United States · United States Congress · 17 December 2015
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Oversight of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to conduct comprehensive oversight and investigate compliance of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and issue annual reports of its findings to the House regarding: all enrichment activities, including relevant limitations pertaining to uranium enrichment levels, centrifuge capacity, and related research and development; all international collaborative partnerships formed and the agreed upon research interests; all uranium stockpile levels, including enrichment levels as well as the amount and price of any excess uranium sold to international buyers; all International Atomic Energy Agency oversight activities relating to the JCPOA, including the effectiveness of relevant inspections into JCPOA tenants; compliance with all enacted international and domestic sanctions, including potential violations of relevant sanctions; all financial transactions including establishment of banking relationships, trade in gold and precious metals, and investment in Iran's oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors; all research and development of missile technology and the acquisition of relevant technology from international partners; and all acquisition of conventional weaponry by the Iranian regime.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2015
Cuban Immigrant Work Opportunity Act of 2015 This bill makes Cuban nationals who enter the United States on or after the date of enactment of this Act ineligible for refugee/parolee assistance under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980. Conforming amendments are made to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Inspector General of the Social Security Administration shall report to Congress describing methods for enforcing the loss of Supplemental Security Income eligibility by persons who are absent from the United States for at least one month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2015
Recognizes the importance of the negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Commends Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has demonstrated vision and leadership in seeking a negotiated settlement to end the conflict and lay the foundations for a sustainable peace. Calls on the negotiating parties to address the demands of victims of violence for truth, justice, meaningful reparations, and guarantees that the past violence will not be repeated. Urges President Barack Obama and his Administration to support these negotiations and to develop plans to support the Colombian people in building a just and lasting peace.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2015
Protecting Access through Competitive-pricing Transition Act of 2015 or the PACT Act of 2015 This bill amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify provisions relating to payment for durable medical equipment (DME) under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. (DME includes certain medically necessary equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs, and hospital beds.) With respect to DME furnished in areas that are not competitive acquisition areas, current regulations require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) to phase in, over a two-year period, Medicare payment adjustments using information from competitive acquisition programs. (Through such programs, payment amounts for each area are determined based on competitive bids submitted by suppliers, rather than according to an established fee schedule.) The bill codifies this requirement and specifies that CMS shall adjust fee schedule amounts to the lesser of: (1) a specified percentage of the regional amount; and (2) the amount that would otherwise be determined according to the fee schedule, with specified adjustments. In determining Medicare payment adjustments for areas that are not competitive acquisition areas, CMS shall solicit stakeholder input and take into account several specified factors. CMS may not accept a bid under the competitive acquisition program unless the bidder: (1) meets applicable state licensure requirements; and (2) has submitted a cash deposit as a bond, as specified by the bill. CMS must establish a six-year market pricing demonstration project, under which auctions are conducted in eligible areas for the furnishing of market-priced DME items and services. The bill establishes project requirements related to auction design, contract terms, transparency, and monitoring.
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 · 1 December 2015
Tax Return Preparer Competency Act of 2015 This bill grants the Department of the Treasury authority to regulate the practice of tax return preparers and to sanction preparers for incompetency or misconduct. The bill also imposes minimum competency standards for tax return prepares and requires Treasury to make publicly available a database identifying qualified tax return preparers.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2015
Public Housing Accountability Act of 2015 This bill amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to add a requirement for periodic review of family income with respect to rental assistance for low-income families. Reviews of family income shall be made at any time the family income changes by an amount estimated to result in an increase of 10% or more in annual adjusted income (or such other amount as the Department of Housing and Urban Development may establish). A public housing agency (PHA) or owner may elect not to conduct such a review in the last three months of a period during which the family is certified eligible for rental assistance. The bill also revises the authorization for a PHA that owns or operates fewer than 250 units to lease a dwelling unit in a public housing project, on a month-to-month basis, to an over-income family if there are no eligible families applying to the PHA for housing assistance for that month. The PHA must give a 30-day notice-to-vacate, subject to a specified appeal procedure, to any family determined over-income because of an income review.
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 · 17 November 2015
Defund the Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program Act of 2015 This bill prohibits federal funds from being obligated for the U.S. refugee admission of any alien who is a national of Syria or whose last habitual residence was in Syria during the period that the civil war in Syria is ongoing, as determined by the Department of Homeland Security.
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 · 2 November 2015
Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands during the period January 1, 1977-December 31, 1980, as radiation exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2015
Cradle Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow for alternative certification requirements for a residential pediatric recovery center to participate in a state Medicaid program. A "residential pediatric recovery center" is a facility that treats infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which is caused by exposure to opioids before birth. With respect to certifying such facilities, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid must establish guidelines that: (1) include requirements specifically applicable to treating infants with NAS, and (2) take into account that certain requirements needed for centers that treat adults may not be necessary for facilities that treat such infants. A residential pediatric recovery center may satisfy the requirements set forth in these guidelines in lieu of any comparable requirements otherwise applicable for purposes of the center's participation under a state Medicaid program. A facility licensed by a state as a residential pediatric recovery center shall be treated as having satisfied certification requirements for participation under the Medicaid program for that state.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 2015
Historic Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2015 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 2 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) exempt from tax the proceeds of a state historic tax; and (5) set forth special rules for the tax treatment of tax-exempt use property and functionally-related historic structures.
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 · 22 October 2015
Alternative Ammunition Manufacturing Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to deem an application received on or after August 1, 2011, to exempt a projectile from classification as armor piercing ammunition to be approved if the Department of Justice (DOJ) does not disapprove it within 60 days after the later of the date the application is received or the date of this bill's enactment. DOJ shall provide an applicant with detailed findings of fact and the reasons for disapproving an application.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2015
Nullifies the Environmental Protection Agency's rule published on October 26, 2015, that revises the primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards for ozone.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
Expresses support for the recent terrorism victims and their families in Israel, the people of Israel, and the government of Israel. Condemns terrorism committed under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and calls on Palestinian leaders to cease supporting or allowing terrorist activities in Israel. Urges the President to condemn the attacks carried out against innocent Israelis and freeze U.S. funding to the PA until their leaders openly increase efforts to end their incitement of violence. Expresses concern about the use of national security waivers to continue supplying aid to the PA. Demands as a condition of continued U.S. aid that the President re-certify that the PA government and all its ministers have publicly accepted and are complying with the principles which demand the recognition of Israel's right to exist and the acceptance of previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 2015
ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015 This bill requires the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice to develop a program to educate state and local governments and property owners on strategies for promoting access to public accommodations for persons with a disability. The program may include training for professionals to provide a guidance of remediation for potential violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The bill prohibits persons from, and subjects violators to a criminal fine for, sending demand letters or other pre-suit notifications alleging a violation of ADA public accommodation requirements if the notification does not specify the circumstances under which an individual was actually denied access. The notification must specify: (1) the address of property, (2) the specific ADA sections alleged to have been violated, (3) whether a request for assistance in removing an architectural barrier was made, and (4) whether the barrier was permanent or temporary. The bill also prohibits commencement of civil action based on the failure to remove an architectural barrier to access into an existing public accommodation unless: (1) the aggrieved person has provided to the owners or operators a written notice specific enough to identify the barrier, and (2) the owners or operators fail to provide the person with a written description outlining improvements that will be made to improve the barrier or they fail to remove the barrier or make substantial progress after providing such a description. The Judicial Conference of the United States must develop a model program to promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve such claims. The model program should include an expedited method for determining relevant facts related to such barriers and steps to resolve accessibility issues before litigation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2015
Congressional Death Benefit Elimination Act of 2015 This bill declares that no payment of death gratuities may be made to surviving heirs of deceased Members of Congress from congressional accounts or any other appropriated funds.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2015
Calls on North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries to meet or exceed: (1) the 2% gross domestic product commitment to defense spending, and (2) the 20% commitment to defense expenditures on major equipment spending.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 2015
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 538) to facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by reducing Federal regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 702) to adapt to changing crude oil market conditions.
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 · 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 · 30 September 2015
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3457) to prohibit the lifting of sanctions on Iran until the Government of Iran pays the judgments against it for acts of terrorism, and for other purposes; providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 1735) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; and providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) U.S. citizens have a significant stake in promoting robust, sustainable economic growth; (2) such growth will be strengthened and accelerated by the ever-fuller inclusion of women in the U.S. workforce, at all levels of corporate management; and (3) U.S. corporations should undertake a commitment to ever-fuller utilization of women talents, skills, and work ethic on boards of directors and in other senior management positions.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2015
Higher Education Extension Act of 2015 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend by one year, through FY2016, the term of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. The legislation extends the authority of institutions of higher education (IHEs) to make loans to new borrowers under the Federal Perkins Loan program through September 30, 2016. IHEs may continue to disburse Perkins Loans through March 31, 2018, to enable students to continue or complete an academic program if the student received a Perkins loan prior to October 1, 2016, and the student has exhausted Federal Direct Stafford Loans. The bill prohibits any further automatic extensions of the Perkins Loan program. It also prohibits authorization of additional appropriations for the Federal Perkins Loan program beyond FY2015. Beginning October 1, 2016, each participating IHE must pay to the Department of Education a certain portion of: (1) the federal share of the balance of its Perkins Loan funds; and (2) the Perkins student loan payments, including principal and interest, received by the institution. The bill extends by one year, through FY2016, the term of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 2015
Medicaid Qualified Providers Clarification Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements regarding a state plan for medical assistance. Under current law, a state plan for medical assistance must provide that any individual eligible for medical assistance may obtain required services from any institution, agency, or person qualified to perform them. The bill specifies that a state may determine whether a provider is qualified to perform such services. To do so, a state may establish qualification criteria, which may include criteria designed to evaluate: (1) the provider's ability to perform the needed medical services in a professionally competent, safe, and legal manner; and (2) any other qualification deemed necessary by the state.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2015
Refugee Resettlement Oversight and Security Act of 2015 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the President, after appropriate consultation with certain congressional committees, to recommend to Congress the number of refugees who may be admitted into the United States in a fiscal year. Except in the case of an unforeseen emergency refugee situation, no refugees may be admitted in a fiscal year until Congress enacts a joint resolution setting the number of refugees who may be admitted in that fiscal year. In determining an alien's admissibility on security and related grounds the Department of Homeland Security shall consult with the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Beginning in FY2016 and ending in FY2020, the President, when considering the admission of refugees who are nationals or citizens of Iraq or Syria, shall give priority to members of a persecuted religious minority. The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress on the effectiveness of the refugee screening process in protecting U.S. security.
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 · 16 September 2015
Supports the designation of Special Operations Forces Appreciation Month to honor members of U.S. Special Operations Forces for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States.
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 · 9 September 2015
Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act This bill prohibits the President from waiving, suspending, reducing, providing relief from, or otherwise limiting the application of sanctions against Iran under any provision of law, or refraining from applying sanctions pursuant to requirements under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (as amended by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015) for any nuclear agreement with Iran, until the President has certified to Congress that Iran has paid each judgment: that was brought against it, or against it and any other country; for which Iran was not immune from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts under specified terrorism exceptions to immunity under the judicial code; and that was entered during the period March 4, 2000-May 22, 2015.
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
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists to supervise cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Resettlement Accountability National Security Act of 2015 This bill prohibits the admission of refugees into the United States until Congress passes a joint resolution giving the Department of Homeland Security authority to resume admitting refugees. Requires the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on refugees who received benefits under any of the following programs: Medicare, Medicaid, disability insurance under title II of the Social Security Act, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), and section 8 rental assistance.
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 · 27 July 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the July 16, 2015, attack upon members of the Armed Forces at the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center and the Armed Forces Career Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, meets the criteria for the award of the Purple Heart, and (2) the Secretary of the Navy should award the Purple Heart to the members of the Marine Corps and Navy who were killed or wounded in the attack.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex rehabilitative wheelchairs and accessories. (A competitive bidding program has replaced the use of established fee schedule amounts to determine payments under Medicare for certain durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs.)
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Congratulates the people of Singapore as they celebrate 50 years of independence and nation-building. Reaffirms the close partnership between the United States and Singapore.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Flexible Pell Grant for 21st Century Students Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow an eligible student to receive more than one Federal Pell Grant award in a single award year. An eligible student is a student who: (1) has already received a Pell Grant during an award year and is enrolled in an eligible program for one or more additional payment periods (e.g., a summer term) during the same award year, (2) continues to meet Pell Grant program eligibility requirements, and (3) is accelerating progress toward a degree or certificate. An eligible student's total Pell Grant amount must not exceed 150% of the annual maximum Pell Grant for that award year. An institution must notify a student that any period of additional Pell Grant receipt counts toward that student's lifetime Pell Grant eligibility period (currently 12 full-time semesters). If an additional Pell Grant spans two award years, then an institution must determine the award year to which such Pell Grant applies. The Department of Education must provide to each Pell Grant recipient an annual status report that includes certain information related to such student's remaining lifetime Pell Grant eligibility period.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2015 This bill prohibits federal funding of an entity unless the entity certifies that, during the period of funding, the entity will not perform, and will not provide funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers the woman's life unless an abortion is performed. This applies to a hospital only if the hospital funds a non-hospital entity that performs abortions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Veterans Health Care Freedom Act This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to make the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Choice Program permanent. Eligibility requirements under the Program are revised. The VA shall submit an annual report to Congress that includes the following: (1) any increase or decrease in the number of veterans seeking hospital care or medical services at each VA medical facility, and (2) facility budget recommendations based upon such increase or decrease.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Arrest Statistics Reporting Act of 2015 This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to publish annually and make publicly available a report that includes for each person arrested during the preceding year, and for whom a request was submitted to the Law Enforcement Support Center or any potential matches forwarded under the information sharing program between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, the following information: the person's nationality and immigration status, and the offense for which the person was arrested. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall: revise the Uniform Crime Reports to require that each arrest report shall include such published arrest information, and publish a summary of the data which shall include a table containing the National Crime Information Center offense codes and the corresponding occurrences for each nationality and immigration status category.
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
Reaffirms the trust status of land taken into trust by the United States pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act before the date of enactment of this Act for the benefit of an Indian tribe that was federally recognized on the date the land was taken into trust. Ratifies and confirms any action taken by the Department of the Interior for the purpose of acquiring and taking land into trust under such Act as if such action had been taken under a federal law specifically authorizing or directing it. Makes this Act applicable to all claims pending on, or filed on or after, the date of enactment of this Act. Requires any land taken into trust that has been ratified and confirmed pursuant to this Act to remain Indian country.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1599) to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to food produced from, containing, or consisting of a bioengineered organism, the labeling of natural foods, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1734) to amend subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to encourage recovery and beneficial use of coal combustion residuals and establish requirements for the proper management and disposal of coal combustion residuals that are protective of human health and the environment.
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.
![Official portrait of Rep. Byrne, Bradley [R-AL-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001289_200.jpg)