United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2023
Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act This bill directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to streamline the process for individuals applying for or renewing enrollment in multiple security threat assessment (STA) programs, in particular the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) and the Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) programs. Among other things, the TSA must permit an individual to enroll at a TSA-authorized enrollment center once and use the application, as well as information generated by TSA’s vetting, to enroll in any other programs; permit an individual to enroll in more than one STA program at the same time for a single fee that is less than the combined fee for applying to the same programs separately; provide for a streamlined and expeditious renewal process; and provide states the expiration dates for each individual’s STA to ensure commercial driver's licenses include an individual's current HME status. Additionally, the TSA must publish on its website information relating to the streamlining of the enrollment system. If the TSA determines it is necessary to implement these changes through rulemaking, the bill provides for an expedited rulemaking process.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2023
Coast Guard Sustained Funding Act of 2023 This bill provides continuing appropriations to the Coast Guard for pay and benefits when there is a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse. Under the bill, a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse occurs when a bill providing appropriations for the Coast Guard for a fiscal year has not been enacted before the beginning of that fiscal year, and no joint resolution providing continuing appropriations for the Coast Guard is in effect. If a Coast Guard-specific funding lapse occurs, the bill provides appropriations to the Coast Guard for (1) pay and allowances for military members of the Coast Guard, including reserve components, who perform active service or inactive-duty training; and (2) pay and benefits for certain civilian and contract employees who are providing support to members of the Coast Guard or another Armed Force and are working during the funding lapse.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2023
Homeland Heroes Pay Act This bill provides continuing appropriations for the salaries and expenses of certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents during a lapse in appropriations (i.e., government shutdown) in FY2024. If a lapse in appropriations occurs in FY2024, the bill provides continuing appropriations for the salaries and expenses of (1) CBP officers and agents who are performing mission critical functions at U.S. southwest, northern, and maritime border ports of entry, and between such ports of entry; and (2) ICE officers and agents who conduct immigration enforcement and investigations of criminal operations and organizations. The bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) January 1, 2024.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2023
No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act This bill makes a state or political subdivision of a state ineligible for any federal funds the jurisdiction intends to use to benefit non-U.S. nationals (i.e., aliens under federal law) who are unlawfully present if the jurisdiction withholds information about citizenship or immigration status or does not cooperate with immigration detainers. Specifically, such funds are denied to any jurisdiction that has a law, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any government entity from maintaining, sending, or receiving information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual; exchanging information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status with a federal, state, or local government entity; complying with a valid immigration detainer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); or notifying DHS about an individual's release from custody. The funding restriction does not apply to a law, policy, or practice that only applies to an individual who comes forward as a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense. The bill applies beginning in the fiscal year following its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the policy update issued by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) on May 5, 2022, related to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) deemed the policy update a rule on June 5, 2023, and therefore subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) requirement that a rule must be submitted to Congress and the GAO before it can take effect. The CRA also permits Congress to review and disapprove rules using specified procedures. In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the prohibition on sex discrimination in employment includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The FNS determined that the Bostock analysis also applies to certain FNS-enforced requirements under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 because the requirements are sufficiently similar to those in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The FNS rule concludes that the prohibitions against sex discrimination in the FNS-enforced statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The rule also directs state agencies and program operators to handle complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation as complaints of prohibited sex discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2023
Pay Our Border Patrol and Customs Agents Act This bill provides FY2024 appropriations for the salaries and expenses of certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees who are required to work during a lapse in appropriations (i.e., government shutdown) in FY2024. Specifically, the bill provides appropriations to CBP for the salaries and expenses of agents of the U.S. Border Patrol and officers of the Office of Field Operations who are excepted from furlough (i.e., required to work) during a lapse in discretionary appropriations in FY2024.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2023
Pay Our Troops Act This bill provides continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2024 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown). Specifically, the bill provides FY2024 continuing appropriations for the pay and allowances of (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period; and (2) civilian employees and contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Department of the Navy) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces. If a government shutdown occurs, the bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) January 1, 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2023
This resolution designates an annual Gold Star Families Remembrance Week and recognizes the sacrifices made by veterans' families and the families of members of the Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice in order to defend freedom and protect the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2023
FACE Act Repeal Act of 2023 This bill repeals provisions of federal criminal law that prohibit conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with persons who are seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2023
Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2023 This bill allows physicians to dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies to patients outside of their office buildings without violating certain prohibitions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) for Medicare and Medicaid. Current law requires physicians to dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies to patients in their office buildings in order to qualify for an exception (the in-office ancillary services exception) under the Stark law. The bill specifies that, beginning on May 11, 2023, physicians may dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies in locations other than their office buildings. The bill also requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to withdraw specified guidance that contradicts the bill’s changes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2023
This resolution condemns the actions of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for violating the Second Amendment to the Constitution and depriving the citizens of New Mexico of their right to bear arms.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2023
This resolution expresses support for the diplomatic relations required to encourage the government of Mexico to make annual water deliveries to the United States under a 1944 treaty between the two countries. The resolution also acknowledges that farmers in south Texas are experiencing water shortages.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2023
9/11 Memorial and Museum Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to award to the nonprofit organization that operates the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City a one-time grant to be used solely for the purposes of the operation, security, and maintenance of the memorial and museum. As a condition of receiving the grant, the organization must provide for free admission to all facilities and museums associated with the memorial and museum for active and retired members of the Armed Forces, individuals who were registered first responders to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and family members of victims of such attacks; provide for dedicated free admission hours for the general public at least once a week; and allow for annual federal audits of its financial statements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2023
CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act This bill prohibits a Federal Reserve bank from offering products or services directly to an individual, maintaining an account on behalf of an individual, or issuing a central bank digital currency (i.e., a digital dollar) directly or indirectly to an individual. Further, The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee are prohibited from using a central bank digital currency to implement monetary policy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2023
Safeguarding Endangered Children, Unaccompanied and at Risk of Exploitation Act of 2023 or SECURE Act of 2023 This bill requires regular reports to Congress detailing the status of unaccompanied non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) children. The bill also rescinds certain funding for the agencies responsible for the report for each day that a report is late. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation must jointly report to Congress every 60 days on such children that have been in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) since January 1, 2021, and have been released to a parent, family member, or sponsor within the United States. This report must provide each child’s age, sex, location, and detail the child’s health and well-being. Additionally, the report must provide specified information about adults living in the child’s home, such as whether adults in the home have been subject to a fingerprint-based check of national crime information databases. The report must also specify the number of children that ORR has tried to contact without success on at least three separate attempts. The report must be provided for up to three years or until all of the specified children have been accounted for. The bill also rescinds certain funding from HHS, DHS, and the FBI for each day that a report is late. Up to $10 million may be rescinded from each agency for each fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 29 August 2023
Michel O. Maceda Memorial Act This bill designates the Air and Marine Operations Marine Unit of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection located in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, as the Michel O. Maceda Marine Unit .
United States · United States Congress · 29 August 2023
No Obscene Teaching in Our Schools Act of 2023 or the NOT in Our Schools Act of 2023 This bill prohibits an elementary or secondary school from receiving federal funds if the school is in violation of any law of the state in which the school is located that is related to materials that are harmful to minors. Further, the bill requires a state educational agency to either (1) return the federal funds that were dedicated to the school in violation of such state law; or (2) create and carry out, at the request of parents or legal guardians of eligible children, a 529 education savings plan account program (also known as a qualified tuition program). The bill allows tax-exempt distributions from these 529 plans to be used for additional educational expenses (e.g., curriculum, books, and testing fees) in connection with enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school. Distributions may also be used for tuition and additional expenses in connection with a homeschool (whether treated as a homeschool or a private school under state law).
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2023
Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act This bill authorizes the use of federal elementary and secondary education funds to purchase or use dangerous weapons for purposes of training students in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports. Current law prohibits the use of these funds to provide any person with a dangerous weapon or training in the use of a dangerous weapon. The bill specifies that this prohibition shall not apply to training students in archery, hunting, or other shooting sports.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
This resolution condemns Iran for the 1988 massacre of political prisoners. It also urges the Biden Administration and U.S. allies to publicly condemn the massacre and to pressure Iran to provide information to the families of the victims.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2023 This bill expands Medicare coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity. Specifically, the bill allows coverage for therapy that is provided by (1) a physician who is not a primary care physician; or (2) other health care providers (e.g., physician assistants and nurse practitioners) and approved counseling programs, if provided upon a referral from, and in coordination with, a physician or primary care practitioner. Currently, such therapy is covered only if provided by a primary care practitioner. The bill also allows coverage under Medicare's prescription drug benefit of drugs used for the treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for individuals who are overweight.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Publish Overdose and Suicide Tracking For American Safety Today Act of 2023 or the POST FAST Act of 2023 This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to publish data about suicides and drug overdoses in the United States for a given month within 60 days of the end of that month.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Main Street Tax Certainty Act This bill makes permanent the tax deduction for qualified business income. (Under current law, the deduction expires after December 31, 2025.) Qualified business income is defined as the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction and loss with respect to any trade or business, excluding capital gains or losses, dividends, interest income, or income earned outside the U.S.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2023
American Confidence in Elections Act or the ACE Act This bill addresses election administration and security, campaign finance, and other related provisions. Specifically, the bill directs the Election Assistance Commission's (EAC's) Standards Board and Local Leadership Council to issue voluntary considerations for states about various aspects of election administration. Additionally, the bill reduces certain election assistance payments for states and local jurisdictions that allow noncitizens to vote; requires states to provide designated congressional election observers with full access to observe the administration procedures of federal elections; prohibits federal agencies from using funds made available for salaries and expenses to solicit or enter into agreements with nongovernmental organizations to conduct voter registration or voter mobilization activities on the agency's property or website; prohibits federal funds for election administration for states that allow ballot harvesting, with exceptions; establishes various requirements for elections in the District of Columbia; makes various changes to the EAC; and prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with state or local ballot initiatives or referenda. The bill also establishes the Twentieth Amendment Section Four Panel, which must recommend to Congress model legislation to resolve any vacancy created by the death of a candidate in a contingent presidential or vice-presidential election. The bill makes changes to campaign finance, including by (1) repealing limits on coordinated party expenditures, and (2) prohibiting federal funds from being used to make payments in support of a congressional election campaign. It also makes changes to the Federal Election Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2023
DHS Border Services Contracts Review Act This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assess contractor personnel performing services along the U.S. land border with Mexico and plan to implement recommendations developed from the assessment. Specifically, DHS must report to Congress regarding active contracts with a total value of $50 million or more relating to the procurement of services along the border. The report must include, among other things the criteria used by DHS to determine whether contractor personnel were necessary to assist in carrying out its mission along the border; an analysis of the purpose, quantity, and location of contractor personnel addressing DHS mission needs along the border and enhancing the capability of DHS personnel to perform primary mission responsibilities; an assessment of the benefits of contractor personnel performing the services; a strategy to improve the procurement and delivery of the services through contracts over a five-year period; and recommendations based on the report's findings. DHS must (1) transmit with the report a plan to implement the recommendations and strategy contained in such report to enhance coordination, minimize overlap, and increase cost effectiveness; and (2) brief Congress with respect to the status of implementation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2023
Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2023 This bill extends the authorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security through September 30, 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 2023
Countering China’s Exploitation of Strategic Metals and Minerals and Child and Forced Labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Act This bill prohibits the importation of goods containing metals or minerals (particularly cobalt, lithium, and their derivatives) that are mined, produced, smelted, or processed by child labor or forced labor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It also requires certain federal actions to address this issue. The prohibition does not apply if U.S. Customs and Border Protection (1) determines, based on clear and convincing evidence, that the goods were not made with child labor or forced labor; and (2) submits to Congress a report containing such a determination (and makes this report publicly available). The bill requires the President to annually report to Congress on each foreign person determined to have (1) knowingly engaged in child labor or forced labor in DRC's mining industry, and (2) knowingly engaged in efforts to contravene U.S. law regarding the importation of covered DRC goods. The President must impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions against each identified foreign person. The bill requires the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force to submit to Congress a report containing an enforcement strategy for effectively addressing child labor and forced labor in DRC's mining industry, the Department of State to submit to Congress a strategy for addressing child labor and forced labor in DRC's mining industry, and the U.S. Agency for International Development to increase efforts to prevent child labor and forced labor in DRC's mining industry.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 2023
States Choose Life Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from requiring recipients of Title X Family Planning Grants to provide (1) referrals for pregnancy termination, or (2) information or counseling on options for pregnancy termination that are unlawful in the state where the family planning services are offered.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2023
Saving Organs One Flight at a Time Act This bill requires the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to jointly issue regulations, as necessary, to enable air carriers to transport human organs for transplant above wing (i.e., in the cabin of an aircraft). Among other things, the regulations must include consideration of protocols for air control outages; a requirement that air carriers implement a protocol for a person to accompany organs to and from the aircraft and between connecting flights; and a standardized process for commercial air carriers to accept, handle, and manage organs in transit. The TSA and the FAA must also consult with the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to identify metrics for the handling of organs and organ-related tissue by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2023
No Welfare for the Wealthy Act of 2023 This bill requires all households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to meet the program's income and asset requirements. Federal requirements generally provide two pathways for SNAP financial eligibility. A household may meet program-specific federal eligibility requirements, which include both income eligibility and an asset test. A household may also be automatically or categorically eligible for SNAP based on eligibility for or receiving cash benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF]). Under this categorical eligibility, households that already meet financial eligibility rules in a program like TANF are not required to go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. Further, a majority of states also provide broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE), a policy that makes most households with an income below a certain threshold categorically eligible for SNAP. Under BBCE, these states typically make households categorically eligible through receiving or being authorized to receive a minimal non-cash TANF benefit or service (e.g., a pamphlet). A state may set its own BBCE financial eligibility requirements for a household so long as the income requirement is below a certain level. A state's requirements do not have to match SNAP program-specific eligibility requirements. For example, most states that provide BBCE do not have an asset test for SNAP eligibility. The bill requires all SNAP households, including those that qualify under categorical eligibility, to meet the SNAP program's income and asset requirements. These requirements take effect one year after the bill's enactment and do not apply to certification periods that begin before the effective date.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2023
Children's Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act of 2023 This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education Payment program, which supports education and training for medical residents and fellows in children's hospitals. The bill also bars children's hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors from receiving payments through the program. Under the bill, gender-affirming care generally includes procedures (e.g., surgeries or hormone therapies) that change the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that is different than the individual's biological sex. It excludes, however, specified types of procedures, including those for treating (1) individuals who have both ovarian and testicular tissue or abnormal sex chromosome structure or hormones, or (2) infections or other harms that result from a previous gender-transition procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 31 May 2023
Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act or the SHIP Act This bill requires the President to impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions against foreign persons that knowingly transport, process, refine, or otherwise deal in petroleum and petroleum products originating in Iran. These sanctions also extend to certain foreign persons associated with the sanctioned individual, such as adult family members and any entities owned or controlled by the sanctioned individual.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2023
Rural Health Clinic Burden Reduction Act This bill makes a series of changes to requirements that apply to rural health clinics under Medicare. For example, the bill allows rural health clinics that are not directed by physicians to enter into arrangements with physician assistants or nurse practitioners that generally comply with state laws (regarding scope of practice), rather than other specific requirements. It also specifies that rural health clinics (1) need only have prompt access to clinical laboratory services (as opposed to having to directly provide these services); (2) must be located in a non-urban area with a population that is less than 50,000; (3) may contract with (as opposed to employ) physician assistants or nurse practitioners; and (4) may primarily provide mental health services if located in a designated mental health professional shortage area.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2023
Save Rural Hospitals Act of 2023 This bill establishes an area wage adjustment floor for Medicare hospital payments in states that are not frontier states. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must establish a maximum rate to preserve budget neutrality.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2023
CERTS Tax Exemption Act This bill excludes from the gross income of an eligible provider of transportation services, for income tax purposes, grant amounts received under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2023
Better Foreign Policy Through Better Pet Policy Act This bill authorizes the federal government to pay a foreign air carrier to transport a pet accompanying a federal employee's international travel in certain situations. Under current law, the official air transportation of federal employees, their dependents, and their property must be purchased from a U.S. flag air carrier (or authorized affiliate), subject to limited exceptions. Under this bill, if no U.S. flag air carrier is willing or able to a transport a pet accompanying a federal employee's international travel, the federal government may pay a foreign air carrier to provide for the transportation of the traveling employee, their accompanying dependents and property, and up to three pets. The bill caps such payments at the amount that would have been paid to a U.S. flag air carrier for the same travel and specifies that the federal employee must pay any difference. Dogs and cats are covered under this bill, with other animals subject to the approval of the Department of Transportation.
![Official portrait of Rep. Green, Mark E. [R-TN-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/g000590_200.jpg)