The world's political record
Person
United States · Official source
No vote positions have been ingested for this person yet.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Urges the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal, beginning with taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, the excise tax on employer-sponsored health care coverage for which there is an excess benefit (high-cost plans).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem equine (horses and other members of the equidae family) parts to be an unsafe food additive or animal drug. The bill prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts for human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2017
Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act This bill establishes a comprehensive women's history museum within the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, to provide for: (1) the collection, study, and establishment of programs related to women's contributions that have influenced the direction of the United States; (2) collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and facilities, outside museums, and educational institutions; and (3) the creation of exhibitions and programs that recognize diverse perspectives on women's history and contributions. The bill establishes a council within the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) make recommendations to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents for the construction of the museum; (2) advise and assist the board on the administration and preservation of the museum; (3) recommend annual operating budgets for the museum; and (4) report annually to the board on the acquisition, disposition, and display of objects related to women's art, history, and culture. The council shall have sole authority to: (1) acquire artifacts for the museum's collections, (2) dispose of any part of the collections but only if funds generated are used for additions to the collections, (3) specify criteria for the use of the museum's collections and resources, and (4) preserve and maintain the collections. The museum's director may carry out educational and liaison programs in support of its goals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Raise the Wage Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage for regular employees over a 7-year period, for tipped employees, and for newly hired employees who are less than 20 years old. The bill sets forth a schedule of annual increases in the federal minimum wage for individuals with disabilities. The Department of Labor shall no longer issue special certificates for the payment of subminimum wages to such individuals after the final wage increase under this bill for such individuals takes effect. Labor shall provide, upon request, technical assistance and information to employers to: (1) help them transition their practices to comply with wage increases and other requirements under this bill for individuals with disabilities, and (2) ensure continuing employment opportunities for such individuals. The bill eliminates the separate minimum wage requirements for tipped, newly hired, and disabled employees. After a specified period, these employees shall be paid the same minimum wage as regular employees. Labor must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on its website 60 days before it takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Voter Registration Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require states to make available online voter registration. The federal criminal code is amended to prohibit hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended to require states to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must support pilot programs enabling individuals with disabilities to register and vote at their residences. The bill reauthorizes support for state and local governments to ensure voting access for individuals with disabilities. States must notify individuals convicted of a criminal offense under state law, upon release or upon sentence to probation, of their right to vote in federal elections. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2017 This bill revises auditing requirements for voting systems. Voting systems must use individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots. The National Science Foundation must support the study and development of accessible ballot voting and best practices to enhance the accessibility of voting for certain individuals. With exceptions, states must audit federal election results. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act is amended to extend the guarantee of voting residency to family members of absent military personnel. The EAC must support poll-worker recruitment and training and develop materials for a model program. The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 is amended to prohibit a chief state election administration official, unless the official or a family member is a candidate, from taking part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which the official has supervisory authority. The EAC is reauthorized and its exemption from certain contracting requirements is repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Summer Meals Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to redefine "areas in which poor economic conditions exist," where the summer food service program for children may operate, as areas in which at least 40% (currently, 50%) of the children have been determined to be eligible for free or reduced price school meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs. The bill reimburses service institutions (other than school food authorities) for up to one meal and one snack per child each day during after-school hours, weekends, and school holidays during the regular school calendar. (Currently, such institutions are reimbursed for meals and snacks served to children over the summer months or to children who are on vacation under a continuous school calendar.) The Department of Agriculture may award competitive grants to service institutions to increase participation in the summer food service program for children at congregate feeding sites through innovative approaches to limited transportation and mobile meal trucks. Service institutions that are participating in the summer food service program for children may serve up to three meals, or two meals and one snack, during each day of operation. (Currently, this option is reserved for camps and service institutions that serve meals primarily to migrant children.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Safe Freight Act of 2017 This bill prohibits the operation of a freight train or light locomotive engine used in the movement of freight unless it has a crew of at least two individuals, one of whom is certified by the Federal Railroad Administration as a locomotive operator and the other as a train conductor.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2017
Declares that a viable and sustainable two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Calls for the United States to continue to: support a durable and sustainable two-state solution; oppose, and if necessary, veto future United Nations Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues or that are one-sided and anti-Israel; and work with Israelis and Palestinians to create the conditions for successful final-status peace negotiations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all businesses and residential customers.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore mail delivery service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
Family First Prevention Services Act of 2017 This bill amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSAct) regarding, among other matters: (1) mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services and in-home parenting skill-based programs, (2) foster care maintenance payments for children with parents in a licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse, and (3) payments for evidence-based kinship navigator programs. Part B of title IV (Child and Family Services) of the SSAct is amended regarding, among other matters: (1) time limits for family reunification services for children in foster care or returning home, (2) grants for the development of an electronic interstate case-processing system to expedite the interstate placement of children in foster care or guardianship or for adoption, and (3) targeted grants to increase the well-being of children affected by substance abuse. The bill appropriates certain funding to Department of Health and Human Services for FY2018 for competitive grants to states, Indian tribes, or tribal consortia to support the recruitment and retention of high-quality foster families. The bill amends part B of title IV of the SSAct to reauthorize through FY2021: (1) the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program, (2) promotion of safe and stable families program, (3) funding reservations for monthly caseworker visits and regional partnership grants, and (4) funding for state courts. Part E of title IV of the SSAct is amended to: (1) revise the John H. Chaffee Foster Care Independence Program and related provisions, and (2) reauthorize adoption and legal guardianship incentive programs through FY2021. The Government Accountability Office shall study the extent to which states comply with certain SSAct requirements relating to the effects of phasing out the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program income eligibility requirements for adoption assistance payments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, because it: (1) is a spectacle of extreme animal cruelty, (2) is a commercial activity not grounded in Chinese history, (3) is opposed by a majority of the Chinese people, and (4) threatens global public health. Urges: the government of China and the Yulin authorities to ban the killing and eating of dogs as part of Yulin's festival and to enforce China's food safety laws regulating the processing and sale of animal products and the 2011 Agriculture Ministry of China Regulation on the Quarantine of Dogs at the Place of Origin requiring one certificate for one dog on trans-provincial transport trucks, and the National People's Congress of China to enact an animal anticruelty law that bans the dog meat trade. Affirms the commitment of the United States to the protection of animals and to the progress of animal protection.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2017
Presidential Tax Transparency Act This bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the President and certain candidates for President to disclose federal income tax returns for the three most recent taxable years in reports filed with either the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) or the Federal Election Commission (FEC), in the case of a candidate. The OGE or the FEC must make the disclosed tax returns publicly available after making appropriate redactions. If the income tax returns are not disclosed as required by this bill, the OGE or the FEC must request the returns from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the IRS, upon receiving a written request from the FEC or the OGE, to provide any income tax return that is required to be disclosed under this bill. The bill also establishes civil and criminal penalties for failing to file or falsifying income tax returns that are required to be disclosed pursuant to this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Protecting Our Democracy Act This bill establishes in the legislative branch the National Commission on Foreign Interference in the 2016 Election to examine any attempts or activities by the Russian government or other governments, persons or entities associated with such governments, or persons or entities within Russia to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or sow distrust in elections for public office held in the United States in 2016.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park Act of 2017 This bill redesignates the Martin Luther King, Junior, National Historic Site in the state of Georgia as the "Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park." The bill replaces the current boundary map with a map of a proposed boundary revision dated June 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2017
Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act of 2017 This bill requires the President and Vice President to submit to Congress and the Office of Government Ethics a disclosure of financial interests. Among the contents of such disclosure, the President and Vice President shall: (1) include a detailed description of each financial interest of the President and Vice President, the spouse of the President and Vice President, or a minor child of the President and Vice President; and (2) include the tax returns filed by or on behalf of the President and Vice President for the three most recent taxable years. The President, the Vice President, the spouse of the President or Vice President, and any minor child of the President or Vice President must divest any financial interest posing a potential conflict of interest by transferring such interest to a qualified blind trust. Within a reasonable period of time after such financial interest is transferred to a qualified blind trust, the trustee of such trust shall: (1) sell the financial interest; and (2) use the proceeds from the sale of the financial interest to purchase conflict-free holdings. The Office of Government Ethics shall submit to Congress, the President, and the Vice President an annual report regarding the financial interests of such officials, their spouses, and any of their minor children. The Attorney General, the attorney general of any state, or any person aggrieved by a violation of divestiture requirements posing a potential conflict of interest may seek declaratory or injunctive relief if: (1) the Office of Government Ethics is unable to issue a report indicating whether the President or Vice President is in substantial compliance with such divestiture requirements; or (2) there is probable cause to believe the President or the Vice President has not complied with such requirements. The bill amends the federal criminal code to require the recusal of presidential appointees from decisions affecting the financial holdings of a President or the spouse of a President. Prohibitions pertaining to contracts entered into by Members of Congress are extended to contracts by the President or Vice President. The bill amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to require the disclosure of tax returns by the incumbent President and presidential nominees of a major political party for the three most recent taxable years. The bill declares the sense of Congress that a violation of the divestiture requirements of this bill or the Ethics in Government in Government Act of 1978 by the President or the Vice President would constitute a high crime or misdemeanor.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
No Religious Registry Act of 2017 This bill prohibits U.S. government officers or employees from collecting information or utilizing a registry or database to classify or surveil on the basis of religious affiliation: (1) U.S. nationals, (2) aliens lawfully present in the United States, or (3) aliens who apply for a visa or seek admission to the United States or on whose behalf a petition under the immigration laws is submitted. The bill also prohibits studies related to the collection of such information or the establishment or utilization of such a registry or database. Nothing in such prohibition may be construed to prohibit the collection of information that is provided voluntarily, and from which personally identifiable information is removed, to be used strictly for statistical purposes that do not violate this bill. Federal entities are prohibited from: (1) awarding a contract to an entity to collect information or establish a registry that would violate this bill, or (2) purchasing information on religious affiliation from a nonfederal entity for such purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2017
Email Privacy Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to revise provisions that limit an electronic communication service (ECS) or remote communication service (RCS) provider from disclosing the contents of a wire or electronic communication that is in electronic storage. Additionally, it revises the standards for the government to compel an ECS or RCS provider to disclose contents of a wire or electronic communication or noncontent records or information pertaining to a subscriber or customer. An ECS or RCS provider may notify a subscriber or customer of the receipt of a warrant, court order, subpoena, or request, unless the government obtains an order for delayed notification. The bill revises the process for obtaining a delayed notification order and lengthens the maximum duration of a delayed notification order.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Ac t This bill states that is U.S. policy to not recognize the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, its airspace, or its territorial waters. The bill prohibits any federal agency from taking any action or extending any assistance that recognizes or implies recognition of the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, its airspace, or its territorial waters. The President may waive such prohibitions if such a waiver is vital to U.S. national security interests.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
This bill amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. No less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million, whichever is greater, shall be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2017 This bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank as a wholly owned government corporation. The bank's board of directors shall be responsible for monitoring and overseeing energy, environmental, telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure projects. The board is authorized to: (1) make loans and loan guarantees to assist in the financing an infrastructure project, (2) issue public benefit bonds and provide financing to infrastructure projects, and (3) pay an interest subsidy to the issuer of American Infrastructure Bonds. The bank shall establish a risk management committee, which shall: (1) create financial, credit, and operational risk management guidelines; (2) set guidelines to ensure diversification of lending activities by geographic region and infrastructure project type; (3) create conforming standards for financial assistance; (4) monitor financial, credit, and operational exposure; (5) provide financial recommendations to the board; and (6) ensure that the aggregate amount of interest subsidies provided for such bonds in a given calendar year does not exceed 28% of interest payable under all such bonds. The board shall approve criteria established by the bank's executive committee for determining project eligibility for financial assistance. The bill sets forth criteria to be considered by the board for each type of infrastructure project. The executive committee shall conduct an analysis that considers the economic, environmental, and social benefits and costs of each project under consideration, prioritizing projects that contribute to economic growth, lead to job creation, and are of regional or national significance. Financial assistance for an infrastructure project: (1) shall be repayable from dedicated revenue sources that also secure the infrastructure project obligations, and (2) shall not exceed 50% of reasonably anticipated project costs. Bank bonds shall be exempt from state or local government taxation. Assisted projects must comply with wage rate, domestic content, and buy American statutes. The board shall establish an American Infrastructure Bond program. The bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank Trust Fund into which an amount equal to the tax receipts attributable to interest payable under such bonds is to be appropriated.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Global Health, Empowerment, and Rights Act or the HER Act This bill states that foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not be ineligible for U.S. international development assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 solely on the basis of health or medical services provided by such organizations with non-U.S. government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided and would not violate U.S. federal law if provided in the United States. Such organizations also shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-U.S. government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to U.S. nongovernmental organizations receiving such assistance under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the tax exemption of fraternal benefit societies continues to generate significant returns to society and that the work of such societies should continue to be promoted.