United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Common Sense Waiver Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive an emission standard or other requirement for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act applicable to the control of asbestos emissions in the demolition or renovation of a building if the building has been condemned and there is a reasonable expectation of the building's structural failure. The EPA must approve or disapprove a request for a waiver by a state or local government within 90 days. If the EPA doesn't meet the deadline, the request is approved.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Global Anti-Poaching Act This bill addresses the illegal trade in endangered and threatened wildlife and their related parts and products. The Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other appropriate agencies are urged to: (1) support strengthening existing wildlife enforcement networks and establishing new networks in other appropriate regions, and (2) promote the professionalization of the wildlife law enforcement sector and professional ranger training in partner countries. The State Department: (1) must provide to Congress an annual list of each foreign country that is a major source, transit point, or consumer of wildlife trafficking products; and (2) may withhold certain assistance from countries that have failed to adhere to their obligations under international agreements relating to endangered or threatened species. The President may provide defense articles, services, and related training to security forces of African countries to counter wildlife trafficking and poaching. If a unit of a security force has been found to engage in wildlife trafficking or poaching, the President may not provide such assistance unless the President determines that the government of the country is taking steps to hold the security unit accountable and prevent trafficking and poaching. The bill amends the federal criminal code to make wildlife trafficking violations of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the African Elephant Conservation Act, and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 predicate offenses for racketeering and money laundering prosecutions, if such violations involve more than $10,000. Fines and forfeitures from such violations must be transferred to the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and used for the benefit of the species impacted by the violation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Supports the designation, and the goals and ideals, of National Bladder Cancer Awareness Month. Calls on the people of the United States, interested groups, and affected persons to: (1) promote awareness of bladder cancer and to foster understanding of the impact of the disease on patients and their families and caregivers, and (2) take an active role in the fight to end bladder cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the establishment of physicians' fee schedules, to extend for 2016 and each subsequent year the classification of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry services as imaging services used in bone mass scans. The Department of Health and Human Services shall establish national minimum payment amounts for such services as identified by specified Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes and adjusted by the pertinent geographical adjustment factors.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into an agreement or a contract with each state home to pay for adult day health care for a veteran eligible for, but not receiving, nursing home care. The veteran must need such care either specifically for a service-connected disability, or, if not specifically for one, the veteran must have a service-connected disability rated 70% or more. Payment under each agreement or contract between the VA and a state home must equal 65% of the payment that the VA would otherwise pay to the state home if the veteran were receiving nursing home care.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
Strong Start for America's Children Act of 2015 This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to allot matching grants to states and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies, childhood education program providers, or consortia of those entities to implement high-quality prekindergarten programs for children from low-income families. Grants are allotted to states based on each state's proportion of children who are age four and who are from families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level. "High-quality prekindergarten programs" are those that serve children three or four years of age and meet criteria concerning: class size; learning environments; teacher qualifications, salaries, and professional development; program monitoring; and accessibility to comprehensive health and support services. Programs supported by a state must conduct criminal history background checks on employees and applicants for employment with unsupervised access to children. States may apply to use up to 15% of their grant for subgrants to high-quality early childhood education and care programs for infants and toddlers whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level. ED and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall develop a process to: (1) provide Head Start program services to children younger than age four in states or regions that already provide four-year-olds whose family income is at or below 200% of the poverty level with sustained access to high-quality prekindergarten programs, or (2) convert programs to serve infants and toddlers. ED shall award competitive matching grants to states to increase their capacity to offer high-quality prekindergarten programs. States must provide assurances that they will use their grant to become eligible, within three years of receiving the grant, for this Act's grants for high-quality prekindergarten programs. The bill amends the Head Start Act to direct HHS to make grants to Early Head Start agencies to partner with center-based or family child care providers, particularly those that receive support under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, to assist them in meeting program performance standards. Such partnerships may serve children through age three. The bill reauthorizes the programs providing: (1) preschool grants for special education and related services, and (2) early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. The bill expresses the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the value of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
School Milk Nutrition Act of 2015 This bill revises the requirements for milk provided by the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and other Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs. The bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to permit schools participating in the NSLP to offer students low-fat flavored milk containing no more than 150 calories per 8-ounce serving. For students who cannot consume fluid milk because of a medical or other dietary need, schools may offer a nondairy beverage that is nutritionally equivalent to low-fat milk and meets USDA nutritional standards, including fortification of calcium, protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin B-12. (Under current law, the substitute is only required to include fortification of calcium, protein, vitamin A, and vitamin D to levels found in cow's milk.) In establishing national school nutritional standards, USDA must provide that containers of all beverages sold in schools have the same maximum volume. USDA must also: (1) study and report to Congress on recent trends in fluid milk consumption in schools; (2) carry out a pilot program to test and demonstrate strategies by which schools can increase the consumption of fluid milk; (3) make lactose-free milk with an extended shelf life available to schools; and (4) allow women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to receive reduced fat milk for themselves and their children upon request.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
21st Century Cures Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through FY2018. The NIH Innovation Fund is established to fund a strategic plan, early stage investigators, and high-risk, high-reward research. The NIH may require scientific data to be shared if the research is fully funded by the NIH. The NIH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must implement a system that allows further research on clinical trial data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must expand surveillance of neurological diseases. The Council for 21st Century Cures is established to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of innovative cures, treatments, and preventive measures. The Department of Health and Human Services must monitor the use of antibacterial and antifungal drugs and resistance to these drugs. Requirements are established for interoperability and certification of health information technology. Practices that discourage the exchange of electronic health information are prohibited. This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the drug approval process, including by: (1) allowing patient experience data to be considered in the risk-benefit assessment of a new drug, (2) requiring the FDA to qualify drug development tools, (3) allowing the FDA to rely upon data previously submitted for a different purpose to expedite the development of certain drugs, and (4) establishing a streamlined data review program for approval of a drug for an additional indication. Manufacturers and distributors of investigational drugs for serious conditions must publish their policies on compassionate use requests. The marketing exclusivity period is extended by six months for a drug approved for a new indication that is a rare disease or condition. The priority review voucher program for rare pediatric diseases is revised and extended. The FDA must: (1) establish a program for priority review of breakthrough medical devices, (2) identify types of devices that do not require a report preceding introduction, and (3) rely on a third-party to determine the safety and effectiveness of changes to medical devices. Regarding medical devices, this bill defines “valid scientific evidence” and makes changes to classification panels and the humanitarian device exemption. “Health software” is defined and, with certain exceptions, exempted from FDA regulations. This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to: (1) increase certain payments for new antimicrobial drugs, (2) establish a payment methodology for certain medical devices, and (3) publish online estimated payments for certain outpatient items and services. A pharmaceutical and technology ombudsman within the CMS must respond to complaints from manufacturers of medical products. Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors may limit the access of certain beneficiaries to frequently abused drugs. This bill amends the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to allow exported controlled substances to be re-exported within the European Economic Area.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA Act of 2015 or the SIGMA Act of 2015 Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Requires the Special Inspector General to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Special Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. Places the Special Inspector General under the supervision of the Department of Health and Human Services, but prohibits federal agencies involved in implementing or administering the Affordable Care Act from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015 Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to address potential shortages in the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan for payment of health care benefits to retired coal miners by expanding the eligible uses of interest transferable to the plan from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and supplemental payments from the General Fund of the Treasury. Requires calculation of such amount by taking into account only those beneficiaries who are actually enrolled in the plan as of the enactment of this Act, as well as those retirees whose health benefits, payable directly by an employer in the bituminous coal industry under a coal wage agreement as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012, would be denied or reduced. Requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the trustees of the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan a certain additional amount of funds, to pay pension benefits required under that plan, if the $490 million limitation on certain transfers to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund and distributions to states and Indian tribes exceeds the aggregate amount required to be transferred to them. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe a special rule that employer contributions to an employees' trust or annuity benefit plan providing supplemental benefits solely to participants in a pension plan are neither deductible nor nondeductible as such from the employer's gross income. Subjects such contributions, on the other hand, to deduction as an allowable trade or business expense. Treats a trust holding the assets of such a pension benefit plan as a tax-exempt organization. Excludes from taxable wages any payments made to, or on behalf of, an employee or his or her beneficiary under such a plan.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee Act This bill amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to establish the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee to advise the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture on wildlife and habitat conservation, hunting, and recreational shooting. The Advisory Committee must advise the departments on policies or programs related to: implementing Executive Order No. 13443: Facilitation of Hunting Heritage and Wildlife Conservation; conserving and restoring wetlands, agricultural lands, grasslands, forest, and rangeland habitats; promoting opportunities for and access to hunting and shooting sports on federal lands; recruiting and retaining new hunters and shooters; increasing public awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation and the benefits of recreational hunting and shooting; and encouraging coordination among the public, the hunting and shooting sports community, wildlife conservation groups, states, tribes, and the federal government. The bill also specifies requirements for membership, meetings, pay and expenses, administrative support, and annual reports to Congress. The Advisory Committee is exempt from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The bill abolishes the existing Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council, effective on the date of the first meeting of the Advisory Committee established by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015
Recognizes that prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is critical to stopping the spread of HIV worldwide and that the fight to eliminate pediatric HIV worldwide has been a priority for more than 13 years. Supports providing women with HIV counseling and testing services and dramatically scaling up pediatric treatment of HIV.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
COPS Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2015 Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to modify the public safety and community policing grant program (COPS ON THE BEAT grant program) to: (1) establish within the Department of Justice, under the general authority of the Attorney General, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to be headed by a Director; and (2) authorize the Attorney General to carry out more than one such program. Repeals provisions authorizing: (1) the Attorney General to give preferential consideration to applications for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers that involve a non-federal contribution exceeding a 25% minimum; and (2) the use of such grants to develop and implement either innovative programs to permit members of the community to assist state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime in the community or new administrative and managerial systems to facilitate the adoption of community-oriented policing as an organization-wide philosophy. Authorizes the use of such grants to: (1) hire school resource officers and establish local partnerships to enhance school safety and to combat crime, gangs, drug activities, and other problems in elementary and secondary schools; (2) establish and implement innovative programs to reduce and prevent illegal drug manufacturing, distribution, and use; (3) meet emerging law enforcement needs; (4) hire former members of the Armed Forces to serve as career law enforcement officers for deployment in community-oriented policing; and (5) develop new technologies to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in crime prevention and training. Requires an application for a grant for officers performing homeland security duties to explain how the applicant intends to coordinate with federal law enforcement in support of the applicant's homeland security mission. Increases the limit on grant funding provided for hiring or rehiring a career law enforcement officer, unless the Attorney General grants a waiver, from $75,000 to $125,000. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the program for FY2015-FY2019.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit intentionally engaging in animal crushing in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. (Current law prohibits knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video.) Adds exceptions for conduct that is for predator or pest control, medical or scientific research, or necessary to protect the life or property of a person from a serious threat caused by an animal.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Volunteer Organization Protection Act of 2015 Amends the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 to expand liability protections to volunteer nonprofit organizations for harm caused by an act or omission of a volunteer on behalf of the organization. Prohibits such liability protections from applying if the organization: (1) would be liable under laws governing the direct or vicarious liability of organizations, and (2) expressly authorized the specific conduct constituting the act or omission. Bars such an organization from liability for harm caused by the organization, or a volunteer acting on its behalf, if the act or omission was at the request of, or pursuant to an authorization by, a state, the United States, or another governmental subdivision, provided that: (1) the requesting or authorizing governmental entity would have been immune either from suit or from liability in damages if it had engaged in the acts or omissions itself or through employees or independent contractors; or (2) the governmental employee, agent, or contractor would have been immune either from suit or from liability in damages by virtue of immunity extended to individual governmental actors. Prohibits punitive damages from being awarded against a volunteer nonprofit organization for the actions of a volunteer within the scope of the volunteer's responsibilities to the organization unless the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the organization itself expressly authorized the volunteer's action with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the individual harmed.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Advancing Research for Hydrocephalus Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to: (1) enhance and expand infrastructure and activities to track the epidemiology of hydrocephalus (a condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain); and (2) incorporate information obtained through those activities into a National Hydrocephalus Surveillance System. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that the System facilitates further research on hydrocephalus. Requires HHS to provide for the collection and storage of information on hydrocephalus, including the incidence, prevalence, and other information, to the extent practicable. Requires HHS to: (1) make information and analysis in the System available to the public, including researchers; and (2) ensure that privacy and security protections applicable to the System are at least as stringent as the protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2015
Directs the Department of Defense to provide transportation on scheduled and unscheduled military flights within the United States and on scheduled overseas flights on a space-available basis for veterans with a service-connected, permanent disability rated as total on the same basis as such transportation is provided to members of the Armed Forces entitled to retired or retainer pay.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2015
Recognizes the National Foster Care Month as an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges that children face in the foster-care system and supports the designation of National Foster Care Month.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2015
Craft Beverage Bond Simplification Act of 2015 This bill allows taxpayers who are liable for not more than $50,000 per year in excise taxes on distilled spirits, wine, or beer to file and pay such taxes quarterly without the requirement to post a bond covering the operations and withdrawals of such distilled spirits, wines, or beer. The bill also allows such a taxpayer who reasonably expects to have a tax liability of not more than $1,000 per year and who was liable for not more than $1,000 in taxes in the preceding calendar year to file and pay such taxes annually rather than quarterly.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2015
Renovate and Enhance Veterans' Meeting Halls and Posts Act of 2015 or REVAMP Act of 2015 Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make competitive grants to eligible veterans service organizations for: (1) repairs or rehabilitation of their existing facilities, and (2) acquiring or upgrading computers and technology for such facilities. Defines "eligible veterans service organization" as: (1) a tax-exempt entity organized on a local or area basis; and (2) a tax-exempt local or area chapter, post, or other unit of a national, regional, statewide, or other larger entity of which local or area chapters, posts, or units are members (but not any such national, regional, statewide, or other larger entity itself). Prohibits an eligible veterans service organization from receiving such grant amounts, for any single fiscal year, in an amount exceeding the lesser of: (1) the aggregate cost of the proposed activities and uses for which the grant amounts will be used, or (2) $200,000. Makes a grant recipient ineligible to receive another such grant for any of the five succeeding fiscal years. Prohibits the use of such grants for construction or acquisition of a new facility.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) with respect to the practices of recovery audit contractors (RACs) under the Medicare program fin identifying underpayments and overpayments and recouping overpayments. Incentive payments to a RAC for recovery activities are prohibited for FY2015 and subsequent fiscal years. Payments for recovery activities shall be reduced, according to a sliding scale established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to any RAC with a complex audit denial rate at the end of a fiscal year, determined pursuant to a specified formula, that is .1% or greater. The one-year timely filing limit for certain rebilled SSAct title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) claims is eliminated, extending the deadline for the rebill to 180 days after final denial of the claim. A determination of whether inpatient hospital services or inpatient critical access hospital services furnished to an individual are reasonable and necessary shall now be based solely on information available to the admitting physician at the time of the inpatient admission of the individual for such services, as documented in the medical record.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to distribution of additional resident positions as they affect calculation of payments for direct graduate medical education costs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each of FY2017-FY2021 (and each succeeding fiscal year if additional residency positions are available to distribute), to increase the otherwise applicable resident limit for each qualifying hospital. Directs the Secretary to determine the total number of additional residency positions available for distribution, in accordance with guidelines for allocating 33% to hospitals already operating over the resident limit, and generally setting the aggregate number of increases in the resident limit to 3,000 in each year. Specifies the process for distributing positions. Declares that, for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2017, the indirect teaching adjustment factor, with respect to additional payments for subsection (d) hospitals with indirect costs of medical education, insofar as those additional payments are attributable to resident positions distributed to a hospital according to such process, shall be computed in a specified manner with respect to those resident positions. (Generally, a subsection [d] hospital is an acute care hospital, particularly one that receives payments under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system when providing covered inpatient services to eligible beneficiaries.) Directs the National Health Care Workforce Commission established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to study the physician workforce. Directs the Comptroller General to study strategies for increasing the diversity of the health profession workforce.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act of 2015 Establishes as additional functions of the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements to: adopt and oversee government-wide standards, policies, and guidelines for program and project management for executive agencies; chair the Program Management Policy Council (established by this Act); issue regulations and establish standards and policies for executive agencies in accordance with nationally accredited standards for program and project management planning and delivery issues; engage with the private sector; conduct portfolio reviews to address programs identified as high risk by the Government Accountability Office; conduct portfolio reviews of agency programs at least annually; and establish a five-year strategic plan for program and project management. Requires the head of each federal agency that is required to have a Chief Financial Officer to designate a Program Management Improvement Officer to implement agency program management policies and develop a written strategy for enhancing the role of program managers within the agency. Establishes the Program Management Policy Council within OMB to act as the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to program and project management. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations that: (1) identify key skills and competencies needed for an agency program and project manager, (2) establish a new job series for program and project management within an agency, and (3) establish a new career path for program and project managers.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an S corporation-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP); and (2) allow a tax deduction for 50% of the interest incurred on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. Directs the Department of the Treasury to establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. Amends the Small Business Act to define "ESOP business concern" and allow such a concern to continue to qualify for loans, preferences, and other programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Electronic Books Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2015 or the E-BOOK Act of 2015 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Department of Education (ED) to award competitive grants to up to 10 institutions of higher education (IHEs) to conduct pilot programs to reduce the cost of attendance for undergraduate students by expanding their access to digital course materials. A preference is given to applications that demonstrate a commitment to serving disadvantaged students. Grantees must make digital course materials available to undergraduate students in at least two different academic departments. Grant funds may be used to: purchase and maintain the electronic equipment or software their pilot programs need; purchase and maintain the digital and online content that instructors or students will use; hire staff to administer their pilot programs, with priority given to hiring enrolled undergraduate students; build or acquire extra storage space for pilot program equipment; support professional development; and revise and adapt curricula as needed to implement the IHEs' pilot programs.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Iran should release all detained U.S. citizens and provide any information it possesses regarding any U.S. citizens who have disappeared within its borders.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Girls Count Act of 2015 Authorizes the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development to: (1) support programs that will contribute to improved civil registration and vital statistics systems with a focus on birth registration; and (2) support programs that build the capacity of developing countries' national and local legal and policy frameworks to prevent discrimination against girls in gaining passport access and help increase property rights, social security, land tenure, economic opportunities, and inheritance rights for women. Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator to cooperate with multilateral organizations and private sector and civil society organizations to promote such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
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 Edwin Cole "Ed" Bearss in recognition of his contributions to the preservation of American Civil War history and his continued efforts to bring our nation's history alive for new generations through his interpretive storytelling.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
Freedom from Government Competition Act of 2015 Requires each executive or military department or independent establishment to obtain all goods and services necessary for or beneficial to the accomplishment of its authorized functions by procurement from private sources, except if: (1) such goods or services are required by law to be produced or performed by such agency; or (2) the head of the agency determines and certifies that federal production, manufacture, or provision of a good or service is necessary for the national defense or homeland security, that a good or service is so inherently governmental in nature that it is in the public interest to require production or performance by government employees, or that there is no private source capable of providing the good or service. Requires such private sector provision of goods and services to be performed through: (1) the divestiture of federal involvement, (2) the award of a contract using competitive procedures, or (3) conducting a public-private competitive sourcing analysis in accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures and determining that using the private sector is in the best interest of the United States and provides the best value to the taxpayer. Authorizes an agency head to utilize federal employees to provide goods or services previously provided by a private sector entity upon completion of a public-private competitive sourcing analysis and after determining that provision by federal employees provides the best value. Requires OMB to carry out a study, in conjunction with the Comptroller General, to evaluate the activities carried out in each agency.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Condemns the government of Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. Calls on the government of Iran to release the 7 imprisoned Baha'i leaders, the 12 imprisoned Baha'i educators, and all other prisoners held on account of their religion. Urges the President and the Secretary of State to utilize available authorities, including the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, to impose sanctions on officials of the government of Iran and other individuals directly responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against the Baha'i community.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise the nutritional information that restaurants and retail food establishments must disclose. The nutrient content disclosure statement on the menu or menu board must include: (1) the number of calories contained in the whole menu item; (2) the number of servings and number of calories per serving; or (3) the number of calories per common unit of the item, such as for a multi-serving item that is typically divided before presentation to the consumer. Nutritional information may be provided solely by a remote-access menu (e.g., an Internet menu) for food establishments where the majority of orders are placed by customers who are off-premises. Establishments with self-serve food may comply with the requirements for restaurants or place signs with nutritional information adjacent to each food item. An establishment’s nutrient content disclosures have a “reasonable basis” if they are within acceptable allowances for variation, including variations in serving size or ingredients and inadvertent human error in formulation. Establishments with standard menu items that come in different flavors, varieties, or combinations, that are listed as a single menu item can determine and disclose nutritional information using specified methods or methods allowed by the Food and Drug Administration. Regulations pursuant to this Act or the clause amended by this Act cannot take effect earlier than two years after final regulations are promulgated pursuant to this Act. Nutritional information disclosure requirements apply to establishments that derive more than 50% of their total revenue from the sale of food.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act or the ENLIST Act Authorizes the enlistment in the Armed Forces of aliens unlawfully present in the United States on December 31, 2011, who: (1) have been continuously present in the United States since such date; (2) were younger than 15 years of age when they initially entered the United States; and (3) are otherwise eligible for original enlistment in a regular component of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to adjust the status of an alien enlisted under such authority to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act applicable to aliens who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972. Rescinds such lawful permanent resident status if the alien is separated from the Armed Forces under other than honorable conditions before serving the term of enlistment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2015 Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem equine (horses and other members of the equidae family) parts to be an unsafe food additive or animal drug. Prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts in interstate or foreign commerce for purposes of human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Encourages North Korea to allow Korean Americans to meet with their family members from North Korea. Calls on North Korea to take steps to build goodwill that is conducive to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
This bill directs the House of Representatives and the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to Dr. Balazs "Ernie" Bodai in recognition of his many outstanding contributions to the nation, including a tireless commitment to breast cancer research.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill amends the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 to repeal provisions providing for the sale of federal property and assets supporting the Department of Homeland Security's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Comprehensive Justice and Mental Health Act of 2015 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to an eligible entity for sequential intercept mapping and implementation for: mental health and criminal justice stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of the flow of individuals with mental illnesses through the criminal justice system, and identify opportunities for improved responses, including emergency and crisis services, specialized police-based responses, and community and post-prison supervision; and hiring and training personnel, identifying target populations, and providing services to reduce recidivism. The Attorney General is authorized to award grants for: veterans treatment court programs involving collaboration among criminal justice, veterans, and mental health and substance abuse agencies; peer to peer services or programs for qualified veterans; practices that identify and provide treatment, rehabilitation, legal, and transitional services to such veterans who have been incarcerated; and training programs to teach criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections, mental health, and substance abuse personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving such veterans. The Attorney General is authorized to award grants to enhance correctional facility capabilities to: identify and screen for mentally ill inmates; assess and provide the clinical, medical, and social needs of inmates and appropriate treatment and services that address mental health and substance abuse needs; and develop and implement post-release transition plans. Adult and juvenile criminal/mental health collaboration program grants may be used to establish multidisciplinary teams that coordinate and implement community-based crisis responses and long-term plans for frequent users of crisis services. Collaboration grant accountability requirements are established. The Attorney General is authorized to make grants for programs that teach law enforcement personnel how to identify and respond to incidents involving persons with mental health disorders or co-occuring mental health and substance abuse disorders. The Attorney General is directed to provide direction for programs that offer specialized training to federal first responders and tactical units in order to identify and respond to incidents involving individuals who have a mental illness. The definition of "preliminarily qualified offender" is revised for purposes of collaboration program grants to: include, in the case of a veterans treatment court program, an adult or juvenile accused of an offense who has been diagnosed with, or manifests signs of, mental illness or a substance abuse disorder; remove a requirement that the person be accused of a nonviolent offense; require a person to be unanimously approved for participation; and disqualify a person who has been charged with or convicted of a sex offense or murder or assault with intent to murder.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 206 West Commercial Street in East Rochester, New York, as the "Officer Daryl R. Pierson Memorial Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill directs the President to: (1) develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and at other related activities, and (2) instruct INTERPOL Washington to request observer status for Taiwan in INTERPOL and urge INTERPOL members to support Taiwan's observer status and participation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to eliminate the funding mechanism for the transitional reinsurance program. Currently, issuers of individual, group, and self-funded plans are required to pay a fee in 2014, 2015, and 2016 to fund the three-year transitional reinsurance program. Under the transitional reinsurance program, non-grandfathered individual market plans that enroll high-cost individuals are eligible for reinsurance payments. This bill eliminates the requirement for issuers to pay a fee in 2015 and 2016. Instead, it authorizes appropriations for the program. This bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to audit 2014 expenditures under the transitional reinsurance program.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Stop Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from providing grants or funds to a state, county, town, or township, Indian tribe, municipal, or other local government for use in any program to check helmet usage or create checkpoints for a motorcycle driver or passenger. Repeals the authority of the Secretary to make grants to states that have a law which makes it unlawful for any individual on an operating motorcycle to be without a motorcycle helmet. Revises grant eligibility requirements to eliminate the requirement that states achieve a certain rate of compliance with such law.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Bridge to Sustainable Infrastructure Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an inflation adjustment in calendar years after 2015 to the rates of the excise taxes on petroleum and petroleum products, diesel fuel, alcohol-based fuel, and fuels used in certain buses. Appropriations are advanced to the Highway Account and the Mass Transit Account in the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) in anticipation of a shortfall in funding in 2015. Such advances must be repaid from the HTF to the general fund of the Treasury. There is established in the legislative branch the Bipartisan Task Force for Sustainable Highway Funding. The Task Force shall identify and make recommendations addressing factors that affect the long-term fiscal imbalance of the HTF. The rates of excise taxes on petroleum and diesel fuels are increased to cover an identified three- and five-year shortfall in funding of the HTF in 2017 and each subsequent calendar year through 2024.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a trade or business that conducts marijuana sales in compliance with state law from the prohibition against allowing business-related tax credits or deductions for expenditures in connection with trafficking in controlled substances.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the House should strive to create, debate, and adopt policy solutions to achieve a National Strategic Agenda with the goals of: creating 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years, balancing the federal budget by 2030, securing Medicare and Social Security for the next 75 years, and making the United States energy secure by 2024.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2015
Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program for states with a shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to streamline state requirements and procedures to assist veterans who completed military EMT training to meet state EMT certification, licensure, and other requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2015
Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Requires not less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million, whichever is greater, to be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to select a VA medical center to serve as the national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the biological children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of individuals exposed to toxic substances while serving as members of the Armed Forces that are related to such exposure. Requires: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) or the head of a federal agency to make available to the VA for review records held by DOD, an Armed Force, or that federal agency that might assist the VA in making determinations regarding individuals and descendents afflicted with a health condition as a result of such exposure; (2) the VA and DOD or such agency head to jointly establish a mechanism for the availability and review of records by the VA; and (3) the national center to employ at least one licensed clinical social worker to coordinate access of individuals to appropriate social and health care programs and to handle case management. Establishes an Advisory Board to oversee and assess the national center and to advise the VA regarding the center's work. Directs DOD to declassify documents (other than documents that would materially and immediately threaten national security) related to any known incident in which at least 100 members of the Armed Forces were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least one case of an associated disability. Directs the VA to conduct a national outreach and education campaign directed toward members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their family members to communicate information on: (1) incidents of exposure of members of the Armed Forces to toxic substances, health conditions resulting from such exposure, and the potential long-term effects; and (2) the national center. Requires DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services to assist the VA in implementing such campaign.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Fund indefinitely and index appropriations to the medical care component of the consumer price index for urban consumers. Makes funding available for: a quality assurance program for services delivered by health care providers, the WTC Program annual report, WTC Health Program Steering Committees, and contracts with Clinical Centers of Excellence. Amends the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act to make individuals (or relatives of deceased individuals) who were injured or killed in the rescue and recovery efforts after the aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001, eligible for compensation under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Allows individuals to file claims for compensation under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 anytime after regulations are updated based on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. Removes the cap on payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Adds the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and World Trade Center Health Program Fund to the list of accounts that are not subject to budget sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Making the Education of Nurses Dependable for Schools Act or the MEND Act Requires the Department of Health and Human Services, for any reimbursements to providers under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act for the costs of nursing and allied health education activities, to apply the regulation establishing the payment methodology for such reimbursements by treating a provider as meeting the requirements: for consideration as operating an approved nursing or allied health education program if the provider or a wholly owned subsidiary educational institution singly or collectively meets all such requirements; for payment for certain nonprovider-operated programs at wholly owned subsidiary educational institutions if the provider meets all such requirements except that the transfer of a nursing or allied health education program to that wholly owned subsidiary educational institution to meet accreditation standards occurred after October 1, 2003, and if the provider or its wholly owned subsidiary educational institution has been in continuous operation since October 1, 2003. Defines "wholly owned subsidiary educational institution" as one that: (1) is organized as a legal entity distinct from the provider, (2) has the provider as its sole owner or sole member, and (3) is organized in the same state in which the provider is organized or registered to do business.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2015
Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 This bill requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw, within 30 days, the proposed rule, "Definition of 'Waters of the United States' Under the Clean Water Act," dated April 21, 2014, describing the water bodies that fall under the scope of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act), as well as any final rule based on the proposed rule. The Army Corps and the EPA must develop a new proposed rule to define the term, "waters of the United States" as used in that Act. In developing the new rule, the Army Corps and the EPA must meet requirements concerning consultation with states and localities enumerated in this bill. The new rule must specifically identify those waters covered and not covered by the Clean Water Act and incorporate the areas and issues where consensus was reached by the interested parties. The Army Corps and the EPA must prepare a report with details about the new proposed rule and its development, including: (1) explanations of how the rule addresses public comments filed on certain related rules and reports and addresses recommendations provided in the consultation process; and (2) comprehensive regulatory and economic impact analyses of how the rule will impact interested parties and each program under the Clean Water Act. The Army Corps and the EPA must: (1) publish the report, a description of the areas and issues where consensus was reached with the state and local officials consulted, and the new proposed rule; and (2) make them available for public review and comment for at least 180 days.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hanna, Richard L. [R-NY-22]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h001051_200.jpg)