United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2013 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments for eligible individuals to weeks of employment ending on or before January 1, 2015. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until December 31, 2014, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and June 30, 2015, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2013, to December 31, 2014, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to appropriate funds out of the employment security administration account through FY2015 to assist states in providing reemployment and eligibility assessment activities. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through December 31, 2014, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2013 - Amends the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 to repeal its sunset date December 31, 2012 (thus making the Act permanent). Establishes a private right of action to enforce compliance with such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 2013
Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives to consider a concurrent resolution providing for adjournment unless the House has adopted a conference report on S.Con.Res. 8, establishing a budget for the federal government, by December 13, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2013
Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to impose an additional penalty of $5,000 on any person or entity convicted of crimes relating to: (1) peonage, slavery, and trafficking in persons; (2) sexual abuse; (3) sexual exploitation and other abuse of children; (4) transportation for illegal sexual activity; or (5) human smuggling in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund into which such penalties shall be deposited and which shall be used in FY2015-FY2019 to award grants or enhance victims' programming under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, and the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. Allots funds to provide services for child pornography victims. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make a determination, based on credible evidence, that a covered individual (i.e., a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident) has been a victim of a severe form of trafficking. Amends the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 to authorize the Attorney General to award block grants to develop, improve, or expand comprehensive domestic child trafficking deterrence programs to rescue and restore the lives of trafficking victims, while investigating and prosecuting offenses involving child trafficking. Amends the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to include human trafficking and the production of child pornography within the definition of child abuse for purposes of such Act. Amends the federal criminal code to: (1) increase restitution for victims of human trafficking; (2) set forth provisions for combating aggravated human trafficking racketeering; (3) allow state and local prosecutors to obtain wiretap warrants in state courts for investigations into human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, and child pornography production; (4) increase penalties for offenses involving enticement into slavery, sex trafficking of children, child exploitation, and repeat sex offenders; and (5) revise the definition of the crime of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct to facilitate prosecutions of such crime. Directs the Attorney General to ensure that all task forces and working groups within the Innocence Lost National Initiative engage in activities, programs, or operations to increase the investigative capabilities of law enforcement personnel in the detection, investigation, and prosecution of persons who patronize or solicit children for sex. Requires the Attorney General to audit grants awarded under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. Imposes limits on the use of Department of Justice (DOJ) funds for DOJ conferences involving more than $20,000.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2013
Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act of 2013 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to condition each state's receipt of ESEA funds, beginning in FY2015, on the state having in effect and enforcing a law or regulation that meets the minimum requirements for the prevention and treatment of concussions set forth in this Act. Requires each local educational agency in the state to develop and implement a standard plan for concussion safety and management for its public schools that includes: (1) the education of students, parents, and school personnel about concussions through specified activities; (2) specified supports for each student recovering from a concussion; and (3) specified best practices designed to ensure the uniformity of safety standards, treatment, and management. Requires each public school to post on school grounds and make publicly available on the school website specified information on concussions. Provides that if any public school personnel suspects that a student has sustained a concussion during a school-sponsored activity: (1) the student is to be immediately removed from participation in that activity and prohibited from participating in school-sponsored athletic activities until the student submits a written release from a health care professional; and (2) that individual is to report all available information regarding the student's injury to a concussion management team that will then confirm and report to the student's parents the date, time, and type of the injury suffered by the student and any actions taken to treat the student. Requires each concussion management team to include a health care professional, the student's parents, other relevant school personnel, and an individual assigned by the public school to oversee and manage the students' recovery. Requires the school's concussion management team to consult with and make recommendations to relevant school personnel and the student to ensure that the student is receiving the appropriate academic supports, including: (1) periods of cognitive rest over the course of the school day, (2) modified academic assignments, (3) gradual reintroduction to cognitive demands, and (4) other appropriate academic accommodations or adjustments.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2013
Affordable College Textbook Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support pilot programs that expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students. Requires the grants to be used for: professional development for IHE faculty and staff, including the search for and review of open textbooks; the creation or adaptation of open educational resources, especially open textbooks; the development or improvement of tools and informational resources that support the use of open textbooks; research evaluating the efficacy of using open textbooks to achieve savings for students; and partnerships with other entities to carry out the preceding activities. Requires the full and complete digital content of the educational resources created or adopted using such grant funds to be made available free of charge to the public: (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable website; and (2) in a machine readable, digital format that anyone can directly download, edit, and redistribute. Directs the Secretary to give special consideration to grant applicants that demonstrate the greatest potential to: achieve the highest level of savings for students; expand the use of open textbooks at other IHEs; and produce open textbooks that are of the highest quality, that can be most easily utilized and adapted by faculty members, that correspond to the highest enrollment courses, and that are created or adopted in partnership with entities that will assist in their marketing and distribution. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include any educational material developed to accompany a college textbook as supplemental material that is subject to college textbook information disclosure requirements. Expresses the sense of Congress that IHEs should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by faculty within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom that establish the right and responsibility of faculty members to select the most appropriate course materials for their classes.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2013
Calls on: (1) Burma to end the persecution and discrimination of the Rohingya people and ensure respect for internationally recognized human rights for all ethnic and religious minority groups, and (2) the United States and the international community to put consistent pressure on Burma to end such persecution and discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2013
Authorizes the appointment of hearing aid specialists in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Requires an eligible person to: (1) hold an associate's degree in hearing instrument sciences or its equivalent from a college or university approved by the VA Secretary or have successfully completed an approved hearing aid specialist apprenticeship program, and (2) be licensed as a hearing aid specialist or its equivalent in a state. Requires the Secretary to: (1) submit an annual report on timely access to hearing health services and on contracting policies with respect to providing hearing health services in non-VA facilities, and (2) update and reissue the VHA handbook entitled "VHA Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Services" to reflect the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2013
Technology, Equality and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act or the TEACH Act - Directs the Access Board to develop accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional materials and related information technologies in institutions of higher education (IHEs). Requires those guidelines to: (1) include performance criteria to ensure that electronic instructional materials and related information technologies are accessible to the blind and disabled; (2) be consistent with the standards for technical and functional performance criteria issued pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (3) be, to the extent practicable, consistent with national and international accessibility standards for those materials and technologies. Directs the Access Board to review and, as appropriate, amend the guidelines every three years to reflect technological advances or changes in electronic instructional materials and related information technologies. Deems IHEs that use electronic instructional materials and related information technologies that comply with the guidelines to be in compliance with nondiscrimination provisions under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2013
Refuge from Cruel Trapping Act - Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to prohibit the use or possession of body-gripping traps in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Imposes on persons who possess or use such traps in the System: (1) for a first offense, a civil fine of up to $500 for each body-gripping trap possessed or used; and (2) for subsequent offenses, a civil fine of up to $1,000 for each body-gripping trap possessed or used, imprisonment for up to 180 days, or both such a civil fine and imprisonment. Subjects to civil forfeiture any body-gripping traps that are possessed or used in violation of this Act, and any wildlife captured by the use of such traps, including the pelts and raw fur. Requires persons found to be in violation of such prohibition to pay all associated court costs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2013
Recognizes that all Americans should be treated fairly and equally regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Acknowledges the struggle of the Stonewall protestors (human rights protesters at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969) and other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people for equality. Encourages the celebration of LGBT Pride Month to provide an opportunity for people in the United States to learn about discrimination and inequality that continues to face LGBT people. Recognizes that the United States must continue to strive to ensure that the promise of equality is realized for all Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2013
Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish preclearance facilities, conduct preclearance operations, or provide customs services outside of the United States to prevent terrorists, terrorist instruments, and other national security threats from gaining access to the United States. Declares such requirements shall not apply to any preclearance facility that was in operation outside of the United States before enactment of this Act. Declares that any preclearance facility located, preclearance operations conducted, or customs services provided at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, or Doha International Airport in Qatar shall not be considered to have been in operation, conducted, or provided before enactment of this Act. Prohibits such facility, operations, or services from being established, conducted, or provided at any of such airports on or after such enactment. Requires the Secretary, not later than 180 days before entering into any agreement to establish a preclearance facility, conduct preclearance operations, or provide customs services outside of the United States, to: (1) notify Congress and the General Accountability Office (GAO) of the intent to establish such facility, conduct such operations, or provide such services; as well as (2) assess any impacts on passengers traveling to the United States, or economic or security impacts on the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2013
Revises the highway safety improvement program. Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), under the highway safety improvement program, to establish performance measures for states to use to assess significant reductions in the number of serious injuries and fatalities (as under current law) specifically for both motorized and nonmotorized transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2013
Low-Wage Federal Contractor Employee Back Pay Act of 2013 - Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 to require the federal government to provide compensation to the employees of federal contractors that provide retail, food, custodial, and security services to the federal government who were placed on unpaid leave as a result of any lapse in appropriations beginning on or about October 1, 2013.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to allot matching grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs), childhood education program providers, or consortia of those entities to implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families. Allots grants to states based on each state's proportion of children who are age four and who are from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level. Defines "high-quality prekindergarten programs" as those that: serve children who are three or four by the eligibility determination date or have attained the legal age for state-funded prekindergarten; require staff to have high qualifications, which for teachers include specified alternative requirements that all involve possessing a bachelor's degree; maintain an evidence-based maximum class size and child-to-instructional staff ratio; offer a full-day program; provide developmentally appropriate, evidence-based curricula and learning environments that are aligned with state early learning and development standards; offer teachers salaries comparable to those earned by kindergarten through grade twelve teachers; provide for ongoing monitoring and program evaluation to ensure continuous improvement; offer accessible comprehensive services for children, including specified minimum services; provide high-quality professional development for all staff; meet education performance standards under the Head Start Act; and maintain evidence-based health and safety standards. Conditions states' grant eligibility on demonstrating to the Secretary that they: (1) have or will establish early learning and development standards, (2) have or will develop the ability to link prekindergarten data with their elementary and secondary school data, (3) offer state-funded kindergarten for children, and (4) have established a State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care. Allows states to reserve up to 20% of their grant funds over the first four years of their grant for prekindergarten quality improvement activities, including support for teachers seeking a baccalaureate degree in early childhood education or a closely-related field. Authorizes states to apply to the appropriate Secretary to use up to 15% of their grant for subgrants to high-quality early childhood education and care programs for infants and toddlers whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level. Requires state to develop, implement, and make publicly available performance measures and targets for their grant activities. Prohibits state grantees from requiring any child to participate in any federal, state, local, or private early childhood education program. Limits the use of assessments funded by the grant program. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a process to provide Head Start program services to children who are younger than age four in states or regions that provide four-year-olds whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level with sustained access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. Directs the Secretary to award competitive, matching, capacity-building grants to states that assure the Secretary that they will use their grant to become eligible, within three years of receiving the grant, for this Act's grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. Amends the Head Start Act to direct the Secretary of HHS to make grants to Early Head Start agencies to partner with center-based or family child care providers, particularly those that receive support under the Child Care and Development Block Grant of 1990 (CCDBGA), to assist those providers in meeting applicable Head Start and Early Head Start program performance standards. Authorizes those partnerships to serve children through age three. Directs the Secretary of HHS to give Early Head Start program grant priority to Early Head Start agencies that agree to enter into such partnerships with center-based or family child care providers. Amends the CCDBGA to require states to: (1) ensure that the funding they receive for child care services under the Community Services Block Grant Act and the program of block grants for social services under the Social Security Act is subject to the requirements and limitations of the CCDBGA; (2) provide children with assistance under the CCDBGA for at least 12 months before redetermining their eligibility, provided their family income does not exceed 85% of the state median income for their family size; and (3) use the CCDBGA's funding to supplement, not supplant, other public funding for child care services and activities. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to: (1) reserve a specified amount of Child Care and Development Block Grant program funds, in fiscal years in which program funding exceeds a specified amount, for formula grants to states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to improve the quality of child care programs and services; and (2) carry out demonstration and pilot projects designed to develop and implement strategies and practices useful in supporting the needs of low-income families in-need of, or receiving, child care services. Reauthorizes appropriations under the Child Care and Development Block Grant program for FY2014-FY2023. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the need for Congress to continue providing resources to the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program to support the work of states in helping at-risk families voluntarily receive home visits from nurses and social workers.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 2013
Second Chance Reauthorization Act of 2013 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to revise and expand requirements for the grant program for adult and juvenile offender state and local reentry demonstration projects and to extend the authorization for appropriations for such program through FY2018. Amends the Second Chance Act of 2007 to extend through FY2018 the authorization of appropriations for grants for: (1) family-based substance abuse treatment, (2) the technology careers training demonstration program, and (3) the offender reentry substance abuse and criminal justice collaboration program. Renames the program of mentoring grants to nonprofit organizations for offender reentry as the program of community-based mentoring and transitional service grants to nonprofit organizations. Provides for enhanced services under such program to assist in the reintegration of offenders into the community. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such program through FY2018. Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to periodically conduct audits of not less than 5% of all recipients of specified offender reentry grants under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Second Chance Act of 2007. Amends the Second Chance Act of 2007 to: (1) modify and extend through FY2018 grant programs for reentry of federal prisoners into the community, including the program for placing elderly offenders in home detention; (2) repeal programs under such Act relating to responsible reintegration of offenders, the study of the effectiveness of Depot Naltrexone for heroin addiction, and the satellite tracking and reentry training program; and (3) establish a program for partnering faith-based or community-based nonprofit organizations with prisons to conduct recidivism reduction activities. Directs the Attorney General, in consultation with specified federal officials and in collaboration with interested persons and entities, to establish an interagency task force on federal programs and activities for the reentry of offenders into the community. Requires such task force to: (1) evaluate and identity methods for improving such programs and activities, and (2) report to Congress on barriers faced by offenders in reentering the community and update such report annually.
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
Reciprocal Market Access Act of 2013 - Prohibits the President from agreeing to the reduction or elimination of the existing rate of duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country until the President certifies to Congress that: (1) the United States has obtained that country's reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers and policies and practices with respect to U.S. exports of any product that has the same physical characteristics and uses as the product for which the President seeks to modify its rate of duty, and (2) any violation of the trade agreement is immediately enforceable by withdrawal of the duty modification until the President certifies to Congress that the United States has obtained the country's reduction or elimination of the tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or practice. Requires the withdrawal of such a modification in specified circumstances determined by the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center until the President makes such a certification to Congress. Requires the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), with respect to any proposed trade agreement that seeks a modification that would reduce or eliminate an existing duty on any product in order to carry out a trade agreement with a foreign country, to investigate the possible market access opportunities for similar U.S. exports to that country if such barriers and policies are modified or eliminated.
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 · 12 November 2013
Expresses support for the designation of National School Psychology Week. Recognizes the contributions of school psychologists to the success of students in schools across the United States.
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
Indian Health Service Health Professions Tax Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received under the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program and the Indian Health Professions Scholarships Program.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 2013
Expresses support for the designation of National Anti-Bullying Month to: (1) acknowledge the harmful impact of bullying and of judging others based on appearance or group affiliation; (2) promote respect; and (3) support everyone's right to be free from shame, judgment, or attack.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2013
American Savings Promotion Act - Amends the Revised Statutes of the United States, the Federal Reserve Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and the Home Owners' Loan Act to authorize covered financial institutions to conduct a contest, known as a "savings promotion raffle," in which the sole consideration required for a chance of winning designated prizes is obtained by the deposit of a specified amount of money in a savings account or program, where each ticket or entry has an equal chance of being drawn. Subjects such a drawing contest to regulations promulgated by the appropriate prudential regulator. Excludes such a "savings promotion raffle" from the prohibition against a covered financial institution's dealing in "lottery" tickets. Amends the federal criminal code to exempt savings promotion raffles conducted by an insured depository institution or an insured credit union from specified prohibitions against interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.
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
Revises provisions concerning pre-trial investigations of charges and specifications under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to limit such investigation to a determination of whether there is probable cause to believe that the accused committed the specified offense, consideration of the form of charges, and the recommended disposition. Prohibits the purpose of the investigation to be to serve as a discovery tool for the accused. Requires an experienced judge advocate to conduct the investigation, or, in the alternative, to serve as legal advisor to an investigating officer who is not a judge advocate. Requires the accused, prior to the investigation, to be provided: (1) any sworn or signed statement relating to the offense that is in the government's possession; (2) an opportunity to inspect any books, papers, documents, photographs, objects, buildings, places, or scientific tests or experiments that are in the possession, custody, or control of military authorities and are intended to be used as evidence against the accused; and (3) any evidence known to the government counsel that reasonably tends to negate or reduce the guilt of the accused. Requires a complaining witness involved in such investigation to be given the opportunity, but not be required, to testify. Eliminates the accused's right to a reinvestigation of charges upon demand.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2013
Early Childhood Education Professional Improvement Act of 2013 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states to: provide scholarships that enable preschool teachers employed in an early childhood education program to pursue a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a closely related field; support preschool teachers employed in an early childhood education program to attain a credential, licensure, or endorsement that demonstrates competence in early childhood education if their bachelor's degree is not in that or a closely related field; increase the compensation of teachers who are making progress toward a degree in early childhood education or who have attained that degree; and provide ongoing professional development opportunities to preschool teachers and teacher assistants employed in an early childhood education program. Requires each state that desires a grant to include a description of its comprehensive early childhood professional development system in its application. Requires grant recipients to maintain their fiscal effort for the activities supported by the grant funds for a fiscal year at levels equal to or greater than their fiscal effort for such activities during the preceding fiscal year.
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 · 28 October 2013
Extend Not Cut SNAP Benefits Act - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to extend through FY2014 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) as well as the consolidated block grants for Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
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
Eliminating Disparities in Diabetes Prevention, Access, and Care Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to: (1) expand, intensify, and support ongoing research and other activities with respect to prediabetes and diabetes, particularly type 2, in minority populations; (2) make grants for establishing a mentoring program for health care professionals to be more involved in weight counseling, obesity research, and nutrition; (3) provide for the participation of minority health professionals in diabetes-focused research programs; and (4) make grants for programs to establish a pipeline from high school to professional school that will increase minority representation in diabetes-focused health fields by expanding Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program internships and mentoring opportunities for recruitment. Directs the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee to submit to Congress: (1) a report on federal research and public health activities with respect to prediabetes and diabetes in minority populations, and (2) an effective and comprehensive federal plan to address prediabetes and diabetes in minority populations. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to: (1) conduct and support research and public health activities with respect to diabetes in minority populations; (2) direct the Division of Diabetes Translation to conduct and support programs to educate the public on diabetes in minority populations and programs to educate minority populations about the causes and effects of diabetes; and (3) conduct and support programs to educate specific minority populations through culturally and linguistically appropriate information campaigns about prevention of, and managing, diabetes. Requires the Director of the Health Resources and Services Administration to conduct and support specified programs to educate health professionals on the causes and effects of diabetes in minority populations. Requires the Indian Health Service to: (1) conduct and support research and other activities with respect to diabetes; and (2) coordinate the collection of data on clinically and culturally appropriate diabetes treatment, care, prevention, and services by health care professionals to the American Indian population. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to seek to enter into an arrangement for the Institute of Medicine to submit to Congress an updated version of its 2002 report entitled "Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care," which shall address how racial and ethnic health disparities have changed since publication of the original report.
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
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 · 8 October 2013
Shutdown Prioritization Act or the SPA Act - Prohibits the Architect of the Capitol from operating an exercise facility for Members of the House of Representatives during a government shutdown (defined as a lapse in appropriations for any federal agency or department as a result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing resolution).
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
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
Commemorates the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Recognizes the Corporation's work to improve lives, strengthen communities, expand economic opportunity, foster innovation and civic engagement, and engage millions of U.S. people in solving critical problems through national service.
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
Help Extend Auditory Relief (HEAR) Act of 2013 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover aural rehabilitation services, hearing aids as durable medical equipment (DME), audiology rehabilitation services, and related hearing services.
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 · 17 September 2013
Expresses support for the designation of National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Declares that steps should be taken to: (1) raise awareness about prostate cancer screening and treatment; (2) support research to improve the screening and treatment of prostate cancer and to discover the causes of, and a cure for, such cancer; and (3) improve access to, and the quality of, health care services for detecting and treating prostate cancer.
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
Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2013 - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the National Office for Cyberspace to serve as the principal office for coordinating issues relating to cyberspace. Establishes within such Office the Federal Cybersecurity Practice Board to be responsible for developing and updating information security policies and procedures. Requires the Director of the National Office for Cyberspace to: (1) oversee information security policies and practices, (2) establish a national program to instruct students in cybersecurity education and computer literacy, (3) review federal agency budgets relating to the protection of information infrastructures, and (4) ensure the operation of a central federal information security incident center. Requires each federal agency to perform an annual independent audit of its information security programs and practices and submit the results of such audit to the Director. Requires the Secretary of Commerce, on the basis of proposed standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to promulgate information security standards pertaining to federal information systems. Prohibits any agency from entering into a contract, an order under a contract, or an interagency agreement for information technology without including requirements for effective information security that supports the operations and assets of that agency. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to require each agency to conduct an initial vulnerability assessment for any major information system. Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Office of the Federal Chief Technology Officer. Includes among the duties of such Officer: (1) advising the President and agency officials on information technology infrastructures, strategy, and use; (2) leading an interagency effort to ensure the use of best-in-class technologies; (3) promoting technological innovation in the federal government; (4) establishing public-private sector partnership initiatives; and (5) gathering information on significant developments and trends in information technology. Grants the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) primary authority for the protection of the critical information infrastructure, as defined by this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000607_200.jpg)