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![Official portrait of Rep. Lujan Grisham, Michelle [D-NM-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000580_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,199 records where Rep. Lujan Grisham, Michelle [D-NM-1] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Recognizes: (1) the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month; and (2) the integral role of Latinos and their manifold heritage in the economy, culture, and identity of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017 or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and make publicly available a National Family Caregiving Strategy that identifies recommended actions for recognizing and supporting family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse needs. HHS shall convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise the department on recognizing and supporting family caregivers. The council shall terminate after five years.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Establishes the House Select Committee on White Supremacy, Nazism, and Domestic Terror Movements to investigate and report on: the increase in violence and threats carried out by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups; the dangers presented to Jewish Americans, Muslim Americans, African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Latino Americans, LGBTQ Americans, and other Americans; ongoing efforts by the federal government to protect the rights of those targeted by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups; the impact of such groups' threats to the security, health, and well-being of targeted groups, including children; the availability of funding to prevent violence and other threats to security by white supremacist groups; and the adequacy of laws to address the threats posed by white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2017
Energy Technology Maturation Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a funding program to facilitate the commercialization of energy and related technologies that exhibit promising commercial potential and are developed at DOE facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2017
SNAP Standard Medical Expense Deduction Act of 2017 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to allow households containing an elderly or disabled member to use a standard medical expense deduction for calculating income to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) benefits. If the amount of actual costs of allowable medical expenses incurred by the elderly or disabled member for a month, exclusive of special diets, is equal to or greater than $35, the standard medical deduction for each month is: (1) $140 for FY2018, and (2) the preceding year's amount with a specified adjustment for inflation for FY2019 and each subsequent year. If the monthly costs are greater than the sum of the standard medical deduction and $35, the household may deduct the actual costs. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) may approve a standard medical deduction that is higher than the amount required by this bill. USDA must submit specified studies and reports to Congress regarding: (1) state performance in enrolling disabled and elderly individuals in SNAP and specified Medicare programs, (2) disability and food insecurity, and (3) the effectiveness of the standard medical deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2017
Healthy Breakfasts Help Kids Learn Act of 2017 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide additional food (known as commodity assistance) to states participating in the School Breakfast Program (SBP). (Under current law, USDA provides commodity assistance to states participating in the National School Lunch Program based on the number of lunches served. The food may also be served as part of the SBP or other child nutrition programs.) The bill modifies the requirements to: (1) repeal a provision that prohibits USDA from offering commodity assistance based on the number of school breakfasts served, and (2) require USDA to use a specified formula to provide additional commodity assistance for each school breakfast served.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2017
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the application of Medicare competitive acquisition rates to complex, rehabilitative, manual wheelchairs and accessories. (A competitive bidding program has replaced the use of established fee schedule amounts to determine payments under Medicare for certain durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Addiction Treatment Access Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to revise the qualifications required for a practitioner to administer, dispense, or prescribe narcotic drugs for maintenance or detoxification treatment in an office-based opioid treatment program. It increases the maximum patient limit for a qualifying practitioner who meets certain requirements. The maximum patient limit is the maximum number of patients a qualifying practitioner can treat at one time. The bill expands qualifying practitioners to include additional nonphysician practitioners: clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives. It makes permanent the authorization for certain nonphysician practitioners to become qualifying practitioners.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1084) to address slow economic growth and spur investment and development in underserved communities across America.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Protect DREAMer Confidentiality Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to protect individual application information submitted to DHS after June 15, 2012, as part of a request for consideration or reconsideration for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from disclosure to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for any purpose other than implementing such program. Such information may be shared with national security and law enforcement agencies: (1) to identify or prevent fraudulent claims, (2) for national security purposes relating to an individual application, or (3) for the investigation or prosecution of a felony not related to immigration status. DHS may not refer an individual whose case has been deferred pursuant to the DACA program to ICE, CBP, the Department of Justice, or any other law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers a business-related tax credit for up to $5,000 for the training of a qualified individual in a qualified apprenticeship program or multi-employer apprenticeship program. A "qualified individual" is an individual who: (1) is an apprentice participating in a qualified apprenticeship program or multi-employer apprenticeship program, (2) has been employed in either program for a period of at least seven months that ends within the taxable year, and (3) is not a highly compensated employee or a seasonal worker. A "qualified apprenticeship program" is a program that: (1) provides qualified individuals with on-the-job training and instruction for a qualified occupation (i.e., a skilled trade occupation in a high-demand mechanical, technical, health care, or technology field); (2) is registered with the Office of Apprenticeship of the Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency recognized by the office; and (3) maintains records relating to the qualified individual. A "qualified multi-employer apprenticeship program" is a program in which multiple employers are required to contribute and that is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements. The bill also allows certain distributions, without penalty, from retirement and pension plans to an employee who is serving as a mentor. A "mentor" is a working individual who: (1) has attained age 55; (2) works reduced hours and engages in mentoring activities for at least 20% of such hours; and (3) is responsible for the training and education of employees or students in an area of expertise for which such individual has a professional credential, certificate, or degree.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Confederate Monument Removal Act This bill amends the Revised Statutes of the United States to prohibit statues of certain persons who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from being displayed in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol shall identify all such statues and, subject to the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, arrange for their removal from the Capitol within 120 days. States may substitute statues in accordance with the requirements and procedures of the Revised Statutes and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2001. The bill makes appropriations for the activities in the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
Farm to School Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reauthorize the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Farm to School Program through FY2022 and modify the program. The program currently provides grants and technical assistance to schools, state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, agricultural producers, and nonprofit entities to improve access to local foods in schools. The bill makes schools participating in the Summer Food Service Program for children, the early care and afterschool portions of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the School Breakfast Program eligible to participate in the program. It also permits USDA to provide land-grant colleges and universities with grants, research, and technical assistance under the program. The purposes for grants awarded under the program are expanded to include agricultural literacy and nutrition education. The bill requires USDA to provide technical assistance, research, and information to increase awareness of and participation in farm to school programs among agricultural producers. In awarding grants, USDA must seek to improve local food procurement and distribution options for agricultural producers and eligible schools. USDA is permitted to fund projects that include innovative approaches to aggregation, processing, transportation, and distribution. The bill establishes new limitations on the amount and duration of grants. The bill also establishes reporting requirements and limits funds that may be used for administrative costs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 2017
Censures and condemns President Trump for his inadequate response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, for his failure to condemn the White supremacist groups responsible for actions of domestic terrorism, for asserting that "both sides" were to blame and excusing the violent behavior of participants in the Unite the Right rally, and for employing people with ties to White supremacist movements in the White House. Urges President Trump to fire all White House advisors who have urged him to cater to the White supremacist movement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Special Counsel Independence Protection 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 individual may be removed only if: (1) the Attorney General files an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and files a contemporaneous notice of the action with Congress; and (2) the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issues an order finding misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or other good cause, including violation of DOJ policies.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
American Hope Act of 2017 This bill amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to allow a state to extend higher-education benefits to state residents regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. In addition, the bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel the removal, and adjust the status, of certain residents who entered the United States as children prior to 2017. An individual whose status has been so adjusted shall be considered to have obtained conditional permanent-resident status, valid for a period of eight years and subject to termination on the basis of specified deportable conduct. In order for an individual's conditional status to become permanent, the individual must timely file with DHS a petition indicating, among other specified information, that the individual has maintained conditional permanent-resident status for at least three years. Any period of time in which the individual was granted deferred action pursuant to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy shall count toward this three-year period. Information furnished by an individual in such a petition may not be used by an officer or employee of the United States to initiate removal proceedings. The bill also: (1) allows DHS to establish a competitive grant program for the provision of nonprofit assistance to eligible applicants for conditional permanent-resident status; (2) establishes the Presidential Award for Business Leadership in Promoting American Citizenship; (3) allows the Department of Education to develop an open-source, electronic English-learning program; (4) specifies requirements related to federal higher-education assistance for individuals with conditional permanent-resident status; and (5) requires the Government Accountability Office to report on specified data related to the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017 This bill limits the regulation of industrial hemp and research hemp under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Specifically, the bill excludes industrial hemp and research hemp from the definition of marijuana under the CSA. The Drug Enforcement Administration may conduct administrative inspections of places where industrial hemp or research hemp is produced, stored, distributed, or used.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Results Through Innovation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to require the Department of Agriculture to establish and carry out a program that provides grants on a competitive basis to states to carry out three-year projects to provide targeted employment and training services for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) beneficiaries or hard-to-serve populations such as homeless and recently incarcerated individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Expresses the ongoing concern of the House of Representatives regarding the deportation of Jose Escobar to El Salvador and his separation from his wife and two children. Encourages: (1) the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to jointly investigate and consider all reasonable solutions to reunite Jose Escobar with his family, and (2) the Trump administration and Congress to work together to pass comprehensive immigration reform to prevent the inhumane deportation and tragic separation of families.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Expresses support for the goals and ideals of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Awareness Month. (PCOS is caused by a hormone imbalance. Symptoms can include infertility, weight gain, excess hair growth, and acne.) Recognizes the need for further research, improved treatment and care options, and a cure for PCOS. Acknowledges the struggles affecting all women and girls afflicted with PCOS.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Rightsizing Pension Premiums Act of 2017 This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) modify the formula that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) uses to calculate the funded percentage of single-employer pension plans, and (2) reduce single-employer PBGC premiums for pension plans that are sponsored by certain small employers or have specified PBGC funded percentages. The bill also prohibits the budget effects of provisions that change PBGC premiums from being counted for the purposes of determining budget points of order for legislation in the House or the Senate. (The PBGC is a federal agency that insures the benefits of private sector, defined benefit pension plans. The PBGC is financed by insurance premiums paid by sponsors of the plans, investment income, assets from pension plans taken over by the PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Presidential Pardon Transparency Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Justice, not later than three days after the President grants any reprieve or pardon for an offense against the United States, to publish in the Federal Register and on the President's official website the name of the person pardoned, the full text of the reprieve or pardon, and the date it was issued.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Opioid and Heroin Abuse Crisis Investment Act of 2017 This bill amends the 21st Century Cures Act to make appropriations for FY2019-FY2023 for state grants to address the opioid abuse crisis. States receiving a grant must report on substance abuse services provided to underserved populations, including Native Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
National Care Corps Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Care Corps through which Corps volunteers provide certain home-based or community-based services to individuals in need via participation in local care corps programs. The National Care Corps may award grants to eligible entities to establish and implement a local care corps program through which Corps volunteers perform approved services for individuals in need.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Care Corps Demonstration Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to implement a local care corps program through which eligible volunteers perform care services for individuals with a disability or individuals who have difficulty with self-care or living independently.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Native American Suicide Prevention Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require a state or state-designated entity receiving support from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for development and implementation of a statewide youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategy to agree to collaborate with each of the state's federally recognized Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations regarding the strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to declare that the review by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of unreasonable increases in health care coverage premiums does not prohibit a state from imposing on health insurers additional rate requirements that are more protective of consumers. The HHS review, which currently covers only premium increases, is expanded to include all rate increases. HHS or the relevant state agency must ensure that any excessive, unjustified, or unfairly discriminatory rates are corrected before, or as soon as possible after, implementation, including through mechanisms such as denying rates, modifying rates, or requiring rebates to consumers. HHS may apply civil monetary penalties to health insurers that fail to comply with a corrective action taken by HHS and may make the plan involved ineligible for classification as a qualified health plan. (Qualified health plans are sold on health insurance exchanges, are the only plans eligible for premium subsidies, and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.) HHS must determine whether HHS or the state will undertake the corrective actions based on whether the state can adequately undertake the actions. This bill applies to health plans grandfathered under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Birth Control Privacy Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit wellness programs from sharing with employers personally identifiable information related to employees' use of contraceptives.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Recognizes the role of Latinos in protecting and preserving U.S. land, water, and wildlife. Supports the engagement of Latinos in environmental protection and conservation efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Pesticide Protection Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel the registration of the pesticide chlorpyrifos under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The bill prohibits the sale and use of existing stock of chlorpyrifos. The bill requires the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos residue on food under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Act of 2017 This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require a group or individual health plan that provides medical and surgical benefits to ensure that inpatient (and in the case of a lumpectomy, outpatient) coverage and radiation therapy are provided for breast cancer treatment. Such a plan may not: (1) restrict benefits for any medically necessary hospital stay to less than 48 hours for a mastectomy or breast conserving surgery or less than 24 hours for a lymph node dissection, or (2) require that a provider obtain authorization from the plan for prescribing any such hospital stay. Such a plan must: (1) provide notice to each participant and beneficiary regarding the coverage required under this bill, and (2) ensure that coverage is provided for secondary consultations. Health plans are prohibited from taking specified actions to avoid the requirements of this bill. Health insurers that provide individual health insurance coverage may discontinue an individual's coverage based on the intentional concealment of material facts regarding a health condition related to a condition for which coverage is being claimed.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Affirms U.S. leadership and commitment to improving access to quality education for the poorest and most marginalized children and youth worldwide. Supports the mission and goals of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to mobilize global and national efforts to contribute to the achievement of equitable, quality education and learning. Recognizes that U.S. investments in bilateral basic education are complemented by GPE's education systems approach and convening authority. Encourages continued commitment and investments by the U.S. government, international donors, private foundations, and private sector donors through the GPE to the global effort to promote children and youth attending school.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
First Responder Fair Return for Employees on Their Initial Retirement Earned Act of 2017 or the First Responder Fair RETIRE Act This bill preserves special federal retirement benefits for certain law enforcement officers, firefighters, air traffic controllers, nuclear materials couriers, and diplomatic special security agents who cannot meet the minimum age and service requirements for special retirement benefits due to a work-related injury or illness.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Urges that Tom Flores, one of only two people in National Football League history to win multiple Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach, and head coach, be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Individual Health Insurance Marketplace Improvement Act This bill establishes and provides funds for an individual market stabilization reinsurance program to be administered in each state by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Under the program, HHS shall make reinsurance payments to health insurance issuers with respect to high-cost individuals enrolled in certain qualified health plans offered by the issuers. HHS shall award grants to states or nonprofit community-based organizations to raise awareness of, and encourage enrollment in, qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2017 This bill modifies the Supplemental Security Income benefits program, including by raising the asset limit and otherwise revising provisions related to program eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
This bill extends and expands the Independence at Home demonstration program, through which comprehensive primary care services are delivered at home to Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. Agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Supporting Working Moms Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to extend the requirement that certain employers provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child to bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity employees or outside salesmen who are exempt from federal labor laws that limit the number of hours in a workweek.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Heroin and Opioid Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require manufacturers, producers, and importers of active opioids to pay an excise tax of one cent per milligram of opioid. The bill also amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to states for: (1) research on opioids (including heroin), and (2) opioid abuse prevention and treatment. The Department of the Treasury must transfer an amount equal to the revenue collected from the tax to HHS to carry out this bill. The bill makes the funds available without further appropriation and designates the funding as an emergency requirement under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (PAYGO).
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Do No Harm Act This bill makes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) inapplicable to federal laws (or implementations of laws) that: protect against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Executive Order 11246 (concerning equal employment opportunity), the Violence Against Women Act, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) rules entitled "Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity"; require employers to provide wages, other compensation, or benefits, including leave; protect collective activity in the workplace; protect against child labor, abuse, or exploitation; or provide for access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service. Under current law, RFRA prohibits the government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest when using the least restrictive means. The bill makes RFRA inapplicable to: (1) terms requiring goods, services, functions, or activities to be performed or provided to beneficiaries of government contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or awards; or (2) denials of a person's full and equal enjoyment of a government-provided good, service, benefit, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation. To assert a RFRA claim or defense in a judicial proceeding, the government must be a party to the proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to double the maximum prison term (from 5 years to 10 years) for persons convicted of selling, purchasing, using for profit, or transporting for sale or profit the human remains of Native Americans or cultural items obtained in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The bill prohibits the export of Native American cultural items that were obtained in violation of the Act, Native American archaeological resources that were obtained in violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, or Native American objects of antiquity that were obtained in violation of the criminal code. Violators may be subject to fines, imprisonment, or both. The Department of the Interior and the Department of State must each designate a liaison to facilitate and hold trainings and workshops on the voluntary return of human remains or cultural items. Interior must refer individuals and organizations to Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations to facilitate the voluntary return of human remains or cultural items. In addition, Interior must convene a tribal working group consisting of representatives of tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to provide advice on issues concerning the return of, and illegal trade in, human remains or cultural items.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Anti-Voter Suppression Act This bill nullifies Executive Order 13799 (titled "Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity") and specifies that no funds shall be made available by any act of Congress to the commission described in the order or to any similar commission established for studying voter fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2017
CHampioning Apprenticeships for New Careers and Employees in TECHnology Act or the CHANCE in TECH Act This bill requires the Department of Labor to enter into competitive contracts with industry intermediaries to promote the development of and access to apprenticeships in the technology sector. The Department of Education may issue CHANCE in TECH Awards for 21st Century Schools to secondary schools or junior or community colleges that demonstrate high achievement in providing students necessary skills to compete in the 21st century workforce.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to beneficiaries with pre-diabetes or risk factors for developing type-2 diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
America's Call To Improve Opportunities Now for National Service Act or the ACTION for National Service Act This bill amends the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to reestablish the Corporation for National and Community Service as an independent executive agency called the National and Community Service Administration. An individual who successfully completes a term of full-time national service shall be entitled to a national service educational award equal to twice the amount of tuition for the institution of higher education where the individual is enrolled, not to exceed twice the average in-state tuition. Current law limits the award's value to the maximum amount of a Federal Pell Grant that an individual is eligible to receive in the aggregate. Within the administration, the bill establishes an interagency working group to evaluate specified issues related to: (1) eligibility for tuition and student loan repayment assistance with regard to participation in certain national or volunteer service programs, (2) the advisability of granting federal hiring preference to certain volunteer program participants, and (3) methods for increasing the participation of seniors in national service programs. The National Service Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established by the bill, shall accept and administer gifts made in connection with the administration. The bill expresses support for the authorization of appropriations sufficient to provide, within 10 years, volunteer service opportunities for at least 1 million volunteers in full-time national service annually. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude AmeriCorps educational awards from gross income.