United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2023
No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act This bill establishes that any convention or agreement on pandemic-related issues reached by the World Health Assembly (WHA) pursuant to a specified negotiating body shall be deemed to be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of the Senate. Specifically, this bill applies to any international instrument negotiated by the intergovernmental negotiating body established by the WHA in December 2021 to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2023
Taylor Force Martyr Payment Prevention Act of 2023 This bill expands the institutional factors the Department of the Treasury must consider when making a finding that a foreign financial institution is of primary money laundering concern and is therefore subject to special measures, including the prohibition of opening or maintaining correspondent accounts in U.S financial institutions. Specifically, Treasury must consider (1) the extent to which an institution knowingly provides financial services to Hamas, or to an agent of Hamas; and (2) the extent to which an institution, transaction, or type of account is used to facilitate or promote payments for certain acts of terrorism against U.S. and Israeli citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2023
Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act This bill sets forth information required to be included in a rulemaking made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Specifically, the CFPB must publish a justification of the proposed rulemaking; a quantitative and qualitative assessment of all anticipated direct and indirect costs and benefits; alternatives to the proposed rulemaking; impacts on small businesses; and any assumptions, data, or studies used in preparing this information.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2023
No Retaining Every Gun In a System That Restricts Your Rights Act This bill modifies the retention requirements for firearm transaction records of federal firearms licensees (FFLs) that go out of business. Current law generally requires FFLs that go out of business to deliver their firearm transaction records to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). This bill removes the requirement for FFLs that go out of business to deliver their firearm transaction records to the ATF. Further, the bill requires the ATF to destroy all out-of-business records it has collected from FFLs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2023
This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from providing certain funding related to abortion services. Specifically, the bill prohibits DOD from paying or reimbursing any fees or expenses for a health care professional (who provides health care at a military medical treatment facility) to gain a license in a state if the purpose of gaining the license is to provide abortion services. The bill also repeals the DOD memorandum titled Ensuring Access to Reproductive Health Care (October 20, 2022). Such memo sets forth DOD policies and procedures in response to the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization . Under the bill, DOD may not obligate or expend funds to carry out the memo or any successor memo.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2023
Parents Bill of Rights Act This bill establishes various rights of parents and guardians regarding the elementary or secondary school education of their children. Local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools must comply with the requirements of the bill in order to receive federal education funds. Specifically, the bill requires schools to notify parents and guardians of their rights regarding the education of their children. These rights include the right to review the curriculum of their child's school; know if the state alters its challenging academic standards; meet with each teacher of their child at least twice each school year; review the budget, including all revenues and expenditures, of their child's school; review a list of the books and other reading materials in the library of their child's school; address the school board of the LEA; receive information about violent activity in their child's school; and receive information about any plans to eliminate gifted and talented programs in the child's school. Additionally, the bill directs each LEA to post on a publicly accessible website (or otherwise widely disseminate to the public) the curriculum for each elementary and secondary school grade level. The LEA must also include in its annual report card the overall budget of the LEA and the budget for each elementary and secondary school. The bill also provides for additional family educational and privacy rights, including by prohibiting schools from selling student information for commercial or financial gain.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2023
Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act of 202 3 This bill establishes restrictions and requirements for checkoff programs, which are programs overseen by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to promote and provide research and information for a particular agricultural commodity without reference to specific producers or brands. The bill prohibits boards established to carry out a checkoff program or a USDA order issued under a checkoff program from entering into a contract or agreement to carry out program activities with a party that engages in activities to influence any government policy or action that relates to agriculture. A board or its employees or agents acting in their official capacity may not engage in any act that may involve a conflict of interest; anticompetitive activity; unfair or deceptive act or practice; or act that may be disparaging to, or in any way negatively portray, another agricultural commodity or product. Upon approval of USDA, a board may enter directly into contracts and agreements to carry out generic promotion, research, or other activities authorized by law if the agreement or contract requires records accounting for the funds received to be submitted to the board. The board must meet specified requirements regarding the publication of budgets and disbursements of funds. The USDA Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office must conduct specified audits regarding checkoff programs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2023
Stop CRT Act This bill grants Executive Order 13950 the force and effect of law. That order prohibits federal agencies and contractors from advancing specified policies or training related to race or sex and was revoked by Executive Order 13985 on January 20, 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2023
Combating Racist Training in the Military Act of 2023 This bill prohibits the Armed Forces and academic institutions of the Department of Defense from promoting specified anti-American and racist theories (e.g., that any race is inherently superior or inferior to any other race). Specifically, the bill prohibits including anti-American and racist theories or materials in curricula, reading lists, seminars, workshops, trainings, or other educational or professional settings in a manner that could appear as sponsorship, approval, or endorsement; contracting with, hiring, or otherwise engaging speakers, consultants, diversity trainers, and other persons for the purpose of advocating anti-American and racist theories; compelling members of the Armed Forces to affirm or profess belief in anti-American and racist theories; and segregating members of the Armed Forces by race in any setting, including educational and training sessions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2023
Fair and Open Competition Act or the FOCA Act This bill prohibits federal construction contracts or controlling documents for federally supported construction projects from requiring or prohibiting project labor agreements. Such documents also may not discriminate against or give preference to a bidder or contractor who signs or refuses to sign a project labor agreement. An agency may exempt a project from this prohibition to avert an imminent threat to public health or safety or to serve the national security.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2023
Federal Agency Sunset Commission Act of 2023 This bill provides for the establishment of the Federal Agency Sunset Commission to submit to Congress a schedule for review and abolishment of each agency, including each advisory committee. The schedule for review shall be in the form of a joint resolution. Each agency shall be abolished unless reauthorized by Congress. For each agency, the commission must schedule a date of abolishment to occur at least once every 12 years. The commission must (1) review and evaluate the efficiency and public need for each agency using specified criteria; (2) analyze the authority claimed by the executive branch but not specifically authorized by statute; (3) recommend whether each agency should be abolished, reorganized, or continued; and (4) report to Congress on introduced legislation that would establish a new agency or a new program. The Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Congressional Research Service, shall prepare an inventory of federal programs to assist Congress and the commission in carrying out this bill. The bill provides for expedited consideration of the schedule for review and abolishment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2023
Bank Privacy Reform Act This bill eliminates provisions that require financial institutions to report certain financial information to specified government agencies. Currently, financial institutions are required to report certain financial transactions for the purpose of detecting illicit activity, such as money laundering or the financing of terrorism. Under the bill, such records are only obtainable through a search warrant. The bill also eliminates reporting requirements related to the beneficial ownership of certain corporate entities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2023
National Right-to-Work Act This bill repeals those provisions of the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act that permit employers to make an agreement with a labor union to require employees to join such union as a condition of employment. Currently, at least 27 states have enacted laws prohibiting employers from compelling employees to become members of a union as a condition of employment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2023
Protecting American Energy Production Act This bill prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act This bill requires the Government Accountability Office to carry out a study on illicit financing in connection with the trafficking of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, fentanyl- and methamphetamine-related substances, Captagon, and fentanyl and methamphetamine precursors, and to report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
250th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. All surcharges received by Treasury from the sale of such coins must be paid to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and shall only be used for the purposes of supporting the mission of the Marine Corps Heritage Center.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
American Energy Act This bill sets forth requirements to extend terms for energy drilling permits and to limit the effect of civil actions concerning such permits. Specifically, the bill extends the terms for permits to drill issued under Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act from two years to four years. The bill also requires the Department of the Interior to process an application for an oil or gas drilling permit or other authorizations under a valid existing lease regardless of any pending civil actions affecting the application or related lease. It also addresses litigation concerning the environmental review of certain oil and gas lease sales held under the Mineral Leasing Act or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. A court may not vacate a lease sale nor otherwise limit, delay, or enjoin related lease activities unless the court concludes that (1) the lease will pose a risk of an imminent and substantial environmental harm, and (2) there is no other equitable remedy available. In addition, no court may enjoin or issue any order preventing the award of leases to a bidder in a lease sale if Interior has previously opened bids for such leases or disclosed the high bidder for any tract that was included in such lease sale.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
Women's Public Health and Safety Act This bill allows a state to exclude from participation in the state's Medicaid program a provider that performs an abortion, unless (1) the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or (2) the woman suffers from a physical issue that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. Under current law, a state plan for medical assistance must provide that any individual eligible for medical assistance may obtain required services from any provider qualified to perform them.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
Security And Fairness Enhancement for America Act of 2023 or the SAFE for America Act of 2023 This bill eliminates the diversity immigrant program, which makes immigrant visas available to individuals from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2023
UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act This bill makes changes to U.S. foreign policy in matters concerning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). For purposes of this policy, the bill defines Palestinian refugee as a person who (1) resided from June 1946 to May 1948 in Mandatory Palestine (a region controlled by Britain until 1948), (2) was personally displaced as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, and (3) has not accepted citizenship or other permanent adjustment in status in another country. Furthermore, under U.S. policy, derivative refugee status may only extend to the spouse or minor child of such a Palestinian refugee. The bill withholds U.S. funding for the UNRWA unless the Department of State makes certifications concerning the UNRWA's staff, partners, and funding. Specifically, the State Department must certify that neither UNRWA staff and partners nor its funding and facilities are affiliated with terrorism or disseminating certain rhetoric, such as calling for the destruction of Israel or describing Israelis as occupiers or settlers . Additionally, the State Department must certify that the UNRWA is (1) subject to comprehensive independent financial audits, and (2) not affiliated with any financial institutions complicit in money laundering or terror financing. The State Department must also implement a plan to encourage other countries to align their UNRWA-related activities with U.S. policy objectives, including the phaseout of the UNRWA by resettling Palestinian refugees outside of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2023
COVID-19 Vaccination Non-Discrimination Act This bill prohibits making federal funds available to any facility that refuses to treat an individual based on the individual's COVID-19 vaccination status, including any funding under Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2023
Defund the Wuhan Institute of Virology Act This bill prohibits making federal funds available to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress on federal funds that were provided directly or indirectly to the institute, the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, or affiliates of these entities over the past 15 years.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2023
Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2023 This bill repeals provisions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law) that limit, for purposes of Medicare participation, self-referrals by newly constructed or expanded physician-owned hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2023
TCJA Permanency Act 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 reductions in 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 for 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 limits the deduction for moving expenses to active duty members of the Armed Forces. Additionally, the bill expands the types of elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for payment from qualified tuition programs (529 programs); lowers to $750,000 the amount of mortgage debt eligible for an interest expense tax deduction; reinstates after 2024 the exclusion of income from the gross income of student loan borrowers for loan debt discharged due to death or total and permanent 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 · 9 February 2023
Public Safety Retirees Healthcare Protection Act of 2023 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $3,000 to $6,000 the amount excludible from the gross income of public safety officers for distributions from governmental retirement plans for health and long-term care insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2023
Protecting Our Wealth of Energy Resources Act of 2023 or the POWER Act of 2023 This bill requires the President and federal agencies to obtain the approval of Congress before prohibiting or substantially delaying certain new energy or mineral leases or permits on federal lands. Specifically, approval must be obtained for new (1) oil and gas leases, drill permits, approvals, or authorizations; (2) coal leases, permits, approvals, or authorizations; and (3) mineral patents, leases, permits, approvals, or authorizations. In addition, the President and agencies must obtain the approval of Congress before withdrawing certain federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing activities.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2023
It's Your Fault Act This bill increases from 5 to 15 years the time period that a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) who is a spouse or child of an illicit trafficker of a controlled substance, and who benefitted from such illicit activity, is ineligible for a visa or admission into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2023
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) for purposes of federal law, a person's sex means the person's biological sex at birth; and (2) distinctions between the sexes are justified in certain settings, laws, and policies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2023
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Labor rule concerning the fiduciary duties with respect to employee benefit plans. Under the rule issued on December 1, 2022, plan fiduciaries may consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors when they make investment decisions and when they exercise shareholder rights, including voting on shareholder resolutions and board nominations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the interim final rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) titled Reproductive Health Services and published on September 9, 2022. The rule authorizes the VA to provide certain abortion-related care to veterans. The rule also applies to such care provided to beneficiaries covered under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2023
This resolution condemns Iranian state-sponsored terrorist attacks against U.S. citizens and officials and Iranian dissidents. The resolution also expresses support for the people of Iran who are legitimately defending their rights for freedom against repression and condemns the killing of Iranian protesters by the Iranian regime.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
No Social Security for Illegal Aliens Act of 2023 This bill prohibits an individual from collecting Social Security benefits based on wages and income earned for services illegally performed in the United States while the individual was an alien.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Respect State Housing Laws Act This bill eliminates a provision that requires a 30-day notice period before a landlord may begin eviction proceedings against a tenant in federally assisted or federally backed housing.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Trust the Science Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to remove protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Specifically, the bill requires Interior to reissue the final rule titled Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and published on November 3, 2020. The rule removed the gray wolf in the lower 48 United States, except for the Mexican wolf ( C. l. baileyi ) subspecies, from the endangered and threatened species list. However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the rule on February 10, 2022. As a result, the gray wolf reattained the protection status it had prior to the rule's promulgation. The bill also prohibits the reissuance of the rule from being subject to judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the rule titled Revised Definition of "Waters of the United States," which was submitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency on January 18, 2023. The rule specifies which bodies of water fall under the scope of the Clean Water Act and are thereby under federal jurisdiction. The 2023 rule replaced a 2020 rule that included a narrower definition of waters of the United States .
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, enacted by the council of the District of Columbia (DC). The act makes a variety of changes to DC criminal laws, including by providing statutory definitions for various elements of criminal offenses, modifying sentencing guidelines and penalties, and expanding the right to a jury trial for certain misdemeanor crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2023
Protect and Serve Act of 2023 This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting a law enforcement officer and causing serious bodily injury (or attempting to do so) in circumstances that affect interstate commerce. It imposes criminal penalties—a prison term, a fine, or both—on a violator.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
This bill prohibits employers from providing assistance to their employees who are in the process of exercising the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Union Integrity Act This bill establishes whistleblower protections for union employees. It prohibits a labor organization from discriminating against any of its employees who (1) provide information to the labor organization, the Department of Labor, or any other state, local, or federal government authority or law enforcement agency regarding any violation of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 or any Labor, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), or National Mediation Board (NMB) order; (2) testify in any Labor, NLRB, or NMB administrative or enforcement proceeding; (3) file or institute any such proceeding; or (4) refuse to perform an assigned task that the employee reasonably believes is a violation of any law, order, or prohibition enforceable by Labor, the NLRB, or the NMB.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
Davis-Bacon Repeal Act This bill repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works. References in any law to a requirement under the Davis-Bacon Act shall be null and void.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2023
This resolution impeaches Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors related to his actions regarding border security and immigration.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Sarah's Law This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) who is unlawfully present in the United States and has been charged with a crime that resulted in the death or serious bodily injury of another person. ICE must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the identity of any victims of the crimes for which the detained individual was charged or convicted. ICE shall provide the victim, or a relative or guardian of a deceased victim, with information about the detained individual, including name, date of birth, nationality, immigration status, criminal history, and a description of any related removal efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today Act or the SHORT Act This bill removes certain short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other weapons from the definition of a firearm for purposes of regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The bill also eliminates certain restrictions that apply to the sale or transportation of such rifles and shotguns in interstate commerce. If a state or local registration or licensing requirement is determined by reference to the NFA, the bill treats persons who acquire or possess a short-barreled rifle, short-barreled shotgun, or other weapon in accordance with the Gun Control Act of 1968 as meeting the registration and licensing requirements. The bill preempts certain state or local laws that tax or regulate these rifles, shotguns, and weapons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives must destroy records relating to the registration, transfer, or manufacture of applicable weapons described by this bill within one year after the enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2023
Restoring Military Focus Act This bill eliminates the position of Chief Diversity Officer within the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as the position of Senior Advisor for Diversity and Inclusion within the military departments. Additionally, the bill prohibits the use of federal funds to establish similar positions to that of Chief Diversity Officer or Senior Advisor for Diversity and Inclusion within DOD.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2023
China Trade Relations Act of 2023 This bill withdraws normal trade relations treatment from China and expands the bases of ineligibility for this treatment to include specified violations of human rights and other actions by China. Specifically, during any period in which China engages in specified activities (e.g., performing forced abortion or sterilization or operating concentration camps where people are held against their will) or does not comply with certain standards (1) products from China shall not be eligible to receive nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations), (2) China may not participate in any U.S. program that extends credits or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, and (3) the President may not conclude any commercial agreement with China.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2023
Stop the Cartels Act This bill addresses various issues including matters relating to immigration, law enforcement cooperation with Mexico, and drug cartels. The bill bars federal financial assistance for state or local jurisdictions that (1) restrict compliance with immigration detainers issued by the Department of Homeland Security, or (2) have any law or policy that violates immigration laws. Furthermore, under this bill, the detention of alien minors must be governed by specified sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act and not any judicial decree or settlement. (A 1997 settlement agreement imposes requirements related to the treatment of such minors, including limits on how long they may be detained under certain conditions.) The bill also makes various changes to asylum applications, including by (1) increasing the burden that an asylum applicant must meet to establish a credible fear of persecution, and (2) establishing refugee application and processing centers in Central America. In addition, certain Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development assistance may not be made available to Mexico's government until the State Department certifies that Mexico has removed certain barriers to law enforcement cooperation and intelligence sharing between the United States and Mexico. The bill also establishes the foreign Special Transnational Criminal Organization designation and establishes penalties related to designated organizations, such as making it a crime to knowingly provide material support to such an organization. The State Department must designate specified organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, with the designation, and may designate other organizations that fit criteria established in this bill.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/o000175_200.jpg)