United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2016
Expresses support for the designation of a national day of remembrance for members of the Armed Forces who were killed or injured by the terrorist attack on the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2016
Creating Financial Prosperity for Businesses and Investors Act This bill amends the Small Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980 to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue a public statement, and disclose any actions it intends to take, each time its annual government-business forum submits findings or recommendations regarding the current status of problems and programs relating to small business capital formation. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is amended to establish within the SEC an Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation and a Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. The Investment Company Act of 1940 is amended to increase from 100 to 250 the limit on the number of people who may own securities in certain venture capital funds (with no more than $10 million in invested capital, adjusted annually for inflation) before the issuer is required to register as an investment company. The bill allows a crowdfunding issuer to sell shares through a crowdfunding vehicle (a company that aggregates small individual contributions into a single investment in the issuer) that meets certain requirements and revises conditions upon which the SEC exempts securities issued in crowdfunding transactions from SEC registration requirements. The Securities Act of 1933 is amended to add to the definition of accredited investor certain categories of natural persons whose net worth or income exceeds specified levels, who are licensed or registered as brokers or investment advisors, or whose verified education or job experience qualifies as professional knowledge for a particular investment. The Investment Company Act of 1940 is amended to repeal the exemption from its coverage of investment companies created under the laws of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or any other U.S. possession.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2016
PCAOB Enforcement Transparency Act of 2016 This bill amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to make Public Company Accounting Oversight Board disciplinary proceedings public unless the Board, on its own motion or after considering the motion of a party, orders otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2016
Protect Family Farms and Businesses Act This bill prohibits proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations published on August 4, 2016, relating to restrictions on liquidation of an interest with respect to estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes from taking effect. The bill prohibits funds from being used to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the proposed regulations or any substantially similar regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2016
Taiwan Travel Act This bill states that it should be U.S. policy to permit: (1) 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 (2) the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan, to conduct official business in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2016
Financial CHOICE Act of 2016 This bill amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, among other Acts, to: repeal the "Volcker Rule" (which restricts banks from making certain speculative investments); with respect to winding down failing banks, eliminate the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's orderly liquidation authority and establish new provisions regarding financial institution bankruptcy; and repeal the "Durbin Amendment" (which limits the fees that may be charged to retailers for debit card processing). Certain banks may exempt themselves from specified regulatory standards if they maintain a certain ratio of capital to total assets and meet other specified requirements. The bill removes the Financial Stability Oversight Council's authority to designate non-bank financial institutions and financial market utilities as "systemically important" (also known as "too big to fail"). Under current law, entities so designated are subject to additional regulatory restrictions. Designations made previously are retroactively repealed. The bill also amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to: restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by replacing its director with a bipartisan commission; subject the commission to the congressional appropriations process, expanded judicial review, and additional congressional oversight; and limit the commission's authority to take action against entities for "abusive" practices. In addition, the bill: modifies provisions related to the Securities and Exchange Commission's managerial structure and enforcement authority; eliminates the Office of Financial Research within the Department of the Treasury; and revises provisions related to capital formation, insurance regulation, civil penalties for securities laws violations, and community financial institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2016
Victims Before Ransom Act This bill prohibits the use of funds by the United States to make a payment to the government of Iran or an Iranian national relating to the settlement of any claim before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal until the President certifies to Congress that Iran has paid all compensatory damages awarded to a U.S. person or entity in a final judgment of a federal or state court arising from an act of international terrorism for which the government of Iran was determined not to be immune from the court's jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2016
Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act This bill declares that it shall be the policy of the U.S. government not to pay ransom or release prisoners for the purpose of securing the release of U.S. citizens taken hostage abroad. The U.S. government is prohibited from providing promissory notes (including currency) issued by the U.S. government or by a foreign government to the government of Iran. The conduct of a transaction or payment in connection with a claim settlement agreement brought before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (established on January 19, 1981) may be made only: (1) on a case-by-case basis pursuant to a specific license by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and (2) in a manner that does not contradict such promissory note prohibition. The President must publish a list of such transactions or payments. Such promissory note prohibition and licensing requirement shall remain in effect until the President certifies that: (1) a preliminary or final rule providing for Iran's designation as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern has been rescinded, and (2) the Department of State has removed Iran from the list of countries that have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. The President shall: (1) submit, every 180 days for 3 years, a report that evaluates each outstanding claim before the tribunal; and (2) provide notice prior to conducting a transaction or payment from the U.S. government to the government of Iran in connection with a claim settlement agreement. Nothing in this bill shall: (1) apply to activities subject to the non-covert intelligence reporting requirements under title V of the National Security Act of 1947, or (2) be construed to authorize any U.S. government payment to the government of Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
Community Counterterrorism Preparedness Act This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to carry out a grant program for emergency response providers to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the most likely terrorist attack scenarios, including active shooters against major metropolitan areas. Emergency response providers and jurisdictions that are currently receiving, or that previously received, funding under the Urban Area Security Initiative may apply for such a grant. Recipients may use grants to conduct training and exercises consistent with preventing, preparing for, and responding to such scenarios. DHS shall make funds provided under this bill available for use by a grant recipient for a period of at least 24 months.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2016
Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2016 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to: (1) provide for an operation on a live donor to carry out a transplant procedure for an eligible veteran notwithstanding that the live donor may not be eligible for VA health care, and (2) provide for such an operation at a VA or a non-VA facility. The VA shall furnish to such a donor any care or services that may be required before and after conducting with such procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 5 July 2016
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to 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 · 16 June 2016
Agency Accountability Act of 2016 This bill requires any agency that receives a fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement to deposit the amount in the general fund of the Treasury. The funds may not be used unless the funding is provided in advance in an appropriations bill. Any amounts deposited during the fiscal year in which this bill is enacted may not be obligated during the fiscal year and must be used for deficit reduction. The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require offsetting receipts and collections to be treated as revenue. (Offsetting receipts and collections are funds collected by agencies from other government accounts or from the public in businesslike or market-oriented transactions. Under current law, the collections are treated as negative budget authority and outlays rather than revenue and may be used to offset spending for budget enforcement purposes.) The requirements of the bill do not apply to the U.S. Postal Service or the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the USPTO must submit annually to Congress a report describing any fee, fine, penalty, or proceeds from a settlement collected by the USPTO during the previous year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2016
Supports the designation of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Month in honor of the role aircraft carriers have held for almost 90 years serving the Nation's interests in times of war and peace. Pledges to celebrate aircraft carrier contributions and heritage in each district.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2016
SEC Regulatory Accountability Act This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), before issuing a regulation under the securities laws, to: identify the nature and source of the problem that the proposed regulation is designed to address in order to assess whether any new regulation is warranted; use the SEC Chief Economist to assess the costs and benefits of the intended regulation and adopt it only upon a reasoned determination that its benefits justify the costs; identify and assess available alternatives that were considered; and ensure that any regulation is accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand. The SEC shall: consider the impact of the regulation upon investor choice, market liquidity, and small business; and explain in its final rule the nature of comments received concerning the proposed rule or rule change as well as its response to those comments. The SEC shall: (1) review its existing regulations periodically to determine if they are outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome; and (2) modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them. Whenever it adopts or amends a major rule, the SEC shall state in its adopting release the regulation's purposes and intended consequences, the post-implementation quantitative and qualitative metrics to measure the regulation's economic impact, the assessment plan to be used under the supervision of the Chief Economist to assess whether the regulation has achieved those purposes, and any foreseeable unintended or negative consequences. The assessment plan must: (1) consider the regulation's costs, benefits, and intended and unintended consequences; and (2) specify the data to be collected, the methods for its collection and analysis, and an assessment completion date. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board should also follow the requirements set forth by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2016
Protecting Internet Freedom Act This bill prohibits the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information from allowing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's responsibility for Internet domain name system functions, including the authoritative root zone file and the performance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, to cease unless a federal statute enacted after enactment of this bill expressly grants the Assistant Secretary such authority. The Assistant Secretary must certify to Congress that the U.S. government has: (1) secured sole ownership of the .gov and .mil top-level domains, and (2) entered into a contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that provides the U.S. government with exclusive control and use of those domains in perpetuity.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2016
Condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, because it: (1) is a spectacle of extreme animal cruelty, (2) is a commercial activity not grounded in Chinese history, (3) is opposed by a majority of the Chinese people, and (4) threatens global public health. Urges: the government of China and the Yulin authorities to ban the killing and eating of dogs as part of Yulin's festival and to enforce China's food safety laws regulating the processing and sale of animal products and the 2011 Agriculture Ministry of China Regulation on the Quarantine of Dogs at the Place of Origin requiring one certificate for one dog on trans-provincial transport trucks, and the National People's Congress of China to enact an animal anticruelty law that bans the dog meat trade. Affirms the commitment of the United States to the protection of animals and to the progress of animal protection.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2016
No Impunity for Iranian Aggression at Sea Act of 2016 This bill requires the President to submit a report that includes: a determination of whether, during the June 2016 incident when Iranian forces boarded two U.S. Navy combat vessels and detained the crews at gunpoint, any of the Iranian actions violated the Geneva Convention or the international right to conduct innocent passage; and a certification of whether or not federal funds were paid to Iran to effect the release of the detained crew members or other U.S. citizens. The bill prescribes specified Iranian actions that the President shall consider, including: (1) the stopping, boarding, search, and seizure of the U.S. Navy vessels and the removal and detention of the crews; and (2) the display, videotaping, or photographing of U.S. service members and the subsequent use of those photographs or videos. The President shall: (1) upon a determination that such a violation occurred, submit and make public a list of Iranian government officials or persons acting on behalf of the Iranian government who are responsible for or complicit in any such violation; and (2) prohibit U.S. entry or admission and block property transactions of listed persons.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2016
Working to Integrate Networks Guaranteeing Member Access Now Act or the WINGMAN Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide an accredited, permanent congressional employee with read-only remote access to the electronic Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) claims records system of a represented veteran, regardless of whether the employee is acting under a power of attorney executed by the veteran. The VA shall ensure that access does not allow the employee to modify system data. An employee must complete the VA certification process required of agents or attorneys in order to have system access. Each Member of Congress who elects to have an employee participate in the system shall bear the certification cost, which shall be paid from the Member's representational allowance. Information access by an employee shall be deemed: (1) a covered disclosure requiring prior consent, with specified exceptions; and (2) a permitted disclosure relating to the privacy of individually identifiable health information. The VA may not recognize an employee for purposes of preparation, presentation, and prosecution of VA claims by reason of such system access. "Accredited, permanent congressional employee" means an employee of a Member of Congress who assists constituents with issues regarding federal departments or agencies. "Electronic VBA claims records system" means the VA system that provides claim status information, including information about medical records, compensation and pension exams records, rating decisions, a statement of the case and a supplementary statement of the case, a notice of disagreement, and Form-9.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Transparent Insurance Standards Act of 2016 This bill specifies U.S. objectives regarding international insurance standards. The United States may not agree to, accept, establish, enter into, or consent to the adoption of a final international insurance standard with an international standard-setting organization or a foreign government, authority, or regulatory entity unless certain publication requirements and capital standards are met. Before U.S. adoption of any such international insurance standard the Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the state insurance commissioners, shall analyze and report to Congress on the impact of the standard on U.S. consumers and markets and whether any changes in state law will result from such final standard. Congress shall have 90 days to approve or reject the final standard. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended to authorize the Independent Member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council to: perform specified consultant duties with international insurance supervisors, international financial stability counterparts, as well as Treasury; attend the Financial Stability Board of The Group of Twenty, and arrange for the attendance and participation at the Board of state insurance commissioners on matters related to insurance and financial stability; and attend, with the U.S. delegation, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and observe and participate at the OECD Insurance and Private Pensions Committee on those same matters. Parties representing the United States at the Financial Stability Board of the Group of Twenty on matters, and in meetings, related to insurance and financial stability shall consult with the state insurance commissioners and seek to include them in those meetings.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2016
Multi-State Worker Tax Fairness Act of 2016 This bill prohibits a state from imposing an income tax on the compensation of a nonresident individual for any period in which such individual is not physically present in or working in such state or from deeming such nonresident individual to be present in or working in such state on the grounds that: (1) such individual is present at or working at home for convenience, or (2) such individual's work at home fails any convenience of the employer test or any similar test.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2016
End Executive Overreach Act This bill prohibits, until January 21, 2017, the use of federal funds, fees, or resources to implement an executive order issued on or after the enactment of this bill. The bill prohibits any agency, until such date, from making or finalizing: a major rule (a rule that is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more); a rule that may raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in Executive Order 12866 (which requires that significant regulatory actions be submitted for review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget); or a rule that may create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an action taken or planned by another agency.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Private Placement Improvement Act of 2016 This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to revise the filing requirements of Regulation D (which provides exemptions from securities registration requirements) to require an issuer that offers or sells securities in reliance upon a certain exemption from registration (for limited offers and sales without regard to the dollar amount of the offering [Rule 506]) to file, no earlier than the date of first sale of such securities, a single notice of sales containing the information required by Form D (used to file a notice of an exempt offering of securities under Regulation D) for each new offering of securities. The SEC shall not: (1) require the issuer to file any notice of sales containing the information required by Form D except for this single notice; (2) condition the availability of the Rule 506 exemption upon the filing of a Form D or similar report; or (3) require issuers to submit written general solicitation materials in connection with a limited offering subject to Rule 506, except when it requests such materials pursuant to specified authority. The SEC shall revise a specified rule, regarding a Rule 506 offering of a private fund, to characterize as an accredited investor a "knowledgeable employee" of that private fund or the fund's investment adviser. The SEC shall not extend to private funds the requirements governing investment company sales literature.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
Condemns the attacks against the residents of Camp Liberty/Hurriya in Iraq. Urges the government of Iraq to: (1) bring to justice those responsible for the attacks; and (2) ensure access to food, clean water, medical assistance, electricity and other necessary supplies and equipment. Calls on the United States to work with Iraq to: (1) bring Camp Liberty/Hurriya to the same level of protection as that of the Baghdad International Airport to ensure the security of the residents, and (2) facilitate the residents' ability to sell their property and assets in order to fund their costs of living and resettlement out of Iraq. Urges the United States to work with Iraq and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure that Camp Liberty/Hurriya residents, without exception, are safely resettled outside of Iraq and Iran according to the terms of the December 2011 Memorandum of Understanding. Calls on the United States to work with Albania and UNHCR to provide suitable housing for the remaining Camp Liberty/Hurriya residents in Albania.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
ABLE Age Adjustment Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to qualified ABLE programs, to increase the threshold for eligibility for such programs from age 26 to age 46. (Tax-favored ABLE [Achieving a Better Life Experience] accounts are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses.)
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
ABLE to Work Act of 2016 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to ABLE accounts (tax-exempt savings accounts for persons with a disability), to allow: (1) an ABLE account beneficiary to make contributions to an ABLE account equal to the lesser of such beneficiary's compensation or an amount equal to the federal poverty line for a one-person household, and (2) a retirement savings tax credit for contributions to an ABLE account.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2016
ABLE Financial Planning Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-free rollovers of amounts in qualified tuition programs (529 plans) to qualified ABLE programs and from qualified ABLE programs to qualified tuition programs. (Tax-favored ABLE [Achieving a Better Life Experience] accounts are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses.)
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2016
Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016 This bill modifies the scope of judicial review of agency actions to authorize courts reviewing agency actions to decide de novo all relevant questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions and rules.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2016
Main Street Growth Act This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to permit a national securities exchange, for itself or for one of its listing tiers, to elect treatment as a venture exchange by notifying the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of such an election either at the time it applies for registration or after registering as a national securities exchange. Unless the SEC denies the registration application within six months after its receipt, the application shall be deemed to have received SEC approval. The bill subjects a venture exchange to certain restrictions, including that it may only constitute, maintain, or provide a market place or facilities for bringing together purchasers and sellers of venture securities. Venture securities are securities of: an early-stage, growth company exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933; and an emerging growth company. The bill exempts a venture exchange from specified National Market System and Alternative Trading System rules as well as requirements to submit data to a securities information processor or to use decimal pricing. The Securities Act of 1933 is amended to exempt venture securities from state regulation. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the SEC, if necessary or appropriate, should: make use of its general exemptive authority with respect to the elements of this bill; and create an Office of Venture Exchanges within the SEC Division of Trading and Markets.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2016
Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2016 This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and maintain a voluntary patient registry to monitor, collect, and make available epidemiological information related to cancer incidence and trends among firefighters. The CDC should seek to include specified information in the registry, including the number and type of fire incidents attended by an individual. To collect information for the registry, the CDC may incorporate questions into existing public health surveys, questionnaires, and other databases. The CDC must: (1) encourage the inclusion in the registry of data on minority, female, and volunteer firefighters; and (2) seek feedback on the registry from nonfederal experts. The CDC must develop an approval process for making registry data available for research without a fee if findings or publications derived from the research are made public or available to stakeholders.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2016
Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act of 2016 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to direct the Drug Enforcement Administration to register an emergency medical services (EMS) agency as an entity authorized to dispense controlled substances, instead of registering the individual practitioners or medical directors of the agency. A registered EMS agency must be overseen by one or more medical directors. The bill specifies that an EMS practitioner who is employed by a registered EMS agency may administer controlled substances under a standing order issued by a medical director. The standing order does not have to be specific to an individual patient.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 2016
State Health Flexibility Act of 2016 This bill amends the Social Security Act (SSAct) to replace federal requirements for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) with health care block grants to states. A state may use block grant funds to: (1) provide health care services to indigent individuals; (2) fund risk adjustment mechanisms for the purpose of subsidizing the cost of private health insurance for the high-risk population; and (3) support other welfare-related programs, as specified by the bill. In addition to repealing titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (CHIP) of the SSAct, the bill repeals: (1) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and (2) the Health Care and Educational Reconciliation Act of 2010. With respect to an alien not lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States, a state may use grant funds to provide only emergency health care services, as specified by the bill. A state shall contract with an approved auditing entity for annual audits of its grant fund expenditures. The bill limits the authority of any federal agency to supervise a state's use of funds received under the block grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2016
Women Airforce Service Pilot Arlington Inurnment Restoration Act This bill directs the Department of the Army to ensure that the cremated remains of persons who served as Women's Air Forces Service Pilots are eligible for interment in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 2015
Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our Elections Act This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit political committees from accepting any Internet credit card contribution unless: the individual or entity making the contribution is required, at the time of the contribution, to disclose the credit card's verification value; and the billing address associated with the card is located in the United States or, if the contribution comes from an individual U.S. citizen living outside of the United States, the individual gives the committee the U.S. mailing address he or she uses for voter registration. In the case of an Internet credit card contribution: the person receiving the contribution shall forward it to the treasurer of the political comittee within 10 days, together with the name and address of the contributor and the date of receipt; and the treasurer shall keep an account of the contributor's name and address, together with the date and amount of the contribution.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to revise the objectives of the civilian nuclear energy research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs of the Department of Energy (DOE) to emphasize: providing research infrastructure to promote scientific progress and enable users from academia, the National Laboratories, and the private sector to make scientific discoveries relevant for nuclear, chemical, and materials science engineering; and enabling the private sector to partner with the National Laboratories to demonstrate novel reactor concepts for the purpose of resolving technical uncertainty associated with the aforementioned objectives. This bill directs DOE to carry out a program for enhancing the U.S. capability to develop new reactor technologies through high-performance computation modeling and simulation techniques. Such program shall coordinate with relevant federal agencies through the National Strategic Computing Initiative while taking into account specified objectives. By December 31, 2016, DOE shall determine the mission need for a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source, which shall operate as a national user facility and, upon determining such a mission need, give Congress a plan to establish such a facility. DOE shall also carry out a program to: enable the testing and demonstration of reactor concepts proposed and funded by the private sector, and leverage the technical expertise of relevant federal agencies and national laboratories to minimize the time required to enable construction and operation of privately funded experimental reactors at national laboratories or other DOE-owned sites. These reactors shall operate to: enable physical validation of novel reactor concepts; resolve technical uncertainty and increase practical knowledge relevant to safety, resilience, security, and functionality of first-of-a-kind reactor concepts; and generate research and development to improve nascent technologies. Within 12 months of this Act's enactment, DOE must submit to Congress 3 specified alternative 10-year budget plans for civilian nuclear energy research and development by the DOE.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that: the President should submit to the Senate for advice and consent the climate change agreement proposed for adoption at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21), and Congress should refuse to consider any budget resolutions and appropriations language that include funding for the Green Climate Fund until COP-21 emissions commitments are submitted to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2015
Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2015 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 proposed rules relating to greenhouse gas and carbon pollution emissions. 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 · 29 October 2015
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1265 Hurffville Road in Deptford Township, New Jersey, as the "First Lieutenant Salvatore S. Corma II Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 2015
Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act This bill amends the federal judicial code to narrow the scope of foreign sovereign immunity by authorizing U.S. courts to hear cases involving claims against a foreign state for injuries, death, or damages that occur inside the United States as a result of a tort, including an act of terrorism, committed anywhere by a foreign state or official. It amends the federal criminal code to permit civil claims against a foreign state or official for injuries, death, or damages from an act of international terrorism. Additionally, the bill authorizes federal courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over and impose liability on a person who commits, or aids, abets, or conspires to commit, an act of international terrorism against a U.S. national.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 2015
Due Process Restoration Act of 2015 This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to authorize a person who is a party to an administrative proceeding brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under a securities law, and against whom an order imposing a cease and desist order and a penalty may be issued at the conclusion of the proceeding, to require the SEC to terminate the proceeding. If a person requires the SEC to terminate a proceeding, the SEC may bring a civil action against that person for the same remedy that might have been imposed. A legal or equitable remedy may be imposed on a person against whom an administrative proceeding was brought only upon a showing by the SEC of clear and convincing evidence that the person has violated the relevant provision of law.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 2015
This bill prohibits federal departments and agencies from including the Social Security account number of any individual on any document sent by mail unless the department or agency head determines that inclusion of that Social Security number on the document is necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 2015
Access to Marketplace Insurance Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require health insurers to accept, on behalf of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans, payments made by certain third parties, including state and federal government programs, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and certain tax exempt organizations. (Qualified health plans are eligible for subsidies and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 2015
Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 This bill permits a court to reduce the mandatory minimum prison term imposed on certain non-violent defendants convicted of a high-level first-time or low-level repeat drug offense (including unlawful import, export, manufacture, or distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance). The legislation expands safety valve eligibility to permit a court to impose a sentence below the mandatory minimum for certain non-violent, cooperative drug defendants with a limited criminal history. It reduces the enhanced mandatory minimum prison term for certain defendants who commit a high-level repeat drug offense, use a firearm in a crime of violence or drug offense after a prior conviction for such offense, or unlawfully possess a firearm after three or more prior convictions. It permits retroactive application of such reductions for defendants without a prior serious violent felony conviction, after a court considers certain factors. It also establishes a consecutive mandatory prison term for a defendant who commits a drug offense involving a detectable amount of heroin or fentanyl. The bill makes the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive to permit resentencing of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2015
FSOC Transparency and Accountability Act Amends the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to repeal the nonapplicability of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (thus applying FACA to the Council). Declares the Council an agency for purposes of the "Government in the Sunshine Act" (and its open meeting requirements). Revises the voting profile of Council members to single out the following member agencies as each having collectively one vote: (1) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, (2) the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), (3) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), (4) the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and (5) the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board. Directs these member agencies to: (1) determine their Council vote by using the voting process normally applicable to votes by their members, and (2) cast the one collective Council vote by the agency head. Permits any Council member to select to have one or more individuals on the member's staff attend a meeting of the Council, including any meeting of representatives of the member agencies other than the members themselves. Requires all Council meetings to be open to attendance and participation by members of specified congressional committees, including any meeting of representatives of the member agencies other than the members themselves.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 2015
Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Diagnosis Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the Interagency Pulmonary Hypertension Coordinating Committee. The committee must monitor research and annually summarize research and medical advances regarding pulmonary hypertension. The committee must develop a comprehensive strategic plan to improve health outcomes for individuals with pulmonary hypertension. The plan must include recommendations regarding pulmonary hypertension diagnosis, research, transplantation criteria, public awareness, and health care delivery. HHS must report on activities related to improving health outcomes for individuals with pulmonary hypertension. The report must include information regarding pulmonary hypertension epidemiology, treatment, support available to individuals, and research.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2015
Women's Public Health and Safety Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify requirements regarding a state plan for medical assistance. Under current law, a state plan for medical assistance must provide that any individual eligible for medical assistance may obtain required services from any institution, agency, or person qualified to perform them. The bill specifies that a state may not be required to provide medical assistance for services furnished by any individual or entity based on the individual's or entity's involvement in abortions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Declares that: the atrocities committed against Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities targeted specifically for religious reasons are crimes against humanity and genocide; each of the Contracting Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and other international agreements forbidding war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly the governments of countries and their nationals who are in any way supporting these crimes, are reminded of their legal obligations under the Convention and these international agreements; the United Nations (U.N.) and the Secretary-General are called upon to assert leadership by calling the atrocities war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; the member states of the U.N., with an appeal to the Arab States that wish to uphold religious freedom and justice, should collaborate on measures to prevent further war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and collaborate on the establishment of tribunals to punish those responsible for the ongoing crimes; the governments of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Lebanese Republic, and other countries are commended for having undertaken to shelter and protect those fleeing extremist violence; and those who force the migration of religious communities from their ancestral homelands, including specifically the Nineveh Plain and Mount Sinjar, should be prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the place where their crimes were committed and under applicable international criminal statutes and conventions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act This bill amends the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to make the budgets of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) subject to the annual appropriations process and to establish requirements for reports and a public notice and comment period. The budgets of the FSOC and the OFR are funded by assessments on financial institutions which are deposited into the Financial Research Fund and, under current law, are immediately available to be spent. This bill requires the funding from the Financial Research Fund to be made available by appropriations Acts. The bill also requires the OFR to: (1) submit quarterly reports to Congress regarding its activities; and (2) provide a public notice and comment period of at least 90 days before issuing any report, rule, or regulation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) H.R. 3590 of the 111th Congress, the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009, as passed by the House, was not a "bill for raising revenue" within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution; (2) H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), as passed by the Senate, was a "bill for raising revenue"; and (3) PPACA was not within the power of the Senate to "propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills" within the meaning of Article I, Section 7, clause 2 of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Prohibiting Assistance to Nuclear Iran Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to provide Iran with assistance (including the use of the U.S. Armed Forces) to develop, use, or protect any technology or other assets of its nuclear program. The President may waive such prohibition on a case-by-case basis if: (1) the President submits to Congress a certification that it is necessary to U.S. national interests to do so, and (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution approving such certification within five days of its submission.
![Official portrait of Rep. Garrett, Scott [R-NJ-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000548_200.jpg)