United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2022
Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Reauthorization Act of 2022 or the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2028 and modifies pediatric cancer research and related programs, including to expand collection of and access to relevant biospecimens and to support the transition of pediatric cancer survivors to primary care.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2022
Improve Management, Programs, Resources, and Oversight for Vital Entrepreneurs the SBA Act or the IMPROVE the SBA Act This bill makes various changes to the Small Business Administration's (SBA) programs and operations, including prohibiting the SBA from making direct loans under the 7(a) Program and requiring annual appearances before Congress to provide information about the effectiveness of specified SBA programs. The bill also prohibits the SBA from providing assistance under its programs to certain organizations, including (1) entities primarily engaged in lobbying, (2) entities established to conduct public policy research or advocacy, and (3) the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. or its affiliates.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2022
This resolution celebrates the contributions of small businesses in every U.S. community and supports the designation of National Small Business Week. Further, it supports efforts to provide small businesses with aid and assistance through certain programs and initiatives.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 2022
State-Based Education Loan Awareness Act This bill excludes certain arrangements or agreements regarding education loans from the definition of a preferred lender arrangement . A preferred lender arrangement is an arrangement or agreement between a lender and an institution of higher education (IHE) that receives federal funding or assistance (1) under which a lender issues education loans to students attending the IHE; and (2) that relates to the IHE recommending, promoting, or endorsing the education loan products of the lender. The bill provides that arrangements or agreements made under a state-based education loan program or that are funded, insured, or guaranteed by any federal agency other than the Department of Education do not meet the definition of a preferred lender agreement for purposes of certain required disclosures to student borrowers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2022
Traveler's Gun Rights Act This bill allows an individual who does not have a physical residence in a state to use the address for a private mailbox or post office box maintained by that individual for purposes of obtaining a firearm from a federally licensed dealer.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2022
No Timber From Tyrants Act This bill prohibits the importation of wood and related articles from Russia and Belarus. It also directs the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to replace these prohibited imports with timber production on certain lands. Specifically, the bill directs the President to prohibit the importation of all wood and related articles from Russia and Belarus. The President may terminate this prohibition upon certification to Congress that certain conditions have been met, including that Russia or Belarus (or both, as applicable) reached an agreement to withdraw forces in Ukraine. Additionally, the bill directs Interior and USDA to authorize timber harvest in an amount sufficient to equal the volume, with respect to calendar year 2021, of imports of wood and related articles from Russia and Belarus. Interior may authorize timber harvest only on public lands and USDA may authorize timber harvest only on National Forest System lands. The bill generally prohibits Interior and USDA from approving a plan that reduces the allowable sale quantity of timber.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2022
Amplifying Processing of Livestock in the United States Act or the A-PLUS Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture to revise federal regulations related to market agencies owning, financing, or participating in the operation of a meat packing entity. Specifically, this bill allows market agencies to have an ownership interest in, finance, or participate in the management or operation of a packing entity if such packing entity has a cumulative slaughter capacity of less than 2,000 animals per day or 700,000 animals per year.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2022
Transparency in CFPB Cost-Benefit Analysis Act This bill sets forth information required to be included in a rulemaking made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Specifically, the CFPB must publish a justification of the proposed rulemaking; a quantitative and qualitative assessment of all anticipated direct and indirect costs and benefits; alternatives to the proposed rulemaking; impacts on small businesses; and any assumptions, data, or studies used in preparing this information.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2022
Supply Chain Disruptions Relief Act This bill modifies the treatment of liquidations of new motor vehicle inventory as qualified LIFO (last in first out accounting method) inventory. It allows new motor vehicle dealers to elect to wait until the end of 2025 to replace their inventory for purposes of determining income attributable to the sale of such inventory during 2020 and 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2022
No User Fees for Gun Owners Act This bill prohibits a state or local government from imposing any insurance requirement, tax, user fee, or similar charge as a condition of the manufacture importation, acquisition, transfer, or continued ownership of a firearm or ammunition, with the exception of a proportionate sales tax. The bill imposes the same prohibition under the Internal Revenue Code for firearms, pistols, or revolvers, but allows for the assessment of a proportionate sales tax.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2022
Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to restrict migration and imports from foreign countries to prevent the introduction of illicit drugs into the United States. Current law authorizes HHS to restrict migration and imports from foreign countries to prevent the introduction of communicable diseases. Under this bill, HHS may also restrict migration and imports from a country if HHS determines that the existence of substantial illicit drug smuggling from that country poses a risk to public health.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2022
Small Business Regulatory Reduction Act This bill requires the Small Business Administration to ensure that for each fiscal year the cost to small businesses of the administration's rulemaking (including the modification or repeal of a rule) is not greater than zero. The administration also must report on any regulations issued by other federal agencies that have an impact on small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2022
This resolution supports the preservation of the stepped-up basis tax rule that allows recipients of inherited assets such as land, equipment, or buildings to adjust the cost basis of the assets to reflect their fair market value. The resolution opposes any efforts to impose new taxes on family farms or small businesses and recognizes the importance of generational transfers of farm and family-owned businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2022
Comprehensive Southern Border Strategy Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress a comprehensive southern border strategy. The strategy must include (1) an overview of current security risks along the southern border; and (2) an assessment of the barriers, technologies, and tools that are necessary to achieve and maintain situational awareness and operational control of the border.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2022
This resolution urges the Biden administration to (1) remove Vice President Kamala Harris as the head of any executive branch task force or strategy related to immigration, (2) appoint an experienced and competent leader to replace Vice President Harris as the head of the Biden administration's strategy to address the root causes of migration, and (3) immediately provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the adequate support and resources to do their job effectively and adequately. The resolution also urges the administration to take action to protect American communities from fentanyl.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2022
This joint resolution nullifies the rule titled Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Updating Payment Parameters, Section 1332 Waiver Implementing Regulations, and Improving Health Insurance Markets for 2022 and Beyond , which was issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of the Treasury on September 27, 2021. The rule expands the open enrollment period for individual health coverage and rescinds the previous interpretation of certain requirements relating to Section 1332 waivers (also known as State Innovation Waivers or State Relief and Empowerment Waivers).
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 2022
Ensuring Sound Guidance Act This bill generally requires investment advisors and fiduciaries of employer-sponsored retirement plans to make investment decisions based only on pecuniary factors (i.e., factors that a fiduciary prudently determines are expected to have a material effect on the risk and return of an investment based on appropriate investment horizons consistent with the plan's policies and objectives). The bill allows nonpecuniary factors to be considered in certain situations, such as when a customer specifically requests that these factors be considered or when selecting investment options for certain participant-directed retirement plans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 2022
Small Scale LNG Access Act of 2022 This bill expedites the approval of applications for the exportation of natural gas that do not exceed 51.75 billion cubic feet per year. Specifically, the bill deems such applications to be consistent with the public interest and requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to grant the applications without modification or delay. However, applications for exportation of natural gas to any nation subject to sanctions imposed by the United States may not be expedited.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2022
This resolution urges the government of Argentina to bring the perpetrators of the March 17, 1992, terrorist attack on the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires to justice (in 1999 the Supreme Court of Argentina found that the transnational terrorist organization Hezbollah was responsible for the attack). The resolution commends the Argentinian government for designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and urges other U.S. allies and partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to do the same. The resolution urges these allies and partners to condemn and counter regional governments in the hemisphere that aid and abet Iran and Hezbollah. The resolution also commends the Argentinian government for adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism and encourages other partners and allies to do the same. Finally, the resolution commends the Secretary General of the Organization of American States for appointing a Commissioner to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism in the Western Hemisphere.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2022
Firearm Industry Non-Discrimination Act or the FIND Act This bill prohibits the federal government from entering into contracts with an entity that discriminates against firearm trade associations or businesses that deal in firearms, ammunition, or related products. Specifically, the bill requires a federal agency to include in each contract for the procurement of goods or services awarded by the agency a clause requiring the prime contractor to certify that it (1) has no policy, practice, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association; and (2) will not adopt a policy, practice, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association during the term of the contract. The bill establishes (1) a similar requirement with respect to subcontracts, and (2) penalties for violations. The bill makes such prohibition inapplicable to a contract for the procurement of goods or services that is a sole-source contract.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2022
No Energy Revenues for Russian Hostilities Act of 2022 This bill prohibits, with some exceptions, the Department of the Treasury from authorizing certain energy-related transactions that would otherwise be blocked by an executive order barring transactions related to specified harmful foreign activities of the Russian government. The bill also revokes a license issued February 28, 2022, by the Office of Foreign Assets Control within Treasury that authorized certain transactions barred by the executive order. The bill allows a waiver from the limitation on an energy transaction if the transaction involves funds owed to a Russian person and the funds are to be used for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices. The bill terminates on the earlier of five years after its enactment, or 30 days after the President reports to Congress that Russia has ceased activities destabilizing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2022
American Energy Independence from Russia Act This bill addresses U.S. energy security, the production of oil and gas, and the importation and exportation of oil and gas. Specifically, the President must submit an energy security plan that (1) evaluates U.S. crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas imports and exports; (2) assesses the energy security risks of such imports; and (3) includes strategies to encourage increased domestic production of crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas to offset Russian imports. The bill also approves the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline in Phillips County, Montana for the import of oil from Canada to the United States. In addition, the bill grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to approve or deny applications for facilities to export natural gas from the United States to foreign countries or import natural gas from foreign countries. The President and federal agencies must obtain congressional approval before (1) prohibiting or substantially delaying certain new energy mineral leases or permits on federal lands, or (2) withdrawing certain federal lands from mineral and geothermal leasing activities. The Department of the Interior must resume issuing oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore submerged lands in the Outer Continental Shelf as specified under the bill. Finally, the bill limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2022
This resolution expresses that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the energy independence of the United States is critical to national security and should include the production and use of all available energy sources, including coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear energy, and renewables, as well as strategic minerals critical to electric vehicles and other clean energy sources; and President Biden should take immediate action to restore the energy security of the United States and provide U.S. allies with an affordable and secure supply of energy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2022
This joint resolution nullifies the rule issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on February 3, 2021, that requires the use of face masks on planes, trains, buses, and other public conveyances and at transportation hubs to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2022
Preventing Racial Profiling in Lending Act This bill prohibits a federal agency from requiring any person or entity to estimate a borrower's race or ethnicity through visual observation or surname when extending credit.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2022
Midland Over Moscow Act This bill imposes sanctions related to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and revises the expedited approval process for natural gas imports and exports in or out of the United States. (Nord Stream 2 is a pipeline constructed to increase the export of natural gas from Russia to Europe.) Within 10 days of this bill's enactment, the President must impose sanctions on any entity responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance, financing, or operation of Nord Stream 2, as well as any corporate officer or principal shareholder with a controlling interest in such an entity. The bill also revokes the President's authority to waive certain sanctions related to Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, another Russian natural gas pipeline project. The bill also allows any nation, with specified exclusions, to use an expedited process to receive approval to import or export natural gas in or out of the United States (currently only a nation with a free trade agreement with the United States may use the expedited process). Specifically, the bill excludes any nation (1) subject to U.S.-imposed sanctions or trade restrictions, or (2) excluded by the President or Congress for national security reasons.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2022
Small Lenders Exempt from New Data and Excessive Reporting Act or the Small LENDER Act This bill exempts certain financial institutions and transactions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reporting requirements with respect to data about small business credit applications. Under the bill, the requirements apply only to financial institutions that originate at least 500 credit transactions to small businesses in each of the preceding two years. The bill further defines small businesses as those with annual revenue of $1 million or less. Currently, the CFPB has proposed a rule that the requirements apply only to financial institutions that originate at least 25 annual credit transactions to small businesses in each of the preceding two years. The rule further defines small businesses as those with annual revenue of $5 million or less.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2022
This bill requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to issue a rule prior to deleting or modifying publicly available small business loan data due to privacy concerns. Specifically, the bureau must describe the intended modifications and deletions and explain how such modifications and deletions will advance a privacy interest.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2022
Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2022 This bill makes permanent provisions affecting individual and business taxpayers that were enacted in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. The bill makes permanent provisions that reduce individual and capital gain tax rates. The bill increases the standard tax deduction for individual taxpayers. It also increases and modifies the child tax credit and raises the contribution base for the tax deduction of charitable contributions. The bill allows additional contributions to ABLE accounts (tax-exempt accounts designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save and pay for disability-related expenses). It exempts from taxation combat zone benefits of members of the Armed Forces serving in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and the moving expenses of servicemembers. Additionally, the bill lowers to $750,000 the amount of mortgage debt eligible for an interest expense tax deduction; excludes from the gross income of student borrowers income attributable to the discharge after 2025 of loan debt due to death or disability; makes permanent the limitation on the tax deduction for state and local taxes and denies a deduction for foreign real property taxes; makes permanent the tax deduction of the income of certain pass-through business entities; repeals the tax deduction for personal tax exemptions and the exclusion of employer-provided bicycle commuter fringe benefits; terminates certain miscellaneous itemized tax deductions; doubles the estate and gift tax exemption amount; and makes permanent the increase of the alternative minimum tax exemption amount for individual taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2022
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3903 Melear Drive in Arlington, Texas, as the "Ron Wright Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2022
Immigration Transparency and Transit Notification Act of 2022 This bill requires notifications to certain officials before an unaccompanied alien child or a non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) without lawful immigration status may be placed in or transported to a state or local jurisdiction. The bill also authorizes the office of the governor of the relevant state to prohibit the placement or transportation. At least seven calendar days before taking such an action, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must notify (1) the relevant state governor's office, (2) the state attorney general's office, (3) the county or municipal government, (4) local law enforcement, and (5) federal and state legislators representing the relevant jurisdiction. The action may not take place if the state governor's office objects no later than three calendar days after receiving the notification. This authority to object shall not apply if the action is to place an unaccompanied child with, or transport the child to, a family member.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2022
Strengthening Enforcement and Criminalizing Unlawful Records Enabling Flights Act or the SECURE Flights Act This bill prohibits the use of warrants and other documents issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as proof of identification at airport security checkpoints unless the individual is leaving the United States pursuant to immigration laws. If an individual uses prohibited documents as a proof of identification, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) must (1) inform ICE and local law enforcement to determine whether the individual is in violation of any term of release, and (2) collect the individual's biometric information unless the TSA can verify the individual is a U.S. national. The TSA must also submit the biometric information to a national biometric identification system.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2022
Securing Enfranchisement and the Rights of Voters regardless of Inoculation Status Act or the SERVIS Act This bill prohibits requiring voters to present vaccine passports or other information regarding their COVID-19 vaccination status, and also restricts masking requirements, for voting in federal elections. Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful for any state or political subdivision to require a voter to present a vaccine passport or other information regarding the voter's COVID-19 vaccination status. Further, a state or political subdivision may require a voter to wear a mask in order to enter a polling location only under certain circumstances. In particular, the state or political subdivision must (1) make masks readily available and at no cost to the voter and to an individual who accompanies the voter, and (2) provide reasonable accommodation from such masking requirement to an individual with a disability.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2022
Stopping Traffickers and Their Accomplices Act of 2022 This bill requires an abortion provider to notify the National Human Trafficking Hotline if the provider has a reasonable suspicion that the patient is a victim of trafficking. It also requires each abortion provider to complete annual training on how to identify and respond appropriately to individuals who are at risk of or who have experienced trafficking. The bill establishes penalties for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2022
Stop Arduous Vaccine Enforcement Act of 2022 or the SAVE Act of 2022 This bill prohibits transplant centers from discriminating against an individual on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status for purposes of determining eligibility or assigning priority for organ transplants.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2022
Stop the Betrayal Act of 2022 This bill prohibits using federal funds to transport an unlawfully present non-U.S. national ( alien under federal law) into a U.S. region that is not within the border jurisdiction of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, unless such transportation is for (1) enforcing immigration laws, or (2) bringing an unaccompanied alien child to a Department of Health and Human Services facility.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2022
This resolution addresses the need for improvements to broadband infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, and the role of specified federal agencies in making such improvements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 2022
Crime Doesn't Fly Act of 2022 This bill prohibits the use of warrants for the arrest, removal, or deportation of an alien as proof of identity at an airport security checkpoint unless the alien is being removed from the United States pursuant to immigration laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2022
Protecting Life in Health Savings Accounts Act This bill prohibits distributions from health savings accounts (HSAs) or other tax-preferred savings accounts for abortions except for abortions to terminate a pregnancy that is the result or rape or incest or to protect a women's health or life.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2022
This resolution condemns the terrorist attack on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on January 15, 2022. It also expresses support for the affected community, commends the actions of law enforcement and emergency responders, and reaffirms a commitment to combat hate, bigotry, anti-Semitism, and violence against Jewish Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2022
Preventing Auto Recycling Theft Act or the PART Act This bill establishes requirements for motor vehicles related to catalytic converters and other motor vehicle parts that contain precious metals. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration must revise the motor vehicle theft prevention standard for new motor vehicles to include catalytic converters among the parts that require an inscribed or affixed identifying number. Additionally, the Department of Transportation must establish a grant program through which law enforcement agencies and other entities can stamp vehicle identification numbers onto catalytic converters of existing vehicles. The bill establishes retention requirements for the purchase of motor vehicle parts that contain precious metals. It also sets forth criminal penalties for the theft of catalytic converters or any precious metals removed from a vehicle.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2021
Protecting Our Democracy by Preventing Foreign Citizens from Voting Act This bill prohibits federal funds from being made available to state or local governments that allow noncitizens to vote in federal, state, or local elections.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2021
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that tax-exempt fraternal benefit societies provide critical benefits to the people and communities of the United States and their work should continue to be promoted.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2021
FDIC Board Accountability Act This bill revises provisions related to the board of directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Specifically, the bill removes the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from the board as a voting member and requires the appointment of an individual with demonstrated primary experience working in or supervising small depository institutions. Further, the bill limits the term length of a board member to twelve years.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2021
Continuing Robust and Uninhibited Drilling and Exporting Act or the CRUDE Act This bill limits the President's authority to restrict the export of crude oil from the United States. Currently, the President may restrict the export of oil for up to a year if the President declares a national emergency; the restrictions apply to countries, persons, or organizations for reasons of national security; or the Department of Commerce finds and reports to the President that the export of crude oil has caused sustained material oil supply shortages or sustained oil prices significantly above world market levels and those shortages or price increases have caused or are likely to cause sustained material adverse employment effects. However, this bill only allows the President to make such restrictions if the restrictions apply to countries, persons, or organizations for reasons of national security; or the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and Commerce jointly make those findings and report them to the President and Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
Upholding the Law at Our Border Act This bill requires the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to periodically investigate and report on certain issues until there have been fewer than 35,000 apprehensions at the southwest border for three consecutive months. When required, the reports must address certain issues, including (1) the vetting procedures applicable to aliens seeking entry into the United States who were apprehended along the southwest border, (2) the total number of individuals not lawfully present who have been processed and released into the United States, (3) the number of such individuals who have received parole, and (4) an audit of the parole applications. The office must submit such reports (and provide briefings on the reports) to the President, Congress, DHS, and the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
This joint resolution nullifies the rule titled Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination , which was issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on November 5, 2021. The rule requires health care providers, as a condition of Medicare and Medicaid participation, to ensure that staff are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2021
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to submit a report on the potential costs and benefits of its proposed rule governing the importation of live sheep, goats, other ruminants, and products derived from sheep and goats. It also bars USDA from finalizing, implementing, administering, or enforcing the rule until one year after the date that USDA submits the report.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2021
Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This bill places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. A schedule I controlled substance is a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act. Additionally, the bill establishes a new, alternative registration process for schedule I research that is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Veterans Affairs or that is conducted under an investigative new drug exemption from the Food and Drug Administration. The bill also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 2021
Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2021 This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program. Additionally, the bill requires a certain amount of funds made available under the COPS grant program to be used for the hiring and retention of law enforcement officers.