United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Promoting Affordable Childcare for Everyone Act or the PACE Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for gainful employment (known as the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit), to: (1) make the credit refundable, (2) increase the rate for the credit, and (3) require the dollar amounts for such credit to be adjusted for inflation after 2017. The bill also increases the amount of employer-provided dependent care assistance which may be excluded from the gross income of an employee and requires the increased exclusion amount to be adjusted for inflation after 2018.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Providing Opportunities for Savings, Transactions, and Lending Act of 2017 or the POSTAL Act of 2017 This bill expands the specific powers of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to include the provision of basic financial services, including: (1) small-dollar loans; (2) checking accounts, interest-bearing savings accounts, and services relating to international money transfers, each of which may be provided by the USPS alone or in partnership with depository institutions and credit unions; (3) other basic financial services as appropriate in the public interest; and (4) the creation of a Postal Card that allows users to engage in such financial services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Fairness for Korean DMZ Veterans Act of 2017 This bill provides a presumption of herbicide exposure as the service-connected cause of certain diseases notwithstanding that there is no evidentiary record of any such disease during a veteran's service period. The bill defines a "veteran" for purposes of this bill as an individual who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in or near the Korean demilitarized zone during the period beginning on September 1, 1967, and ending on August 31, 1971. The bill specifies such a disease as: (1) a listed disease that becomes manifest, or (2) any additional disease that the Department of Veterans Affairs determines warrants a presumption of service-connection by reason of a positive association with herbicide exposure and that manifests itself within a prescribed period.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
American Hope Act of 2017 This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct. In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings. The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017 This bill limits the regulation of industrial hemp and research hemp under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Specifically, the bill excludes industrial hemp and research hemp from the definition of marijuana under the CSA. The Drug Enforcement Administration may conduct administrative inspections of places where industrial hemp or research hemp is produced, stored, distributed, or used.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
This bill prohibits federal agencies and nonprofit entities that conduct federally funded health care research from providing a patent for a drug based on such research until the entity receiving the patent enters into a reasonable pricing agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Improve Access to Care for Our Female Veterans Act This bill instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to strengthen the environment and oversight of the care inspections process by: expanding the list of requirements that facility staff inspect for compliance with the women's health handbook of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), ensuring that all patient care areas of VA medical facilities are inspected as required, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of VA medical facility staff responsible for identifying and addressing compliance, and establishing a process to verify that the noncompliance information reported by such facilities to the VHA central office is accurate and complete. To improve care for women veterans, the VA shall monitor women veterans' access to sex-specific care services (mammography, maternity care, and gynecology) under community care contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
This bill makes a Veterans Health Administration employee who provides patient care services in a position for which recruitment or retention of qualified personnel is difficult eligible for undergraduate and graduate education loan reduction under the Education Debt Reduction Program. (Currently, such loan reduction is available only for a course or training leading to a degree that qualifies the individual for a patient care services position.) The bill increases the five-year amount of education debt reduction payments made to or for a program participant from $120,000 to $240,000, of which not more than $60,000 (currently, $24,000) may be made in each year. The VA shall select program locations pursuant to a process that is similar to the process used to determine public health professional shortage areas. For purposes of providing tax liability reimbursements resulting from payments on behalf of an individual, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) shall, in addition to such payments, make payments in an amount equal to 39% of the total amount of loan repayments made for the taxable year; and (2) may make such additional payments as the VA determines appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Customer Non-Discrimination Act This bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation. It defines: "sex" to include a sex stereotype, sexual orientation or gender identity, and pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition; "sexual orientation" as homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality; and "gender identity" as gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or characteristics, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth. The bill expands the categories of public accommodations to include places or establishments that provide: exhibitions, recreation, exercise, amusement, gatherings, or displays; goods, services, or programs, including a store, a shopping center, an online retailer or service provider, a salon, a bank, a gas station, a food bank, a service or care center, a shelter, a travel agency, a funeral parlor, or a health care, accounting, or legal service; or transportation services. "Establishment" shall not be construed to be limited to a physical facility or place. Protections against discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin must include protections against discrimination based on: (1) an association with another person who is a member of such a protected class; or (2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, that an individual is a member of such a protected class. The bill prohibits the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 from providing a claim, defense, or basis for challenging such protections. The bill prohibits denial of an individual's access to a shared facility (including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room) that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Care Corps Demonstration Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to implement a local care corps program through which eligible volunteers perform care services for individuals with a disability or individuals who have difficulty with self-care or living independently.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Food Recovery Act of 2017 This bill provides funding and establishes requirements to reduce food waste and standardize date labeling on food. The bill authorizes grants or loans for activities related to: raising awareness about wasted food and food recovery efforts to reduce the quantity of wasted food, reducing food waste at schools and farms, and installing facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy. The bill provides funds for: (1) state storage and distribution costs under the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and (2) national media campaigns to decrease food waste. The bill also: establishes a Food Recovery Liaison within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifies that composting is eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs, expands the tax deduction for charitable contributions to include contributions of food inventory for nonprofit retail sales, expands the liability protections for the donation of food, and requires companies that receive federal food service contracts to donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people. The bill requires date labels on food packaging to include the phrases "best if used by" to indicate food quality and "use by" to warn of food that may be unsafe to eat after a specified date. Labelers may include a quality date on packaging, but must include a safety date on ready-to-eat products. No one may prohibit the sale, donation, or use of a product based on passage of the quality date of the product.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
VA Staffing and Vacancies Transparency Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to publish and update monthly on a publicly available VA website, for each VA component and Veterans Health Administration medical facility, the number of: personnel encumbering positions; accessions and de-accessions of personnel during the preceding month; vacancies, by occupation; and active job postings that have been filled during the preceding 30 days, including the length of time for which each position was posted prior to being filled. The Inspector General of VA must review and make recommendations for improving the administration of the website semiannually. The VA shall report to Congress annually on the steps it is taking to achieve full staffing capacity.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Advancing and Promoting Programming or the APP Act This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish a publicly available website that includes a database of federal funding opportunities for the creation of apps (software applications that enable the performance of specific tasks that may be run on a computer, a mobile device, the Internet, or any other electronic device) and allows the public to download a federal government app that includes: a list of each funding source for the creation and maintenance of government apps and instructions on how an applicant may apply for such funding; the ability for the public to rate and review any such app; a page that prominently displays apps that have been recently updated or that receive a high user review average; a page that features government projects that provide application developers with tools to improve private apps; resources for education and training related to the creation of apps; and a page that features outstanding, educational, computer science programs and resources to replicate such programs. The GSA shall review any app for which an update has not been released in more than two years and shall remove any app from the website that is no longer functional or compatible.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Pesticide Protection Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel the registration of the pesticide chlorpyrifos under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The bill prohibits the sale and use of existing stock of chlorpyrifos. The bill requires the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos residue on food under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education Extension Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to extend and expand funding through FY2020 for graduate medical education programs at teaching centers (which train medical residents in primary care specialties). The bill allows funds to be used for maintaining, expanding, and establishing graduate medical residency programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Recognizes that international education and exchange programs enhance national security, significantly further U.S. foreign policy goals and economic competitiveness, and promote mutual understanding and cooperation among nations. Encourages such programs to ensure that the United States maintains a broad international knowledge base. Supports such programs as a means to strengthen foreign language skills and foster a better understanding of the world by U.S. citizens. Commends American and international education and exchange participants, volunteers, educators, program alumni, host families, high schools, institutions of higher education, and host communities for their involvement in such programs. Celebrates the integral role such programs play for the United States and its people.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Affirms U.S. leadership and commitment to improving access to quality education for the poorest and most marginalized children and youth worldwide. Supports the mission and goals of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to mobilize global and national efforts to contribute to the achievement of equitable, quality education and learning. Recognizes that U.S. investments in bilateral basic education are complemented by GPE's education systems approach and convening authority. Encourages continued commitment and investments by the U.S. government, international donors, private foundations, and private sector donors through the GPE to the global effort to promote children and youth attending school.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year, unless three-fifths of each chamber of Congress authorizes the excess with a rollcall vote. The authorization must include an adequate increase in the debt limit for the specific excess of outlays. The prohibition excludes outlays for repayment of debt principal and receipts derived from borrowing. The President must submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. Total outlays for the Social Security trust funds over 75 years must not exceed total receipts for 75 years, unless three-fifths of each chamber of Congress authorizes the specific excess by a rollcall vote. Congress may waive the requirements by a rollcall vote for any year in which a declaration of war is in effect. The waiver must: (1) identify and be limited to the outlays necessary for the war, and (2) include an adequate increase in the debt limit for the specific excess of outlays.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Water and Energy Sustainability through Technology Act This bill addresses the link between energy and water systems (energy-water nexus), including: (1) the water needed to produce energy; (2) the energy needed to transport, reclaim, treat, store, and reuse water and wastewater; (3) the energy available in organic wastewaters and wet waste streams (e.g., methane); and (4) the waste heat available in industrial process and cooling water discharges, steam system condensate and cooling water, and thermoelectric cooling water discharge. The bill provides support for increasing: the availability of energy-water nexus data about surface water, groundwater, or recycled water; the use of energy-water nexus technology; the energy efficiency of certain water systems; the use of water efficiency methods and products; water quality; the recharge of groundwater; the ability of water systems to address climate-related impacts on water quality or quantity; and the infrastructure of water and wastewater systems. In addition, the bill establishes a United States-Israel Water Cooperation Working Group to seek to strengthen dialogue between the United States and Israel in order to: (1) improve the use of water resources through water-saving technologies and practices; (2) counter water shortages; (3) modernize pipeline and other applicable infrastructure; and (4) pursue best practices in drip irrigation, water recycling, and desalination. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate certain tax incentives related to the extraction of oil, gas, or certain minerals.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. Agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Veteran Education Empowerment Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) or consortia of IHEs for the establishment, maintenance, improvement, and operation of veteran student centers. A veteran student center is a dedicated space on a campus that provides students who are veterans or members of the Armed Forces with: (1) a lounge or meeting space for themselves, their spouses or partners, and veterans in the community; (2) a centralized office for veteran services that serves as a single point of contact to coordinate veterans support services; and (3) comprehensive academic and tutoring services to veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
Federal Employee Pension Fairness Act of 2017 This bill repeals provisions requiring federal employees, including foreign service employees, who began service after 2012 to pay an increased contribution (4.4%, up from 0.8%) toward funding their annuities under the Federal Employees Retirement System.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act This bill allows the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians to lease, sell, convey, warrant, or transfer their real property that is not held in trust by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2017 This bill amends various provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, including by: (1) expanding the types of actions that would justify a court retaining jurisdiction to prevent a state or political subdivision from using new devices to limit the right to vote; and (2) imposing notice requirements on a state or political subdivision that makes changes to voting procedures, polling-place resources, or district boundaries. The bill also changes the calculation for determining whether a state or political subdivision is subject to preclearance requirements (i.e., requirements for certain jurisdictions to receive preapproval from the Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights).
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Do No Harm Act This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that: protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity"; require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. Under current law, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Ambulance Medicare Budget and Operations Act of 2017 This bill modifies Medicare payment rules and reporting requirements with respect to ground-ambulance services.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to: state that the term "intimate partner" includes a dating partner and any other person subject to a protection order under state domestic or family violence law; and expand the term "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner. The bill makes it a crime to knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. It also makes it a crime for such convicted stalker to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Requests the President to transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any documents or communications in the possession of the General Services Administration (GSA) that refer or relate to: guidance or direction to the Acting Administrator or other staff of the GSA regarding responses to requests for information from Members of Congress, the lease agreement between the Trump Old Post Office LLC and the federal government (Ground Lease No. GS-LS-11-11307) or legal memoranda or opinions generated by the government related to such lease.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2017
Every Kid Outdoors Act This bill directs the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and the Army to establish the Every Kids Outdoors program to provide fourth graders free access to federal lands and waters to which the public has access. Such Departments shall issue such students annual passes, upon request, which shall allow free access to: a per-vehicle fee area for the student and any passengers accompanying the student in a private, noncommercial vehicle or for up to three adults accompanying the student on bicycles; or a per-person fee area for the student and up to three adults accompanying the student. In carrying out such program, such departments: may collaborate with state park systems that opt to implement a complementary Every Kid Outdoors State park pass, shall maintain a publicly available website that provides information about the program, may provide visitor services, and may support approved partners of the federal lands and waters by furnishing them with opportunities for participation in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
This bill amends the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 to modify the authorized uses of funds a county elects to receive under such Act to include: reimbursing the county for law enforcement patrols and evacuations that are performed on federal land; search and rescue preparedness training; and capital equipment, equipment maintenance, and other purchases related to carrying out search and rescue and other emergency services. A participating county may reallocate funds for a different use than authorized only after the 45-day public comment period has ended, at the beginning of which the county shall publish a description of how it proposes to use the funds. The bill extends the authority for the initiation of county projects until the end of FY2019 and allows county funds to remain available until expended.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to beneficiaries with pre-diabetes or risk factors for developing type-2 diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
America's Call To Improve Opportunities Now for National Service Act or the ACTION for National Service Act This bill amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to reestablish the Corporation for National and Community Service as an independent executive agency called the National and Community Service Administration. An individual who successfully completes a term of full-time national service shall be entitled to a national service educational award equal to twice the amount of tuition for the institution of higher education where the individual is enrolled, not to exceed twice the average in-state tuition. Current law limits the award's value to the maximum amount of a Federal Pell Grant that an individual is eligible to receive in the aggregate. Within the administration, the bill establishes an interagency working group to evaluate specified issues related to: (1) eligibility for tuition and student loan repayment assistance with regard to participation in certain national or volunteer service programs, (2) the advisability of granting federal hiring preference to certain volunteer program participants, and (3) methods for increasing the participation of seniors in national service programs. The National Service Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established by the bill, shall accept and administer gifts made in connection with the administration. The bill expresses support for the authorization of appropriations sufficient to provide, within 10 years, volunteer service opportunities for at least 1 million volunteers in full-time national service annually. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude AmeriCorps educational awards from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Recognizes National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Recognizes the rate at which individuals are affected by eating disorders and the inadequate rate at which such individuals seek treatment. Acknowledges that eating disorders can be successfully treated and that individuals with eating disorders can and do recover.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Defense should review exceptions to citizenship, residency, and disqualification standards for enlistment in the Armed Forces to make a determination regarding the enlistment of aliens who possess an employment authorization document issued under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program established by the Department of Homeland Security on June 15, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2017
Supports the designation of American Grown Flower Month. Recognizes that flowers grown in the United States support farmers, small businesses, jobs, and the economy; are a vital part of the U.S. agricultural industry; and enhance the ability of the people of the United States to celebrate holidays and special occasions. Urges all people of the United States to proactively showcase flowers and greens grown in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2017
Audit the Pentagon Act of 2017 This bill requires a .5% reduction in Department of Defense (DOD) discretionary budget authority if DOD has not submitted a financial statement by March 2 of a fiscal year for the previous fiscal year or such financial statement has not received an unqualified or qualified audit opinion by an independent auditor. This reduction does not apply to military, reserve, and National Guard personnel accounts or the Defense Health Program account. The bill permits the President to waive any reduction in DOD budget authority if the reduction would harm national security or military personnel deployed in combat zones.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Expresses support for: (1) equal rights and protections for all people, regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; and (2) the designation of LGBT Equality Day on June 26 to commemorate Supreme Court decisions handed down on that day in 2003, 2013, and 2015. Acknowledges the need for further legislation to ensure that people in the United States are free from all forms of discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration of members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides that are registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals until the EPA determines that the insecticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators. The determination must be based on: an evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use or uses of those neonicotinoids cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators, including native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects; and a completed field study that meets the criteria required by the EPA and evaluates residues, chronic low-dose exposure, and cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures. The EPA may not issue new registrations of the neonicotinoid pesticides for any seed treatment, soil application, and foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals under FIFRA until it has made the determination with respect to the insecticide. For purposes of protecting and ensuring the long-term viability of native bees and other pollinators, the Department of the Interior must: (1) regularly monitor the health and population status of native bees, (2) identify the scope and likely causes of unusual native bee mortality, and (3) submit to Congress and make public an annual report on the health and population status of native bees.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, (2) exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and (3) authorize marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Justin Smith Morrill Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Justin Smith Morrill, a United States Senator from Vermont, for his lasting contributions to higher education opportunity for all Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to make available online voter registration. The federal criminal code is amended to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended to require states to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must support pilot programs enabling individuals with disabilities to register and vote at their residences. The bill reauthorizes support for state and local governments to ensure voting access for individuals with disabilities. States must notify individuals convicted of a criminal offense under state law, upon release or upon sentence to probation, of their right to vote in federal elections. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2017 This bill revises auditing requirements for voting systems. Voting systems must use individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots. The National Science Foundation must support the study and development of accessible ballot voting and best practices to enhance the accessibility of voting for certain individuals. With exceptions, states must audit federal election results. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended to extend the guarantee of voting residency to family members of absent military personnel. The EAC must support poll-worker recruitment and training and develop materials for a model program. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended to prohibit a chief state election administration official, unless the official or a family member is a candidate, from taking part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which the official has supervisory authority. The EAC is reauthorized and its exemption from certain contracting requirements is repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2017 This bill states that it is U.S. policy to regard the prevention of genocide and other atrocity crimes as a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility. The President shall instruct the Department of State to establish a Mass Atrocities Task Force to strengthen State Department efforts and assist other agency efforts at atrocity prevention and response. The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended to provide for the training of Foreign Service Officers in conflict and atrocity crimes prevention. The Director of National Intelligence is encouraged to include in his or her annual testimony to Congress on threats to U.S. national security: (1) a review of countries and regions at risk of atrocity crimes; and (2) specific countries and regions at immediate risk of atrocity crimes, including most likely pathways to violence, specific risk factors, potential perpetrators, and at-risk target groups. The bill establishes the Complex Crises Fund to enable the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to support programs and activities to prevent or respond to emerging or unforeseen foreign challenges and complex crises overseas, including potential atrocity crimes. Fund amounts may not be expended for lethal assistance or to respond to natural disasters.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Calls for an end to the dog and cat meat industry. Urges the governments of China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all other nations to: (1) adopt and enforce laws banning the dog and cat meat trade, (2) increase efforts to prevent any leather or fur byproducts of such trade from entering international markets, and (3) use their food safety laws to crack down on the sale of dog and cat meat. Affirms the U.S. commitment to the protection of animals and to advancing the progress of animal protection around the world. Urges executive branch officials to include the dog and cat meat trade on the agenda for discussion with the officials of countries that have a dog or cat meat industry.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Military Retiree Survivor Comfort Act This bill requires the United States to forgive any overpayment of military retired or retainer pay for any period after the death of the recipient through the last day of the month in which such death occurs, if such payment is electronically deposited to a joint account bearing the name of the decedent and the decedent's designated beneficiary. The bill provides a special effective date for the first annuity payment to a survivor under the Survivor Benefit Plan when an overpayment is so forgiven.
![Official portrait of Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000191_200.jpg)