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![Official portrait of Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/a000372_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,454 records where Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2015
Recognizes the importance of Christmas symbols and traditions. Disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas. Expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2015
This bill designates the federal building and U.S. courthouse located at 121 Spring Street S.E. in Gainesville, Georgia, as the "Sidney Olsin Smith, Jr. Federal Building and United States Courthouse."
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2015
State Refugee Security Act of 2015 This bill directs the Office of Refugee Resettlement to notify the state agency responsible for coordinating the placement or resettlement of an alien refugee not later than 21 days before the alien's arrival in the state. No alien refugee shall be placed or resettled in a state if the governor certifies to the Office of Refugee Resettlement that it has failed, in the sole determination of the governor, to provide adequate assurance that such person does not present a security risk to the state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2015
Kari's Law Act of 2015 This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that allows users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 (without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access code such as the digit "9") from any station equipped with dialing facilities. Businesses installing such systems must configure the systems to provide a notification to a central location at the facility where the system is installed when a person at the facility initiates a call to 9-1-1 using the system, provided that the system is able to be so configured without an improvement to the hardware.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2015
Affirms that the U.S.-Israel economic partnership has benefitted both countries and is a foundational component of the strong alliance. Recognizes that science and technology innovation present new frontiers for U.S.-Israel economic cooperation, particularly in light of widespread drought, cybersecurity attacks, and other major challenges impacting the United States. Encourages the Administration to expand forums of economic dialogue with Israel. Supports the exploration of new agreements with Israel, including in the fields of energy, water, agriculture, medicine, neurotechnology and cybersecurity.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2015
Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. Litigation costs (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) must be awarded to the prevailing party, thus the bill removes a court's discretion to award the fees. A prevailing party is defined as the party that prevails on more than half of the claims at issue. The bill repeals the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny or restrict the use of any area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material when the discharge of such materials would have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas. Current law requires compensatory mitigation to replace the loss of aquatic resource functions in a watershed when a permit to discharge dredged or fill materials into navigable waters has unavoidable impacts on aquatic resources. This bill prohibits government entities from carrying out compensatory mitigation in excess of existing regulatory requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 2015
Reaffirms: (1) the commitment of Congress to stopping Iran's sponsorship of terrorism and human rights violations; and (2) the legislative intent of Congress that the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 was enacted to deter illicit Iranian behavior, including sponsorship of terrorism and human rights violations. Supports state and local government sanctions targeting Iran's illicit activity, including divestment of assets from companies investing in Iran and prohibition of investment of state and local assets in any person engaging in investment activities in Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Guantanamo Transfer Prevention Act This bill prohibits the President from using Department of Defense (DOD) funds to transfer or release to or within the United States, its territories, or possessions Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who is not a U.S. citizen or member of the U.S. Armed Forces and is or was held on or after January 20, 2009, at United States Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by DOD. Any contravening action by the President shall be without legal effect. No amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for DOD for FY2016 may be used to: (1) close or abandon Guantanamo, (2) relinquish control of Guantanamo to Cuba, or (3) implement a material modification to the Treaty Between the United States of America and Cuba signed at Washington, DC, on May 29, 1934, that constructively closes Guantanamo.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that: the President should submit to the Senate for advice and consent the climate change agreement proposed for adoption at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), and Congress should refuse to consider any budget resolutions and appropriations language that include funding for the Green Climate Fund until COP-21 emissions commitments are submitted to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2015
Protecting Seniors Access to Proper Care Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow an authorized physician or practitioner who is not enrolled as a Medicare provider to, under certain circumstances, prescribe covered drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit. Specifically, the physician or practitioner must not be: (1) otherwise disqualified from being enrolled; or (2) a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, unless the doctor's practice prescribes a low-volume of billings for such drugs under Medicare.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2015
National Labor Relations Board Reform Act Amends the National Labor Relations Act to revise requirements with respect to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), and the process for appellate review. Increases NLRB membership from five to six. Requires three members to represent each of the two major political parties and, beginning January 1, 2020, each of the two members whose terms expire on the same date to represent a different major political party. Requires: (1) four NLRB members to constitute a quorum at all times, and (2) any NLRB determination to be approved by a majority of the members present. Specifies tenure, including staggered terms, of NLRB members. Sets forth judicial review procedures for any person subject to a complaint issued or authorized by the OGC. Sets the compensation rate for each NLRB member, in addition to the OGC, at level IV of the Executive Schedule and the Chairman of the NLRB, as under current law, at level III. Requires the NLRB to issue a final order reviewing an appeal of a report of an administrative law judge or decision of a regional director within one year after the report or decision; but if the NLRB does not issue a final order within that time, allows any party to the case to move to discharge it. Deems, upon such a motion, the report or the decision to be a final agency action. Prohibits the NLRB from taking further action on the matter. Reduces authorized appropriations to carry out the Act for each of the succeeding two fiscal years to 80% of the average amount authorized for the prior two fiscal years if, two years after enactment of this Act, the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date of enactment. Extends such reduced authorization of appropriations if after four years the NLRB has failed to issue a final order on more than 90% of the cases pending on (or filed on or after) the date that is two years after the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 2015
Meaningful Use Hardship Relief Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to create a blanket exception for providers from the application of certain negative payment adjustments for failing to comply, during the 2015 reporting period, with requirements related to the meaningful use of electronic health records. Under current law, providers may be exempted due to significant hardship on a case-by-case basis.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2015
Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of Strategic Services in recognition of their service and contributions during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2015
Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2015 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride pollution from the scope of that Act. The bill declares that current law does not authorize or require the regulation of climate change or global warming and nullifies certain proposed rules relating to greenhouse gas and carbon pollution emissions. Before proposing or finalizing regulations or policies, the Environmental Protection Agency must analyze the net and gross impact of those regulations and policies on employment. Regulations and policies may not take effect if they have a negative impact on employment, unless they are approved by Congress and signed by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2015
Ensuring Access to Affordable and Quality Home Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 with respect to the exemption from minimum wage and maximum hour requirements of domestic service employment to provide companionship services for individuals who because of age or infirmity are unable to care for themselves. Definitions of "companionship services" and "domestic service employment" are detailed. Excluded from companionship services are any relating to the care and protection of the aged or infirm which require and are performed by trained medical personnel. The exemption shall now extend to third-party employment of an employee to provide companionship services to such individuals, including non-medical in-home personal care or household work related to their care. "Third-party employment" means employees who provide companionship or live-in domestic services while employed by an employer or agency other than the family or household using their services, whether or not such an employee provides services to more than one household or family in the same workweek when providing such services. Exempted also from the Act's maximum hour requirements are third-party employment in domestic service of an employee who resides in the household in which the services are provided.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian hostility, and (2) the House supports Israel's efforts to maintain its sovereignty.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2015
Crop Insurance Restoration Act This bill amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to repeal changes regarding the Standard Reinsurance Agreement that were enacted as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The bill eliminates provisions that: (1) require the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to renegotiate the Standard Reinsurance Agreement no later than December 31, 2016, and at least once every five years thereafter, and (2) establish an 8.9% cap on the overall rate of return for insurance providers under the agreement. (The Standard Reinsurance Agreement is an agreement between USDA and the private companies that administer the federal crop insurance program. It specifies details such as administrative and operating expense reimbursements and risk sharing between USDA and the companies in the operation of the program.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 2015
Impeaches John Andrew Koskinen, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, for high crimes and misdemeanors and sets forth the articles of impeachment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2015
Nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency's rule published on October 23, 2015, that requires states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units (EGUs). (Those EGUs convert fossil fuel energy to electric energy.)
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2015
Nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency's rule published on October 23, 2015, that establishes new source performance standards under the Clean Air Act for carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units (EGUs) if the EGUs are newly constructed, modified, or reconstructed. (Those EGUs convert fossil fuel energy to electric energy.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
This bill prohibits federal departments and agencies from including the Social Security account number of any individual on any document sent by mail unless the department or agency head determines that inclusion of that Social Security number on the document is necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2015
Access to Marketplace Insurance Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require health insurers to accept, on behalf of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans, payments made by certain third parties, including state and federal government programs, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and certain tax exempt organizations. (Qualified health plans are eligible for subsidies and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2015
Affirms that private equity: (1) plays an important role in growing and strengthening U.S. businesses throughout all sectors of the economy and in every state and congressional district, and (2) has fostered significant investment in the U.S. economy. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should maintain normative tax policy that carried interest income resulting from the sale of a capital asset is capital gains income.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2015
Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act This bill prohibits the President from removing certain foreign financial institutions, including an Iranian financial institution, from the list of designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the Treasury until the President makes two certifications to Congress, the first of which is that the institution has not knowingly facilitated a significant transaction or transactions or provided significant financial services for or on behalf of: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps or any of its agents or affiliates whose property or property interests are blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a foreign terrorist organization for or on behalf of a person whose property or property interests have been blocked pursuant to Executive Order 13224, and a person whose property or property interests are blocked pursuant to the IEEPA in connection with Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The second certification shall be that the institution no longer knowingly engages in illicit or deceptive financial transactions or other activities. The President may not remove specified foreign persons from the list of designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control until the President certifies to Congress that the person has not knowingly: assisted in or provided financial, material, or technological support for terrorism or a terrorist organization; and engaged in significant activities or transactions that have materially contributed to Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery. The President may not remove Iran's designation as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern unless the President certifies to Congress that Iran is no longer engaged in support for terrorism, pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and any illicit and deceptive financial activities. Certain agency rule making regarding Iran is subjected to congressional review requirements. The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is amended to prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that facilitates Iran's support for Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and any affiliates or successors.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 2015
This bill amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office, upon receiving a request from Congress, to determine if legislation would reduce spending outside of the 10-year budget window through the use of preventive health and preventive health services.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 2015
Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act of 2015 This bill extends deadlines and modifies requirements for railroad carriers and providers of intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation to implement positive train control (PTC) systems. (A PTC system is a communications and signaling system designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits, and the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position. Railroads which carry passengers or have high-volume freight traffic with certain hazardous materials are required to implement a PTC system.) Within 60 days of enactment of this bill, each Class I railroad carrier (the largest operators by revenue) and provider of intercity or commuter rail passenger transportation must submit to the Department of Transportation (DOT) a plan for implementing PTC by December 31, 2018, instead of the December 31, 2015, deadline required under current law. DOT may extend the deadline if specified requirements are met. The revised plan must include a detailed schedule and sequence for fully implementing PTC in a manner that complies with specified regulations, and railroads must implement PTC in accordance with the plan. DOT may authorize a railroad carrier or other entity to begin the provisional operation of a PTC system without the required certification if it is necessary to enable the safe implementation of PTC in phases.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2015
Calls upon the President to declare a National Day of Prayer to end targeted violence against law enforcement officers and schedule appropriate public events in support of such a day.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2015
Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2015 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to modify the definition of "controlled substance analogue" to mean a substance that has a similar (previously, substantially similar) chemical structure and pharmacological effect to a schedule I controlled substance. The CSA's requirements, prohibitions, and restrictions with respect to schedule I controlled substances apply to the manufacture, importation, distribution, and sale (but not possession) of a controlled substance analogue. The bill amends the Controlled Substances Analogue Enforcement Act of 1986 to add certain synthetic substances to schedule I of the CSA.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 2015
No Exemptions for EPA Act of 2015 This bill removes the government's discretionary function exemption from tort claims in connection with a response under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), thereby allowing claims against the Environmental Protection Agency for damages caused by its response at a hazardous waste cleanup site under CERCLA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2015
Social Security Beneficiary 2nd Amendment Rights Protection Act This bill amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to prohibit any determination by the Commissioner of Social Security with respect to an individual, including one that OASDI and SSI benefits to which that individual is entitled shall be paid to a representative payee, from being considered to be a determination that the individual has been adjudicated as a mental defective to make it unlawful for the individual to engage in the shipment or transport of firearms or ammunition or receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 2015
Fort Frederica National Monument Boundary Expansion Act of 2015 Expands the boundary of the Fort Frederica National Monument on Saint Simon Island, Georgia. Increases the maximum number of acres that may be included in the monument from 250 to 525 acres.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Declares that: the atrocities committed against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities targeted specifically for religious reasons are crimes against humanity and genocide; each of the Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other international agreements forbidding war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly the governments of countries and their nationals who are in any way supporting these crimes, are reminded of their legal obligations under the Convention and these international agreements; the United Nations (U.N.) and the Secretary-General are called upon to assert leadership by calling the atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; the member states of the U.N., with an appeal to the Arab States that wish to uphold religious freedom and justice, should collaborate on measures to prevent further war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and collaborate on the establishment of tribunals to punish those responsible for the ongoing crimes; the governments of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Lebanese Republic, and other countries are commended for having undertaken to shelter and protect those fleeing extremist violence; and those who force the migration of religious communities from their ancestral homelands, including specifically the Nineveh Plain and Mount Sinjar, should be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the place where their crimes were committed and under applicable international criminal statutes and conventions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act T his bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow two or more employers to be considered joint employers for purposes of the Act only if each shares and exercises control over essential terms and conditions of employment and such control over these matters is actual, direct, and immediate.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 This bill amends the federal criminal code to create a private civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Specifically, the bill authorizes a trade secret owner to file a civil action in a U.S. district court seeking relief for trade secret misappropriation related to a product or service in interstate or foreign commerce. It establishes remedies, such as an injunction and damages. The statute of limitation is set at five years from the date of discovery of the misappropriation. A trade secret owner may apply for and a court may grant a seizure order to prevent dissemination of the trade secret if the court makes specific findings, including that an immediate and irreparable injury will occur if seizure is not ordered. A court must take custody of the seized materials and hold a seizure hearing within seven days. Any party harmed by the order may move to dissolve or modify the order and may also seek relief against the applicant of the seizure order for wrongful or excessive seizure. The Department of Justice must submit to Congress and publish a biannual report on trade secret theft outside the United States. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) trade secret theft occurs in the United States and around the world, (2) trade secret theft harms owner companies and their employees, and (3) the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 applies broadly to protect trade secrets from theft.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Justice for Former American Hostages in Iran Act of 2015 Establishes in the Treasury the American Hostages in Iran Compensation Fund to: (1) make payments to the Americans held hostage in Iran, and to their families, who are identified as members of the proposed class in case number 1:00-CV-03110 (ESG) of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and (2) satisfy their claims against Iran relating to the taking of hostages and treatment of personnel of the U.S. embassy in Tehran between November 4, 1979, and January 20, 1981. Imposes a surcharge, to be deposited into the Fund, of 30% on the amount of: (1) any fine or penalty imposed for a violation (committed on or after enactment of this Act) of a law or regulation penalizing any economic activity relating to Iran that is administered by the Departments of State, Treasury, Justice, Commerce, or Energy; or (2) the monetary amount of a settlement entered into by a person regarding a suspected violation of such a law or regulation. Requires distribution of Fund payments to members of the proposed class in the following amounts: to each living former hostage, $6,750 for each day of captivity; to the estate of each deceased former hostage, $6,750 for each day of captivity; to each spouse (who is also a member of the identified class) of a former hostage, $600,000, or to the estate of such spouse who is deceased, $600,000; and to each child (who is also a member of the identified class) of a former hostage, $600,000, or to the estate of such child who is deceased, $600,000. Specifies the order of payment distribution. Prohibits a payment recipient from maintaining an action against Iran in any federal or state court for any claims relating to the hostage events. Deems waived and forever released all existing claims against Iran for those events upon payment from the Fund to all designated recipients. Requires the Department of State to submit recommendations to Congress if Fund amounts will be insufficient to pay all recipients within 444 days after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Prohibiting the Life-Ending Industry of Fetal Organ Exchange Act or the Pro-LIFE Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the transfer of fetal tissue in exchange for valuable consideration, including payments associated with the transportation, implantation, processing, preservation, quality control, or storage of human fetal tissue.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4567 Rockbridge Road in Pine Lake, Georgia, as the "Francis Manuel Ortega Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2015
One In, One Out Act Prohibits a federal agency from issuing a rule that imposes a cost or responsibility on a nongovernmental person or a state or local government unless: (1) such agency has repealed or revised one or more related rules in a way that reduces costs to the regulated entities, and (2) the cost of the new rule is less than or equal to the cost of the rules being repealed or revised. Requires any rule that is repealed or revised to be published in the Federal Register. Makes this Act inapplicable to any rule that: (1) relates to procurement by the agency, or (2) is being revised to be less burdensome by decreasing requirements imposed or compliance costs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Employee Rights Act Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization or its agents to interfere with the rights of employees to organize and select representation to collectively bargain. Adds a requirement that representatives be selected by secret ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a majority of the employees in a unit. Defines "majority" for purposes of determining the majority of employees in an election to mean the majority of all employees in the unit, and not the majority of employees voting in the election. Requires the NLRB, in cases where an existing certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of more than 50% of the unit's employees, to conduct a secret paper ballot among the unit employees: (1) between the 120th day and 110th day before the collective bargaining agreement's expiration or before the end of three years, if there is an agreement between the labor organization and the employer; or (2) within 30 days, if there is no agreement between such parties. Requires the NLRB to decide, before the election of a labor organization as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all employees of an appropriate unit, whether such unit shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision unit. Requires the NLRB to give 14 days advance notice before a hearing when it is investigating an election petition if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation affecting commerce exists. Revises the requirement that the NLRB direct an election by secret ballot, and certify its results, whenever it finds upon the record of such a hearing that a question of representation exists. Adds a requirement that the NLRB also review all post-hearing appeals before finding that such a question exists. Requires an employer to provide the NLRB a list consisting only of employee names and home addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days after an NLRB determination of the appropriate unit or following any agreement between the employer and the labor organization regarding eligible voters. Prohibits an election after the filing of a petition unless and until: (1) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing officer on any and all material, factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and (2) the issues are resolved by a regional Director, subject to appeal and review, or by the NLRB. Declares that election results shall not be final nor any labor organization be certified as a bargaining representative unless the NLRB has ruled on: (1) each pre-election issue not resolved before the election; and (2) the NLRB conducts a hearing and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or results of the election. Makes any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of their rights to form or join a labor organization or to refrain from forming or joining (including the filing of a decertification petition) liable for lost wages and unlawfully collected union dues and fees, if any, and an additional amount as liquated damages. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act) to permit an election by secret ballot to be conducted through votes cast by electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting booth. Requires every employee in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership status, to have the same right as members to vote by secret ballot to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to engage in, a strike or refusal to work of any kind against their employer. Prohibits the use of an employee's union dues for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization's collective bargaining, unless that employee authorizes such expenditure in writing. Prohibits a strike without the consent of a majority of all unit employees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agreement between the employer and the labor organization. Requires each labor organization to make the independently verified annual audit report of its financial condition and operations available to all of its members and represented nonmembers. Makes it unlawful for a person to use force or violence, or threaten the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate a person, or attempt to, in order to obtain from any person any right to represent employees, compensation, or other term or condition of employment. Subjects persons who willfully violate such prohibitions to both civil and criminal penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify loan counseling requirements for an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. Currently, an IHE must provide entrance counseling to a student who is a first-time federal student loan borrower. This bill replaces required entrance counseling with required annual counseling. Also, it expands the required recipients of such annual counseling to include, in addition to student borrowers, Federal Pell Grant recipients and parent PLUS Loan borrowers. Each annual counseling recipient must receive comprehensive information on the terms, conditions, and responsibilities with respect to a grant or loan and general information on a typical student budget, the right to request an annual credit report, average income and employment data, and financial management resources. Additionally, the bill revises, expands, or establishes specific annual counseling information requirements for student borrowers, Pell Grant recipients, or parent PLUS Loan borrowers. The legislation revises and expands exit counseling information requirements to include an outstanding loan balance summary, the anticipated monthly payments under standard and income-based repayment plans, an explanation of the grace period preceding repayment, the option to pay accrued interest before it capitalizes, the right to request an annual credit report, and loan servicer contact information. It directs ED to maintain a consumer-tested online counseling tool that provides annual and exit counseling. The Institute of Education Sciences must study the impact and effectiveness of exit counseling, annual counseling, and the online counseling tool.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act of 2015 or the FORM Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Reserve Act to require the Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), within 48 hours after the end of a FOMC meeting, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) a Directive Policy Rule, meeting specified criteria, accompanied by a statement identifying the FOMC members voting in its favor. A Directive Policy Rule shall describe the FOMC strategy or rule for the systematic quantitative adjustment of a Policy Instrument Target to: respond to a change in specified Intermediate Policy Inputs, and provide the basis for an Open Market Operations Directive to achieve a specified Policy Instrument Target presented by the FOMC to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to guide open-market operations. The GAO shall determine if a Directive Policy Rule has materially changed from the rule most recently submitted, and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) must testify within 7 legislative days before certain congressional committees as to why any noncompliance exists. The GAO must also, upon congressional request, audit the conduct of monetary policy by the Board and the FOMC. A blackout period shall take place starting one-week before an FOMC meeting and ending midnight of the day of its completion. During the black-out period only specified public communications are permissible by members and FOMC staff with respect to either macroeconomic or financial developments or about current or prospective monetary policy issues. FMOC membership shall increase from five to six representatives of the Federal Reserve Banks. The selection process for such representatives is revised, in part to divide elections from different Banks into odd-numbered and even-numbered calendar years. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended to require the Board, before adopting sets of conditions for stress tests of nonbank financial companies it supervises and bank holding companies, to: (1) first issue regulations for them, subject to public notice and comment, which shall include methodologies and models used to estimate losses on certain assets; and (2) before publishing them submit copies of such regulations to the GAO and the Panel of Economic Advisors of the Congressional Budget Office. Stress test requirements used by the Board shall apply to all stress tests performed under the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review exercise. The Federal Reserve Act is further amended to increase from semiannual to quarterly the Board Chairman’s appearances before Congress. Before issuing any regulation the Board must consider specified economic impacts. When deciding whether to regulate, the Board must: assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives, and consider a regulation's impact upon certain areas of economic activity. In its final rule the Board must: (1) explain the nature of comments that it received together with a response to them; and (2) make a postadoption impact assessment of the costs, benefits, and intended and unintended consequences of any "major rule" adopted or amended. Board members and employees shall be subject to the same ethics standards, prohibitions, and restrictions as apply to employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with respect to financial interests, transactions, and outside employment and activities. Both the Federal Reserve Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act are revised to require the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Board, respectively, in the process of setting financial standards as a part of any foreign or multinational entity, to solicit public comment and issue public reports, including a notice of agreement. The Department of the Treasury, the Comptroller of the Currency, and the SEC shall likewise be subject to these same requirements for their participation in similar processes. The authority of the Federal Reserve Board to discount notes, drafts, and bills of exchange secured to a Federal Reserve Bank's satisfaction in unusual and exigent circumstances shall be limited to only those circumstances posing a threat to U.S. financial stability. The affirmative vote of at least nine presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks shall be necessary for a discount decision, in addition to (as under current law) the affirmative vote of five Board members. Federal Reserve Banks may not accept as collateral for an emergency loan any equity securities issued by the recipient of the loan or of other financial assistance. No applicant shall be eligible to borrow from any emergency lending program or facility unless the Board and all applicable federal banking regulators certify that the applicant is not insolvent. The Board shall by rule establish a minimum interest rate on the principal amount of financial assistance to a recipient. The FOMC shall determine the interest rates on balances maintained at a Federal Reserve Bank by or on behalf of a depository institution. The GAO shall audit both the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks within 12 months after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 This bill prohibits, for a one-year period, the availability of federal funds for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. The restriction will not apply in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
This bill prohibits the Social Security Administration from providing to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the name of any individual entitled to benefits, including any individual whose benefits are paid to a representative payee, unless a federal court has determined the individual to be mentally defective. (Current law prohibits the sale or transfer of a firearm to and the purchase or possession of a firearm by a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Securing Military Personnel Response Firearm Initiative Act or SEMPER FI Act This bill directs the Secretary concerned to authorize an eligible member of the Armed Forces assigned to an Armed Forces recruitment center to carry a service-issue sidearm as a personal- or force-protection measure while on duty at the recruiting center, notwithstanding any federal, state, or local law or Department of Defense policy to the contrary. In lieu of authorizing eligible members of the Armed Forces to carry a service-issue sidearm, or in addition, the Secretary concerned may implement additional security measures for Armed Forces recruitment centers, including improved structural security measures. This Act shall not be interpreted to grant any member of the Armed Forces the authority to conduct civilian law enforcement functions within U.S. territory.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Tax Credit Accountability Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the earned income tax credit to any alien individual who is in an unlawful immigration status at any point during the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2015
This bill repeals the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, which established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bill revives or restores the provisions of law amended by such Act as if it had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act This bill amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to direct the Department of Commerce to establish a Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority (GSRSMA) that consists of the principal fisheries manager of each of the five Gulf of Mexico coastal states: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The GSRSMA must: establish a deadline for each Gulf coastal state to submit to the GSRSMA a fishery management plan for the long-term sustainability of Gulf of Mexico red snapper, review those plans and approve them if they meet the requirements of this bill, provide standards for each Gulf coastal state to use in developing fishery management measures to sustainably manage the Gulf of Mexico red snapper in the coastal waters adjacent to the state, and provide an opportunity for public participation before approving a plan. For three years, Commerce must continue to manage the commercial sector of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery in coordination with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The bill establishes a plan certification process. After the three-year period and once a plan is certified, Commerce must transfer management of the Gulf of Mexico red snapper to the GSRSMA. Each Gulf coastal state must then implement and enforce approved plans for the fishery in the coastal waters adjacent to it. If the Gulf of Mexico red snapper in the coastal waters adjacent to a Gulf coastal state is experiencing overfishing or is subject to a rebuilding plan, the state must certify to the GSRSMA that it has implemented the necessary measures to end overfishing or rebuild the fishery and has implemented a harvest monitoring program. A process is established for closing a red snapper fishery within the waters adjacent to the state territorial waters of the Gulf coastal state if those measures have not been implemented. Commerce must provide all federal funding to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission for all necessary stock assessments, research, and management for the red snapper fishery. The Commission shall be responsible for administering federal funds to each of the Gulf coastal states for management of the fishery.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2015 or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop, maintain, and periodically update a National Family Caregiving Strategy. HHS shall convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise it on recognizing and supporting family caregivers. Federal departments and agencies must share with HHS any data they maintain that HHS needs to prepare the initial and updated Strategies.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Expresses disapproval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed to by the P5+1 and Iran on July 14, 2015. Reaffirms the commitment of the House of Representatives to: (1) prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, and (2) encourage global stability and security by strongly supporting strategic regional allies.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2015
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) disagrees with the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges and its holdings that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires states to license marriages between same-sex couples and requires states to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state; and (2) agrees with the four dissenting opinions, which uphold the traditional definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman and the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. Expresses the sense of the House that: the traditional definition of marriage is a union between one man and one woman; the majority opinion in Obergefell unconstitutionally and indefensibly distorts the definition of marriage; states may refuse to be bound by the holding in Obergefell ; states are not required to license same-sex marriage or recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states; and individuals, businesses, churches, religious groups, and other faith-based organizations are encouraged, empowered, and protected to exercise their faith without fear of legal or government interference.