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United States · Official source
5,130 records where Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-17] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 400 N. Main Street, Encinal, Texas, as the "Encinal Veterans Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 122 W. Goodwin Street, Pleasanton, Texas, as the "Pleasanton Veterans Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 306 River Street in Tilden, Texas, as the "Tilden Veterans Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 901 N. Francisco Avenue, Mission, Texas, as the "Mission Veterans Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9155 Schaefer Road, Converse, Texas, as the "Converse Veterans Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2017
Equitable Access to Care and Health Act or the EACH Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the religious conscience exemption under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to exempt individuals who rely solely on a religious method of healing and for whom the acceptance of medical health services would be inconsistent with their religious beliefs from the requirement to purchase and maintain minimum essential health care coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2017
Responsible Additions and Increases to Sustain Employee Health Benefits Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax exclusion for distributions from health flexible spending arrangements provided under a cafeteria plan, to: (1) increase the annual limit on employee salary reduction contributions to $5,000, with an additional $500 for each additional employee dependent above two dependents that has not been taken into account by another person for the year; (2) revise the adjustment for inflation after 2017; and (3) allow a carryforward into the next year for unused amounts in such plans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2017
Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-exempt charitable or educational organizations to make collegiate housing and infrastructure grants to certain tax-exempt social clubs (e.g., college fraternities and sororities) which apply such grants to their collegiate housing property. A "collegiate housing and infrastructure grant" is a grant to provide, improve, operate, or maintain collegiate housing property that may involve more than incidental social, recreational, or private purposes. The grant must be for purposes that would be permissible for a dormitory or other residential facility of the college or university with which the collegiate housing property is associated. The grant may not be used to provide physical fitness facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Political Appointee Burrowing Prevention Act This bill prohibits an individual employed in a political position in the civil service from being appointed to a career position in the civil service for two years after the individual separates from such political position. Such prohibition shall not apply to a political appointee who has not personally and substantially participated in any particular matter while employed in a political position.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act of 2017 or the TAILOR Act of 2017 This bill requires federal financial regulatory agencies to: (1) tailor any regulatory actions so as to limit burdens on the institutions involved, with consideration of the risk profiles and business models of those institutions; and (2) report to Congress on specific actions taken to do so, as well as on other related issues. The bill's tailoring requirement applies not only to future regulatory actions but also to regulations adopted within the last seven years.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Taylor Force Act This bill prohibits certain assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 from being made available for the West Bank and Gaza unless the Department of State certifies that the Palestinian Authority: is taking steps to end acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens perpetrated by individuals under its jurisdictional control, such as the March 2016 attack that killed former Army officer Taylor Force; is publicly condemning such acts of violence and is investigating, or cooperating in investigations of, such acts; and has terminated payments for acts of terrorism against U.S. and Israeli citizens to any individual who has been convicted and imprisoned for such acts, to any individual who died committing such acts, and to family members of such an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Furthering Access to Stroke Telemedicine Act of 2017 or the FAST Act of 2017 This bill specifies that, under Medicare, telehealth services include telehealth-eligible stroke services provided to an individual soon after the onset of acute-stroke symptoms. Certain originating-site requirements applicable to telehealth services under Medicare shall not apply with respect to such stroke services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) provide for an operation on a live donor to carry out a transplant procedure for an eligible veteran notwithstanding that the live donor may not be eligible for VA health care, and (2) provide for such an operation at a VA or a non-VA facility. The VA shall furnish to such a donor any care or services that may be required before and after conducting such procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize employers to provide compensatory time off to private employees at a rate of not less than 1 1/2 hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required, but only if it is in accordance with an applicable collective bargaining agreement or, in the absence of such an agreement, an agreement between the employer and employee. The bill prohibits an employee from accruing more than 160 hours of compensatory time. An employer must provide monetary compensation for any unused compensatory time off accrued during the preceding year. The bill requires an employer to give employees 30-day notice before discontinuing compensatory time off. The bill prohibits an employer from intimidating, threatening, or coercing an employee in order to: (1) interfere with the employee's right to request or not to request compensatory time off in lieu of payment of monetary overtime compensation, or (2) require an employee to use such compensatory time. The bill makes an employer who violates such requirements liable to the affected employee in the amount of the compensation rate for each hour of compensatory time accrued, plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, reduced for each hour of compensatory time used.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for the establishment and governance of association health plans (AHPs), which are group health plans sponsored by business associations. The bill establishes requirements for AHPs relating to certification, sponsors and boards of trustees, participation and coverage, nondiscrimination, contribution rates, and voluntary termination. AHPs offering benefits that are not health insurance must: (1) establish and maintain sufficient reserves and stop-loss insurance to cover those benefits, and (2) make annual payments to a fund to be used to pay for stop-loss insurance for such AHPs for which there is a reasonable expectation that claims would not be satisfied without such insurance. AHPs that fail to meet these requirements are subject to termination. The Department of Labor must establish a Solvency Standards Working Group. States may tax contributions to AHPs, with certain conditions. The bill preempts state laws that preclude health insurers from: (1) offering health insurance in connection with a certified AHP; or (2) offering health insurance of the same policy type to other employers in the state that are eligible for coverage under AHPs. The bill establishes criminal penalties for willfully making false representations regarding an AHP.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act This bill prohibits, in any case arising out of the administration of laws and benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs, any person who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness from being considered adjudicated as a mental defective for purposes of the right to receive or transport firearms without the order or finding of a judicial authority of competent jurisdiction that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Require CRA Compliance Act of 2017 This bill requires each federal agency to submit to Congress a list of any rules for which the agency did not comply with requirements under the Congressional Review Act to report on the issuance of such rules to the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Government Accountability Office.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2017 This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the five-month waiting period for disability insurance benefits for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a progressive neurodegenerative disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord). Under current law, individuals must wait five months after becoming disabled before their disability insurance benefit payments can begin.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2017 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to repeal specified limitations, for purposes of Medicare participation, on self-referrals by newly constructed or expanded physician-owned hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for the rehabilitation of buildings and historic structures, to: (1) allow an increased 30% credit, up to $750,000, for projects with rehabilitation expenditures not exceeding $3.75 million, for which no credit was allowed in either of the two prior taxable years (smaller projects); (2) allow the transfer of tax credit amounts for smaller projects; (3) treat a building as substantially rehabilitated if rehabilitation expenditures exceed the greater of 50% of the adjusted basis of the building or $5,000 (currently, the greater of the adjusted basis of the building or $5,000); (4) reduce the required basis adjustment from 100% of the credit to 50% of the amount of the credit; and (5) limit the application of disqualified lease rules to tax-exempt use property.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Tanning Tax Repeal Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the 10% excise tax on indoor tanning services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Supports the designation of April 11 as National Pet Adoption Day and the month of April as National Pet Adoption Month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
Condemns: (1) the killing of peaceful protesters and excessive use of force by Ethiopian security forces; (2) the detention of journalists, students, activists and political leaders who exercise their constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and expression through peaceful protests; and (3) the abuse of the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation to stifle political and civil dissent and journalistic freedoms. Urges: (1) protesters in Ethiopia to refrain from violence and from encouragement or acceptance of violence in demonstrations, and (2) all armed factions to cease their conflict with the Ethiopian government and engage in peaceful negotiations. Calls on the government of Ethiopia to: lift the state of emergency; end the use of excessive force by security forces; investigate the killings and excessive use of force that took place as a result of protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions; release dissidents, activists, and journalists who have been imprisoned for exercising constitutional rights; respect the right to peaceful assembly and guarantee freedom of the press; engage in open consultations with citizens regarding its development strategy; allow a United Nations rapporteur to conduct an independent examination of the state of human rights in Ethiopia; address the grievances brought forward by representatives of registered opposition parties; hold accountable those responsible for killing, torturing, and detaining innocent civilians who exercised their constitutional rights; and investigate and report on the circumstances surrounding the September 3, 2016, shootings and fire at Qilinto Prison, the deaths of persons in attendance at the annual Irreecha festivities at Lake Hora near Bishoftu on October 2, 2016, and the ongoing killings of civilians over several years in the Somali Regional State by police. Calls on such government to repeal proclamations that: can be used to harass or prohibit funding for organizations that investigate human rights violations, engage in peaceful political dissent, or advocate for greater political freedoms; prohibit those displaced from their land from seeking judicial redress; permit the detention of peaceful protesters and political opponents who legally exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association; and limit peaceful nonprofit operations in Ethiopia. Calls on: (1) the Department of State to review security assistance and improve oversight of U.S. assistance to Ethiopia; (2) the U.S. Agency for International Development to lead efforts to develop a strategy to support improved democracy and governance in Ethiopia; and (3) the State Department, in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury, to apply appropriate sanctions on foreign persons or entities responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against any nationals in Ethiopia;. Supports the peaceful efforts of the Ethiopian people to exercise their constitutional rights.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
Calls upon: (1) the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, other elements of the Department of Defense and the federal government, and all foreign governments to intensify efforts to investigate, recover, identify and account for all missing and unaccounted-for U.S. personnel; and (2) all foreign governments with information on missing U.S. personnel, or with missing U.S. personnel within their territories, to cooperate fully with the U.S. government to provide the fullest possible accounting for all missing U.S. personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act of 2017 or the STOP Act of 2017 This bill amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to make the Postmaster General the consignee (i.e., the entity financially responsible for the receipt of a shipment) for merchandise, excluding documents, imported through the mail into the United States. The Postmaster General must designate licensed customs brokers to file required documents or information for such shipments. The bill amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to impose a customs user fee on postal shipments or any other item valued at $2,000 or less arriving at an international mail facility. The bill amends the Trade Act of 2002 to direct the Department of the Treasury to require the Postmaster General to provide for the advanced electronic transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection of certain information for all postal shipments made by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), including postal shipments it receives from foreign postal operators. The Postmaster General: shall be liable for civil penalties for postal shipment violations committed by a foreign postal operator or the USPS; may be directly or indirectly responsible for discrepancies resulting from omissions made or false information provided by a foreign postal operator or the USPS; and shall ensure that all costs and penalties associated with complying with this bill are recouped from foreign shippers, foreign postal operators, or U.S. ultimate consignees.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Spending Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit Medicare Prescription Drug Plan sponsors from retroactively reducing payment on clean claims submitted by pharmacies. (A "clean claim" is a Medicare claim that is free of defects such as incomplete documentation.)
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2017 This bill prohibits the Army Corps of Engineers from promulgating or enforcing any regulation that prohibits an individual from possessing a firearm at a water resources development project administered by the Corps of Engineers if: (1) the individual is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing the firearm, and (2) the possession of the firearm is in compliance with the law of the state in which the project is located.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
Flat Tax Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize an individual or a person engaged in business activity to make an irrevocable election to be subject to a flat tax (in lieu of the existing income tax provisions) of 19% for the first two years after an election is made, and 17% thereafter. The bill calculates taxable income for individual taxpayers by subtracting a basic standard deduction and an additional standard deduction for each dependent from the total of wages, retirement distributions, and unemployment compensation. "Business taxable income" is gross active income reduced by certain deductions for the cost of business inputs, wages, and retirement contributions. The bill imposes an employer tax on the value of excludable compensation provided to employees not engaged in business activity of 19% for the first two years after an election is made under this bill and 17% thereafter. The bill also repeals the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. A two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate is required to increase the flat tax rate proposed by this bill or to reduce the amount of the standard deduction or business-related deductions allowed by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on November 22, 2016, relating to prepaid accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and the Truth in Lending Act. The rule establishes various consumer protections with respect to prepaid accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2017
Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2017 This bill waives Medicare coinsurance requirements with respect to colorectal cancer screening tests, regardless of the code billed for a resulting diagnosis or procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2017
OIRA Insight, Reform, and Accountability Act This bill codifies and revises the centralized regulatory review process, currently required under executive order, to require the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget to: (1) review agencies' significant regulatory actions for compliance with procedures for cost-benefit determinations, assessments of alternatives, avoidance of conflicts with other regulations, and consideration of risks and enforcement costs; (2) circulate agency regulatory plans to other agencies to determine whether an agency's actions will conflict with actions taken or planned by other agencies; (3) chair the Regulatory Working Group that assists agencies with regulatory issues; and (4) publish a unified agenda of each agency's regulations that are under development or review. OIRA's review is expanded to independent regulatory agencies. Each year, OIRA must publish the unified agenda by April 15 and October 15. The agenda must explain why any regulation included in the immediately previous agenda is no longer included. The deadline for OIRA's review may be extended for any number of additional 30-day periods upon written request by OIRA or the agency. Within 24 hours after OIRA's review, the agency that submitted the regulation must provide OIRA with a redline of any changes the agency made to the regulatory action during the review period. OIRA must disclose the redline to the public online within three days after the earliest of: (1) the date OIRA completes the review, (2) the date on which such agency publishes the regulatory action in the Federal Register, or (3) the date on which the agency announces a decision not to publish the regulatory action.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2017
Regulatory Integrity Act of 2017 This bill directs each executive agency to make publicly available on the agency website or in the rulemaking docket on Regulations.gov a list of pending agency regulatory actions and for each such action: the date the agency began to develop or consider the action, its status, an estimate of the date it will be final and in effect, and a brief description of such action; and a list of each public communication about the action issued by the agency, including the date of the communication, its intended audience, the method of communication, and a copy of the original communication. Each agency shall publish the information required within 24 hours after such communication is issued and maintain the public availability of such information for at least 5 years after the action is finalized. Any public communication issued by an agency that refers to a pending agency regulatory action shall specify whether the agency is considering alternatives and accepting comments and must expressly disclose that the agency is the source of the information to the intended recipients. Except for impartial communications that request comment on or provide information regarding the pending regulatory action, such a public communication referring to a pending action may not: (1) directly advocate, in support of or against the pending action, for the submission of information; (2) appeal to the public, or solicit a third party, to undertake such advocacy; or (3) be for publicity or propaganda purposes unless authorized by law. An agency that communicated about a pending agency regulatory action during the previous fiscal year shall submit to each congressional committee with jurisdiction over the agency's activities, by January 15 of each year, a report indicating: the number of pending agency regulatory actions the agency issued public communications about during that fiscal year; the average number of public communications issued by the agency for each such action; and the five pending actions with the highest number of public communications issued by the agency in that fiscal year and a copy of each such communication. The report shall be made publicly available on the agency's website.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2017
Provides amounts for the expenses of the Committee on Rules for the 115th Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2017
Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal judicial code to prohibit federal courts from certifying certain class actions unless: (1) each proposed class member suffered the same type and scope of injury as the named class representatives; (2) no class representatives or named plaintiffs are relatives of, present or former employees or clients of, or contractually related to class counsel; and (3) a reliable and administratively feasible mechanism is demonstrated to determine whether putative class members fall within the class definition and to distribute any monetary relief directly to a substantial majority of class members. The bill limits attorney's fees to a reasonable percentage of the payments received by class members or the value of equitable relief. No attorney's fees may: (1) be paid until distribution of any monetary recovery to class members has been completed, or (2) exceed the total amount distributed to all class members. Class counsel must submit an accounting of the disbursement of funds paid by defendants in class action settlements. The Judicial Conference of the United States must use the accountings to prepare an annual summary for Congress and the public on how funds paid by defendants in class actions have been distributed. A stay of discovery is required during preliminary motions in class action proceedings unless necessary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue prejudice. Class counsel must disclose any person or entity who has a contingent right to receive compensation from any settlement, judgment, or relief obtained in the action. Appeals courts must permit appeals from an order granting or denying class certification. Federal courts must apply diversity of citizenship jurisdictional requirements to the claims of each plaintiff individually (as though each plaintiff were the sole plaintiff in the action) when deciding a motion to remand a case back to a state court in a civil action in which: (1) two or more plaintiffs assert personal injury or wrongful death claims, (2) the action was removed from state court to federal court on the basis of a diversity of citizenship among the parties, and (3) a motion to remand is made on the ground that one or more defendants are citizens of the same state as one or more plaintiffs. A court must: (1) sever, and remand to state court, claims that do not satisfy the jurisdictional requirements; and (2) retain jurisdiction over claims that satisfy the diversity requirements. In coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings for personal injury claims conducted by judges assigned by the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation, plaintiffs must: (1) submit medical records and other evidence for factual contentions regarding the alleged injury, the exposure to the risk that allegedly caused the injury, and the alleged cause of the injury; and (2) receive not less than 80% of any monetary recovery. Trials may not be conducted in multidistrict litigation proceedings unless all parties consent to the specific case sought to be tried.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2017
Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act or the SCRUB Act This bill establishes the Retrospective Regulatory Review Commission to review the Code of Federal Regulations to identify rules that should be repealed to lower the cost of regulation to the economy, giving priority to major rules that: (1) have been in effect more than 15 years, (2) impose paperwork burdens or unfunded mandates that could be reduced substantially without significantly diminishing regulatory effectiveness, (3) impose disproportionately high costs on small business entities, and (4) could be strengthened in their effectiveness while reducing regulatory costs. The bill prohibits the reissuance of a rule similar to any rule that has been repealed or that results in the same adverse effects of a repealed rule. The commission must establish a public website to make regulatory information accessible to the public at no cost. Federal agencies making a new rule must: (1) repeal rules identified by the commission to offset the cost to the economy of such new rule (cut-go procedures), and (2) include in the final issuance of such rule a plan for reviewing the rule not later than 10 years after it is promulgated. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget must review and certify the accuracy of agency determinations of the cost of new rules. Agency compliance with this bill is subject to judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2017 This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and maintain a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect history and occupational information that can be linked to existing data in state cancer registries. The registry must be used to improve monitoring of cancer among firefighters and to collect and publish epidemiological information regarding cancer among firefighters. The CDC should seek to include specified information in the registry, including the number and type of fire incidents attended by an individual. To collect information for the registry, the CDC may incorporate questions into existing public health surveys, questionnaires, and other databases. The CDC must: (1) develop a strategy to maximize participation in the registry; (2) develop guidance for states and firefighting agencies regarding the registry; (3) encourage inclusion in the registry of data on minority, female, and volunteer firefighters; and (4) seek feedback on the registry from nonfederal experts. The CDC must develop a process for making registry data available for research without a fee if findings or publications from the research are made public or available to stakeholders.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency or a state from requiring a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for a discharge of a pesticide from a point source into navigable waters if the discharge is approved under FIFRA. Point source pollution is waste discharged from a distinct place, such as a pipe, channel, or tunnel. The bill establishes exemptions from this prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
Lymphedema Treatment Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover certain lymphedema compression treatment items as durable medical equipment under Medicare. (Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling that is caused when the lymphatic system is damaged or blocked.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a rule submitted by the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration regarding savings arrangements established by states for non-governmental employees. (The rule describes circumstances in which state payroll deduction savings programs with automatic enrollment would not give rise to the establishment of employee pension benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [ERISA]. It provides guidance to states designing the programs to reduce the risk of ERISA preemption of state laws and private-sector employers that may be covered by the state laws.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a rule submitted by the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration regarding savings arrangements established by qualified state political subdivisions for non-governmental employees. (The rule amends a final regulation that describes how states may design and operate payroll deduction savings programs for private-sector employees, including programs that use automatic enrollment, without causing the states or private-sector employers to have established employee pension benefit plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [ERISA]. The amendment expands the regulation beyond states to cover qualified state political subdivisions and their programs that otherwise comply with the regulation.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on August 5, 2016, relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife and public participation and closure procedures on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2017 This bill amends federal bankruptcy law to establish disclosure requirements with respect to a trust that is formed under a reorganization plan, following the discharge in bankruptcy of a debtor corporation, for the purpose of assuming the debtor's liability regarding certain legal claims related to liability for asbestos exposure. Such a trust must file with the bankruptcy court quarterly reports, available on the public docket, that describe each demand the trust has received from a claimant and the basis for any payment made to that claimant. These reports shall not include any confidential medical record or the claimant's full Social Security number. Upon written request, and subject to payment for reasonable costs, a trust must provide information related to payment from, and demands for payment from, the trust to any party to an action concerning liability for asbestos exposure.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2017
Credit Score Competition Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act to allow the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), when determining whether to purchase a residential mortgage, to consider a borrower's credit score only if certain procedural requirements are met with respect to the validation and approval of credit-scoring models. The Federal Housing Finance Agency may, by regulation, establish standards and criteria for processes used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to validate and approve credit-scoring models in accordance with the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2017
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend posthumous citizenship to an otherwise qualified noncitizen who enlisted, reenlisted, extended enlistment, or was inducted into the U.S. Armed Forces in the Philippines and died as a result of such active duty service during the period September 1, 1939-December 31, 1946. The executive department under which a person served shall determine whether the person satisfied the requirements for posthumous citizenship. Specified naturalization and other posthumous benefit provisions shall not apply to the surviving spouse, child, or parent of such a person.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2017
Sgt. Brandon Ketchum Never Again Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upon the request of a veteran who is enrolled in the VA health care system and entitled to in-patient psychiatric care, to furnish such veteran with in-patient psychiatric care at: (1) the VA facility that is closest to where the veteran resides and that has the capacity and capability to provide such care, or (2) at a non-VA facility if the VA facility lacks such capacity or capability.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Under PPACA, the IPAB is tasked with developing proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Agency Accountability Act of 2017 This bill requires any agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement to deposit the amount in the general fund of the Treasury. The funds may not be used unless the funding is provided in advance in an appropriations bill. Any amounts deposited during the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted may not be obligated during the fiscal year and must be used for deficit reduction. The bill includes an exception for funds to be paid to an individual entitled to receive the funds as a whistle-blower, including funds received as a percentage of amounts received by the government pursuant to a judgment or settlement agreement. The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require offsetting receipts and collections to be treated as revenue. (Offsetting receipts and collections are funds collected by agencies from other government accounts or from the public in businesslike or market-oriented transactions. Under current law, the collections are treated as negative budget authority and outlays rather than revenue and may be used to offset spending for budget enforcement purposes.) The requirements of the bill do not apply to the U.S. Postal Service or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the USPTO must submit annually to Congress a report describing any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the USPTO during the previous year.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act This bill: (1) repeals certain provisions that require the offset of amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities for the surviving spouses of former military personnel who are entitled to military retired pay or who would be entitled to retired pay except for being under 60 years of age, (2) prohibits requiring repayment of certain amounts previously paid to SBP recipients in the form of a retired pay refund, and (3) requires (current law authorizes) the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to a member's dependent children when there is no eligible surviving spouse. The Secretary concerned shall restore annuity eligibility to a surviving spouse who earlier agreed to transfer such eligibility to the surviving child or children of a member.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Farm Regulatory Certainty Act This bill amends the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 to specify that animal waste, manure, and fertilizer are excluded from the Act's requirements if the waste, manure, or fertilizer originates from or is utilized by an agricultural operation. Citizen suits may not be brought under the Act against an agricultural operation if federal or state legal and enforcement actions are already underway.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Act of 2017 or the Childhood Cancer STAR Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide support to collect the medical specimens and information of children, adolescents, and young adults with selected cancers that have the least effective treatments in order to achieve a better understanding of these cancers and the effects of treatment. The national childhood cancer registry is reauthorized through FY2022 and revised to authorize the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award grants to state cancer registries to improve tracking of childhood cancers. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may: (1) support pilot programs to develop or study models for monitoring and caring for childhood cancer survivors throughout their lives, (2) establish a task force to develop and test standards for high-quality childhood cancer survivorship care, and (3) carry out a demonstration project to improve care coordination as childhood cancer survivors transition to adult care. HHS must convene a Workforce Development Collaborative on Medical and Psychosocial Care for Pediatric Cancer Survivors. The NIH may support research on: (1) outcomes for, and barriers faced by, pediatric cancer survivors within minority or medically underserved populations; and (2) follow-up care for pediatric cancer survivors, including research on the late effects of cancer treatment and long-term complications. The Government Accountability Office must make recommendations to address barriers to childhood cancer survivors obtaining and paying for adequate medical care.