United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2017
Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2017 or the FRESHER Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to eliminate a prohibition on the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharges of certain collected, uncontaminated stormwater runoff from mining operations or oil and gas operations. The Department of the Interior must study stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of: (1) measurable contamination, (2) groundwater resources, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with the operations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2017
CLEANER Act of 2017 or the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act of 2017 This bill amends the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to eliminate the exemption for waste derived from the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy from regulations governing the disposal of hazardous waste. Within a year of this bill's enactment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must: determine whether waste associated with oil, gas, or geothermal energy activities meet the criteria promulgated for the identification or listing of hazardous waste; identify or list as hazardous waste any of those wastes if they meet the identification or listing criteria; and promulgate regulations regarding standards applicable to generators, transporters, and owners and operators of facilities for the treatment, storage, or disposal of those wastes. The EPA may modify the regulation of those standards to consider the special characteristics of those wastes so long as the modified regulations protect human health and the environment. Within a year of this bill's enactment, the EPA must promulgate revisions of certain criteria concerning landfills and waste management practices of open dumping for facilities that may receive wastes that are: (1) associated with those activities, and (2) not identified or listed as hazardous waste. Those revisions must: protect human health and the environment, while allowing consideration of the practicable capability of such facilities; and require groundwater monitoring as necessary to detect contamination; establish criteria for the acceptable location of new or existing facilities; and provide for corrective action and financial assurance as appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2017
Equitable Student Aid Access Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise requirements governing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The bill increases the adjusted gross income threshold used to determine whether a student qualifies for an automatic zero expected family contribution (EFC) in the calculation of the student's financial need. A dependent student is eligible for an automatic zero EFC if the student's parents have adjusted gross income up to $30,000. An independent student with non-spouse dependents is eligible for a zero EFC if the student and spouse have adjusted gross income up to $30,000. The bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to allow students to use tax information from the year before the previous one in determining their financial aid eligibility. The Internal Revenue Service and ED must share available data pursuant to taxpayer consent. The bill requires the FAFSA application to be available to students by October 1, which is three months earlier than is currently required.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2017 The bill requires the Supreme Court to promulgate a code of ethics for the Justices of the Supreme Court that shall include the five canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, with any amendments or modifications that the Supreme Court determines appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2017 This bill allows coverage, under Medicare, of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished by providers other than primary care physicians and practitioners. Additionally, it allows coverage under Medicare's prescription drug benefit of drugs used for the treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for individuals who are overweight.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Medicare Access to Radiology Care Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise physician supervision requirements under the Medicare program for radiology services performed by advanced level radiographers. Specifically, with respect to a state that has established such requirements for those services, the bill aligns Medicare's requirements with state requirements. An "advanced level radiographer" is a radiographer who has obtained specified certification from either the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists or the Certification Board for Radiology Practitioner Assistants.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Social Security 2100 Act This bill increases various Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and related taxes. The bill increases the primary insurance amount (e.g., the amount a Social Security beneficiary receives if the beneficiary begins receiving benefits at normal retirement age) by increasing the percentage of the beneficiary's average indexed monthly earnings used to calculate the amount. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall publish a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, which the Social Security Administration (SSA) shall use to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to benefits. Currently, the SSA uses a price index for wage earners to make such adjustments. The bill increases the minimum benefit amount for individuals who worked for more than 10 years by creating an alternative minimum benefit. A qualifying beneficiary shall receive that alternative minimum if it is higher than the standard calculated benefit amount. The bill increases the income threshold that a beneficiary must reach before Social Security benefits are taxable. Increased benefits from this bill shall not count as income when determining an individual's eligibility or benefit amounts for (1) Medicaid, (2) the Children's Health Insurance Program, or (3) the Supplemental Security Income program. Income above $400,000 shall be included when calculating Social Security benefits and taxes. The bill also increases rates for the payroll and self-employment taxes that fund OASDI. The bill establishes the Social Security Trust Fund, which replaces the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Better Drive Act This bill repeals provisions requiring the Department of Transportation to withhold a certain amount of a state's apportionment of federal-aid highway funds if the state fails to enact and enforce a law that requires the revocation or suspension of drivers' licenses of individuals convicted of drug offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Investing In America: Unlocking the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Act This bill amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 and the Internal Revenue Code to make certain amounts in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund equivalent to port use tax receipts available for its statutorily prescribed purposes without further appropriation, including for expenditures to pay 100% of the eligible operations and maintenance costs of specified portions of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and up to 100% of the eligible operations and maintenance costs assigned to commercial navigation of all U.S. harbors and inland harbors. Trust fund receipts and disbursements shall: not be counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of the federal budget, the congressional budget, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, or the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010; be exempt from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on government expenditures and net lending (budget outlays); and be available only for the statutorily prescribed purposes of such fund.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to: (1) limit students' ability to participate in, or benefit from, school programs; or (2) create a hostile or abusive educational environment that adversely affects students' education. LEAs shall also provide: (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department of Education must conduct, and report on, an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics shall collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act This bill authorizes the Department of the Treasury to impose restrictions on foreign jurisdictions or financial institutions to counter money laundering and efforts to significantly impede U.S. tax enforcement. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: expand reporting requirements for certain foreign investments and accounts held by U.S. persons, establish a rebuttable presumption against the validity of transactions by institutions that do not comply with reporting requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, treat certain foreign corporations managed and controlled primarily in the United States as domestic corporations for tax purposes, treat swap payments sent offshore as taxable U.S. source income, impose additional requirements for third party summonses used to obtain information in tax investigations that do not identify the person with respect to whose liability the summons is issued (i.e., John Doe summons), and modify the rules for the taxation of inverted corporations (U.S. corporations that acquire foreign companies to reincorporate in a foreign jurisdiction with income tax rates lower than the United States). The bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to: (1) require corporations to disclose certain financial information on a country-by-country basis, and (2) impose penalties for failing to disclose offshore holdings. The bill makes investment advisers and persons engaged in forming new business entities subject to anti-money laundering requirements. The bill imposes new restrictions on U.S. corporations and other entities with foreign income with respect to: (1) tax deductions allocable to deferred foreign income, (2) the recalculation of foreign income taxes, (3) intangible property transferred overseas, (4) tax evasion activities by U.S. corporations reincorporating in a foreign country, and (5) the interest expense tax deduction of certain subsidiaries of foreign corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Corporate EXpatriates and Inverters Tax Fairness Act or the Corporate EXIT Fairness Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth rules governing corporate inversions (i.e., the practice of relocating a domestic corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation while retaining its business activities in the higher-tax country of origin) and corporate expatriations. Specifically, the bill requires payment of tax on the deferred overseas profits of U.S. multinational corporations or partnerships before they reincorporate or organize in a foreign country. Additionally, any stock of a controlled foreign corporation in connection with a corporate expatriation would be treated as sold for its fair market value as of the date of expatriation and be subject to U.S. taxation. The bill expands the definitions of "corporate inversion" and "corporate expatriation" and revises rules relating to the taxation of inverted corporations. A foreign corporation that acquires the assets of a U.S. corporation or partnership after January 4, 2017, shall be treated as an inverted corporation and thus subject to U.S. taxation if, after such acquisition: (1) the expanded affiliated group which includes the foreign corporation does not have substantial business activities in the foreign country in which the corporation is created or organized, when compared to the total business activities of such expanded affiliated group; and (2) more than 50% of the foreign corporation is held by former shareholders or partners of the domestic corporation or partnership, or the management or control of the expanded affiliated group occurs primarily within the United States, and such expanded affiliated group has significant domestic business activities.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2017
Families of Fallen Servicemembers First Act This bill provides a permanent appropriation for the payment of death gratuities and related benefits to survivors of deceased members of the uniformed services during a period of lapsed appropriations. The bill provides the appropriations at the rate and under the conditions provided for the most recent fiscal year for which an Act making appropriations for the uniformed services has been enacted. The appropriations are provided during a period of lapsed appropriations, in which appropriations are unavailable due to the absence of the timely enactment of an Act or joint resolution providing appropriations or continuing appropriations for the death gratuity and related benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2017
Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of State to submit an annual, publicly-available report to Congress that includes: (1) a list of individuals holding specified senior Chinese leadership positions at the national and subnational levels; and (2) an assessment of the level of access Chinese authorities granted U.S. diplomats, journalists, and tourists to Tibetan areas in China. Such assessment shall include: a comparison with the level of access granted to other areas of China, a comparison between the levels of access granted to Tibetan and non-Tibetan areas in relevant provinces, a comparison of the level of access in the reporting year and the previous year, and a description of the measures that impede the freedom to travel in Tibetan areas. Listed persons shall be ineligible for a visa to enter or to be present in the United States if specified restrictions on foreign travelers entering Tibetan areas remain in effect, subject to a national interests waiver. Expresses the sense of Congress that the State Department, when granting Chinese diplomats access to parts of the United States, should take into account the extent to which China grants U.S. diplomats access to parts of China, including the Tibetan areas.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2017
This bill specifies that certain Medicare payment rules applicable to imaging services shall apply to dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry services used in bone mass scans beginning in 2017. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must establish national minimum payment amounts for such services.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2017
Protecting Data at the Border Act This bill prohibits a governmental entity from: (1) accessing the digital contents of electronic equipment belonging to, or in the possession of, a U.S. person (person) at the border without a valid warrant; or (2) denying a person's U.S. entry or exit based on the person's refusal to disclose an access credential or in order to determine whether such person will consensually provide an access credential, access, or online account information. A border officer may access the digital contents of electronic equipment without a warrant if the officer determines that an emergency situation exists. The officer must subsequently apply for a warrant within seven days, and if such warrant is not granted: (1) digital content copies must be destroyed, (2) digital contents or information may not be disclosed, and (3) the person shall be notified of such destruction. A governmental entity may not make or retain a copy of the digital contents of electronic equipment, an online account, or online account information without probable cause to believe that such information contains evidence of, or constitutes the fruits of, a crime. Unlawfully accessed information: (1) must be destroyed and the person notified of its destruction; (2) may not be disclosed; and (3) may not be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding. A governmental entity shall keep a record of each instance in which it obtains access to an individual's digital information. A governmental entity may not seize electronic equipment belonging to, or in the possession of, a person at the border without probable cause to believe that such equipment contains information relevant to a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2017
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act This bill designates approximately 1,559,538 acres of land within Alaska in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2017
Paycheck Fairness Act This bill amends equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to: (1) restrict the use of the bona fide factor defense to wage discrimination claims, (2) enhance nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) make it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increase civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to: (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace is established for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. The bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2017
Larry Doby Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs 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 in honor of Larry Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American major league athletics, civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Responsibly Addressing the Marijuana Policy Gap Act of 2017 This bill amends various provisions of law and sets forth new provisions: to eliminate regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act for marijuana-related activities authorized by state or tribal law (i.e., state-authorized); to allow businesses that sell marijuana in compliance with state or tribal law to claim certain federal tax credits and deductions; to eliminate restrictions on print and broadcast advertising of state-authorized marijuana-related activities; to create protections for depository institutions that provide financial services to marijuana-related businesses; to specify that a marijuana-related business is entitled to federal bankruptcy protections; to establish a process to expunge criminal records related to certain marijuana-related convictions; to reestablish federal student aid eligibility for certain students convicted of a misdemeanor offense for marijuana possession; to exempt real property from civil forfeiture due to state-authorized marijuana-related conduct; to prohibit the inadmissibility or deportability of aliens for state-authorized marijuana-related conduct; to specify that drug-related criminal activity, which is prohibited in federally assisted housing, does not include state-authorized marijuana-related conduct; to establish a new, separate registration process to facilitate medical marijuana research; to authorize health care providers employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend participation in state marijuana programs; and to authorize medical providers through an Indian health program to make medical recommendations regarding marijuana.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Chemical Poisons Reduction Act of 2017 This bill prohibits the use of sodium fluoroacetate (i.e., Compound 1080) and sodium cyanide in a predator control device. It imposes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to two years, or both—on a violator. A predator control device is a dispenser, livestock collar, or gas cartridge that propels, releases, or emits sodium fluoroacetate or sodium cyanide for wildlife management or animal control purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Rural Access to Hospice Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow payment under Medicare for certain services furnished to hospice patients by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). With respect to a patient who elects to receive hospice care under Medicare, current law generally limits payment for services that are either duplicative of such care or related to the treatment of the individual's terminal illness. However, current law exempts from this limitation: (1) physicians' services furnished by an attending physician not employed by the hospice program; and (2) services provided or arranged by the hospice program. The bill expands this exemption with regard to rural health clinic and FQHC services. Specifically, the payment limitation shall not apply to such services that: (1) would otherwise be physicians' services if furnished by an individual unaffiliated with a rural health clinic or FQHC; and (2) are either arranged by the hospice program or furnished by an attending physician not employed by the hospice program.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2017 This bill allows Medicare payment for home health services ordered by a nurse practitioner, a clinical nurse specialist, a certified nurse-midwife, or a physician assistant.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Big Cat Public Safety Act This bill amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit any person from breeding or possessing prohibited wildlife species (i.e., any live species of lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or cougar or any hybrid of such species). Breeding means facilitating propagation or reproduction (whether intentionally or negligently), or failing to prevent propagation or reproduction. The bill revises the list of entities that are exempt from Lacey Act prohibitions regarding those wildlife species to include: (1) certain entities that hold Class C licenses in good standing under the Animal Welfare Act, and (2) current owners of animals that were born before this bill's enactment if the animals are registered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Those entities and owners may not allow direct contact between the public and the prohibited wildlife species. A person who knowingly violates the prohibition must be fined not more than $20,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. The bill considers each violation to be a separate offense. The offense must be deemed to have been committed not only in the district where the violation first occurred, but also in any district in which the defendant may have taken or been in possession of the prohibited wildlife species. The bill extends forfeiture provisions to fish, wildlife, or plants that are bred or possessed.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2017 or the PAST Act This bill amends the Horse Protection Act to establish a new system for inspecting horses for soring, revise penalties for violations of the Act, and modify enforcement procedures. The soring of horses is any of various actions taken on a horse's limb to produce a higher gait that may cause pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must establish requirements to license, train, assign, and oversee persons hired by the management of horse shows, exhibitions, sales, or auctions to detect and diagnose sore horses. A license may not be issued to a person with conflicts of interest, and USDA must give preference to veterinarians. USDA may revoke a license for unsatisfactory performance. USDA must assign licensed inspectors after receiving notice that management intends to hire the inspectors. An inspector must issue a citation for violations and notify USDA of violations. USDA must publish information on violations of this bill and disqualify a horse that is sore. The bill prohibits a person in any horse show, exhibition, sale, or auction from causing or directing a horse to become sore for the purpose of showing, exhibiting, selling, or auctioning the horse. The bill prohibits the use of specified devices on a Tennessee Walking, a Racking, or a Spotted Saddle horse at a show, exhibition, sale, or auction. The bill increases the maximum criminal and civil liability penalties for certain violations. USDA may disqualify violators from specified activities related to horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Veterans Access to Community Care Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to use the VA's existing authority to furnish health care to veterans at non-VA facilities to provide health care at non-VA facilities to veterans who reside more than 40 miles driving distance from the closest VA medical facility providing the care they seek.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Veterans Equal Access Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to authorize VA health care providers to: (1) provide veterans with recommendations and opinions regarding participation in their state's marijuana programs, and (2) complete forms reflecting such recommendations and opinions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Caregivers Access and Responsible Expansion for All Veterans Act or the CARE for All Veterans Act This bill expands eligibility for the family caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to include members of the Armed Forces or veterans who are seriously injured or who became ill (or who aggravated such injury or illness) on active duty before September 11, 2001 (currently, limited to service after September 11, 2001). The bill establishes three monthly caregiver stipend starting dates for pre-September 11, 2001, members of the Armed Forces or veterans based upon the amount and degree of personal care services provided. Program eligibility criteria shall include a veteran's need for regular or extensive instruction or supervision in completing two or more instrumental activities of daily living.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Medical Leave for Disabled Veterans Act This bill amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to provide eligibility for specified medical/hospital care for an employee who: (1) has a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability rating of between 30% and 50% and at least 833 hours of service with the employer (from whom leave is requested) during the previous eight-month period, or (2) has a VA disability rating of 60% or higher and at least 625 hours of service with such employer during the previous 6-month period. Medical/hospital leave shall also be provided to an employee who is not covered by the above provision but who retired from the Armed Forces by reason of a service-connected disability: (1) rated at between 30% and 50% at retirement and who has at least 833 hours of service with such employer during the previous eight-month period, or (2) rated at 60% or higher at retirement and who has at least 625 hours of service with such employer during the previous 6-month period. (Under current law, employees of an FMLA-covered employer become eligible for medical leave after 12 months on the job and at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during the previous 12-month period.) A employee must submit a certification to the employer from the VA or the Department of Defense, as appropriate, to be eligible for such adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose: (1) an excise tax on any marijuana product produced in or imported into the United States, and (2) an occupational tax on marijuana production facilities and export warehouses. The term "marijuana product" does not include: (1) any article containing marijuana which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for sale for therapeutic purposes and is marketed and sold solely for such purpose, or (2) industrial hemp. The excise tax includes exemptions for: (1) marijuana products that are used for research or by government entities for nonconsumption purposes; and (2) the transfer of products between production, import, and export facilities. A credit or refund of the tax must be issued for products that are withdrawn from the market, lost, or destroyed. The bill requires producers, importers, and exporters of marijuana products to: obtain a permit and a bond covering tax liability from the Department of the Treasury prior to beginning operations, meet recordkeeping requirements, and comply with certain policies and restrictions regarding packaging and labeling. The bill also: (1) establishes penalties for violations of marijuana laws, and (2) prohibits the sale of more than one ounce of marijuana in any single retail transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Delivering Elderly Lunches and Increasing Volunteer Engagement and Reimbursements Act of 2017 or the DELIVER Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the standard mileage rate for the tax deduction for the charitable use of a passenger automobile to deliver meals to homebound individuals who are elderly, disabled, frail, or at risk. The bill increases the rate from the standard charitable rate of 14 cents per mile to the standard business mileage rate, which is 53.5 cents per mile for 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Small Business Tax Equity Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a trade or business that conducts marijuana sales in compliance with state law from the prohibition against allowing business-related tax credits or deductions for expenditures in connection with trafficking in controlled substances.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act This bill establishes a comprehensive women's history museum within the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, to provide for: (1) the collection, study, and establishment of programs related to women's contributions that have influenced the direction of the United States; (2) collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and facilities, outside museums, and educational institutions; and (3) the creation of exhibitions and programs that recognize diverse perspectives on women's history and contributions. The bill establishes a council within the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) make recommendations to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents for the construction of the museum; (2) advise and assist the board on the administration and preservation of the museum; (3) recommend annual operating budgets for the museum; and (4) report annually to the board on the acquisition, disposition, and display of objects related to women's art, history, and culture. The council shall have sole authority to: (1) acquire artifacts for the museum's collections, (2) dispose of any part of the collections but only if funds generated are used for additions to the collections, (3) specify criteria for the use of the museum's collections and resources, and (4) preserve and maintain the collections. The museum's director may carry out educational and liaison programs in support of its goals.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2017
This bill amends provisions of various laws relating to prescription-drug pricing and affordability. Specifically, the bill: expands reporting requirements for drug manufacturers and establishes corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance; adds reporting requirements for certain nonprofit patient-assistance programs; requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress on the impact of patient-assistance programs on prescription-drug pricing and expenditures; requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs under the Medicare program; requires the GAO to report to Congress on such negotiations conducted by the CMS; requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the CMS to test specified models for negotiating drug prices; establishes reporting requirements, and corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance, for pharmaceutical companies with respect to spikes in prescription-drug prices; establishes an excise tax on prescription drugs subject to price spikes; lessens prescription-drug cost-sharing requirements under qualified health plans, group health plans, and the Medicare program; modifies provisions related to the importation of prescription drugs; requires drug manufacturers to provide drug rebates for drugs dispensed to certain low-income individuals under the Medicare program; establishes a prize fund for new and more effective treatments of bacterial infections; establishes a Center for Clinical Research within the National Institutes of Health; modifies provisions related to drug exclusivity; allows the Federal Trade Commission to initiate enforcement proceedings against parties to an agreement resolving or settling a patent-infringement claim in connection with the sale of a drug product; requires the Food and Drug Administration to establish a database of generic drugs; and modifies other provisions related to generic drugs, prescription-drug advertising, and product hopping.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2017
Prescription Reduction in Costs for Everyone (PRICE) Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the President, with respect to offering one or more Medicare-operated prescription drug plan options, to: (1) negotiate prices with drug manufacturers, and (2) establish and apply a formulary and formulary incentives. In general, a Medicare-operated drug plan must meet the same requirements as apply to other prescription drug plans. The President must report to Congress biannually on negotiations conducted by the President to achieve lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2017
Honors the members of the U.S. Armed Forces for their service during World War I. Congratulates the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard during the commemoration of the centennial of World War I.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment in the case of Buckley v. Valeo because the decision failed to recognize: (1) that the unlimited spending of large amounts of money on elections has a corrosive effect on the electoral process not simply because of direct transactions between those who give large amounts of money and candidates and elected officials but because the presence of unlimited amounts of money corrupts the process on a more fundamental level; and (2) other legitimate state interests which justify limiting money in campaigns, including the need to preserve the integrity of our republican form of government, restore public confidence in government, and ensure all citizens a more equal opportunity to participate in the political process.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2017
Pro bono Work to Empower and Represent Act of 2017 or the POWER Act This bill requires each U.S. Attorney for each judicial district to lead at least one public event that promotes pro bono legal services as a critical way to: (1) empower survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and (2) engage citizens in assisting those survivors. A similar requirement applies to districts containing Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Each U.S. Attorney shall: (1) have discretion on the design, organization, and implementation of such public events; and (2) seek to maximize an event's local impact and the access of such survivors to high-quality pro bono legal services.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2017
Traveling Exotic Animal and Public Safety Protection Act This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to establish a prohibition on the use of exotic or wild animals in performances (e.g., circus, ride, carnival, or parade) of a traveling animal act. The prohibition does not apply to the use of animals in: (1) zoos; (2) aquariums; (3) research facilities; (4) film, television, or advertising, if the performance is not before a public studio audience; or (5) rodeos. The prohibition also does not apply to domestic animals or farm animals.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2017
Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to revise and reauthorize brownfields revitalization and state response program funding through FY2022. (Brownfields are certain commercial properties that are hindered from reuse or redevelopment due to the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.) The Environmental Protection Agency must establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation activities at one or more brownfield sites in a proposed area. Certain nonprofit organizations and community development entities are made eligible for brownfields revitalization funding. Additionally, the bill revises the brownfield site characterization and assessment grant program to allow a governmental entity to receive a grant for property acquired prior to January 11, 2002, even if the entity does not qualify as a bona fide prospective purchaser under CERCLA.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2017
Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act of 2017 This bill establishes: (1) the Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care; (2) the National Law Enforcement Child and Youth Trauma Coordinating Center; (3) the Native American Technical Assistance Resource Center to provide trauma-informed technical assistance; and (4) Medicaid demonstration projects to test innovative, trauma-informed approaches for delivering early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services to eligible children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must encourage states to collect and report data on adverse childhood experiences. The bill amends the Public Health Service Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, and other laws to revise or establish provisions related to trauma, including provisions regarding the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, Performance Partnership Pilots, health professional shortage areas, and training of school personnel, court personnel, and health care providers. The Department of Education may award grants for the improvement of trauma support services and mental health care for children in educational settings.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 2017
Limiting Inhumane Federal Trapping Act This bill prohibits any personnel of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture (USDA), in performing their duties, from using, recommending, training in the use of, or planning for the use of, any body-gripping trap used to kill or capture an animal. This prohibition does not apply to training in the dismantling of body-gripping traps that have been illegally placed. No person shall use or possess any body-gripping trap on property under the administrative jurisdiction of Interior or USDA, except in Indian country, regardless of whether the person is employed by, or is working under a contract with, Interior or USDA. Such prohibitions shall not apply to the use of a body-gripping trap to: control documented, invasive species to achieve resource management objectives where alternative methods have failed; or protect a species that is listed as an endangered or threatened species or treated by the Forest Service as a sensitive species. Such exceptions shall not apply unless: such use of a body-gripping trap is in accordance with state and federal law; prior to using such a trap, all available and viable nonlethal methods for such control or protection have been attempted; and such attempts have been documented in writing, and the documentation is maintained at the headquarters of the department that employs the individual engaging in such attempt. The bill imposes criminal penalties for violating the prohibitions in this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2017
Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2017 This bill amends the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to specify that a retailer of manufactured housing is generally not a "mortgage originator" subject to requirements under that Act. Similarly, the bill amends the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 to specify that such a retailer is generally not a "loan originator" subject to requirements under that Act. In addition, the bill increases the annual percentage rates and transaction values at which mortgages for certain dwellings are considered "high-cost mortgages" under TILA.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide support for Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers. These centers must improve the training of health professionals in palliative care and establish traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced education nursing degrees, social work degrees, or advanced degrees in physician assistant studies in palliative care. HHS may provide support to schools of medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, teaching hospitals, and graduate medical education programs for training physicians who plan to teach palliative medicine. HHS must: (1) provide Palliative Medicine and Hospice Academic Career Awards to individuals to promote their career development; (2) support entities that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Education Center; (3) support advanced practice nurses, social workers, physician assistants, pharmacists, chaplains, or students of psychology pursuing an advanced degree in palliative care or related fields; and (4) award grants to schools of nursing, health care facilities, or programs leading to certification as a nurse assistant to train individuals in providing palliative care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must provide for a national education and awareness campaign to inform patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care. The National Institutes of Health must expand national research programs in palliative care.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
This bill prohibits making funds available for activities in Afghanistan after one year following enactment of this bill. Such prohibition shall not apply to: (1) operations of the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan, or (2) intelligence gathering activities. Such prohibition may be waived on a case-by-case basis if: (1) the President submits to Congress a certification that the availability of funds for such activities is in U.S. national interests; and (2) Congress, within 30 days after receipt of such certification, enacts a joint resolution authorizing the availability of funds for such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to furnish fertility treatment and counseling, including through the use of assisted reproductive technology, to a severely wounded, ill, or injured member of the Armed Forces who has an infertility condition incurred or aggravated while serving on active duty (covered member) or to the spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate of such member. DOD shall: establish procedures for gamete retrieval from a member of the Armed Forces in cases in which the fertility of such member is potentially jeopardized as a result of an injury or illness incurred or aggravated while serving on active duty; and give members of the Armed Forces on active duty the opportunity to cryopreserve and store their gametes prior to a combat zone deployment at no cost to the member. Fertility counseling and treatment are included within authorized Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical services. The VA shall furnish such treatment and services to a jointly applying covered veteran and his or her spouse, partner, or gestational surrogate. The VA may pay the adoption expenses (for up to three adoptions) for a covered member who is enrolled in the VA health care system. The VA shall facilitate research conducted collaboratively by DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services to improve the VA's ability to meet the reproductive health care needs of veterans who have a service-connected genitourinary disability or a condition that was incurred or aggravated in the line of duty that affects the veterans' reproductive ability. The VA shall enhance the capabilities of the VA women veterans contact center to: (1) respond to assistance requests, and (2) refer such veterans to federal or community resources. The pilot program of group retreat reintegration and readjustment counseling for women veterans recently separated from service is enlarged and extended. The bill provides child care assistance to qualified veterans for: (1) mental health care services, and (2) readjustment counseling and related mental health services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
Investing in America: A Penny for Progress Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel or kerosene to be increased annually after 2017 to account for: (1) highway construction costs, and (2) reduced fuel usage due to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The bill exempts kerosene fuels used in aviation from the increases and limits the annual increases to 1.5 cents. The bill also requires the Department of the Treasury to issue 30-year Invest in America Bonds in specified amounts annually through FY2030. The revenue from the bonds must be transferred to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), with 80% allocated to the Highway Account and 20% allocated to the Mass Transit Account. The bill specifies requirements for allocating the additional funding from the HTF. Treasury must repay the bonds using the revenues that are attributable to the increased taxes required by this bill. After all of the bonds have been redeemed, additional revenues attributable to the increases must be transferred to the HTF. The bill also modifies Department of Transportation reporting requirements regarding: (1) infrastructure investment needs, and (2) public transportation investment needs. The bill amends the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) to repeal a rescission of certain unobligated federal-aid highway funds apportioned among the states.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
Honor Our Commitment Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to furnish mental and behavioral health care to individuals who: served in the active military, naval, or air service for more than 180 days and were deployed in a theater of combat operations or an area at a time during which hostilities occurred in that area for more than 30 days; were discharged or released from such service, by reason of committing a covered offense, under conditions other than honorable but not dishonorable or by court-martial; and either were diagnosed by a qualified mental health care provider with a mental or behavioral health condition before committing such offense; or are diagnosed with such a condition after committing such offense but before the expiration of five years after the later of the date of enactment of this bill or the date the individual is discharged or released from service, if a provider certifies such condition may have led to such offense and if the VA determines such individual had such condition at the time of the offense. The VA: (1) may furnish initial mental health screenings within five years after this bill's enactment or five years after the date of discharge or release from service, at no cost to the individual; and (2) shall notify each eligible individual about eligibility for covered mental and behavioral health care within 180 days of discharge or release from active service.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue $5 gold coins, $1 silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. The bill limits the issuance of such coins to the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2020. The bill prescribes surcharges for coin sales, which shall be paid to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Inc., to help finance the construction of a new building and renovation of existing National Purple Heart Hall of Honor facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States, in seeking to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East, should draw upon relevant lessons of the U.S. government, civil society, and humanitarian response to the Armenian Genocide, Seyfo, and the broader genocidal campaign by the Ottoman Empire.
![Official portrait of Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000191_200.jpg)