United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017
Member and Employee Training and Oversight On Congress Act or the ME TOO Congress Act This bill amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (CAA) to revise procedures for reporting, investigating, and resolving allegations of legislative branch employees that their rights and protections under the CAA, such as protections against sexual harassment and discrimination, have been violated.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2017 This bill amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to: (1) repeal expired reductions in rates of duty for specified chemicals and other items; and (2) provide for duty suspensions and reductions through December 31, 2020, for specified chemicals and other items.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act This bill directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to: (1) encourage veterans to study and pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and computer science in coordination with other federal agencies that serve veterans, and (2) submit a plan to Congress for enhancing outreach efforts to veterans. The National Science Board shall provide in its annual report on the state of science and engineering in the United States relevant data on veterans in science and engineering careers or education programs. The bill provides for veterans' participation and outreach in: (1) the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program to recruit and train mathematics and science teachers, (2) NSF fellowships and masters fellowships for mathematics and science teachers, (3) computer and network security capacity building grants, and (4) traineeship grants leading to a doctorate degree in computer and network security research. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall: (1) establish a subcommittee under the Committee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council to coordinate federal programs and policies for transitioning and training veterans and military spouses for STEM careers, and (2) monitor federal agency efforts to ensure that the objectives of the subcommittee's strategic plan required by this bill are met.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Honoring World War I Memorials Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to make grants to rehabilitate World War I memorials. Grant priority shall be given to memorials listed on the National Register of Historic Places and then to memorials listed on a state register of historic places.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Current Employee Representation Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to allow an employee or group of employees to petition for a union certification election: (1) if fewer than 50% of the current bargaining unit were unit members in the last certification election, or (2) no certification election was conducted for such unit.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Fallen Warrior Battlefield Cross Memorial Act This bill states that the Department of Veterans Affairs may not prohibit the display of a Battlefield Cross in any national cemetery. "Battlefield Cross" means a memorial monument in honor of fallen members of the Armed Forces that may include a replica of an inverted rifle, boots, helmets, and identification tag.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to expand the scope of "covered transaction" subject to the review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). CFIUS analyzes the national security implications of foreign investment in the United States. A covered transaction includes: any merger, acquisition, or takeover that could result in foreign control of any U.S. business, the purchase or lease of real estate located in the United States that is in close proximity to a U.S. military installation or to another U.S. government facility or property that is sensitive for reasons relating to national security, other investment in a U.S. critical technology company or U.S. critical infrastructure company, any change in a foreign investor's rights that results in foreign control of a U.S. business, the contribution of intellectual property to a foreign person, or any other transaction, transfer, agreement, or arrangement designed to evade or circumvent the authority of CFIUS. The bill revises other provisions relating to CFIUS, including the length of its review period, special hiring authority and funding, and authority to mandate reviews or take unilateral action.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act of 2017 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make postsecondary education courses and programs, such as apprenticeship programs, that provide credits toward a postsecondary certification, credential, or degree eligible for federal student aid funding if the programs and courses are accredited by a state that has an alternative accreditation agreement with the Department of Education. The bill terminates loan forgiveness for borrowers under the income contingent repayment options for new loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. An institution that receives federal student aid funding must pay a default rate fine that is based on the default rate of loans made to its students.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
Sugar Policy Modernization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 and other agricultural laws to modify the Department of Agriculture (USDA) sugar program. The bill modifies the sugar program to: reduce the rates for price support loans to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets; require USDA to recover the net cost of the program from domestic sugar processors; extend through 2019 and then terminate the Feedstock Flexibility Program under which USDA purchases surplus sugar from domestic processors for resale to ethanol producers; extend through 2020 and then repeal the flexible marketing allotments which limit the amount of sugar that domestic processing companies may sell for domestic human use; require USDA to administer the program to provide adequate supplies of sugar at reasonable prices; require USDA to adjust sugar tariff-rate quota imports to achieve specified ratios of sugar stocks to total sugar use; and allow the transfer of quotas between countries.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 2017
VA Asset and Infrastructure Review Act of 2017 This bill establishes the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission, which shall make recommendations to the President regarding the closure, modernization, and/or realignment of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities based upon its own and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recommendations. The President shall transmit to the commission and to Congress a report containing the President's approval or disapproval of such recommendations by February 15, 2023. Within three years after transmittal of such report, the commission shall begin to implement the recommendations approved by the President and not disapproved by Congress. The commission shall: (1) carry out appropriate environmental restoration and historic preservation in connection with facility closures or realignments, and (2) consult with state and local governments with respect to the treatment of roads or the disposal of surplus real property or infrastructure. The VA may transfer the title of a VHA facility to the facility's redevelopment authority for lease to the VA or another federal agency. The bill establishes in the Treasury the Department of Veterans Affairs Asset and Infrastructure Review Account. The bill revises the definitions of: (1) "major medical facility project," and (2) "major medical facility lease." The VA may enter into agreements with other federal agencies for the planning, designing, constructing, or leasing of shared medical facilities. The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 is amended to exclude recruitment, relocation, or retention incentives from the limitation on awards and bonuses. The bill provides funds for: (1) the Veterans Choice Program, and (2) medical facility minor construction and nonrecurring maintenance.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 2017
Veterans Crisis Line Study Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a study on the outcomes and the efficacy of the Veterans Crisis Line during the five-year period beginning January 1, 2014, based on an analysis of national suicide data and data collected from the line. Such study shall address: (1) the efficacy of the line in leading veterans to sustained mental health regimens and suicide prevention; (2) the line's visibility; (3) the role of the line as part of the VA's mental health care services; and (4) whether receiving sustained mental health care affects suicidality, including among veterans who are at high risk for suicide.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 2017
Dialysis Patient Access to Integrated-care, Empowerment, Nephrologists, Treatment, and Services Demonstration Act of 2017 or the Dialysis PATIENTS Demonstration Act of 2017 This bill establishes a demonstration program for the provision of integrated care to Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Under the voluntary program, eligible participating providers may form organizations to offer ESRD integrated care models and serve as medical homes for program-eligible beneficiaries. Such a model: (1) shall cover medical and hospital services, other than hospice care, under Medicare; (2) must include benefits for transition into transplantation, palliative care, or hospice; and (3) may cover prescription drug benefits. An organization must offer at least one open network model but may also offer one or more preferred network models. An organization shall return savings achieved under the models to program-eligible beneficiaries. A beneficiary shall have the opportunity to: (1) opt out of the program, (2) make an assignment change into an open network model offered by a different organization, or (3) elect a preferred network model. The bill establishes requirements regarding: (1) benefits for program-eligible beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid benefits, (2) program quality and reporting, (2) ESRD integrated care strategy, (3) program operation and scope, (4) beneficiary notification, and (5) payment. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission must, before 2025, submit to Congress an interim report on the program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
No Abortion Bonds Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose taxes on state, local, and tax credit bonds that are used to provide a facility owned or used (for any purpose) by an abortion provider for more than 30 days during a year in which interest is paid on the bond. An entity is not considered an abortion provider solely as a result of performing abortions if: (1) the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (2) a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the woman in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. The Department of the Treasury may exempt certain hospitals from being considered an abortion provider by making the name of the hospital available on Treasury's public website.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
Student Loan Disclosure Modernization Act This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the student loan disclosure forms under the Federal Family Education Loan Program to include the annual percentage rate applicable to the loan. In addition, the bill requires the student loan disclosure forms under the William D. Form Federal Direct Loan Program to be written in plain language to enable borrowers to understand loan terms, total costs of loans, and estimated monthly repayments. Direct loans may not be issued to borrowers unless they acknowledge in writing that they have read the form.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
Honors the heroism of Boatswain's Mate Second Class Joseph Leon George in saving the lives of six sailors on December 7, 1941, and urges the U.S. Navy, in light of new information, to consider revisiting decorating and honoring the heroism of such individual in saving these sailors.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
USS Indianapolis Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the House of Representatives and the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to the crew of the USS Indianapolis, in recognition of their perseverance, bravery, and service. Following the award of the gold medal, it shall be given to the Indiana War Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it will be displayed and made available for research. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the Indiana War Memorial Museum should make the gold medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and events associated with the USS Indianapolis.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
This bill provides that the Department of Veterans Affairs per diem payment calculation for an entity receiving homeless veterans shelter grants for a homeless veteran who has care of a minor dependent while receiving services from such entity shall be the sum of the daily cost of care for the veteran plus, for each minor dependent, an amount that equals 50% of the veteran's daily cost of care.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2017
Affirms the Jewish people's historical connection to Jerusalem. Recognizes that the archaeological discoveries from the City of David, the site of ancient Jerusalem, present evidence of the millennia-old connection of Jerusalem to the Jewish people, and, by extension, to Christianity. Commends the government of Israel for protecting the freedoms of all faiths in Jerusalem including Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and ensuring their access to holy sites so that they may worship freely. Condemns efforts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to delegitimize Israel through attempts to rewrite and deny Jerusalem's history. Encourages the United States to continue working with allies to prevent UNESCO from passing biased anti-Israel resolutions in the future.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 2017
Access to Marketplace Insurance Act This bill requires health insurers to accept, on behalf of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans, cost-sharing payments made by certain third parties (e.g., state and federal government programs) and count such payments toward annual cost-sharing limitations. (Qualified health plans are eligible for subsidies and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.)
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 2017
Gold Star Family Support and Installation Access Act of 2017 This bill directs the appropriate military department to issue a standardized Gold Star Installation Access Card to the widow and dependent children of a deceased member of the Armed Forces to allow them to gain unescorted access to military installations to attend memorial events, visit gravesites, and obtain on-installation services and benefits. The Department of Defense shall prescribe regulations to provide that a surviving spouse of a deceased member, regardless of martial status, who has guardianship of dependent children of the deceased member, is entitled to use commissary stores and MWR retail facilities to the same extent and on the same basis as the unremarried spouse of a member of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Immigration in the National Interest Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: eliminate the diversity visa program; replace the current employment visa system with a skills-based point system; revise the worldwide level of family-sponsored immigrants, including by eliminating certain family-based immigration preferences; establish a 50,000 annual limit for refugees given permanent resident status; create a nonimmigrant visa for parents of U.S. citizen children who are at least 21 years old; and establish a new visa for immigrants seeking to enter the United States to engage in a new commercial enterprise. The bill prohibits an alien from being be naturalized if his or her sponsor has not repaid the federal government for any means-tested public benefits received by the alien during the five-year period beginning on the date the alien was lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Save American Workers Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to change the definition of "full-time employee" for purposes of the employer mandate to provide minimum essential health care coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from an employee who is employed on average at least 30 hours of service a week to an employee who is employed on average at least 40 hours of service a week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 2017
Legal Workforce Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish an employment eligibility verification system (EEVS), patterned after the E-Verify system. An employer shall attest, during the verification period and under penalty of perjury, that the employer has verified that an individual is not an unauthorized alien. An individual shall attest that he or she is a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an alien authorized to work in the United States. The bill establishes a phased-in EEVS participation deadline for different categories of employers, including agricultural employers. The bill requires reverification of certain groups of workers who have not been verified under E-verify. An employer may voluntarily reverify employees. Employment recruitment and referral are included within the scope of EEVS. The bill sets forth provisions regarding: (1) an employer utilizing a good faith defense, (2) preemption of state or local law, (3) employer penalties, and (4) worker remedies for EEVS errors. DHS shall establish programs to: (1) block the use of misused social security numbers, (2) suspend or limit the use of social security account numbers of identity fraud victims, and (3) permit parents or legal guardians to suspend or limit the use of a minor's social security account number or other identifying information. DHS shall establish at least two Identity Authentication Employment Eligibility Verification pilot programs using distinct technologies to provide employers with identity authentication and employment verification of enrolled new employees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 2017
Future of the Nunn-Lugar Program Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to: (1) seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to assess requirements for cooperative threat reduction, and (2) provide such center with access to necessary information and resources. The center shall provide DOD with an interim and a final report that shall include: (1) a discussion of the requirements and capabilities necessary for reducing the threats of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons; (2) identification of capability gaps for cooperative threat reduction efforts; (3) recommendations for actions to modernize the DOD's Cooperative Threat Reduction Program; and (4) recommendations to modernize the command and control enterprise and the role of the Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, with respect to foreign countries, is intended to facilitate the elimination and the safe and secure transportation and storage of nuclear, chemical, biological, or other weapons and prevent their proliferation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 2017
This bill expands eligibility for memorial headstones and markers provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to certain family members of veterans. Eligibility for dependent children and remarried spouses whose remains are unavailable is expanded to include all those who die on or after November 11, 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act This bill amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) to require the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce, as appropriate, to make publicly available on the Internet, subject to privacy or administrative limitations, the best scientific and commercial data available that are the bases for the determination of whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species, including each proposed regulation for the listing of a species.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Overdose Prevention and Patient Safety Act This bill aligns federal privacy standards for substance use disorder patient records more closely with standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Border Security for America Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to: (1) construct and operate infrastructure and technology to deter and detect illegal border activity in high traffic areas, (2) deploy the most practical and effective technology to achieve situational awareness and operational control of the border, (3) deploy additional capabilities to specified border sectors or regions, (4) submit a plan for evaluating and using independent verification and validation resources for border security technology, (5) establish a National Border Security Advisory Committee, (6) submit a southern border threat analysis, (7) implement the Border Security Deployment Program, (8) establish a biometric exit data system, and (9) begin eradicating the carrizo cane plant and any salt cedar along the Rio Grande River. The bill provides for: (1) U.S. Border Patrol personnel increases and infrastructure improvements, including forward base upgrades along the southern border; and (2) National Guard and Department of Defense border assistance. The bill: (1) prohibits federal agency restrictions on U.S. Customs and Border Protection activities on federal land within 100 miles of the border, (2) requires increases in immigration and law enforcement personnel and agricultural specialists, (3) authorizes appropriations for specified immigration purposes, and (4) requires electronic passport screening and biometric matching at airports of entry. The Anti-Border Corruption Act of 2010 is amended to provide for hiring flexibility. Operation Stonegarden is established as a DHS program to provide border security grants. This bill authorizes DHS to construct new ports of entry along the northern and southern borders.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 2017
Rightsizing Pension Premiums Act of 2017 This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to: (1) modify the formula that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) uses to calculate the funded percentage of single-employer pension plans, and (2) reduce single-employer PBGC premiums for pension plans that are sponsored by certain small employers or have specified PBGC funded percentages. The bill also prohibits the budget effects of provisions that change PBGC premiums from being counted for the purposes of determining budget points of order for legislation in the House or the Senate. (The PBGC is a federal agency that insures the benefits of private sector, defined benefit pension plans. The PBGC is financed by insurance premiums paid by sponsors of the plans, investment income, assets from pension plans taken over by the PBGC, and recoveries from the companies formerly responsible for the plans.)
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Save Local Business Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that a person may be considered a joint employer in relation to an employee only if such person directly, actually, and immediately, and not in a limited and routine manner, exercises significant control over the essential terms and conditions of employment (including hiring employees, discharging employees, determining individual employee rates of pay and benefits, day-to-day supervision of employees, assigning individual work schedules, positions, and tasks, and administering employee discipline).
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2017
Ensuring Access to Air Ambulance Services Act of 2017 This bill makes a series of changes relating to payment of air ambulance services under Medicare, including by establishing certain cost-reporting requirements for providers.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Ensuring Quality in the Unemployment Insurance Program (EQUIP) Act This bill allows states to enact unemployment compensation laws that require an applicant for unemployment compensation, before receiving any such compensation, to: (1) complete a substance abuse risk assessment, and (2) test negative for controlled substances within one week after the results of such assessment if determined to be high-risk. It prescribes retesting requirements and payment suspensions for applicants who test positive.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Sets forth the rule for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1436) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2017
ELD Extension Act of 2017 This bill delays for an additional two years the effective date of regulations implementing the requirement that a commercial motor vehicle involved in interstate commerce and operated by a driver subject to federal hours of service (HOS) and record of duty status regulations be equipped with an electronic logging device to improve vehicle operator compliance with HOS regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Investing in Student Achievement Act of 2017 or the ISA Act of 2017 This bill provides for income-share agreements whereby a student agrees to pay a percentage of future income, for a specified period of time, in exchange for funds to pay for educational expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Hearing Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code: (1) to remove silencers from the list of firearms subject to regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA), and (2) to specify that a person who lawfully acquires or possesses a silencer under provisions of the federal criminal code meets the registration and licensing requirements of the NFA. Additionally, the bill amends the federal criminal code: to preempt state or local laws that tax or regulate firearm silencers, to exclude a muffler or silencer from the list of firearms subject to regulation, to eliminate mandatory minimum prison terms for a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense in which a defendant uses or carries a firearm equipped with a silencer, and to permit active and retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed silencer.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Graduate Student Savings Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow funds paid to an individual to aid in the pursuit of graduate or postdoctoral study or research to be saved in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The bill permits the funds to be considered compensation for purposes of current law provisions that limit annual deductible IRA contributions to the lesser of: (1) the deductible amount permitted under current law, or (2) the compensation includible in the individual's gross income for the year.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Veterans Acquiring Community Care Expect Safe Services Act of 2017 or the Veterans ACCESS Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deny or revoke eligibility to provide non-VA health care services to veterans for any any health care provider that: (1) was removed from VA employment for violating VA policy relating to the delivery of safe and appropriate health care, (2) violated medical license requirements, (3) had a VA credential revoked on grounds that impact the provider's ability to deliver safe and appropriate health care, or (4) violated a law for which a prison term of more than one year may be imposed. The VA may deny, revoke, or suspend a health care provider's eligibility to provide non-VA health care services based on a reasonable belief that such action is necessary to immediately protect the health or safety of veterans if: (1) the provider is under investigation by a state's medical licensing board, (2) the provider has entered into a settlement agreement for a disciplinary charge relating to the practice of medicine, or (3) the VA otherwise determines that such action is appropriate. The VA shall suspend a health care provider's eligibility to provide non-VA health care services to veterans if such provider is suspended from serving as a VA medical provider.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Promoting Good Cyber Hygiene Act of 2017 This bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish for the federal government, the private sector, and any individual or organization a list of best practices to defend against common cybersecurity threats and risks. The Department of Homeland Security must assess cybersecurity threats, the effect of such threats on the federal government's information systems and networks, and submit recommendations for addressing such threats.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reform Act of 2017 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to modify the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program) work requirements that apply to able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). The bill modifies the work requirements to: terminate the authority of the Department of Agriculture to waive the requirements, upon the request of a state agency, for individuals residing in an area that has an unemployment rate of over 10% or does not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for the individuals; shorten from three months to one month the time limit for receiving benefits in a three-year period without meeting the requirements; decrease from 15% to 5% the portion of ABAWDs that a state may exempt from the requirements; allow participation in a supervised job search to satisfy the requirements; require states receiving SNAP funds to provide ABAWDs with opportunities to participate in a work program, a workfare program, or a supervised job search; and reduce SNAP allotments for states that fail to comply with requirements regarding eligibility disqualifications. The bill also modifies the congressional declaration of policy to specify that the purpose of SNAP is to increase employment, to encourage healthy marriage, and to promote prosperous self-sufficiency (maintaining an income above the poverty level without services and benefits from the federal government).
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2017
Securing the Homeland by Increasing our Power on the Seas Act or the SHIPS Act This bill declares that it shall be the policy of the United States to have available, as soon as practicable, at least 355 battle force ships, comprised of the optimal mix of platforms, with funding subject to the annual authorization and appropriation of funds.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Parental Notification and Intervention Act of 2017 This bill prohibits a person or organization from performing, facilitating, or assisting in the performance of an abortion on an unemancipated minor under age 18 without first complying with parental notification requirements, subject to exceptions. It establishes penalties—a fine, up to one year in prison, or both—for each willful violation. A parent who is required to be notified of an abortion of an unemancipated minor may bring an action in federal district court to prohibit the abortion.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
This bill allows a Member of Congress to carry a concealed handgun for any lawful purpose anywhere in the United States, except on the grounds of the White House, wherever the U.S. Secret Service is prohibiting the possession of a firearm, or on an air carrier (unless the Member has successfully completed the federal flight deck officer training program), provided that such Member: is carrying the photographic identification issued by a chamber of Congress that identifies him or her as a Member; has been issued a license or permit to carry a concealed handgun by a state or the United States Capitol Police; and is not otherwise prohibited under federal law from transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm. The Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police is authorized to issue such a license or permit. The Senators' Official Personnel and Office Expense Account and the House of Representatives' Members' Representational Allowance may be used to pay for a a Member's participation in the federal flight deck officer training program, which the Department of Homeland Security must make available.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Patients First Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct and support basic and applied research to develop techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, testing, and human clinical use of stem cells that may result in improved understanding of, or treatments for, diseases and other adverse health conditions, provided that the techniques will not involve: (1) the creation of a human embryo for research purposes; (2) the destruction or discarding of, or risk of injury to, a living human embryo; or (3) the use of any stem cell the derivation or provision of which would be inconsistent with this bill. HHS must issue guidelines to ensure that any research (including any clinical trial) supported under this bill: (1) is clearly consistent with the standards established in this bill, if conducted using human cells; and (2) is prioritized in terms of potential for near-term clinical benefit in human patients. HHS must report on peer reviewed stem cell research proposals that were not funded.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
DC Personal Protection Reciprocity Act This bill declares that the prohibitions of the District of Columbia Official Code against carrying a pistol within Washington, DC either openly or concealed without a license under DC law shall not apply to an individual who is: not prohibited by federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping, or receiving a firearm; carrying a valid license or permit for a concealed firearm issued under the law of a state; and carrying a valid identification document containing the individual's photograph. The Metropolitan Police Department, upon application by a person with a bona fide residence or place of business within the United States and a license to carry a concealed pistol under the law of any state or local government, shall issue that person a license to carry a concealed pistol within DC for up to two years from its date of issue, regardless of the applicant's reason for applying for the license. The bill repeals the condition on the permission for a non-DC resident who lives in a state that does not require a license to carry a concealed pistol to apply to the department for a license to carry one within DC for up to two years. The condition repealed states that the non-resident may apply for a license to carry a concealed weapon only if the non-resident meets the same reasons and requirements a person must meet who has a bona fide residence or place of business in DC. The department shall enter into reciprocity agreements with each other state that requires such an agreement in order to grant recognition to a license to carry a concealed firearm issued by that state.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act of 2017 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) establish the number of annual refugee admissions at 50,000, (2) authorize the President to submit an adjustment recommendation to Congress for approval based upon humanitarian or national interest concerns, and (3) provide that the President must submit emergency refugee admission recommendations to Congress for approval. The President shall (currently, may) terminate the refugee status of a person not entitled to such status. Refugee status is terminated for an individual who applied for such status because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution in the country from which he or she sought refuge on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, but who has returned to such country absent changed conditions. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall, when processing refugee applications from individuals seeking refuge from a "country of particular concern," grant priority to minority religion applicants whose claims are based on persecution because of their religion. DHS may conduct recurrent background security checks of an admitted refugee until the refugee adjusts to permanent resident status. Waiver authorities are limited with respect to refugee inadmissibility and permanent resident status adjustment. With respect to refugee status adjustment to permanent resident: (1) required U.S. residency is increased to three years; (2) an in-person DHS interview is required; (3) five-year reexaminations are required for a refugee whose status adjustment is refused; and (4) deportability grounds, with an exception for public charge grounds, shall be grounds for refusal of status adjustment. Resettlement of any refugee may not be provided for in any state or locality in which the governor, chief executive, or legislature has taken action disapproving such resettlement. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shall complete a refugee processing fraud study. DHS shall: (1) establish a program to detect the use of fraudulent documents in refugee admissions applications, which shall include placement of fraud detection officers at screening locations; and (2) use digital recording technology to record USCIS refugee interviews. A person may not be considered a refugee if such person fled from violence in his or her country of nationality if the violence: (1) was not specifically directed at the person; or (2) was specifically directed at the person but not because of that person's race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Prior to U.S. refugee admission, DHS shall ensure that an alien is not a threat to U.S. national security based on a background check that includes a review of the alien's publicly available Internet interactions, including social media services.
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