United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
America's Call To Improve Opportunities Now for National Service Act or the ACTION for National Service Act This bill amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to reestablish the Corporation for National and Community Service as an independent executive agency called the National and Community Service Administration. An individual who successfully completes a term of full-time national service shall be entitled to a national service educational award equal to twice the amount of tuition for the institution of higher education where the individual is enrolled, not to exceed twice the average in-state tuition. Current law limits the award's value to the maximum amount of a Federal Pell Grant that an individual is eligible to receive in the aggregate. Within the administration, the bill establishes an interagency working group to evaluate specified issues related to: (1) eligibility for tuition and student loan repayment assistance with regard to participation in certain national or volunteer service programs, (2) the advisability of granting federal hiring preference to certain volunteer program participants, and (3) methods for increasing the participation of seniors in national service programs. The National Service Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established by the bill, shall accept and administer gifts made in connection with the administration. The bill expresses support for the authorization of appropriations sufficient to provide, within 10 years, volunteer service opportunities for at least 1 million volunteers in full-time national service annually. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude AmeriCorps educational awards from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Clinicians HIV/AIDS Testing and Awareness Day. Encourages: (1) primary care physicians and other clinicians to become actively involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, testing, treatment, and referral services; (2) the media to observe this Awareness Day by educating clinicians about the important role they play in providing access to HIV/AIDS awareness, testing, treatment, and referral services and by educating clinicians and the public about the benefits of HIV testing; and (3) individuals to get tested for HIV and educate themselves about the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2016
Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2016 This bill declares that it is U.S. policy that all diplomatic and coercive economic means should be used to compel the government of Bashir al-Assad to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and actively work toward transition to a democratic government. This bill directs the President to impose specified entry and U.S.-based property sanctions against a foreign person that knowingly provides significant financial, material, or technological support: (1) to the government of Syria and the Central Bank of Syria, including Syria's intelligence and security services or its armed forces, including through money laundering or with respect to Syria's gas or petroleum production or civilian aircraft services; and (2) that materially contributes to Syria's ability to acquire or develop ballistic missiles, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons, or destabilizing numbers and types of advanced conventional weapons. The Syria Human Rights Accountability Act of 2012 is amended to direct the President to impose entry and U.S.-based property sanctions against persons responsible for or complicit in: (1) directing the commission of serious human rights abuses against citizens of Syria or their family members, regardless of whether such abuses occurred in Syria; or (2) transferring to Syria certain military items or goods or technologies that may be used to commit human rights abuses. The Department of State and the Agency for International Development shall report on the monitoring and evaluation of ongoing assistance programs in Syria and to the Syrian people. The bill requires the President to: (1) submit an updated list of Syrian officials who are responsible for or complicit in the commission of serious human rights abuses against Syrian citizens, and (2) assess the potential effectiveness of a no-fly zone over Syria. The State Department shall provide assistance to entities taking criminal and evidence gathering actions for prosection of individuals who have committed crimes against humanity or war crimes in Syria since March 2011. The President may suspend sanctions against Syria under specified conditions. The bill: (1) expresses the sense of Congress with respect to a transitional government in Syria, and (2) sets forth activities and transactions that are exempt from sanctions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2016
Checkpoint Safety Act of 2016 This bill revises minimum requirements for the deployment of armed law enforcement personnel at security screening locations at certain airports. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), formerly the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security of the Department of Transportation, shall order the deployment of at least one armed law enforcement officer within 300 feet of the security screening location and within the terminal during operating hours of each airport having annual enplanements of eight million or more or international enplanements of one million or more. The TSA shall order the deployment of additional armed law enforcement officers at such airports if deemed necessary to ensure airport security. The bill revises air transportation security program requirements to provide that such programs ensure: law enforcement presence at each airport is adequate to ensure the safety of passengers, as under current law, and their property; close cooperation between all relevant parties in ensuring airport security; high training standards for all security and law enforcement personnel; prompt notification of, and law enforcement response to, any security incidents at airports, including detention of persons who attempt to evade transportation security screening; and multiple means for TSA Officers or members of the public to request prompt law enforcement assistance in the airport. The bill repeals TSA authority for allowing deputized state and local law enforcement officers to be stationed other than at airport security screening locations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016
Urban Progress Act of 2016 This bill provides support (e.g. grant programs or tax credits) for: the Rental Assistance Demonstration program that improves public housing, qualified ex-felons and employers who hire them, economically disadvantaged communities, a training program for workers, a program for providing eligible youth with summer employment opportunities, a plan to reduce the number of children living in poverty, benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for children who attend summer school, families that have children and are under 150% of the poverty line, a process to expunge and seal certain youth criminal records, an effort in preventing juvenile delinquency and criminal street gang activity, and a program for increasing the racial diversity of law enforcement agencies. The bill also addresses gun violence, including by: (1) making trafficking in firearms a crime, (2) establishing firearm prohibitions for certain high-risk individuals, (3) establishing background check requirements, and (4) requiring gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to Department of Justice and local law enforcement authorities within 48 hours of discovery.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016
Small Business Access to Capital Act of 2016 This bill amends the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 to extend for an additional eight fiscal years the State Small Business Credit Initiative to assist participating states to give collateral support and other innovative credit access and guarantee initiatives for small business concerns and manufacturers. The bill prescribes allocations of federal funds to participating states. Treasury may award, on a competitive basis, up to a total of $1 billion in two tranches, according to specified criteria, to participating states and consortiums of participating states for use: (1) for making federal contributions to, or for the account of, an approved state program; or (2) as collateral for a qualifying loan or swap funding facility. The State Small Business Credit Initiative Act of 2010 is amended to revise minimum program requirements for state capital access programs. Treasury may not approve any state capital access program that fails to include a plan that promotes a fair share of federal contributions to be used to strengthen and increase economic opportunities for small business concerns in low-and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities and women- and minority-owned small business concerns. In making a determination that a state other credit support program is eligible for federal contributions to, or for the account of, the state program, Treasury shall take into account the extent to which the state plans to use these contributions to provide access to capital for small business concerns in low- and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities and to women- and minority-owned small businesses, and the extent to which resulting small business lending will expand economic opportunities for such communities and such concerns. The bill revises the mandatory contents of each participating state's annual report to Treasury on its capital access program. Treasury shall: consult with the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) of the Departmental Offices of Treasury, among others, on the administration of the state capital access program; and ensure adequate oversight of the approved state programs to ensure efforts to expand economic opportunity for minority- and women-owned small business concerns. Treasury shall also: consult with the OMWI in issuing such regulations and other guidance to implement the Act; and in issuing these regulations, seek public input from community, civil rights, consumer advocates, small business advocates, and other interested or affected parties.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2016
LAX Community Safety Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the Department of Transportation from approving any airport improvement program project for the relocation of Runway 24R, or for construction of a runway north of the location of Runway 24R, at Los Angeles International Airport.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016
This bill revises the authority of the Department of the Treasury to issue an order imposing recordkeeping and reporting requirements upon financial institutions and nonfinancial trade or business groups in certain geographic areas regarding transactions for the payment, receipt, or transfer of U.S. coins or currency (or other monetary instruments as Treasury may describe in an order). A Treasury order for recordkeeping and reporting may include all funds (not just U.S. coins or currency) involved in such transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016
Enhancing Treasury's Anti-Terror Tools Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to report to certain congressional committees on the employment by U.S embassies of full-time and temporary Treasury attaches and their role in advancing U.S. anti-terrorism financing interests, including money laundering and related illicit finance. The bill revises Treasury's authority to issue an order imposing recordkeeping and reporting requirements upon financial institutions and nonfinancial trade or business groups in certain geographic areas regarding transactions for the payment, receipt, or transfer of U.S. coins or currency (or other monetary instruments as Treasury may describe). Such an order may include all funds, not just U.S. coins or currency, involved in such transactions. Treasury shall study: the advisability and implications of transforming the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence into a standalone bureau, the potential efficacy of requiring banking regulators to establish a pilot technical assistance program for depository institutions and credit unions that furnish account services to money services businesses serving individuals in Somalia, and the potential impact of allowing money services businesses to share their state examinations with depository institutions and credit unions. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that, to better integrate the intelligence community with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts, Treasury should work with finance ministry counterparts worldwide to spur the development of entities similar to its Office of Intelligence and Analysis. Treasury shall collect and make available electronically to federal agencies a unified stream of import and export data and similar currently collected information that would help federal detection and prevention of illicit finance. The National Security Act of 1947 is amended to add the Secretary of the Treasury to the National Security Council.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016
National Strategy for Combating Terrorist, Underground, and Other Illicit Financing Act This bill directs the President, acting through the Department of the Treasury, to develop a national strategy for combating the financing of terrorism and related forms of illicit finance. The national strategy shall focus upon selected aspects, including: (1) threats, goals, objectives, and priorities; (2) coordination with domestic and international governmental entities; (3) the role of the private financial sector in prevention of illicit finance; (4) project and budget priorities; (5) the use and role of Treasury attaches; (6) illicit finance and cyber crime; and (7) technology.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016
Anti-terrorism Information Sharing Is Strength Act This bill amends the USA PATRIOT Act to allow two or more financial institutions and any association of financial institutions, upon notice provided to the Department of the Treasury, to share information with one another regarding individuals, entities, organizations, and countries suspected of the unlawful activity the proceeds of which form the basis of a money laundering offense. A financial institution or association that transmits, receives, or shares such information to identify and report this activity shall not be liable to any person for such disclosure or for any failure to provide notice of it to the subject, or any other person identified in the disclosure, except where the transmission, receipt, or sharing violates the Act or regulations promulgated under it. The bill expresses the sense of Congress concerning the need for federal law enforcement agencies and regulators, as well as financial institutions, to share information about terrorist activities, money laundering activities, and unlawful activities to the fullest extent possible and in a timely fashion.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2016
Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act This bill establishes in the Department of the Treasury a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Program for the payment of rewards to support U.S. government programs and investigations aimed at eliminating from accounts at U.S. financial institutions any stolen assets linked to foreign government corruption and the proceeds of such corruption. Treasury may pay a reward to any individual who furnishes information leading to the restraining, seizure, forfeiture, or repatriation of stolen assets in an account at a U.S. financial institution, that come within the United States, or that come within the possession or control of any U.S. person linked to foreign government corruption. U.S. or foreign government employees are not eligible for such a reward. Treasury shall: (1) establish procedures for the offering, administration, and payment of such rewards in order to ensure that the payment of rewards pursuant to this bill does not duplicate or interfere with any other payment authorized by the Department of Justice (DOJ) or other federal law enforcement agencies for the obtaining of information or other evidence; and (2) obtain the written concurrence of DOJ before making such a reward under this bill in a matter over which there is federal criminal jurisdiction. Such rewards shall be paid from the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. The total amount of rewards paid may not exceed $25 million in any calendar year. The President may waive such limitation after providing prior notice to Congress. No single reward may exceed $5 million, except as Treasury determines necessary in exceptional cases. Treasury may reduce or deny awards to individuals claiming awards who were involved in actions leading to the misappropriation or diversion of stolen assets or other foreign government corruption. Treasury shall: (1) report annually regarding stolen assets, and (2) report describing policy choices for the disposition of recovered stolen assets.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2016
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month. Encourages people to: (1) educate themselves about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias; (2) advocate for Alzheimer's research, care, and support services; and (3) offer their support to individuals living with dementia, their families, and their caregivers.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2016
Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act This bill prohibits funds from being made available to Honduras for the police and military (including for equipment and training), and directs the Department of the Treasury to vote against multilateral loans to Honduras for its police and military, until the Department of States certifies that the government of Honduras has: prosecuted members of the military and police for human rights violations and ensured that such violations have ceased; established the rule of law and guaranteed a judicial system capable of bringing to justice members of the police and military who have committed human rights abuses; established that it protects the rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights defenders, government critics, and civil society activists to operate without interference; withdrawn the military from domestic policing; and brought to trial and obtained verdicts against those who ordered and carried out the attack on Felix Molina and the killings of Berta Caceres, Joel Palacios Lino, Elvis Armando Garcia, and over 100 small-farmer activists in the Aguan Valley.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2016
Supports the goals and ideals of Caribbean-American Heritage Month (in the month of June). Affirms that: (1) the contributions of Caribbean-Americans are a significant part of the history, progress, and heritage of the United States; and (2) the ethnic and racial diversity of the United States enriches and strengthens the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2016
Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to revise requirements for reinvestigations of disputed information by a consumer reporting agency (CRA), establishing a new right to appeal, free of charge, completed disputes adverse to the consumer. The bill prescribes requirements for: dispute procedures for furnishers of information and CRAs, as well as meaningful disclosures to consumers about investigations and reinvestigations; and CRA action when notified of inaccurate or incomplete information from furnishers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) shall issue a final rule establishing reasonable procedures CRAs must maintain to ensure maximum possible accuracy and completeness of the information concerning the individual to whom a consumer report relates. Any CRA that furnishes a consumer report containing public record data shall include its source. Courts may award injunctive relief to consumers against any person found liable for either willful or negligent noncompliance with the requirements of the Act. The bill limits the circumstances in which a CRA may furnish a consumer report for employment purposes. No CRA may furnish a consumer report containing any adverse item of information relating to: a delinquent or defaulted private education loan of a borrower who has rehabilitated his or her credit regarding the loan by making 9 on-time monthly loan payments over 10 consecutive months after the delinquency or default occurred, or a covered residential mortgage loan if the action or inaction to which the item of information relates resulted from specified predatory lending practices. The bill shortens the respective time periods that specified adverse credit information remains on consumer reports, and gives deadlines for removing from them fully paid or settled medical debt. A CRA must remove from a consumer report any adverse information about: a private education loan regarding a proprietary educational institution or career education program which the consumer alleges engaged in fraudulent, discriminatory, or illegal practices; and a consumer who is the victim of intentionally abusive or harmful financial behavior by an acquaintance or family member. No CRAs may treat credit restoration or rehabilitation as adverse information. The CFPB shall issue final regulations for development of credit snoring models. CRAs must disclose prominently on their websites the differences between and limitations of credit scores, including educational credit scores, before a consumer obtains such scores. CRAs shall disclose, upon request and in certain circumstances automatically, free credit scores to consumers with their free annual consumer reports. Private educational lenders, motor vehicle or indirect auto lenders, and residential mortgage lenders shall give consumers free copies of any consumer reports and credit scores they used for underwriting before consumers sign the respective loan agreements. The bill prohibits: automatic renewals for consumer reporting and credit scoring products and services offered under promotional terms, and misleading and deceptive marketing related to the provision of such products and services. The CFPB may set a fair and reasonable maximum fee for such a product or service, except where a maximum fee is otherwise posed by the Act. The CFPB shall issue a rule to require CRAs and furnishers of information to: provide information, disclosures, or other communication with consumers in each of the 10 most commonly spoken non-English languages in the United States, and in formats accessible to individuals with hearing or vision impairments; ensure that at least one among their customer service representatives is fluent in each of these 10 languages; and ensure that all their customer service representatives are highly familiar with the requirements of the Act, and are available both during and outside of regular business hours. The CFPB shall also establish a nationwide CRA registry. CRAs must, upon consumer request, place credit freezes on the consumer's file, including free credit freezes for consumers with a good faith suspicion they have been or are about to become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime. The bill transfers from the Federal Trade Commission to the CFPB the mandate to set procedures for reporting identity theft, fraud, and other related crime. CRAs must provide the consumer with credit monitoring and identity theft protection services within one business day upon direct consumer request, and without charge if the consumer meets specified criteria. Consumer reports shall exclude any information about inquiries resulting from identity theft, fraud, or other related crime.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2016
Recognizes and honors the 40th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris and the impact of the California victory at the 1976 Paris Tasting on the world of wine and the U.S. wine industry. (At the 1976 Paris Tasting, French wine experts were invited to blind taste wines from California and France.)
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2016
Preserving HUD's Multifamily Field Offices Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from relocating to any core office of the Office of Multifamily Housing any asset management position (including any account executive, senior account executive, and troubled asset specialist position) that, as of this bill's enactment, is located at a non-core office of that Office. "Core office" is defined as a regional hub office located in Atlanta, Chicago, Fort Worth, New York City, or San Francisco. Upon the occurrence of a vacancy in any asset management position at any non-core office (including any vacancy in existence as of the date of enactment), HUD may newly hire an employee to fill that position only at the same non-core office.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Recognizes the significance of Fair Housing Month. Expresses support for the goals and ideals of the Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, upon the occasions of the 48th and 28th anniversaries of their enactment, respectively. Encourages all people and levels of government to rededicate themselves to the enforcement and ideals of fair housing laws.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2016
Ensuring Useful Research Expenditures is Key for Alzheimer's Act or the EUREKA Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish EUREKA prize competitions to achieve high-priority breakthroughs in Alzheimer's disease and dementia prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. The NIH must: (1) convene an advisory council of nongovernmental experts in Alzheimer's disease and dementia to develop the EUREKA prize competitions, and (2) appoint a panel of judges to evaluate submissions. The council and panel are not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Support for EUREKA prize competitions may be provided by private organizations and individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2016
Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016 This bill amends the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 to replace the definition of "drug-related criminal activity" with "covered criminal activity" in connection with federally assisted housing, meaning any: criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, employees, or the housing owner or a public housing agency (PHA); or violent criminal activity off the premises by a tenant or any member of the tenant's household that poses risk of future harm to other tenants, employees, or the PHA or owner. The bill requires a PHA or owner, when screening of applicants for federally assisted housing, to conduct an individualized review of the totality of the circumstances regarding an applicant's criminal background, including disability-related offenses, before denying a housing application. A PHA or owner: may not deny an application based on previous evictions or inconclusive evidence, and must give an applicant household the option to remove a culpable member before denying an application. The bill prohibits suspicionless drug and alcohol testing, and applies requirements similar to those for screening applicants to termination of tenancy and assistance for covered criminal activity. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shall require annual reports from PHAs and owners on the disposition of applications, especially denials. The United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended, with respect to administrative procedures for a grievance concerning an eviction or termination of tenancy, to eliminate reference to drug-related criminal activity and specify only covered violent criminal activity. A PHA may neither require nor request an applicant for admission to public housing to authorize the PHA to receive information from a drug abuse treatment facility. A PHA may prohibit visitation of a public housing dwelling unit by a non-tenant on the basis of the non-tenant's criminal activity only if it is covered criminal activity, and other criteria are met. The bill revises project-based and voucher assistance requirements for termination of tenancy and selection for section 8 (voucher) rental assistance to reflect only covered criminal activity and eliminate reference to drug-related activity. The Department of Agriculture shall revise regulations for applicant screening and tenancy termination in specified rural housing programs to become substantially similar to HUD regulations for housing assistance programs. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended, with respect to the continuum of care program, to require a grant recipient's plan to describe how the recipient will collaborate with local criminal justice systems and the coordinated entry system to create pathways to housing for those cycling between homelessness and incarceration. The bill authorizes bonuses or other incentives to collaborative applicants and PHAs whose applications propose innovative solutions for providing pathways to housing for formerly incarcerated individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 2016
This bill provides FY2016 emergency supplemental appropriations to the Departments of State and Health and Human Services (HHS) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases. The bill specifies permissible uses for the funds and designates the funds as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits. The bill provides appropriations to HHS for: the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit Project BioShield to be used to support the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any infectious disease that may pose a threat to the public health. (Under current law, Project BioShield supports only countermeasures against specific chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear terrorist threats.) The bill temporarily increases from 55% to 65% the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage in the territories (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands). The bill provides appropriations to the Department of State for: the Administration of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bilateral Economic Assistance, International Security Assistance, and Multilateral Assistance. Unobligated balances of specified funds provided for the Ebola virus may be used to respond to the Zika virus and other infectious diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2016
2016 Tax Day Floods Supplemental Funding Act This bill makes supplemental appropriations for FY2016 for the Army Corps of Engineers for construction for flood control and storm damage reduction projects in areas affected by flooding in Houston, Texas, that have received a major disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Appropriated funds shall remain available through FY2026 and shall be designated as being for disaster relief under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 2016
Condemns acts of terrorism against Israelis. Mourns all loss of innocent life on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Supports the Administration's efforts to ensure Israel's long-term security through military and intelligence cooperation. Encourages the United States to take further steps to enhance Israel's security, including: reconvening the Trilateral Commission on Incitement to address violence-inspiring rhetoric; maintaining U.S. assistance to train and help support the operational costs of Palestinian security forces cooperating with Israeli security forces to fight terrorism; and working with Israel on enhancing areas of cooperation that would facilitate greater freedom of movement, economic growth, access to water, and other elements of human security for Palestinians living in the West Bank. Encourages the United States to help create progress toward a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by: opposing Palestinian efforts to seek penalties and sanctions against Israel and Israelis before international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court, articulating opposition to settlement expansion, and articulating a non-binding vision of what a comprehensive final status agreement might entail.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2016
Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2016 Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2016 This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise and rename the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program as the Missing Americans Alert Program and to reauthorize it through FY2021. It directs the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants to state and local law enforcement or public safety agencies and nonprofit organizations to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. The bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the lands, waters, and interests of the coastline and specified areas adjacent to the Santa Monica Bay in California to evaluate a range of alternatives for protecting the study area's resources, including: expanding and redesignating the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area as the "Santa Monica Mountains and Coastal Recreation Area," or creating a new coastal recreation area designated as the "Los Angeles Coastal Recreation Area."
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Transparent Environment in School Testing for Lead Act or the TEST for Lead Act This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to condition a state's receipt of funding from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund on the state establishing a program to test for lead in school drinking water. Program requirements include testing water from: (1) faucets used for food preparation, (2) sinks in bathrooms, and (3) drinking water coolers. Testing must be conducted at least biannually at schools built prior to 1996 and at least annually at schools built in 1996 or after. Additionally, local education agencies must notify parents, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state in which they are located within 48 hours if a level of lead exceeds the EPA's lead action level.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Ending Homelessness Act of 2016 This bill amends the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to make additional FY2017-FY2021 appropriations available for: (1) emergency relief grants to address the unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions with the highest need, (2) rental assistance under the United States Housing Act of 1937 for persons and households who are homeless, and (3) homeless outreach and coordination services. Beginning in FY2017, the bill also provides annual additional funds for: (1) the Housing Trust Fund to provide grants to states for use to increase homeownership and the supply of rental housing for extremely low- and very low-income families, including homeless families; and (2) incremental project-based voucher or rental assistance under the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992. When the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocates grants to states from the Housing Trust Fund for rental housing, the dwelling units must be subject to legally binding commitments to ensure that the residing family's contribution toward rent does not exceed 30% of the family's adjusted income. The bill provides funding to HUD to expand the Healthcare and Housing (H2) Systems Integration Initiative by assisting states and localities in coordinating policies among Medicaid programs, behavioral health providers, housing providers, and finance support services for homeless persons. The bill also makes permanent: (1) certain housing assistance programs under the Homeless Assistance Act, and (2) the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2016
North American Development Bank General Capital Increase Authorization Act of 2016 This bill: (1) authorizes the Department of the Treasury to subscribe on behalf of the United States to 150,000 additional shares of the capital stock of the North American Development Bank, and (2) authorizes appropriations for such shares.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2016
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 61 South Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre, California, as the "Louis Van Iersel Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2016
Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act of 2016 This bill requires a state with a state-appointed emergency financial manager to certify that the appointment: (1) does not have the purpose or effect of limiting the right to vote on account of race or color, and (2) followed a notice and comment period. If a state with a state-appointed emergency financial manager fails to submit such certification, then the Department of Justice may reduce by 5% that state's allocation of funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2016
Urges the United States to: (1) establish a national goal of 50% clean and carbon-free electricity by 2030, and (2) enact legislation to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 2016
Assistance, Quality, and Affordability Act of 2016 This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the Act through FY2021. The bill sets forth requirements concerning Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Fund (SRF) projects, including mandates for the use of bond sales, mandates to produce goods in the United States, and mandates to provide prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics. The bill makes changes to provisions that states must include in their Intended Use Plans, including data on variances, exemptions, and persistent violations. The bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide additional assistance to public water systems that serve disadvantaged communities. The bill increases the portion of SRF funds that states may reserve to provide technical assistance to public water systems. Additionally, the bill increases the funds that may be reserved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The EPA must: (1) study the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in drinking water sources, (2) establish requirements for electronic submission of compliance monitoring data by public water systems, (3) collect data on best practices for administration of SRF programs, (4) implement a certification program for effective water leak control technology, (5) develop a strategic plan for assessing and managing the risks of drought to drinking water, (6) establish a grant program to assist water systems in improving drinking water resiliency and sustainability, and (7) establish a grant program to remove lead service lines from public water systems.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2016
Recognizes the historical significance of February 19, 1942, the date Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, restricting the freedom of Japanese Americans, German Americans, and Italian Americans, and legal resident aliens through required identification cards, travel restrictions, seizure of personal property, and incarceration. Expresses support for the goals of the Japanese American, German American, and Italian American communities in recognizing a National Day of Remembrance to increase public awareness of such events.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2016
No Money Bail Act of 2016 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to make ineligible for funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program a state with a bail system that uses payment of money as a condition of pretrial release in criminal cases. The Department of Justice must reallocate such state's JAG funding among eligible states. Additionally, the bill prohibits payment of money as a condition of pretrial release in any federal criminal case.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 2016
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: the trial and conviction of 50 African-American sailors for mutiny in connection with their service at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Concord, California, during World War II were wrongfully pursued because of racial prejudice; and Congress should publicly exonerate the 50 sailors to further aid in healing the racial divide that continues to exist in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 2016
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins, 400,000 $1 coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins in recognition and celebration of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The coins shall be in the shape of a dome, and the design on the common reverse of the coins shall depict a basketball. Treasury shall hold a competition to determine the design of the common obverse of the coins, which shall be emblematic of the game of basketball. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by Treasury to the Hall to fund an endowment for its operations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2016
Child Care Access to Resources for Early-learning Act or the Child CARE Act This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to make appropriations through FY2021 to the Department of Health and Human Services for allotments to states to: expand access to high-quality child care for infants and toddlers from low-income families who do not receive child care funded through the Child Care and Development (CCD) Fund, and increase the quality of such care for infants and toddlers who do receive child care funded through the CCD Fund. The state shall reserve at least 80% of funds for direct services provided through grants, contracts, or certificates, to expand access to high-quality child care for infants and toddlers and to increase parental options for and access to such care. The state shall use the cost of a mandatory triennial high-quality child care study to ensure that for all infant and toddler child care slots: (1) the child care is of sufficient quality, (2) the care providers are supported along a career pathway to achieve higher levels of training and education, and (3) the provider rates are sufficient. The state shall also ensure that all infant and toddler child care providers participating in CCD Fund-supported activities meet certain quality standards by the end of FY2026. The state shall: (1) identify underserved geographic areas and special populations; and (2) develop and implement a plan to increase the availability of high-quality child care in such areas and populations, especially those that are hard-to-serve. The state shall reserve certain funds to carry out specified activities to increase the quality of child care programs for infants and toddlers in eligible families. An Indian tribe or tribal organization that receives a grant through an allotment for Indian and Native Hawaiian Child Care shall use the grant funds to provide, by the end of FY2026, access to high-quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate child care for infants and toddlers for eligible families in the tribal community.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2016
Lake Berryessa Recreation Enhancement Act of 2016 This bill establishes as the Lake Berryessa Recreation Area specified land administered by the Bureau of Reclamation that is underlying or adjacent to Lake Berryessa in California, including any improvements. The bill transfers the administrative jurisdiction over the area from the Bureau of Reclamation to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the Department of the Interior. Interior shall develop a management plan for the area and may establish guidelines and restrictions on recreational uses to ensure the safety and security of recreational users. Interior may also issue recreation concession permits, including at the area, to allow a third party to provide facilities and services to visitors on lands and waters managed by the BLM in support of outdoor recreational opportunities. Reclamation shall continue to administer and operate the Monticello Dam and any related facility, including any power facility.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2016
Families of Flint Act This bill provides support for Flint, Michigan in addressing lead in the city's drinking water and related issues. The bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by establishing a 10-year grant program to ensure that Flint's drinking water does not contain: (1) lead levels that threaten public health or the environment, or (2) other drinking water contaminants and pathogens that threaten public health. The bill also establishes specified grant programs for assisting Flint that are established within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bill amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, by allowing states to use more than 20% of funds from Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants for addressing a threat to public health from heightened exposure to lead in a municipal drinking water supply if a federal or state emergency declaration has been issued for that threat. HHS must establish in Flint a Center of Excellence on Lead Exposure. The bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the allowable participation period in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children for children residing in areas that are in a state of emergency. A state may elect to allow those children to participate in the program for a period that ends on the earlier of: (1) the child's tenth birthday (currently fifth), or (2) five years after the emergency (currently children may participate for a one-year period).
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2016
Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2016 This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services such as sexual health education and contraception. Marginalized youth are disadvantaged individuals under the age of 26. Grants may be awarded to state or local health or education agencies, public schools, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations. Grants may be used to: (1) provide sexual health information to marginalized youth, (2) promote effective communication regarding sexual health among marginalized youth, (3) promote and support opportunities for school-age parents, and (3) train individuals who work with marginalized youth to promote sexual health and the development of safe and supportive environments. Grants may not be used to provide access to health services that: (1) are medically unsound; (2) withhold sexual health-promoting or lifesaving information; (3) promote gender stereotypes; or (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs of homosexual, bisexual, or transgender youth, sexually active youth, school-age parents, or survivors of sexual abuse or assault. Unobligated FY2017 appropriations for abstinence education are made available for these grants.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2016
Commemorates Representatives Sam Johnson and John Lewis for their patriotic service and sacrifice to the country they love and for becoming the first ever recipients of the Congressional Patriot Award.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2016
Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to: (1) issue regulations requiring corporations and limited liability companies formed in a state that does not have a formation system providing for the disclosure, updating, and verification of beneficial ownership information to file with Treasury information about their beneficial ownership as required by this bill; and (2) provide such information pursuant to a civil or criminal subpoena or summons from a federal or state agency or a congressional committee or a written request by a federal agency on behalf of another country or by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It sets forth requirements for state formation systems regarding beneficial ownership information, including: (1) the identification of beneficial owners by name, residential or business address, and identifying number from a passport or driver's license; and (2) the updating of lists of beneficial owners not later than 60 days after any change in information. It requires retention of such information for five years after a corporation or limited liability company terminates. The bill authorizes a state that maintains a formal licensing system for formation agents to permit an applicant to form a corporation or limited liability company, or a corporation or company formed under the laws of the state, to provide such information to such an agent residing in that state instead of to that state directly, under certain conditions. It prescribes penalties for: (1) providing false or fraudulent beneficial ownership information; (2) willfully failing to provide complete or updated information; (3) disclosing the existence of a subpoena, summons, or other request for beneficial ownership information, with exceptions; and (4) a formation agent failing to obtain or maintain credible, legible, and updated beneficial ownership information. Treasury must publish a proposed and final rule to require persons engaged in the business of forming corporations to establish anti-money laundering programs. The Government Accountability Office must study and report to Congress on: (1) state requirements for the disclosure of beneficial ownership information; (2) whether the lack of such information has impeded investigations into entities suspected of terrorism, money laundering, and other criminal activities; (3) whether the failure to require beneficial ownership information for partnerships and trusts formed or registered in the United States has elicited international criticism and what steps the United States has taken or is planning to take in response; and (4) the effectiveness of incorporation practices implemented under this bill in aiding law enforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2016
Original Black History Month Resolution of 2016 Recognizes: (1) the significance of Black History Month as an important time to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of African-Americans in the nation's history, and (2) that the ethnic and racial diversity of the United States enriches and strengthens the nation. Encourages: (1) the continued celebration of this month to provide an opportunity for all peoples of the United States to learn more about the past and to better understand the experiences that have shaped the nation, and (2) states to include in their year-round educational curriculum the history and contributions of African-Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2016
Original NAACP Resolution of 2016 Recognizes the 107th anniversary of the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Honors the NAACP for its work to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic rights of all persons.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2016
Improving Small Business Advocacy Act of 2016 This bill amends the Small Business Act to declare that the exclusive duties of a Business Opportunity Specialist reporting to the senior official (or designee) appointed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) with certain SBA loan responsibilities, including the procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans and the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program, shall be to implement specified SBA loan programs, and complete other duties related to contracting programs. Such duties shall include: performing specified functions with respect to small business concerns eligible to receive federal contracts and subcontracts; reviewing and monitoring compliance with mentor-protege agreements; representing the interests of the SBA and small business concerns in the award, modification, and administration of contracts and subcontracts awarded pursuant to the Act; and reporting fraud or abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2015
Police Agency Investigation Improvement Act of 2015 This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to create within the Special Litigation Section of the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Civil Rights Division an Office of Police Agency Investigations to investigate alleged patterns or practices of police conduct that violate constitutional rights. Additionally, it amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand the allowable use of grant funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to include complying with a judgment or consent decree pursuant to a pattern-or-practice investigation. DOJ may award additional grants to COPS grant recipients to comply with such judgments or consent decrees.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2015
This bill amends: (1) the Department of Energy Organization Act to revise the definition of "minority" to mean any U.S. citizen who is an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic, Puerto Rican, Native American, or Alaska Native; and (2) the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 to revise the definition of "minority group members" (who own minority group enterprises) to mean U.S. citizens who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2015
Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act This bill amends provisions of federal law known as the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 relating to money laundering violations to: (1) increase civil penalties for willful violations of anti-money laundering laws; (2) increase the civil penalty for negligent violations of such laws and impose a penalty on partners, directors, officers, or employees of a financial institution for such violations; and (3) impose a 20-year maximum prison term for individuals who facilitate evasion of an anti-money laundering program or control. It directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study contrasting mandatory minimum sentencing laws and guidelines for narcotics-related offenses and Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutorial discretion in determining penalties for violations of anti-money laundering laws. It authorizes a court, in granting an injunction directed at money laundering activities, to issue a conditional or permanent ban on any individual who has violated money laundering laws from acting as an officer or director of a financial institution. It grants independent legal authority to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the Department of the Treasury to bring legal action to enforce anti-money laundering laws. The bill requires the issuance of regulations by appropriate federal banking agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and FinCEN prohibiting financial institutions that are subject to an anti-money laundering program requirement from providing executive compensation based on any criteria that could undermine compliance by any individual with anti-money laundering requirements. It imposes personal liability on officers, directors, employees, or affiliated parties of a financial institution for fines relating to money laundering violations. Treasury must issue regulations requiring each financial institution that is subject to an anti-money laundering program to establish written policies, procedures, and risk management standards for ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering requirements. It imposes civil liability on officers or employees of a financial institution who knew or should have known about money laundering violations but who failed to take meaningful steps to stop such violations. It requires each appropriate federal banking agency, the SEC, and the CFTC to report to FinCEN on each enforcement or supervisory action taken relating to an anti-money laundering violation. The bill expands: (1) criteria for granting safe harbor protections to financial institutions that voluntarily disclose money laundering violations, and (2) the types of crimes that can be a predicate offense to money laundering to include all felony offenses. It also expands anti-discrimination protections and legal remedies for individuals who provide information about money laundering violations (whistle blowers) and provides enhanced monetary incentives for such whistle blowers. Treasury must work with foreign counterparts and financial organizations to promote stronger anti-money laundering frameworks and enforcement of anti-money laundering laws. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that DOJ should vigorously pursue criminal penalties against individuals who willfully violate anti-money laundering laws. It sets forth considerations for Treasury when identifying countries or jurisdictions as primary money laundering concerns under the USA Patriot Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000187_200.jpg)