United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2022
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that the International Criminal Court should immediately proceed with prosecuting Russian President Vladimir Putin with war crimes should any harm befall Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a result of actions taken or directed by any Russian entity or authority.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2022
No Profits for Taliban-Controlled Mines Act This bill directs the President to prohibit the use of rare earth minerals that originate from Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan in domestically sold or manufactured components.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2022
American Energy Independence from Russia Act This bill addresses U.S. energy security, the production of oil and gas, and the importation and exportation of oil and gas. Specifically, the President must submit an energy security plan that (1) evaluates U.S. crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas imports and exports; (2) assesses the energy security risks of such imports; and (3) includes strategies to encourage increased domestic production of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas to offset Russian imports. The bill also approves the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline in Phillips County, Montana for the import of oil from Canada to the United States. In addition, the bill grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to approve or deny applications for facilities to export natural gas from the United States to foreign countries or import natural gas from foreign countries. The President and federal agencies must obtain congressional approval before (1) prohibiting or substantially delaying certain new energy mineral leases or permits on federal lands, or (2) withdrawing certain federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing activities. The Department of the Interior must resume issuing oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore submerged lands in the Outer Continental Shelf as specified under the bill. Finally, the bill limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2022
This resolution expresses that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the energy independence of the United States is critical to national security and should include the production and use of all available energy sources, including coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear energy, and renewables, as well as strategic minerals critical to electric vehicles and other clean energy sources; and President Biden should take immediate action to restore the energy security of the United States and provide U.S. allies with an affordable and secure supply of energy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2022
Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act This bill increases thresholds for requiring a farm to have a plan to address oil spills. Currently, regulations require a farm to have an oil spill control and prevention plan that is certified by a professional engineer if the farm's aboveground oil storage capacity is above a certain threshold or if the farm has a reportable oil discharge history. A farm with lower aboveground storage capacity and no reportable history is either allowed to self-certify its plan or not required to have a plan at all, depending on the farm's storage capacity. Under the bill, the Environmental Protection Agency must require a farm to have a professionally certified plan if the farm has an aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity of 40,000 gallons or more, whereas the current threshold is 20,000 gallons. The bill also raises the aggregate capacity thresholds at which a farm with no reportable oil discharge history may self-certify its plan or is not required to have a plan. The bill also limits when a farm's aboveground oil storage containers on separate parcels shall count toward the farm's oil storage capacity for the purposes of these thresholds.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2022
This joint resolution nullifies the rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on February 3, 2021, that requires the use of face masks on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2022
This resolution supports reopening the U.S. Capitol Building and House Office Buildings to visitors under the public visitation policies that were in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2022
Midland Over Moscow Act This bill imposes sanctions related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and revises the expedited approval process for natural gas imports and exports in or out of the United States. (Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline constructed to increase the export of natural gas from Russia to Europe.) Within 10 days of this bill's enactment, the President must impose sanctions on any entity responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance, financing, or operation of Nord Stream 2, as well as any corporate officer or principal shareholder with a controlling interest in such an entity. The bill also revokes the President's authority to waive certain sanctions related to Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, another Russian natural gas pipeline project. The bill also allows any nation, with specified exclusions, to use an expedited process to receive approval to import or export natural gas in or out of the United States (currently only a nation with a free trade agreement with the United States may use the expedited process). Specifically, the bill excludes any nation (1) subject to U.S.-imposed sanctions or trade restrictions, or (2) excluded by the President or Congress for national security reasons.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2022
This resolution requests the President and directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to transmit to the House of Representatives, no later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, copies of certain documents and other materials, both classified and unclassified, in the possession of the President or DHS as of the date of adoption of this resolution that refer or relate to certain aspects on border policy, particularly along the southwestern border.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2022
School Resource Officer Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and otherwise revises the program. Specifically, the bill revises the COPS program by restoring authority to make COPS grants for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers, allowing the federal cost share to be 75% for the duration of such grants, and specifying that at least 30% of the amount made available for such grants must be used for school resource officers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2022
Blue Energy Innovation Act of 2022 This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish and implement the Integrated Blue Economy and Blue Energy Technologies Program to provide funding for research and development of blue energy technologies for specified purposes (e.g., developing new blue energy market opportunities). Blue energy technologies are technologies that (1) derive or generate energy from a renewable energy resource or capture, remove, and sequester greenhouse gases; and (2) are located in an aquatic environment.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2022
Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act This bill updates policies and procedures related to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and benefits for veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances. Specifically, the bill extends the eligibility period for VA hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care for combat veterans who served after September 11, 2001, and were exposed to toxic substances, radiation, or other conditions, including those who did not enroll to receive VA care during the eligibility period. The VA must incorporate into its existing health care screening a screening to help determine potential exposures to toxic substances during military service. Among other requirements, the VA must also provide annual training to health care and benefits personnel with respect to veterans who were exposed to toxic substances; analyze total and respiratory disease mortality in veterans who served in specified locations on specified dates; conduct an epidemiological study on the health trends of veterans who served in the Armed Forces after September 11, 2001; conduct a study to determine trends in the rates of the incidence of cancer in veterans; publish a list of VA resources for veterans who were exposed to toxic substances, families and caregivers of such veterans, and survivors of such veterans who are receiving death benefits; and report on the data quality of the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record and its usefulness in supporting veterans in receiving VA health care and benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2022
Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2022 This bill makes permanent provisions affecting individual and business taxpayers that were enacted in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. The bill makes permanent provisions that reduce individual and capital gain tax rates. The bill increases the standard tax deduction for individual taxpayers. It also increases and modifies the child tax credit and raises the contribution base for the tax deduction of charitable contributions. The bill allows additional contributions to ABLE accounts (tax-exempt accounts designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save and pay for disability-related expenses). It exempts from taxation combat zone benefits of members of the Armed Forces serving in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and the moving expenses of servicemembers. Additionally, the bill lowers to $750,000 the amount of mortgage debt eligible for an interest expense tax deduction; excludes from the gross income of student borrowers income attributable to the discharge after 2025 of loan debt due to death or disability; makes permanent the limitation on the tax deduction for state and local taxes and denies a deduction for foreign real property taxes; makes permanent the tax deduction of the income of certain pass-through business entities; repeals the tax deduction for personal tax exemptions and the exclusion of employer-provided bicycle commuter fringe benefits; terminates certain miscellaneous itemized tax deductions; doubles the estate and gift tax exemption amount; and makes permanent the increase of the alternative minimum tax exemption amount for individual taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2022
Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act or as the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act This bill addresses immigration-related issues, such as requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resume construction of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and providing removal deferral for eligible non-U.S. nationals ( aliens under federal law). For example, the bill requires DHS to resume all barrier construction activities along the southern border that were underway or being planned prior to January 20, 2021; authorizes DHS to request National Guard support to secure the southern border; requires the hiring of additional U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel; provides funding for border infrastructure and equipment; provides statutory authority for the Flores settlement, which established policies pertaining to the treatment of minors without lawful immigration status by DHS; requires employers to verify the immigration status of individuals using an electronic employment eligibility confirmation system modeled after the E-Verify system; provides a path to permanent resident status to eligible individuals without lawful immigration status who entered the United States as minors (commonly referred to as Dreamers); establishes the Dignity Program, which defers the removal of eligible individuals without lawful immigration status who meet various requirements, including paying into a fund to provide training to U.S. workers; establishes the Redemption Program, which provides a path to permanent resident status to individuals who complete the Dignity Program and meet various requirements, including making additional payments into the U.S. worker fund; and requires the Department of State to implement a strategy to address the key factors contributing to individuals from Central America traveling to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2022
This bill expands eligibility for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reimbursement of emergency treatment for veterans who are treated in a non-VA facility. Specifically, the bill waives the requirement that a veteran must have received VA care within the 24-month period preceding the furnishing of emergency treatment if the veteran receives such emergency treatment within the 60-day period following their enrollment in the VA health care system.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2022
Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Drug Abuse Related Deaths Act This bill expands the allowable use of grant funds under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program administered by the Department of Justice. Specifically, the bill allows grants to be used for a pilot program for local law enforcement agencies in rural areas to purchase opioid receptor antagonists, including naloxone, for use by officers in the line of duty. The bill also requires at least 50% of grants under the program to be awarded to rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2022
Crime Doesn't Fly Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the use of warrants for the arrest, removal, or deportation of an alien as proof of identity at an airport security checkpoint unless the alien is being removed from the United States pursuant to immigration laws.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2022
Inflation Prevention Act This bill establishes a point of order that, when the annualized rate of inflation exceeds 4.5%, prohibits the House and Senate from considering legislation that provides new budget authority and is estimated to result in an increase to the rate of inflation. The prohibition may be waived in the Senate by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2022
This bill extends through FY2021 the inapplicability of the requirement for counties to elect to receive certain payments under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. That act provides compensation to counties for the presence of untaxable federal land within their borders.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2022
Partnership Agreements Creating Tangible Savings Act or the PACTS Act This bill revises provisions permitting cooperative management agreements between the National Park Service and other governmental entities regarding management of park areas. Specifically, the bill (1) allows tribal governments and quasi-governmental entities to enter agreements, and (2) eliminates the requirement that the nonfederal park areas be adjacent or near to National Park System units.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2022
This resolution condemns the terrorist attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on January 15, 2022. It also expresses support for the affected community, commends the actions of law enforcement and emergency responders, and reaffirms a commitment to combat hate, bigotry, anti-Semitism, and violence against Jewish Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2022
Accelerating the Growth of Rural Innovation and Tourism Opportunities to Uphold Rural Industries and Sustainable Marketplaces Act or the AGRITOURISM Act This bill establishes an office within the Department of Agriculture to promote agritourism activities and businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2022
COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and makes changes to the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program. Among the changes, the bill reduces the required matching contribution for certain rural communities during the first three years of a grant and eliminates the preference for agencies that exceed the matching requirements; allows grant funds to be used to increase wages of career law enforcement officers in states or localities that have a median household income of less than 70% of the national median household income and qualify for a reduced matching contribution; and provides statutory authority for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice. Additionally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on whether law enforcement workforces are representative of the communities they serve, the percentage of law enforcement employees who live in the community they serve, the average pay of officers compared to the cost of living in the community they serve, and recommendations for improvements.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2022
Open Schools Act This bill directs the Department of Education to make grants to parents of eligible students for certain education-related expenses. Eligible student refers to a student who is enrolled for the 2021-2022 school year in an elementary or secondary school that (1) is located in a local educational agency that received certain COVID-19 relief funds; and (2) does not provide, for any reason related to COVID-19, in-person learning for each enrolled student for each school day during the school year. Grant funds may be used to pay the tuition and fees for a private elementary or secondary school, pay the cost of attending a public school that provides in-person learning, or for other expenses and educational materials.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2021
Make Energy Affordable Act This bill requires the President to report on the rising energy prices. In addition, the President must provide updates on residential energy price trends, impacts of energy prices on low-income households, and actions by federal agencies to mitigate energy price increases.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2021
Science-Based Grizzly Bear Management Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of the Interior to reissue the final rule relating to removing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, published on June 30, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 30502), without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance shall not be subject to judicial review. Interior shall issue a final rule removing the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to the issuance of such rule. Such issuance shall also not be subject to judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2021
Continuing Robust and Uninhibited Drilling and Exporting Act or the CRUDE Act This bill limits the President's authority to restrict the export of crude oil from the United States. Currently, the President may restrict the export of oil for up to a year if the President declares a national emergency; the restrictions apply to countries, persons, or organizations for reasons of national security; or the Department of Commerce finds and reports to the President that the export of crude oil has caused sustained material oil supply shortages or sustained oil prices significantly above world market levels and those shortages or price increases have caused or are likely to cause sustained material adverse employment effects. However, this bill only allows the President to make such restrictions if the restrictions apply to countries, persons, or organizations for reasons of national security; or the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and Commerce jointly make those findings and report them to the President and Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2021
Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021 This bill expands liability protections for the donation of food and grocery products. Specifically, the bill expands the liability protections to include donations of an apparently fit grocery product or apparently wholesome food for which the recipient is charged a good Samaritan reduced price that is no greater than the cost of handling, administering, and distributing the food or product; or that is donated directly to a needy individual by a retail grocer, wholesaler, agricultural producer, restaurant, caterer, school food authority, or institution of higher education. The Department of Agriculture must issue regulations that clarify the quality and labeling standards that food products donated under the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act must meet to be eligible for liability protection.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
Upholding the Law at Our Border Act This bill requires the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to periodically investigate and report on certain issues until there have been fewer than 35,000 apprehensions at the southwest border for three consecutive months. When required, the reports must address certain issues, including (1) the vetting procedures applicable to aliens seeking entry into the United States who were apprehended along the southwest border, (2) the total number of individuals not lawfully present who have been processed and released into the United States, (3) the number of such individuals who have received parole, and (4) an audit of the parole applications. The office must submit such reports (and provide briefings on the reports) to the President, Congress, DHS, and the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to submit a report on the potential costs and benefits of its proposed rule governing the importation of live sheep, goats, other ruminants, and products derived from sheep and goats. It also bars USDA from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the rule until one year after the date that USDA submits the report.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
Strategic Production Response Act This bill limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2021
Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This bill places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act. Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for schedule I research that is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Veterans Affairs or that is conducted under an investigative new drug exemption from the Food and Drug Administration. The bill also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2021
Food Date Labeling Act of 2021 This bill addresses food waste by establishing requirements to standardize the quality date and discard date labels on food packaging.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2021
Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility Act This bill requires the Department of Commerce to study and report on products that are in high demand across the critical infrastructure sectors. Critical infrastructure sectors are those whose assets, systems, and networks are vital to national security, the economy, public health or safety, or any combination of those matters. The study must (1) identify the products in high demand across those sectors that are being imported due to manufacturing, material, or supply chain constraints; and (2) analyze the costs, benefits, and feasibility of manufacturing those products in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2021
Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program. Additionally, the bill requires a certain amount of funds made available under the COPS grant program to be used for the hiring and retention of law enforcement officers.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2021
Stop Iranian Drones Act This bill expands existing provisions requiring sanctions against individuals or entities that provide certain types of weapons to Iran. Specifically, the bill modifies the provisions by adding unmanned combat aerial vehicles to the list of weapons covered by the sanctions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2021
Payment In Lieu of Lost Revenues Act or the PILLR Act This bill requires the Department of the Interior to compensate, using federal mineral royalties, states for lost revenue derived from oil and gas production that is caused by a moratorium or similar action to prevent oil and gas leasing on federal land.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 2021
Parents Bill of Rights Act This bill outlines various rights of parents and guardians regarding the elementary or secondary school education of their children. Among other requirements, the bill (1) directs local educational agencies to publicly post the curriculum for each elementary and secondary school grade level; and (2) requires schools to notify parents and guardians of their rights, including the right to review the school's curriculum and budget.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2021
Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell Ferencz in recognition of his service to the United States and the international community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and his lifelong advocacy for international criminal justice and the rule of law.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 2021
Northern Spotted Owl Habitat Improvement Act of 2021 The bill provides statutory authority for the rule published on January 15, 2021, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entitled Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Revised Designation of Critical Habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl .
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2021
This resolution recognizes the two-year anniversary of the November 2019 massacre by Iran. The resolution also condemns the human rights atrocities committed against Iranians by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Finally, the resolution urges the Department of State to restore the recognized death toll of the November 2019 massacre to 1,500.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2021
Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021 This bill prohibits using federal funds to establish any diplomatic facility in Jerusalem other than the U.S. Embassy to Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 2021
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Labor emergency temporary standard for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in employment settings. Under the standard issued on November 5, 2021, employers with 100 or more employees must require their onsite employees to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2021
Exemptions for Critical Workers Act This bill exempts critical infrastructure workers from any federal mandate requiring federal employees or contractors to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Critical infrastructure workers are identified in guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 2021
Veterans Education is Timeless Act of 2021 This bill eliminates the time limitation for use of eligibility and entitlement to educational assistance benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Specifically, the bill eliminates such delimiting dates under the Montgomery GI Bill (Active Duty), Post-Vietnam Era Educational Assistance Program, Post-9/11 GI Bill, Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship, and Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 2021
Illegal Immigrant Payoff Prohibition Act This bill prohibits the payment of a settlement to an alien for a civil action brought against the United States in connection with the alien's inadmissibility to, or unlawful presence in, the United States.