United States · United States Congress · 9 September 2015
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Richard Schultz Schweiker, former member of the United States Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on September 9, 2015, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of the former Senator.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 2015
Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act of 2015 Authorizes a Wall of Remembrance, as part of the previously authorized Korean War Veterans Memorial, to include: (1) a list by name of members of the U.S. Armed Forces who died in theater in the Korean War; (2) the number of members who were wounded, listed as missing in action, or prisoners of war; and (3) the number of members of the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, and the other nations of the United Nations Command who were killed, wounded, missing, or prisoners. Prohibits using any federal funds to construct the Wall.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 2015
Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting Seniors Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) authorize a Medicare prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsor to establish a drug management program under which the PDP sponsor may limit an at-risk beneficiary’s access to coverage for frequently abused drugs to include only those drugs that are prescribed by selected prescribers and dispensed by selected pharmacies; and (2) require a PDP sponsor to have in place a utilization management tool to prevent drug abuse. With respect to a drug management program, a PDP sponsor must: (1) provide specified notice to a beneficiary who has been identified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) as “at-risk” and consequently enrolled in the program; and (2) in selecting prescribers and dispensers, ensure that the beneficiary continues to have reasonable access to drugs. These determinations shall be subject to expedited reconsideration and appeal. A PDP sponsor must review and consider an at-risk beneficiary’s preferences regarding prescriber and pharmacy selection. Certain individuals, including those receiving hospice care or residing in a long-term care facility, are exempted from enrollment in a drug management program. CMS must, for purposes of quality or performance assessments, review and consider complaints received from at-risk beneficiaries regarding lack of access due to their enrollment in a drug management program. In addition, CMS must establish rules and procedures requiring a PDP sponsor to provide specified program data.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015 This bill amends the federal criminal code to create a private civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Specifically, the bill authorizes a trade secret owner to file a civil action in a U.S. district court seeking relief for trade secret misappropriation related to a product or service in interstate or foreign commerce. It establishes remedies, such as an injunction and damages. The statute of limitation is set at five years from the date of discovery of the misappropriation. A trade secret owner may apply for and a court may grant a seizure order to prevent dissemination of the trade secret if the court makes specific findings, including that an immediate and irreparable injury will occur if seizure is not ordered. A court must take custody of the seized materials and hold a seizure hearing within seven days. Any party harmed by the order may move to dissolve or modify the order and may also seek relief against the applicant of the seizure order for wrongful or excessive seizure. The Department of Justice must submit to Congress and publish a biannual report on trade secret theft outside the United States. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) trade secret theft occurs in the United States and around the world, (2) trade secret theft harms owner companies and their employees, and (3) the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 applies broadly to protect trade secrets from theft.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish the Angel Watch Center. The Center must identify outbound sex offender travelers who failed to provide advanced notice of international travel and provide a list of such individuals to the U.S. Marshals Service to investigate. The Department of Justice (DOJ) must designate the Center as the central repository for incoming notifications of sex offender travel. The bill authorizes the Center and the Marshals Service to transmit notification to a destination country of a sex offender's international travel. The Center and the Marshals Service must comply with certain procedures, collect specified data, and establish a complaint process for sex offenders affected by notifications. It amends the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to require a registered sex offender to report additional information on intended international travel. In addition, the bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for a sex offender to knowingly fail to report such intended international travel information. DOJ may notify a destination country of a sex offender's international travel. This bill amends the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the Department of State from issuing a passport to a sex offender applicant, unless the passport contains a unique identifier. A "unique identifier" is any visual sex offender designation that is conspicuously affixed to a passport.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Condemns the attack at the Grand Theatre 16 movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, on July 23, 2015. Honors the memory of the two Louisiana citizens who lost their lives. Recognizes the law enforcement officers, members of the Armed Forces, and first responders who responded to such attack.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Designates September 2015 as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Designates July 26, 2015, as United States Intelligence Professionals Day. Acknowledges the courage, fidelity, sacrifice, and professionalism of the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act or the PACT Act Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit intentionally engaging in animal crushing in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. (Current law prohibits knowingly creating or distributing an animal crush video.) Adds exceptions for conduct that is for predator or pest control, medical or scientific research, or necessary to protect the life or property of a person from a serious threat caused by an animal.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Condemns the attacks of July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Honors the sacrifice and memory of the five members of the Armed Forces who lost their lives. Recognizes the skill and heroism of the law enforcement officers, members of the Armed Forces, and first responders who came to the aid of others. Commends the efforts of those who are working to care for the injured and investigate this horrific incident. Extends condolences and prayers to the families of the fallen, and to all those affected in Chattanooga and in the United States. Pledges to work together to prevent future attacks.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Mayflower Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to issue up to 50,000 $5 gold commemorative coins, and up to 100,000 $1 silver commemorative coins, whose design is emblematic of the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts. These coins shall be issued only during the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2020. The Department must pay all surcharges received from sales of the coins to the General Society of Mayflower Descendants for educational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 Authorizes FY2016 appropriations for the conduct of intelligence and intelligence-related activities of: (1) the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI); (2) the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); (3) the Department of Defense (DOD); (4) the Defense Intelligence Agency; (5) the National Security Agency; (6) the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; (7) the Coast Guard; (8) the Departments of State, the Treasury, Energy (DOE), and Justice; (9) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; (10) the Drug Enforcement Administration; (11) the National Reconnaissance Office; (12) the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; and (13) the Department of Homeland Security. Allows the DNI, if it provides prior notification to Congress, to authorize employment of civilian personnel in excess of the number authorized for FY2016 when necessary for the performance of important intelligence functions. Authorizes FY2016 appropriations for: (1) the Intelligence Community Management Account, and (2) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability Fund. Requires the DNI to establish a policy for elements of the intelligence community to provide quarterly notifications to Congress regarding each appointment of an individual to, or each separation, from a senior level position. Requires the National Counterintelligence Executive to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Includes the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community within the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. Authorizes inspectors general of the CIA and the intelligence community to request information or assistance from state or local governmental agencies. Requires the DNI to assign the Chief of the Analytic Integrity and Standards Group, in consultation with the CIA's Senior Analytic Service, to review finished CIA-produced intelligence products to assess whether the CIA's reorganization has resulted in any loss of analytic objectivity. Directs the DNI to notify Congress if the intelligence community receives intelligence that the Russian Federation has: (1) deployed, or is about to deploy, the Club-K container missile system through the Russian military; or (2) transferred or sold, or intends to transfer or sell, such system to another state or nonstate actor. Requires the DNI to submit to Congress: (1) an intelligence community assessment on the funding of political parties and nongovernmental organizations in former Soviet states and countries in Europe by the Russian Federation and its security and intelligence services since January 1, 2006; and (2) an assessment on the use of political assassinations as a form of statecraft by the Russian Federation since January 1, 2000. Directs the DNI to submit to Congress an assessment on the resources utilized for intelligence collection efforts with regard to the South and East China Seas. Requires the State Department to: (1) ensure that supervisory positions at U.S. diplomatic facilities in Cuba are occupied by U.S. citizens who have passed a thorough background check, and (2) submit to Congress a plan for reducing the reliance on locally employed staff in such U.S. diplomatic facilities in Cuba. Requires the DNI to submit reports to Congress regarding: (1) the monetary value of any direct or indirect forms of sanctions relief that Iran has received since the Joint Plan of Action first entered into effect; (2) Iran's use of such funds, including to support international terrorism and the al-Assad regime in Syria, advance nuclear weapons or ballistic missile efforts, or commit any violation of the human rights of the people of Iran; and (3) the extent to which senior Iranian officials have diverted sanctions relief funds into their personal accounts. Bars a provision of an intelligence contract that prohibits the disclosure of information from being construed to prohibit an element of the intelligence community from providing information to the congressional intelligence committees. Requires the DNI to provide notice to Congress within 15 days after learning that an electronic communication service provider that generates call detail records in the ordinary course of business has changed its retention policy to a period of less than 18 months. Requires anyone engaged in providing an electronic communication or a remote computing service to the public who obtains actual knowledge of any terrorist activity to provide the relevant facts and circumstances to authorities designated by the Attorney General. Directs the DNI to collaborate with DOD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to develop a strategy for a comprehensive interagency review of policies for planning and acquiring national security satellite systems and architectures consistent with the National Space Policy issued on June 28, 2010. Includes the DNI among the agencies that must be consulted when DOE considers whether to authorize a person to develop or produce special nuclear material outside the United States. Requires the DNI to: (1) implement a plan to eliminate the backlog of overdue periodic reinvestigations of individuals eligible to access classified information or hold a sensitive position; and (2) direct specified executive agencies, military departments, and elements of the intelligence community to implement enhanced personnel security programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015
Miners Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to address potential shortages in the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan for payment of health care benefits to retired coal miners by expanding the eligible uses of interest transferable to such plan from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and supplemental payments from the General Fund of the Treasury. The calculation of such interest and payments shall be made by taking into account only those beneficiaries who are actually enrolled in the plan as of the enactment of this Act, as well as those retirees whose health care benefits, payable directly by an employer in the bituminous coal industry under a coal wage agreement, would be denied or reduced as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012. The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the trustees of the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan additional funds to pay pension benefits required under that plan, if the $490 million cap on certain transfers to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund and distributions to states and Indian tribes exceed the aggregate amount required to be transferred to them. The bill also expands the annual reporting requirements of the trustees of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan on plan solvency and value of plan assets.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Treatment of Certain Payments in Eugenics Compensation Act Excludes payments made under a state eugenics compensation program from classification as income or resources in determining eligibility for, or the amount of, any federal public benefit. Defines "state eugenics compensation program" as a state program for compensating individuals who were sterilized under the authority of the state.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 2015
Condemns the attack on Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Offers condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and to the staff and congregation of Mother Emanuel.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2015
Honors military caregivers for their service and sacrifice to the United States. Encourages the people of the United States to show support to military families and to recognize the sacrifices endured by those families in service to the United States. Recognizes the daisy as the flower for military caregivers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015
FDA Device Accountability Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that employees who review premarket submissions of medical devices receive training on least burdensome requirements. (Currently, the FDA is required to consider the least burdensome appropriate means for a device sponsor to demonstrate the effectiveness of a device or its substantial equivalence to an approved device.) The FDA must periodically assess the implementation of those requirements. The ombudsman for any applicable unit of the FDA must conduct an audit of the training on least burdensome requirements. The FDA must consider: (1) the least burdensome appropriate means necessary to demonstrate device safety and effectiveness when requesting additional information from a device sponsor to support a premarket approval application, and (2) whether the least burdensome means would be reliance on postmarket information. The documentation of rationale for an applicable significant decision must include an explanation of how the least burdensome requirements were considered and applied. The Institutional Review Board responsible for reviewing the plan for the clinical testing of a medical device no longer needs to be local to the facilities where the testing will be conducted. The Department of Health and Human Services must revise its guidance entitled "Recommendations for Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) Waiver Applications for Manufacturers of In Vitro Diagnostic Devices."
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 2015
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the classification, for depreciation purposes, of any motorsports entertainment complex as seven-year property.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
Border Jobs for Veterans Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS): (1) in conjunction with the Department of Defense (DOD), to identify Military Occupational Specialty Codes, Air Force Specialty Codes, Naval Enlisted Classifications and Officer Designators, and Coast Guard Competencies (qualifications) that are transferable to the requirements and duties assigned to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers; and (2) to consider hiring qualified candidates with such qualifications who are eligible for veterans recruitment appointment. Directs DHS, in conjunction with DOD, to establish a program to actively recruit members of the Armed Forces who are separating from military service to serve as CBP Officers. Requires such program to: include CBP Officer opportunities in relevant job assistance efforts under the Transition Assistance Program; place CBP officials or other relevant DHS officials at recruiting events and jobs fairs involving separating members of the Armed Forces; provide opportunities for local CBP field offices to partner with military bases in the region; conduct outreach efforts to educate members of the Armed Forces with qualifications that are transferable to CBP Officer requirements; require DOD and DHS to work cooperatively to identify shared activities and opportunities for reciprocity related to steps in hiring CBP officers with the goal of minimizing the time required to hire qualified applicants; require DOD and DHS to work cooperatively to ensure the streamlined interagency transfer of relevant background investigations and security clearances; and include other elements to ensure that separating members of the Armed Forces are aware of opportunities to fill vacant CBP Officer positions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 2015
First Amendment Defense Act Prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction that: (1) marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or (2) sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage. Defines "discriminatory action" as any federal government action to discriminate against a person with such beliefs or convictions, including a federal government action to: alter the federal tax treatment of, cause any tax, penalty, or payment to be assessed against, or deny, delay, or revoke certain tax exemptions of any such person; disallow a deduction of any charitable contribution made to or by such person; withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any federal grant, contract, subcontract, cooperative agreement, loan, license, certification, accreditation, employment, or similar position or status from or to such person; or withhold, reduce, exclude, terminate, or otherwise deny any benefit under a federal benefit program. Requires the federal government to consider to be accredited, licensed, or certified for purposes of federal law any person who would be accredited, licensed, or certified for such purposes but for a determination that the person believes or acts in accordance with such a religious belief or moral conviction. Permits a person to assert an actual or threatened violation of this Act as a claim or defense in a judicial or administrative proceeding and to obtain compensatory damages or other appropriate relief against the federal government. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce this Act against the Government Accountability Office or an establishment in the executive branch, other than the U.S. Postal Service or the Postal Regulatory Commission, that is not an executive department, military department, or government corporation. Defines "person" as any person regardless of religious affiliation, including corporations and other entities regardless of for-profit or nonprofit status.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2015
Designates June 19, 2015, as Juneteenth Independence Day. Recognizes the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day and supports the continued nationwide celebration of such Day as an opportunity to learn more about the past and to better understand the experiences that have shaped the United States. Recognizes that the observance of the end of slavery is a part of the history and heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit any person from performing or attempting to perform an abortion except in conformity with this Act's requirements. Requires the physician to first determine the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child. Prohibits an abortion from being performed if the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater, except: (1) where necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman; (2) where the pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman and, at least 48 hours prior to the abortion, such woman has obtained counseling or medical treatment for the rape; or (3) where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest against a minor and the rape or incest has been reported prior to the abortion to a law enforcement agency or a government agency. Requires the physician, prior to performing such an abortion, to place appropriate supporting documentation in the patient's medical file. Permits a physician to terminate a pregnancy under such an exception only in the manner that provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive. Requires a physician performing an abortion under an exception provided by this Act, if the pain-capable unborn child has the potential to survive outside the womb, to ensure that a second physician trained in neonatal resuscitation is present and prepared to provide care to the child. Makes such requirements and the requirement to obtain an informed consent form inapplicable if compliance would pose a greater risk of the death or the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. Requires, when a physician performs or attempts an abortion in accordance with this Act and the child is born alive, that: any health care practitioner present at the time humanely exercise the same professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as would be exercised for a child born alive at the same gestational age in the course of a natural birth; the child be immediately transported and admitted to a hospital; and a health care practitioner or any employee of a hospital, a physician's office, or an abortion clinic who has knowledge of a failure to comply with these requirements immediately report the failure to an appropriate state or federal law enforcement agency. Requires the physician who intends to perform an abortion under one of this Act's exceptions to first obtain a signed informed consent authorization form, which shall consist of: a statement by the physician indicating the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child; a statement that federal law allows an abortion after 20 weeks fetal age only if the mother's life is endangered when the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest against a minor; a statement that the abortion must be performed by the method most likely to allow the child to be born alive unless this would cause significant risk to the mother; a statement that in any case in which an abortion procedure results in a child born alive, federal law requires that child to be given every form of medical assistance that is provided to children spontaneously born prematurely; a statement that these requirements are binding upon the physician and all other medical personnel who are subject to criminal and civil penalties and that a woman on whom an abortion has been performed may take civil action if these requirements are not followed; and affirmation that each signer has filled out the informed consent form and understands the information contained in the form. Requires the form to be: (1) signed in person by the woman seeking the abortion, the physician performing the abortion, and a witness; and (2) retained in the patient's medical file for six years from the later of the date of its creation or the date when it last was in effect. Makes this Act's requirements for the exception, where the pregnancy is the result of rape against an adult woman, that the woman has obtained counseling or medical treatment for the rape at least 48 hours prior to the abortion inapplicable if the rape has been reported prior to the abortion to a law enforcement agency or Department of Defense victim assistance personnel. Requires a physician who performs an abortion under an exception provided by this Act to comply with: (1) state laws regarding reporting requirements in cases of rape or incest as the state's Attorney General may designate, and (2) any applicable state laws requiring parental involvement in a minor's decision to have an abortion. Bars prosecution of a woman upon whom an abortion is performed in violation of this Act for violating or conspiring to violate this Act. Authorizes: (1) a woman upon whom an abortion has been performed in violation of this Act to obtain specified appropriate relief in a civil action, and (2) a parent of a minor upon whom an abortion has been performed under an exception and that was performed in violation of this Act to obtain such relief unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct. Requires any physician who performs an abortion under this Act's exceptions to annually submit a summary of all such abortions to the National Center for Health Statistics, which shall issue a public report annually providing statistics by state for the previous year. Defines "abortion" to mean the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device: (1) to intentionally kill an unborn child of a woman known to be pregnant; or (2) to intentionally terminate a pregnancy, with an intention other than to produce a live birth and preserve the life and health of the child after viability or to remove a dead unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Senate should strive to create, debate, and adopt policy solutions to achieve a National Strategic Agenda with the goals of: creating 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years, balancing the federal budget by 2030, securing Medicare and Social Security for the next 75 years, and making the United States energy secure by 2024.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: allow taxpayers who are liable for not more than $50,000 per year in excise taxes on distilled spirits, wine, or beer to file and pay such taxes quarterly without the requirement of posting a bond covering the operations and withdrawals of such distilled spirits, wines, or beer; allow such taxpayers who reasonably expect to have a tax liability of not more than $1,000 per year and who were liable for not more than $1,000 in taxes in the preceding calendar year to file and pay such taxes annually rather than quarterly; exclude the aging period from the production period for beer, wine, or distilled spirits for purposes of determining whether a taxpayer can expense, rather than capitalize, interest costs paid or incurred during the production period; reduce excise tax rates on beer, wine, and distilled spirits produced in the United States; permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax; modify the definition of "hard cider" for excise tax purposes; and exempt home distillery establishments that produce distilled spirits solely for personal or family use from excise tax and bonding requirements. Directs the Department of the Treasury to amend applicable Treasury regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to establish funding levels in FY2016-FY2021 for the enforcement and compliance activities of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 2015
Pet and Women Safety Act of 2015 Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit threats or acts of violence against a person's pet under the offenses of stalking and interstate violation of a protection order. Defines "pet" to mean a domesticated animal that is kept for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes. Requires the "full amount of the victim's losses" for purposes of restitution in domestic violence and stalking offenses to include any costs incurred for veterinary services relating to physical care for the victim's pet. Directs the Department of Agriculture to award grants to eligible entities to carry out programs to provide specified housing assistance, support services, and training of relevant stakeholders to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their pets. Expresses the sense of Congress that states should encourage the inclusion of protections against violent or threatening acts against the pet of the person in domestic violence protection orders.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2015
Designates July 10, 2015, as Collector Car Appreciation Day. Recognizes that the collection and restoration of historic and classic cars is an important part of preserving the technological achievements and cultural heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2015
Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, and Promotion Act This bill directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue orders applicable to manufacturers of concrete masonry products. Any such order must provide for the establishment of a Concrete Masonry Products Board to carry out a program of promotion, research, and information regarding concrete masonry products. Manufacturers and importers shall maintain, and make available, specified records. An order must also provide that assessments be paid by concrete masonry product manufacturers with respect to concrete masonry products manufactured and marketed in the United States. Assessment rates are specified. At least 50% of the assessments paid by a manufacturer must be used to support research, education, and promotion plans and projects in support of the geographic region of the manufacturer. During the 60-day period preceding the proposed effective date of an order, the Secretary shall conduct a referendum for order approval among the manufacturers required to pay assessments under it. Referendum procedures are outlined. The bill allows petition and review of an order, and order enforcement through U.S. district courts. The Secretary: (1) may conduct appropriate investigations in order to administer this Act (with power of subpoena); and (2) must suspend or terminate any order or provision that obstructs or does not tend to effectuate the purposes of this Act, or that is not favored by persons voting in a referendum.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in addition to qualified primary care physicians and other primary care practitioners, to cover intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished by: (1) a physician who is not a qualified primary care physician; (2) an evidence-based, community-based HHS-approved lifestyle counseling program; or (3) any other appropriate health care provider (including a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, a clinical psychologist, and a registered dietitian or nutrition professional). Allows coverage of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity furnished by another appropriate health care provider or program only if it is furnished: (1) upon referral from, and in coordination with, a physician or primary care practitioner in a primary care or other HHS-specified setting; and (2) in an office setting, a hospital outpatient department, a community-based site that complies with the federal regulations concerning the privacy of individually identifiable health information, or another HHS-specified setting. Authorizes HHS to cover under Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) medication for treatment of obesity or for weight loss management for an overweight individual with one or more related comorbidities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 2015
Ensuring Equal Access to Treatments Act of 2015 Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the prospective payment system for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create certain additional groups of covered OPD services that classify separately, from those that do not utilize such a drug, procedures that utilize a drug (other than contrast agents, diagnostic radiopharmaceutical, or anesthesia drugs) that both has a cost above the drug packaging threshold and functions as a supply when used in a diagnostic test or procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Allowing Greater Access to Safe and Effective Contraception Act This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prioritize review of supplemental drug applications (applications to modify the approved use of a drug) for contraceptive drugs intended for routine use that would be available to individuals aged 18 and older without a prescription. The FDA must waive user fees for such supplemental drug applications. Any drug that is eligible for this priority review must be a prescription drug for individuals under age 18. This bill repeals provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to allow health savings accounts and health flexible spending accounts (HFSAs) to be used to pay for medicine without a prescription and to remove the limit on salary reduction contributions to a HFSA under a cafeteria plan, effective as if the provisions had never been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Modular Airborne Firefighting System Flexibility Act This bill authorizes the National Guard to provide assistance to support civilian authority firefighting operations or activities, including aerial firefighting employment of the Modular Airborne Firefighting System. Such authority is based on a recognition of the basic premises of the National Incident Management System and the National Response Framework that: (1) incidents are typically managed at the local level first; and (2) local jurisdictions retain command, control, and authority over response activities for their jurisdictional areas.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate at least one city in the United States each year as an "American World War II City" based on the city's: (1) contributions to the war effort during World War II; and (2) efforts to preserve the history of such contributions, including through establishment of preservation organizations or museums, restoration of World War II facilities, and recognition of World War II veterans. Designates Wilmington, North Carolina, as the first such city.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive applicable general and Medicaid requirements of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in order to conduct demonstration projects through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center) that involve PACE. Prohibits HHS, however, as part of a CMS Innovation Center demonstration, from waiving: (1) the requirement to offer items and services under Medicare without limitations, and (2) certain requirements regarding enrollment in and disenrollment from PACE programs. Expresses the sense of the Senate that HHS should use waiver authority to provide, in a budget neutral and expeditious manner, PACE programs with increased operational flexibility to support their ability to improve and innovate and to reduce technical and administrative barriers that have hindered enrollment in them.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 2015
Route to Opportunity And Development Act of 2015 or the ROAD Act of 2015 Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, as amended, to revise the high priority Raleigh-Norfolk Corridor of the National Highway System between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, to include Rocky Mount, Williamston, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 2015
Patient Access to Disposable Medical Technology Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover substitute disposable medical technology as durable medical equipment, subject it to a special payment rule, and exempt it from competitive acquisition.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2015
Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act Directs the Department of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, Currituck County, and the state of North Carolina to provide for the management of free-roaming wild horses in and around the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. Requires that such agreement: allow a herd of no more than 130 free-roaming wild horses in and around the Refuge; provide for cost-effective management of such horses; provide for the introduction of a small number of free-roaming wild horses from the herd at Cape Lookout National Seashore as is necessary to maintain the genetic viability of the herd in and around the Refuge; and specify that the Corolla Wild Horse Fund shall pay certain costs associated with the health, maintenance, removal, and placement of such horses. Bars Interior from excluding free-roaming wild horses from any part of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge unless: (1) it is found that the presence of such horses on a part of the Refuge threatens the survival of an endangered species for which such land is designated as critical habitat, (2) such finding is based on a peer-reviewed scientific assessment, and (3) a period of public notice and comment is provided on such finding. Prohibits the removal of any horse from the Seashore for introduction at the Refuge, except with the approval of the Foundation for Shackleford Horses Inc. and consistent with the memorandum of understanding between the National Park Service (NPS) and the Foundation and the management plan for the Shackleford Banks Horse Herd.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 2015
Congratulates the students, families, teachers, administrators, and staff of public charter schools across the United States for making ongoing contributions to public education, for making impressive strides in closing the academic achievement gap in U.S. schools, and for improving and strengthening the public school system. Expresses support for the ideals and goals of the 16th annual National Charter Schools Week (May 3-May 9, 2015).
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 2015
Directs the Office of Management and Budget to consider Brunswick County, North Carolina, to be part of the metropolitan statistical area that contains Wilmington, North Carolina. Terminates this Act on January 1, 2021.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 2015
Hospital Payment Fairness Act of 2015 Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to sunset on October 1, 2015, the application of budget neutrality on a national basis in the calculation of the Medicare hospital wage index floor. (PPACA requires application of the budget neutrality requirement associated with the effect of the imputed rural floor on the area wage index under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 through a uniform national, instead of state-by-state, adjustment to the area hospital wage index floor.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act Directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to publish a national strategy to significantly increase the role of volunteers and partners in trail maintenance. Requires the strategy to: (1) augment and support the capabilities of federal employees to carry out or contribute to trail maintenance; (2) provide opportunities for volunteers and partners to carry out trail maintenance in each region of the Forest Service; (3) address the barriers to increased volunteerism and partnerships; (4) prioritize increased volunteerism and partnerships in those regions with the most severe trail maintenance needs, and where backlogs are jeopardizing access to national forest lands; and (5) aim to increase trail maintenance by volunteers and partners by 100% within 5 years. Directs USDA to study opportunities to improve trail maintenance by addressing opportunities to use fire crews in trail maintenance activities. Deems a volunteer with a partner organization to be considered a federal employee for the purposes of civil claims relating to damage to, or loss of, personal property of a volunteer incident to volunteer services. Sets forth provisions for the selection of priority areas for increased trail maintenance accomplishments. Directs USDA to establish a pilot program to offset all or part of the land use fee for outfitting and guiding permits.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 2015
This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to define "criminal gang." An alien who is or was a member of a criminal gang, or who participated in gang activity knowing that such participation will promote the gang's illegal activity, shall be inadmissible and deportable. The Department of Homeland Security may designate a group or association as a criminal gang. Detention shall be mandatory for anyone found inadmissible or deportable for criminal street gang membership. Individuals found inadmissible or deportable for criminal gang membership shall be barred from: asylum; withholding of removal; temporary protected status; special immigrant juvenile status; deferred action; and parole, unless assisting the United States in a law enforcement matter and required by the government to be present with respect to such assistance. An alien found at a U.S. land border or port of entry who is determined to be inadmissible and a threat to public safety (certain criminals, terrorists, street gang members) shall be subject to expedited removal.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 2015
Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act or the PACE Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and Public Health Service Act to include employers with 51 to 100 employees as large employers for purposes of health insurance markets. PPACA is amended to give states the option to treat these employers as small employers. Currently, employers with 51 to 100 employees are small employers, but before January 1, 2016, states have the option to treat them as large employers. (Under PPACA, health insurance offered in the small group market must meet certain requirements that do not apply to the large group market, including the requirement to cover the essential health benefits.)
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Advancing Breakthrough Devices for Patients Act of 2015 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to expand the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) priority review of breakthrough medical devices to include all classes of devices. Currently, only class III (new or highest risk) devices are eligible. Upon a sponsor's request, the FDA must determine whether a device meets the criteria for priority review as a breakthrough device. To expedite the development and review of designated medical devices, the FDA must: assign a team of staff for each device, adopt an efficient process for dispute resolution, provide for interactive and timely communication with the device sponsor, expedite review of manufacturing and quality systems compliance, disclose to the sponsor in advance the topics of any consultation between the FDA and external experts or an advisory committee and provide the sponsor the opportunity to recommend external experts, assign staff to address questions by institutional review committees concerning investigational use of the device. The FDA may: (1) coordinate with the sponsor regarding early agreement on a data development plan; (2) take steps to ensure that the design of clinical trials is as efficient as practicable; (3) utilize timely postmarket data collection; and (4) agree to clinical protocols, subject to a decision that a substantial scientific issue essential to determining the safety or effectiveness of the device exists.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability Act of 2015 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct. The VA may also remove such individual from the civil service or demote the individual through a reduction in grade or annual pay rate. An employee shall have the right to an appeal before the Merit Systems Protection Board within seven days of removal or demotion. An administrative law judge shall have to make a final decision within 45 days of such appeal or the original decision becomes final. The VA may not remove or demote an employee without the approval of the Special Counsel if the individual seeks corrective action from the Office of Special Counsel based on an alleged prohibited personnel practice. The appointment of an individual to a permanent position within the competitive service or as a career appointee within the Senior Executive Service shall become final after a 540-day probationary period, which the Secretary may extend. Final appointment to a permanent hire shall be made by the employee's supervisor. The Government Accountability Office shall study the amount of time spent by VA employees carrying out labor organizing activities and the amount of Department space used for such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Amends the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to extend until December 31, 2020, expiring provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) concerning: (1) FISA court orders approving roving electronic surveillance, (2) requests for FISA court orders that allow the government to require the production of business records and other tangible things for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations, and (3) a revised definition of "agent of a foreign power" that allows surveillance of individual non-U.S. persons who engage in international terrorism or preparatory activities (commonly referred to as the "lone wolf" provision). (Currently, such provisions are scheduled to expire on June 1, 2015.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from applying a multiple procedure payment reduction policy to the professional component of imaging services furnished: (1) after a specified date in the year this Act is enacted; or (2) in any subsequent year before the Secretary conducts and publishes, as part of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for a year, an analysis of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale Data Manager information used to determine what, if any, efficiencies exist within the professional component of imaging services when two or more studies are performed on the same patient on the same day.
![Official portrait of Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b001135_200.jpg)