United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Lyme Disease Research Stamp Act This bill directs the U.S. Postal Service to issue a Lyme Disease Research Semipostal Stamp. The proceeds from the sale of the stamp shall be transferred to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for funding Lyme disease and related tick-borne illness research, through payments which shall be made at least twice a year. The stamp shall be made available to the public for at least six years.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Blast Exposure Protection Act of 2017 This bill establishes a Department of Veterans Affairs' presumption of service-connection for a veteran's injury or illness associated with a blast exposure during active military, naval, or air service in spite of there being no record of the injury or illness during a period of service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Hear Our Heroes Act of 2017 This bill establishes a presumption of service-connection for veterans with permanent hearing loss, tinnitus, or both, who served on active duty in combat or in a military occupational specialty in which they were exposed to a high level of acoustic trauma.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to expand the scope of "covered transaction" subject to the review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS analyzes the national security implications of foreign investment in the United States. A covered transaction includes: any merger, acquisition, or takeover that could result in foreign control of any U.S. business, the purchase or lease of real estate located in the United States that is in close proximity to a U.S. military installation or to another U.S. government facility or property that is sensitive for reasons relating to national security, other investment in a U.S. critical technology company or U.S. critical infrastructure company, any change in a foreign investor's rights that results in foreign control of a U.S. business, the contribution of intellectual property to a foreign person, or any other transaction, transfer, agreement, or arrangement designed to evade or circumvent the authority of CFIUS. The bill revises other provisions relating to CFIUS, including the length of its review period, special hiring authority and funding, and authority to mandate reviews or take unilateral action.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 123 Bridgeton Pike in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, as the "James C. 'Billy' Johnson Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
Sugar Policy Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 and other agricultural laws to modify the Department of Agriculture (USDA) sugar program. The bill modifies the sugar program to: reduce the rates for price support loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets; require USDA to recover the net cost of the program from domestic sugar processors; extend through 2019 and then terminate the Feedstock Flexibility Program under which USDA purchases surplus sugar from domestic processors for resale to ethanol producers; extend through 2020 and then repeal the flexible marketing allotments which limit the amount of sugar that domestic processing companies may sell for domestic human use; require USDA to administer the program to provide adequate supplies of sugar at reasonable prices; require USDA to adjust sugar tariff-rate quota imports to achieve specified ratios of sugar stocks to total sugar use; and allow the transfer of quotas between countries.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 2017
Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act or the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award cooperative agreements to state and local health departments to expand activities related to Alzheimer's disease, including activities involving early detection, support for caregivers, and public awareness.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2017
Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 2017 This bill modifies various provisions of federal firearms laws. Among other things, it does the following: prohibits certain firearm transfers between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check; and requires states to implement plans to improve the submission of mental health and criminal history records to the national instant criminal background check system.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2017
American Promise Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit an alien who is in temporary protected status (TPS) or deferred enforced departure (DED) status to apply for legal permanent resident status if such alien: is eligible for permanent resident status, applies for adjustment within three years, was granted or was eligible for TPS or DED status on or before October 1, 2017, and has been continuously physically present in the U.S. for at least three years. (TPS designations permit eligible nationals of designated counties affected by armed conflict or natural disasters to temporarily reside and work in the United States. DED designations permit eligible nationals of presidentially-designated counties to be temporarily not subject to removal from the United States.) The bill: waives certain grounds of inadmissibility; authorizes the waiver of the continuous physical presence requirement if an alien's removal would cause extreme hardship to the alien or to the alien's spouse, children, parents, or domestic partner; authorizes an alien who has applied for status adjustment to work; and authorizes an alien who has been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure to apply for status adjustment. An alien's spouse, parent, or unmarried child shall have his or her status adjusted to legal permanent resident if such person is eligible for status adjustment and applies within three years. Aliens from countries that no longer have valid TPS designation and aliens who no longer have valid DED status are not included in this bill unless such TSP or DED status expires on or after January 1, 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to review and report on the financial services industry requirements of China and the impact of these requirements on the national security, political, or economic interests of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Kevin and Avonte's Law of 2017 Missing Americans Alert Program Act of 2017 This bill amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to revise, rename, and reauthorize through FY2022 the Missing Alzheimer's Disease Patient Alert Program. It directs the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants: to develop or operate programs to prevent wandering and locate missing individuals with dementia or children with developmental disabilities, and to develop tracking technology programs to locate missing individuals with dementia or children with developmental disabilities. The bill amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to specify that, with respect to training and technical assistance provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, cases involving missing and exploited children include cases involving children with developmental disabilities such as autism. DOJ must establish and certain grant recipients must comply with standards and best practices related to the use of tracking technology to locate missing individuals with dementia or developmental disabilities. The bill prohibits the use of data from tracking devices to create a federal database. It also prohibits construing this bill to require a parent or guardian to use a tracking device.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 2017
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pay, to a provider that furnishes a hematopoietic stem cell transplant, an adjusted Medicare payment consistent with the Medicare payment methodology for kidney-acquisition costs outlined in regulation. Under the applicable regulation, kidney-acquisition costs are treated apart from the prospective payment rate for inpatient operating costs, and payment is adjusted to compensate the hospital for certain reasonable expenses. "Hematopoietic stem cell transplant" means the infusion of allogeneic hematopoietic cells (including bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells, and cord-blood units, but excluding embryonic stem cells) that are: (1) not more than minimally manipulated; and (2) intended to reestablish hematopoietic function in an individual whose blood marrow or immune system is damaged, defective, or adversely affective by a congenital disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017
Extending Status Protection for Eligible Refugees with Established Residency Act of 2017 or the ESPERER Act of 2017 This bill permits a qualifying national of Haiti, Nicaragua, El Salvador, or Honduras who is in temporary protected status (TPS) to apply for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status before January 1, 2021. TPS designation permits eligible nationals of designated countries affected by armed conflict or natural disasters to temporarily reside and work in the United States. The spouse, child, or unmarried son or daughter of an alien who has adjusted to lawful permanent resident status may also adjust to such status subject to certain conditions. An alien subject to a final order of removal may seek a stay of such order based on the filing of an application for status adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
No Abortion Bonds Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose taxes on state, local, and tax credit bonds that are used to provide a facility owned or used (for any purpose) by an abortion provider for more than 30 days during a year in which interest is paid on the bond. An entity is not considered an abortion provider solely as a result of performing abortions if: (1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. The Department of the Treasury may exempt certain hospitals from being considered an abortion provider by making the name of the hospital available on Treasury's public website.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2017
Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Justice to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms (and explosives) licenses and permits to a known or suspected terrorist.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 2017
This bill amends the federal criminal code to prohibit certain conduct with respect to any part or combination of parts that is designed and functions to increase the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but does not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. Specifically, it makes it a crime to manufacture, possess, or transfer such device: (1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or (2) that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. An individual who knowingly violates the prohibition is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both. Additionally, the U.S. Sentencing Commission must review and amend the sentencing guidelines and policy statements to provide an enhanced penalty if the device has been: (1) used, carried, or possessed during or in relation to a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime; or (2) unlawfully smuggled into or from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2017
Access to Marketplace Insurance Act This bill requires health insurers to accept, on behalf of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans, cost-sharing payments made by certain third parties (e.g., state and federal government programs) and count such payments toward annual cost-sharing limitations. (Qualified health plans are eligible for subsidies and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
Preserving Liu Xiaobo Legacy of Freedom & Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Liu Xiaobo and collectively to all those who have peacefully advocated for democracy and human rights in China in recognition of their achievements and contributions to freedom, human rights, and peace in China and globally. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the medal available for display, particularly at locations: (1) associated with the research of the Tiananmen Protests of 1989 and their violent suppression, and (2) dedicated to preserving the history of the Chinese pro-democracy movement.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 2017
American Miners Pension Act of 2017 This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to transfer certain funds and provide loans to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan in order to provide pension benefits for retired coal miners. The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer additional funds from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and the General Fund of the Treasury to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan to pay pension benefits required under that plan if the amounts available for transfer under SMCRA's $490 million annual limit exceed the amounts required to be transferred for other purposes (including to the UMWA Health Plans). The bill prohibits the plan from making certain changes to benefits during any year in which a transfer is received. Treasury must make annual loans to the plan equal to the amount certified by the trustees of the plan as necessary to prevent insolvency. The loans may not exceed $600 million per year. The trustees must annually certify that the plan is projected to be solvent and is able to repay the loans under terms specified in the bill. The bill also establishes additional reporting requirements for the plan.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2017
AFG and SAFER Program Reauthorization Act of 2017 This bill amends the the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to: (1) repeal the expiration dates of, and to reauthorize through FY2023, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) Program, the Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (FPSG) Program, and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant (SAFER) Program; and (2) authorize the use of AFG Program grants, instead of SAFER Program grants, to provide specialized training to first responders on how to recognize and properly intervene with individuals with mental illness. The SAFER Program is revised to permit the use of grants to change the status of part-time or paid-on-call firefighters to full-time firefighters. The United States Fire Administration (USFA) may develop and make widely available an electronic, online training course for members of the fire and emergency response community on matters related to the administration of AFG, FPSG, and SAFER grants. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) shall ensure that any such training is: (1) tailored to the financial and time constraints of members of the fire and emergency response community; and (2) accessible to all individuals in the career, combination, paid-on-call, and volunteer fire and emergency response community. The USFA shall develop and implement a grant monitoring and oversight framework to mitigate and minimize risks of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement relating to such grants programs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
War Crimes Rewards Expansion Act This bill amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the Department of State to offer awards under its war crimes rewards program for the arrest or conviction in any country of a foreign national accused of a war crime, a crime against humanity, or genocide as such crime is defined under: (1) U.S. law, or (2) the statutes of such country or an international criminal tribunal. (Currently, the reference to such crime is as defined only by an international criminal tribunal.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2017
Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2017 This bill amends the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 to direct the Department of State to report to Congress (within 90 days and annually thereafter through 2023) on conditions in Hong Kong that are of U.S. interest. Such report shall include matters in which Hong Kong is given separate treatment under U.S. laws from that accorded to China. The State Department shall certify to Congress annually whether Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous to justify separate treatment different from that accorded to China in any new laws, agreements, treaties, or arrangements entered into between the United States and Hong Kong. The President shall identify persons responsible for: (1) the surveillance, abduction, detention, or forced confessions of certain booksellers and journalists in Hong Kong; and (2) other actions suppressing basic freedoms. The bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny U.S. entry to identified individuals and revoke visas or other entry documentation. Entry, work, or study visa applicants who resided in Hong Kong in 2014 shall not be denied visas on the basis of the applicant's arrest or detention or other adverse government action taken as a result of participation in the nonviolent protest activities related to Hong Kong's electoral process. The President shall freeze the U.S.-based assets of identified individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2017
Affirms the importance of the U.S. partnership with the government of Azerbaijan in the areas of international security, European energy security, and economic development. Calls on the U.S. government: in its diplomatic engagement and delivery of bilateral assistance, to prioritize as a matter of strategic importance its response to Azerbaijan's violations of universally recognized human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law to ensure the long-term sustainability of the U.S.-Azerbaijani bilateral partnership; to closely evaluate reporting to identify and impose travel and financial restrictions on Azerbaijan officials responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act; and to closely evaluate reporting to identify and impose travel restrictions on Azerbaijan officials responsible for severe violations of religious freedom, pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Calls on the government of Azerbaijan to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, rehabilitate their records, lift travel bans, and cease harassment, intimidation, and mistreatment of citizens engaged in political speech, independent journalism, and other forms of advocacy on behalf of government accountability, democratic values, and universally recognized human rights. Supports the peaceful efforts of the people of Azerbaijan ito achieve democratic reform and exercise their fundamental freedoms.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the federal government should ensure that: (1) every person facing the end of their life has access to quality, comprehensive medical care; and (2) policies or practices supporting assisted suicide are not adopted.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017 or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and make publicly available a National Family Caregiving Strategy that identifies recommended actions for recognizing and supporting family caregivers in a manner that reflects their diverse needs. HHS shall convene a Family Caregiving Advisory Council to advise the department on recognizing and supporting family caregivers. The council shall terminate after five years.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2017
Legal Workforce Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish an employment eligibility verification system (EEVS), patterned after the E-Verify system. An employer shall attest, during the verification period and under penalty of perjury, that the employer has verified that an individual is not an unauthorized alien. An individual shall attest that he or she is a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an alien authorized to work in the United States. The bill establishes a phased-in EEVS participation deadline for different categories of employers, including agricultural employers. The bill requires reverification of certain groups of workers who have not been verified under E-verify. An employer may voluntarily reverify employees. Employment recruitment and referral are included within the scope of EEVS. The bill sets forth provisions regarding: (1) an employer utilizing a good faith defense, (2) preemption of state or local law, (3) employer penalties, and (4) worker remedies for EEVS errors. DHS shall establish programs to: (1) block the use of misused social security numbers, (2) suspend or limit the use of social security account numbers of identity fraud victims, and (3) permit parents or legal guardians to suspend or limit the use of a minor's social security account number or other identifying information. DHS shall establish at least two Identity Authentication Employment Eligibility Verification pilot programs using distinct technologies to provide employers with identity authentication and employment verification of enrolled new employees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2017
Equity for Disaster Victims Act of 2016 This bill assists victims of Superstorm Sandy and other disasters by allowing recipients of specified disaster-assistance loans from the Small Business Administration to repay the loans with disaster-recovery grant funds received under the Community Development Block Grant Program.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2017
National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for federally-declared disasters in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. For individuals and businesses located in or investing in the affected areas, the bill allows: expensing of certain disaster expenses, increased deductions for charitable contributions for disaster relief, modifications to rules regarding the deduction of losses attributable to disasters, waivers of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements, an extension of the additional depreciation allowance for business property (bonus depreciation), an increased new markets tax credit limitation, penalty-free distributions from retirement plans, an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced, an exclusion from gross income for certain cancellations of indebtedness, a modified rule for determining the earned income of individuals for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, an increased rehabilitation tax credit for buildings, additional advance refundings of certain tax-exempt bonds, disaster area recovery bonds, additional low-income housing tax credit allocations, payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status, an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments, a deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund, a five-year replacement period for property for purposes of the exclusion of gain from an involuntary conversion, a tax credit for a portion of the wages paid to employees, and an enhanced deduction for medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 2017
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1300 Main Street in Belmar, New Jersey, as the "Dr. Walter S. McAfee Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
African Growth and Opportunity Act and Millennium Challenge Act Modernization Act or the AGOA and MCA Modernization Act This bill directs the President to establish a website for the collection and dissemination of information regarding the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Department of State is urged to promote the use by eligible sub-Saharan African countries of the benefits available under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The President is urged to: facilitate trans-boundary trade among eligible sub-Saharan African countries; provide training for business and government trade officials on accessing AGOA benefits; provide capacity building for African entrepreneurs and trade associations on production strategies, quality standards, and market development; provide capacity building training to promote product diversification and value-added processing; and provide capacity building and technical assistance funding to help African businesses and institutions comply with U.S. counter-terrorism policies. The Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 is amended to permit an eligible country that has entered into a Millennium Challenge Compact to enter into one additional compact under specified conditions. The bill establishes, beginning with FY2013, new assistance criteria for a low-income or a lower middle income candidate country eligible to enter into a Millennium Challenge Compact with the United States. The Millennium Challenge Corporation shall: (1) before selecting a compact country, provide the Board of Directors with information regarding the country's treatment of civil society; and (2) submit an assessment of the feasibility of developing partnerships at the sub national level within candidate countries.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Bindu Philips and Devon Davenport International Child Abduction Return Act of 2017 This bill amends the Trade Act of 1974 to prohibit the President from designating a country as a beneficiary developing country if the country has a pattern of noncompliance under the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act of 2014 in cases of child abduction during the preceding 12 months. Under current law, a beneficiary developing country is eligible for benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (i.e., tariff benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Reducing the Demand for Human Trafficking Act of 2017 This bill amends the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 to add a provision that directs the Department of Justice, with respect to trafficking victim services grants, to give preference to applicants who use the grant funds to investigate and prosecute individuals who solicit or purchase commercial sex.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Pesticide Protection Act of 2017 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cancel the registration of the pesticide chlorpyrifos under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The bill prohibits the sale and use of existing stock of chlorpyrifos. The bill requires the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos residue on food under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017 This bill directs the President to impose sanctions against: (1) Iran's ballistic missile or weapons of mass destruction programs, (2) the sale or transfer to Iran of military equipment or the provision of related technical or financial assistance, and (3) Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated foreign persons. The President may impose sanctions against persons responsible for violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals in Iran. The President may temporarily waive the imposition or continuation of sanctions under specified circumstances. Countering Russian Influence in Europe and Eurasia Act of 2017 The President must submit for congressional review certain proposed actions to terminate or waive sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation. Specified executive order sanctions against Russia shall remain in effect. The President may waive specified cyber- and Ukraine-related sanctions. The bill provides sanctions for activities concerning: (1) cyber security, (2) crude oil projects, (3) financial institutions, (4) corruption, (5) human rights abuses, (6) evasion of sanctions, (7) transactions with Russian defense or intelligence sectors, (8) export pipelines, (9) privatization of state-owned assets by government officials, and (10) arms transfers to Syria. The Department of State shall work with the government of Ukraine to increase Ukraine's energy security. The bill: (1) directs the Department of the Treasury to develop a national strategy for combating the financing of terrorism, and (2) includes the Secretary of the Treasury on the National Security Council. Korean Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act The bill modifies and increases the President's authority to impose sanctions on persons in violation of certain United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding North Korea. U.S. financial institutions shall not establish or maintain correspondent accounts used by foreign financial institutions to provide indirect financial services to North Korea. A foreign government that provides to or receives from North Korea a defense article or service is prohibited from receiving certain types of U.S. foreign assistance. The bill provides sanctions against: (1) North Korean cargo and shipping, (2) goods produced in whole or part by North Korean convict or forced labor, and (3) foreign persons that employ North Korean forced laborers. The State Department shall submit a determination regarding whether North Korea meets the criteria for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
This bill requires the annual reports submitted by the Department of State to Congress concerning the U.S. plan to endorse and obtain observer status for Taiwan at the annual summit of the World Health Assembly (WHA) held by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, to include an account of the changes and improvements that the State Department has made to such plan following any annual meetings of the WHA at which Taiwan did not obtain such status.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Stopping Abusive Female Exploitation Act or the SAFE Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to increase from 5 to 15 years the maximum prison term for an individual who is convicted of female genital mutilation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2017
Calls upon: (1) Kenya to hold free and fair presidential elections in August 2017 and to condemn the use of hate speech and the incitement of violence by political candidates, the media, or any Kenyan citizens; (2) Kenyan citizens to peacefully participate in the general elections and seek to resolve any disputes over results through the legal system; and (3) Kenyan political candidates to respect the Electoral Code of Conduct and the Political Party Code of Conduct. Encourages: (1) Kenyan political parties, civil society, and the media to act responsibly with their parallel vote tabulations; (2) Kenyan civil society organizations to continue providing early warning and response measures to mitigate election-related violence and strengthen democratic processes; and (3) the Trump Administration to appoint an Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Commends the key role the faith-based community has played in ensuring a peaceful pre- and post-election environment through periodically convening the Multi-Sectoral Forum to deliberate on matters of governance, election management, and looming insecurity. Supports efforts by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist election-related preparations in Kenya. Calls upon the United States and Kenya's other international partners to continue to support Kenya's efforts to address the remaining electoral preparation challenges and identify gaps in which additional resources or diplomatic engagement could make important contributions to the conduct of the elections.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Recognizes the life and accomplishments of Liu Xiaobo. Calls for the Chinese government to release his wife and allow her to settle in a place or country of her own choosing.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2017
Medicare Part B Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: establish a transitional Medicare payment system with respect to certain home infusion services; extend the Medicare Intravenous Immune Globulin demonstration project and provide for participants to be automatically reenrolled in the project; specify that, for purposes of determining the reasonableness and medical necessity of orthotics and prosthetics, documentation created by an orthotist or prosthetist shall be considered part of a beneficiary's medical record; allow renal dialysis facilities to be accredited for Medicare participation by an approved accreditation body; allow Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to receive certain ESRD-related visits via telehealth; codify certain rules regarding signature requirements and holdover arrangements as they relate to prohibitions against physician self-referrals; and beginning in FY2021, reduce funding available to the Medicare Improvement Fund by an amount equal to the amount of projected expenditures attributable to specified provisions of the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Iran and Hizballah Western Hemisphere Prevention Act of 2017 This bill declares it to be U.S. policy to prevent further penetration of Iran and Hizballah into the Western Hemisphere and to prioritize diplomatic efforts to engage countries in the hemisphere to disrupt and degrade Hizballah's illicit networks operating in the region. The Department of State shall submit a strategy to prevent hostile activities by Iran and disrupt and degrade Hizballah's illicit networks in the hemisphere. The President shall instruct the State Department to prioritize U.S. diplomatic engagement with countries in the hemisphere in order to increase cooperation and build the capacity of the governments of those countries to prevent such activities and disrupt and degrade such networks. The bill amends the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 to require the President to instruct: the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) to work to secure OAS support for a resolution that would declare Hizballah to be a terrorist organization and address such illicit networks; and the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to work in securing a report on compliance by participating states with OSCE Decision Number 1063, the Consolidated Framework for the Fight Against Terrorism, with regard to Hizballah; and U.S. diplomats to work with international forums to identify government entities in Latin America and the Caribbean that support individuals affiliated with Hizballah in the hemisphere. The State Department must provide to the relevant congressional committees annual briefings that review its efforts to implement such strategy and U.S. bilateral and multilateral engagement with respect to Hizballah in the hemisphere.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to beneficiaries with pre-diabetes or risk factors for developing type-2 diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Railroad Yardmaster Protection Act of 2017 This bill applies to yardmaster employees the limitations on duty hours and the restrictions on communications to employees during their off-duty hours that are currently applicable to train employees. A "yardmaster employee" means an individual responsible for supervising and coordinating the control of trains and engines operating within a rail yard.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Urges adherence to the "one country, two systems" policy established by the Joint Declaration between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China with respect to: Hong Kong's exercise of a high degree of autonomy; Hong Kong's enjoyment of executive, legislative, and independent judicial power; and protection of the fundamental rights of Hong Kong residents.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Calls for the U.S. government to: use all available leverage to achieve lasting, comprehensive cease-fires in cases of conflict in Africa; work with governments to facilitate disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of combatants; use the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to sanction individuals or entities responsible for initiating or prolonging conflict, endangering humanitarian aid workers, or preventing delivery of humanitarian aid; apply all available weather and crop information to more accurately predict incipient drought and to determine the likelihood of famine in conflict areas; collaborate with other donor nations to accelerate the provision of food, clean water, medicine, and shelter to those in need; expand the prepositioning of aid commodities in safe zones close to the famine region; provide assistance to farmers, herders, and fishermen; and use cash transfers to more quickly provide food aid where local markets exist and to support the functioning of local markets. Urges governments in affected African countries to: establish effective cease-fires and use force thereafter only when government forces or facilities or civilians are under attack; identify and take actions against individuals and entities that actively threaten peace and safety; work with civil society to help end conflict at the grassroots level and effect reconciliation; take specifed actions to promote the delivery of food, clean water, medicine, and shelter; protect humanitarian aid workers; and safeguard agricultural areas and farm personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Recognizes Liu Xiaobo for his decades of peaceful struggle for basic human rights and democracy in the People's Republic of China. Urges the Chinese government to unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia, and the Administration to seek their humanitarian transfer from China so that he can seek medical treatment in the United States or elsewhere overseas.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Corporate Transparency Act of 2017 This bill requires an entity that forms a corporation or limited liability company to disclose information about its beneficial owners. A beneficial owner is an individual who exercises substantial control over a corporation or limited liability company or has a substantial interest in or receives substantial economic benefits from the assets of a corporation or limited liability company. Specifically, if an entity applies to form a corporation or limited liability company in a state that does not require the disclosure of beneficial ownership information, then the entity must file beneficial ownership information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The bill imposes a civil penalty and authorizes criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term for up to three years, or both—for providing false or fraudulent beneficial ownership information or for willfully failing to provide complete or updated beneficial ownership information. It directs the Department of the Treasury to require persons engaged in the business of forming (or of purchasing, selling, or transferring the public records that form) corporations or limited liability companies to establish anti-money laundering programs. The Government Accountability Office must study and report on: (1) the availability of beneficial ownership information for other legal entities (e.g., partnerships), and (2) the effectiveness of incorporation practices implemented under this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2017
Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 2017 This bill amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to remove limitations on the amount of outside income that an OASDI beneficiary may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2017
Mental Health Access Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) cover marriage and family therapist services and mental health counselor services under Medicare, (2) exclude such services from the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system, and (3) authorize marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to develop discharge plans for post-hospital services.
![Official portrait of Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000522_200.jpg)