United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2018
Veterans' Credit Protection Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct outreach to inform veterans of how to resolve credit issues caused by a delayed payment of a claim for emergency hospital care, medical services, or other emergency health care furnished through a non-VA provider. The Government Accountability Office shall conduct a study that evaluates the effectiveness of the Office of Community Care in providing timely payment of a proper invoice for such care by the required payment date.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2018
Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 This bill extends access to Department of Defense commissaries and morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) facilities to Purple Heart recipients, veterans with a service-connected disability, Medal of Honor recipients, former prisoners of war, and veteran caregivers. (Commissaries are grocery/department stores on military installations that sell food and some household items. MWR facilities offer a range of services on bases including libraries, outdoor recreation, dining, golf courses, and sports and fitness centers.)
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2018
Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act This bill sets forth requirements and limitations with respect to the removal from office of a special counsel appointed by the Attorney General, or of another official appointed by the Attorney General who exercises a similar degree of independence from the Department of Justice (DOJ) chain of command. Specifically, a special counsel or other appointed official: may only be removed by the Attorney General or the most senior Senate-confirmed DOJ official, in certain circumstances; may only be removed for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause; must be provided written notice that specifies the reason for removal; and may file an action to challenge the removal not later than 10 days after notice was provided.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2018
Fairness to Pet Owners Act of 2018 This bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to require a prescriber of a household-animal medication to provide a free copy of the prescription to the pet owner without the pet owner having to request a copy.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2018
This bill expands financial disclosure reporting provisions to require Members of Congress to include in their report any business ties the Member or his or her immediate family has with a foreign entity.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10926 Quality Drive in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the "Julius L. Chambers Civil Rights Memorial Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2018
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act This bill requires federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about March 23, 2018, to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period of such lapse as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2018
Federal Retirement Fairness Act This bill modifies the federal civilian service that is creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Specifically, it allows service as a temporary or intermittent employee performed after December 1, 1988, to be creditable under FERS if an employee or Member deposits a certain amount into the retirement fund.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2018
Developing Responsible Individuals for a Vibrant Economy Act or the DRIVE-Safe Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation to issue regulations relating to an apprenticeship program for licensed commercial motor vehicle drivers under the age of 21.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2018
Earmark Elimination Act of 2018 This bill establishes a point of order in the House of Representatives against considering legislation that contains a congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit, as defined by the bill. If the point of order is successfully raised and sustained, the congressional earmark, limited tax benefit, or limited tariff benefit shall be deemed to be stricken from the legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2018
Prescription Transparency Act of 2018 This bill prohibits contract provisions between a health insurer and a pharmacy that prohibit or penalize a pharmacist's disclosure to an individual purchasing a prescription drug of information regarding (1) the cost of the drug, (2) the availability of any therapeutically equivalent alternative drug, or (3) less expensive methods of purchasing the drug.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2018
Veterans Mental Health Accessibility Act This bill makes veterans who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations eligible for hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for any mental illness through the Department of Veterans Affairs, notwithstanding insufficient medical evidence to conclude that the mental illness is attributable to such service.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2018
This bill prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring a veteran's surviving spouse to return payments of dependent's compensation or of a pension as a married veteran for the month in which the veteran dies.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2018
Agricultural Certainty for Reporting Emissions Act This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to exempt air emissions from animal waste at a farm from specified release notification requirements, recordkeeping requirements, and associated penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2018
Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of 2018 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to modify requirements for tax-favored retirement savings accounts, employer-provided retirement plans, and retirement benefits for federal judges. With respect to employer-provided plans, the bill modifies requirements regarding: multiple employer plans, automatic enrollment and nonelective contributions, loans, terminating or transferring plans, reporting and disclosure rules, nondiscrimination rules, selecting lifetime income providers, and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums. The bill also increases the tax credit for small employer pension plan startup costs and allows a tax credit for small employers that establish retirement plans that include automatic enrollment. With respect to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), the bill: treats taxable non-tuition fellowship and stipend payments as compensation, repeals the maximum age for traditional IRA contributions, and permits any IRA to be a shareholder of any S corporation that is a bank. The bill makes several modifications to retirement benefits for magistrate judges of the U.S. Tax Court and other federal judges. The bill also modifies various tax provisions to: reinstate and increase the tax exclusion for benefits provided to volunteer firefighters and emergency medical responders, revise the required distribution rules for pension plans, increase penalties for failing to file tax or retirement plan returns, and require the Internal Revenue Service to share returns and return information with U.S. Customs Border Protection to administer the heavy vehicle use tax.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 2018
Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act This bill requires any country that seeks to import shark products into the United States to obtain a certification from the Department of Commerce that the country has a regulatory program in effect to provide for the conservation and management of sharks, including measures to prohibit the removal of any of the fins of a shark (including the tail). Commerce must revise its regulations to include rays and skates as species that are subject to the Seafood Traceability Program. (The Seafood Traceability Program has data reporting and recordkeeping requirements at the time of entry for imported fish or fish products entered into U.S. commerce.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2018
Fast Help For Homeowners Act This bill requires a subordinate lien holder on a property that secures a federally related mortgage loan to respond within a specified time frame to a request for a short sale of the property.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2018
Coach-Only Airfare for Capitol Hill Act of 2018 This bill prohibits the use of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the official travel of a Member of Congress or other officer or employee of the legislative branch for airline accommodations which are not coach-class accommodations. Such prohibition is inapplicable for an individual if the use would be permitted for an employee of an agency subject to specified federal regulations for temporary duty travel allowances.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2018
Korean War Combat Veterans Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the Korean War combat veterans, collectively, in recognition of their dedicated service during the Korean War. The medal shall be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution, which is urged to make the medal available for display at other locations associated with the Korean War combat veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2018
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1585 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro, North Carolina, as the "J. Howard Coble Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Searchable Legislation Act of 2018 This bill requires Congress to ensure that all congressional documents and all votes cast in Congress and congressional committees are created, transmitted, and published in searchable electronic formats, consistent with data standards recommended by such advisory bodies as Congress may establish. The Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate, acting jointly, shall establish the Congressional Data Task Force (an advisory body) to recommend data standards for the creation, transmission, and publication of information and congressional documents, including bills, resolutions, amendments, reports, laws, and records, in such formats for purposes of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Readable Legislation Act of 2018 This bill requires every bill or joint resolution that amends an existing section of any Act to do so by setting forth the entire section and showing the omissions and insertions proposed by appropriate typographical devices. A measure may not revise or amend any section of an Act by a mere reference to it.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2018
Offers the deep sympathy of the House of Representatives to the family members of the late Reverend Billy Graham. Honors his legacy of preaching the Gospels, fighting for civil rights, opposing communism, and providing spiritual guidance to millions of people around the world.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
This bill removes the prohibition on TRICARE Standard eligibility for members of the Selected Reserve of a reserve component of the Armed Forces who are enrolled or eligible to enroll in the federal health benefits program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
Stopping Foreign Businesses Sanctuary Act of 2018 This bill authorizes federal and state courts to exercise jurisdiction over certain foreign entities that conduct commercial activities in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
Transit Bus Procurement Act This bill directs the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide access to GSA sources of supply (schedules) for buses to recipients or subrecipients of federal public transportation grant assistance to purchase buses for public transportation. The Department of Transportation shall restrict schedule access to recipients or subrecipients in areas with a population of: less than 200,000, and 200,000 or more with 100 or fewer buses in fixed route service during peak service hours.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2018
This joint resolution extends the sympathies of Congress to the family of the Reverend William (Billy) F. Graham, Jr., and honors his life, his ministry, and his contributions to North Carolina, the United States, and the moral and religious life of millions of people.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Shellfish Aquaculture Improvement Act of 2018 This bill limits recovery for certain injuries sustained by an aquaculture worker if state workers' compensation is available to such individual. (An aquaculture worker is an individual employed by commercial enterprises involved in the controlled cultivation and harvest of aquatic plants and animals, including the cleaning, processing or canning of fish and fish products, the cultivation and harvesting of shellfish, and the controlled growing and harvesting of other aquatic species.)
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Facilitating Veterans' Education Act This bill requires that at the same time a military department issues a certificate of release or discharge to a member of the Armed Forces who is being discharged or released from active duty, the department shall provide to such member a copy of the joint services transcript of the member, or a successor transcript.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2018
Reserve Component Benefits Parity Act of 2018 This bill makes reserve component members who are deployed to support pre-planned operations of a combatant command eligible for: (1) non-reduction in pay while serving in the uniformed services or National Guard, (2) consideration of active duty service to reduce the age for retired pay ; and (3) the high-deployment allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments and frequent mobilizations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2018
Sunlight in Workplace Harassment Act This bill amends the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to require disclosure of settlements and complaints related to sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and other types of discrimination. Specifically, certain issuers of securities must annually disclose this information to shareholders and the public. Issuers must also describe the measures taken to prevent employees from committing further abuse, harassment, or discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2018
Supports the designation of Gold Star Families Remembrance Day. Honors and recognizes the sacrifices made by the families of members and veterans of the armed forces who gave their lives to defend freedom and protect America.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Chiropractic Health Parity for Military Beneficiaries Act This bill directs the Department of Defense to provide chiropractic health care services and benefits through the TRICARE program to uniformed service members who are not on active duty, uniformed service retirees, and their dependents. (Active duty members of the uniformed services are currently eligible for chiropractic services and benefits through the Chiropractic Health Care Program.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2018
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act This bill requires federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about February 8, 2018, to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period of such lapse as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2018
Civil Defense Accountability Act of 2018 This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to report to Congress regarding current notification protocols for ballistic missile threats. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must conduct, and report on, a study to identify best practices of at least 13 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, California, Washington, and other states bordering or not bordering on an ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, regarding civil defense emergencies. The bill requires key officials (defined to include the heads of DOD, FEMA, and the FCC) to submit to Congress and make publicly available unclassified reports on the actions of their respective departments or agencies regarding the ballistic missile false alarm that occurred on January 13, 2018, in Hawaii. Each report shall include recommendations for corrective actions to diminish the possibility of another ballistic missile false alarm. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must submit to Congress and publish online a report regarding the ability of HHS and health care providers to respond to attacks in the United States with biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear weapons. HHS must (1) develop and implement a public outreach program in coordination with state and local governments regarding recommendations in such report for improving readiness in responding to such attacks, and (2) consider the report's recommendations when issuing grants under the Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement and the Hospital Preparedness Program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2018
Better Access to Technical Training, Learning, and Entrepreneurship for Servicemembers Act or the BATTLE for Servicemembers Act This bill directs the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security to waive additional training under the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) under certain circumstances. The TAP provides information and training to service members and their spouses to assist them in the transition to civilian life by pursuing additional education, finding a job in the public or private sector, or starting their own business. Under the bill, service members must participate in TAP training programs unless they choose to opt out of such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2018
Veterans Cemetery Benefit Correction Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior to provide outer burial receptacles for veterans' remains buried in open cemeteries under National Park Service control. The use of outer burial receptacles in such cemeteries shall be in accordance with regulations or procedures approved by Interior.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2018
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike. Honors the perseverance of the members of Union Local 1733 and the contribution of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in resolving the labor dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 2018
Ultrasound Informed Consent Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require abortion providers, before a woman gives informed consent to any part of an abortion: (1) perform an obstetric ultrasound on the pregnant woman; (2) provide a simultaneous explanation of what the ultrasound is depicting; (3) display the ultrasound images so the woman may view them; and (4) provide a complete medical description of the images, including the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, cardiac activity if present and visible, and the presence of external members and internal organs if present and viewable. The bill establishes civil penalties for violations. It prohibits construing this bill to require a woman to view the images or penalizing the provider or the woman if the woman declines to look at the images.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Standardizing Electronic Prior Authorization for Safe Prescribing Act of 2018 This bill requires Medicare's electronic-prescription program to provide for the secure electronic transmittal of a prior authorization request from a Medicare enrollee's prescribing health-care professional with respect to a drug covered under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Servicemembers Improved Transition through Reforms for Ensuring Progress Act or the SIT-REP Act This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to require educational institutions, in order to be eligible for educational payments, to adopt policies that prohibit penalizing student veterans for late VA assistance payments. Such policies shall: (1) permit a veteran who provides the institution with a certificate of VA assistance eligibility to attend courses for a period without VA payment; and (2) ensure that the educational institution will not impose penalties such as late fees, course denial, or requiring an individual to borrow additional funds because of delayed VA payments.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that if it creates a presumption of service connection between the occurrence of a disease and exposure to a herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era at a military base in Thailand, such presumption shall also apply to exposure to a herbicide agent while serving in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era at any military base in Thailand without regard to where on the base the veteran was located or what military job specialty the veteran performed. The VA may provide to any spina bifida-affected child of a veteran who served on active duty in Thailand beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, and who was exposed to a herbicide agent during such service, the same health care, vocational training and rehabilitation, and monetary allowance required to be paid to a similarly affected child of a Vietnam veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
No Unconstitutional Strike against North Korea Act This bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) a conflict on the Korean peninsula would have catastrophic consequences; (2) actions and statements that increase tensions between the United States and North Korea should be avoided; and (3) the President should engage in talks with North Korea to reduce tensions and improve communication, initiate negotiations to achieve a diplomatic agreement to halt and eventually reverse North Korea's nuclear pursuits, and move toward denuclearization and a permanent peace in the Korean peninsula. Funds available to the Department of Defense or to any other federal department or agency may not be used to launch a military strike against North Korea or otherwise introduce U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities in North Korea before the earlier of: (1) the date on which Congress declares war on North Korea, or (2) the date of an authorization that meets the requirements of the War Powers Resolution and that is enacted after the enactment of this bill. Such prohibition shall not apply to military force used to: (1) repel a sudden attack on the United States, its territories or possessions, its Armed Forces, or its allies; or (2) rescue or remove U. S. personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 2018
Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act This bill requires federal employees furloughed due to a lapse in appropriations that begins on or about January 19, 2018, to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period of such lapse as soon as practicable after such lapse ends.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2018
Pulled Pork Act This bill prohibits federal agencies from using funds made available through an earmark after the enactment of this bill. It also rescinds the earmarked funds effective on the date the funds are made available. An "earmark" is a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member of Congress providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific state, locality or congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process. Each agency must submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an annual report identifying each earmark that is ineligible for funding under this bill. OMB must then submit to Congress and publish on its website an annual report detailing the identified earmarks and the annual savings resulting from this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2018
Guidance Out Of Darkness Act or the GOOD Act This bill requires an agency to publish a guidance document on the agency's website on the day the guidance document is issued. All guidance documents issued by an agency during the last 10 years must be published in a single location on the agency's website. On the day a guidance document is rescinded, an agency must indicate that the guidance document is rescinded and the date on which it was rescinded.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2018
Expresses support for: (1) the goals of Catholic Schools Week, an event cosponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and established to recognize the contributions of Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States; and (2) the continued dedication of Catholic schools, students, parents, and teachers toward academic excellence and the key role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for the nation.
![Official portrait of Rep. Jones, Walter B., Jr. [R-NC-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/j000255_200.jpg)