United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Merrill's Marauders Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs Congress to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly known as Merrill's Marauders, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma (Myanmar) during World War II. Following its award, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it shall be displayed and made available for research.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Educators Expense Deduction Modernization Act This bill modifies the tax deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers to (1) increase from $250 to $500 the annual limit on the expenses that may be deducted, and (2) require the limit to be adjusted for inflation after 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Social Security 2100 Act This bill increases various Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) benefits and related taxes. The bill increases the primary insurance amount (e.g., the amount a Social Security beneficiary receives if the beneficiary begins receiving benefits at normal retirement age) by increasing the percentage of the beneficiary's average indexed monthly earnings used to calculate the amount. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall publish a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, which the Social Security Administration (SSA) shall use to calculate cost-of-living adjustments to benefits. Currently, the SSA uses a price index for wage earners to make such adjustments. The bill increases the minimum benefit amount for individuals who worked for more than 10 years by creating an alternative minimum benefit. A qualifying beneficiary shall receive that alternative minimum if it is higher than the standard calculated benefit amount. The bill increases the income threshold that a beneficiary must reach before Social Security benefits are taxable. Increased benefits from this bill shall not count as income when determining an individual's eligibility or benefit amounts for (1) Medicaid, (2) the Children's Health Insurance Program, or (3) the Supplemental Security Income program. Income above $400,000 shall be included when calculating Social Security benefits and taxes. The bill also increases rates for the payroll and self-employment taxes that fund OASDI. The bill establishes the Social Security Trust Fund, which replaces the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
This joint resolution eliminates the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on sex. The amendment was proposed to the states in House Joint Resolution 208 of the 92nd Congress, as agreed to in the Senate on March 22, 1972. The amendment shall be part of the Constitution whenever ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2019
Paycheck Fairness Act This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex. It amends equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to (1) restrict the use of the bona fide factor defense to wage discrimination claims, (2) enhance nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) make it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increase civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to: (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace is established for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. The bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a Joint Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Task Force, which shall provide recommendations to Congress and DHS on the development and implementation of a national strategy for preventing targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management. The bill defines behavioral threat assessment and management as the systematic and evidence-based process of (1) identifying individuals whose behavior indicates a capacity for committing acts of violence, (2) investigating and gathering information from multiple sources to assess whether such individuals pose a threat, and (3) the subsequent management of such a threat. DHS shall (1) develop and implement the national strategy and provide information and training services related to it, and (2) award grants to establish community based units for implementing the national strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Veterans' Access to Child Care Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide child care assistance to an eligible veteran for any period that the veteran (1) receives covered health care services at a VA facility, and (2) is required to travel to and return from such facility for the receipt of such services. The bill defines covered health care services to mean regular mental health care services, intensive mental health care services, or such other intensive health care services that the VA determines would be more accessible to veterans if child care assistance is provided. The term eligible veteran is defined as a veteran who is the primary caretaker of a child and who is (1) receiving covered health care services from the VA, or (2) needs and would receive such services from the VA but for the lack of child care. The bill provides for various types of child care assistance, as the VA considers appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2019
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment declaring that women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. The amendment prohibits the United States or any state from denying or abridging equal rights under the law on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2019
This bill prohibits making funds, resources, or fees available to any federal agency to implement or enforce Executive Order 13780 and Presidential Proclamation 9645, which suspended individuals from several countries of concern, including Chad, Iran, and Libya, from entering the United States. The Proclamation also provided for enhanced U.S. vetting capacities.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 201 9 This bill repeals the excise tax on employer-sponsored health care coverage for which there is an excess benefit (high-cost plans). The repeal applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to establish a clearinghouse for disseminating information regarding available programs and financing mechanisms that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, distributed generation, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2019
Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019 This bill imposes a fee on the carbon content of fuels, including crude oil, natural gas, coal, or any other product derived from those fuels that will be used so as to emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fee is imposed on the producers or importers of the fuels and is equal to the greenhouse gas content of the fuel multiplied by the carbon fee rate. The rate begins at $15 in 2019, increases by $10 each year, and is subject to further adjustments based on the progress in meeting specified emissions reduction targets. The bill also imposes a specified fee on fluorinated greenhouse gases. The bill includes exemptions for fuels used for agricultural or nonemitting purposes, exemptions for fuels used by the Armed Forces, rebates for facilities that capture and sequester carbon dioxide, and border adjustment provisions that require certain fees or refunds for carbon-intensive products that are exported or imported. The fees must be deposited into a Carbon Dividend Trust Fund and used for administrative expenses and dividend payments to U.S. citizens or lawful residents. The fees must be decommissioned when emissions levels and monthly dividend payments fall below specified levels. The bill also suspends certain regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions. The suspensions expire if the emissions targets established by this bill are not reached after a specified time period.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a clinical trial of the effects of medical-grade cannabis on the health outcomes of covered veterans diagnosed with chronic pain, and also those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Covered veterans are those who are enrolled in the VA patient enrollment system for hospital care and medical services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act or the PACT Act This bill revises and expands criminal provisions with respect to animal crushing. It retains existing criminal offenses that prohibit knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video using interstate commerce. The bill also adds a new provision to criminalize an intentional act of animal crushing. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to seven years, or both. It provides additional exceptions for conduct, or a video of conduct, including conduct that is (1) medical or scientific research, (2) necessary to protect the life or property of a person, (3) performed as part of euthanizing an animal, or (4) unintentional.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act of 2019 This bill makes it illegal to possess, buy, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins, except for certain dogfish fins. A person may possess a shark fin that was lawfully taken consistent with a license or permit under certain circumstances. Penalties are imposed for violations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
Raise the Age Act This bill establishes new restrictions on the sale or transfer of certain semiautomatic firearms to individuals under 21 years of age. Specifically, this bill makes it unlawful for a licensed gun dealer, importer, manufacturer, or collector to sell or deliver a semiautomatic center-fire rifle that has the capacity to accept more than five rounds to an individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21. The prohibition does not apply if the individual under age 21 is a full-time law enforcement officer or active-duty member of the Armed Forces. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report on the operation of its public access line, including a description of information sharing protocols and recommendations for improving such protocols.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
This bill states that with respect to the lapse in appropriations beginning on or around December 22, 2018, a federal employee who is excepted from furlough (i.e., who continues to work during the lapse in appropriations) and is not paid is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 2019
2020 Census Improving Data and Enhanced Accuracy Act or the 2020 Census IDEA Act This bill prohibits the Department of Commerce, in the 2020 decennial census and each decennial census thereafter, from (1) implementing any major operational design feature that has not been researched, studied, and tested for at least three years before the date on which the applicable census occurs; or (2) including on the questionnaire for the census any subject, type of information, or question that was not submitted to Congress. The Government Accountability Office must certify to Congress that the subjects, types of information, and questions to be included in a decennial census have been adequately researched, studied, and tested to the same degree as in previous decennial censuses.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 2019
U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics Act of 2019 or the PAST Act This bill addresses the practice of soring horses. The soring of horses includes various actions taken on horses' limbs to produce higher gaits that may cause pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness. Specifically, the bill expands soring regulation and enforcement at horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions, including by establishing a new system for inspecting horses for soring. In addition, the bill increases penalties for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act of 2019 or (PRRADA ) This bill requires professionals employed in debt adjustment cases involving Puerto Rico to file verified statements disclosing their connections with the debtor, creditors, and other interested parties before seeking compensation for their services.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take a series of actions relating to palliative-care training. Specifically, HHS must provide support for Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers. The 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 provide support to medical schools, teaching hospitals, and graduate medical-education programs for training 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) support entities that operate a Palliative Care and Hospice Education Center, (3) support individuals in specified fields who are pursuing an advanced degree in palliative care or related fields, and (4) award grants to nursing programs 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 · 17 January 2019
21st Century President Act This bill revises the definition of "immediate family" for purposes of a criminal offense involving a threat to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm on a former President or a member of the immediate family of a former President. Specifically, it replaces gender-specific references to a former President's "wife" and "widow" with gender-neutral terms "spouse" and "surviving spouse."
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
DREAMers, Immigrants, and Refugees (DIRe) Legal Aid Act This bill directs the Department of Justice to make grants to nonprofit legal services providers to provide immigration law-related services to certain aliens facing removal or at risk of being denied entry into the United States. The services shall be available to an alien who (1) is lawfully admitted for permanent residence, (2) has received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, or (3) qualifies for admission as a refugee or whose spouse or parent so qualifies. The Department of Homeland Security shall report to Congress about the immigration outcomes of aliens who have legal representation compared to those who do not.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 This bill establishes a program for alien agricultural workers to obtain temporary resident status ("blue card status") and procedures to obtain permanent resident status. An alien shall qualify for the status if he or she performed the required amount of qualified agricultural work. The Department of Homeland Security may grant blue card status to qualified individuals who pass security checks and are not disqualified for various reasons, such as an aggravated felony conviction. DHS may waive certain disqualifications for humanitarian or public interest reasons. Blue card holders shall be authorized for employment in the United States and travel outside the United States. Such individuals shall be ineligible for various federal benefits, including the healthcare premium assistance tax credit. Individuals going through deportation or removal proceedings shall be given a chance to apply for blue card status if they qualify. Blue card holders may apply for permanent resident status, subject to various requirements, including work requirements over a specified time period and payment of federal taxes. Blue card status shall not last longer than eight years.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Burn Pits Accountability Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) and the military departments to evaluate whether each member of the Armed Forces has been (1) based or stationed where an open air burn pit was used to dispose of waste, or (2) exposed to toxic airborne chemicals. Members located where an open burn pit was used or exposed to toxic airborne chemicals must be enrolled in the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, unless the member elects not to enroll. The evaluations must be included in periodic health assessments, physical exams conducted immediately prior to separation from active duty, and deployment assessments. DOD must share the results of the evaluations with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2019 This bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank as a government corporation to finance energy, environmental (e.g., drinking water or waste facilities), telecommunications, and transportation infrastructure projects. The National Infrastructure Development Bank Board, established by this bill, must oversee the projects. The board may make loans and loan guarantees to assist in financing infrastructure projects. In addition, the board must establish an American Infrastructure Bond program. Under the program, the board may subsidize interest payments by the issuers of state or local bonds. The bill establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank Trust Fund and appropriates to the fund an amount equal to the tax receipts attributable to interest payable under the bonds. With the approval of the Department of the Treasury, the board may issue public benefit bonds to provide financing to infrastructure projects. The bill exempts bonds issued by the bank, and the interest on or credits with respect to the bonds, from state or local government taxation. Financial assistance for an infrastructure project must be repayable from dedicated revenue sources that also secure the infrastructure project obligations. The assistance may not exceed 50% of reasonably anticipated project costs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2019 This bill authorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act of 2019 This bill appropriates funding to provide compensation to certain employees of contractors who lost pay or leave due to the lapse in appropriations that began on December 22, 2018. Each agency subject to such lapse shall adjust the price of any contract for which the contractor was ordered to suspend, delay, or stop work as a result of the lapse. The agency shall compensate the contractor for reasonable costs incurred to (1) provide compensation, at an employee's standard rate of compensation, to any employee who was furloughed or laid off, or who was not working, who experienced a reduction of hours, or who experienced a reduction in compensation, as a result of the lapse, for the period of the lapse; or (2) restore paid leave taken by any employee during the lapse, if the contractor required employees to use paid leave as a result of the lapse. The maximum amount of weekly compensation of an employee for which an adjustment may be made may not exceed the lesser of the employee's actual weekly compensation or $965.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019 This bill prohibits the President from conducting a nuclear strike against an enemy that did not first launch a nuclear strike against the United States or a U.S. ally, unless Congress expressly authorizes such a strike.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
American Dream Employment Act of 201 9 This bill permits the compensation of congressional employees who have been issued employment authorization documents under the Department of Homeland Security Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. The program enables many unlawfully present aliens who came to the United States as children to be granted deferred action (a type of relief from removal which does not confer immigration status) and work authorization.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act or the REACH Act This bill addresses hazing incidents that involve students attending an institution of higher education (IHE). Hazing means an intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a student, or a former student, of an IHE against another student, that (1) is connected with an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, an organization that is affiliated with the IHE; and (2) contributes to a substantial risk of physical injury, mental harm, or degradation or causes physical injury, mental harm or personal degradation. Specifically, an IHE must disclose hazing incidents that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies in its annual security report. In addition, each IHE must provide students with an educational program on hazing that includes information on hazing awareness, hazing prevention, and the IHE's policies on hazing.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Immediate Financial Relief for Federal Employees Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to provide interest-free loans to federal and District of Columbia government employees affected by a government shutdown and to notify the individual's employer.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
America Votes Act of 2019 This bill permits an individual required to present identification as a condition of voting in a federal election to meet the requirement by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual's identification and that he or she is registered to vote in the election. An individual desiring to vote by mail may submit such a statement with the ballot. States with an identification requirement shall (1) prepare a preprinted version of the statement which includes a blank space for an individual to provide a name and signature, (2) make copies of the preprinted version available at polling places, (3) include a copy of the preprinted version with each ballot transmitted to an individual who desires to vote by mail, and (4) include the use of a sworn written statement in voting information posted at polling places. A state is prohibited from requiring an individual who presents or submits such a sworn written statement to cast a provisional ballot in the election. The bill does not apply to first-time voters registering by mail.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
Automatic Voter Registration Act This bill requires state motor vehicle authorities, upon receiving specified identifying information regarding an individual requesting services, to transmit the information to the state election office. The state election office shall then notify the individual that the individual shall be automatically registered to vote in federal elections in the state unless the individual declines to be registered to vote, does not meet voter registration eligibility requirements, or is already registered to vote. A state may only use such information regarding an individual's citizenship status for determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in federal elections.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Postal Service should restore mail delivery service standards to those of July 1, 2012.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2019
This resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that compensation of public school teachers should be comparable to that of other college graduates with years in the workforce where the teachers are employed.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2019
Raise the Wage Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the federal minimum wage for regular employees over a 7-year period, for tipped employees, and for newly hired employees who are less than 20 years old. The bill sets forth a schedule of annual increases in the federal minimum wage for individuals with disabilities. The Department of Labor shall no longer issue special certificates for the payment of subminimum wages to such individuals after the final wage increase under this bill for such individuals takes effect. Labor shall provide, upon request, technical assistance and information to employers to: (1) help them transition their practices to comply with wage increases and other requirements under this bill for individuals with disabilities, and (2) ensure continuing employment opportunities for such individuals. The bill eliminates the separate minimum wage requirements for tipped, newly hired, and disabled employees. After a specified period, these employees shall be paid the same minimum wage as regular employees. Labor must publish any increase in the minimum wage in the Federal Register and on its website 60 days before it takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2019
Refugee Sanitation Facility Safety Act of 2019 This bill directs the Department of State, when providing overseas assistance for refugees, to ensure the provision of safe and secure access to sanitation facilities, with a special emphasis on women, girls, and vulnerable populations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2019
Freedom of Religion Act of 2019 This bill establishes that an alien may not be denied entry, reentry, or admission to the United States, or any other immigration benefit, because of the alien's religion or lack of religious beliefs. This bill shall not affect the authority of various government agencies or immigration officers to determine whether a particular individual may pose a threat to national security.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2019
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Stevens was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya at the time, Smith was an officer in the Foreign Service, and Doherty and Woods were both government contractors and former Navy SEALs.) After the medal has been awarded, it shall be given to the Central Intelligence Agency Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2019 This bill provides for a Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded to the U.S. Merchant Mariners of World War II, in recognition of their service during World War II. Following the award of the medal, it shall be given to the American Merchant Marine Museum, where it shall be available for display and research.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act This bill updates the Department of Defense's Survivor Benefit Plan and how it operates in relation to other benefits. The plan currently provides a monthly annuity (based on a percentage of a service member's retirement pay) to an eligible beneficiary upon the death of the service member. Currently, if a surviving spouse is also entitled to dependency and indemnity compensation, the annuity paid under the plan will be reduced. The bill repeals certain provisions that require the offset of the plan annuity from amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation. Under current law, upon the request of the surviving spouse, the military branch concerned is authorized to pay an annuity to the member's dependent children instead of to the surviving spouse. The bill restores the annuity to an eligible spouse who previously elected to transfer payment to a dependent child.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
Zero Tolerance for Domestic Abusers Act of 2019 This bill expands the categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm or ammunition. Specifically, it prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and receipt, possession, shipment, or transport by a person who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of stalking.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
Protect Patriot Spouses Act This bill makes certain alien military spouses eligible for adjustment to permanent residence status. An eligible alien shall be an individual who is or was a spouse of a U.S. citizen who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, either on active duty or in a reserve component. If the U.S. citizen has been discharged from the Armed Forces, such discharge must be under honorable conditions. Certain factors that would otherwise make an alien inadmissible, such as having entered the United States without being admitted, shall not make such an alien spouse ineligible for permanent residence status under the bill. The Department of Homeland Security may also waive certain factors that would otherwise make an alien inadmissible, such as having misrepresented a material fact to secure a visa, if the alien does not pose a threat to the public and has not committed any crimes that are unrelated to immigration status.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
Disability Integration Act of 2019 This bill prohibits government entities and insurance providers from denying community-based services to individuals with disabilities that require long-term service or support that would enable such individuals to live in the community and lead an independent life. Specifically, these entities may not discriminate against such individuals in the provision of community-based services by such actions as imposing prohibited eligibility criteria, cost caps, or waiting lists or failing to provide a specific community-based service. Additionally, community-based services must be offered to individuals with such disabilities prior to institutionalization. Institutionalized individuals must be notified regularly of community-based alternatives. The bill requires the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue regulations requiring government entities and insurance providers to offer community-based long-term services to individuals with such disabilities who would otherwise qualify for institutional placement. Government entities must ensure sufficient availability of affordable, accessible, and integrated housing that is not a disability-specific residential setting or a setting where services are tied to tenancy. Regulations shall also (1) require government entities and insurance providers to perform self-evaluation on current services, policies, and practices and concerning compliance with requirements of this bill; and (2) require government entities to submit a transition plan. HHS must determine annually whether each government entity is complying with the transition plan and must increase funding for those in compliance. The bill allows civil actions by individuals subjected to, or about to be subjected to, a violation of its requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the city of Vallejo, California, to enter into an agreement to transfer Mare Island Naval Cemetery in Vallejo, California, to the VA to be maintained as a national shrine.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 2019
DD-214 Modernization Act This bill directs the Department of Defense to modify the Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) to include a block in which a member of the Armed Forces may provide an email address by which the member may be contacted after discharge or release from active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2019
PFAS Action Act of 2019 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to designate all perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances as hazardous substances within one year of enactment of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2019
Keep Families Together Act This bill limits the separation of families at or near U.S borders or ports of entry and imposes limits on the prosecution of asylum seekers. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall not separate a child from a legal guardian at a port of entry or within 100 miles of a U.S. border unless a state court terminates the legal guardian's rights; a state child welfare agency or court determines it is in the child's best interests to be removed; or the child is determined to be a trafficking victim or at risk of becoming one, the accompanying adult is most likely not the legal guardian, or the child is in danger of abuse or neglect. Such separation shall end unless a licensed independent child welfare expert authorizes the separation within 48 hours. DHS, DOJ, or HHS may not separate a child from a legal guardian solely to deter migration into the United States or to promote compliance with immigration laws. DHS shall develop (1) training related to the bill's family separation requirements, and (2) guidance for how legal guardians may locate a separated child. HHS shall provide legal guardians weekly status updates about a separated child. An asylum seeker who has expressed a credible or reasonable fear of persecution may not be prosecuted for certain immigration law violations until the asylum application has been finally adjudicated.
![Official portrait of Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/115_rp_ca_24_carbajal_salud_200.jpg)