partnership. Modifies provisions relating to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) to extend eligibility for annuity and survivor benefits to current and former domestic partners of federal employees on the same basis as married employees. Requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to prescribe regulations to provide that domestic partners and former domestic partners shall be considered as spouses or former spouses for purposes of creditable service determinations under CSRS and FERS. Makes domestic partners of federal employees eligible for: (1) the federal employee group life insurance (FEGLI) program, (2) federal employees health benefits (FEHB), (3) dental and vision benefit plans, and (4) long-term care insurance coverage. Grants the head of an federal agency authority to reimburse an employee for taxes incurred by the domestic partner of such employee for travel, transportation, or relocation expense reimbursements. Modifies provisions of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) to make domestic partners of federal employees eligible for worker compensation benefits under such Act. Adds "domestic partner" to the list of relatives subject to restrictions on federal employment of relatives and related prohibitions. Includes a biological, adopted, or foster child of a domestic partner as a "son or daughter" for purposes of federal employee family and medical leave provisions. Allows a federal employee family and medical leave to care for a domestic partner. Requires the President to prescribe regulations necessary to ensure that specified provisions relating to the following are administered in a manner consistent with the purposes of this Act: (1) the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993; (2) travel, transportation, and related payments and benefits under the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and for civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DOD); (3) certain benefits for members of the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and (4) benefits related to federal employees or annuitants and benefits necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to make provisions of that Act applicable to domestic partners of federal employees to the same extent as married employees, including provisions relating to financial disclosure, government-wide limitations on outside earned income and employment, gifts to superiors and to federal employees, bribery, acceptance of travel expenses from nonfederal sources, taxes on self-dealing, and disqualification of a justice, judge, or magistrate judge. Requires reporting by: (1) the President on the implementation of this Act, and (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the effect of this Act on premiums or other periodic charges under FEHB and the impact of extending benefits to domestic partners on federal employee retention and recruitment efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2013
Freedom and Mobility in Consumer Banking Act - Amends the Truth in Savings Act to prohibit depository institutions from: (1) prohibiting a consumer from closing a covered account (a checking, savings, or any other account that the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection [CFPB] may include), regardless of whether the balance is positive, zero, or negative; (2) charging any fee to close such account; or (3) reopening such an account to apply subsequent debits after a consumer has requested the account to be closed, unless the consumer requests that the account be reopened. Requires depository institutions to provide consumers with a description of the policies and procedures in place to close such accounts at the time the account is opened, upon request, and on the websites of such institutions. Directs the CFPB to prescribe regulations relating to the closure of such accounts, including: (1) allowing consumers to receive available funds from a closed account in the form of a cashier's check, electronic funds transfer, or any other means offered by the institution or determined appropriate by the CFPB; (2) requiring depository institutions to provide consumers with certain information regarding any preauthorized transactions or direct deposits associated with an account before it is closed; (3) prohibiting a depository institution from reporting adverse information regarding such account to any consumer reporting agency if, at the time the account is closed, the account has a negative balance resulting solely from any fee assessed by the depository institution; and (4) establishing the terms under which a depository institution may report to a consumer reporting agency that an account had a negative closing balance, provided that the institution notifies the consumer and provides a reasonable period for repayment of the balance. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to report to Congress and the CFPB regarding additional barriers that could limit the ability of a consumer to close a covered account. Requires the CFPB, after receiving such report, to determine whether regulations should be issued to remove such barriers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2013
Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of 2013 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to cover dental services. Increases the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for funding under Medicaid for dental services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to maintain a database containing information on each state regarding dental benefits available for adults enrolled in the state Medicaid program. Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish, revise, and extend funding for grant programs for: (1) educating nondental medical and other professionals about oral health care; (2) providing dental services in hospital emergency rooms or in community settings; (3) providing scholarships and education loans for dental therapists and oral health professional students; (4) providing comprehensive oral health services to low-income individuals and individuals in underserved areas; (5) building, operating, or expanding dental clinics in schools; (6) funding research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent and manage oral health diseases; and (7) providing rural health clinics with mobile and portable, comprehensive dental services, including dentures, and outreach for senior-care facilities and facilities that provide federal health care and nutrition benefits for women and children. Authorizes appropriations for community based dental residencies. Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to declare oral health services to be an essential health benefit. Removes restrictions on the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide dental care to veterans (thereby requiring such care on the same basis as other VA-provided medical care and services). Authorizes the VA to carry out a demonstration program to train and employ alternative dental health care providers in order to increase access to dental health care services for veterans in rural and other underserved communities. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to carry out a similar demonstration program to train and employ such providers in order to increase access to those dental services for members of the Armed Forces and their dependents who lack ready access to such services. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to carry out a demonstration program to establish programs to train and employ alternative dental health care providers to increase access to dental health services for prisoners within the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. Allows dental services provided under the demonstration program to be administered by alternative dental health care providers and any other dental care providers who are licensed to provided clinical care, through telehealth-enabled collaboration and supervision. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS, through the Indian Health Service (IHS), to carry out a demonstration program to establish programs to train and employ alternative dental health care providers to help eliminate oral health disparities and increase access to dental services through health programs operated by the IHS, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations. Allows dental services provided under the demonstration program to be administered by alternative dental health care providers and any other dental care providers licensed to provided clinical care, through telehealth-enabled collaboration and supervision. Directs the Secretary of HHS to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the expansion of dental service coverage pursuant to this Act, including whether it resulted in a reduction in total health care costs for individuals under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of: (1) the implementation and utilization of expanded dental service coverage under this Act for individuals enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid, and (2) the demonstration programs authorized by this Act for the training and employment of alternative dental health care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2013
Protect Patients Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to subject to civil monetary penalties any psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric units determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to have in place a discharge planning process meeting certain requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter into a system improvement agreement, meeting specified criteria,with a psychiatric hospital or a psychiatric unit that has been determined on multiple occasions not to have such a discharge planning process in place; and (2) appoint temporary management to oversee its operation in the event that the hospital or unit still fails to have a sufficient discharge planning process in place 45 days after entering into such an agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2013
Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe special rules for the determination of taxable wages and self-employment income above the contribution and benefit base after 2013. Amends SSA title II to include surplus average indexed monthly earnings (AIME) in the determination of primary OASDI amounts. Directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the Department of Labor to prepare and publish the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-EC) that indicates changes over time in expenditures for consumption which are typical for individuals in the United States who have attained early retirement age for purposes of an old-age, wife's, or husband's insurance benefit. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to make the CPI-EC the applicable Consumer Price Index (CPI) for computation of cost-of-living increases in OASDI benefits for such individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2013
Extend Not Cut SNAP Benefits Act - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend the benefit calculation of 113.6 % of the June 2008 value of the thrifty food plan for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) and the consolidated block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa until September 30, 2016, or the first date on which the value of the thrifty food plan equals or exceeds 113.6 % of the June 2008 value.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2013
Intelligence Oversight and Accountability Act of 2013 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to revise congressional reporting requirements with respect to FISA court decisions. Requires the Attorney General (DOJ), within 45 days after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review issues a decision, order, or opinion that includes a denial or modification of a request for an order, or that results in a change of application or a new application of FISA, to submit to Congress a copy of such decision and any associated pleadings, applications, or memoranda of law. (Currently, the Attorney General submits such materials only with respect to decisions that the Attorney General determines are a significant construction or interpretation of FISA.) Directs the Attorney General to include with such court documents a brief statement (a summary) of the relevant background factual information, questions of law, legal analysis, and decision rendered.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2013
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3349 West 111th Street in Chicago, Illinois, as the "Captain Herbert Johnson Memorial Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2013
Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging to: (1) ensure that all programs funded under such Act include appropriate training in elder abuse prevention and the provision of services that address elder justice and exploitation, and (2) update periodically the need for and benefit of such training related to prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation (including financial exploitation) of older adults. Makes it a duty and function of the Administration on Aging to: (1) establish priority information and assistance services for older individuals; (2) ensure full collaboration between all governmental information and assistance systems that serve older individuals; and (3) develop a National Eldercare Locator Service, with a nationwide toll free number. Directs the Assistant Secretary, by grant or contract with a national nonprofit entity, to establish a National Adult Protective Services Resources Center to improve the capacity of state and local adult protective services programs to: (1) respond effectively to abuse, neglect, and exploitation of vulnerable adults, including home care consumers and residents of long-term care facilities; and (2) coordinate with the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Requires each area plan to provide that the area agency on aging: (1) increases public awareness of elder abuse and financial exploitation, and removes barriers to elder abuse education, prevention, investigation, and treatment; (2) coordinates elder justice activities of the area agency on aging, community health centers, other public agencies, and nonprofit private organizations; (3) develops standardized, coordinated, and reporting protocols with respect to elder abuse; and (4) reports instances of elder abuse. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make grants to states under approved state plans for elder abuse and neglect screening. Requires a state operating a nutrition project to encourage individuals who distribute nutrition services to distribute information on diabetes, elder abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, and the annual Medicare wellness exam. Requires a state, an area agency on aging, a nonprofit organization, or a tribal organization that receives a grant for an older individuals' protection from violence project to use it to research and replicate successful models of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation prevention and training. Directs the Assistant Secretary to award grants and enter into contracts with eligible organizations to carry out projects to engage volunteers over 50 years of age in providing support and information to older adults (and their families or caretakers) who have experienced or are at risk of elder abuse. Allows a state to use funds under the National Family Caregiver Support Program to support the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2013
Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2013 - Requires the Attorney General's prior written approval for a federal prosecution of an offense under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) or the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA), or for any conspiracy to commit such an offense, where the offense involves the illegal distribution or possession of a controlled substance in an amount less than that specified as a minimum for an offense under CSA or, in the case of any substance containing cocaine or cocaine base, in an amount less than 500 grams. Modifies CSA and CSIEA to delete specified mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2013
Congressional Tribute to Constance Baker Motley Act of 2013 - Authorizes the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal in commemoration of Constance Baker Motley (civil rights attorney at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate, and Chief Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), in recognition of her enduring contributions and service to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Safe Freight Act - Prohibits the operation of a freight train or light locomotive engine used in the movement of freight unless it has a crew of at least two individuals, one of whom is certified by the Federal Railroad Administration as a locomotive operator and the other as a train conductor.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Social Security Equality Act of 2013 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to authorize the treatment of permanent partnerships between individuals of the same gender as marriage for purposes of determining entitlement to OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Supermarket Tax Credit for Underserved Areas Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the rate of the rehabilitation tax credit for a supermarket building placed in service after December 31, 2013, and before January 1, 2016, in an underserved area (i.e., any enterprise community or empowerment zone and any renewal community); (2) increase by $1,000 the the limit on wages eligible for the work opportunity tax credit for employees of a supermarket located in an underserved area; and (3) allow a business-related tax credit for 15% of the gross receipts from the retail sale of locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables in a supermarket in an underserved area.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Investor Choice Act of 2013 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to revise the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prohibit, or impose conditions or limitations on the use of, agreements that require customers or clients of any broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer to arbitrate any future dispute between them arising under the federal securities laws, related rules and regulations, or the rules of a self-regulatory organization if it finds that prohibition, imposition of conditions, or limitations are in the public interest and for the protection of investors. Declares unlawful for a broker, dealer, funding portal, or municipal securities dealer (entities) to enter into, modify, or extend an agreement with customers or clients governing a future dispute between the parties that would mandate arbitration. Declares likewise unlawful acts by such entities that would restrict, limit, or condition the ability of a customer or client to: (1) select or designate a forum for dispute resolution, or (2) pursue a claim relating to a dispute in an individual or representative capacity or on a class action or consolidated basis.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2014 the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of indebtedness on a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Smuggled Tobacco Prevention Act of 2013 or the STOP Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restrict the sale, lease, export or import, or delivery of tobacco production machines to persons lawfully engaged in: (1) the sale, lease, export or import, or delivery of such machines; (2) the manufacture or packaging of tobacco products or processed tobacco; or (3) the application of unique identification markings onto tobacco products or processed tobacco packages. Requires every person having possession or control of such machines to register then immediately with the Secretary upon installation. Defines "tobacco production machine" as a machine used to manufacture or package tobacco products or processed tobacco or to apply unique identification markings or other tax-payment indicia to packages of tobacco products or processed tobacco. Extends record keeping requirements to wholesalers and retailers of tobacco products and processed tobacco. Requires manufacturers and importers of tobacco products to affix a unique identification marking to each package of tobacco products or processed tobacco prior to sale or distribution in the United States or prior to export. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design a system of unique identification markings that does not interfere with state, local, or tribal tax stamps and markings and that provides a unique serial number or tracking code for each tobacco product. Requires wholesalers of tobacco products to obtain permits for selling or exporting tobacco products. Establishes new criminal offenses relating to the licensing and distribution of tobacco products or processed tobacco. Increases the civil penalty for tobacco-related infractions from $1,000 to $10,000. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with other federal agencies and officials to prevent and reduce tobacco tax evasion and contraband trafficking in tobacco products and processed tobacco. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose a civil penalty for the importation of tobacco products and cigarette papers and tubes by fraudulent means. Provides for the enforcement of this Act in Indian tribal areas.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Latin America Military Training Review Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army to suspend operation of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (Institute). Suspends the authority of the Secretary of Defense to operate such an education and training facility until submission of a report containing the results of an investigation in response to violations of human rights to which training at such Institute contributed. Establishes: (1) a joint congressional task force to assess appropriate education and training for DOD to provide to military personnel of Latin American nations, and (2) a commission to investigate activities of the United States Army School of the Americas and its successor institution, the Institute.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2013 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require states, in order to obtain primary enforcement responsibility for a state underground injection control program, to prohibit the underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities unless the person proposing to conduct the hydraulic fracturing operations agrees to conduct testing and report data in accordance with this Act. Directs regulations under such Act for state underground injection control programs to require any person conducting such hydraulic fracturing operations to: (1) conduct testing of underground sources of drinking water in accordance with sampling and testing requirements described in this Act, and (2) report to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the results of such testing. Exempts hydraulic fracturing operations from such testing and reporting requirements if there is no accessible underground source of drinking water within a radius of one mile of the site where the operations occur. Requires the Administrator to establish and maintain a publicly accessible and searchable database of such results.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2013
Condemns: (1) the attack that occurred at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on August 5, 2012; and (2) intolerance, including religious and racial discrimination, and calls for continued vigilance against violence. Honors the memory of Suveg Singh Khattra, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Ranjit Singh, Sita Singh, Paramjit Kaur, and Prakash Singh, who died in the attack. Applauds the bravery of Lieutenant Brian Murphy and other first responders who prevented the gunman from taking more lives and treated wounded individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise provisions concerning the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program to direct the Attorney General: (1) through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to award competitive grants to nonprofit organizations to assist in paying for the costs of planning, designing, establishing, and operating locally based, proactive programs to protect and locate missing patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; and (2) in awarding grants, to give preference to national nonprofit organizations that have experience working with patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias and their families. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY2014-FY2018.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Alzheimer's Caregiver Support Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to public and nonprofit private health care providers to expand training and support services for families and caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the initial U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Water and Development Strategy is a significant accomplishment and improves USAID's capacity to provide sustainable and effective water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance; and (2) the Secretary of State, through the Special Advisor for Water Resources, should develop a Global Water Resources Strategy relating to U.S. foreign policy water objectives. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct: (1) the Administrator to designate a Global Water Coordinator to coordinate and oversee water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance; and (2) the Secretary of State to designate a Special Advisor for Water Resources to coordinate and oversee policy relating to water, hygiene, and sanitation assistance. Sets forth principles to ensure that water, sanitation, and hygiene projects carried out under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 achieve maximum impact. Amends the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 to direct: (1) the President, through the Secretary, to develop a strategy every five years to further the U.S. foreign policy objective to provide affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries; and (2) the Administrator, through the Global Water Coordinator, to develop a complementary strategy to further the U.S. foreign assistance objective to provide affordable and equitable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene in developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal in honor of President Shimon Peres of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Runaway and Homeless Youth Inclusion Act of 2013 - Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to revise requirements for services provided under grants from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for centers for runaway and homeless youth and their families. Requires the plan proposed by grant applicants for a runaway and homeless youth center to: provide services to persons in a minority category related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, include demographics on the sexual orientation and gender identity or expression of the youth it serves within its statistical records, and serve youth in a manner that is culturally competent. Revises requirements for: transitional living programs for homeless youth to require such programs to serve them in a manner that is culturally competent, and sexual abuse prevention programs to require certification to HHS that these programs have systems in place to ensure services to all youth in such a manner. Requires the HHS report on periodic estimates of incidence and prevalence of youth homelessness to include data on the demographics of such individuals (except identity), including whether they are sexual and gender minority youth. Prohibits any person in the United States, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability, from being excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under: (1) any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under the Act; or (2) any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds appropriated for grants, agreements, and other assistance administered with such funds. Grants the Attorney General and the Office of Justice Programs the same authority to enforce this Act as granted under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Protecting Immigrants From Legal Exploitation Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to subject a person to fine, imprisonment, or both, who: (1) knowingly or recklessly executes a scheme in connection with any federal immigration law-related matter to defraud a person, or to obtain money or anything else of value from a person by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises; or (2) knowingly and falsely represents that such person is an attorney or an accredited representative in any federal immigration law-related matter. Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) and the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), to promulgate regulations, forms, and procedures defining the circumstances in which: (1) persons submitting immigration-related applications, petitions, motions, or other written materials must identify who (other than immediate family members) assisted them in preparing or translating such submissions; and (2) any person who received compensation (other than a normal fee for copying, mailing, or similar services) in connection with the preparation or submission of such materials must sign the form as a preparer and provide identifying information. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil injunction against an immigration service provider engaging in fraudulent conduct that substantially interferes with the administration of the immigration laws or who willfully misrepresents such provider's legal authority to provide representation before DOJ or DHS. Authorizes an alien to withdraw an immigration-related application or other submission if the alien: (1) submits information indicating that the application or submission was prepared or submitted by an individual engaged in the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practitioner fraud, and (2) attests that he or she had no prior knowledge that the application or submission was prepared or submitted by such an individual. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to waive the bar on reentry for an alien who left the United States based on the erroneous advice of an individual engaged in the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practitioner fraud. Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General, through the Director of the Office for Immigration Review, to carry out an outreach program to educate aliens regarding who may provide legal services and representation in immigration proceedings. Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General to establish, within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, programs to award grants to eligible nonprofit organizations for direct legal services to aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2013
Financial Literacy for Students Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education of 1965 (ESEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to states to: (1) integrate financial literacy education into each of their public elementary and secondary schools that are eligible for school improvement funds under title I of the ESEA, and (2) train their secondary school financial literacy or entrepreneurship teachers to teach financial literacy in core academic subjects. Prohibits states from using over 20% of their grant funds to train those teachers, develop curricula, and evaluate the impact of financial literacy or personal finance education.