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![Official portrait of Rep. Tsongas, Niki [D-MA-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000465_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
1,768 records where Rep. Tsongas, Niki [D-MA-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Expresses support for the designation of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to award grants or contracts for Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers. These Centers must improve the training of health professionals in palliative care and establish traineeships for individuals preparing for advanced education nursing degrees, social work degrees, or advanced degrees in physician assistant studies in palliative care. HHS may make grants to, and enter into contracts with, schools of medicine, schools of osteopathic medicine, teaching hospitals, and graduate medical education programs to support the training of physicians who plan to teach palliative medicine. HHS must: (1) provide Palliative Medicine and Hospice Academic Career Awards to individuals to promote their career development; (2) award grants or contracts to entities that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Education Center; (3) award incentive grants or contracts to advanced practice nurses, social workers, physician assistants, pharmacists, chaplains, or students of psychology pursuing an advanced degree in palliative care or related fields; and (4) award grants to schools of nursing, health care facilities, or programs leading to certification as a nurse assistant to train individuals in providing palliative care. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must provide for a national education and awareness campaign to inform patients, families, and health professionals about the benefits of palliative care. The National Institutes of Health must expand national research programs in palliative care.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Cruise Passenger Protection Act Directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to determine whether any of the enumerated rights in the international cruise line passenger bill of rights (adopted by the members of the Cruise Lines International Association) is enforceable under federal law. Applies this Act to passenger vessels that: (1) carry at least 250 passengers, (2) have sleeping facilities for each passenger, (3) are on a voyage that embarks or disembarks passengers in the United States, (4) are not engaged in coastwise trade, and (5) are not federal- or state-owned. Revises passenger vessel security and safety requirements concerning: (1) log book entries and reporting of deaths, missing individuals, thefts, and other crimes; and (2) placement, access to records, and notice of video surveillance equipment to monitor crime. Directs DOT to maintain on a website a statistical compilation of reported incidents of missing persons, crimes, and other information for vessel passengers. Directs DOT, in coordination with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Department of Justice, and heads of other relevant federal agencies, to study the feasibility of having an individual on board each passenger vessel to provide victim support and related safety and security services. Requires the Maritime Administration (who, currently, is merely authorized) to certify organizations in the United States and abroad that offer the curriculum for training and certification of passenger vessel security personnel, crewmembers, and law enforcement officials on the appropriate methods for prevention, detection, evidence preservation, and reporting of crimes in international waters. Revises vessel design, equipment, construction, and retrofitting requirements. Requires vessel owners to ensure that a vessel is staffed at all times with appropriate medical staff to treat passengers on board. Requires the peep hole or other means of visual identification in the entry door of a passenger stateroom or crew cabin to provide an unobstructed view of the area outside the stateroom or crew cabin. Authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to withhold or revoke the clearance of, and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to deny entry into the United States to, any vessel owner that: (1) commits an act or omission for which a penalty is imposed under this Act, or (2) fails to pay the penalty.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2015
Schedules That Work Act Grants an employee the right to request that his or her employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to: the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification he or she receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Requires the employer, if the request is made, to engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet his or her needs. Outlines the process for either granting or denying a change. Requires the employer to grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, his or her responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job.++_ Authorizes an employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, to deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. Requires the employer to give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason. Outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's (DOL) designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities. Makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this Act; (2) retaliate against an individual for exercising his or her rights, or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights. Sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions. Directs DOL to give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this Act. Directs DOL, acting through the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of the Census to: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey. Makes this Act inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2015
Child Sexual Abuse Awareness and Prevention Act This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to: (1) authorize the use of grants to local educational agencies for carrying out child sexual abuse awareness and prevention programs and activities, (2) establish periodic evaluation requirements for such grant programs and activities, and (3) establish principles of effectiveness applicable to these grant programs and activities as well as to those aimed at reducing the impact of domestic violence on schoolchildren.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2015
Restore Honor to Service Members Act 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. Permits such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. Directs the Department of Defense to 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, such as misconduct, that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. 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. Directs the Secretary of each military department to 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. Requires the reissuance of specified military personnel records and discharge forms in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member. Amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice to remove from the offense of sodomy specified activity referred to as unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2015
Background Check Completion Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to prohibit a licensed gun dealer from transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person prior to completion of a background check. (Current law permits a licensed gun dealer to transfer a firearm to an unlicensed person if a submitted background check remains incomplete after three business days.)
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2015
Directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop guidelines for use, by the Secretaries of the military departments and the Department of Veterans Affairs, of unofficial sources of information, including eyewitness statements, to determine the eligibility of a member or former member of the Armed Forces for benefits and decorations when the member's service records are incomplete because of damage to the records as a result of the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, or any subsequent incident while the records were in DOD's possession.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Merchant Marine of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal to the U.S. Merchant Marine of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated and vital service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Safer Communities Act of 2015 This bill provides grants to expand mental health crisis assistance programs, to support comprehensive school mental health programs, and to enhance mental health and substance abuse needs of prison inmates. The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to expand research on violence associated with mental illness and substance abuse disorders. It requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand the National Violent Death Reporting System to all 50 states and to research the causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of injuries from gun violence. The bill states that no provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibits physicians from asking patients about guns in their homes, speaking to a patient about gun safety, or reporting a patient's threat of violence. It amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to specify that the term "committed to a mental institution" applies to involuntary inpatient or outpatient treatment. The bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to permit the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to states to remove firearms from individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. DOJ must promptly notify law enforcement agencies when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a firearm. The bill replaces statutory references to persons "adjudicated as a mental defective" with persons "adjudicated as ineligible due to disqualifying mental status." It amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to: establish procedures to restore firearm ownership rights after a mental health adjudication or commitment, require an annual report on record submissions due to domestic violence misdemeanor convictions, authorize state grants to improve the automation and transmittal of mental health and criminal history records, and require quarterly updates to federal agency record submissions. The bill reauthorizes the National Criminal History Records Improvement Program for FY2016-FY2019.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Fair Ratepayer Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency Standards Act or the Fair RATES Act This bill amends the Federal Power Act to permit a party to seek a rehearing and subsequent judicial review of any rate change filed by a public utility that takes effect without the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issuing an order making such change effective. (Public utilities must give FERC and the public a 60-day notice before a proposed rate change can take effect.)
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2015 This bill requires the federal government: (1) to ensure coverage for abortion care in public health insurance programs including Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children's Health Insurance Program; (2) as an employer or health plan sponsor, to ensure coverage for abortion care for participants and beneficiaries; and (3) as a provider of health services, to ensure that abortion care is made available to individuals who are eligible to receive services in its own facilities or in facilities with which it contracts to provide medical care. The federal government may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise inhibit insurance coverage of abortion care by state or local governments or by private health plans. State and local governments may not prohibit, restrict, or otherwise inhibit insurance coverage of abortion care by private health plans. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the federal government, acting in its capacity as an insurer, employer, or health care provider, should serve as a model for the nation to ensure coverage of abortion care; and (2) restrictions on coverage of abortion care in the private insurance market must end.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Military Consumer Protection Act This bill amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act to extend Consumer Financial Protection Bureau oversight and protection to provisions under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act concerning: future financial transactions, excluding insurance; default judgments, excluding child custody proceedings; interest rates on pre-service debts; evictions; purchase or lease installment contracts; mortgages and trusts; motor vehicle leases; telephone service contracts; and waiver of rights pursuant to a written agreement, excluding bailments.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), the Social Security Act (SSAct), and other federal laws (including provisions concerning workers' compensation, retirement benefits, disability and death benefits, insurance, inheritances, or immigration) to replace: (1) references to "wife" or "husband" with references to "spouse"; and (2) references to "husband and wife" or "husband or wife" with references to "married couple" or " married person." For purposes of federal laws or regulations, "marriage" is defined as a legal union between two people as spouses. The bill eliminates a definition of "spouse" that refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. Requirements concerning compensation to a surviving wife after the disability or death of a person employed at a military, air, or naval base outside the United States are revised to make surviving spouses eligible for such compensation. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, provisions concerning the amount of leave available to a husband and wife employed by the same employer are revised to apply to a married couple employed by the same employer. Requirements under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 that make disability and death benefits payable to the wife or widow of a miner are revised to make the benefits payable to the spouse or surviving spouse of a miner. IRC provisions that require a divorced wife's gross income to include the income of any trust she is entitled to receive that would otherwise be includible in the gross income of her husband, or vice versa, are revised to apply to the gross income of individuals who are divorced from their spouse. The bill revises title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the SSAct to consolidate separate provisions for a wife's insurance benefits and a husband's insurance benefits into a single standard for a spouse's insurance benefits. Criminal penalties that currently apply to persons who threaten to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a former President's wife or widow are revised to apply to threats made to a former President's spouse or surviving spouse.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2015 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to direct their local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish policies that prevent and prohibit conduct, including bullying and harassment, that is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive to: (1) limit students' ability to participate in, or benefit from, school programs; or (2) create a hostile or abusive educational environment that adversely affects their education. LEAs shall also provide: (1) students, parents, and educational professionals with annual notice of the conduct prohibited in their discipline policies; (2) students and parents with grievance procedures that target such conduct; and (3) the public with annual data on the incidence and frequency of that conduct at the school and LEA level. The Department of Education must conduct, and report on, an independent biennial evaluation of programs and policies to combat bullying and harassment in elementary and secondary schools. The National Center for Education Statistics shall collect state data to determine the incidence and frequency of the conduct prohibited by LEA discipline policies.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Captive Primate Safety Act This bill amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to prohibit importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing in interstate or foreign commerce any live animal of a non-human primate species. The bill also limits any licensed or registered person from allowing direct contact between any member of the public and a live bear, tiger, lion, jaguar, cougar, African leopard, snow leopard, ape, gibbon, siamang, monkey, or loris. The Lacey Act prohibition applies to state-licensed wildlife rehabilitators.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
End Purchase of Firearms by Dangerous Individuals Act of 2015 This bill requires each state to establish a reporting system through which mental health professionals may report information about an individual committed to a mental institution who poses a danger to himself/herself or others or an individual who communicates a serious threat of physical violence against another individual. The legislation requires states to provide mental health records to the National Instant Criminal History Background Check System (NICS) for use in determining whether a person is disqualified from possessing or receiving a firearm. It sets forth provisions to ensure maintenance and removal of records, inclusion of an appeals process, and re-evaluation of disqualifications for individuals under age 18. The bill also requires states to establish a process related to temporary involuntary commitment of individuals at mental health facilities. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must report annually to Congress on states' progress implementing the reporting systems. The bill authorizes DOJ to reduce a state's formula grant allocation under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Program for failing to comply. It directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish guidelines for state reporting systems and state processes regarding temporary involuntary commitment. HHS must also establish a process to certify state compliance. The bill amends the federal criminal code to expand the prohibition against selling firearms or ammunition to persons committed to any mental institution to include persons who communicate to a mental health professional a serious threat to commit an act of violence. Miscellaneous provisions clarify the treatment of individuals temporarily involuntarily committed by a state process, limit civil liability for mental health professionals who fail to report, establish criteria for determining dangerousness, and require a comprehensive study of state statutes that require mental health professionals to directly report certain individuals into state firearm prohibition databases. The bill replaces various statutory references to persons adjudicated as a "mental defective" with persons adjudicated as "ineligible due to disqualifying mental status."
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for: (1) anyone whose federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked, or whose license renewal application has been denied, to transfer business inventory firearms into a personal collection or to an employee of such person or to receive a firearm that was a business inventory firearm as of the date of a revocation or renewal denial notice; and (2) anyone who has received a license revocation or renewal denial notice to transfer to any other person a firearm that was a business inventory firearm. The bill imposes a fine and/or prison term of not more than one year for violations of this Act (five years for willful violations).
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: allow taxpayers who are liable for not more than $50,000 per year in excise taxes on distilled spirits, wine, or beer to file and pay such taxes quarterly without the requirement of posting a bond covering the operations and withdrawals of such distilled spirits, wines, or beer; allow such taxpayers who reasonably expect to have a tax liability of not more than $1,000 per year and who were liable for not more than $1,000 in taxes in the preceding calendar year to file and pay such taxes annually rather than quarterly; 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, wine, and distilled spirits produced in the United States; permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax; modify the definition of "hard cider" for excise tax purposes; and exempt home distillery establishments that produce distilled spirits solely for personal or family use from excise tax and bonding requirements. Directs the Department of the Treasury to amend applicable Treasury regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish funding levels in FY2016-FY2021 for the enforcement and compliance activities of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 This bill amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow a representative official of an Indian tribe, with authorization from the governing body of the tribe, to request one or more polling places to be located on tribal lands. The state or political subdivision shall provide each requested polling place at no expense to the Indian tribe if certain criteria are met. A federal court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce constitutional voting guarantees, but also certain violations of the Act as well as of any federal prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Requirements are revised for determining which states and political subdivisions are or are not covered by criteria for declaratory judgments that they have not used devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Any state (and all of its political subdivisions) shall be subject to such requirements for a 10-year period if: 15 or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years; or 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it). Any specific political subdivision of a state shall also be subject to those requirements for a 10-year period if 3 or more violations occurred in it during the previous 25 calendar years. A state or political subdivision that obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote shall be exempt from such requirements unless new violations occur after the declaratory judgment was issued. Each state and each political subdivision shall: (1) identify any newly enacted or adopted law, regulation, or policy that includes a voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or a voting-related standard, practice, or procedure (covered practice); and (2) ensure that no such covered practice is implemented unless or until the state or political subdivision complies with certain preclearance requirements. This bill prescribes transparency requirements, including reasonable public notice, regarding any changes to: (1) voting prerequisites, standards, or procedures; (2) polling place resources; or (3) demographics and electoral districts. Department of Justice authority to assign observers receives new extensions, including authority to assign observers to enforce bilingual election requirements. Courts shall grant preliminary injunctive relief if a complainant raises a serious question whether the challenged covered practice violates the Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the hardship imposed upon the defendant by the relief will be less than the hardship on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Keeping Guns From Criminals Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to modify the criminal liability standard for certain firearm sales or transfers. Current law makes it a crime for any person to knowingly sell or transfer a firearm to a prohibited person (i.e., a person who is prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm). This legislation eliminates the "knowingly" standard to impose criminal liability on any person who sells or transfers a firearm to a prohibited person, regardless of whether such seller or transferor knows that the buyer is a prohibited person. A defendant seller or transferor may assert as an affirmative defense against prosecution evidence to prove that the buyer or recipient passed a background check or possessed a valid concealed carry permit in the state of transfer. The affirmative defense does not apply if defendant knew or had reasonable cause to believe the buyer or recipient was a prohibited person.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Constitutional Amendment Prohibits construction of the Constitution as forbidding Congress or the states from: (1) imposing reasonable content-neutral limitations on private campaign contributions or independent election expenditures; or (2) enacting systems of public campaign financing, including those designed to restrict the influence of private wealth by offsetting campaign spending or independent expenditures with increased public funding.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Senior and Retired Volunteers Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals who have attained age 60 or are disabled an exemption from income and employment taxes for real property tax abatements received under a state or local program in which such individuals have provided services in exchange for such abatements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2015
Veteran Employment Transition Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) revise the definition of "qualified veteran" for purposes of the work opportunity tax credit to include recently discharged veterans, and (2) make permanent the work opportunity tax credit for qualified veterans. Requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Guard to inform military personnel who are discharged or released from active duty of the work opportunity tax credit and provide them with documentation relating to eligibility for and use of such credit. Requires DOD and the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement to govern the coordination of veteran job training services. Requires the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs to prepare reports on the veteran job training programs of their respective departments. Amends the DOD pilot program for assessing the feasibility and advisability of permitting enlisted personnel to obtain civilian credentialing or licensing for skills required for military occupational specialties to require the designation as military occupational specialties of the MOS 31B Military Police, MOS 15Q AC-Air Traffic Controller, and the MOS 12M Fire Protection, in addition to not fewer than three and not more than five additional military occupational specialties. Amends the Small Business Act to direct the head of each executive department to submit an annual report to the Small Business Administration containing the percentage of the total value of all prime contracts awarded by the executive department during the preceding one-year period to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2015
Humane Cosmetics Act This bill prohibits testing cosmetics on animals, effective on the date that is one year after enactment of this Act. No cosmetic may be sold or transported if the final product or any component was developed or manufactured using animal testing after such date, effective three years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2015
Stop Overdose Stat Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to enter into cooperative agreements to reduce deaths from drug overdoses by: (1) purchasing and distributing naloxone (a medication that rapidly reverses overdose from heroin or other drugs with effects similar to opium) or a similar drug; and (2) educating or training the public, first responders, or health professionals on drug overdose prevention or response. SAMHSA must establish a coordinating center and develop a plan to reduce drug overdose deaths by educating the public about overdose prevention and recommending improvements to overdose prevention programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must improve drug overdose surveillance by entering into cooperative agreements to: (1) provide training to improve identification of drug overdose as the cause of death, and (2) establish a national program for reporting drug overdoses. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) must prioritize, conduct, and support research on circumstances that contribute to drug overdose, drugs associated with fatal overdose, and overdose prevention methods. NIDA must support research on drug overdose treatments that can be administered by lay persons or first responders.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2015
Pet Safety and Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Animal Welfare Act to revise the list of permissible sources of dogs and cats used by research facilities to include dogs and cats obtained: (1) from a licensed dealer, (2) from a publicly owned and operated pound or shelter that meets specified requirements, (3) by donation from a person who bred and raised the dog or cat or owned it for not less than one year, or (4) from a research facility licensed by the Department of Agriculture. The requirements pertaining to sources apply to dogs and cats obtained through sales, donations, or offers. Monetary penalties are established for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
National Historic Preservation Amendments Act of 2015 This bill extends the Historic Preservation Fund through FY2025.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Save Oak Flat Act This bill repeals the provisions under the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 providing for a land exchange between the Department of Agriculture and Resolution Copper Mining, LLC. Under the provisions of that Act, 2,422 acres of Forest Service land located in Pinal County, Arizona, are to be exchanged for various parcels of land owned by Resolution Copper.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Safeguarding America's Future and Environment Act or the SAFE Act This bill requires the President to establish an interagency National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Joint Implementation Working Group to adopt the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (released March 26, 2013) to protect, manage, and conserve fish, wildlife, and plants to maintain the inherent resilience and adaptability of fish, wildlife, and plants to withstand the ongoing and expected effects of extreme weather and climate change. Each federal agency must integrate the elements of the strategy that relate to conservation, management, and protection of fish, wildlife, and plants into agency plans, environmental reviews, and programs. The Department of the Interior must establish a National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center to assess and develop scientific information, tools, strategies, and techniques to support the Working Groups and other interested parties in addressing the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants. Interior must establish an Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Sciences to advise the working group on the state of the science regarding the effects of extreme weather and climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and strategies and mechanisms for fish, wildlife, and plants adaptation. To be eligible to receive funding under the bill, the states (including the District of Columbia, Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) must submit to Interior and the Department of Commerce for review and approval a state fish, wildlife, and plant adaptation plan that details efforts to address the effects of climate change on fish, wildlife, and plants and coastal areas.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Recognizes Immigrant Heritage Month in honor of the role of immigrants and their children in shaping U.S. history and culture. Declares that the House of Representatives pledges to celebrate immigrant contributions to, and immigrant heritage in, each congressional district. Encourages the people of the United States to commemorate the history of immigrants in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2015
Remote Transactions Parity Act of 2015 This bill authorizes both member states under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement and states that have not adopted the Agreement (the multistate agreement for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes adopted on November 12, 2002) to require remote sellers (i.e., sellers who make remote sales in a state without a physical presence) to collect and remit sales and use taxes with respect to remote sales sourced to such states. States that have not adopted the Agreement must show that they have adopted and implemented minimum simplification requirements for the administration of sales and use taxes in order to collect such taxes. Such requirements include: (1) the designation of a single state entity responsible for all state and local sales and tax administration, return processing, and audits of remote sales; (2) a single audit of a remote seller for all taxing jurisdictions in the state; (3) direct contact with a certified software provider utilized by the remote seller in conducting an audit; (4) a single sales and use tax return for use by remote sellers that is filed with a single entity responsible for tax administration; (5) a uniform sales and use tax base; and (6) sourcing of all remote sales in compliance with criteria established by this Act. This bill expressly prohibits a state from requiring a remote seller to file sales and use tax returns any more frequently than is required for nonremote sellers. Additionally, remote sellers whose gross annual receipts are less than $5 million are exempt from audits unless there is a reasonable suspicion of intentional misrepresentation or fraud. For the first three years after the effective date of this Act, the requirement for remote sellers to collect and remit sales and use taxes is limited to remote sellers whose gross annual receipts exceed a certain level (i.e., $10 million in the first year, $5 million in the second year, and $1 million in the third year) and who utilize an electronic marketplace for making sales to the public. After the third year after the effective date of this Act, there is no exemption for remote sellers to collect and remit such taxes. The bill specifies limitations on the applicability of this Act, including by providing that nothing in this Act shall be construed as: (1) subjecting a remote seller to any type of tax other than sales and use taxes, or (2) enlarging or reducing the authority of a state to impose such taxes. The bill suspends the authority of a state to collect sales and use taxes in the first year after the effective date of this Act and between October 1 and December 31 of such first year. The bill also prohibits a state from exercising any authority under this Act unless it: (1) provides certification procedures for persons to be approved as certified software providers, (2) refrains from denying or revoking certification to a software provider without a reasonable basis, (3) has certified multiple national certified software providers and such certifications are in effect, and (4) provides compensation for certified software providers.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2015
Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act This bill directs the Secretary of Defense to design and produce an Atomic Veterans Service Medal to honor retired and former members of the Armed Forces who are radiation-exposed veterans. The Secretary may provide for issuance of the Medal to the next-of-kin of a deceased radiation-exposed veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Do Not Track Kids Act of 2015 Amends the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to apply the prohibitions against collecting personal information from children to online applications and mobile applications directed to children. Establishes additional privacy protections against the collection of personal or geolocation information from children and minors. Revises the definition of: "operator" to include online and mobile applications (currently, only Internet websites and online services) and to make such definition apply specifically to operators and providers of such websites, services, or applications who, for commercial purposes, in interstate or foreign commerce, collect or maintain personal information from or about their users, allow another person to collect such personal information, or allow users of such websites, services, or applications to publicly disclose personal information; and "disclosure" to mean the release of personal information (currently, the release of personal information collected from a child in identifiable form). Requires verifiable parental consent, under specified circumstances, for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information of a child, including certain online contact information collected in response to a specific request from a child when such information is used to contact a different child. Prohibits, without verifiable parental consent in the case of a child or without consent of the minor in the case of a minor, an operator of a website, online service, online application, or mobile application directed to children or minors, or an operator having actual knowledge that personal information being collected is from children or minors, from: (1) using, disclosing to third parties, or compiling personal information collected from children or minors for targeted marketing purposes; and (2) collecting geolocation information in a manner that violates the regulations prescribed under this Act. Defines a "minor" as an individual over the age of 12 and under the age of 16. Prohibits an operator from discontinuing service provided to a child or minor on the basis of a refusal, by the child's parent or the minor, to permit the further use or maintenance in retrievable form, or future collection, of certain personal or geolocation information from such individuals, to the extent that the operator is capable of providing such service without such information. Requires an operator of a website, online service, online application, or mobile application directed to children or minors to treat all users as children or minors for purposes of this Act, except as permitted by regulation. Prohibits an operator of a website, online service, or such applications directed to minors from collecting personal information from minors unless such operator has adopted, and complies with, a Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens that is consistent with the Fair Information Practices Principles established by this Act. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promulgate regulations that require operators to implement mechanisms that permit a user to erase content submitted by such user that is publicly available through such websites, services, or applications and that contains or displays personal information of children or minors. Sets forth enforcement provisions for the FTC, other federal agencies, and states.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Global Democracy Promotion Act States that, with respect to eligibility for assistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not be ineligible for such assistance solely on the basis of health or medical services provided by such organizations with non-U.S. government funds if such services do not violate the laws of the country in which they are being provided and would not violate U.S. federal law if provided in the United States. Declares in addition that foreign nongovernmental organizations shall not be subject to requirements relating to the use of non-U.S. government funds for advocacy and lobbying activities other than those that apply to U.S. nongovernmental organizations receiving assistance under part I of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Filipino Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2015 Directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to make appropriate arrangements for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the Filipino Veterans of World War II in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II. Requires that the medal, following its award, be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it will be available for research and for display at other appropriate locations associated with such veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. Treasury may issue coins minted under this Act for only a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019. All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, $5 per half-dollar clad coin, and $50 per proof silver coin. All of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins shall be paid as follows: one-half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's "Destination Moon" exhibit; one-quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; and one-quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid its missions by providing college scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2015
Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act of 2015 Amends the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 to revise what are prohibited firearms to include any firearm: (1) that, after removal of all parts other than major components (currently, of grips, stocks, and magazines), is not as detectable by walk-through metal detectors as the Security Exemplar; or (2) any major component of which, if subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices (currently, x-ray machines) commonly used at airports for security screening, would not generate an image that accurately depicts the shape of the component. Modifies the definition of: (1) "major component" to include the barrel of a firearm only in the case of a rifle or shotgun, and (2) "Security Exemplar" to repeal the requirement that it be fabricated within 12 months after enactment of such Act. Exempts from undetectable firearms provisions: (1) a prototype firearm for detectability testing; (2) any firearm received by, in the possession of, or under the control of the United States; or (3) the manufacture, importation, possession, transfer, receipt, shipment, or delivery of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer pursuant to an existing contract with the United States. (Replaces the exemption of any firearm that has been certified by the Department of Defense or the Central Intelligence Agency as necessary for military or intelligence applications or that is manufactured and sold exclusively to U.S. military or intelligence agencies.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2015
Automatic Voter Registration Act This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require state motor vehicle authorities (MVAs), upon receiving certain identifying information with respect to any individual requesting MVA services, to transmit it to the appropriate state election official. The appropriate state election official shall then notify the individual that unless he or she notifies the official, before 21 calendar days elapse after issuance of the notification, that the individual declines to be registered to vote in federal elections in the state, the individual shall be considered to have submitted a completed voter registration application and be considered automatically registered unless: the official determines that the individual does not meet voter registration eligibility requirements, or the individual 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 · 4 June 2015
Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2015 Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend through FY2020 the authorization for deposit and use of lease revenues under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Makes such funds available to the Department of the Interior for FY2015 and afterwards to implement both the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Directs the Bureau of Land Management to establish priority and variance areas on covered land for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects. Requires Interior to establish a program to improve federal permit coordination with respect to renewable energy projects carried out on public land administered by Interior and not excluded from the development of geothermal, solar, or wind energy (covered land). Defines "variance area" as covered land that is neither an exclusion area (not suitable for development of renewable energy projects) nor a priority area. Establishes in the Treasury the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund, to be available in regions affected by the development of wind or solar energy on federal land for: (1) protecting and restoring important fish and wildlife habitat; and (2) ensuring and improving right-of-way access to federal land and water in the impacted region for fishing, hunting, and other forms of outdoor recreation. Requires the Department of Agriculture as well as Interior to determine the feasibility of carrying out a conservation banking program on federal land. Denies the rental fee exemption for rights-of-way under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to wind or solar generation projects with a capacity of 20 megawatts or more that are issued a lease, right-of-way, permit, or other authorization.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Wise Investment in our Children Act or the WIC Act This bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 and title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to increase the allowable age from five to six for children to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Declares that it is an unlawful employment practice for employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and other specified entities to: (1) fail to make reasonable accommodations to known limitations related to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of job applicants or employees, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on such an entity's business operation; (2) require such job applicants or employees to accept an accommodation that they choose not to accept, if such accommodation is unnecessary to perform the job; (3) deny employment opportunities based on the need of the entity to make such reasonable accommodations; (4) require such employees to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided to their known limitations; or (5) take adverse action in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment against an employee requesting or using such reasonable accommodations. Sets forth enforcement procedures and remedies under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991, and the rights and protections extended to presidential offices. Directs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to issue regulations to carry out this Act, including the identification of reasonable accommodations addressing known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Prohibits state immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution from an action for a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
Handgun Trigger Safety Act of 2015 Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice to make one-year grants to qualified entities (states or local governments, organizations, or institutions of higher education) to develop technology for personalized handguns (a handgun that is manufactured to enable only the authorized user to fire it). Provides that a recipient shall use at least 70% of the grant amount to develop technology for personalized handguns and may use not more than 20% to develop technology for retrofitted personalized handguns and not more than 10% for administrative costs. Prohibits any person: (1) beginning 5 years after enactment of this Act, from manufacturing in the United States a handgun that is not a personalized handgun; or (2) beginning 10 years after enactment of this Act, from distributing in commerce any handgun that is not a personalized handgun or a retrofitted personalized handgun. Exempts antique firearms and firearms distributed or sold to the Department of Defense. Provides for the enforcement of such prohibitions by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and by the states. Requires a handgun manufacturer, upon request of the owner of a handgun manufactured in the United States that is not a personalized handgun or a retrofitted personalized handgun, to retrofit the handgun and return it to the owner within a reasonable period of time as established by the CPSC. Makes the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund available to the Attorney General for payments to reimburse handgun manufacturers for the costs of retrofitting handguns. Amends the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to exclude from the definition of "qualified product" any handgun manufactured after five years after enactment of this Act that is not a personalized handgun or retrofitted personalized handgun.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
Prioritizing Online Threat Enforcement Act of 2015 Directs the Attorney General to ensure: that there are at least 10 additional operational agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) designated to support the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the investigation and coordination of cybercrimes against persons; that each office of a U.S. Attorney designates at least one Assistant U.S. Attorney as responsible for investigating and prosecuting cybercrimes against persons; and the implementation of a regular and comprehensive training program to train FBI agents in the investigation and prosecution of, and the enforcement of laws related to, cybercrimes against persons, including relevant forensic training related to investigating and prosecuting such crimes. Makes additional funding available to the FBI, the Attorney General, and DOJ's Criminal Division for FY2016-FY2020 to: (1) hire and train law enforcement officers to investigate cybercrimes against person and assist in the prosecution of such crimes; and (2) enable relevant DOJ units to procure advanced tools of forensic science and expert computer forensic assistance to investigate, prosecute, and study such crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) gun violence is a public health issue; and (2) Congress should expand enforceable background checks for all commercial gun sales, improve the mental health system, and make gun trafficking and straw purchasing a federal crime.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
This bill authorizes FY2016-FY2021 appropriations for the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Firearm Risk Protection Act of 2015 Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to: (1) prohibit the purchase or sale of a firearm unless the purchaser presents proof to the seller and the seller verifies that the purchaser is covered by a qualified liability insurance policy, and (2) require any person who purchases a firearm on or after this Act's effective date to be covered by such a policy. Exempts the purchase or sale of a firearm for use by a federal, state, or local agency. Defines "qualified liability insurance policy" to mean a policy that: (1) provides liability insurance covering the purchaser specifically for losses resulting from use of the firearm while it is owned by the purchaser, and (2) is issued by an insurer licensed or authorized to provide the coverage by the state in which the purchaser resides.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Friendly Airports for Mothers Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to approve a grant application for an airport development project only if the Secretary receives written assurances that the owner or operator of a large or medium hub airport will maintain a lactation area at each passenger terminal building of the airport behind the airport security screening area. The bill defines "lactation area" to mean a room or other location in a commercial service airport for members of the public to express breast milk that: is shielded from view and free from intrusion from the public; has a door that can be locked; includes a place to sit, a table or other flat surface, and an electrical outlet; is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities; and is not located in a restroom. The Secretary may approve a terminal development project for the construction or installation of a lactation area at a commercial service airport.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act of 2015 Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly establish the K-9 Companion 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. Defines "assistance dog" 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 · 19 May 2015
Every Child Deserves a Family Act Prohibits adoption or foster care placement service entities that receive federal assistance (or that contract with entities receiving such 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. Allows individuals aggrieved by a violation of this Act to bring an action seeking relief in federal court. Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish guidance on legal compliance and to assist entities with casework practices, recruitment efforts, and cultural competency training. 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 to states that fail to comply with this Act.