United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2017
Deferment for Active Cancer Treatment Act of 2017 This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow borrowers to defer student loans while they are receiving cancer treatment and during the six months after treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Road to Recovery Act This bill provides for coverage, under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, of inpatient services in a residential substance use disorder treatment facility with respect to an individual under 65 years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Reaffirms: (1) the bipartisan commitment of the United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees; and (2) the goals of World Refugee Day. Recognizes those who have risked their lives to provide life-saving assistance and to help protect people displaced by conflict. Calls upon the U.S. government to: uphold its international leadership role in responding to displacement crises with humanitarian assistance for, and protection of, the most vulnerable populations; work in partnership with the international community to find solutions to existing conflicts and to prevent new conflicts; continue to support the efforts of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to advance the work of nongovernmental organizations to protect refugees regardless of their country of origin or religious beliefs; and continue to mitigate, through humanitarian and development support, the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries that absorb the majority of the world's refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2017
Leveraging Effective Apprenticeships to Rebuild National Skills Act or the LEARNS Act This bill establishes, in the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor, an Office of Apprenticeship to: determine whether an apprenticeship program meets requirements for registration and maintains the standards necessary to remain registered, manage the national apprenticeship system (the collective group of registered apprenticeship programs and pre-apprenticeship programs in the nation), and make grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to carry out projects that support development of pre-apprenticeship programs. The bill also establishes in Labor a National Advisory Committee on Apprenticeships. Labor and the Department of Education shall establish a voluntary Registered Apprenticeship-College Collaborative consisting of the sponsors carrying out registered apprenticeship programs, two- or four-year postsecondary educational institutions, and organizations that represent such programs or institutions, that agree to meet certain criteria in order to promote stronger connections between the registered apprenticeship programs involved and participating two- and four-year postsecondary educational institutions. Labor shall make assistance payments to eligible sponsors of new registered apprenticeship programs or of existing programs that add employers as new partners, that may include joint labor-management registered apprenticeship programs.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2017
Expresses strong disapproval of the President's announcement to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Commends the group of states, cities, colleges and universities, businesses, investors, and individuals who have publicly expressed their support for such agreement. Urges the President to reverse his decision and maintain U.S. participation in such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Climate Change National Security Strategy Act of 2017 This bill requires the National Security Advisor and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to jointly establish an interagency Climate and National Security Working Group, which must develop an action plan on current and projected climate-related impacts on national security interests. Specified federal departments and agencies must each develop a plan that ensures that such impacts are identified and considered in the development and implementation of relevant national security doctrine, policies, and plans. The plans must be updated at least annually.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Restore Honor to Service Members Act This bill requires appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. The Department of Defense (DOD) shall ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that: (1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and (2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. The bill prohibits "aggravating circumstances" from including: (1) an offense of sodomy committed by the member against a consenting person of the same sex; or (2) statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or identity, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at the time of discharge but that became permitted after such discharge. Each military department shall ensure that oral historians of the department: (1) review discharges between World War II and September 2011 based on sexual orientation, and (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who personally experienced discrimination and discharge because of actual or perceived sexual orientation so that such testimony may serve as an official record of such discriminatory policies and their impact on American lives. Specified military personnel records and discharge forms must be reissued in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2017 or the CARERS Act of 2017 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that the Act's regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties do not apply to a person who produces, possesses, distributes, dispenses, administers, tests, recommends, or delivers medical marijuana in compliance with state law. The bill also: excludes "cannabidiol" (CBD) from the definition of "marijuana"; limits the concentration of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in CBD to 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis; and deems marijuana grown or processed to make CBD, in accordance with state law, to comply with the THC concentration limit unless the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) determines state law to be unreasonable. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to terminate the Public Health Service's interdisciplinary review process that is used to evaluate applications for medical marijuana research. The DEA must license manufacturers and distributors of marijuana for medical research; HHS must register practitioners to conduct research; and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must authorize VA health care providers to provide recommendations and opinions to veterans regarding participation in their states' marijuana programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Federal Employee Combat Zone Tax Parity Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, the compensation of a federal employee who served in a combat zone or was hospitalized as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in a combat zone. The bill terminates the exclusion two years after the end of combatant activities in such combat zone.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
IDEA Full Funding Act This bill amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to reauthorize and make appropriations for the grant program to assist states and outlying areas in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. The bill sets the amount to be appropriated for each fiscal year from FY2018-FY2026 as the greater of: (1) a specified amount, or (2) a specified percentage of an amount determined pursuant to a formula that multiplies the number of children receiving special education services by the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools. The bill appropriates funds for FY2027 and each subsequent fiscal year equal to the greater of a specified amount or 40% of the amount determined using such formula. Amounts appropriated shall be expended consistent with pay-as-you-go requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2017
LGBT Pride Act This bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take measures to increase the frequency of collection of information on the sexual orientation and gender identity of deceased individuals through the National Violent Death Reporting System.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Wildfire Disaster Funding Act This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require specified adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2017-FY2026 to accommodate appropriations for wildfire suppression operations in the Wildland Fire Management accounts at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Department of the Interior. If USDA or Interior determines that supplemental appropriations are necessary for wildfire suppression operations, the bill requires the relevant department to submit to Congress a request for the funding and a plan for obligating the funds. The bill also requires the President's budget to include the average costs for wildfire suppression over the previous 10 years.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Election Protection & Integrity Certification Act or the EPIC Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an organization applying for tax-exempt status to certify that it will not: (1) use foreign funds to make certain expenditures in connection with an election, a political party, or an electioneering communication; or (2) solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation from a foreign national for an election or a political party. A tax-exempt organization must certify in its annual tax return that it has not violated the requirements described above. The Government Accountability Office must study the political activities of corporations to determine whether foreign money is being used in U.S elections. The bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require tax-exempt organizations filing certain reports regarding disbursements for independent expenditures or electioneering communications to certify that foreign funds were not used for the disbursements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Jumpstart on College Act This bill allows the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to improve low-income and underrepresented students' post-secondary graduation rates. ED shall award competitive six-year matching grants to partnerships between an institution of higher learning and a local education agency to assist in establishing or supporting an early college high school or dual or concurrent enrollment program. ED shall also award competitive six-year matching grants to states for supporting or establishing such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Automatic Voter Registration Act This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require state motor vehicle authorities, upon receiving certain identifying information with respect to an individual requesting motor vehicle authority services, to transmit the information to the state election official. The state election official shall then notify the individual that unless the individual declines to be registered to vote in federal elections in the state, the individual shall be automatically registered unless the individual does not meet voter registration eligibility requirements or is already registered to vote. A state may not use any identifying information regarding an individual's citizenship status for any purpose other than determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in federal elections.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Jane's Law This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly travel in interstate or foreign commerce with the intent to evade compliance with a court ordered property distribution as part of a separation or divorce settlement. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to two years, or both—and mandatory restitution in the amount of total unpaid property distribution.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Voices for Veterans Act This bill: (1) expands the membership of the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include veterans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and (2) extend the Commission through December 31, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Equip Ag Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1)identify DOD equipment that would be appropriate for farm use and could be used in an equipment sharing program without jeopardizing military readiness, and (2) establish a three-year pilot program to lend such equipment to new and beginning farmers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Foreign Agents Registration Modernization and Enforcement Act This bill amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 (FARA) to provide that whenever the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reason to believe that a person or enterprise may be in possession or control of documentary material relevant to an investigation under FARA, the DOJ, before initiating a civil or criminal proceeding with respect to the production of such material, may serve a written demand upon the entity to produce the material for examination. The bill includes social media communications under information that foreign agents must file with DOJ. Under certain circumstances, social media communications are exempted from the requirement for foreign agents to include a disclosure statement in informational materials. Informational materials disseminated by a foreign agent as part of an activity that would not require registration, need not be filed. The FARA Registration Unit shall submit a semiannual report to Congress regarding the administration of FARA, including the number of investigations initiated based upon a perceived violation and the number of such investigations that were referred to DOJ for prosecution.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Patient Choice and Quality Care Act of 2017 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to create and test a new Medicare model for advanced illness and care management that would enable certain Medicare beneficiaries with serious, chronic progressive, or advanced illnesses, to voluntarily engage in a planning process to obtain specialized care consistent with their health care goals. At least one participant in this model must be a hospice program. The model requires an interdisciplinary team comprised of physicians, nurses, and social workers to work together to provide beneficiaries and their caregivers with information and services on disease trajectory, treatment options, and available care. Information on advance care planning must be included in the Medicare & You Handbook. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must: (1) award grants to certain public or private entities to increase awareness of advance care planning and advanced illness care, (2) establish the Advance Care Planning Advisory Council to advise HHS on issues relating to advanced and terminal illnesses, and (3) issue an annual report analyzing the circumstances of deceased Medicare beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2017
Humane Cosmetics Act This bill prohibits testing cosmetics on animals, effective on the date that is one year after enactment of this bill. No cosmetic may be sold or transported if the final product or any component was developed or manufactured using animal testing after that date, effective three years after enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2017
Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower Act of 2017 or the RISE Act of 2017 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to set forth requirements about data collection related to students with disabilities. Specifically, the bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to outline which documents disabled students need to submit in order to ensure they are eligible for student disability support services. IHEs must submit key data related to their undergraduate students with disabilities for inclusion in federal postsecondary institution data collection efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 2017
White House Ethics Transparency Act of 2017 This bill requires an federal official who issues or approves a waiver or authorization relating to ethical standards applicable to executive branch political appointees under specified executive orders to transmit, within 30 days after issuing or approving such waiver or authorization, a written copy of the waiver or authorization to the Office of Government Ethics and make them available to the public on the websites of the agencies employing such appointees and the Office of Government Ethics. This requirement applies retroactively to January 20, 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 2017
Veteran Small Business Tax Credit Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a new business-related tax credit for the start-up expenses of a veteran-owned small business. The allowable amount of such credit is 15% of start-up expenditures that do not exceed $80,000. The credit is allowed to any individual (or the surviving spouse of such individual) who: (1) has served on active duty in the Armed Forces, and (2) has not been discharged or released from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 2017
Amends Rule XI (Procedures of Committees and Unfinished Business) of the Rules of the House of Representatives. Requires the Speaker, whenever a moment of silence related to a tragedy in the United States or its territories involving gun violence occurs on the floor of the House, to announce on the next legislative day the standing committee (or subcommittee) designated to hold a hearing on the event.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2017 This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl in recognition of his acts of valor during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
North Korea Travel Control Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to issue regulations prohibiting transactions related to travel to, from, or within North Korea by any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction unless authorized either by a general or specific license issued by Treasury. Treasury may not not issue such a license for travel the primary purpose of which is tourist activities. Penalties are provided for violations of this bill. This bill shall cease to be effective five years after its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Building an Environment for Helpful, Effective, and Accessible Representation and Decision-making Act or the BE HEARD Act This bill directs the Department of Defense to develop specific training to assist Special Victims' Counsels in recognizing and dealing with the effect of gender differences on victim response to sexual assault. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces may review for legal error a grant or denial of a petition for a writ of mandamus by the Court of Criminal Appeals upon petition of a sexual assault victim or the accused. Such review shall have priority of consideration to the maximum extent practicable. The bill states that: (1) the designation authority under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to appoint an individual to assume the rights of a victim who is under 18 years old or incompetent is discretionary, and (2) such designation is not required if the military judge determines that a victim who is under 18 years old can adequately represent his or her own interests.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Save Our Seas Act of 2017 or the SOS Act of 2017 This bill amends the Marine Debris Act to revise the Marine Debris Program to require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to work with: (1) other agencies to address both land- and sea-based sources of marine debris, and (2) the Department of State and other agencies to promote international action to reduce the incidence of marine debris. The bill also revises the program by allowing NOAA to make sums available for assisting in the cleanup and response required by severe marine debris events. NOAA must prioritize assistance for activities that respond to a severe marine debris event in: (1) a rural or remote community, or (2) a habitat of national concern. The bill urges the President to: (1) work with foreign countries that contribute the most to the global marine debris problem in order to find a solution to the problem; (2) study issues related to marine debris, including the economic impacts of marine debris; and (3) encourage the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to consider the impact of marine debris in relevant future trade agreements. The Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee must expand to include a senior official from the State Department or from the Department of the Interior. This bill reauthorizes for FY2018-FY2022: (1) the Marine Debris Program, (2) an information clearinghouse on marine debris, and (3) enforcement of laws about discarded marine debris from ships.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine Act or the Healthy MOM Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act and Internal Revenue Code to require health insurers, health insurance exchanges, and group health plans to offer a special enrollment period to pregnant individuals. The special enrollment period offered by an insurer or exchange must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the insurer or exchange. The special enrollment period offered by a group health plan must begin when the pregnancy is reported to the plan or is confirmed by a health care provider. Coverage offered by a group health plan or health insurer that covers dependents must provide coverage for maternity care to all covered individuals. The Office of Personnel Management must ensure that eligible pregnant women are allowed to enroll in federal employee health benefit plans outside of the open enrollment period. This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to revise the range in which a state must establish a maximum level of family income for pregnant women and infants to be eligible for Medicaid. The upper limit of the range is eliminated and the lower limit is set to the level in place, or specified in an amendment to a state plan, on January 1, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Procurement Fraud Prevention Act This bill directs the General Services Administration to establish procedures to ensure that any notice regarding registration of a small business concern in a procurement system contains information about cost-free federal procurement technical assistance services that are available through the Small Business Administration, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Department of Commerce, and other federal agencies and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Protecting Veterans Credit Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to exclude from consumer report information: (1) a veteran's medical debt if the hospital care or medical services relating to the debt antedates the credit report by less than one year; and (2) a fully paid or settled veteran's medical debt that had been characterized as delinquent, charged off, or in collection. The bill defines a "veteran's medical debt" as debt from health care provided in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility under the laws administered by the VA, including medical debt that the VA has wrongfully charged a veteran. A dispute process for veterans medical debt is established whereby: a veteran may submit a notice along with proof of VA liability for the debt or documentation that the VA is in the process of paying for authorized medical services to a consumer reporting agency or a reseller in order to dispute such debt's inclusion in the consumer report; the VA shall submit to a veteran a notice it has assumed liability for part or all of the veteran's medical debt; and if such notice and proof of liability or documentation is received, the consumer reporting agency shall delete all information relating to the veteran's medical debt from the file of the consumer and notify the furnisher and the consumer of such deletion.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Horseracing Integrity Act of 2017 This bill establishes the Horseracing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority as an independent non-profit corporation with responsibility for developing and administering an anti-doping and medication control program for: (1) Thoroughbred, Quarter, and Standardbred horses that participate in horse races that have a substantial relation to interstate commerce, (2) such horse races, and (3) the personnel engaged in the care, training, or racing of such horses. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all horse racing anti-doping and medication control matters. The Authority and such FTC jurisdiction shall terminate if an interstate compact providing for services consistent with such program is established within five years after the program takes effect. The Authority may enter into agreements with state racing commissions to implement the program within their jurisdictions. Program elements shall include: anti-doping and medication control rules, lists of permitted and prohibited substances and methods, a prohibition on the administration of any such substance within 24 hours of a horse's next racing start, and testing and laboratory standards. The Authority shall: develop, maintain, and publish such lists; establish a list of anti-doping and medication control rule violations applicable to either covered horses or persons; establish standards and the process for laboratory accreditation and sample testing; and promulgate rules for anti-doping and medication control results management, for the disciplinary process for violation results management, and for imposing sanctions for violations. The bill sets forth civil enforcement provisions. Activities under this bill are funded by an assessment placed on state racing commissions based on the calculation of cost per racing starter.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to modify the prohibition on firearm sale or transfer to or purchase or possession by an individual who is subject to a court order that restrains the individual from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of an intimate partner. Specifically, the bill revises the elements of a qualifying court order. It also broadens the definition of "intimate partner" to include a dating partner or former dating partner. Additionally, the bill expands the categories of prohibited persons (i.e., persons barred from receiving or possessing a firearm) to include persons who have been convicted of: (1) a misdemeanor crime of stalking, or (2) a crime involving conduct that would have been stalking if committed within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Home Health Documentation and Program Improvement Act of 2017 This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to use an individual's medical record from a home-health agency, as appropriate, to support certification of such individual's Medicare eligibility for home-health services. The bill requires the CMS to establish a process for home-health agencies that are entitled to an administrative appeal after being denied eligibility for Medicare reimbursement to, instead, enter into a settlement with the CMS.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Medicaid Coverage for Addiction Recovery Expansion Act This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to allow states to provide medical assistance to adults for residential addiction treatment facility services under the Medicaid program if such services are offered as part of a full continuum of evidence-based treatment services. "Residential addiction treatment facility services" are medically necessary inpatient services provided in an accredited, size-limited facility for the purpose of treating a substance use disorder within a specified time period. The provision of medical assistance for such services to an individual shall not prohibit federal financial participation for medical assistance with respect to other services provided to the individual within the same time period. Subject to specified conditions, a woman who is eligible for medical assistance on the basis of being pregnant may remain eligible for residential addiction treatment facility services for specified time periods without regard to eligibility limits that would otherwise apply as a result of her pregnancy ending. In addition, the bill establishes a grant program for states to expand infrastructure and treatment capabilities of existing youth addiction treatment facilities that: (1) provide addiction treatment services to youths under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and (2) are located in communities with high numbers of medically underserved populations of at-risk youths. At least 15% of grant funds awarded to a state must be used for making payments to rural facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Public Engagement at FERC Act This bill amends the Federal Power Act to revise and expand the Office of Public Participation in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and rename it as the Office of Public Participation and Consumer Advocacy. The office may participate in FERC proceedings on rates, service, and infrastructure siting to represent the interests of the public and issue guidance for potential improvements to industry and FERC practices. Additionally, the office must establish a Public and Consumer Advocacy Advisory Committee to review rates, services, and disputes and make recommendations to the office.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Match Veterans to Student Loan Protections Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify the federal student loan discharge process for a veteran who has a total and permanent disability. Specifically, it directs the Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a computer matching program for ED to identify the borrowers who: (1) have been assigned a service-connected disability rating of 100% by the VA, or (2) are unemployable due to a service-connected condition. ED must notify such borrowers of their eligibility for federal student loan discharge and provide simple instructions for applying.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Ensuring Trust and Honorability in Congressional Standards Act of 2017 or the ETHICS Act of 2017 This bill requires the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives to conduct ongoing ethics training and awareness programs for Members, officers, and employees of the House. A Member, officer, or employee who serves in or is employed by the House, during each session of Congress, must complete a committee program by the last day of the session, except that: an individual who did not serve or who was not employed in the previous session of Congress, or whose service or employment begins after the first day of the session, must complete the program within 60 days after that service or employment begins; and during the session in which this bill is enacted into law, each Member, officer, and employee must complete the program by the last day of the session or 60 days after enactment, whichever occurs earlier.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Veteran Overmedication Prevention Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to review the deaths of all covered veterans who died by suicide during the last five years, regardless of whether information relating to such deaths has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A "covered veteran" is any veteran who received VA hospital care or medical services during the five-year period preceding the veteran's death. The review shall include: the total numbers of veterans who died by suicide, violent death, or accidental death; the percentage of such veterans with combat experience or related trauma; each veteran's age, gender, race, and ethnicity; a list of medications and substances prescribed to such veterans; a summary of medical diagnoses that led to such prescriptions in cases of anxiety and depressive disorders; the number of instances in which such a veteran was concurrently on multiple prescribed medications; the number of such veterans who were not taking any prescribed medication; the percentage of such veterans treated for anxiety or depressive disorders who received a non-medication first-line treatment compared to the percentage who received medication only; descriptions of how the VA determines and updates clinical practice guidelines for prescribing medications and of VA efforts to maintain appropriate staffing levels for mental health professionals; an analysis of VA's use of systematically measuring pain scores during clinical encounters and how that relates to the number of veterans concurrently on multiple prescribed medications; identification of VA medical facilities with markedly high prescription rates and suicide rates for treated veterans; an analysis of VA programs that collaborate with state Medicaid agencies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; an analysis of VA medical center collaboration with medical examiners' offices or local jurisdictions to determine veteran mortality and cause of death; identification of a best practice model to collect and share veteran death certificate data; a description of how data relating to death certificates of veterans is collected, determined, and reported by the VA; an assessment of any apparent patterns based on the review; and recommendations to improve the safety and well-being of veterans. The VA shall ensure that such data is compiled in a manner that allows it to be analyzed across all data fields for purposes of informing and updating VA clinical practice guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President's handling of classified information has undermined the confidence of international partners and may have harmed U.S. national security.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Establishes the House Select Committee on Gun Violence Prevention to investigate and report on: the causes of mass shootings, methods to improve the federal firearms purchaser background check system, connections between access to firearms and dangerously mentally ill individuals, strengthening federal penalties for trafficking and straw purchasing of firearms, closing loopholes that allow some domestic abusers continued access to firearms, linkages between firearms and suicide, gun violence's effect on public health, the correlation between state gun violence prevention laws and the incidence of gun violence, the importance of having reliable and accurate information on gun violence and its toll on our nation, the implementation of effective gun violence prevention laws in accordance with the Second Amendment to the Constitution, and rates of gun violence in large metropolitan areas.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Raise the Wage Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage for regular employees over a 7-year period, for tipped employees, and for newly hired employees who are less than 20 years old. The bill sets forth a schedule of annual increases in the federal minimum wage for individuals with disabilities. The Department of Labor shall no longer issue special certificates for the payment of subminimum wages to such individuals after the final wage increase under this bill for such individuals takes effect. Labor shall provide, upon request, technical assistance and information to employers to: (1) help them transition their practices to comply with wage increases and other requirements under this bill for individuals with disabilities, and (2) ensure continuing employment opportunities for such individuals. The bill eliminates the separate minimum wage requirements for tipped, newly hired, and disabled employees. After a specified period, these employees shall be paid the same minimum wage as regular employees. Labor must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on its website 60 days before it takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2017
Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2017 This bill directs the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly establish the K-9 Service Corps Program for the awarding of grants to assist nonprofit organizations in establishing, planning, designing, and/or operating programs to provide assistance dogs to certain members of the Armed Forces and veterans who have certain disabilities. An "assistance dog" is defined to mean a dog specifically trained to perform physical tasks to mitigate the effects of such a disability, except that such term does not include a dog specifically trained for comfort or personal defense.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2017
Every Child Deserves a Family Act This bill prohibits adoption or foster care placement entities that receive federal assistance from using the sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status of a prospective adoptive or foster parent, or from using the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child, to: (1) deny a person the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster parent; (2) delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care; or (3) require different or additional screenings or procedures for adoptive or foster placement decisions, including whether to seek the termination of birth parent rights or to make a child legally available for adoptive placement. This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish guidance on legal compliance with the requirements of this bill and to assist entities with casework practices, recruitment efforts, and cultural competency training. This bill allows HHS to withhold payments under part B (Child and Family Services) or part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act from states that fail to comply with the requirements of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2017
Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2017 This bill modifies provisions relating to coverage for and access to treatment for chronic kidney disease, including Medicare payment provisions for renal dialysis services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2017
Indonesian Family Refugee Protection Act This bill authorizes a qualifying Indonesian citizen whose asylum claim was denied solely upon a failure to meet the one-year application filing deadline to file a motion to reopen such claim. Such motion shall be filed during the two-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2017
Halting Of Mortgage Exploitation of Servicemembers Act of 2017 or the HOMES Act of 2017 This bill amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to establish a 10-year statute of limitations for civil actions for violations of such Act brought by the Department of Justice or by a private party.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 2017
Gun Violence Restraining Order Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to prohibit the sale, transfer to, receipt of, or possession of a firearm by a person who is subject to a gun violence prevention order. A gun violence prevention order is a court order that prohibits an individual from owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm. The bill authorizes the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to make grants to states that have in effect legislation that: (1) authorizes a family member, or a law enforcement officer, to apply for a gun violence prevention order against an individual who may pose a significant risk to themselves or others; (2) authorizes a law enforcement officer to temporarily seize firearms from that individual, subject to a warrant; and (3) requires law enforcement agencies to comply with certain requirements.