United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2021
Healthy Dog Importation Act This bill imposes requirements on the importation of live dogs. Specifically, the bill prohibits the importation of a live dog into the United States unless the Department of Agriculture (USDA) determines the dog (1) is in good health, (2) has received all necessary vaccinations and demonstrated negative test results as evidenced by a certificate from a licensed veterinarian, and (3) is officially identified by a permanent method approved by USDA. Additionally, dogs entering the United States for transfer must be at least six months of age and accompanied by a USDA permit. Transfer is defined as a change of ownership or control of an imported dog to another person, including by sale, adoption, exchange, or donation. USDA must provide an exception to any requirements under the bill for dogs that are transferred for (1) research purposes; (2) veterinary treatment under certain conditions, including appropriate quarantining; or (3) lawful importation into the state of Hawaii if the dog is not transported out of Hawaii for resale at less than six months of age. USDA also has enforcement authority under the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2021
The bill directs the Joint Committee on the Library to remove the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol and to obtain a bust of Clarence Thomas with which to replace it.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2021
Butcher Block Act This bill authorizes the Department of Agriculture to make (or guarantee) loans and award grants for establishing, expanding, and otherwise supporting livestock and meat processing and related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2021
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2021 This bill expands tax incentives and federal assistance for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) that are sponsored by S corporations. The bill provides additional tax incentives for ESOPs by (1) extending to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an ESOP; and (2) allowing a tax deduction for 50% of the interest received by a bank on loans to S corporation-sponsored ESOPs for the purchase of employer securities. The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill defines an ESOP business concern for purposes of the Small Business Act as a business concern that was eligible for a loan, preference, or other program under such Act before more than 49% of the business concern was acquired by an ESOP.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2021
Transparency of Migration Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make publicly available online certain information about individuals unlawfully present in the United States who are (1) apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and sent to a federal detention center or released into the United States, or (2) processed through an HHS facility. This information must be updated weekly and must include daily numbers, the country of origin of such individuals, and other details.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2021
Tribal Transportation Equity and Transparency Improvement Act of 2021 This bill revises certain programs related to tribal transportation. First, the bill revises the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP) by directing the Department of the Interior to (1) request proposals from Indian tribes to include additional transportation facilities in the National Tribal Transportation Facility Inventory, and (2) ensure that all nonconfidential information from the inventory is made available on its website. Next, the bill specifies that funding allocations (i.e., tribal shares) under the TTP must be determined using the facility inventory for the most recent fiscal year for which data is available instead of using FY2012 data. It also requires each Indian tribe that intends to include a proposed road in the inventory to complete and submit certain documentation for the road. It also requires independent audits by the inspectors general of Interior and the Department of Transportation, as well as the Government Accountability Office, to review the administration of the TTP. Additionally, the bill permits Indian tribes to use funds for carrying out highway safety programs in cooperation with states, counties, and other local subdivisions. It also increases the federal share for Indian tribes under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program and allows Indian tribes to use planning and design funds for grant applications under the program. Finally, the bill establishes the Tribal Transportation Advisory Committee, which must provide advice to Interior and study issues related to tribal transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2021
Second Amendment is Essential Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to designate the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing firearms, or importing or manufacturing ammunition, as a critical infrastructure sector. Additionally, the bill states that individuals who are employed by those entities are critical infrastructure workers. The term critical infrastructure means systems and assets, physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health and safety, or any combination of those matters.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2021
Metropolitan Statistical Area Preservation Act This bill prohibits the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from establishing, for purposes of designating areas as metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), a minimum population for the urban area of such MSA that is more than 50,000. The OMB may, for statistical purposes only, establish other statistical area designations with higher minimum population requirements for such urban areas.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2021
World Deserves To Know Act This bill requires sanctions on certain members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and officials of Chinese health agencies. It also addresses related issues. The President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is a CCP official and who is knowingly responsible for or complicit in (1) the disappearances of whistleblowers and citizen journalists in China relating to COVID-19, or (2) limiting free speech and academic freedom in China relating to COVID-19. The President must also impose such sanctions on specified individuals who have leadership positions in China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and China's National Health Commission (NHC). The authority to impose such sanctions shall end when the President certifies to Congress that an independent and unimpeded investigation into the potential origin of COVID-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has taken place. The bill also bars federal funds and certain federal student assistance from going to institutions of higher education that enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. Federal funding to the National Academy of Sciences may not be used to enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress a review of all funds that the National Institutes of Health have made available to the NHC since FY2010. This report must also be publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2021
Renter Protection Act of 2021 This bill limits the use and availability of assistance provided under certain emergency rental assistance programs created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, rental assistance not yet used by grantees to assist eligible households as of July 1, 2021, must only be used for rental arrears after this date, and not for rent, utilities and home energy costs and arrears, or other expenses as allowed under current law. Further, the bill changes the deadline for distribution of these funds from September 30, 2022, to December 31, 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2021
This bill prohibits the use of federal funds to require a member of the Armed Forces to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The bill also prohibits adverse action (e.g., punishment) being taken against a member of the Armed Forces because the member refuses to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2021
Firearm Due Process Protection Act This bill expands the grounds for pursuing judicial remedies related to certain firearm transfers. Additionally, the bill establishes procedural rules applicable to actions for judicial remedies. Current law authorizes judicial remedies for an individual who is erroneously denied a firearm (e.g., an individual is denied a firearm but the individual is eligible to receive or possess a firearm). This bill authorizes remedies for an individual who experiences an extended delay (i.e., a delay of more than 60 days) on a firearm transfer. Additionally, the bill requires an expedited hearing on an action for judicial remedies and places the burden of proof on the respondent to show by clear and convincing evidence that the individual was ineligible to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2021
Accountable Care in Rural America Act This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to exclude certain components from a methodology used under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The program enables accountable care organizations (ACOs) to receive payments for savings stemming from care coordination and management. Specifically, the bill requires the CMS to exclude an ACO's assigned Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries from certain regional adjustments to the ACO's benchmark for savings determinations, and to otherwise ensure that an ACO is not in a less favorable financial position due to its share of assigned beneficiaries in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2021
Essential Caregivers Act of 2021 This bill requires skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and nearby inpatient rehabilitation facilities to establish an essential caregivers program during a public health emergency. Under the program, facilities must allow each resident to select up to two essential caregivers to provide daily living assistance, emotional support, or companionship during the emergency. Facilities must afford such caregivers 12 hours of access to residents each day (or unlimited access for end-of-life care), and caregivers must agree to follow facility protocols for staff safety. Facilities may deny access to caregivers who violate protocols, subject to certain notification requirements; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must establish an appeals process relating to such decisions and may take specified enforcement actions against facilities that violate the bill's requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Harlem Hellfighters, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service during World War I.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Adopt the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model Act or the Adopt GREET Act This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update the methodology used in life-cycle analyses of greenhouse gas emissions that result from the production and use of corn-based ethanol and biodiesel fuel. The EPA must update its methodology within 90 days and every five years thereafter. In the first update, the EPA must adopt the most recent Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation model (commonly referred to as the GREET model) developed by Argonne National Laboratory.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
Guarding Readiness Resources Act of 2021 This bill modifies the treatment of funds received by the National Guard Bureau as a reimbursement from a state or other U.S. territory (e.g., Guam) for the use of military property. Specifically, the funds must be credited to (1) the appropriation, fund, or account used in incurring the obligation; or (2) an appropriation, fund, or account currently available for the purposes of which the expenditures were made. Such funds must be treated as a reprogramming request and may only be obligated or disbursed after the National Guard Bureau submits a written request and receives authorization from Congress. The National Guard Bureau must annually submit an account of the use of funds disaggregated by appropriation and subactivity group.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 2021
United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the U.S. Army Rangers Veterans of World War II in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2021
Biodiesel Tax Credit Extension Act of 2021 This bill extends the income and excise tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel used as fuel through 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2021
Recognizing Military Service in PSLF Act This bill requires the Department of Education to count each month for which a borrower's federal student loan payment was in deferment or forbearance during a period of active duty, including certain National Guard duty, as a qualifying payment for the purpose of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Under current law, a borrower who is a service member is eligible to receive student loan forgiveness under the PSLF program; however, if the borrower places their loan into deferment or forbearance while they are on active duty, that period of time does not count as a qualifying payment for the PSLF program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2021
State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021 This bill exempts antitrust actions brought by states from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's processes regarding transfers and consolidations of cases. Under current law, civil actions that are pending in different federal courts, and that involve common questions of fact, may be transferred to a single court district for coordinated or consolidated trial proceedings. Current law exempts antitrust actions from consolidation or transfers only if they are brought by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2021
Broadband for Rural America Act This bill modifies and consolidates Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs for expanding broadband internet in rural areas. Specifically, the bill modifies a program that provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to support broadband expansion in rural areas. Modifications include revising the criteria used to prioritize applications and projects and changing the name of the program to the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program. Additionally, the bill terminates on June 30, 2022, a Department of Agriculture (USDA) COVID-19 response program that supports broadband expansion in rural areas for distance learning and telemedicine. Any remaining program funds available after the termination date shall be used for the ReConnect Rural Broadband Program. The bill also expands coordination requirements that apply to the Department of Commerce, USDA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. This includes requiring the use of specified FCC maps when assessing a community's access to broadband.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2021
Agricultural Security Risk Review Act This bill expands the membership of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to include the Secretary of Agriculture. (The committee reviews the national security implications of certain foreign investments in U.S. businesses or real estate, including critical infrastructure or technologies.)
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2021
Surface Transportation Advanced through Reform, Technology, and Efficient Review Act 2.0 or the STARTER Act 2.0 This bill addresses provisions related to federal-aid highway, transit, highway safety, motor carrier, innovation, and resiliency programs of the Department of Transportation (DOT). It also sets forth requirements for the operation of railroad freight cars in the United States. For example, the bill extends FY2020 enacted levels through FY2026 for federal-aid highway, transit, and safety programs. DOT must provide competitive grants for projects to provide parking for commercial motor vehicles on the federal-aid highway system; establish a discretionary program to award competitive grants for eligible projects that encourage economic viability of the nation, a metropolitan area, or a region; create a public awareness campaign to reduce instances of driving while under the influence of prescription and over-the-counter medications; and promulgate regulations to implement an apprenticeship program for licensed commercial motor vehicle drivers under the age of 21. The bill also establishes new competitive grant programs to spur innovation of connected vehicle applications into operational deployments and to test the safe integration of automated driving system technologies into the on-road transportation system. Additionally, the bill addresses projects to improve the resiliency of federal-aid highways and bridges on and off the National Highway System. Further, the bill prohibits the operation of railroad freight cars in the United States that have been manufactured or assembled by certain foreign countries or that contain sensitive technology from such countries.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2021
No Land Grab Act of 2021 This bill prohibits from having the force and effect of law a provision of Executive Order 14008 (86 Fed. Reg. 7619), titled Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad , that requires the Department of the Interior to recommend steps to achieve the goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2021
Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2019 or the RPM Act of 2019 [ sic ] This bill authorizes the modification of a vehicle's air emission controls for vehicles that are not legal for operation on a street or highway and are used solely for competition.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2021
Combatting COVID Unemployment Fraud Act of 2021 This bill requires additional documentation for individuals seeking pandemic unemployment assistance, requires state unemployment agencies to use designated fraud prevention tools, and otherwise addresses pandemic-related unemployment benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2021
Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act of 2021 This bill establishes several requirements and standards relating to prior authorization processes under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Specifically, MA plans must (1) establish an electronic prior authorization program that meets specified standards, including the ability to provide real-time decisions in response to requests for items and services that are routinely approved; (2) annually publish specified prior authorization information, including the percentage of requests approved and the average response time; and (3) meet other standards, as set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, relating to the quality and timeliness of prior authorization determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2021
This resolution condemns the rocket attacks by Hamas against Israel beginning the week of May 9, 2021. It also states that the United States must continue to invest in and support Israel's security and sovereignty.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2021
This bill waives certain eligibility requirements for hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program (i.e., a program that allows entities to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers) during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. Specifically, the bill waives the required minimum proportion of low-income patients served for hospitals that began participating in the program during or prior to the COVID-19 emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2021
COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021 This bill requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to declassify all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19. The ODNI shall submit to Congress an unclassified report containing such information, with redactions only as necessary to protect sources and methods.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2021
Save Local Business Act This bill provides that a person may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee under federal labor law only if such person directly, actually, and immediately (and not in a limited and routine manner) exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment. Such control may by demonstrated by hiring and discharging employees, determining individual employee rates of pay and benefits, day-to-day supervision of employees, assigning individual work schedules, positions, and tasks, and administering employee discipline.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2021
Repealing Existing Substandard Provisions Encouraging Conciliation with Tribes Act This bill repeals certain provisions related to the treatment of Indians, including provisions on hostile tribes, alcohol, work requirements, penalties for truancy, and placement of youth in reform school without the consent of a parent or guardian.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2021
Help Wanted Act This bill eliminates certain work search exceptions and flexibilities in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Specifically, the bill prohibits states participating in PUA from modifying unemployment work search requirements on an emergency basis to respond to COVID-19. The bill also eliminates a requirement that states be flexible regarding work search requirements for individuals who are unable to search for work because of COVID-19. Similarly, the bill makes individuals who decline to work on the basis of safety concerns related to COVID-19 and claimants who quit working as a direct result of COVID-19 ineligible for PUA.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2021
Combatting Racist Training in the Military Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Armed Forces and academic institutions of the Department of Defense from promoting specified anti-American and racist theories (e.g., that any race is inherently superior or inferior to any other race). Specifically, the bill prohibits including anti-American and racist theories or materials in curricula, reading lists, seminars, workshops, trainings, or other educational or professional settings in a manner that could appear as sponsorship, approval, or endorsement; contracting with, hiring, or otherwise engaging speakers, consultants, diversity trainers, and other persons for the purpose of advocating anti-American and racist theories; compelling members of the Armed Forces to affirm or profess belief in anti-American and racist theories; and segregating members of the Armed Forces by race in any setting, including educational and training sessions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2021
Get Americans Back To Work Act This bill makes an individual ineligible for federal pandemic unemployment compensation (FPUC) after June 30, 2021. It also reduces the amount of FPUC to $150.00 for weeks of unemployment ending after May 31, 2021, and ending on or before June 30, 2021. Under current law, an individual is eligible for FPUC for weeks of employment ending on or before September 6, 2021 in the amount of $300.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2021
This concurrent resolution declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2021
This resolution promotes increased public awareness of motorcyclist profiling. The resolution also encourages the motorcyclist community and law enforcement to collaborate and communicate on efforts to end motorcyclist profiling.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2021
Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out a five-year pilot program to provide on-campus benefits assistance and counseling to eligible students at tribal colleges and universities. An eligible student is a student who (1) is a veteran, service member, or dependent of a veteran or service member; and (2) is eligible for any service or benefit under the VetSuccess on Campus program.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2021
Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act of 2021 or the CONNECT for Health Act of 2021 This bill expands coverage of telehealth services under Medicare. Among other provisions, the bill allows the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to waive certain restrictions, such as restrictions on the types of technology that may be used; permanently removes geographic restrictions on originating sites (i.e., the location of the beneficiary) and allows the home of the beneficiary to serve as the originating site for all services; permanently allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to serve as the distant site (i.e., the location of the health care practitioner); and allows the CMS to generally waive coverage restrictions during any public health emergency. Additionally, the CMS must report on the effects of expanded telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, including with respect to the utilization, quality, and outcomes of services. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation may also test alternative payment models relating to expanded telehealth services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2021
Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, milk, and cheese to Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act or the DAIRY PRIDE Act This bill prohibits the sale of any food that uses the market name of a dairy product (such as milk , yogurt , or cream cheese ) unless the food (1) is the milk of a hooved animal, (2) is derived from such milk, or (3) contains such milk as a primary ingredient.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2021 This bill establishes and modifies several programs and requirements to address prescription drug prices. The bill modifies provisions under Medicare and Medicaid relating to prescription drug coverage and price transparency. Among other changes, the bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to publish certain information, as reported by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), relating to generic dispensing rates, drug discounts and rebates, and payments between PBMs, health plans, and pharmacies; caps annual out-of-pocket spending under the Medicare prescription drug benefit; allows prescription drug plan sponsors under the Medicare prescription drug benefit to offer additional plans in a region; requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with PBMs under Medicaid; and allows states to include in the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program covered outpatient drugs that are provided as part of physician or outpatient hospital services. The bill also generally modifies other provisions relating to the regulation and costs of generic and brand-name drugs. Among other changes, the bill prohibits the manufacturer of a brand-name, generic, or biosimilar drug from entering into certain agreements to resolve or settle a patent infringement claim in connection with the sale of a drug or biological product; permanently allows high deductible health plans to waive deductibles for insulin and associated products; and establishes the position of Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Maximum Pressure Act This bill expands sanctions and economic penalties on Iran. It also restricts the President from unilaterally lifting or waiving the sanctions or penalties and increases congressional oversight of them. Specifically, the bill requires the President to impose visa- and asset-blocking sanctions. Additionally, it modifies existing sanctions, including by (1) providing statutory authority for executive orders imposing sanctions; (2) applying sanctions to additional sectors of Iran's economy; and (3) broadening sanctionable conduct to cover, for example, assisting Iran with the acquisition of ballistic missiles and the complicity of Iranian officials in human rights violations in specified countries. The bill also requires reporting on licenses that authorize activities subject to sanctions. The bill prohibits U.S. representatives at the International Monetary Fund from voting to allow Iran's access to special drawing rights (a currency support tool) and places restrictions on financial transactions with Iran. The restrictions include requiring domestic financial institutions to implement special measures with respect to foreign financial institutions that conduct significant transactions connected to the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (a European mechanism that bypasses U.S. sanctions when carrying out trade with Iran). The Department of State must maintain the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' designation as a terrorist organization and must designate Ansharallah (or Houthis), which operates in Syria, as a foreign terrorist organization. The bill also requires reports on U.S. sanctions concerning Iran, the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program, and other matters.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to take certain actions promoting the normalization of relations between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. Specifically, the State Department must develop a strategy on expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords (the term used to refer collectively to agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain marking the public normalization of relations between the two Arab countries and Israel). The strategy must include a description of how the U.S. government will encourage further normalization of relations with Israel. In addition, the State Department must report on options for U.S. international efforts to promote the strengthening of ties between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. The State Department must also report on the status of the normalization of relations with Israel, including information on (1) laws that punish individuals for people-to-people relations with Israelis (i.e., anti-normalization laws), and (2) evidence of steps taken by Arab governments toward permitting or encouraging normalized relations between their citizens or residents and Israeli citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2021
Finish the Wall Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume activities related to the construction of a barrier system along the U.S.-Mexico border and addresses other border-related issues. DHS must resume all such construction activities that were planned or underway prior to January 20, 2021. DHS must also expend all funds appropriated or explicitly obligated since October 1, 2016, for construction of this barrier system. DHS may not cancel contracts for activities related to such construction entered into on or before January 20, 2021. Furthermore, within 14 days of this bill's enactment, DHS must certify to Congress that U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities that process adults taken into custody at the border are fully compliant with certain laws related to the collection of DNA. (Among other things, these laws allow for the collection of DNA samples from non-U.S. persons detained under U.S. authority.)
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2021
Trillion Trees Act This bills establishes a variety of requirements and incentives to plant trees and conduct other land management practices for the purposes of capturing and storing carbon in domestic and international trees and forests. Additionally, the bill provides incentives to research or develop other carbon sequestration tools. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to set targets to increase forest carbon stock through January 1, 2100, for the purposes of sequestering and storing carbon in U.S. forests. It also establishes and provides funding for the Trillion Trees Challenge Fund to provide grants to nonfederal entities for activities related to reforestation efforts on public or private lands. In addition, it raises the cap on the Reforestation Trust Fund to enhance forest health in the National Forest System and requires the USDA to establish a Tree City USA Grant Program. The bill also allows the U.S. Agency for International Development to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit organization to establish an International Forest Foundation to promote reforestation and prevent deforestation. Additionally, it establishes requirements and incentives to address seedling shortages and support nurseries. Finally, the bill provides market incentives to research or develop other carbon sequestration tools relating to biochar, sustainable building practices, biochemical and bioplastic products, and biomass energy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2021
Withstanding Attempts to Encroach on our Resources Act of 2021 or the WATER Act This bill specifies which bodies of water fall under the scope of the Clean Water Act and are thereby under federal jurisdiction. Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for the definition of waters of the United States , commonly known as WOTUS, included in the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule: Definition of "Waters of the United States." The 2020 rule replaced a 2015 rule that included a more expansive definition of WOTUS.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 2021
Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2021 This bill expands Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to include all services provided by chiropractors, rather than only subluxation corrections through manual manipulation of the spine.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2021
Restoring Environments, Soils, Trees, and Operations to develop the Rural Economy Act of 2021 or the RESTORE Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA), at the request of a governor of a state, to select a forest landscape in the state on which to conduct a forest landscape project. For a project, USDA must carry out one or more specified management activities, including installing fuel breaks, conducting controlled burns, and removing dead trees.
