United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of certain alcoholic beverages, to: exclude the aging period from the production period for beer, wine, or distilled spirits for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer can expense, rather than capitalize, interest costs paid or incurred during the production period; reduce excise tax rates on beer and distilled spirits; modify the small wine producer tax credit to increase the amount of the credit, expand the producers that are covered, and specify an adjustment for hard cider; modify the alcohol content limitations that apply to certain wines for tax purposes; specify definitions for "mead" and "low alcohol by volume wine;" modify requirements for records, statements, and returns for certain breweries; and permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax. The Department of the Treasury must amend applicable regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy Act or the BRACE Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for railroad track maintenance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Life at Conception Act This bill declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual comes into being. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Death Tax Repeal Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and (2) make permanent the maximum 35% gift tax rate and the lifetime gift tax exemption. The bill provides for an inflation adjustment to such exemption amount.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2017
Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage and payment with respect to certain pharmacist services that: (1) are furnished by a pharmacist in a health-professional shortage area, and (2) would otherwise be covered under Medicare if furnished by a physician.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Taiwan Travel Act This bill states that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts; (2) permit high-level Taiwanese officials to enter the United States under respectful conditions and to meet with U.S. officials, including officials from the Department of State and the Department of Defense; and (3) encourage the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan, to conduct business in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year or 18% of the U.S. gross domestic product unless Congress authorizes the excess by a two-thirds vote of each chamber. The prohibition excludes outlays for repayment of debt principal and receipts derived from borrowing. The amendment requires a two-thirds vote of each chamber of Congress to levy a new tax, increase the rate of any tax, or increase the debt limit. The amendment provides any Member of Congress with standing and a cause of action to seek judicial enforcement of this amendment if authorized by a petition signed by one-third of the Members of either house of Congress. Courts are prohibited from ordering any increase in revenue to enforce this amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2017
Expresses the sense of Congress that the tax exemption of fraternal benefit societies continues to generate significant returns to society and that the work of such societies should continue to be promoted.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
This bill amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. No less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million, whichever is greater, shall be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform an abortion: (1) without determining whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, (2) without informing the mother of the results, or (3) after determining that a fetus has a detectable heartbeat. It provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical (but not psychological or emotional) disorder, illness, or condition. A physician who performs a prohibited abortion is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
Military Spouse Job Continuity Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces (military spouse) who moves with such member to another state under a permanent change of station order a tax credit for up to $500 of qualified relicensing costs incurred by such spouse. The bill defines "qualified relicensing costs" as costs for a state license or certification to engage in the profession that such military spouse engaged in while residing in the former state.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 2017
No Funding for Sanctuary Campuses Act This bill amends title IV (Student Aid) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make an institution of higher education (IHE) that is a sanctuary campus ineligible for funds under title IV. It defines the term "sanctuary campus." The Department of Homeland Security must transmit to the Department of Education and publish in the Federal Register notice of a determination that an IHE is a sanctuary campus. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that providing in-state tuition to an alien who lacks lawful immigration status in the United States creates an incentive for illegal immigration and encourages and induces aliens to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2017
Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 is amended to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual Chinese immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. The bill establishes a transition period during which a percentage of employment-based second and third preference (EB-2 and EB-3) immigrant visas are reserved as follows: for FY2017, 15% of such visas are allotted to natives of countries other than the two countries with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2011; for FY2018, 10% of such visas are allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2012; and for FY2019, 10% of such visas are allotted in each category to natives of countries other than the two with the largest aggregate numbers of natives obtaining such visas in FY2015. During the transition period, not more than 25% of the total number of the reserved EB-2 and EB-3 visas shall be allotted to natives of a single country. For FY2015-FY2017, not more than 85% of the unreserved EB-2 and EB-3 visas shall be allotted to natives of a single country. Amendments made by this bill shall apply beginning in FY2017.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 2017
Help Extract Animals from Red Tape Act of 2017 or the HEART Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to modify the notice period in civil forfeiture proceedings that involve the seizure of an animal involved in animal fighting. It requires the government to send notice of the seizure to interested parties within 30 days (currently, 60 days). The notice period may be extended only if a delay is warranted after considering certain factors, including the cost to the government of providing shelter for the animal, the health of the animal and the effect of a delay on its rehabilitation, and any increased risk that a delay could necessitate the euthanasia of the animal. The bill amends the federal judicial code to authorize the Department of Justice to use amounts from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to pay for costs associated with a seized animal, including transportation, shelter, care, veterinary services, and humane euthanasia.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2017
Hearing Protection Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) eliminate the $200 transfer tax on firearm silencers, and (2) treat any person who acquires or possesses a firearm silencer as meeting any registration or licensing requirements of the National Firearms Act with respect to such silencer. Any person who pays a transfer tax on a silencer after October 22, 2015, may receive a refund of such tax. The bill amends the federal criminal code to preempt state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2017 or the RPM Act of 2017 This bill amends the Clean Air Act to allow the modification of a vehicle's air emission controls if the vehicle is used solely for competition.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, because it: (1) is a spectacle of extreme animal cruelty, (2) is a commercial activity not grounded in Chinese history, (3) is opposed by a majority of the Chinese people, and (4) threatens global public health. Urges: the government of China and the Yulin authorities to ban the killing and eating of dogs as part of Yulin's festival and to enforce China's food safety laws regulating the processing and sale of animal products and the 2011 Agriculture Ministry of China Regulation on the Quarantine of Dogs at the Place of Origin requiring one certificate for one dog on trans-provincial transport trucks, and the National People's Congress of China to enact an animal anticruelty law that bans the dog meat trade. Affirms the commitment of the United States to the protection of animals and to the progress of animal protection.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore mail delivery service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 2017
Requires both chambers of Congress to assemble annually in the Hall of the House of Representatives to receive a presentation from the Comptroller General on the Government Accountability Office's audited financial statement of the accounts and associated activities of the executive branch, together with an analysis of the financial position and condition of the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2017
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 This bill includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam its territorial seas for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all businesses and residential customers.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
Military Residency Choice Act This bill amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to permit the spouse of a servicemember to elect to use the same residence as the servicemember for purposes of taxation and voting, regardless of the date on which the marriage of the spouse and the servicemember occurred.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
Family Farm Relief Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a process for receiving H-2A nonimmigrant visas (temporary agricultural workers) which shall ensure that that petitioners may file such petitions over the Internet or in paper form. (Administration of the H-2A program is transferred from the Department of Labor to USDA.) The bill: (1) includes year-round livestock workers, including dairy workers, in the H-2A category with a maximum three-year period of admissions, which may be renewed three months after the end of each such period; and (2) revises H-2A certification provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
This bill repeals a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that imposes an annual fee on a health insurance provider based on its net premium income.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 2017
Trust Returned to the United States Taxpayer Act or the TRUST Act This bill denies retirement benefits under the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employees Retirement System to a Member of Congress who is convicted of any crime committed after the enactment of this bill that is a felony under federal or state law (currently, limited to specified felonies under federal law).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Fort Ontario Study Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, which was used as a military installation during the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Interior shall: (1) evaluate the site's national significance, and (2) determine the suitability and feasibility of designating it as a unit of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Protect Medical Innovation Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the excise tax on the sale of a medical device by the manufacturer, producer, or importer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year unless Congress authorizes the excess by a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber. The prohibition excludes outlays for repayment of debt principal and receipts derived from borrowing. The amendment requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber of Congress to increase the public debt limit. It requires a majority roll vote of each chamber to increase revenue. It also requires the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. Congress is authorized to waive these requirements when a declaration of war is in effect or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to allow a qualified individual to carry a concealed handgun into or possess a concealed handgun in another state that allows individuals to carry concealed firearms. A qualified individual must: (1) be eligible to possess, transport, or receive a firearm under federal law; (2) carry a valid photo identification document; and (3) carry a valid concealed carry permit issued by any state or be eligible to carry a concealed firearm in his or her state of residence. Additionally, the bill specifies that a qualified individual who lawfully carries or possesses a concealed handgun in another state: (1) is not subject to the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm in a school zone, and (2) may carry or possess the concealed handgun in federally owned lands that are open to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for any person to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the fetus is 20 weeks or more. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to five years in prison, or both. The bill provides exceptions for an abortion: (1) that is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman, or (2) when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. A physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion under an exception must comply with specified requirements. A woman who undergoes a prohibited abortion may not be prosecuted for violating or conspiring to violate the provisions of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017 This bill revises provisions relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking. A federal agency promulgating a rule must publish information about the rule in the Federal Register and include in its report to Congress and to the Government Accountability Office: (1) a classification of the rule as a major or nonmajor rule, and (2) a copy of the cost-benefit analysis of the rule that includes an analysis of any jobs added or lost. A "major rule" is any rule that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget finds results in: (1) an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises. A joint resolution of approval must be enacted within 70 session days or legislative days after the agency proposing a major rule submits its report on such rule to Congress in order for the rule to take effect. A major rule may take effect for 90 days without such approval if the President determines it is necessary because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency, for the enforcement of criminal laws, for national security, or to implement an international trade agreement. The bill sets forth the congressional approval procedure for major rules and the congressional disapproval procedure for nonmajor rules. A joint resolution addressing a report classifying a rule as a major rule must be introduced within three legislative days in the House of Representative and three session days in the Senate. The bill prohibits any amendments to, and provides for expedited consideration of, such a joint resolution. A court may review whether an agency has completed the necessary requirements under this bill for a rule to take effect. The bill limits the effect of a joint resolution of approval of a major rule. The Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended to provide that any congressional approval procedure set forth in this bill affecting budget authority, outlays, or receipts shall be assumed to be effective unless it is not approved in accordance with this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Miners Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan and the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan to provide health and pension benefits to retired coal miners and their families. The bill expands the group whose retiree health benefits are taken into account in determining the amount that the Department of the Treasury must transfer from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and the General Fund of the Treasury to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan. A voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) established as a result of certain bankruptcy proceedings must transfer to the plan any amounts received as a result of the bankruptcy proceeding, reduced by the amount of the VEBA's administrative costs. Transfers by Treasury are reduced by the amount of the VEBA transfers. Treasury must also transfer additional funds 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 also: (1) prohibits the pension plan from making certain changes to benefits during any year in which a transfer is received, and (2) establishes additional reporting requirements for the plan. The bill repeals requirements for current and former signatories to labor agreements with the UMWA to pay unassigned beneficiaries premiums or backstop premiums if transfers under SMCRA are less than the amount required to be transferred.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem equine (horses and other members of the equidae family) parts to be an unsafe food additive or animal drug. The bill prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts for human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment prohibiting total outlays for a fiscal year from exceeding total receipts for that fiscal year unless Congress authorizes the excess by a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber. The prohibition excludes outlays for repayment of debt principal and receipts derived from borrowing. The amendment prohibits total outlays for any fiscal year from exceeding one-fifth of the economic output of the United States, unless two-thirds of each house of Congress provides a specific increase in outlays above this amount. The amendment requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each chamber of Congress to increase the public debt limit or to increase revenue. It also requires the President to submit a balanced budget to Congress annually. Congress is authorized to waive these requirements when a declaration of war is in effect or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334: undermined the long-standing U.S. position to oppose and veto Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues or that are one-sided and anti-Israel; undermines the prospect of Israelis and Palestinians resuming productive, direct negotiations; and contributes to the politically motivated acts of boycott, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel and represents a concerted effort to extract concessions from Israel outside of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, which must be actively rejected. Such resolution characterizes Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal and demands cessation of settlement activities. Declares that: any future measures taken in international or outside organizations to impose an agreement including the recognition of a Palestinian state will set back the cause of peace, harm the security of Israel, run counter to the enduring bipartisan consensus on strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship, and weaken support for such organizations; a sustainable peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will come only through direct bilateral negotiations between the parties resulting in a Jewish, democratic state living next to a demilitarized Palestinian state in peace and security; the United States should work to facilitate direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions toward a peace agreement; and the U.S. government should oppose and veto future Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues or that are one-sided and anti-Israel. Declares that the House opposes Security Council Resolution 2334 and will work to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship. Calls for such resolution to be repealed or fundamentally altered.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2017
Encourage New Legalized Immigrants to Start Training Act or the ENLIST Act This bill authorizes the enlistment in the Armed Forces of aliens unlawfully present in the United States on December 31, 2012, who: (1) have been continuously present in the United States since such date; (2) were younger than 15 years of age when they initially entered the United States; and (3) are otherwise eligible for original enlistment in a regular component of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard. The Department of Homeland Security shall adjust the status of an alien enlisted under such authority to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act applicable to aliens who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1972. The bill rescinds such lawful permanent resident status if the alien is separated from the Armed Forces under other than honorable conditions before serving the term of enlistment.
![Official portrait of Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000478_200.jpg)