United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2022
Asylum Accountability Act This bill permanently bars a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) from receiving certain immigration-related relief if that individual is ordered removed from the United States after failing to appear at a removal proceeding, unless that failure to appear is due to exceptional circumstances. (Currently, this bar from relief is for 10 years.) Under this bill, such an individual shall be permanently barred from receiving discretionary relief under specified immigration provisions, such as (1) cancellation of removal and adjustment to lawful permanent resident status, (2) being allowed to voluntarily depart from the United States, or (3) being allowed to change from one nonimmigrant classification to another.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2022
Preventing Underhanded and Nefarious Iranian Supported Homicides Act of 2022 or the PUNISH Act of 2022 This bill extends sanctions and national emergencies related to Iran established by specified executive orders and limits the authority of the President to waive sanctions related to Iran. The bill requires the Department of State to periodically report whether Iran or any foreign person has supported specified activities, including murder or politically motivated detention in Iran of a U.S. citizen.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2022
TCJA Permanency Act This bill makes permanent provisions affecting individual and business taxpayers that were enacted in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. The bill makes permanent reductions in individual and capital gain tax rates. The bill increases the standard tax deduction for individual taxpayers. It also increases and modifies the child tax credit and raises the contribution base for the tax deduction for charitable contributions. The bill allows additional contributions to ABLE accounts (tax-exempt accounts designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save and pay for disability-related expenses). It exempts from taxation combat zone benefits of members of the Armed Forces serving in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and limits the deduction for moving expenses to active duty members of the Armed Forces. Additionally, the bill expands the types of elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for payment from qualified tuition programs (529 programs); lowers to $750,000 the amount of mortgage debt eligible for an interest expense tax deduction; reinstates after 2023 the exclusion of income from the gross income of student loan borrowers for loan debt discharged due to death or total and permanent disability; makes permanent the limitation on the tax deduction for state and local taxes and denies a deduction for foreign real property taxes; makes permanent the tax deduction of the income of certain pass-through business entities; repeals the tax deduction for personal tax exemptions and the exclusion of employer-provided bicycle commuter fringe benefits; terminates certain miscellaneous itemized tax deductions; doubles the estate and gift tax exemption amount; and makes permanent the increase of the alternative minimum tax exemption amount for individual taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2022
Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act This bill makes the distribution of fentanyl resulting in death a first degree murder. An individual who is guilty of first degree murder by distributing fentanyl is subject to death or life in prison.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2022
Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act This bill establishes a new criminal offense for performing or attempting to perform an abortion if the probable gestational age of the fetus is 15 weeks or more. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both. The bill provides exceptions for an abortion (1) that is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or (2) when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception must comply with specified requirements. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 9 August 2022
Stop Scam PACs Act This bill expands prohibitions with respect to fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority. For example, current law prohibits any person from fraudulently misrepresenting themselves as speaking or otherwise acting for or on behalf of any candidate or political party to solicit contributions or donations. The bill instead applies this prohibition to any misrepresentation and for purposes of soliciting money or any other thing of value.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2022
Surging Prosecutors to Expedite Alien Removals Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a ratio of four U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement prosecutors for each immigration judge. These prosecutors represent DHS during removal proceedings. DHS must provide a report to Congress within 90 days on the plan and status of achieving the ratio.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2022
No IDs for Illegals Act This bill prohibits using federal funds to establish or otherwise support the Secure Docket Card Program of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2022
Taiwan Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 This bill authorizes the President to lend or lease defense articles to Taiwan for protection against potential Chinese military aggression and requires the President to establish expedited procedures for delivering loaned or leased defense articles to Taiwan.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2022
Emergency Care Improvement Act This bill permanently allows for coverage under Medicare and Medicaid of services that are provided by freestanding emergency centers. The bill takes effect January 1, 2023, or the first day after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, whichever is first.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2022
American Confidence in Elections Act or the ACE Act This bill addresses election administration and security, campaign finance, and other related provisions. Among other provisions, the bill reduces certain election assistance payments for states and local jurisdictions that allow noncitizens to vote in state and local elections, establishes certain requirements related to election and political mail, prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with state or local ballot initiatives or referenda, repeals certain limits on coordinated party expenditures and aggregate contributions by individuals, terminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and requires remaining funds to be transferred to the 10-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund, and prohibits the use of federal funds to establish a Disinformation Governance Board.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2022
Protecting an Alien child's Reasonable Expectation of No Trafficking Act of 2022 or the PARENT Act of 2022 This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection to transfer custody of an unaccompanied alien child only to the Department of Health and Human Services or the child's parent or legal guardian.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2022
This resolution expresses support for U.S. Border Patrol agents, denounces the politicization and falsification of claims against agents in Del Rio, Texas, and calls on the Biden administration to support front line agents.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2022
Flores Settlement Update and Establishment Act of 2022 This bill modifies and provides statutory authority for certain policies pertaining to the treatment of minors without lawful immigration status under the Flores settlement and revises certain human trafficking laws. For example, the bill requires each member of a family unit seeking asylum to take a DNA test to verify familial relationships within 72 hours of the family encountering U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2022
Closing Loopholes and Ending Asylum Abuse Act of 2022 This bill imposes restrictions on noncitizens ( aliens under federal law) applying for asylum, authorizes asylum seekers to apply for asylum abroad, and requires applicants to apply abroad in certain instances. For example, the bill requires a refugee's persecution or well-founded fear of persecution to stem from a government (or affiliated entity), whereas currently the persecution does not have to stem from a government. The bill also requires an applicant who passes through another country with a U.S. diplomatic mission that processes asylum claims to apply for asylum while physically in that country.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2022
Disclosing Foreign Influence in Lobbying Act This bill requires registered lobbyists to disclose any foreign countries or political parties that are involved in the direction, planning, supervision, or control of the lobbyist's activities.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2022
Border's Unused Idle and Lying Dormant Inventory Transfer Act or the BUILD IT Act This bill requires the federal government to transfer, upon request, materials associated with the construction of a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border to the governments of the states along that border (i.e., Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas). The transferred materials must be used to construct a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2022
Citizen Ballot Protection Act This bill allows a state to include on its mail voter registration application form a requirement that the applicant provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2022
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 651 Business Interstate Highway 35 North Suite 420 in New Braunfels, Texas, as the "Bob Krueger Post Office."
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2022
Ensuring Safer Schools Act of 2022 This bill allows funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program to be used to hire and train veterans and retired law enforcement officers as school resource officers. It also directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to coordinate with COPS grant recipients to connect veterans seeking to serve as school resource officers with local law enforcement agencies participating in school-based partnerships.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2022
Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act This bill modifies provisions relating to Medicare payment rates for clinical diagnostic laboratory services, including by requiring payment rates for certain widely available clinical diagnostic laboratory tests to be based on a statistical sampling of private sector rates.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2022
Chase COVID Unemployment Fraud Act of 2022 This bill addresses fraud and overpayments of pandemic unemployment assistance, including by allowing states to retain a specified percentage of recovered funds and prohibiting the Department of Labor from allowing blanket waivers of overpayments.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2022
Secure Every School and Protect Our Nation’s Children Act or the STOP II Act This bill reauthorizes and supports various grants to enhance school safety and security initiatives. It also provides statutory authority for the federal clearinghouse of school safety resources. (The clearinghouse identifies and publishes best practices and recommendations for school safety for use by state and local educational and law enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education, health professionals, and the public.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2022
Securing Our Students Act This bill authorizes local educational agencies and nonpublic schools to use certain COVID-19 emergency relief funds, services, or assistance for school safety uses, that is improving school conditions for student learning by planning and designing school buildings and facilities, installing infrastructure, providing safety education, and implementing technology or other measures that strengthen security on school premises.
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 2022
This resolution recognizes the commitment of Port Houston, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and project partners to Project 11 (i.e., the Houston Ship Channel expansion).
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 2022
No ESG at TSP Act This bill prohibits investments under the Thrift Savings Plan in mutual funds that are based on environmental criteria (e.g., emissions standards), social criteria (e.g., company diversity), political criteria (e.g., political affiliations), or corporate governance criteria that differ from the standards that currently apply under law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2022
This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to disclose information regarding gifts from and contracts with China-affiliated organizations. China-affiliated organization refers to any entity that receives support directly or indirectly from the Chinese government, including certain educational institutes or programs, think tanks, and business entities. Under current law, an IHE must disclose to the Department of Education (ED) a gift or contract from a foreign source that is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source in a calendar year. This bill establishes a special disclosure rule relating to China-affiliated organizations. Specifically, the bill requires an IHE to disclose a gift from or contract with a China-affiliated organization that is valued at $5,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that organization in a calendar year. Additionally, the bill requires an IHE that receives federal grants to annually file a report with ED that identifies any activities conducted pursuant to a contract or other agreement between the IHE and a China-affiliated organization, including any joint research or academic exchanges. Such a contract or other agreement must be made available on a publicly accessible website of the IHE.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2022
DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act This bill restricts funding to an institution of higher education (IHE) that has a relationship with a Chinese entity of concern or Confucius Institute. A Confucius Institute is a cultural institute directly or indirectly funded by the Chinese government. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must ensure that an IHE that has awarded a contract to, entered into an agreement with, or received an in-kind donation or gift from a Chinese entity of concern or Confucius Institute is ineligible to receive specified funds from DHS, unless the IHE terminates the relationship. The IHE may regain eligibility for these funds upon termination of the relationship.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2022
This resolution acknowledges that Specialist Bishop E. Evans was discovered, deceased, along the Rio Grande, near Eagle Pass, Texas. The resolution also honors the life and service of Specialist Evans and recognizes that his actions resulted in the survival of two migrants.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2022
New Era of Preventing End-Stage Kidney Disease Act This bill addresses rare kidney diseases through research, training for health professionals, and other means. It also modifies requirements for Medicare drug plan formularies that include drugs for rare diseases or conditions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must convene a conference focused on diagnosis and treatment of rare kidney diseases; study risk factors, access to care (including to genetic and genomic testing), and other matters related to rare kidney diseases; and establish grants for supporting kidney disease education and referrals in communities of color. HHS may award grants to educate and train health professionals about kidney disease and nephrology. Additionally, health professional schools that receive certain HHS funding for educating underrepresented minority individuals must support postgraduate nephrology training. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) must report on diversity in its kidney disease research. The NIH may also (1) support research on rare kidney diseases that, among other requirements, includes persons of color in study populations; and (2) establish regional centers of excellence for rare kidney diseases. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must evaluate methods for (1) treating rare kidney diseases, with a focus on delaying dialysis and transplant; and (2) raising awareness about rare kidney diseases, including in communities of color. Furthermore, if a Medicare drug plan formulary includes a drug to treat a rare disease or condition, at least two members of the committee that develops or reviews the formulary must have expertise in the field of medicine related to that drug.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2022
Traveler's Gun Rights Act This bill allows an individual who does not have a physical residence in a state to use the address for a private mailbox or post office box maintained by that individual for purposes of obtaining a firearm from a federally licensed dealer.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2022
This bill requires the Department of State to notify Congress at least 45 days before revoking a designation of an organization as a foreign terrorist organization. Congress may prohibit the revocation by enacting a joint resolution within 45 days of the State Department's notification.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2022
No User Fees for Gun Owners Act This bill prohibits a state or local government from imposing any insurance requirement, tax, user fee, or similar charge as a condition of the manufacture importation, acquisition, transfer, or continued ownership of a firearm or ammunition, with the exception of a proportionate sales tax. The bill imposes the same prohibition under the Internal Revenue Code for firearms, pistols, or revolvers, but allows for the assessment of a proportionate sales tax.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2022
Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to restrict migration and imports from foreign countries to prevent the introduction of illicit drugs into the United States. Current law authorizes HHS to restrict migration and imports from foreign countries to prevent the introduction of communicable diseases. Under this bill, HHS may also restrict migration and imports from a country if HHS determines that the existence of substantial illicit drug smuggling from that country poses a risk to public health.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2022
TBI and PTSD Treatment Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to furnish hyperbaric oxygen therapy through a provider authorized by the Veterans Community Care Program to veterans who have a traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2022
Anti-Border Corruption Improvement Act This bill revises the waiver authority of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for polygraph examinations of applicants for law enforcement positions in the CBP. Any individual who receives such a waiver and holds a current background investigation may be subject to further background investigation. The CBP may administer a polygraph examination to an applicant for employment or an employee who is eligible for a waiver if information is discovered prior to the completion of a background investigation that makes necessary a final determination regarding suitability for employment or continued employment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2022
Comprehensive Southern Border Strategy Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress a comprehensive southern border strategy. The strategy must include (1) an overview of current security risks along the southern border; and (2) an assessment of the barriers, technologies, and tools that are necessary to achieve and maintain situational awareness and operational control of the border.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2022
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 support for crisis care available under the Community Mental Services Block Grant program for adults with serious mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. The bill also requires states and territories to expend a certain percentage of their grant funds on evidence-based crisis care activities such as crisis call centers, 24/7 mobile crisis services, and crisis stabilization programs in hospitals or other licensed facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2022
This resolution celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Colombia. The resolution recognizes the vital strategic alliance between the United States and Colombia, built on a shared commitment to democracy. The resolution also celebrates the contributions made by Colombians and Colombian Americans to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2022
Removing Arms from Terrorists Through Sanctions Act This bill provides statutory authority for a September 21, 2020, executive order imposing sanctions pertaining to Iran's activities relating to arms and related materiel, including transfers of such arms and materiel.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2022
No OSHA Authority to Mandate Vaccines Act This bill specifies that the Department of Labor may not, under its authority to regulate workplace safety and health, require the administration of any drug, vaccine, or other biological product to an employee.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2022
This resolution rejects and opposes engaging Russia as a main intermediary for reviving any nuclear agreement with Iran. The resolution rejects and opposes giving Russia any sanctions exemption or waiver as a condition to any nuclear agreement with Iran. The resolution rejects and opposes any agreement that lifts sanctions on Iran and legitimizes the regime's illicit nuclear program amidst an International Atomic Energy Agency investigation into undeclared sites, facilities, and material in Iran. The resolution also reaffirms that any nuclear deal with Iran reached by the Biden administration without congressional approval or Senate ratification as a treaty is illegitimate; to take every legislative opportunity to overturn such an agreement; to restore every single sanction, restrictive measure, designation, waiver, or general license the Biden administration removes; and to limit the Biden administration's or any future administration's ability to issue waivers and licenses for Iran sanctions, designations, or restrictive measures.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2022
Ukrainian Independence Park Act of 2022 This bill designates specified properties in the District of Columbia within the approximate triangular area formed by 22nd Street Northwest to the east, P Street Northwest to the south, and Florida Avenue Northwest to the west as Ukrainian Independence Park .
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2022
Make Russia Pay Act This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to liquidate all Russian assets seized by the United States and deposit the resulting funds into a Ukrainian Humanitarian Aid Fund established by the bill. Treasury may use the funds to provide assistance to Ukraine, including by providing funding to Ukraine's government for humanitarian and security assistance.