The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/v000130_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
3,272 records where Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017
Protect Victims of Crime Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase from 10,000 to 40,000 the number of U visas that may be issued in a fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017
Congressional Sexual Harassment Training Act This bill amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to require each employing office under the Act to ensure that its covered employees enroll in the Office of Compliance's program of education that informs employees of the rights provided under the Act against sexual harassment: (1) within 60 days after first becoming an employee; (2) for existing employees, within 90 days after enactment of this bill; and (3) every two years.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
This bill provides that the Department of Veterans Affairs per diem payment calculation for an entity receiving homeless veterans shelter grants for a homeless veteran who has care of a minor dependent while receiving services from such entity shall be the sum of the daily cost of care for the veteran plus, for each minor dependent, an amount that equals 50% of the veteran's daily cost of care.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2017
Recognizes the celebration of Filipino American History Month as: a study of the advancement of Filipino Americans; and a time to renew efforts toward the research and examination of history and culture so as to provide an opportunity for all people of the United States to learn more about Filipino Americans, and to appreciate the historic contributions of Filipino Americans to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 2017
Pala Band of Mission Indians Land Transfer Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of the Interior to take land in San Diego County, California, into trust for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians, if the tribe transfers title to that land to the United States. The land is made part of the Pala Indian Reservation. No gaming may be conducted on the land.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 2017
This bill amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to revise the quorum requirement for the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States to require the lesser of three members or the number of members holding office on the board (currently, at least three members) for there to be a quorum.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
Protecting the Property Rights of Border Landowners Act This bill amends the the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the Department of Justice (DOJ), to acquire by purchase or gift any interest in land near an international border deemed essential to guard U.S. boundaries or borders, and (2) prohibit DHS or DOJ from using condemnation authority to acquire land to construct a wall or other physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a trigger crank, a bump-fire device, or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. The bill does not prohibit, with respect to such firearm accessories, the importation or manufacture for, sale or transfer to, or possession by a federal, state, or local government. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2017
Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish detention standards for each facility at which aliens in DHS custody are detained. Such standards shall provide for at least the level of detainee protections described in the American Bar Association's Civil Immigration Detention Standards. A detained individual who is injured as a result of a violation of such standards may file a claim in U.S. district court. The bill: (1) provides for facility oversight and transparency, (2) phases out the use of private detention facilities and jails for such aliens, and (3) revises procedures for detaining aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2017
National Flood Insurance Program Debt Forgiveness Act of 2017 This bill cancels all indebtedness outstanding as of September 30, 2016, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under any notes or other obligations issued pursuant to the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Federal Flood Insurance Act of 1956. Such cancelled indebtedness may be treated as a public debt of the United States and is designated as an emergency pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2017
Impeding North Korea's Access to Finance Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to prohibit a foreign financial institution that knowingly provides significant financial services to a "covered person" from opening or maintaining a correspondent account in the United States. "Covered person" includes any person doing business with North Korea, a North Korean person employed outside North Korea, and any person that knowingly employs a North Korean person outside North Korea. The bill establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations. Treasury must prohibit a U.S.-based financial institution from knowingly engaging in a significant transaction with a covered person. The bill establishes civil penalties for violations. The bill amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to direct the United States to oppose international financial assistance for a foreign government that does not implement these sanctions against North Korea. The President may waive this directive after specified steps are taken. The bill amends the Export-Import Bank Act to prohibit the bank from providing support to a covered person. Treasury must report on compliance with this bill among financial institutions, including any penalties imposed and efforts by Treasury to support compliance. The bill amends the International Financial Institutions Act to require Treasury to: (1) instruct the U.S. Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the use of the IMF's administrative budget for technical assistance that strengthens the capacity of IMF members to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and (2) report on the effectiveness of such assistance. The President may suspend or terminate sanctions under this bill if certain steps regarding nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction are taken by North Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2017
Filipino Veterans Fairness Act of 2017 This bill deems certain service performed before July 1, 1946, in the organized military forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Scouts to be active military service for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA shall, in determining eligibility under this bill, take into account any relevant service documentation, including documentation other than the Missouri List (the list of all discharged and deceased veterans from the 20th century). The VA shall report to Congress annually regarding the number of individuals applying for benefits, and the number approved, during the previous year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the federal government should ensure that: (1) every person facing the end of their life has access to quality, comprehensive medical care; and (2) policies or practices supporting assisted suicide are not adopted.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Tijuana River Valley Comprehensive Protection and Rehabilitation Act of 2017 This bill directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out a comprehensive protection and rehabilitation program to enhance the physical infrastructure in both the United States and Mexico to prevent flooding and wastewater, sewage, trash, and sediment spills in the Tijuana River Valley, including carrying out coordinated restoration and protection activities that enhance the infrastructure. Grants and technical assistance must be provided under the program to state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education, in both countries. In addition, the Corps of Engineers must develop a feasibility and technical assistance plan for updated wastewater infrastructure and flood preparedness in the river valley. Using the systems of the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, the Department of State must establish the Transboundary Waterway Alert System, an updated and online system to protect U.S. citizens from undue and avoidable harm from wastewater, sewage, trash, and sediment spills and flooding for each major waterway along the U.S.-Mexico border. The State Department must notify Mexico, the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach, and the county of San Diego upon the initial discovery of such spills.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Sewage Free Tijuana River Valley Act of 2017 This bill directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out a program to enhance the physical infrastructure in both the United States and Mexico to prevent flooding and wastewater, sewage, trash, and sediment spills in the Tijuana River Valley, including carrying out coordinated restoration and protection activities that enhance the infrastructure. In establishing the program, the Corps of Engineers must consult with specified heads of federal agencies, commissions, state and local governments, and Mexican governments.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Child Care for Working Families Act This bill provides additional grant funding for child care and preschool programs. It also modifies various requirements for the programs, including policies regarding compensation and training for employees.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Recognizes: (1) the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month; and (2) the integral role of Latinos and their manifold heritage in the economy, culture, and identity of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Community Health Investment, Modernization, and Excellence Act of 2017 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to extend through FY2022 and make appropriations for enhanced funding for the community health centers program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Credit Information Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require, after a data security breach, a consumer reporting agency to provide a security freeze to a consumer upon request. (A security freeze prohibits the consumer reporting agency from releasing a report without the consumer's express authorization.) The consumer reporting agency must, without a fee: (1) place a freeze on any consumer's report, and (2) provide unlimited security freezes and freeze removals to a consumer affected by the breach.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2017
Survivor Outreach and Support Campus Act or the SOS Campus Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in a program under title IV (Student Assistance) to designate an independent advocate for campus sexual assault prevention and response with experience in providing sexual assault victim services. Each advocate must: ensure that sexual assault victims at the IHE are able to receive, at their election, specified information and services; guide sexual assault victims who request assistance through the reporting, counseling, administrative, medical and health, academic accommodations, or legal processes of the IHE or local law enforcement; attend, at the request of a sexual assault victim, any administrative or IHE-based adjudication proceeding related to the assault as an advocate for the victim; maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the victim and any witness to the sexual assault and not notify the IHE or any other person of the identity of the victim or of any such witness or the alleged circumstances surrounding the reported sexual assault except as otherwise required by state law or, with respect to the identity of the victim or witness, with the consent of the victim or witness; and conduct a public information campaign to inform the students enrolled at the IHE of the existence of, contact information for, and services provided by the advocate. In addition, the bill prohibits IHEs from retaliating against: (1) advocates for representing the interests of a student victims, or (2) student victims for reporting sexual assaults to advocates.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2017
Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act or the BEST Act This bill directs the Department of Education to award renewable two-year grants to states to establish or improve Seal of Biliteracy programs to recognize student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language. States must provide to participating students who demonstrate such proficiency: (1) documentation of that proficiency on their official academic transcripts, and (2) a permanent seal or other marker on their secondary school diplomas. Students who gain proficiency in a second language outside of school may participate in such programs. States may not charge students a program application fee.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2017 This bill provides emergency supplemental FY2017 appropriations to several federal departments and agencies for expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Harvey. The funding provided by this bill is designated as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. The bill provides FY2017 appropriations to: the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Legal Services Corporation, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Forest Service, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill also specifies several requirements and restrictions for the use of funds provided by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Condemns North Korea's threats against Guam. Reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Guam's security and its U.S. territorial waters. Supports evaluating needed investments in defensive capabilities to further safeguard Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Alaska, and Hawaii. Reaffirms U.S. support for forward deployment of missile defense systems to protect the territorial integrity of the United States and its Asia-Pacific allies. Urges enhanced strategic diplomatic engagement and military cooperation by the United States to address the growing North Korean threat. Demands that the international community fully enforce sanctions against the North Korean regime. Condemns any further escalation that endangers Guam and our citizenry or that could lead to a military conflict with North Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Student and Families Tax Reduction Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 2017
Censures and condemns President Trump for his inadequate response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, for his failure to condemn the White supremacist groups responsible for actions of domestic terrorism, for asserting that "both sides" were to blame and excusing the violent behavior of participants in the Unite the Right rally, and for employing people with ties to White supremacist movements in the White House. Urges President Trump to fire all White House advisors who have urged him to cater to the White supremacist movement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Special Counsel Independence Protection Act This bill sets forth requirements and limitations with respect to the removal from office of a special counsel appointed by the Attorney General, or of another official appointed by the Attorney General who exercises a similar degree of independence from the Department of Justice (DOJ) chain of command. Specifically, a special counsel or other appointed individual may be removed only if: (1) the Attorney General files an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and files a contemporaneous notice of the action with Congress; and (2) the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issues an order finding misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including violation of DOJ policies.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Condemns the role of white supremacist groups in inciting violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and denounces the increase in fear-mongering, racism, anti-Semitism, bigotry, and violence by white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and other hate groups. Offers condolences to the families of those who died in Charlottesville, and wishes quick recoveries for those injured. Urges President Trump to: (1) disavow any support he has received from hate groups, (2) terminate the employment of any White House staff and administration officials who have supported white supremacists, and (3) use the office of the President and resources of the Cabinet to address the growing prevalence of domestic hate groups.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 2017
Military Sexual Assault Victims Empowerment Act or the Military SAVE Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), through the Office of Community Care, to carry out a three-year pilot program of hospital care and medical services for eligible veterans at non-VA health care providers to treat physical and psychological injuries or illnesses that, in the judgment of a VA mental health professional, resulted from sexual assault or battery or sexual harassment while the veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training. The program shall be carried out at not more than five locations, at least one of which shall be a rural location, based upon criteria including: (1) distance from a military installation, (2) city size, and (3) rates of sexual assault and rape. An eligible veteran may elect to participate in the pilot program. The VA may not restrict a participant's ability to choose the non-VA health care provider. The bill: (1) sets forth payment provisions for current and new non-VA providers, and (2) provides for program data collection and analysis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Safer Neighborhoods Gun Buyback Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants to states, local governments, or gun dealers to conduct gun buyback programs. The BJA may distribute smart prepaid cards for use by a state, local government, or gun dealer to compensate individuals who dispose of firearms. Additionally, the bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to use or accept a smart prepaid card in the acquisition or transfer of a firearm or ammunition. A violator is subject to a fine, up to two years in prison, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
American Hope Act of 2017 This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct. In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings. The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Grace Period Alleviation Act or the GPA Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow a borrower of a Federal Direct Stafford Loan (whether subsidized or unsubsidized) to elect a one-year grace period before beginning repayment on the loan. The Department of Education, through a loan modification process, must pay to each borrower who received a Federal Direct Stafford Loan for which the first disbursement was made between July 1, 2012, and July 1, 2014, an amount equal to the amount of interest that accrued on the loan prior to the beginning of the repayment period.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Jerusalem's Enhanced and Secure Accommodations Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of State to establish a permanent residence for the U.S. Ambassador to Israel in Jerusalem. Such residence may be located at the U.S. Consulate or at a different location in Jerusalem, as the State Department determines appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Office of Government Ethics Independence Act of 2017 This bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to specify that the Director of the Office of Government Ethics may be removed only pursuant to a finding by the President of neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Make Identifiable Criminal Rounds Obvious Act or the MICRO Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to require that certain semiautomatic pistols manufactured, imported, or sold by federal firearms licensees be capable of microstamping ammunition. A pistol is capable of microstamping if it can copy certain characters identifying the make, model, and serial number of the firearm onto the cartridge case of the ammunition. This rule only applies to semiautomatic pistols manufactured or imported into the United States after the date of enactment of this bill. The bill establishes fines for violation of the microstamping requirement. It shall also be unlawful to alter the microstamping capability of a firearm that has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Violators of this prohibition are subject to fines and suspension or revocation of any firearms license.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Birth Control Privacy Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit wellness programs from sharing with employers personally identifiable information related to employees' use of contraceptives.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Repatriate Our Patriots Act This bill prohibits a special veteran from being removed from the United States. A special veteran: (1) is an alien veteran who was discharged or released from military service under conditions other than dishonorable; (2) includes only an honorably discharged or released individual; and (3) excludes an individual convicted of voluntary manslaughter, murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, or terrorism-related offenses or an individual determined to be a child abuser or a pedophile. DHS: (1) shall process naturalization applications for special veterans within 90 days; and (2) may permit special veterans to file naturalization applications from abroad and take the oath of allegiance at U.S. embassies, consulates, and military installations. DHS shall: (1) cancel the removal of a special veteran in removal proceedings, and (2) allow a special veteran whose permanent resident status was rescinded to adjust back to such status. The Department of Justice, in the case of a special veteran who was ordered removed, shall rescind any outstanding order of removal and any finding that the individual is subject to removal or is inadmissible. DHS shall create a program to allow a special veteran who was removed to return to the United States as a lawfully admitted permanent resident. A special veteran who has been naturalized or who has obtained lawful permanent resident status pursuant to this bill shall be eligible for all military and veterans benefits for which such individual would have been eligible otherwise. DHS shall identify and maintain records of immigration cases involving special veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Extension Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend and expand funding through FY2020 for graduate medical education programs at teaching centers (which train medical residents in primary care specialties). The bill allows funds to be used for maintaining, expanding, and establishing graduate medical residency programs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Second Chance for Service Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an applicant for citizenship who served honorably in the Armed Forces is not barred from becoming a U.S. citizen on the grounds of not being a person of good moral character based upon specified behaviors or having committed certain crimes, excluding crimes relating to murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, child pornography, prostitution, trafficking in persons, and national security. In determining whether an applicant is of good moral character, the applicant's honorable service shall be weighed against any finding of having committed such behaviors or crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Student Opportunity Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education to establish a program to refinance the outstanding principal, interest, and late charges on Federal Direct Loans (DLs) and Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs) in order to give a borrower a fixed interest rate equal to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus .5 percentage point.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Nutrition Education Act This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a local educational agency that participates in a school lunch or breakfast program to require each student to receive 50 hours of nutrition education per school year. Such instruction must be consistent with applicable school meal program requirements as well as meet certain other standards with respect to content and delivery.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Honors the patriotism of, and contributions to the United States by, generations of veterans service organizations. Commends members of such organizations for their dedicated service to, and support of, members of the Armed Forces. Calls on the people of the United States to follow the example of such organizations by volunteering support and services to those who have served this country.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Honors the patriotism of, and contributions to the United States by, generations of veterans service organizations. Commends members of such organizations for their dedicated service to, and support of, members of the Armed Forces. Calls on the people of the United States to follow the example of such organizations by volunteering support and services to those who have served this country.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Urges that Tom Flores, one of only two people in National Football League history to win multiple Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach, and head coach, be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Veteran Education Empowerment Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) or consortia of IHEs for the establishment, maintenance, improvement, and operation of veteran student centers. A veteran student center is a dedicated space on a campus that provides students who are veterans or members of the Armed Forces with: (1) a lounge or meeting space for themselves, their spouses or partners, and veterans in the community; (2) a centralized office for veteran services that serves as a single point of contact to coordinate veterans support services; and (3) comprehensive academic and tutoring services to veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Do No Harm Act This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that: protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity"; require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. Under current law, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Directs the Department of the Treasury to furnish the House of Representatives copies of documents and communications that explicitly reference: (1) forms of credit extended by Deutsche Bank AG, the Bayrock Group LLC, Vnesheconombank Group, Sberbank of Russia, Alfa Group, VTB Group, Gazprombank, or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof, or by the Russian government or any Russian senior foreign political figure, to President Trump, specified family members or associates, any such individual in connection with specified properties in New York, any Trump-owned, -branded, -licensed, or -managed hotel, casino,or golf course previously identified by the Treasury, the Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd., or the Best Sunshine Live Casino; (2) any financial accounts located outside of the United States of President Trump or such family members or associates; (3) Deutsche Bank AG's 2011 mirror trading scheme; (4) the Russian Laundromat (Global Laundromat) and the Moldovan Scheme; (5) any money laundering violations involving such individuals, businesses, or property; (6) any violations of U.S. sanctions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or the Logan Act by such persons or entities; (7) any business rule developed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to screen data under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act or the Bank Secrecy Act to identify financial transactions involving Russian senior foreign political figures or President Trump or such family members or associates; and (8) Egmont Group requests made to a foreign Financial Intelligence Unit pertaining to the financial transactions of such individuals.