United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Visa Transparency Anti-Trafficking Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to build a searchable database with certain information about each temporary foreign nonimmigrant worker. The database shall include information such as (1) each worker's age, gender, and country of origin; (2) the type of visa used and the status of such visa; (3) where each worker is employed; and (4) each worker's occupation and the compensation received. The database shall only be available to (1) law enforcement, (2) service providers to human trafficking victims, (3) worker protection organizations, and (4) entities agreeing to use the information only for research purposes. The bill expands existing reporting requirements related to temporary foreign nonimmigrant workers to include additional information such as (1) the 10 employers that hired the most temporary foreign nonimmigrant workers, and (2) the 10 occupations with the most temporary foreign nonimmigrant workers.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
This resolution recognizes (1) the importance of reminding U.S. citizens of the vital importance of democracy, and (2) the sacrifices of past generations to preserve the freedoms and principles of the United States. The resolution encourages (1) state and local governments to also recognize the importance of helping individuals understand the vital importance of democracy, and (2) the people of the United States to reflect on and appreciate the contributions made by the democratic system of government created by the Constitution to a more free and stable world.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act This bill expands, establishes, and otherwise modifies requirements under Medicare and other health care programs relating to individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Among other things, the bill expands the scope of the National Health Service Corps to specifically include kidney disease specialists, modifies payments under the Medicare ESRD program to exclude certain adjustment factors (e.g., comorbidities), authorizes incentive payments for renal dialysis facilities that exceed performance standards under the Medicare ESRD program, and expands guaranteed issue rights with respect to Medigap policies (Medicare supplemental health insurance policies) to all ESRD beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Care Act of 2019 This bill accelerates and expands certain changes that are scheduled to take effect relating to the coverage of cardiac, intensive cardiac, and pulmonary rehabilitation programs under Medicare. Currently, such programs require physician supervision. Effective January 1, 2024, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and clinical nurse specialists may also supervise these programs. The bill expedites the effective date of these changes to January 1, 2020, and also allows these practitioners to administer programs in their offices, prepare and sign treatment plans, and prescribe exercise.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Protection of American Jobs in Cross-Border Rail Operations With Mexico Act This bill requires the Department of Transportation to issue regulations that restrict the operation of trains originating in Mexico within the United States to crews comprised entirely of U.S. citizens and nationals.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Supporting Adopted Children and Families Act of 2019 This bill requires the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to award grants to states for post-adoption and post-legal guardianship mental health services. Specifically, grants may be used to implement statewide direct service programs such as educational support or counseling to aid adoptive parents and families in addressing common behavioral health issues among adopted children. Grants also may be used for activities such as peer-to-peer mentoring, crisis intervention, program evaluation, policy development, and research, among others uses. The ACF must grant only one awards per state, or state-designated entity, and preference must be given to eligible entities that partner with a state's mental health agency and have demonstrated success at increasing adoption and legal guardianship competency.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2019
Making Education Affordable and Accessible Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2020 and revises the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program. The bill also authorizes new grants under the FIPSE program. Specifically, the Department of Education may award grants to institutions of higher education for dual or concurrent enrollment programs or early-college high-school programs that allow high-school students to earn postsecondary credits.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Modernization Act of 2019 This bill extends funding for Brand USA, the Corporation for Travel Promotion, through FY2027 and raises the fee for using the electronic system for travel authorization.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Countering Russian and Other Overseas Kleptocracy Act or the CROOK Act This bill directs the Department of State to take various actions designed to combat public corruption in foreign countries. The State Department shall establish the Anti-Corruption Action fund to help foreign states fight public corruption and develop rule-of-law-based governance structures. A portion (5%) of fines and penalties imposed under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act shall be deposited into the fund. The State Department shall (1) take primary responsibility in managing U.S. government efforts to fight foreign public corruption, and (2) establish an interagency task force to assist in coordinating such efforts. Each U.S. embassy shall have a point of contact responsible for coordinating the embassy's anti-corruption efforts. The State Department shall report to Congress on its anti-corruption activities and make various reports publicly available online.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Stopping Aggressive Incursions on Liberty by Ordering Russian Sanctions Act or the SAILORS Act This bill directs the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions on a certain number of senior officers of Russia's Border Service or Federal Security Service, as well as on the families and close associates of such officers. The sanctions shall terminate when the President certifies to Congress that Russia has released the Ukrainian ships and sailors it had seized on November 25, 2018, in the Kerch Strait.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Research Advancing to Market Production for Innovators Act This bill provides commercialization services for federally funded small business research and development under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Specifically, the bill (1) expedites the application and award process for SBIR proposals and STTR solicitations, (2) requires determinations of commercialization potential for projects undertaken through SBIR and STTR awards, (3) provides continued flexibility of technical and business assistance for SBIR and STTR awardees, (4) instructs participating federal agencies to designate a technology commercialization official to help awardees commercialize, and (5) requires the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Patent Office to reach an interagency agreement to help SBIR and STTR awardees with intellectual property protection.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Energizing American Shipbuilding Act of 2019 This bill directs (1) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require specified percentages of liquefied natural gas exports to be transported on vessels built or retrofitted in the United States and documented under its laws, and (2) the President to require specified percentages of crude oil exports to be transported on vessels built or retrofitted in the United States and documented under its laws. FERC and the President may waive these requirements under specified circumstances. The Energy Information Administration must collect and publish information on exports of natural gas and crude oil by vessels, including forecasts and data on those exports.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Preventing Lead Poisoning Act of 2019 This bill requires coverage under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) of lead blood level assessments. Specifically, CHIP must cover a child's assessment once at the age of 12 months and once at the age of 24 months, or once between the ages of 24 months and 72 months if the child has never been assessed. The bill also provides statutory authority for these requirements (regarding testing intervals) for state Medicaid programs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Cancer Care Planning and Communications Act of 2019 This bill provides for Medicare coverage and payment of cancer care planning and coordination services for individuals who are diagnosed with or treated for cancer, including the development of treatment plans, follow-up care, and any necessary revisions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Streamlining Income-driven, Manageable Payments on Loans for Education Act or the SIMPLE Act This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to automatically request from the Internal Revenue Service a borrower's tax return information for purposes of determining (1) the borrower's continued eligibility for discharge of Federal Family Education Loans based on permanent and total disability, or (2) recertification of the borrower's income-contingent or income-based loan repayment plan. The bill also establishes a process for ED to enroll a delinquent borrower who is in federal student loan repayment in an income-driven repayment plan.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2019
Effective Drug Control Strategy Act This bill requires the Office of National Drug Control Policy to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of all federally funded activities aimed at reducing the demand for illegal drugs, and (2) publish annually a complete list of all drug control grant programs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2019
IoT Readiness Act of 2019 This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to ascertain the amount of spectrum necessary to meet rising demand by studying the growing usage of Internet of Things devices, which use a network to communicate and share data with other devices, and devices that utilize 5G networks.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2019
Teacher Education for Computer Science Act or the Teach CS Act This bill authorizes the Department of Education to award grants to institutions of higher education for establishing and maintaining teacher education programs for computer science. It also includes computer science as an eligible education category with respect to receiving various teacher preparation grants and graduate fellowships.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2019
Pell Grant Flexibility Act of 2019 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any amount received as a Federal Pell Grant.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2019
Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with other specified agencies and departments, to develop, publish, and submit to Congress a national One Health Framework for coordinated federal activities under the One Health Program, which encourages collaborative efforts to help better prevent, prepare for, and respond to zoonotic disease outbreaks. The framework must (1) describe existing efforts and contain recommendations for building upon and complementing the activities of federal entities; and (2) establish specified goals, including advancing the scientific understanding of the connections among human, animal, and environmental health.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2019
Cady Housh and Gemesha Thomas Student Suicide Prevention Act of 2019 This bill reauthorizes through FY2025, and otherwise revises, grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support youth suicide early-intervention and prevention strategies. Specifically, the bill requires SAMHSA to award a portion of such grants for statewide training programs on emotional well-being, mental health, and suicide awareness and prevention for elementary and secondary school students and staff.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2019
Supporting Family Caregivers Act of 2019 This bill directs the Administration on Aging to provide technical assistance related to, and report specified information on, caregiver assessments, which gather information related to a caregiver's specific needs, barriers, and existing supports. State programs on aging may use these assessments to inform the services provided to support caregivers.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2019
One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act This bill requires a federal agency that issues a license for the conduct of a lunar activity to require that each license applicant agree to abide by recommendations, guidelines, or principles issued by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) related to the protection and preservation of U.S. government lunar artifacts. A federal agency may exempt specific activities from such an agreement if the activities have legitimate and significant historical, archaeological, anthropological, scientific, or engineering value; assess a penalty fee for violations of such an agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2019
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act of 2019 This bill provides funding for (1) the conservation or restoration of wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need; (2) the wildlife conservation strategies of states, Indian tribes, or territories; or (3) wildlife conservation education and recreation projects. The Department of the Interior must use a portion of the funding for a grant program. The grants must be used for innovative recovery efforts for species of greatest conservation need, species listed as endangered or threatened species, or the habitats of such species.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2019
Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans Act or the SERV Act This bill requires (1) the Small Business Administration to report on the veterans interagency task force; and (2) the Government Accountability Office to report on access to credit for small businesses owned and controlled by veterans, Reservists, or their spouses.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2019
Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection Act This bill directs the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to establish a new program—the Law Enforcement Officers Suicide Data Collection Program—to prevent and understand law enforcement suicides. Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies may submit to the FBI, and the FBI must report on, data about suicides and attempted suicides of current and former officers.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2019
Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2019 This bill allows energy tax credits through 2021 for investments in (1) qualified biogas property, or (2) qualified manure resource recovery property. The bill also permits new clean renewable energy bonds to be used for such properties. "Qualified biogas property" comprises a system that (1) uses anaerobic digesters or other specified processes to convert biomass into a gas which is at least 52% methane, and (2) captures the gas for use as a fuel. The term includes property that cleans and conditions the gas for use as a fuel. "Qualified manure resource recovery property" comprises a system that uses specified processes to recover the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus from a non-treated digestate or animal manure by reducing or separating at least 50% of the nutrients, excluding any reductions during the incineration, storage, composting, or field application of the non-treated digestate or animal manure. The term also includes certain processing equipment. The Department of the Treasury must enter into an agreement with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a study of biogas and report to Congress on the study.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2019
This resolution expresses support for the full consolidation of democracy in Ukraine and calls on the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, as well as social media platforms, to ensure that elections meet international democratic standards.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2019
Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 This bill provides statutory authority for certain procedures related to the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBR-DR) Program and adds new program requirements, including with respect to coordination of benefits, precertification for grant assistance, and allocation of grant funds. Additionally, the bill expands CDBG-DR assistance to Puerto Rico. Finally, the bill establishes the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Reserve Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2019
Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act of 2019 This bill authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a joint task force to enhance border security operations to detect, interdict, disrupt, and prevent narcotics such as fentanyl and other synthetic opioids from entering the United States. DHS shall report to Congress as to whether it will establish such a task force. If such a task force is established, DHS shall periodically report to Congress on issues such as what additional resources are needed to detect and prevent narcotics from entering the United States. The bill also authorizes DHS joint task forces to engage with and receive assistance from outside DHS, including private sector organizations and federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial entities.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2019
EAGLES Act of 2019 This bill reauthorizes the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) within the U.S. Secret Service. It reauthorizes the functions of NTAC through FY2023 and expands them to include the establishment of a national program on targeted school violence prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2019
Nutrition Counseling Aiding Recovery for Eating Disorders Act of 2019 or the Nutrition CARE Act of 2019 This bill provides for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services for individuals with eating disorders. Such services must be furnished by a registered dietitian or nutrition professional pursuant to a referral from a physician, psychologist, or other authorized mental health professional.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2019
Patriotic Employer Protection Act of 2019 This bill makes various Small Business Administration programs currently available to active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces also available to those on full-time National Guard duty.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2019
School Violence Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2019 This bill directs the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to award grants to public elementary and secondary schools to (1) conduct independent facility security risk assessments, and (2) make hard security improvements (e.g., video monitoring and alert notification equipment) that are identified as necessary by the risk assessment.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2019
Short-Term Detention Standards Act This bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to make every effort to ensure that apprehended individuals are given access to appropriate temporary shelter, bathrooms and shower facilities, water, appropriate nutrition, hygiene, personal grooming items, and sanitation needs. Currently, CBP is only required to make every effort to provide food and water.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2019
Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Commerce to conduct a biennial assessment and analysis regarding the contribution of the digital economy to the U.S. economy.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2019
Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers Act or the Protecting JOBs Act This bill prohibits states from suspending, revoking, or denying driver's licenses, teaching licenses, or professional licenses based solely on individuals' default or delinquency on student loans.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
Fair and Open Skies Act This bill prohibits the Department of Transportation (DOT) from issuing a foreign air carrier permit or an exemption from certain air carrier certificate requirements under the United States-European Union Air Transport Agreement of April 2007, unless DOT finds that issuing the permit or exemption would be consistent with Article 17 bis of the agreement, which provides that opportunities created by the agreement do not undermine labor standards or the labor-related rights and principles contained in the laws of the respective parties to the agreement; and imposes conditions on the permit or exemption necessary to ensure compliance with Article 17 bis . The bill modifies policy considerations relating to air carrier certificates to require DOT to consider preventing entry into U.S. markets by flag of convenience carriers (i.e., foreign air carriers established in a country other the home country of their majority owner in order to avoid regulations of the home country) and preventing the undermining of labor standards. In carrying out such air carrier certificate requirements, DOT must consider preventing entry of flag of convenience carriers into U.S. markets as being in the public interest and consistent with public convenience and necessity for safety in air transportation and air commerce. In formulating U.S. international air transportation policy relating to the elimination of discrimination and unfair competition, the Department of State and DOT must include in their considerations the undermining of labor standards.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
Danny's Law This bill requires the President to establish an Anti-Bullying Roundtable to study bullying in elementary and secondary schools in the United States. The roundtable must submit a report about best practices concerning bullying, including recommendations for (1) combating bullying, (2) educating school officials to recognize bullying, and (3) helping parents to address the early warning signs of bullying with their children.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
Territories Health Care Improvement Act This bill makes a series of changes relating to Medicaid funding for U.S. territories, including by (1) establishing a specific funding cap through FY2023 for Puerto Rico and through FY2025 for the other U.S. territories, (2) establishing program integrity measures and reporting requirements relating to the use of funds, and (3) increasing the applicable Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., the federal matching rate).
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2019 This bill expands Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to include all services provided by chiropractors, rather than only subluxation corrections through manual manipulation of the spine.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019 This bill allows the Department of Health and Human Services to provide grants to accredited education programs to increase diversity in the physical-therapy, occupational-therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology professions. Grants may be used to provide scholarships or to support recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented groups.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2019
This resolution expresses support for the designation of Journeyman Lineman Recognition Day. (A journeyman lineman is a person who builds and maintains electrical power systems.)
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 2019
Fossil Energy Research and Development Act of 2019 This bill expands Department of Energy (DOE) research, development, and demonstration programs for fossil energy. Specifically, the bill authorizes DOE programs regarding carbon capture technologies for power plants, including technologies for coal and natural gas; carbon storage, including to develop and maintain mapping tools and resources that assess the capacity of geologic storage formations in the United States; carbon utilization, including to assess and monitor potential changes in life cycle carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions; advanced energy systems to reduce emissions from and improve the efficiency of fossil fuel power generation; developing and assessing methods to separate and recover rare earth elements from coal and byproduct streams; identifying the environmental, health, and safety impacts of methane hydrate development; carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere; methane leak detection and mitigation; and identifying and evaluating novel uses for light hydrocarbons produced during oil and shale gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 2019
This resolution reaffirms U.S. support of Ukraine's territorial integrity and condemns the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's decision to restore full rights to Russia within the council. The resolution calls on the United States and the European Union to continue to issue sanctions against Russia.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2019
Federally Requiring Earned Education-debt Discharges for Vets Act or the FREED Vets Act This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to automatically discharge loans under the Federal Family Education Loan program for certain borrowers who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. Specifically, ED must automatically discharge a veteran borrower's loan when the Department of Veterans Affairs has assigned the borrower a rating of total disability for a service-connected disability or has determined the borrower to be unemployable due to a service-connected condition, determine whether a state might impose a tax liability for the discharge of such a loan, and provide the borrower with a notification related to potential tax liability and an opportunity to opt out of such loan discharge.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2019
Greg LeMond 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 to Greg LeMond, in recognition of his contributions to the nation as an athlete, activist, role model, and community leader.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2019
Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act or the BLUE GLOBE Act This bill addresses data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. Specifically, the bill increases domestic and international coordination to enhance data management and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; creates the Interagency Ocean Exploration Committee to promote the exploration and improved understanding of the oceans; revises the Ocean Policy Committee to the Committee on Ocean Policy; establishes a technology innovation task force to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a workforce development program, including to support undergraduate and graduate education in fields related to the advancement of the monitoring, collection, synthesis, and analysis of data regarding the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts; requires NOAA to ensure that a goal of its cooperative institutes is to advance or apply emerging technologies; requires NOAA to establish opportunities to engage indigenous, subsistence, and fishing communities to better understand their needs; institutes an ocean innovation prize to catalyze the rapid development and deployment of data collection and monitoring technology; reauthorizes several NOAA programs, including the Ocean Exploration Program; directs relevant federal agencies to measure the value and impact of industries related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts on the U.S. economy; and requires the National Academy of Sciences to assess the potential for an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Oceans.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2019
Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Commerce to establish a coastal climate change adaptation preparedness and response program to (1) assist coastal states with voluntarily developing coastal climate change adaptation plans, and (2) provide financial and technical assistance and training for coastal states to implement the adaptation plans.
![Official portrait of Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_pa_1_fitzpatrick_brian_200.jpg)