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 · 20 September 2016
Hospital Quality Rating Transparency Act of 2016 This bill delays the date upon which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may make Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for hospitals publicly available. With respect to such ratings, HHS shall: (1) make publicly available detailed information on the methodology used, (2) have the validity and accuracy of such methodology independently confirmed, and (3) provide a public comment period of specified duration. HHS may not make the ratings publicly available until the later of July 31, 2017, or the date upon which the bill's requirements are satisfied. In the event that such ratings have already been published on a specified website, HHS shall remove them and not republish them until the bill's requirements have been satisfied.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
Resettlement Accountability National Security Prioritization Act of 2016 This bill prohibits the admission of covered aliens into the United States for four years unless Congress passes a joint resolution giving the Department of Homeland Security authority to admit them. No covered alien may be admitted into the United States after such four-year period. "Covered alien" means an alien applying for refugee admission to the United States who: (1) is a national of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, or Yemen; or (2) has no nationality and whose last habitual residence was in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, or Yemen. The Government Accountability Office shall report on: (1) the national security impact of refugee admissions; and (2) specified costs of providing refugees with benefits under Medicare, Medicaid, disability insurance under title II of the Social Security Act, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), and section 8 rental assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
Comprehensive Regulatory Review Act of 2016 This bill amends the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 to require the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and each of the federal financial regulators to conduct, at least once every five years, a comprehensive review of all regulations prescribed by the council or the regulator, including all regulations issued after December 31, 2006, in order to identify outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements imposed on covered persons. "Covered persons" are those that engage in offering or providing a consumer financial product or service and affiliates who provide services to them. Under the process for conducting such a review, the council and the appropriate regulator shall also: consider the impact of the regulations on the financial safety and soundness, as well as on the risk profile and business models, of the covered persons; and determine the necessity, appropriateness, and impact of continuing to apply the regulatory action. The bill requires the council and the appropriate regulator to ensure that the notice and comment period with respect to the regulations reviewed is conducted at least once every 5 years (rather than, as currently, 10 years). The council and the appropriate regulator shall eliminate or tailor unnecessary regulations so as to limit the regulatory compliance burdens.
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 · 20 June 2016
Designates the George C. Marshall Museum and George C. Marshall Research Library in Lexington, Virginia, as the "National George C. Marshall Museum and Library."
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
Investment Advisers Modernization Act of 2016 This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to amend specified regulations for investment advisers as they apply to private equity firms and private investment funds. A specified regulation regarding books and records that investment advisers must maintain shall be amended to declare that an investment adviser is not required to maintain: any communications or materials (including any made available in a secure electronic or physical data room) used in connection with due diligence for a prospective investment, if the communications or materials are subject to a confidentiality agreement; or any written communications regarding recommendations, advise, purchase or sell orders, or the receipt, disbursement or delivery of funds or securities if they are sent and received only by supervised persons of the investment adviser. The bill revises the disclaimer that, in the case of an investment adviser that is a partnership, an assignment shall not be deemed to result from the death, withdrawal, sale or transfer of minority interests to apply the disclaimer also to minority members, shareholders, for other equity owners of the investment adviser. The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 is amended to repeal the requirement that advisers organized as partnerships notify the other party to an investment adviser contract every time there is a change in the composition of the partnership. The SEC shall waive the application of specified antifraud prohibitions to advisers who advertise exclusively to accredited investors, qualified clients, qualified purchasers, or knowledgeable employees. Another regulation shall declare that an investment adviser is not required to deliver a brochure or brochure supplement to a client that is a limited partnership, limited liability company, or other pooled investment vehicle for which each limited partner, member, or other equity owner has received, before purchasing a security issued by the pooled investment vehicle, a prospectus, private placement memorandum, or other offering document containing (to the extent material to the private fund offering) substantially the same information as would be required by Part 2A or 2B of Form ADV. The SEC must amend a certain regulation regarding Form PF which registered investment advisers with at least $150 million in private funds assets under management must file with the SEC to report information about the private funds that they manage. This amendment shall state that an investment adviser to a private fund is not required to report any information beyond that which is required by sections 1a and 1b of Form PF unless it is a large hedge fund adviser or a large liquidity fund adviser. The SEC shall also amend the regulation requiring that client funds and securities of which an investment adviser has custody are verified by actual examination periodically by an independent public accountant. The current "privately offered securities" exemptions from this custody rule must apply to both certificated and uncertificated securities and exempt special purpose vehicles managed by private fund sponsors and co-investment funds that hold only one investment. The SEC shall amend the proxy voting regulation to waive its application to any voting authority exercised by an investment adviser regarding client securities that are not public securities. On the other hand, the SEC may not: amend a specified regulation to extend its requirements and prohibitions concerning investment company sales literature to offerings of securities issued by private funds, or adopt substantially similar rules applicable to such offerings. This bill shall not apply to advisory services supplied to an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 2016
Food and Fuel Consumer Protection Act of 2016 This bill amends the Clean Air Act by revising the renewable fuel program, which requires transportation fuel to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must cap the total volume of ethanol blended into the transportation fuel supply at 9.7% of projected gasoline demand as determined by the Energy Information Administration.
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 · 26 April 2016
Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2016 This bill prohibits government officials from entering into a settlement agreement resolving a civil action on behalf of the United States, or from enforcing such a settlement agreement, if that agreement requires a donation to be made to any person by any party (other than the United States) to such agreement. Government officials or agents who violate this prohibition may be removed from office or required to forfeit to the government any money they hold for such purposes to which they may otherwise be entitled. The term "donation" excludes a payment by a party to provide restitution for or otherwise remedy the actual harm caused by the alleged conduct that is the basis for the settlement agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2016
Free File Act of 2016 This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to continue to operate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Free File Program. The program must work with state government agencies to enhance and expand the use of the program, while continuing to: provide free commercial-type online individual income tax preparation and electronic filing services to the lowest 70% of taxpayers by income; provide all taxpayers (regardless of income) with a basic, online electronic fillable forms utility; and work with the private sector to provide the free tax preparation and electronic filing services. Treasury must work with the private sector through the program to identify and implement innovative new program features to improve and simplify the taxpayer's experience with completing and filing individual income tax returns. The IRS and members of the tax software and electronic industry involved in the program must support and promote improvements within the program by mutually testing, piloting, and offering innovative solutions to: simplify the tax system, reduce compliance and reporting burdens, increase tax return accuracy through financial data authentication, strengthen the tax system against fraud through cybersecurity collaboration, avoid duplication, and maximize the use of electronic technology.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2016
Protecting Lives Using Surplus Equipment Act of 2016 This bill invalidates any regulation, rule, guidance, recommendation, or policy issued after May 15, 2015, that limits the sale or donation of excess federal property to state and local law enforcement agencies unless enacted by Congress. Additionally, it prohibits the use of federal funds to implement such regulation, rule, guidance, recommendation, or policy. Property that was recalled or seized on or after May 15, 2015, must be returned, replaced, or reissued to the state or local law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2016
Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2016 or the RPM Act of 2016 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to allow the modification of a vehicle's air emission controls if the vehicle is used solely for competition.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2016
Recognizes the George C. Marshall Museum and George C. Marshall Research Library in Lexington, Virginia, as the "National George C. Marshall Museum and Library."
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2016
United States Commission on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Act of 2016 This bill establishes the United States Commission on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to investigate and address any practices on the part of OPEC that prevent or reduce competition in the global oil market. The Commission shall be composed of a bipartisan group of 16 experts on energy and related matters chosen by the leadership of both parties in Congress and appointed by the President. All members of the Commission must be U.S. citizens. The bill requires the Commission to: determine whether the anti-competitive behavior of OPEC is designed to disadvantage U.S. oil producers; assess the impact of OPEC's policies on U.S. economic and energy security interests; assess how federal agencies are working to alleviate the potential negative impacts of OPEC's behavior; and produce policy recommendations for tax, trade, defense, diplomacy, and other areas where OPEC's behavior is found to cause adverse impacts. The Commission must submit a report of its findings and recommendations to Congress and the President within 12 months. The Commission shall terminate within 90 days after submission of its report. On receipt of the Commission's report, the President will have 90 days to submit Congress a proposal to implement or respond to the recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2016
Safe Harbor for Reporting Violent Behavior Act of 2016 This bill makes an employer immune from civil liability for reporting to a potential future employer an employee or former employee’s violent or threatening behavior. The report must be made in good faith and based on objectively reasonable suspicion. Additionally, the bill makes a potential employer immune from civil liability for taking a reasonable action in good faith to respond to a report of violent or threatening behavior of an employee or potential employee.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2016
Helping Angels Lead Our Startups Act or the HALOS Act This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend Regulation D (governing the limited offer and sale of securities without registration under the Securities Act of 1933) to make the prohibition against general solicitation or general advertising inapplicable to events with specified kinds of sponsors (including angel investor groups not connected to broker-dealers or investment advisers) where: presentations or communications are made by or on behalf of an issuer, the advertising does not refer to any specific offering of securities by the issuer, the sponsor does not engage in certain activities (such as offering investment recommendations or advice to attendees), the sponsor does not receive compensation for the event which would require registration as a broker or dealer or as an investment advisor, and no specific information regarding a securities offering is communicated (other than that the issuer is in the process of offering or planning to offer securities, including the type and amount of securities being offered). This bill may only be construed as requiring the SEC to amend Regulation D with respect to presentations and communications, and not with respect to purchases or sales.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 2016
Commemorates Representatives Sam Johnson and John Lewis for their patriotic service and sacrifice to the country they love and for becoming the first ever recipients of the Congressional Patriot Award.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2016
Commends the cooperative owners and the employees of the Farm Credit System for their continuing service in meeting the credit and financial-services needs of rural communities and agriculture.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2016
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the entering into of an agreement or compact by two or more states for cooperative effort and mutual assistance would be beneficial to the development of an Interstate 73 corridor. Such an agreement may incorporate the following elements to the extent that they are consistent with federal law: the study, development, and promotion of a plan for the design, construction, financing, and operation of such corridor through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan; coordination of efforts to establish a common legal framework in all the signatory states to authorize and facilitate design, construction, financing, and operation of such corridor or through public-private partnerships; advocacy for federal funding to support the establishment of such corridor; making available to the corridor project funding and resources that are or may be appropriated by the signatory states and allocated for that purpose; and doing all things necessary or convenient to facilitate and coordinate the corridor's design, construction, financing, and operation.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2016
Faster Care for Veterans Act of 2016 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to begin an 18-month pilot program in at least three Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) under which veterans use an Internet website to schedule and confirm appointments at VA medical facilities. The pilot program's duration may be extended and the number of VISNs may be increased.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 2015
Consumer Financial Choice and Capital Markets Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to authorize any open-end investment company to elect, in its registration statement, to be a money market fund and to compute the current price per share, for purposes of distribution or redemption and repurchase, of any redeemable security issued by the company using the amortized cost method of valuation or the penny-rounding method of pricing, regardless of whether its shareholders are limited to natural persons, if: the company's objective is the generation of income and preservation of capital through investment in short-term, high-quality debt securities; the company elects to maintain a stable net asset value per share or stable price per share, by virtue of such methods, and the board of directors of the company has determined in good faith that it is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to do so and that the money market fund will continue to use such method(s) only as long as the board believes that the resulting share price fairly reflects the market-based net asset value per share of the company; and the company agrees to comply with such quality, maturity, diversification, and liquidity requirements as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prescribes as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, if consistent with this Act. The bill prohibits covered federal assistance from being provided directly to any money market fund. The bill defines: (1) "covered federal assistance " as federal assistance used for the purpose of making any loan to, or purchasing any stock, equity interest, or debt obligation of, any money market fund, guaranteeing any loan or debt issuance of any money market fund, or entering into any assistance arrangement, loss sharing, or profit sharing with any money market fund; and (2) "federal assistance" as insurance or guarantees by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, transactions involving the Secretary of the Treasury, or the use of any advances from any Federal Reserve credit facility or discount window that is not part of a program or facility with broad-based eligibility established in unusual or exigent circumstances. No principal underwriter of a redeemable security issued by a money market fund nor any dealer shall offer or sell any such security to any person unless the prospectus of the money market fund and any advertising or sales literature for such fund prominently discloses such prohibition against direct covered federal assistance. A company that elects to be a money market fund shall remain subject to the provisions of this Act and SEC rules and regulations that would otherwise apply to a registered open-end company, if consistent with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2015
Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires 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 the members of the Office of Strategic Services in recognition of their service and contributions during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 2015
Employer Participation in Student Loan Assistance Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance to include payments of qualified education loans paid to either an employee or a lender.
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 · 7 October 2015
Financial Regulatory Clarity Act of 2015 Requires the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Credit Union Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, before issuing a regulation or order, to assess other federal regulations and orders to determine whether: (1) the agency's proposal is in conflict with, inconsistent with, or duplicative of such regulations or orders; and (2) such other federal regulations or orders are outdated.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 2015
Affirms that private equity: (1) plays an important role in growing and strengthening U.S. businesses throughout all sectors of the economy and in every state and congressional district, and (2) has fostered significant investment in the U.S. economy. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should maintain normative tax policy that carried interest income resulting from the sale of a capital asset is capital gains income.
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 · 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 · 9 September 2015
Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act T his bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow two or more employers to be considered joint employers for purposes of the Act only if each shares and exercises control over essential terms and conditions of employment and such control over these matters is actual, direct, and immediate.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 2015
Commonsense Permitting for Job Creation Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements for permit guidelines applicable to the designation of disposal sites for discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States. Those guidelines may not prohibit the designation of a disposal site due to the lack of a final site plan because there is not an identified end user, industry, or industrial classification for the site.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Agent Orange Extension Act of 2015 This bill extends for two years the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicides, including Agent Orange, with respect to veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975. The Agent Orange Act of 1991 is amended to extend for two years the authority of the VA to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding associations between diseases and exposure to dioxin and other chemical compounds in herbicides, including the association between exposure to a herbicide used in U.S. and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act (PALS Act) This bill requires that any provision of law referring to current recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) with respect to breast cancer screening, mammography, and prevention be administered as if: (1) the provision referred to USPSTF recommendations last issued before 2009; and (2) those recommendations applied to any screening mammography modality, including any digital modality of such a procedure. (In 2009, the USPSTF updated its guidelines to recommend against routine screening mammography for women between 40 to 49 years of age and to recommend biennial, instead of annual, screening mammography for most women between 50 to 74 years of age.) In addition, the bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to preserve Medicare coverage for screening mammography, without a requirement for coinsurance, and expand the definition of screening mammography to include any digital modality of such a procedure. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may not decrease the frequency with which screening mammography may be paid by Medicare for a woman over 39 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Resettlement Accountability National Security Act of 2015 This bill prohibits the admission of refugees into the United States until Congress passes a joint resolution giving the Department of Homeland Security authority to resume admitting refugees. Requires the Government Accountability Office to report to Congress on refugees who received benefits under any of the following programs: Medicare, Medicaid, disability insurance under title II of the Social Security Act, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program), and section 8 rental assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 This bill prohibits, for a one-year period, the availability of federal funds for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. The restriction will not apply in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Veterans Administration Legislative and Objective Review Act of 2015 or the VALOR Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with a non-government entity to conduct a biannual audit of VA health care functions, the results of which shall be made publicly available on a VA website.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Expresses disapproval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed to by the P5+1 and Iran on July 14, 2015. Reaffirms the commitment of the House of Representatives to: (1) prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, and (2) encourage global stability and security by strongly supporting strategic regional allies.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2015
Securities and Exchange Commission Reporting Modernization Act This bill amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal the requirement that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) compile an annual tabulation of the occasions on which it used specified law, including the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, to obtain access to financial records of a customer and include it in its annual report to the Congress. (The specified law referred to is the authority of the SEC to gain access to and obtain copies of, or the information contained in, financial records of a customer from a financial institution without prior notice to the customer upon an ex parte showing to an appropriate U.S. district court that the SEC seeks such records pursuant to a subpena, if certain circumstances exist and certain requirements are met.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act of 2015 or the TAILOR Act of 2015 This bill directs the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (federal financial institutions regulatory agencies) to: take into consideration the risk profile and business models of institutions subject to regulatory action; determine the necessity, appropriateness, and impact of applying that action to such institutions; and tailor regulatory action so as to limit the burden of regulatory compliance as befits the risk profile and business model involved. The federal financial institutions regulatory agencies shall also consider: the impact that such regulatory action has upon the ability of the institution to flexibly serve evolving and diverse customer needs, the potential unintended impact of examination manuals or other regulatory directives that work in conflict with the tailoring of such regulatory action, and the underlying policy objectives of the regulatory action and statutory scheme involved. In addition, a federal financial institutions regulatory agency must disclose in every notice of a proposed and final rulemaking for a regulatory action how it has applied this Act. The Financial Institutions Examination Council shall report to Congress on the extent to which regulatory actions tailored pursuant to this Act result in differential regulation of similarly-situated institutions of diverse charter types with respect to comparable regulations. The agencies must also apply the requirements of this Act to all regulations adopted five years before the introduction of this Act and ending on the date of its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: allow 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 of posting a bond covering the operations and withdrawals of such distilled spirits, wines, or beer; allow such taxpayers who reasonably expect to have a tax liability of not more than $1,000 per year and who were liable for not more than $1,000 in taxes in the preceding calendar year to file and pay such taxes annually rather than quarterly; exclude the aging period from the production period for beer, wine, or distilled spirits for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer can expense, rather than capitalize, interest costs paid or incurred during the production period; reduce excise tax rates on beer, wine, and distilled spirits produced in the United States; permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax; modify the definition of "hard cider" for excise tax purposes; and exempt home distillery establishments that produce distilled spirits solely for personal or family use from excise tax and bonding requirements. Directs the Department of the Treasury to amend applicable Treasury regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish funding levels in FY2016-FY2021 for the enforcement and compliance activities of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Supporting Home Owner Rights Enforcement Act Amends the Federal Power Act, regarding the issuance of licenses for construction of dams, conduits, and reservoirs, to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, when deciding whether to issue a license for project works, to give equal consideration to minimizing infringement on the useful exercise and enjoyment of property rights held by nonlicensees. Requires the licensee, in developing any recreational resource within the project boundary, to consider private landownership as a means to encourage and facilitate private investment, increased tourism, and recreational use.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
First Amendment Defense Act Prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. Defines "discriminatory action" as any federal government action to discriminate against a person with such beliefs or convictions, including a federal government action to: alter the federal tax treatment of, cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke certain tax exemptions of any such person; disallow a deduction of any charitable contribution made to or by such person; withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any federal grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, certification, accreditation, employment, or similar position or status from or to such person; or withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any benefit under a federal benefit program. Requires the federal government to consider to be accredited, licensed, or certified for purposes of federal law any person who would be accredited, licensed, or certified for such purposes but for a determination that the person believes or acts in accordance with such a religious belief or moral conviction. Permits a person to assert an actual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and to obtain compensatory damages or other appropriate relief against the federal government. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce this Act against the Government Accountability Office or an establishment in the executive branch, other than the U.S. Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission, that is not an executive department, military department, or government corporation. Defines "person" as any person regardless of religious affiliation, including corporations and other entities regardless of for-profit or nonprofit status.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. Treasury may issue coins minted under this Act for only a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019. All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, $5 per half-dollar clad coin, and $50 per proof silver coin. All of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins shall be paid as follows: one-half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's "Destination Moon" exhibit; one-quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; and one-quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid its missions by providing college scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 This bill creates the position of Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders to take over the responsibilities of the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Mental health programs are extended and training regarding mental health is expanded. SAMHSA must establish the National Mental Health Policy Laboratory and the Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee. This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the National Institute of Mental Health to translate evidence-based interventions and the best available science into systems of care. Certain mental health care professional volunteers are provided liability protection. Pediatric mental health subspecialists are eligible for National Health Service Corps programs. An underserved population of children or a site for training in child psychiatry can be designated as a health professional shortage area. The protected health information of an individual with a serious mental illness may be disclosed to a caregiver under certain conditions. This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSAct) to conditionally expand coverage of mental health services. Part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the SSAct is amended to require coverage of antidepressants and antipsychotics. If it will not increase Medicare spending, Medicare's 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services is eliminated. Health information technology activities and incentives are expanded to include certain mental health and substance abuse professionals and facilities. This bill restricts the lobbying and counseling activities of protection and advocacy systems for individuals with mental illness. These systems must focus on safeguarding the rights of individuals with mental illness to be free from abuse and neglect.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
Roads Not Roses Act This bill repeals the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to approve as part of the construction of federal-aid highways the costs of landscape and roadside development.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015
Streamlining Excessive and Costly Regulations Review Act This bill requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), within 5 years after enactment of this Act, and thereafter at least once within each 10-year period, to: review each significant regulation it has issued; determine by vote whether it is ineffective, excessively burdensome, unnecessary, or inconsistent with its mandate; solicit public comment as to whether the regulation should be amended or repealed; and subsequently amend or repeal accordingly. The SEC shall report to certain congressional committees the steps it has taken to implement the results of its decision, including any action to amend or repeal the target regulation.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hurt, Robert [R-VA-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h001060_200.jpg)