United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2021
National Commission on United States Involvement in Afghanistan Act of 2021 This bill establishes the independent National Commission on United States Involvement in Afghanistan. The commission shall assess and report on issues related to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan since 2001, specifically (1) U.S. strategic goals and interests and whether such goals were achieved, (2) U.S. assessments of the situation and whether those assessments were accurately communicated to policymakers and the public, (3) efforts by the United States and its allies to withdraw from Afghanistan, (4) U.S. efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies, and (5) recommendations for corrective measures for future foreign policy endeavors. The commission terminates 60 days after submitting its final report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 2021
Curriculum Review of Teachings Transparency Act or the CRT Transparency Act This bill requires a local educational agency, in order to receive certain federal education grants, to post on a publicly accessible website the curriculum for each grade level of its elementary and secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 31 August 2021
This bill posthumously provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of the 13 service members who died on August 26, 2021, while stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 2021
This bill designates the memorial, memorial garden, and K9 memorial of the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida, as the official national memorial, memorial garden, and K9 memorial, respectively, of Navy SEALs and their predecessors.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 2021
American Freedom and Internet Access Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of the Air Force to develop and implement Operation Starfall to deploy stratospheric balloons, aerostats, or satellite technology capable of rapidly delivering wireless internet anywhere on the planet from the stratosphere or higher.
United States · United States Congress · 24 August 2021
This resolution states that the House of Representatives opposes diplomatic recognition of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. It also states that the House recognizes and supports Amrullah Saleh's leadership as the acting president of the former Afghan government and in the resistance against the Taliban.
United States · United States Congress · 24 August 2021
This resolution condemns the President's failure to heed military and intelligence advisors about the speed and nature of the Taliban offense in Afghanistan and urges the President to commit to maintaining the evacuation operation as long as necessary to evacuate any U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or Afghan partner who requests evacuation assistance .
United States · United States Congress · 23 August 2021
This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to report daily on the efforts to evacuate U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents from Afghanistan until the President certifies to Congress that all such individuals who sought evacuation have been evacuated. Until such certification is submitted, DOD may not use FY2021 funds for activity which would have the effect of reducing the total number of service members deployed to Afghanistan, except in specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 2021
Fallen First-Responders' Family Naturalization Fee-Relief Act of 2021 This bill waives certain immigration application or petition fees for an applicant who is (1) an injured firefighter or law enforcement officer, or (2) an immediate relative of an injured or deceased firefighter or law enforcement officer. Specifically, such fees must be waived if the firefighter or law enforcement officer died or was permanently and totally disabled from an injury sustained in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 2021
Manatee Protection Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of the Interior to include the West Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) in the endangered species list and give the species protections provided to endangered species.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2021
Canadian Snowbird Visa Act This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to admit into the United States qualifying Canadian citizens as long-term nonimmigrant visitors. A qualifying Canadian citizen is an individual who (1) is at least 50 years old, (2) maintains a Canadian residence, (3) owns a U.S. residence or has rented a U.S. accommodation for the duration of the individual's stay, (4) is not inadmissible or deportable, (5) will not engage in employment or labor for hire in the United States other than for a non-U.S.-based person or entity by whom the Canadian citizen was employed in Canada or for whom the Canadian citizen performed services in Canada, and (6) will not seek certain forms of assistance or benefits. A qualified individual may be admitted for up to 240 days during any single 365-day period. The spouse of such an individual may be admitted under the same terms, except that the spouse is not required to separately satisfy the requirement for owning or renting a residence in the United States. The bill grants an individual so admitted nonresident alien tax status.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2021
Combating the Persecution of Christians in China Act This bill expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should promote religious freedom in China and makes statements of policy related to such freedom. In particular, the bill states that it is U.S. policy to consider senior Chinese government officials who are responsible for the persecution of Christians in China to have committed (1) a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights for the purpose of imposing certain sanctions, and (2) a particularly severe violation of religious freedom for the purpose of determining whether such an individual is admissible into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2021
Patient Accessibility and Access To Community Healthcare Act or the PAATCH Act This bill allows a hospital that was designated as a sole community hospital on or before March 13, 2020, to retain this status for a 10-year period beginning on the date of the bill's enactment. Sole community hospitals are rural hospitals or hospitals that are the sole source of inpatient care in a certain geographic area. Such hospitals receive specialized treatment with respect to Medicare payment, the 340B drug discount program, and other health care programs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2021
This bill designates the the Federal Building and United States Courthouse located at 111 North Adams Street in Tallahassee, Florida, as the Joseph Woodrow Hatchett United States Courthouse and Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2021
Preventing Assets and Investments with No Transparency from Executive Relatives Act or the PAINTER Act This bill extends the financial disclosures required under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to include any non-dependent child of the President or Vice President. Non-dependent child means any individual who is a son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter of the reporting individual that is over the age of 17 and that is not a dependent child of such reporting individual.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2021
The Post-Widows Tax Repeal SBP Open Enrollment for Service-Disabled Veterans Act This bill establishes an open enrollment period for the Survivor Benefit Plan for a member or former member of the uniformed services who, on the day before the first day of the enrollment period, discontinued participation in the Survivor Benefit Plan (due to spousal eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation), and is entitled to retired pay, or would be entitled to retired pay but for the fact the individual is under 60 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2021
This resolution applauds and expresses support for the continued cooperation between the United States and the European Union in thwarting Hezbollah's terrorist activities. It also urges the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2021
American Shores Protection Act This bill extends a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico through June 30, 2032, and expands the moratorium to include the South Atlantic Planning Area and the Straits of Florida Planning Area.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2021
Robert Cleckler Bowden Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Robert Bowden, in recognition of his achievements both on and off the football field.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2021
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act of 2021 This bill modifies the requirements for calculating taxable income to make permanent the accelerated depreciation (seven-year recovery period) of motorsports entertainment complexes.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2021
National Institute of Standards and Technology for the Future Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) through FY2026 and establishes programs and activities. The bill sets forth requirements for supporting basic measurement science, technology research for engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and biometrology; a program to inform the development of standards for the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions; establishing research programs and otherwise carrying out research on identity management, cybersecurity, biometric identification, and communications measurement; assessing and assigning severity metrics to identified vulnerabilities with open source software; carrying out research and testing to improve the effectiveness of artificial intelligence-enabled cybersecurity; a digital identity technical roadmap and digital identity management guidance; a biometrics vendor test program; performance standards and guidelines for high-risk biometric identification systems, including facial recognition systems; making publicly available resources to help qualifying institutions manage and reduce their cybersecurity risk related to conducting research; carrying out advanced communications measurement research; operation of the National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network; development of a strategic plan for the future of the Center for Neutron Research; information exchange and coordination among federal agencies and communication from federal agencies to the private sector to ensure federal engagement in the development and use of international technical standards; and establishing a five-year pilot program to award grants to support increased participation by small business and academic interests in international standards organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2021
Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act of 2021 or the PALS Act This bill makes a series of changes relating to health insurance coverage of screening mammography. Specifically, the bill requires that any provision of law referring to current recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with respect to breast cancer screening mammography be administered as if (1) the provision referred to USPSTF recommendations last issued before 2009; and (2) those recommendations applied to any screening mammography modality, including any digital modality of such a procedure. This requirement shall also apply to the Veterans Health Administration's policy on mammography screening for veterans. In addition, the bill preserves Medicare coverage for screening mammography, without a requirement for coinsurance, and expands the definition of screening mammography to include any digital modality of such a procedure. Further, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not decrease the frequency with which screening mammography may be paid by Medicare for a woman over 39 years of age. In 2009, the USPSTF updated its guidelines to recommend against routine screening mammography for women between 40 to 49 years of age and to recommend biennial, instead of annual, screening mammography for most women between 50 to 74 years of age. In 2015, through the appropriations process, a three-year moratorium was placed on implementing the guidelines; the moratorium was subsequently renewed until January 1, 2023.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2021
Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the award of federal funds to an institution of higher education (IHE) that hosts or is affiliated with a school-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions to its students or to employees of the IHE or the site. An IHE that hosts or is affiliated with a site must, in order to remain eligible for federal funds, annually certify that the site does not provide abortion drugs or abortions to students or employees.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2021
Improving Veterans Access to Congressional Services Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to permit a Member of Congress (upon request) to use a VA facility to meet with constituents. The VA and the General Services Administration must jointly identify available spaces in VA facilities for such purposes. The VA must prescribe regulations regarding such use of a VA facility by a Member of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 2021
Veterans in Parks (VIP) Act This bill makes the America the Beautiful-National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available, without charge, to members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and Gold Star Families. The pass covers the entrance fee and standard amenity recreation fee for all federal recreational lands and waters.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2021
This resolution recognizes the sacrifices and bravery of the Afghan people in their struggle for democracy while enduring decades-long conflict and oppression by the Taliban. It also condemns the Taliban's continued human rights violations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2021
This resolution supports the designations of National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Month and National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day. The resolution supports (1) the education of members of the Armed Forces, veterans, their families, and the public about post-traumatic stress; and (2) efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to foster cultural change around the issue of post-traumatic stress. The resolution also encourages the leadership of the Armed Forces to support treatment of members of the Armed Forces who suffer from post-traumatic stress.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2021
Gold Star Spouses Non-Monetary Benefits Act This bill addresses certain federal benefits for surviving spouses of members of the Armed Forces, including those who have remarried. For purposes of noncompetitive appointment to government employment, a surviving spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who was married to such member at the time they died while on active duty may be appointed as a military spouse, regardless of remarriage. Additionally, widows or widowers of certain veterans who served on active duty must be considered preference eligible for purposes of government employment, regardless of remarriage. A surviving spouse who is eligible for the gold star lapel button is entitled to commissary and exchange privileges to the same extent and on the same basis as the surviving spouse of a retired member of the uniformed services. Such spouses are also entitled, upon request, to medical and dental care provided in facilities of the uniformed services. A surviving spouse who is eligible for a gold star lapel button must be permitted to use commissary stores and certain retail facilities on the same basis as a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces on active duty. In regard to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits, the remarriage of a surviving spouse of a veteran does not bar the furnishing of non-monetary benefits to a surviving spouse who is eligible for a gold star lapel button. Such surviving spouses who are eligible for a gold star lapel button are also eligible for certain VA home loan programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2021
Keeping Girls in School Act This bill authorizes the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to enter into agreements to address social, cultural, health, and other barriers that adolescent girls face in accessing quality secondary education. The USAID shall seek to ensure that such activities meet various requirements related to monitoring and evaluating outcomes, collecting data, and using specified indicators and methodologies for international basic education. The Department of State shall periodically update and report to Congress a publicly available U.S. global strategy to empower adolescent girls, and the USAID shall periodically report to Congress on the activities initiated under this bill and efforts to monitor and evaluate such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2021
Cultivating Opportunity and Recovery from the Pandemic through Service Act or the CORPS Act This bill makes several changes to AmeriCorps programs during the COVID-19 health emergency. Specifically, the bill: increases living allowance payments to program participants; increases educational awards for program participants; relaxes program requirements, including reducing the age requirement for AmeriCorps Seniors to 45 and older; creates a pilot program to allow state commissions to directly place individuals in approved AmeriCorps programs; and allows for targeted AmeriCorps grants to fund recovery projects in communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The bill also excludes AmeriCorps living allowance payments and educational awards from taxable income for program participants.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2021
Study To Observe and Prevent (STOP) Human Trafficking Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Justice, in coordination with the President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, to study and report on the prevalence and instances of human trafficking at adult entertainment clubs in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2021
Foreign Gain-of-Function Research Prevention Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to conduct or support gain-of-function research involving potential pandemic pathogens by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or other foreign adversaries. Gain-of-function research is any research that is anticipated to confer an attribute on a pathogen to enhance its pathogenicity or transmissibility in mammals. If the Department of State finds that an entity has used funds for prohibited research, the entity may not receive any federal funding for a period of five years.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2021
Retain Skilled Veterans Act This bill modifies the restriction related to the appointment of retired members of the Armed Forces to certain civil service positions in the Department of Defense. Under the bill, the 180-day waiting period before a retired member may be appointed to a position only applies to those positions in the excepted or competitive service classified at or above GS-14 of the General Schedule (or equivalent).
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2021
Averting Loss of Life and Injury by Expediting SIVs Act of 2021 or the Allies Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of special immigrant visas available to qualified Afghan nationals who worked for the U.S. government or a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Afghanistan. The bill also relaxes certain qualifications for such visas. Specifically, this bill makes available an additional 8,000 visas for principal aliens under this special visa program, to be available until all such visas have been issued. (The numerical limitations in this program apply only to the principal alien who applies for the visa, not to any spouse or child who may accompany the principal alien.) The bill also eliminates a requirement for each applicant to submit a credible sworn statement describing the threat the applicant faces in Afghanistan due to their employment with the U.S. government or a NATO mission. Furthermore, for an applicant qualifying for a visa by performing duties for U.S. military personnel stationed with a NATO mission, this bill eliminates a requirement that the duties performed qualify as sensitive and trusted duties.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2021
Nicaragua Free Trade Review Act of 2021 This bill requires the U.S. Trade Representative to submit a report on the manner and extent to which Nicaragua is in compliance with the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2021
Taiwan Defense Act of 2021 This bill establishes that it shall be U.S. policy to maintain the ability of the U.S. Armed Forces to defeat attempts by China to invade and seize control of Taiwan before U.S. forces can respond effectively.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2021
Defending Domestic Produce Protection Act This bill establishes a process by which a core seasonal industry may petition for countervailing and antidumping duties. A core seasonal industry means the producers (1) of a domestic like product that is a raw agricultural product, (2) whose collective output constitutes a majority of the total production in any state or group of states that accounts for a major portion of the total production during a discrete season or cyclical period of time, and (3) that make substantially all of their sales during that season or time period. The bill also provides that this process shall apply with respect to goods from Canada and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2021
This resolution condemns Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts for certain comments regarding Israel. It also expresses that Representative Ocasio-Cortez, Representative Tlaib, Representative Omar, and Representative Pressley each be censured.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2021
National Science and Technology Strategy Act of 2021 This bill requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop a national science and technology strategy and publish a science and technology review. The bill revises OSTP reporting requirements to direct the OSTP to submit to Congress a comprehensive national science and technology strategy of the United States to meet national research and development objectives for the following four-year period. No later than December 31, 2022, and every four years afterwards, the OSTP shall complete a review of the science and technology enterprise of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2021
Servicemember Safety and Security Improvement Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense to instruct each military department to review its policies and procedures for reporting members of the Armed Forces who are absent without leave, on unauthorized absence, or missing. Military installations must update the policies and procedures related to absent or missing service members with a focus on force protection, enhanced security for members living on base, and prioritizing the reporting of missing service members to local and federal law enforcement at the earliest reasonable time. The commander of each military installation must establish a protocol for sharing information with local and federal law enforcement agencies about service members who are absent without leave, on unauthorized absence, or missing. Each military installation must submit the established protocol to the relevant installation command.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2021
Reopening to address Every COmplete Record request for Devoted Servicemembers Act of 2021 or the RECORDS Act of 2021 This bill directs the Office of the Archivist of the United States to take specified steps to address record request backlogs. Specifically, the office must take actions to ensure that (1) the number of individuals employed by the National Personnel Records Center is equal to or exceeds the number of such individuals employed on March 2, 2020, and (2) the percentage of such individuals regularly reporting to work in person is equal to or exceeds the percentage of such individuals regularly reporting to work in person on that date. The office shall submit to specified congressional committees a report that provides a comprehensive plan to address the record request backlog of the National Personnel Records Center and improve the efficiency and responsiveness of operations at the center, identifies measurable goals with respect to the comprehensive plan and metrics for tracking progress toward such goals, and describes strategies to prevent future record request backlogs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Lymphedema Treatment Act This bill provides for Medicare coverage of lymphedema compression treatment items. Specifically, the bill provides for coverage of (1) standard and custom fitted gradient compression garments that are prescribed by a physician or other specified health care professional to treat lymphedema, and (2) other devices determined to be effective in the prevention or treatment of lymphedema.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Department of Energy Science for the Future Act This bill supports specified research and development activities of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. The bill establishes various programs, including a basic energy sciences research and development program; a biological systems science and climate and environmental science research and development program; earth and environmental systems science research; a coastal zone research initiative; a Quantum User Expansion for Science and Technology program or QUEST program; a collaborative research and development program of fusion energy technologies; a research program on the fundamental constituents of matter and energy and the nature of space and time; a high energy physics research program; research activities on the nature of the primary contents of the universe, including the nature of dark energy and dark matter; a research program to discover and understand various forms of nuclear matter; and a high intensity laser research initiative. The DOE Office of Science shall continue to leverage U.S. participation in the Large Hadron Collider and prioritize expanding international partnerships and investments in the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. The bill requires DOE to expand opportunities to increase the number, diversity, equity, and inclusion of highly skilled science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals working in DOE.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Surface Transportation Research and Development Act of 202 1 This bill addresses provisions related to surface transportation research, development, and deployment programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Among other provisions, the bill reauthorizes through FY2026 DOT highway research and development programs, including highway safety, technology and innovation deployment, training and education, and intelligent transportation systems; sets forth a program to provide awards to institutions of higher education or nonprofit research organizations to establish regional road weather research and development centers; reauthorizes through FY2026 the University Transportation Centers Program, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the public transportation research and development program, the National Cooperative Rail Research Program, the hazardous materials research and development program, and the National Cooperative Freight Transportation Research Program; establishes Centers of Excellence to advance research and development that improves the resilience of regions of the United States to natural disasters, extreme weather, and the effects of climate change on modal and multimodal transportation and infrastructure; directs DOT to carry out and publish the results of a study for the purpose of informing land use and transportation planning for accessible health, food, education, and other essential services and activities; and requires DOT to establish a multimodal national cooperative freight transportation research program, a Heavy Freight Automated Trucking Research Initiative, and an Advanced Transportation Research and Innovation Program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Solar Vocational Education and Training for our Servicemembers Act or the Solar VETS Act This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a training course for careers in solar-related occupations to be (1) made available at military installations and to eligible members of the Armed Forces, and (2) administered by institutions of higher education pursuant to an agreement with DOE.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
This resolution calls on the people of the United States to observe Memorial Day to honor the men and women who died in the pursuit of freedom and peace.
![Official portrait of Rep. Waltz, Michael [R-FL-6]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000823_200.jpg)