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United States · Official source
1,290 records where Rep. Farenthold, Blake [R-TX-27] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2017
Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions to attain comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2017
This joint resolution initiates the process to terminate the Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which issues annual recommendations for reducing growth in Medicare expenditures. Under current law, the enactment of a such a joint resolution is required in order to terminate the board.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017 This bill prohibits government officials from entering into or enforcing a settlement agreement on behalf of the United States (resolving a civil action, a plea agreement, a deferred prosecution agreement, or a nonprosecution agreement) that provides for a payment to any person or entity other than the United States. The bill provides exceptions to allow payments that: (1) remedy actual harm (including to the environment) caused by the party making the payment, or (2) constitute a payment for services rendered in connection with the case or a payment that a court may order for restitution to victims in certain criminal cases or other persons in plea agreements. Government officials or agents who violate this prohibition may be removed from office or required to forfeit to the government any money they hold for such purposes to which they may otherwise be entitled. Federal agencies must report annually for seven years to the Congressional Budget Office about the parties, funding sources, and distribution of funds for their settlement agreements permitted by the exceptions in this bill. Agency inspectors general must report annually to Congress about any of their agency's settlement agreements that violate this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Health and Human Services rule regarding subrecipients of family planning grants. (Under the rule, grant recipients may prohibit an entity from receiving a subaward only for reasons related to the entity's ability to provide family planning services.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of Labor on August 1, 2016, relating to establishing, for state unemployment compensation program purposes, occupations that regularly conduct drug testing.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on August 25, 2016, relating to revising the Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement Executive Order 13673 concerning contractor compliance with labor laws.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Innocent Party Protection Act This bill amends procedures under which federal courts determine whether a case that was removed from a state court to a federal court on the basis of a diversity of citizenship among the parties may be remanded back to state court upon a motion opposed on fraudulent joinder grounds that: (1) one or more defendants are citizens of the same state as one or more plaintiffs, or (2) one or more defendants properly joined and served are citizens of the state in which the action was brought. Joinder of such a defendant is fraudulent if the court finds: actual fraud in the pleading of jurisdictional facts with respect to that defendant, state law would not plausibly impose liability on that defendant, state or federal law bars all claims in the complaint against that defendant, or no good faith intention to prosecute the action against that defendant or to seek a joint judgment including that defendant. In determining whether to grant or deny such a motion for remand, the court: (1) may permit pleadings to be amended; and (2) must consider the pleadings, affidavits, and other evidence submitted by the parties. A federal court finding that all such defendants have been fraudulently joined must: (1) dismiss without prejudice the claims against those defendants, and (2) deny the motion for remand.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017 This bill amends the sanctions provisions in Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to require the court to impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that has violated, or is responsible for the violation of, the rule with regard to representations to the court. Any sanction must compensate parties injured by the conduct in question. The bill removes a provision that prohibits filing a motion for sanctions if the challenged paper, claim, defense, contention, or denial is withdrawn or appropriately corrected within 21 days after service or within another time the court sets. Courts may impose additional sanctions, including striking the pleadings, dismissing the suit, nonmonetary directives, or penalty payments if warranted for effective deterrence.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the “Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 ” rule finalized by the Social Security Administration on December 19, 2016. The rule implements a plan to provide to the National Instant Criminal History Background Check System the name of an individual who meets certain criteria, including that benefit payments are made through a representative payee because the individual is determined to be mentally incapable of managing them. (Current law prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and purchase or possession by a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Health and Human Services rule regarding subrecipients of family planning grants. (Under the rule, grant recipients may prohibit an entity from receiving a subaward only for reasons related to the entity's ability to provide family planning services.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of certain alcoholic beverages, to: exclude the aging period from the production period for beer, wine, or distilled spirits for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer can expense, rather than capitalize, interest costs paid or incurred during the production period; reduce excise tax rates on beer and distilled spirits; modify the small wine producer tax credit to increase the amount of the credit, expand the producers that are covered, and specify an adjustment for hard cider; modify the alcohol content limitations that apply to certain wines for tax purposes; specify definitions for "mead" and "low alcohol by volume wine;" modify requirements for records, statements, and returns for certain breweries; and permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax. The Department of the Treasury must amend applicable regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act This bill repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works). The bill states that references in any law to a wage requirement of the Davis-Bacon Act after enactment of this bill shall be null and void.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy Act or the BRACE Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for railroad track maintenance.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2017
Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act or the A PLUS Act This bill allows each state to receive federal elementary and secondary education funds on a consolidated basis and manage the funds to advance the educational policy of the state. A declaration of intent must be formulated by a combination of specified state officials or by referendum and must list the programs for which consolidated funding is requested. States may use such funds for any educational purpose permitted by state law, but must make certain assurances that they will use fiscal control and fund accounting procedures, abide by federal civil rights laws, advance educational opportunities for the disadvantaged, and use federal funds to supplement rather than supplant state funding. Each declaration state shall: (1) inform the public about its student achievement assessment system, (2) report annually on student progress toward the state's proficiency standards by specified student groups, and (3) provide for the equitable participation of private school children and teachers in the same manner as provided for under current law.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Construction Consensus Procurement Improvement Act of 2017 This bill modifies the design-build selection procedures used by federal agencies soliciting offers to enter into civilian contracts for the design and construction of a public building, facility, or work. Two-phase selection procedures (i.e., submission of qualifications and then the submission of price and technical proposals in response to a request for proposal) must be used if a contracting officer determines that a project has a value of $3 million or greater. But for contracts valued at less than $3 million, the contracting officer makes the same determination under current law as to whether the use of two-phase selection procedures is appropriate if the officer anticipates at least three offers for the contract. Federal agencies must report, each year over a five-year period, on each instance where the agency awarded a design-build contract in which: (1) more than five finalists were selected for phase-two requests for proposals, or (2) the contract or order was awarded without using two-phase selection procedures. The Government Accountability Office must report on agency compliance with design-build contract procedures. The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be amended to prohibit the use of reverse auctions as part of the two-phase selection procedures for awarding contracts for construction and design services. A "reverse auction," with respect to any procurement by an executive agency, is: (1) a real-time auction conducted through an electronic medium among at least two offerors who compete by submitting bids for a supply or service contract, or a delivery order, task order, or purchase order under the contract, with the ability to submit revised lower bids before the closing of the auction; and (2) the award of the contract, delivery order, task order, or purchase order to the offeror based on the price obtained through the auction process.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly transport a minor across a state line to obtain an abortion without satisfying a parental involvement law in the minor's resident state. A parental involvement law requires parental consent or notification, or judicial authorization, for a minor to obtain an abortion. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to one year in prison, or both. The bill provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a minor whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or condition. This bill prohibits an individual who has committed incest with a minor from knowingly transporting the minor across a state line to receive an abortion. Additionally, this bill makes it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform or induce an abortion on an out-of-state minor without first complying with parental notification requirements, subject to specified exceptions. A physician violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to one year in prison, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Life at Conception Act This bill declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Bureau of Reclamation Transparency Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to submit to Congress, make publicly available, and biennially update an Asset Management Report that describes the Bureau of Reclamation's efforts to maintain in a reliable manner all reserved works (buildings, structures, facilities, or equipment owned by the Bureau for which operations and maintenance are performed by Bureau employees or through a contract with the Bureau) at Reclamation facilities (infrastructure assets that are owned by the Bureau at each Reclamation project owned by the Bureau) and to standardize and streamline data reporting and processes across regions and areas for the purpose of maintaining such works. Such Report shall include: (1) a detailed assessment of major repair and rehabilitation needs for all such works; and (2) an itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation needs of individual Reclamation facilities at each Reclamation project, including a budget level cost estimate of appropriations needed to complete each item and an assignment of a categorical rating for each item consistent with existing uniform categorization systems to inform the annual budget process and agency requirements. Interior shall: (1) coordinate with the non-federal entities responsible for the operation and maintenance of transferred works (Reclamation facilities at which operations and maintenance are carried out by a non-federal entity under a formal agreement with the Bureau) in developing reporting requirements for Asset Management Reports with respect to major repair and rehabilitation needs for such works; and (2) develop and implement a categorical rating system for transferred works. The bill reduces the maximum amount of the federal share of the cost of the Central Valley Water Recycling Project otherwise available as of the date of enactment of this bill by $2 million.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews Through Equal Rules Act of 2017 This bill amends the Clayton Act with respect to notice to a state by the Department of Justice (DOJ) about federal actions brought for violations of antitrust laws. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shall exercise the same authority and procedures as DOJ under the Clayton Act if the FTC has brought an action under such Act with respect to the prohibition against acquisition by one corporation of the stock of another (merger) that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) is amended to exclude proposed mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, or similar transactions from ordinary FTC proceedings, except in cases where the FTC approves an agreement with the parties to the transaction that contains a consent order. U.S. district courts shall have jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus commanding compliance with the FTCA or any FTC order, if the FTC applies to such courts with respect to any activity related to consummation of a merger, acquisition, joint venture, or similar transaction that may result in an unfair method of competition.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Follow the Rules Act This bill extends the prohibition against a person taking, failing to take, or threatening to take or fail to take a personnel action against any employee or applicant for employment for refusing to obey an order that would require the individual to violate a law to personnel actions against such an individual for refusing to obey an order that would violate a rule or regulation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to exclude carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride pollution from the scope of that Act. The bill declares that current law does not authorize or require the regulation of climate change or global warming and nullifies certain final rules relating to: (1) greenhouse gas and volatile organic compounds emissions, including methane emissions, from the oil and natural gas sector; and (2) carbon pollution emissions from the utility power sector. Before proposing or finalizing regulations or policies, the Environmental Protection Agency must analyze the net and gross impact of those regulations and policies on employment. Regulations and policies may not take effect if they have a negative impact on employment, unless they are approved by Congress and signed by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Women's Public Health and Safety Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow a state to exclude from participation in the state's Medicaid program a provider that performs an abortion, unless: (1) the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or (2) the woman suffers from a physical issue that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. (Under current law, a state plan for medical assistance must provide that any individual eligible for medical assistance may obtain required services from any provider qualified to perform them.)
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Protection of Military Airfields from Wind Turbine Encroachment Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make new wind facilities located near certain military installations ineligible for the tax credits for: (1) electricity produced from renewable resources, and (2) investments in qualified small wind energy property. The bill applies to facilities that are originally placed in service after the enactment of this bill and are located within a 50-mile radius of: (1) an airfield or airbase that is under the jurisdiction of a military department and in active use; or (2) an air traffic control radar site, weather radar site, or aircraft navigation aid that is owned or operated by the Department of Defense and is a permanent land-based structure at a fixed location.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Conscience Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to codify the prohibition against the federal government and state and local governments that receive federal financial assistance for health-related activities penalizing or discriminating against a health care provider based on the provider's refusal to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortion. Health care providers include health care professionals, health care facilities, social services providers, health care professional training programs, and health insurers. The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ), must investigate complaints alleging discrimination based on an individual's religious belief, moral conviction, or refusal to be involved in an abortion. DOJ or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may obtain equitable or legal relief in a civil action. Administrative remedies do not need to be sought or exhausted prior to commencing an action or granting relief. Such an action may be brought against a governmental entity.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Transparency and Accountability of Failed Exchanges Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to require the Department of Health and Human Services, for certain states awarded a grant to establish a health insurance exchange, to report on how awarded amounts were used and rescind unobligated amounts. This applies to any state that terminates operation of its exchange or transfers operation to another entity. Such a state must provide to the General Services Administration any property acquired through the grant and refer matters involving fraud, waste, and abuse of funds issued pursuant to PPACA to the Department of Justice. Funds rescinded must be retained for federal budget deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2017
Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Correctional Officer Self-Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to require the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to allow a correctional officer at a federal prison or correctional institution to: (1) store firearms on BOP premises in a secure storage area outside the security perimeter of the institution or in a vehicle lockbox, and (2) carry a concealed firearm on BOP premises outside the security perimeter of the institution.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2017
VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct. The VA may remove such individual from the civil service or demote the individual through a reduction in grade or annual pay rate. A demoted individual shall not be placed on administrative leave or any other category of paid leave during the appeals period and can receive pay only if he or she reports for duty. The bill: (1) establishes an expedited appeals process by the Merit Systems Protection Board, (2) amends the disability benefits appeals process, (3) prescribes restrictions on the VA's authority to remove or demote an employee, and (4) establishes whistleblower protections. The VA shall reduce the federal annuity of an individual removed from the VA Senior Executive Service (SES) who is convicted of a felony that influenced his or her performance while employed in such position. The VA may reduce the federal annuity of an individual who was convicted of such a felony and was subject to removal or transfer from the SES but who left the VA before final action was taken. The VA may recoup an award, a bonus, or relocation expenses paid to a VA employee under specified circumstances. The VA may suspend, reprimand or admonish an SES employee for misconduct or performance that does not merit removal. Appeals may be made to the Senior Executive Disciplinary Appeals Board (as provided for by this bill). The bill amends the disability benefits appeals process. The bill prohibits payment of an award or bonus to any SES employee during each of FY2017-FY2021.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2017
State Refugee Security Act of 2017 This bill directs the Office of Refugee Resettlement to notify the state agency responsible for coordinating the placement or resettlement of an alien refugee not later than 21 days before the alien's arrival in the state. No alien refugee shall be placed or resettled in a state if the governor certifies to the Office of Refugee Resettlement that it has failed, in the sole determination of the governor, to provide adequate assurance that such person does not present a security risk to the state.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2017
Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage and payment with respect to certain pharmacist services that: (1) are furnished by a pharmacist in a health-professional shortage area, and (2) would otherwise be covered under Medicare if furnished by a physician.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2017
Kari's Law Act of 2017 This bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit businesses from manufacturing or importing for use in the United States, or selling or leasing in the United States, a multi-line telephone system unless it is pre-configured to allow users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 (without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix, including any trunk-access code such as the digit "9") from any station equipped with dialing facilities. Businesses are prohibited from installing, managing, or operating multi-line telephone systems without such a direct 9-1-1 call configuration. Businesses installing, managing, or operating such systems for use in the United States must configure the systems to provide a notification to a central location at the facility where the system is installed, or to another person or organization regardless of location, if the system is able to be so configured without an improvement to the hardware or software.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2017
Sanctity of Human Life Act This bill declares that: (1) the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human and is a person's most fundamental right; (2) each human life begins with fertilization, cloning, or its equivalent, at which time every human has all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood; and (3) Congress, each state, the District of Columbia, and each U.S. territory have the authority to protect all human lives.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Health Care Safety Net Enhancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to deem a hospital or an emergency department and a physician or physician group of a hospital or emergency department to be an employee of the Public Health Service with liability protection provided by the United States for purposes of any civil action that may arise due to providing emergency or post-stabilization services on or after January 1, 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Taiwan Travel Act This bill states that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts; (2) permit high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the United States under respectful conditions and to meet with U.S. officials, including officials from the Department of State and the Department of Defense; and (3) encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan, to conduct business in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017 This bill prohibits government officials from entering into or enforcing a settlement agreement resolving a civil action on behalf of the United States that provides for a payment to any person or entity other than the United States. The bill provides exceptions to allow payments that remedy actual harm (including to the environment) caused by the party making the payment or that constitute payment for services rendered in connection with the case. Government officials or agents who violate this prohibition may be removed from office or required to forfeit to the government any money they hold for such purposes to which they may otherwise be entitled. Federal agencies must report annually for seven years to the Congressional Budget Office about the parties, funding sources, and distribution of funds for their settlement agreements permitted by the exceptions in this bill. Agency inspectors general must report annually to Congress about any of their agency's settlement agreements that violate this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exempt traditional large and premium cigars from regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from user fees assessed on tobacco products by the FDA.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Cuba Agricultural Exports Act This bill amends the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to exempt from prohibitions against U.S. assistance to Cuba: (1) any exports under the market access program, the export credit guarantee program, and the foreign market development cooperator program; or (2) any obligation or expenditure of funds to promote trade with Cuba by federal commodity promotion programs established in accordance with a commodity promotion law. This exemption shall not apply if the U.S. assistance recipient would be an entity controlled by the Cuban government, including the armed forces, the Ministry of the Interior, or any subdivision of either governmental entity. A person subject to U.S. jurisdiction may invest in the development of an agricultural business in Cuba if the Department of State and the Department of Agriculture jointly determine that the agricultural business: is not controlled by the government of Cuba, including the armed forces, the Ministry of the Interior, or any subdivision of either governmental entity; and does not traffic in property of persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction that was confiscated by Cuba on or after January 1, 1959. Certain language limiting financing of agricultural sales to Cuba is repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 This bill makes permanent the prohibition on the use of federal funds, including funds in the budget of the District of Columbia, for abortion or health coverage that includes abortion. The prohibitions in this bill, and current prohibitions, do not apply to abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. Abortions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to prohibit qualified health plans from including coverage for abortions. (Qualified health plans are sold on health insurance exchanges, are the only plans eligible for premium subsidies and small employer health insurance tax credits, and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.) Currently, qualified health plans may cover abortion, but the portion of the premium attributable to abortion coverage is not eligible for subsidies.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017 This bill establishes public notice and comment procedures and motion to intervene standards for civil actions seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action, and for consent decrees or settlement agreements that require agency action, relating to a regulatory action that would affect the rights of: (1) private persons other than the person bringing the action; or (2) a state, local, or tribal government. The bill sets forth requirements for: agencies against which such an action is brought to publish online, within 15 days after receipt, the notice of intent to sue and the complaint; courts to consider motions to intervene and allow amicus participation; and any settlement proceedings to include intervening parties and to be conducted pursuant to the mediation or alternative dispute resolution program of the court or by a district judge. Agencies seeking to enter such a consent decree or settlement agreement must: publish, and accept and respond to public comment on, the proposed agreement or decree for 60 days before filing it with the court; and make available to the court the administrative record and a summary of public comments and any public hearings. The Department of Justice, or an agency litigating a matter independently, must certify to the court its approval of such proposed: (1) consent decrees that include terms that convert into a nondiscretionary duty a discretionary authority of an agency to propose, promulgate, revise, or amend regulations, commit an agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to seek a particular appropriation or budget authorization, divest an agency of discretion committed to it by statute or the Constitution, or otherwise afford any relief that the court could not enter under its own authority; or (2) settlement agreements that include terms that provide a remedy for a failure by the agency to comply with the terms of the agreement other than the revival of the civil action resolved by the agreement, interfere with the authority of an agency to revise, amend, or issue rules, or commit the agency to expend funds that have not been appropriated and budgeted or to exercise in a particular way discretion which was committed to the agency by statute or the Constitution. Courts: (1) shall not approve such consent decrees or settlement agreements unless they allow sufficient time and procedures to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act, rulemaking statutes, and executive orders; and (2) shall grant de novo review if an agency files a motion to modify such a decree or agreement on the basis that its terms are no longer fully in the public interest due to changed facts and circumstances or the agency's obligations to fulfill other duties.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Rapid DNA Act of 2017 This bill amends the DNA Identification Act of 1994 to require the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to issue standards and procedures for using Rapid DNA instruments to analyze DNA samples of criminal offenders. Rapid DNA instruments carry out a fully automated process to create a DNA analysis from a DNA sample. DNA samples prepared by criminal justice agencies using Rapid DNA instruments in compliance the FBI-issued standards and procedures may be included in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The bill amends the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to allow the FBI to waive certain existing requirements if a DNA sample is analyzed using Rapid DNA instruments and the results are included in CODIS.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Working to Integrate Networks Guaranteeing Member Access Now Act or the WINGMAN Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide each veteran who submits a claim for VA benefits with an opportunity to permit a covered congressional employee in the office of the veteran's Member of Congress to have read-only access to all of the veteran's records in the Veterans Benefits Administration databases. A Member may designate up to two such covered congressional employees. A covered congressional employee may not be recognized as an agent or attorney with respect to veterans' benefit claims. Funds under this bill may not be used to design or administer any training for covered congressional employees. The bill makes funds available for FY2018 through FY2021 for such congressional employee access program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform an abortion: (1) without determining whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, (2) without informing the mother of the results, or (3) after determining that a fetus has a detectable heartbeat. It provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical (but not psychological or emotional) disorder, illness, or condition. A physician who performs a prohibited abortion is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Border Security Technology Accountability Act of 2017 This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) ensure that each border security technology acquisition program that is determined to be a major acquisition program has an acquisition program baseline approved by the relevant acquisition decision authority; (2) document that each such program is meeting the cost, schedule, and performance thresholds specified in such baseline in compliance with relevant departmental acquisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regulation; and (3) have a plan for each such program to meet program implementation objectives by managing contractor performance. "Major acquisition program" means a DHS acquisition program that is estimated by DHS to require an eventual total expenditure of at least $300 million over its life cycle cost. DHS must ensure that border security technology acquisition program managers adhere to relevant internal control standards identified by the Government Accountability Office. DHS shall submit a plan for testing and evaluation, as well as for the use of independent verification and validation resources, for border security technology so that new border security technologies are evaluated through a series of assessments, processes, and audits to ensure compliance with relevant departmental acquisition policies and the Federal Acquisition Regulation and the effectiveness of taxpayer dollars.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Water Quality Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an integrated planning and permitting process for municipal wastewater and stormwater management that: enables municipalities to identify the most cost-effective and protective approaches to comply with the Act's requirements; helps them prioritize their investments in addressing the requirements; and is comprehensive and flexible. The EPA must provide technical assistance to the municipalities or states for developing an integrated plan upon request. The EPA must: (1) update its financial capability assessment guidance entitled, "Combined Sewer Overflows--Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development," and dated February 1997; and (2) ensure that the guidance may be used for assessing the financial capability of municipalities to implement effluent limitations and other pollution control measures. During the next 5 years, the EPA must work with at least 15 municipalities to develop and implement integrated plans and permits to meet the requirements of the national pollutant discharge elimination system.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Military Spouse Job Continuity Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces (military spouse) who moves with such member to another state under a permanent change of station order a tax credit for up to $500 of qualified relicensing costs incurred by such spouse. The bill defines "qualified relicensing costs" as costs for a state license or certification to engage in the profession that such military spouse engaged in while residing in the former state.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Interim Consolidated Storage Act of 2017 This bill amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to enter into new contracts (or modify existing contracts) with the licensee of an interim consolidated storage facility in order to take title to and store in it either high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel of domestic origin. The bill defines: "interim consolidated storage facility" as a facility licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the storage of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel received from DOE or from two or more persons that generate or hold title to such fuel generated at a civilian nuclear power reactor, and "high-level radioactive waste" as including Greater than Class C waste. The bill assigns priority to storage of such waste and spent fuel located on sites without an operating nuclear reactor. The bill makes appropriations targeted for the Nuclear Waste Fund available to pay for costs in connection with storage in an interim consolidated storage facility. Beginning in FY2018 DOE shall not expend, on fees for dry modes of storage of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel, any amounts exceeding the cumulative amount of interest generated by the Fund each fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2017
Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish a process to vacate convictions and expunge arrests for criminal offenses committed by trafficking victims that directly result from or relate to having been a trafficking victim. A trafficking victim may file a motion: (1) to vacate a conviction for a nonviolent offense that does not include a child victim (i.e., under age 18); (2) to expunge records of an arrest for a nonviolent offense that does not include a child victim; or (3) to expunge records of an arrest for an offense that is violent or that includes a child victim, if the charges are reduced, dismissed, or disposed of.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2017
Permanently Repeal the Estate Tax Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the federal estate tax, effective for estates of decedents dying after December 31, 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2017
Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: prohibit the government from bearing any expense of counsel for any person in a removal or related appeal proceedings, add a requirement to establish a credible fear of persecution claim in an asylum interview, limit humanitarian and public interest parole authority, and prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using parole authority for an alien who is ineligible for refugee status. The bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to revise the definition of "unaccompanied alien child" (UAC). The William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 is amended to extend the period for a federal agency to: (1) notify the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that it has apprehended or discovered a UAC or an alien who is under 18 years old, and (2) transfer a UAC to HHS custody. The bill: (1) provides for HHS-DHS information sharing concerning UACs, (2) prohibits UAC from applying for asylum if such child may be removed to a safe third country, and (3) provides for additional immigration judges and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys. The Department of State is directed to: (1) suspend all foreign assistance to certain countries that refuse to negotiate a child repatriation agreement or accept from the United States repatriated UACs who are nationals or residents of the sending country, and (2) provide certain foreign assistance for repatriation and reintegration purposes. The bill places the burden of proof on an an alien to establish that: (1) the alien's life or freedom would be threatened in a country to which he or she is scheduled to be removed to from the United States; and (2) that race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion would be at least one central reason for such threat. An alien who has committed acts of torture, extrajudicial killings, war crimes, systematic attacks on civilians, persecution, or enforced disappearance of persons shall be inadmissable. The President may make such alien's visa records public. The bill terminates the refugee or asylee status of an alien who: (1) without a compelling reason returns to the country of such alien's nationality or, in the case of an alien having no nationality, returns to the country in which such alien last habitually resided; and (2) applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Such provision shall not apply to an alien who is eligible for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status pursuant to the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966. The bill allows up to 500 grants of asylum per fiscal year to families fleeing home school persecution. A written warning must be included in an asylum application advising the alien of the consequences of filing a frivolous application. If an alien's asylum status is subject to termination, the immigration judge shall determine whether the termination conditions have been met and, if so, terminate the alien's asylum status before considering whether the alien is eligible for adjustment of status.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2017
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. The bill establishes a transition period during which a percentage of employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas are reserved as follows: for FY2017, 15% of such visas are allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2018, 10% of such visas are allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2019, 10% of such visas are allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015. During the transition period, not more than 25% of the total number of the reserved EB-2 and EB-3 visas shall be allotted to natives of a single country. For FY2015-FY2017, not more than 85% of the unreserved EB-2 and EB-3 visas shall be allotted to natives of a single country. Amendments made by this bill shall apply beginning in FY2017.