United States · United States Congress · 20 September 2016
Election Integrity Act of 2016 This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to: (1) prohibit states or jurisdictions from purchasing or otherwise acquiring for use in an election for federal office a direct recording electronic voting system or other electronic voting system that does not produce a voter-verified paper record; (2) prohibit imposition of conditions on voting by mail; (3) make mandatory the availability of early voting; and (4) require sufficient polling places, equipment, and resources to facilitate voting. The Director of the National Science Foundation shall make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. Each state shall, except when the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the votes, administer audits of federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected, consisting of random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots. This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to make it unlawful for a chief state election administration official, unless he or she or a family member is a candidate, to take an active part in political management or in a political campaign for federal office over which such official has supervisory authority. Mandatory response by the Attorney General is required to allegations of voter intimidation or suppression by law enforcement officers and other government officials. The Election Assistance Commission shall study and, on the basis of the findings of the study, issue standards for states to follow in establishing an appropriate number and geographic distribution of voting sites in elections for federal office.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2016
No Lead in School Water Act This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize through FY2022 a grant program for state programs that test and remediate lead contamination in the drinking water of schools and day care facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 2016
Expresses the sense of Congress that a National Voting Rights Act Mobilization Day should be designated to remind all Americans of the critical role that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 continues to play in protecting the right to vote, and to be an occasion for them to voice their support for this landmark civil rights law.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2016
Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act This bill includes veterans who participated in the cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands between January 1, 1977, and December 31, 1980, as radiation exposed veterans for purposes of the Department of Veterans Affairs presumption of service-connection for specified cancers.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2016
Calls on Congress to enact a new preclearance formula for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, based on the Voting Rights Amendment Act and the Voting Rights Advancement Act. Condemns the use by states and political subdivisions of specified voter suppression laws and techniques.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2016
Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act This bill establishes within the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Office of the Staff Director the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys to make a systemic study of the conditions affecting Black men and boys in America.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2016
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.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2016
Disapproves of activities by certain corporations and trade associations, foundations, and organizations funded by those corporations deliberately to: (1) mislead the public and undermine peer-reviewed scientific research about the dangers of their products, and (2) cast doubt on science in order to protect their financial interests. Urges fossil fuel companies and allied organizations to cooperate with active or future investigations into: their climate change-related activities, what they knew about climate change and when they knew of it, what they knew about the harmful effects of fossil fuels on the climate, and any activities to mislead the public about climate change.
United States · United States Congress · 6 July 2016
Recognizes on behalf of the United States the dedicated service and ultimate sacrifice of the 11 African-American soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the United States Army who were massacred in Wereth, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944. Calls on the Senate Armed Services Committee to correct the omission in the 1949 report of its subcommittee and appropriately recognize the Wereth 11.
United States · United States Congress · 5 July 2016
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal to Larry Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American major league athletics, civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 2016
This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to remove certain hospitals specializing in neoplastic disease from their classification as long-term care hospitals for purposes of Medicare payment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall make payments to these hospitals under reasonable cost-based reimbursement rules rather than under the prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 2016
Underwater Student Borrowers Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of student loan indebtedness, to: (1) include indebtedness discharged due to income-contingent and income-based repayment plans, the death or disability of the borrower, or the closing of an educational institution; and (2) revise the definition of "student loan" to mean a loan made by any lender, including a loan for the refinancing of an existing loan.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2016
Calls upon the U.S. government to resume talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to make substantial progress in the research, investigation, recovery, and identification of missing and unaccounted members of the U.S. Armed Forces from the Korean War.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2016
Public Safety and Wildlife Protection Act This bill prohibits importing, exporting, delivering, carrying, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing steel-jaw leghold traps or Conibear traps. Steel-jaw leghold traps are certain spring-powered pan or sear-activated devices with steel jaws that are designed to snap closed on animals. Conibear traps consist of metal frames hinged at the center point and powered by two torsion springs that create a scissor-like action designed to kill animals by snapping their spinal columns. Both types of traps exclude cage or box traps, suitcase-type live beaver traps, or mouse or rat snap traps. The bill establishes penalties for violating the prohibition on the traps. The Department of the Interior must pay rewards for information that leads to a conviction of a violation of this bill, unless the information was provided by officers or employees of federal, state, or local governments while they were performing official duties.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2016
Personalize Your Care Act 2.0 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish several new programs and requirements related to end-of-life care and advance care planning. The bill establishes a demonstration program to test the use of advanced illness management and early use of palliative care under Medicare. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must make grants to eligible entities for the purpose of developing, expanding, and enhancing programs for orders for life-sustaining treatment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) shall adopt standards for electronic health records with respect to providing one-click access to specified advance care planning documentation. Under Medicare, an advance directive shall be portable across state lines and may be presumed valid regardless of where it was executed. In the absence of a validly executed advance directive, any authentic expression of a person's wishes with regard to health care shall be honored. The Government Accountability Office must study and report on the portability, electronic storage, use, and barriers to use of advance directives. The bill applies specified quality measures to end-of-life care under Medicare. CMS must report annually on specified information related to Medicare decedents. HHS shall award grants to increase public awareness of advance care planning. In addition, HHS shall award grants to eligible entities for the development and implementation of training and education programs related to advance care planning, hospice care, and palliative care. HHS must establish an advisory committee on advance care planning.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2016
Poll Tax Prohibition Act of 2016 This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit requiring: an individual to present a piece of information that has an associated cost as a condition of voting in a federal election, or an individual wishing to vote by mail to include a piece of identification (or a copy of one) that has an associated cost.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2016
Recognizes the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Fulbright program. Encourages the President and the Department of State to work with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to support the Fulbright program. Congratulates all Fulbright award recipients. Calls on students, scholars, and professionals around the world to seek out opportunities to engage with each other and promote international good will.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2016
Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls Act of 2016 This bill amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to include gender-responsive services in the grant program for juvenile delinquency prevention. The bill defines "gender-responsive services" as practices and evidence-based services, including trauma-informed services and trauma-specific interventions, that comprehensively address the unique challenges that girls face in the juvenile justice system. The bill adds, as requirements for delinquency prevention grant eligibility, that a unit of general local government provide statements of how funds will increase the effectiveness of plans and activities to be carried out under them.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2016
This bill amends the federal criminal code to require a licensed gun dealer to notify the national instant criminal background check system (i.e., the NICS database) of an explosive materials sale and the purchaser's identity. Additionally, it requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to include in the NICS database information about an individual who is or has been under a federal terrorism investigation. A federal department or agency must submit to DOJ information about such individual. If a licensed gun dealer request a background check on a prospective gun buyer or provides notice of an explosive materials purchaser who is or has been under a federal terrorism investigation, then the NICS database must notify the appropriate division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2016
Voting Access Act This bill amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require each state to comply with national standards established by the Election Assistance Commission for the location and operation of polling places used in elections for federal office. The Commission shall establish such standards and study instances of the misidentification by election officials of the political party registration of individuals attempting to vote in primary elections for federal office.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2016
Recognizes the historical significance to the nation, and supports the continued celebration, of Juneteenth Independence Day. Declares the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and solving the challenges of the future, and (2) the celebration of the end of slavery is an important and enriching part of the history and heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2016
Partnership Grants to Strengthen Families Affected by Parental Substance Abuse Act of 2016 This bill amends part B (Child and Family Services) of title IV of the Social Services Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to award regional and state partnership grants to address the substance use needs of families in the child welfare system. State part B plans shall require state child welfare agencies to have in effect a protocol for coordinating substance abuse prevention and treatment services with child welfare services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2016
SNAP Healthy Incentives Act of 2016 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to provide a financial incentive for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) participants to purchase fruits and vegetables.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2016
PHMSA Accountability Act This bill allows a private person to bring a civil action for a writ of mandamus in an appropriate U.S. district court to compel the Department of Transportation to perform a nondiscretionary duty under federal pipeline safety provisions that it has failed to perform.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2016
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax deduction for income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico. (Under current law, the deduction expires on January 1, 2017.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 2016
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 · 26 May 2016
Organ Donation Clarification Act of 2016 This bill allows the exchange of human organs for valuable consideration (anything of value) under pilot programs approved by the Department of Health and Human Services to measure the effect of removing disincentives or providing a noncash benefit that may increase organ availability. (Currently, exchanging human organs for valuable consideration is prohibited by the National Organ Transplant Act.) In addition to reimbursements permitted in the National Organ Transplant Act, this bill declares that valuable consideration does not include: dependent care needs related to organ donation, medical expenses related to donation and all related follow-up care including preventive follow-up care and medication, paperwork or legal costs related to donation, or an insurance policy against the risk of death or disability as a result of donating an organ or the longer-term health effects of having donated an organ.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2016
Expresses support for the designation of June 2016 as National Gun Violence Awareness Month and June 2, 2016, as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Calls on the people of the United States to: promote greater awareness of gun violence and gun safety; wear orange on National Gun Violence Awareness Day; concentrate heightened attention on gun violence during the summer months, when gun violence typically increases; and bring citizens and community leaders together to discuss ways to make the communities safer.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2016
Comprehensive Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 2016 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to revise requirements for reinvestigations of disputed information by a consumer reporting agency (CRA), establishing a new right to appeal, free of charge, completed disputes adverse to the consumer. The bill prescribes requirements for: dispute procedures for furnishers of information and CRAs, as well as meaningful disclosures to consumers about investigations and reinvestigations; and CRA action when notified of inaccurate or incomplete information from furnishers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) shall issue a final rule establishing reasonable procedures CRAs must maintain to ensure maximum possible accuracy and completeness of the information concerning the individual to whom a consumer report relates. Any CRA that furnishes a consumer report containing public record data shall include its source. Courts may award injunctive relief to consumers against any person found liable for either willful or negligent noncompliance with the requirements of the Act. The bill limits the circumstances in which a CRA may furnish a consumer report for employment purposes. No CRA may furnish a consumer report containing any adverse item of information relating to: a delinquent or defaulted private education loan of a borrower who has rehabilitated his or her credit regarding the loan by making 9 on-time monthly loan payments over 10 consecutive months after the delinquency or default occurred, or a covered residential mortgage loan if the action or inaction to which the item of information relates resulted from specified predatory lending practices. The bill shortens the respective time periods that specified adverse credit information remains on consumer reports, and gives deadlines for removing from them fully paid or settled medical debt. A CRA must remove from a consumer report any adverse information about: a private education loan regarding a proprietary educational institution or career education program which the consumer alleges engaged in fraudulent, discriminatory, or illegal practices; and a consumer who is the victim of intentionally abusive or harmful financial behavior by an acquaintance or family member. No CRAs may treat credit restoration or rehabilitation as adverse information. The CFPB shall issue final regulations for development of credit snoring models. CRAs must disclose prominently on their websites the differences between and limitations of credit scores, including educational credit scores, before a consumer obtains such scores. CRAs shall disclose, upon request and in certain circumstances automatically, free credit scores to consumers with their free annual consumer reports. Private educational lenders, motor vehicle or indirect auto lenders, and residential mortgage lenders shall give consumers free copies of any consumer reports and credit scores they used for underwriting before consumers sign the respective loan agreements. The bill prohibits: automatic renewals for consumer reporting and credit scoring products and services offered under promotional terms, and misleading and deceptive marketing related to the provision of such products and services. The CFPB may set a fair and reasonable maximum fee for such a product or service, except where a maximum fee is otherwise posed by the Act. The CFPB shall issue a rule to require CRAs and furnishers of information to: provide information, disclosures, or other communication with consumers in each of the 10 most commonly spoken non-English languages in the United States, and in formats accessible to individuals with hearing or vision impairments; ensure that at least one among their customer service representatives is fluent in each of these 10 languages; and ensure that all their customer service representatives are highly familiar with the requirements of the Act, and are available both during and outside of regular business hours. The CFPB shall also establish a nationwide CRA registry. CRAs must, upon consumer request, place credit freezes on the consumer's file, including free credit freezes for consumers with a good faith suspicion they have been or are about to become a victim of identity theft, fraud, or a related crime. The bill transfers from the Federal Trade Commission to the CFPB the mandate to set procedures for reporting identity theft, fraud, and other related crime. CRAs must provide the consumer with credit monitoring and identity theft protection services within one business day upon direct consumer request, and without charge if the consumer meets specified criteria. Consumer reports shall exclude any information about inquiries resulting from identity theft, fraud, or other related crime.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2016
Protecting the U.S. Corporate Tax Base Act of 2016 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the rules for taxing the earnings and determining the stock ownership of certain controlled foreign corporations (CFCs). The bill provides that, in the case of certain CFCs, subpart F income (income of a CFC earned outside the United States that is not tax deferred) includes a U.S. shareholder's pro rata share of any increase in the CFC's investment of earnings in certain foreign property. The bill also revises the rules for determining stock ownership to prohibit a CFC from transferring stock to a foreign affiliate to reduce the portion of stock owned by U.S. shareholders below the level required to be considered a CFC.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2016
Supports designation of National Foster Care Month, and recognizes it as an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges that children face in the foster-care system.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2016
Freedom of Religion Act of 2016 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide that an alien may not be denied admission to the United States because of his or her religion or lack of religious beliefs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 2016
Preventing Tragedies Between Police and Communities Act of 2016 This bill requires a state or local government that receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program to train law enforcement officers on de-escalation techniques. The Department of Justice (DOJ) may reduce by up to 20% the JAG allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply. DOJ must collect data on the efforts of state and local governments to enhance de-escalation training for law enforcement officers. Additionally, a state or local government that receives JAG program funding must enact a law, policy, or procedure that establishes an affirmative duty on a law enforcement officer to use de-escalation techniques. DOJ must reduce by 15% the JAG allocation of a state or local government that fails to enact such law, policy, or procedure. DOJ must issue guidance on compliance with these requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2016
Breast Cancer Patient Protect Act of 2016 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 · 10 May 2016
Expresses support for the designation of Health and Fitness Month and for efforts to educate Americans on the importance of a healthy and nutritious lifestyle.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2016
Technologies for Energy Security Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify the tax credits for residential energy efficient property and investments in energy property. The bill modifies the tax credit for residential energy efficient property to extend through 2021 the credits for expenditures for fuel cell property, small wind energy property, and geothermal heat pump property. For each extended credit, the bill phases out the current credit rate of 30% of expenditures by reducing it to 26% or 22%, depending on the date that the property is placed in service. The bill extends the tax credit for investments in energy property for the following property with construction that begins before January 1, 2022: fiber-optic solar energy property, fuel cell property, microturbine property, combined heat and power system property, small wind energy property, and thermal energy property. The bill phases out the current credit rate of 30% for investments in fuel cell property, small wind energy property, and fiber-optic solar energy property by reducing it to 26% or 22%, depending on the date that the property is placed in service.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2016
Working to Integrate Networks Guaranteeing Member Access Now Act or the WINGMAN Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide an accredited, permanent congressional employee with read-only remote access to the electronic Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) claims records system of a represented veteran, regardless of whether the employee is acting under a power of attorney executed by the veteran. The VA shall ensure that access does not allow the employee to modify system data. An employee must complete the VA certification process required of agents or attorneys in order to have system access. Each Member of Congress who elects to have an employee participate in the system shall bear the certification cost, which shall be paid from the Member's representational allowance. Information access by an employee shall be deemed: (1) a covered disclosure requiring prior consent, with specified exceptions; and (2) a permitted disclosure relating to the privacy of individually identifiable health information. The VA may not recognize an employee for purposes of preparation, presentation, and prosecution of VA claims by reason of such system access. "Accredited, permanent congressional employee" means an employee of a Member of Congress who assists constituents with issues regarding federal departments or agencies. "Electronic VBA claims records system" means the VA system that provides claim status information, including information about medical records, compensation and pension exams records, rating decisions, a statement of the case and a supplementary statement of the case, a notice of disagreement, and Form-9.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2016
Medical Leave for Disabled Veterans Act This bill amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to provide eligibility for specified medical/hospital care for an employee who: (1) has a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability rating of between 30% and 50% and at least 833 hours of service with the employer (from whom leave is requested) during the previous eight-month period, or (2) has a VA disability rating of 60% or higher and at least 625 hours of service with such employer during the previous 6-month period. Medical/hospital leave shall also be provided to an employee who is not covered by the above provision but who retired from the Armed Forces by reason of a service-connected disability: (1) rated at between 30% and 50% at retirement and who has at least 833 hours of service with such employer during the previous eight-month period, or (2) rated at 60% or higher at retirement and who has at least 625 hours of service with such employer during the previous 6-month period. (Under current law, employees of an FMLA-covered employer become eligible for medical leave after 12 months on the job and at least 1,250 hours of service with such employer during the previous 12-month period.) A employee must submit a certification to the employer from the VA or the Department of Defense, as appropriate, to be eligible for such adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3031 Veterans Road West in Staten Island, New York, as the "Leonard Montalto Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Stop Infant Mortality And Recidivism Reduction Act of 2016 or the SIMARRA Act This bill directs the Bureau of Prisons to establish a pilot program to allow incarcerated women who give birth and children born during such incarceration to reside together in a separate prison housing unit. It sets forth inmate eligibility criteria and program participation requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Equal Justice Under Law Act of 2016 This bill states that an indigent individual facing criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency in a state court is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel, as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, at the state's expense. The bill authorizes a federal class action lawsuit against a state for its systemic failure to guarantee the right to effective assistance of counsel. The assistance of counsel is ineffective when a class of individuals demonstrates that counsel's performance was not reasonable under prevailing professional norms.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Recognizes the significance of Fair Housing Month. Expresses support for the goals and ideals of the Fair Housing Act and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, upon the occasions of the 48th and 28th anniversaries of their enactment, respectively. Encourages all people and levels of government to rededicate themselves to the enforcement and ideals of fair housing laws.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2016
Corporate EXpatriates and Inverters Tax Fairness Act or the Corporate EXIT Fairness Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth rules governing corporate inversions (i.e., the practice of relocating a domestic corporation's legal domicile to a lower-tax nation while retaining its business activities in the higher-tax country of origin) and corporate expatriations. Specifically, the bill requires payment of tax on the deferred overseas profits of U.S. multinational corporations or partnerships before they reincorporate or organize in a foreign country. Additionally, any stock of a controlled foreign corporation in connection with a corporate expatriation would be treated as sold for its fair market value as of the date of expatriation and be subject to U.S. taxation. The bill expands the definitions of "corporate inversion" and "corporate expatriation" and revises rules relating to the taxation of inverted corporations. A foreign corporation that acquires the assets of a U.S. corporation or partnership after April 29, 2016, shall be treated as an inverted corporation and thus subject to U.S. taxation if, after such acquisition: (1) the expanded affiliated group which includes the foreign corporation does not have substantial business activities in the foreign country in which the corporation is created or organized, when compared to the total business activities of such expanded affiliated group; and (2) more than 50% of the foreign corporation is held by former shareholders or partners of the domestic corporation or partnership, or the management or control of the expanded affiliated group occurs primarily within the United States, and such expanded affiliated group has significant domestic business activities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2016
Investing in America's Small Businesses Act of 2016 This bill amends the Community Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 to require the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to make grants to community development financial institutions to enable such institutions to establish a loan-loss reserve fund to defray the costs of a small business loan program. The bill defines "small business loan program" as a program in which a community development financial institution offers loans to small businesses that: (1) are made in amounts up to $50,000, (2) have no prepayment penalty, and (3) meet any affordability requirements established by Administrator of the Fund. A community development financial institution must provide non-federal matching funds equal to 50% of the amount of any grant received. The bill prohibits the use of such grants to make direct loans to small businesses. A community development financial institution may use such a grant to: (1) help recapture a portion or all of a defaulted loan made under its small business loan program, and (2) designate and utilize a fiscal agent for services the agent normally provides. The Fund shall make technical assistance grants to community development financial institutions to create, support, or maintain such a program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2016
Supports immigration legislation that: acknowledges that immigrants and their families have inherent dignity and are deserving of human rights; restores immigration system fairness by updating the definition of "aggravated felony"; restores discretion to immigration judges to waive grounds of inadmissibility and deportability based on family and community equities, humanitarian considerations, other individualized circumstances, or because it is in the public interest; restores judicial review of case decisions to protect due process; eliminates mandatory detention and prolonged detention for immigrants and preserves the Department of Homeland Security's authority to exercise detention discretion; repeals programs that permit local law authorities to enforce federal immigration laws; and repeals the 3-year, 10-year, and permanent bars and other unnecessary barriers to legal immigration.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2016
Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016 This bill amends the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 to replace the definition of "drug-related criminal activity" with "covered criminal activity" in connection with federally assisted housing, meaning any: criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, employees, or the housing owner or a public housing agency (PHA); or violent criminal activity off the premises by a tenant or any member of the tenant's household that poses risk of future harm to other tenants, employees, or the PHA or owner. The bill requires a PHA or owner, when screening of applicants for federally assisted housing, to conduct an individualized review of the totality of the circumstances regarding an applicant's criminal background, including disability-related offenses, before denying a housing application. A PHA or owner: may not deny an application based on previous evictions or inconclusive evidence, and must give an applicant household the option to remove a culpable member before denying an application. The bill prohibits suspicionless drug and alcohol testing, and applies requirements similar to those for screening applicants to termination of tenancy and assistance for covered criminal activity. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shall require annual reports from PHAs and owners on the disposition of applications, especially denials. The United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended, with respect to administrative procedures for a grievance concerning an eviction or termination of tenancy, to eliminate reference to drug-related criminal activity and specify only covered violent criminal activity. A PHA may neither require nor request an applicant for admission to public housing to authorize the PHA to receive information from a drug abuse treatment facility. A PHA may prohibit visitation of a public housing dwelling unit by a non-tenant on the basis of the non-tenant's criminal activity only if it is covered criminal activity, and other criteria are met. The bill revises project-based and voucher assistance requirements for termination of tenancy and selection for section 8 (voucher) rental assistance to reflect only covered criminal activity and eliminate reference to drug-related activity. The Department of Agriculture shall revise regulations for applicant screening and tenancy termination in specified rural housing programs to become substantially similar to HUD regulations for housing assistance programs. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended, with respect to the continuum of care program, to require a grant recipient's plan to describe how the recipient will collaborate with local criminal justice systems and the coordinated entry system to create pathways to housing for those cycling between homelessness and incarceration. The bill authorizes bonuses or other incentives to collaborative applicants and PHAs whose applications propose innovative solutions for providing pathways to housing for formerly incarcerated individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2016
Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016 This bill permanently reauthorizes the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Emmett Till Act) and expands the responsibilities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to include the investigation and prosecution of criminal civil rights statutes violations that resulted in a death, regardless of when the violations occurred. (Currently, the Emmett Till Act is scheduled to expire at the end of FY2017 and such investigations are limited to violations that occurred before 1970.) The bill expresses the sense of Congress that all authorities with jurisdiction should: (1) coordinate information sharing; (2) hold accountable individuals who were perpetrators of, or accomplices in, unsolved civil rights murders; and (3) comply with Freedom of Information Act requests. In investigating a complaint, DOJ may coordinate activities with entities that DOJ determines to be appropriate. DOJ shall reopen and review cases closed without an in-person investigation conducted by DOJ or the FBI. DOJ must establish a task force to conduct a thorough investigation of Emmett Till Act cases. In an annual report to Congress, DOJ must indicate: (1) the number of cases referred by a civil rights organization, an institution of higher education, or a state or local law enforcement agency; (2) the number of such cases that resulted in federal charges; (3) the date any such charges were filed; (4) whether DOJ has declined to prosecute or participate in an investigation of a referred case; and (5) any activity on reopened cases. DOJ may award grants to civil rights organizations, institutions of higher education, and other eligible entities for expenses associated with investigating offenses under the Emmett Till Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2016
Free Credit Score Act of 2016 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require nationwide consumer reporting agencies to include the consumer's credit score when furnishing a consumer with a free annual report.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2016
Expresses support for the designation of Men's Cancer Awareness Month. Urges public and private sector efforts to promote awareness, invest in research, and improve treatments for cancers disproportionately affecting men.
![Official portrait of Rep. Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000053_200.jpg)