United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2023
Ending Importation of Laundered Russian Oil Act This bill prohibits the importation of energy products that were produced at any refinery that uses crude oil originating in Russia. Current law prohibits the importation of Russian products that are classified under chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (which includes mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation, bituminous substances, and mineral waxes). The bill extends this prohibition to products that were produced at any refinery that uses crude oil originating in Russia.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2023
Last Servicemember Standing Medal Act This bill establishes the Last Servicemember Standing medal for certain members of the Armed Forces. A person eligible for the medal is any servicemember who served on active duty; was deployed during war or an overseas contingency operation; as a result of a combat instance during such war or operation, was the last surviving member of a unit; demonstrated extraordinary heroism during such combat; and whose character is recommended for recognition by their commanding officer and at least two peers. The medal may be issued to the next-of-kin if the recipient is deceased.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2023 This bill provides statutory authority for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assign, for purposes of the disability compensation program, a disability rating of total to a veteran who meets certain parameters and is unable to secure or maintain substantially gainful employment due to a service-connected disability. Specifically, the VA may make such a disability determination if a veteran has a service-connected disability rated at least 60%, or has two or more service-connected disabilities with one being at least 40% and a combined total of at least 70%. The VA may also make a determination on the disability rating in circumstances where a veteran meeting the specified parameters maintains marginal employment (income is less than the poverty threshold), or if the veteran maintains substantially gainful employment (exceeds the poverty threshold) and the VA determines that the rating is appropriate. The bill prescribes what disabilities may be considered as one disability (e.g., disabilities incurred or aggravated as a prisoner of war). The VA may not consider the age of a veteran or eligibility for retirement benefits when making any determination related to disability rating.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
This resolution calls on Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian prisoners of war, hostages, and other detained persons and to provide information on those detained or deceased in custody. It also (1) calls on the President to impose human rights sanctions on Azerbaijani officials involved in illegal detention, torture, and extrajudicial killing of Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons; (2) calls on the President to suspend military or security assistance to Azerbaijan; and (3) urges the Department of State to make clear to Azerbaijani authorities their obligations under international law to release and treat humanely all prisoners of war and other detained persons.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
This concurrent resolution calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend that the Postmaster General issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the Buffalo Soldiers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
This concurrent resolution recognizes the difficult challenges Black veterans faced when returning home after serving in the Armed Forces, their heroic military sacrifices, and their patriotism in fighting for equal rights and for the dignity of a people and a nation. The concurrent resolution also recognizes the need for the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue to work to eliminate any health and benefit disparities for minority veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
Youth Financial Learning Act This bill directs the Department of Education to award competitive grants to state educational agencies and, through them, subgrants to local educational agencies to integrate financial literacy education into public elementary or secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2023
Veterans Service Organization Modernization Act of 202 3 This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide competitive grants to veterans service organizations for repairs or rehabilitation of existing facilities and for modernization of technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2023
Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act of 2023 or the 911 SAVES Act of 2023 This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget, by 30 days after the bill's enactment, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2023
This resolution supports the naming of new or undedicated Department of Veterans Affairs facilities after women veterans and minority veterans to reflect the diversity of all who have served in the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2023
State-Based Universal Health Care Act of 20 23 This bill establishes the option for states, or groups of states, to apply to waive certain federal health insurance requirements and provide residents with health insurance benefits plans through a state-administered program. Such programs must cover 95% of the residents in the state within five years and plan benefits must be at least as comprehensive and affordable as the coverage under the equivalent federal program. State programs are supported with funds from the federal programs the state programs replace, which may include Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, certain federal tax credits, and premium-assistance funds, among others. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to appoint an Independent Assessment Panel for Comprehensive Care to review and recommend whether to approve state applications. Each approved state program must be independently reviewed every five years to evaluate changes in health benefits access, quality, and coverage, including whether the state has met the 95% coverage requirement. The federal government must pay all health insurance costs for American Indians and Alaska Natives who enroll in a plan through a state insurance program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2023
Think Differently Transportation Act This bill requires the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) to include information on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) in a required annual report to Congress. Specifically, Amtrak must incorporate into the annual report an action plan for bringing Amtrak rail cars and stations into compliance with the ADA as required by a 2020 settlement agreement entered into between Amtrak and the Department of Justice. (Under the agreement, Amtrak committed to complying with the ADA and making intercity rail stations accessible.) Amtrak must also include a status report on ADA compliance at Amtrak-served stations (based on an assessment by Amtrak). For those Amtrak-served stations where Amtrak is not responsible for ADA compliance, Amtrak must include in the report information on the responsible entity.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2023
Home for the Brave Act of 2023 This bill excludes certain veterans' service-connected disability or death benefits from income for purposes of determinations made in connection with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2023
Curtailing Executive Overcompensation (CEO) Act This bill imposes an excise tax on employers (i.e., business entities) that have at least a 50 to 1 disparity between the wages (including bonuses, stock awards and options) of chief executive officers and the wages paid to their workers. The bill applies to employers that have not less than $100 million in annual gross receipts and $10 million in payroll over a 3 year period. The bill limits such tax to 1% of an employer's gross receipts.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2023
Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act This bill prohibits the use of federal funds for law enforcement officers in schools. It also establishes a grant program to replace law enforcement officers in schools with personnel and services that support mental health and trauma-informed services. Specifically, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds to hire, maintain, or train law enforcement officers in elementary or secondary schools. Further, it prohibits the use of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants for law enforcement officers in schools. Additionally, the bill directs the Department of Education to award grants to local educational agencies to (1) replace law enforcement officers in elementary and secondary schools with personnel and services that support mental health and trauma-informed services, and (2) reform school safety and disciplinary policies to reflect evidence-based practices that do not rely on the criminal justice system. A recipient must use grants funds to hire, maintain, or train specified staff. The bill prohibits the use of grant funds for (1) establishing or enforcing punitive school discipline policies, (2) purchasing or installing surveillance equipment (e.g., metal detectors), or (3) arming teachers or other school personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2023
Tribal Cultural Areas Protection Act This bill provides for the preservation of tribal cultural sites on public land by establishing the Tribal Cultural Areas System. Within three years of this bill's enactment, the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture (USDA), as applicable, must establish criteria for recommending tribal cultural sites for designation as tribal cultural areas for inclusion in the system, using specified factors; solicit recommendations from tribes, state historic preservation officers, and tribal historic preservation officers; review designations in local land management plans to identify tribal cultural sites that meet established criteria; consider any other relevant information; consider and evaluate tribal cultural sites for designation as a tribal cultural area for inclusion in the system; and make recommendations to Congress. The bill gives Congress the sole authority to (1) designate a tribal cultural site located on public land as a tribal cultural area for inclusion in the system, and (2) remove a tribal cultural area from the system. Congress must consider the recommendations of Interior and USDA when determining whether to make such a designation. For each congressionally designated tribal cultural area, Interior or USDA must (1) establish a tribal commission to provide guidance and recommendations on the development of a management plan for the tribal cultural area, and (2) develop a comprehensive management plan. The bill allows for self-determination contracts with tribes or tribal organizations to perform administrative or management functions within a tribal cultural area.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2023
This resolution recognizes the annual celebration of de los Muertos in the United States and around the world and recognizes the cultural contributions that Mexicans and Mexican Americans have made to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2023
Student Support Act This bill requires the Department of Education to make matching grants to states for allocation to local educational agencies (LEAs) so that additional school-based mental health and student service providers may be hired, thereby reducing the student-to-provider ratios in elementary and secondary schools to specified minimum levels recommended by the leading counseling, guidance, and mental health organizations. Grants to states and state allocations to LEAs must be made pursuant to specified formulas that take into account a state's and school district's share of children in poverty.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2023
Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates that Add to Debt Act or the POST GRAD Act This bill authorizes graduate and professional students to receive Direct Subsidized Loans. These students have been ineligible to receive Direct Subsidized Loans since July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2023
Grace Hopper Code for Us Act This bill establishes a program through which the Department of Education must award grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to develop and implement courses of instruction related to critical legacy computer languages (e.g., COBOL, Assembly, and PL/I). In addition, the Government Accountability Office must report on the critical legacy computer languages that (1) are used by the federal government, and (2) are not commonly taught in a course at an IHE.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2023
All Students Count Act of 2023 This bill requires the results of student academic assessments to be disaggregated within each state, local educational agency, and school by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander subgroups. In particular, the Asian American category must include Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Pakistani, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Thai, Taiwanese, Burmese, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese subgroups, and, to the greatest extent practicable, additional subgroups such as the lu Mien and Montagnards. The Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander category must include Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, iTaukei, and Marshallese, and, to the greatest extent practicable, additional subgroups such as the Chuukese and Palauan. The Department of Education must develop guidance related to whether and when these reporting requirements will yield statistically reliable information. Such guidance shall help to inform the minimum number of students that will maximize data reporting for each major racial and ethnic group.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2023
This resolution honors the memories of the victims who were killed in the antisemitic attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 27, 2018. The resolution also condemns rising antisemitism.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2023
Empowering Striking Workers Act of 2023 This bill allows workers engaged in a labor dispute to receive unemployment compensation. It also exempts such workers from the requirement that they be available to work and are actively seeking work.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2023
Confronting and Correcting Historical Injustices Act This bill establishes the Commission for Review and Correction of Historical Injustices to identify, investigate, and review instances of discrimination and other historical injustices carried out by federal agencies. The commission must also periodically recommend legislative or executive action to resolve such instances. In carrying out its duties, the commission must set up a mechanism to allow for public comment and input on instances of discrimination. In addition, the bill grants the commission authority to issue a subpoena to any agency that the majority of the commission deems necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2023
Court Legal Access and Student Support Act of 2023 or the CLASS Act of 2023 This bill prohibits institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs from restricting students' ability to pursue claims against IHEs in court. In addition, the bill makes mandatory arbitration agreements inapplicable to enrollment agreements between students and IHEs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2023
Safe Schools Improvement Act This bill requires states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit bullying and harassment of elementary and secondary school students. In particular, these policies must prohibit bullying and harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), sex characteristics (including intersex traits), disability, or religion. Further, LEAs must provide (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their disciplinary policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department of Education must conduct and report on an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics must collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA disciplinary policies.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/116_rp_ca_13_lee_barbara_200.jpg)