United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2014
Laments all loss of innocent civilian life. Condemns the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council's July 23, 2014 resolution calling for: (1) an investigation of Israel while not mentioning Hamas's continued assault against Israel, and (2) an investigation into potential human rights violations by Israel in the current Gaza conflict without mentioning Hamas's assault against innocent civilians and its use of civilian shields. Supports Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas's rocket assault and destroy Hamas's tunnel system into Israel's territory. Condemns Hamas's terrorist actions and use of civilians as human shields. Supports U.S. mediation efforts for a durable cease fire agreement that ends Hamas's rocket assault and leads to Gaza's demilitarization. Supports additional funding to replenish Israel's Iron Dome missiles and enhance Israel's defensive capabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2014
United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 - Expresses the sense of Congress that Israel is a major U.S. strategic partner. Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2005 to extend authority to transfer certain obsolete or surplus Department of Defense (DOD) items to Israel. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to extend authority to make additions to foreign-based defense stockpiles for use as war reserve stocks through FY2015. Directs the President to take steps to make Israel eligible for the strategic trade authorization exception to the requirement for a license for the export, reexport, or in-country transfer of an item subject to certain export controls. Authorizes the President to carry out U.S.-Israel cooperative activities and to provide assistance for cooperation in the fields of energy, water, homeland security, agriculture, and alternative fuel technologies. Directs the President to report to Congress regarding U.S.-Israel cyber cooperation. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) should designate Israel as a visa waiver program county when Israel meets certain program requirements. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to authorize the Secretary of Energy to: enter into cooperative agreements supporting dialogue and planning involving international partnerships between the Department of Energy (DOE), including DOE National Laboratories, and the government of Israel and its ministries, offices, and institutions; and establish a joint United States-Israel Center based in an area of the United States with offshore energy development expertise to develop academic cooperation in energy innovation technology and engineering, water science, technology transfer, and analysis of geopolitical implications of new natural resource development. Extends, and expands the scope of covered energy, under the grant program to support U.S.-Israel research, development, and commercialization of renewable energy or energy efficiency.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2014
Iranian Sanctions Relief Certification Act of 2014 - Prohibits the President from exercising a waiver specified under this Act in connection with the extension of the terms of the Joint Plan of Action beyond July 20, 2014, unless the President certifies to Congress before the waiver takes effect and every 60 days thereafter that any funds made available to the government of Iran as a result of the waiver will not facilitate Iran's ability to: support any individual or entity designated for the imposition of sanctions for international terrorism, any foreign terrorist organization, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria; advance the efforts of Iran or any other country to develop nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles; or commit any violation of the human rights of the people of Iran. (Defines the Joint Plan of Action as the Joint Plan of Action signed on November 24, 2013, by Iran and by France, Germany, the Russian Federation, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States.)
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2014
Supports Israel's right to defend its citizens and ensure Israel's survival. Calls on the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General to condemn Hamas's attacks on Israel, and urges the international community to condemn the rocket fire at Israel. Recognizes that Israel must be allowed to take actions necessary to remove the present and future threats posed by Hamas's rockets and tunnels. Calls on Hamas to cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel and to stop using Gaza residents as human shields. Opposes efforts to impose a cease fire that does not allow Israel to protect its citizens from threats posed by Hamas rockets and tunnels.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2014
Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act - Reauthorizes the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act through FY2019, generally at FY2009 levels. Modifies the Basic Center Grant (BCG) Program (for short-term emergency shelter and family reunification services to runaway and homeless youth) to require local centers to provide safe shelter and services, including trauma-informed services, for runaway and homeless youth, and (if appropriate) services for their families, including individuals they identify as family. Extends the maximum stay in a BCG shelter from 21 to 30 days, and requires a shelter to provide suicide prevention services. Allows shelter services to include: (1) trauma-informed and gender-responsive services for runaway or homeless youth, including victims of trafficking in persons or sexual exploitation; and (2) an assessment of family engagement in support and reunification (if appropriate), interventions, and services for parents or legal guardians of such youth, or individuals they identify as family. Revises plan applicant record keeping requirements. Requires plan applicants to: (1) provide age, gender, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services to runaway youth; and (2) assist youth in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Revises the Transitional Living Grant (TLG) Program (for longer-term residential services, life skills, education, and employment support to older homeless youth) to require information and counseling services in basic life skills to be age, gender, and linguistically appropriate. Requires TLG plan applicants to provide suicide prevention services, counseling to homeless youth, and aftercare services. Requires a TLG plan to ensure proper referral of homeless youth to mental health services, including programs providing comprehensive services to victims of trafficking in persons or sexual exploitation. Requires plan applicants to provide age, gender, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services that address the needs of homeless and street youth. Revises plan applicant record keeping requirements. Revises requirements for the coordination of activities among federal agencies, grants for technical assistance and training, and grants for research, evaluation, demonstration, and service projects. Revises the sexual abuse prevention program to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to public agencies (as well as nonprofit private agencies, as under current law) to provide street-based services to runaway and homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, violence, trafficking in persons, or sexual exploitation. Prohibits any person in the United States, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, from being excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subject to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part under such Act, or funded with amounts appropriated for grants, cooperative agreements, or other assistance administered by the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of HHS.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2014
Breast Density and Mammography Reporting Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require mammography facilities to include up-to-date information about breast density in both the written report of the results of a mammography examination provided to the patient's physician and the summary of that written report given to patients. Requires the summary to: (1) convey the effect of breast density in masking the presence of breast cancer on a mammogram, and (2) include language communicating that individuals with dense breasts should talk with their physicians about any questions or concerns regarding the summary and whether they would benefit from additional tests. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand and intensify research on breast density, the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of supplemental imaging relating to breast density, and best practices concerning mammograms and supplemental screening for those with dense breasts.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2014
Federal Duck Stamp Act of 2014 - Amends the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act to increase the price of duck stamps, which are required to hunt migratory waterfowl, from $15 to $25. Authorizes the Department of the Interior to reduce the price of stamps for a hunting year if the increase in the stamp price resulted in a reduction in revenues deposited in the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. Establishes a subaccount in the Fund to be used by Interior to acquire easements for the conservation of migratory birds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer all amounts in excess of $15 from the sale of each stamp to the subaccount. Requires Interior to include in an annual report of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission an assessment of the status of wetlands conservation projects for migratory bird conservation purposes, including an accounting of all expenditures made for acquisition of federal lands.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2014
Children Returning on an Expedited and Safe Timeline Act or the CREST Act - Prohibits the federal government from providing non-security assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras until the President certifies that the government of such country is: (1) actively working to reduce the number of unaccompanied alien children who are attempting to illegally enter the United States, and (2) cooperating with the U.S. government to facilitate the repatriation of such children. Requires the Secretary of State to carry out in-country processing of refugee applications in such countries. Authorizes the President to authorize the admission of up to 5,000 refugees from each of such countries in FY2014 and FY2015. Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any person from: (1) knowingly transmitting the location, movement, or activities of law enforcement agents with intent to further a federal crime relating to immigration, customs, or other border controls; or (2) knowingly, and without authorization, damaging any physical or electronic device used by the government to control the border or making any structure to defeat such a border control device. Applies enhanced penalties for carrying or using a firearm during an alien smuggling crime. Prohibits any person, while acting for financial gain, from knowingly directing or participating in an effort or scheme to assist or cause five or more persons to enter the United States illegally. Applies enhanced penalties for violations of such prohibition that involve: (1) serious bodily injury to, jeopardizing the life of, or the death of any person; (2) ten or more persons; (3) robbery, extortion, or bribery or corruption of a government official; (4) subjecting any person to an involuntary sexual act; (5) confining or restraining any alien; or (6) smuggling an unaccompanied child. Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) implement a strategy to deter, detect, and interdict human smuggling; and (2) submit an annual list of high traffic areas of human smuggling across U.S. borders. Amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to: (1) eliminate special rules for the repatriation of unaccompanied alien children from contiguous countries and to subject such children to expedited removal authority; and (2) prohibit unaccompanied alien children from being placed in the custody of a nongovernmental sponsor or otherwise released from the custody of the U.S. government until the child is repatriated or has been adjudicated to be admissible or subject to an exception to removal, with specified exceptions. Directs the DHS Secretary to ensure that U.S. Border Patrol agents receive appropriate training in immigration laws relating to screening, identifying, and addressing vulnerable populations. Declares that it shall be the goal of the Attorney General, the DHS Secretary, and the Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review to use sums appropriated to resolve immigration cases within 30 days from the issuance of a notice to appear. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to designate up to 100 temporary immigration judges; (2) the Secretary to hire 150 new immigration litigation attorneys for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and 100 new asylum officers for Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS); and (3) the Director to establish a separate juvenile docket in every U.S. immigration court, with exceptions. Sets forth reporting and monitoring requirements with respect to unaccompanied alien children who were discharged to parents or placed in a facility while remaining in the legal custody of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) pending resolution of their immigration cases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2014
Preserving Religious Freedom and a Woman's Access to Contraception Act - Prohibits employers from restricting employees from purchasing any drug or medical device regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Repeals sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to: (1) allow health savings accounts, medical savings accounts, and health flexible spending accounts to be used to pay for non-prescription drugs; and (2) remove the annual limit for salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending arrangement under a cafeteria plan.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2014
Affirms that all children deserve a safe, loving, and permanent family. Recognizes the importance of ensuring that international adoptions of all children are conducted in an ethical and transparent manner. Expresses concern over the impact on children and families caused by the suspension of exit permit issuance within the Democratic Republic of Congo. Requests that the Congolese government resume processing adoption cases and issuing exit permits, prioritize the processing of intercountry adoptions which were initiated before the suspension, and expedite the adoption processing of medically fragile children. Encourages continued cooperation between the Department of State and the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to improve the intercountry adoption process and ensure the welfare of all children adopted from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2014
Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2014 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Attorney General to give preferential consideration in awarding Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) grants to an application from an applicant in a state that has in effect a law that: (1) treats a minor who has engaged in, or has attempted to engage in, a commercial sex act as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; (2) discourages or prohibits the charging or prosecution of such individual for a prostitution or sex trafficking offense based on such conduct; or (3) encourages the diversion of such an individual to appropriate service providers, including child welfare services, victim treatment programs, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, or other social services. Amends the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA) to require the Attorney General's annual report on federal agencies that are implementing provisions relating to the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to include information on the activities of such agencies in cooperation with state, tribal, and local law enforcement officials to identify, investigate, and prosecute the following offenses: (1) sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion or with a minor; (2) sexual exploitation of children; (3) the selling and buying of children; (4) transportation with intent that the victim engage in illegal sexual activity; (5) coercion or enticement to travel for illegal sexual activity; and (6) transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity. Requires such information to include: (1) the number of individuals required by a court order to pay restitution in connection with a violation of each offense and the amount of such restitution; and (2) the age, gender, race, country of origin, country of citizenship, and description of the role of individuals convicted under each offense. Amends the VTVPA to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), annually beginning in FY2017, to make grants for a national communication system to assist victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons in communicating with service providers. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to include victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons among those eligible for the Job Corps without being required to demonstrate low-income eligibility. Authorizes the United States Marshals Service to assist state, local, and other federal law enforcement agencies, upon request, in locating and recovering missing children. Directs the Attorney General to implement and maintain a National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking that includes: (1) integrated federal, state, local, and tribal efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases; (2) case coordination within the Department of Justice (DOJ); (3) annual budget priorities and federal efforts dedicated to preventing and combating human trafficking; (4) an ongoing assessment of future trends, challenges, and opportunities; and (5) encouragement of cooperation, coordination, and mutual support between the private sector and federal agencies to combat human trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2014
Commends the staff, volunteers, and board of directors of the Wright Museum of WWII History in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, for their efforts to encourage the study of a significant period in U.S. history. Applauds the Wright Museum of WWII History's mission to raise awareness of the contributions and lasting legacy of World War II-era Americans. Recognizes the significance of July 16, 2014, as the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Wright Museum of WWII History.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2014
Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2014 - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a rule requiring liquid nicotine containers to be designed with special packaging that is difficult for children under five years of age to open or to obtain harmful contents from.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2014
Reaffirms the support of the Senate for Israel's right to defend its citizens and ensure Israel's survival. Condemns the unprovoked rocket fire at Israel and calls on Hamas to cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel. Calls on Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2014
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Alan John Dixon, former member of the U.S. Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns July 7, 2014, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Dixon.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2014
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President, working with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, should provide the armed forces of Ukraine with appropriate non-lethal military assistance and military training support requested by the government of Ukraine. Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD), every 180 days until January 31, 2017, to report to Congress regarding military assistance to Ukraine. Requires such report to include matters concerning: military equipment, supplies, and defense services requested by Ukraine; military equipment, supplies, and defense services that the United States has provided, is currently providing, and plans to provide; an assessment of U.S. military assistance that would most effectively improve Ukraine's military capabilities; an assessment of the need for, and force protection concerns, of U.S. military advisors that may be made available to Ukraine; military training requested by Ukraine, and military training the United States has conducted with Ukraine in the previous six months or plans to conduct in the next year; and an assessment of the military assistance provided by the Russian Federation to irregular forces in Ukraine since February 22, 2014.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2014
Auto Enroll Repeal Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to repeal the requirement that employers with more than 200 full-time employees that offer enrollment in one or more health benefits plans enroll automatically all new full-time employees in one of those plans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2014
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) within 180 days after the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) submits a report to Congress in 2014 that identifies VA medical facilities at which scheduling practices did not comply with VA policies and procedures, to identify each VA employee who, during any of FY2011-FY2014, contributed to the purposeful omission of the names of veterans from an electronic wait list for health care at such a facility, who was a VA supervisor who knew or should have known that the employee contributed to such omission, and who received a bonus in part because of such omission; and (2) after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, to order such employee to repay the bonus.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2014
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Howard H. Baker, Jr., former member of the U.S. Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns June 26, 2014, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Baker, Jr.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2014
FOIA Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to: (1) require federal agencies to make agency records that can be disclosed under such Act available for public inspection in an electronic format, (2) limit the authority of an agency to charge a fee if the agency misses a deadline for complying with a FOIA request, (3) establish a presumption in favor of disclosure and prohibit the application of exemptions from FOIA based on technicalities, (4) expand the authority and duties of the Chief FOIA Officer of each agency for promoting compliance with the FOIA disclosure requirements, and (5) establish a Chief FOIA Officers Council to develop recommendations for increasing compliance with FOIA requirements. Requires the head of each federal agency to: (1) review agency regulations and issue regulations for the disclosure of records in accordance with the amendments to FOIA made by this Act, and (2) include in such regulations procedures for engaging in dispute resolution through the FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information Services. Expands the program for the efficient management of federal agency records to require agency heads to establish procedures for: (1) identifying records of general interest or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure, and (2) posting such records in a publicly-accessible electronic format. Prohibits the authorization of additional funds to carry out the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2014
Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Suspension Act of 2014 - Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of funds to transfer or release any covered detainee at the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (Guantanamo) to the custody or control of such individual's country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity until the earlier of 90 days after the submittal to Congress of a report required by this Act or 180 days after this Act's enactment, except pursuant to an order issued by a court or competent tribunal of the United States having lawful jurisdiction. Makes a U.S. officer or employee liable in his or her individual capacity for a civil penalty of $10,000 for each covered detainee transferred or released in violation of such prohibition. Prohibits the U.S. government from providing representation to, or retaining or reimbursing private counsel for the representation of, such officer or employee. Authorizes a person to bring a civil action for a violation of such prohibition in the name of the government, subject to specified requirements. Requires the Secretary to submit a report regarding the risk that the five detainees transferred from Guantanamo to Qatar on May 31, 2014, would reengage in terrorist activity after transfer. Prohibits the transfer or release of a covered detainee from Guantanamo to a foreign country without the President's express written authorization. Defines a "covered detainee" as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other detainee who: (1) is not a U.S. citizen or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces; (2) is or was held on January 20, 2009, at Guantanamo by the Department of Defense (DOD); and (3) is held as of the date of enactment of this Act at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by DOD.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 2014
Heroin and Prescription Opioid Abuse Prevention, Education, and Enforcement Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to convene a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force. Reauthorizes the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program through FY2019. Requires the Comptroller General (GAO) to report on the effectiveness of the program in reducing prescription drug abuse and any corresponding increase or decrease in the use of heroin. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reauthorize the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program through FY2019. Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to: revise the 2011 Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan to reassess the approach to addressing prescription drug abuse in light of an increase in heroin use and to outline actions or programs to reduce and prevent such abuse, and ensure that ONDCP takes into account a specified GAO report concerning program coordination and identifies opportunities to enhance interagency coordination as part of the Plan. Requires the Secretary to advance the education and awareness of providers, patients, and stakeholders regarding the risk of abuse of prescription opioid drugs if such products are not taken as prescribed. Directs ONDCP to establish a national drug awareness campaign that: takes into account the association between prescription opioid abuse and heroin use, and emphasizes the similarities between heroin and prescription opioids and the effects of these on the human body.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2014
Safeguarding Classrooms Hurt by ObamaCare's Obligatory Levies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any elementary or secondary school, state or local educational agency, and institution of higher education from the definition of "applicable large employer" for purposes of the employer mandate to provide health care coverage for employees.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2014
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the transfers of detainees Khairullah Khairkhwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Mohammed Fazl, Noorullah Noori, and Mohammed Nabi Omari from U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Qatar on May 31, 2014, violated the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014. Declares that Congress should: (1) investigate the actions taken by President Obama and his administration that led to the unlawful transfer of such detainees, and (2) determine the impact of such transfers on the common defense of the United States and measures that should be taken to mitigate any negative consequences.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2014
Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2014 or the Autism CARES Act of 2014 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to designate an official to oversee national autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research, services, and support activities. Directs the official to implement such activities taking into account the strategic plan developed by the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (the Interagency Committee) and ensure that duplication of activities by federal agencies is minimized. Extends through FY2019: (1) the developmental disabilities surveillance and research program; (2) the autism education, early detection, and intervention program; and (3) the Interagency Committee. Includes support for regional centers of excellence in ASD and other developmental disabilities epidemiology as a purpose of grants or cooperative agreements. Requires information and education activities to be culturally competent. Allows a lead agency coordinating activities at the state level to include respite care for caregivers. Allows the use of research centers or networks for the provision of training in respite care and for research to determine practices for interventions to improve the health of individuals with ASD. Revises responsibilities of the Interagency Committee concerning: inclusion of school- and community-based interventions in the Committee summary of advances, monitoring of ASD research and federal services and support activities, recommendations to the Director of the National Institutes of Health regarding the strategic plan, recommendations regarding the process by which public feedback can be better integrated into ASD decisions, strategic plan updates and recommendations to minimize duplication, and reports to the President and Congress. Revises Interagency Committee membership requirements to specify additional federal agencies that might be represented and to modify the non-federal membership. Modifies requirements for reports by the Secretary on ASD activities. Adds a requirement for a report to Congress concerning young adults with ASD and the challenges related to the transition from existing school-based services to those available during adulthood. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the developmental disabilities surveillance and research program, the education, early detection, and intervention program, and the Interagency Committee for FY2015-FY2019.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2014
Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014 - Title I: Improvement of Scheduling System for Health Care Appointments - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract for an independent assessment of: the process at each VA medical facility for scheduling appointments for veterans; the staffing level and productivity of each VA medical facility; the organization, processes, and tools used by the VA to support clinical documentation and the subsequent coding of inpatient services; the VA's purchasing, distribution, and use of pharmaceuticals, medical and surgical supplies, and medical devices; and the VA's performance in paying amounts owed to third parties and collecting amounts it is owed. Directs the Secretary: (1) through a technology task force, to review the VA's needs regarding its system and software for scheduling veterans' medical appointments; and (2) to implement task force recommendations the Secretary considers feasible, advisable, and cost-effective. Title II: Training and Hiring of Health Care Staff - Requires the Inspector General of the VA to annually determine the five health care occupations for which there is the largest staffing shortage throughout the VA. Authorizes the Secretary, upon a determination by the Inspector General that there is such a staffing shortage regarding a particular health care occupation, to recruit and directly appoint highly qualified health care providers to serve in that particular occupation for the VA. Directs the Secretary, under the VA's Health Professionals Educational Assistance program, to give scholarship priority to applicants pursuing education or training towards a career in a health care occupation that represents one of the five largest staffing shortages in the VA. Requires the Secretary to submit a biennial report to Congress, until 2024, assessing the staffing of each VA medical facility. Directs the Secretary to establish a clinic management training program to provide in-person, standardized education on health care management to all managers of, and health care providers at, VA medical facilities. Terminates the program after two years. Requires the Secretary, thereafter, to provide health care management training materials to specified VA employees upon the commencement of their employment. Makes specified appropriations to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) that remain unobligated at the end of FY2014 and FY2015 available to the Secretary to hire additional health care providers for the VHA, particularly in VA medical facilities and areas experiencing the greatest shortages. Title III: Improvement of Access to Care from Non-Department of Veterans Affairs Providers - Requires hospital care and medical services to be furnished to veterans through contracts with specified non-VA facilities if the veterans: have been unable to schedule an appointment at a VA medical facility within the VHA's wait-time goals for hospital care or medical services and such veterans opt for non-VA care or services; reside more than 40 miles from a VA medical facility; or reside in a state without a VA medical facility that provides hospital care, emergency medical services, and surgical care and such veterans reside more than 20 miles from such a facility. Provides for such care through contracts with any health care provider participating in the Medicare program, any federally-qualified health center, the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Indian Health Service (IHS). Directs the Secretary to provide veterans with information about the availability of care and services at non-VA facilities: (1) when they enroll in the VA patient enrollment system, and (2) when they attempt to schedule an appointment for VA hospital care or medical services but are unable to do so within the VHA's wait time goals. Terminates this Act's requirement that the Secretary furnish care and services through contracts with non-VA facilities two years after the Secretary publishes interim final regulations implementing the program. Requires the Secretary to transfer the authority to pay for health care through non-VA facilities from the VA's Veterans Integrated Service Networks and medical centers to the VHA's Chief Business Office. Directs the Secretary to conduct outreach to each Indian medical facility operated by an Indian tribe or tribal organization through a contract or compact with the IHS to raise awareness of the ability of such facilities, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations to enter into agreements with the VA for reimbursement for providing veterans with health care at such facilities. Requires the Secretary to establish performance metrics for assessing the performance of the VA and IHS under a memorandum of understanding to increase access to, and the quality and coordination of, health care services. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements for the reimbursement of direct care services provided to veterans with Native Hawaiian health care systems that are in receipt of funds from grants awarded, or contracts entered into, under the Native Hawaiian Health Care Improvement Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary must comply with the prompt payment rule or any similar regulation or ruling in paying for health care under contracts with non-VA providers. Title IV: Health Care Administrative Matters - Directs the Secretary to improve veterans' access to telemedicine and other health care through the use of VA mobile vet centers by establishing standardized requirements for the operation of such centers. Includes among those requirements: (1) the number of days each center is expected to travel each year, (2) the number of locations each center is expected to visit each year, (3) the number of appointments each center is expected to conduct each year, and (4) the method and timing of notification given by each center to individuals in the area to which such center is traveling. Requires each mobile vet center to have the capability to provide telemedicine services. Establishes an Independent Commission on Department of Veterans Affairs Construction Projects to review the VA's current construction and maintenance projects and medical facility leasing program to identify any problems the VA experienced in carrying out such projects and program. Establishes the Commission on Access to Care to examine veterans' access to VA health care and strategically examine how best to organize the VHA, locate health care resources, and deliver health care to veterans over the next 10 to 20 years. Directs the President to require the Secretary and the heads of other relevant federal agencies to implement each recommendation that the President considers feasible and advisable and determines can be implemented without further legislative action. Requires the Secretary to ensure that scheduling and wait-time metrics or goals are not used as factors in determining the performance of: (1) directors, associate directors, assistant directors, deputy directors, chiefs of staff, and clinical leads of VA medical centers; and (2) directors, assistant directors, and quality management officers of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). Directs the Secretary to modify the performance plans of the directors of the VA medical centers and VISNs to ensure that such plans are based on the quality of care received by veterans at the health care facilities under their jurisdictions. Prohibits the Secretary from including in the performance goals of any VISN or VA medical center employee any goal that might disincentivize the payment of VA amounts to provide health care through a non-VA provider. Requires the Secretary to publish: (1) within 90 days after this Act's enactment, the VA's wait time goals for the scheduling of a veterans' appointment for health care; and (2) within one year after this Act's enactment, the current wait times for an appointment for primary care and specialty care at each VA medical center. Directs the Secretary to develop, update, and make publicly available a comprehensive database containing all applicable patient safety, quality of care, and outcome measures for VA health care that are tracked by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide the HHS Secretary with the information needed to make VA medical center patient quality and outcome information publicly available through the HHS's Hospital Compare website. Requires: (1) the VA website to include a link to the VA's health care providers database that provides veterans with the location of each VA physician's residency training, and (2) each veteran who is to undergo a surgical procedure by or through the VA to be provided information on the credentials of the surgeon who is to perform the procedure. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit an assessment to Congress of: (1) the manner in which contractors under the VA's Patient-Centered Community Care initiative oversee the credentials of physicians within their networks, (2) the VA's oversight of the contracts under the Patient-Centered Community Care initiative, and (3) the VA's verification of the credentials and licenses of health care providers furnishing hospital care and medical services to veterans in non-VA facilities. Requires the Secretary to implement a plan to address the Comptroller General's findings and recommendations. Requires the annual budget that the President submits to Congress to include specified information regarding: (1) the cost of providing, and the number of veterans receiving, medical care through contracts with non-VA facilities; and (2) the number of VA employees on paid administrative leave during the preceding fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to establish policies penalizing VA employees who knowingly submit, or knowingly require another VA employee to submit, false data concerning health care wait times or quality measures to another VA employee. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) remove any individual from the VA Senior Executive Service if the Secretary determines that the individual's performance warrants such removal, and (2) remove such individual from the civil service or transfer the individual to a General Schedule position at any appropriate grade for which the individual is qualified. Gives an individual seven days to appeal such a removal or transfer to the Merit Systems Protection Board (Board). Requires the Board to conduct an expedited review process that results in a final decision on such an appeal within 21 days after it was submitted. Title V: Health Care Related to Sexual Trauma - Expands eligibility for counseling and treatment for sexual trauma to veterans who were on inactive duty training when they experienced sexual assault or harassment. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such counseling and treatment to active-duty members of the Armed Forces who experienced sexual assault or harassment while serving on active duty or active or inactive duty training. (Under current law, such services are provided only to veterans.) Prohibits such a member from being required to obtain a referral before receiving such services. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the treatment and services available from the VA for male veterans who experience military sexual trauma compared to such treatment and services available to female veterans who experience such trauma. Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of Defense Joint Executive Committee to submit reports to Congress on the transition of military sexual abuse treatment from the DOD to the VA. Title VI: Major Medical Facility Leases - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out certain major medical facility leases at specified locations for up to specified amounts. Directs the Secretary, in exercising the authority to enter into such leases, to record as the full cost of the contractual obligation at the time a contract is executed either: (1) the amount of total payments under the full lease term, or (2) the first-year payments plus the specified cancellation costs if the lease is terminated before its full term. Requires the funding prospectus of a proposed lease to include a detailed analysis of how the lease is expected to comply with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-11 and the Anti-Deficiency Act, including an analysis of: (1) the classification of the lease as a lease-purchase, capital lease, or operating lease; (2) the obligation of budgetary resources associated with the lease; and (3) the methodology used in determining the asset cost, fair market value, and cancellation costs of the lease. Directs the Secretary, at least 30 days before entering into a lease, to submit to Congress: (1) notice of the intention to enter into, and a detailed summary of, such lease; (2) a description and analysis of any differences between the lease prospectus submitted and the proposed lease; and (3) a scoring analysis demonstrating that the proposed lease fully complies with OMB Circular A-11. Requires the Secretary, no more than 30 days after entering into a lease, to report any material differences between the proposed lease and the lease entered. Title VII: Veterans Benefits Matters - Expands the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship to include surviving spouses (currently, children) of service members who die in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001. Requires a surviving spouse entitled to such assistance and also to veterans' educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill to elect a single coverage. Directs the Secretary to disapprove, for purposes of the All-Volunteer Force and the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance programs, courses of education provided by a public educational institution of higher education (IHE) that charges veterans living in the state higher tuition and fees than it charges in-state residents, regardless of the veteran's state of residence. Makes this provision applicable to: (1) veterans who were discharged or released from at least 90 days of active service less than three years before their date of enrollment in the applicable course, (2) family members eligible for such assistance due to their relationship to such veterans, and (3) courses that commence on or after July 1, 2015. Prohibits the Secretary from disapproving a public IHE's course on the grounds that the IHE conditions a veteran's receipt of in-state tuition rates on such veteran: (1) demonstrating an intent, by means other than physical presence, to establish residency in the state; or (2) satisfying other requirements not related to the establishment of residency. Title VIII: Appropriation and Emergency Designations - Authorizes and appropriates such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act for FY2014-FY2016. Treats such funding as emergency funding that is not subject to pay-as-you-go spending constraints.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2014
Rape Survivor Child Custody Act - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to states that have in place a law that allows the mother of any child that was conceived through rape to seek court-ordered termination of the parental rights of her rapist with regard to that child, which the court shall grant upon clear and convincing evidence of rape. Limits such a grant to: (1) an amount that is not greater than 10% of the average of the total funding of the 3 most recent awards a state received under the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program and the Sexual Assault Services Program; and (2) a 1-year term, subject to renewal for not more than 3 additional years. Requires a state that receives such a grant to use: (1) 25% of grant funds for permissible uses under the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program, and (2) 75% of funds for permissible uses under the Sexual Assault Services Program.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2014
Equity in Law Enforcement Act of 2014 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: (1) expand the definition of "public service officer," for purposes of provisions concerning public safety officer death benefits, to include a law enforcement officer serving a private institution of higher education in an official capacity, or a rail police officer employed by a rail carrier, who is sworn, licensed, or certified under the laws of a state for the purposes of law enforcement (applicable to a personal injury sustained in the line of duty by a public safety officer on or after April 15, 2013); (2) authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to such institutions and carriers for the purchase of armor vests for such officers; and (3) include such institutions and carriers among entities eligible for contracts or subawards under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2014
Employer Participation in Refinancing Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an exclusion from gross income for the payment of an employer, either to an employee or a lender, of any indebtedness of an employee under a qualified education refinance loan or any interest relating to such a loan. Defines "qualified education refinance loan" as any indebtedness used solely to refinance a qualified education loan with respect to which the lender offers the borrower protection in the event of unemployment or financial hardship.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 2014
Encourages a continuous national dialogue on efforts to combat prescription opioid abuse and heroin addiction and supports a holistic approach to addressing such abuse. Recognizes the commitment of law enforcement, first responder, and health personnel and other entities and organizations to addressing prescription opioid abuse and heroin addiction. Supports the goals of drug take-back efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its law enforcement partners and encourages the expansion of such efforts. Designates the week of October 27-November 2, 2014, as National Drug Take-Back Week and the month of October 2014 as National Prescription Opioid and Heroin Abuse Awareness Month. Encourages media organizations to raise awareness of prescription opioid and heroin use, particularly among youth.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2014
Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, federal public safety officer death benefits or amounts paid under a state program to surviving dependents of a public safety officer who died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty. Makes this Act applicable to amounts received after December 31, 2011.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2014
Accurate Budgeting Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Joint Committee on Taxation to prepare for each major revenue bill or resolution, reported by specified congressional tax committees or considered on the floor of either chamber, as a supplement to Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimates, a macroeconomic impact analysis of the budgetary effects of the legislation for: (1) the 10-fiscal year period beginning with the first fiscal year for which such estimate was prepared, and (2) each of the next three 10-fiscal year periods. Defines "major revenue bill or resolution" as a bill, resolution, or conference report for which either: the sum of the positive changes in revenues resulting from such measure (not including the impact of any timing shifts for the due date for estimated corporate income tax payments) for any fiscal year in the period for which a CBO cost estimate is prepared, or the absolute value of the sum of the negative changes in revenues resulting from such measure, is greater than 0.25% of the current projected U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) for that fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2014
Condemns the charge of apostasy and death sentence of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag and calls for the release of her and her son. Encourages U.S. efforts to support religious freedom in Sudan, including by requiring before normalizing relations or lifting sanctions that Sudan abide by international standards of religious freedom. Reaffirms the commitment of the United States to end religious discrimination and to pursue policies that guarantee the basic human rights of all individuals. Encourages the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to continue their support for initiatives worldwide that support religious freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2014
Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2014 - Revises a variety of existing programs to expand access to, and opportunities for, hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. Reauthorizes the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act. Gives the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority to permit states to issue temporary electronic duck stamps (federal licenses required for hunting migratory waterfowl). Exempts components of firearms and ammunition and sport fishing equipment and its components (such as lead sinkers) from regulations of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Increases the proportion of funding from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act that states may use for public target ranges. Requires the Secretary to issue permits for the importation of polar bear parts taken in sports hunts in Canada before May 15, 2008 (when the species was listed as threatened). Revises standards for determining what a baited area is for purposes of the prohibition on taking migratory game birds. Directs federal public land management officials to facilitate hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting on federal public land. Makes land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Forest Service open for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting unless the managing agency acts to close the lands. Allocates funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for priority projects that secure public access to federal public lands that have significantly restricted access for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2014
Don't Tax Our Fallen Public Safety Heroes Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, federal public safety officer death benefits or amounts paid under a state program to surviving dependents of a public safety officer who died as the direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2014
Fairness for Fallen Officers Act of 2014 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to include a fatal climate-related injury (including hypothermia, heatstroke, and hyperthermia) sustained by a public safety officer who engaged in a situation involving exposure to extreme environmental conditions while on duty as a personal injury for which death benefits shall be provided.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2014
Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2014 - Declares that it shall be U.S. policy to: (1) prevent Hezbollah's global logistics and financial network from operating in order to curtail funding of its domestic and international activities; and (2) utilize diplomatic, legislative, and executive avenues to combat Hezbollah's criminal activities in order to block that organization's ability to fund its global terrorist activities. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly: (1) facilitates the activities of Hezbollah or any of its agents or affiliates whose property or property interests are blocked pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act; (2) facilitates the activities of a person acting on behalf of or at the direction of, or owned or controlled by such institution; (3) engages in money laundering to carry out such activity; or (4) facilitates a significant transaction or transactions or provides significant financial services to carry out such activity. Directs the Secretary to prescribe reporting, information sharing, and due diligence requirements for domestic financial institutions that maintain a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such requirements if in U.S. national security interests, and with congressional notification. Directs the Secretary to identify to Congress every 180 days each foreign central bank that carries out an activity prohibited under this Act. Sets forth penalty requirements for specified violations under this Act. Directs the President to report to Congress regarding: (1) satellite, broadcast, Internet, or other providers that knowingly carry al-Manar TV or its affiliates; and (2) countries in which Hezbollah maintains important portions of its global logistics networks, and an assessment of whether a country is taking adequate measures to disrupt Hezbollah's networks within that country. Directs the President to designate Hezbollah as: (1) a significant foreign narcotics trafficker if Hezbollah meets the criteria set forth under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, and (2) a significant transnational criminal organization if Hezbollah meets the criteria set forth under Executive Order 13581. Directs the President to report to Congress which of these criteria the President determines that Hezbollah has not met, if it does not. Declares that nothing in this Act shall apply to authorized U.S. intelligence activities. States that any requirement of this Act shall cease to be in effect 30 days after the President certifies to Congress that Hezbollah: (1) is no longer designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and (2) is no longer listed in the Annex to Executive Order 13224 (blocking property and prohibiting transactions with persons who commit or support terrorism).
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2014
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Harlan Mathews, a former member of the United States Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on May 13, 2014, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Mathews.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2014
Amy and Vicky Child Pornography Victim Restitution Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the federal criminal code to expand the definition of "full amount of the victim's losses" for purposes of provisions governing mandatory restitution of victims of offenses involving sexual exploitation and other abuse of children to include medical services, physical and occupational therapy or rehabilitation, and lost income for the victim's lifetime, as well as any losses suffered by the victim from any sexual act or conduct in preparation for or during the production of child pornography depicting the victim involved in the offense. Sets forth guidelines for determining restitution where the victim of of a specified child pornography offense was harmed by one defendant (requiring restitution for not less than the full amount of the victim's losses) or by more than one defendant (requiring restitution for not more than the full amount of the victim's losses and not less than specified minimum amounts for certain offenses). Requires joint and several liability where there are multiple defendants and allows each defendant who is ordered to pay restitution and who has made full payment to the victim equal to or exceeding the specified minimum amount to recover contribution from any other defendant ordered to pay. Sets forth contribution claim procedures. Requires the Attorney General to report to Congress within one year after enactment of this Act on any progress of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in obtaining restitution for victims of such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2014
Authorizes TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, L.P. to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the pipeline and cross-border facilities specified in an application filed by TransCanada Corporation to the Department of State on May 4, 2012. Deems the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement regarding the pipeline issued by the Secretary of State in January 2014 to fully satisfy the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and any law that requires federal agency consultation or review, including the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Declares any applicable federal permit or authorization issued before enactment of this Act to remain in effect. Restricts any legal challenges regarding a federal agency action and such facilities to judicial review on direct appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Declares that this Act does not alter any federal, state, or local process or condition in effect on the date of enactment of this Act that is necessary to secure access from an owner of private property to construct the pipeline and cross-border facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2014
Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to submit to Congress a strategic framework for U.S. security assistance and cooperation in Europe and Eurasia. Directs the President to: (1) halt for 180-days all current and planned redeployments of combat forces from Europe other than certain redeployments, and (2) develop a plan to correct any deficiencies in the Armed Forces' ability to respond to contingencies in Europe and Eurasia. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) represents the most successful collective security agreement of the modern era, and (2) a strong NATO is critical to maintaining peace in Europe and Eurasia and ensuring that the Russian Federation plays an appropriate role in the region. Directs the President to: (1) implement a plan for increasing U.S. and NATO support for the armed forces of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, and other NATO member-states; and (2) direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO to seek consideration for permanently basing NATO forces in such countries. Directs the President to submit a plan to Congress for accelerating NATO and European missile defense efforts. Directs the President to establish a United States-German Global and European Security Working Group to focus on areas of mutual concern, including the situation in Ukraine, and increasing political, economic, and military cooperation between the two states. Directs the President to impose asset blocking and U.S. exclusion sanctions, if Russian armed forces have not withdrawn from Crimea within seven days after enactment of this Act, against: (1) any government official, and any close associate or family member of that official, who is responsible for or otherwise directing violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, or who is responsible for acts of significant corruption in the Russian Federation; (2) any individual who sponsored or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of such acts; (3) any individual or entity with respect to which sanctions were previously imposed relating to violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty; (4) any entity owned or controlled by a sanctioned entity that is owned or controlled by a citizen of the Russian Federation; and (5) any senior executive of a sanctioned entity who is a citizen of the Russian Federation. Directs the President to impose asset blocking and U.S. exclusion sanctions, if Russian armed forces have not withdrawn from the eastern border of Ukraine within seven days after enactment of this Act, or if agents of the Russian Federation do not cease actions to destabilize the control of the government of Ukraine over eastern Ukraine, against: (1) Sberbank, (2) VTB Bank, (3) Vnesheconombank, (4) Gazprombank, (5) Gazprom, (6) Novatek, (7) Rosneft, (8) Rosoboronexport, (9) any entity owned or controlled by such an entity that is owned or controlled by a citizen of the Russian Federation; and (10) any senior executive of such an entity who is a citizen of the Russian Federation. Imposes asset blocking, U.S. exclusion, and foreign financial entity sanctions, if Russian armed forces expand further into, or the government of the Russian Federation annexes, sovereign territory of Ukraine or any other country in Europe or Eurasia, against: (1) any senior Russian official, (2) any entity owned or controlled by a senior Russian official, and (3) any close associate of a senior Russian official who provides significant support or resources to such senior Russian official. Imposes asset blocking and U.S. exclusion sanctions also, in such circumstances, against: (1) any entity organized under the laws of the Russian Federation that is owned or controlled by the government of the Russian Federation, or owned or controlled by a person sanctioned for violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty; (2) any entity that operates in the arms, defense, energy, financial services, metals, or mining sectors of the Russian Federation; and (3) any senior executive of such an entity who is a citizen of the Russian Federation. Sets forth related penalty requirements. States that U.S. exclusion sanctions shall not apply if necessary to permit the United States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations or other applicable international obligations. Authorizes the President to waive sanctions if in the U.S. national security interests, and with prior congressional notification. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to limit the transfer or export by any U.S. person of oil and gas advanced technology to any person in, or any citizen of, the Russian Federation if: (1) the Russian Federation has not substantially withdrawn its armed forces from the eastern border of Ukraine within 30 days, or (2) agents of the Russian Federation do not end destabilizing measures in eastern Ukraine. Directs the Secretary of State to work with U.S. allies to limit: (1) sales of defense articles and services to the government of the Russian Federation, and (2) cooperation with the government of the Russian Federation on matters related to the production of defense articles and services by Russian entities. Prohibits the President from: (1) entering into any agreement with the government of the Russian Federation regarding the reduction of nuclear forces except with the advice and consent of the Senate; (2) reducing the number of deployed or non-deployed launchers under the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms while Russian armed forces are threatening the territorial integrity or sovereignty of Ukraine or another European or Eurasian state; (3) sharing sensitive U.S. missile defense information with the government of the Russian Federation; and (4) authorizing any Open Skies Treaty overflights of U.S. territory or government facilities by Russian airplanes that employ any surveillance devices beyond those employed before January 1, 2014. Prohibits amounts from being obligated or expended to integrate into any U.S. or NATO common-funded missile defense system any stand-alone radar or missile defense system manufactured, sold, or exported by: (1) a Russian entity, or (2) any person or entity currently sanctioned or designated under U.S. law for missile technology proliferation. Directs the Secretary of State to provide access to appropriate consular resources, including prioritized access for refugee and other immigration or travel status to the United States, for journalists, political and civil society activists, and dissidents in the Russian Federation. Directs the Secretary of State to increase efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and political and civil society organizations in the Russian Federation. Directs DOD to assess the capabilities and needs of the Ukrainian armed forces. Authorizes the President, upon completion of such assessment, to provide specified military assistance to Ukraine. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should: (1) provide Ukraine with information about Russian military and intelligence capabilities on Ukraine's eastern border and within Ukraine's territorial borders, including Crimea; and (2) ensure that such intelligence information is protected from further disclosure. Provides major non-NATO ally status for Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova (during the period in which each of such countries meets specified criteria) for purposes of the transfer or possible transfer of defense articles or defense services. Directs the President to increase: (1) U.S. Armed Forces interactions with the armed forces of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia; and (2) U.S and NATO security assistance to such states. Amends the Natural Gas Act to apply the expedited application and approval process for natural gas exports to World Trade Organization members. Urges the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Trade and Development Agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the World Bank Group, and the European Bank for Reconstruction to promote assistance to Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova in order to exploit natural gas and oil reserves and to develop alternative energy sources. Prohibits any federal department or agency from taking any action that recognizes Russian Federation sovereignty over Crimea or otherwise endorses the Russian Federation's illegal annexation of Crimea. Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) strengthen democratic institutions, the independent media, and political and civil society organizations in countries of the former Soviet Union; and (2) increase educational and cultural exchanges with countries of the former Soviet Union. Directs the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Voice of America (VOA) to provide Congress with a plan for increasing and maintaining through FY2017 the quantity of U.S.-funded Russian-language broadcasting into countries of the former Soviet Union, with priority for broadcasting into Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 2014
Caring for America's Heroes Act - Eliminates the limit on the number of days each year inpatient mental health services may be provided to military dependents under the Department of Defense (DOD) TRICARE program (a DOD managed care program). Eliminates the need for TRICARE Standard beneficiaries to obtain: (1) a nonavailability statement or preauthorization to receive mental health services from a civilian provider, or (2) a nonavailability statement to receive mental health services in specialized treatment facilities outside the 200-mile radius of a military medical treatment facility.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2014
Joins the Secretary of Defense (DOD) in honoring the children of members of the Armed Forces and recognizes that such children share in the burden of protecting the United States. Urges the people of the United States to join with the military community in observing the National Month of the Military Child (observed annually in April) with appropriate ceremonies and activities that honor, support, and thank military children.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2014
Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014 - Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act concerning establishment of minimum leverage and minimum risk-based capital requirements on a consolidated basis for a depository institution holding company or a nonbank financial company supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. States that federal banking agencies shall not be required to subject any person to such minimum capital requirements, to the extent that such person either: (1) acts in its capacity as a regulated insurance entity regulated by a state insurance regulator, or (2) is a regulated foreign subsidiary engaged in the business of insurance (including a regulated foreign affiliate of such subsidiary). Exempts from any requirement to prepare holding company financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles any Board-supervised depository institution holding company or nonbank financial company that is also a person regulated by a state insurance regulator or a regulated foreign subsidiary (or a regulated foreign affiliate) that files its holding company financial statements using only Statutory Accounting Principles in accordance with state law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2014
Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2014 - Title I: Buildings - Subtitle A: Building Energy Codes - Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA) to direct the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to: (1) support the development and updating of national model building energy codes for residential and commercial buildings to enable the achievement of aggregate energy savings targets established by this Act, (2) encourage and support the adoption by states and local governments of building energy codes that meet or exceed the national codes, and (3) support full compliance with state and local codes. Subtitle B: Worker Training and Capacity Building - Directs the Secretary to provide grants to establish building training and assessment centers at institutions of higher learning to identify and promote opportunities, concepts, and technologies for expanding building energy and environmental performance. Requires the Secretary to make grants to pay the federal share of career skills training programs to help students obtain a certification to install energy efficient buildings technologies. Subtitle C: School Buildings - Requires the Secretary to act as the lead federal agency for coordinating and disseminating information on existing federal programs and assistance that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy retrofitting projects for schools. Subtitle D: Better Buildings - Requires the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to develop and publish model leasing provisions and best practices for use in leasing documents that designate a federal agency as a landlord or tenant to encourage building owners and tenants to invest in cost-effective energy efficiency measures. Amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to require the Secretary to study the feasibility of: (1) significantly improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction of separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures, and (2) encouraging owners and tenants to implement such measures in separate spaces. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate spaces. Requires DOE's Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to collect data on categories of building occupancy that consume significant quantities of energy and on other aspects of the property, building operation, or building occupancy determined to be relevant to lowering energy consumption. Subtitle E: Energy Information for Commercial Buildings - Amends EISA to revise exceptions to the requirement that federal agencies must lease space in buildings that have earned the Energy Star label. Requires a space leased by an agency in a building that has not earned the Energy Star label to be benchmarked under a nationally recognized, online, free benchmarking program, with public disclosure. Exempts from such requirement a space for which owners cannot access whole building utility consumption data. Requires the Secretary to modify and maintain existing databases or create and maintain a new database platform to store and make publicly available energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings. Authorizes the Secretary to make awards to utilities, utility regulators, and utility partners to develop and implement programs to provide aggregated whole building energy consumption information to multitenant building owners. Title II: Industrial Efficiency and Competitiveness - Subtitle A: Manufacturing Energy Efficiency - Amends EISA to rename the energy-intensive industries program as the future of industry program. Amends ECPA to require the Secretary: (1) as part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to conduct on-site technical assessments at the request of a manufacturer to identify opportunities for maximizing the energy efficiency of industrial processes and cross-cutting systems, preventing pollution and minimizing waste, improving efficient use of water in manufacturing processes, and conserving natural resources; and (2) as part of DOE's industrial efficiency programs, to carry out an industry-government partnership program to research, develop, and demonstrate new sustainable manufacturing and industrial technologies and processes that maximize the energy efficiency of industrial systems, reduce pollution, and conserve natural resources. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to expedite consideration of applications from eligible small businesses for loans under the Small Business Act to implement recommendations of industrial research and assessment centers. Subtitle B: Supply Start - Establishes within DOE a Supply Star program to identify and promote practices, recognize companies, and recognize products that use highly efficient supply chains that conserve energy, water, and other resources. Subtitle C: Electric Motor Rebate Program - Directs the Secretary to establish rebate programs for expenditures for the purchase and installation of: (1) a new constant speed electric motor control that reduces motor energy use by at least 5%, and (2) certain commercial or industrial machinery or equipment that is manufactured and incorporates an advanced motor and drive system. Subtitle D: Transformer Rebate Program - Directs the Secretary to establish rebate programs for expenditures made by owners of industrial or manufacturing facilities, commercial buildings, and multifamily residential buildings for the purchase and installation of new energy efficient transformers. Title III: Federal Agency Energy Efficiency - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, with respect to federal agency energy management, to require each agency to collaborate with the Director of the Office of the Management and Budget (OMB) to develop an implementation strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies. Requires the OMB Director to establish performance goals for evaluating the efforts of agencies in improving such technology systems. Requires the Chief Information Officers Council to supplement the goals with recommendations on best practices for attaining them. Authorizes the GSA Administrator, for any building project for which congressional approval has been received and the design has been substantially completed, but whose construction has not begun, to use appropriated funds to update the building's design to meet energy efficiency and other standards for new federal buildings. Amends EISA to revise requirements for data center energy efficiency. Designates an information technology industry organization that coordinates the voluntary national information program for such centers. Requires establishment of an open data initiative for federal data center usage data. Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a demonstration program for energy and water conservation improvements at multifamily residential units. Title IV: Regulatory Provisions - Subtitle A: Third-Party Certification Under Energy Star Program - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to direct the EPA Administrator to revise the certification requirements for the labeling of consumer, home, and office electronic products for program partners that have complied with all requirements of the Energy Star program for a period of at least 18 months. Prohibits such requirements from requiring third-party certification for such a product to be listed. Subtitle B: Federal Green Buildings - Amends EISA to revise requirements for certification of green buildings. Subtitle C: Water Heaters - Amends EPCA to establish additional energy conservation standards applicable to grid-enabled water heaters (those intended for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program). Subtitle D: Energy Performance Requirements for Federal Buildings - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to extend energy performance requirements for federal buildings through FY2017 (from a 30% reduction from 2003 energy consumption level for FY2015 to a 36% reduction for FY2017). Amends ECPA to revise the definition of "federal building" to include buildings altered by federal agencies, and to define "major renovation." Requires the Secretary to establish revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards after the approval of revisions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to meet or exceed such revisions. Repeals a standard on fossil fuel-generated energy use in federal buildings. Requires federal building energy standards to be: (1) reviewed every five years, and (2) upgraded to include all new energy efficiency and renewable energy measures that are technologically feasible and economically justified if significant energy savings would result. Directs the Secretary of HUD to develop and issue guidelines for all federal mortgage agencies to implement enhanced loan eligibility requirements, for use when testing the ability of a loan applicant to repay a covered loan, that account for the expected energy cost savings for a loan applicant at a subject property. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for how covered agencies shall determine: (1) the maximum permitted loan amount based on the value of the property for all covered loans made on properties with an energy efficiency report meeting certain requirements, and (2) the estimated energy savings for properties with such a report. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to require standards for the performance of real estate appraisals in connection with federally related transactions to require at a minimum that state certified and licensed appraisers have timely access to information from the property owner and the lender that may be relevant in developing an opinion of value regarding the energy- and water-saving improvements or features of a property. Applies the requirement of state certified appraisers to transactions involving any real property on which the appraiser makes adjustments using an energy efficiency report. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory group on the implementation of the enhanced energy efficiency underwriting criteria established in this Act. Subtitle E: Third-Party Testing - Amends EPCA to require the Secretary of DOE and the EPA Administrator to rely on voluntary certification programs for air conditioning, furnace, boiler, heat pump, and water heater products. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends EISA to reduce appropriations for the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative.
![Official portrait of Sen. Ayotte, Kelly [R-NH]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/a000368_200.jpg)