United States · United States Congress · 17 February 2017
Designates February 2017 as Career and Technical Education Month. Expresses support for the goals and ideals of such month. Honors the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act of 1917. Recognizes the importance of career and technical education in preparing a well-educated and skilled workforce. Encourages educators, counselors, and administrators to promote career and technical education as an option for students.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2017 This bill includes as part of the Republic of Vietnam its territorial seas for purposes of the presumption of service connection for diseases associated with exposure by veterans to certain herbicide agents while in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Building Rail Access for Customers and the Economy Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for railroad track maintenance.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2017
Stopping Mass Hacking Act This bill repeals an amendment to rule 41 (Search and Seizure) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure that took effect on December 1, 2016. The amendment allows a federal magistrate judge to issue a warrant to use remote access to search computers and seize electronically stored information located inside or outside that judge's district in specific circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
Firefighter Cancer Registry Act of 2017 This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop and maintain a voluntary registry of firefighters to collect history and occupational information that can be linked to existing data in state cancer registries. The registry must be used to improve monitoring of cancer among firefighters and to collect and publish epidemiological information regarding cancer among firefighters. The CDC should seek to include specified information in the registry, including the number and type of fire incidents attended by an individual. To collect information for the registry, the CDC may incorporate questions into existing public health surveys, questionnaires, and other databases. The CDC must: (1) develop a strategy to maximize participation in the registry; (2) develop guidance for states and firefighting agencies regarding the registry; (3) encourage inclusion in the registry of data on minority, female, and volunteer firefighters; and (4) seek feedback on the registry from nonfederal experts. The CDC must develop a process for making registry data available for research without a fee if findings or publications from the research are made public or available to stakeholders.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
Chief Manufacturing Officer Act This bill: (1) expresses the sense of Congress that a well-designed national manufacturing strategy would benefit the U.S. economy, and (2) directs the President to appoint a United States Chief Manufacturing Officer, which shall be a member of the National Economic Council. The Officer's duties shall include developing, by May 1, 2018, a national manufacturing strategy, which shall incorporate: (1) the national strategic plan for advanced manufacturing developed under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, and (2) the strategic plan developed for the Network for Manufacturing Innovation Program under the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act. The Officer shall provide annual updates on progress made toward achieving the objectives of such strategic plan for advanced manufacturing and carrying out the strategy developed under this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Accountability Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to change the source of funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from Federal Reserve System transfers to annual appropriations. Under current law, the transfers from the Federal Reserve System permit the CFPB to be funded outside of the annual appropriations process.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2017
New Markets Tax Credit Extension Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the new markets tax credit, (2) provide for an inflation adjustment to the limitation amount for such credit after 2016, and (3) allow an offset against the alternative minimum tax for such credit (determined with respect to qualified equity investments initially made after 2016).
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 2017
21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act This bill amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Department of the Interior or the Department of Commerce, as appropriate, to make publicly available on the Internet the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis 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. The departments are prohibited from making the information publicly available when: (1) the public disclosure of the information is prohibited by state law relating to the protection of personal information, and (2) the state makes a request to a department to withhold the information.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2017
Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act of 2017 or the TAILOR Act of 2017 This bill requires federal financial regulatory agencies to: (1) in general, tailor a regulatory action so as to limit the regulatory impact and other burdens on the institutions involved, with consideration of the risk profiles and business models of those institutions; and (2) report to Congress on specific actions taken to do so, as well as on other related issues. The bill's requirements apply not only to future regulatory actions but also to regulations adopted on or after July 21, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2017
Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act This bill requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website include an inventory that identifies each federal program for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority. For programs for which there is more than $1 million but not more than $10 million in annual budget authority (smaller programs), the inventory must include: an identification of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated; for each such program activity, the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and the previous two fiscal years; an identification of the statutes that authorize the program and any major regulations specific to the program; a description of the individuals served by a program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance under a program for the most recent fiscal year; and links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released during the preceding five years. For programs for which there is more than $10 million in annual budget authority (larger programs), the inventory must also include specified additional information, including financial information for each program activity required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. The OMB shall archive and preserve the program inventory. The bill requires the OMB to issue initial guidance to assist agencies in identifying how the program activities used in budget or appropriations accounts correspond with programs identified in the program inventory. The OMB may: (1) issue initial guidance to agencies to ensure that programs are presented at a similar level of detail across agencies and are not duplicative; (2) exempt from the requirements of this bill, based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, agencies that are not required to have a chief financial officer and that have not more than $10 million in budget authority; and (3) based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, extend the bill's implementation deadline (June 30, 2019) in one-year increments and by not more than two years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2017
NextGen Accountability Act This bill amends the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 to direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish annual Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) performance goals for each of the national airspace system performance metrics to meet identified performance metric baselines with respect to NextGen projects. The bill amends the Vision 100--Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act to revise contents of an annual Department of Transportation report to Congress regarding an integrated work plan for the NextGen. The plan shall include, among other things, a description of the progress made in meeting NextGen performance goals relative to the performance metrics. The bill revises requirements for the award of bonuses to the FAA Chief NextGen Officer. The FAA, for purposes of the award of such bonuses, shall also consider any progress made toward meeting the NextGen performance goals. The bill revises certain performance goals set forth in the annual performance agreement between the FAA and the NextGen Officer to include quantifiable NextGen airspace efficiency, productivity, capacity, and safety performance objectives.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2017
FIX Credit Reporting Errors Act or the FIX Act This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to the procedures followed by consumer reporting agencies when a consumer disputes the completeness or accuracy of information contained in the consumer's credit report. Consumer reporting agencies are required to: (1) include all documentation provided by the consumer in the dispute notification furnished to any person who provided disputed information, and (2) consider such consumer documentation when conducting reinvestigations of disputed information. A consumer reporting agency that operates as reseller is required to convey the notice of the dispute, together with all relevant information and documentation provided by the consumer, to each consumer reporting agency that provided the reseller with the information that is the subject of the dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Conscience Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to codify the prohibition against the federal government and state and local governments that receive federal financial assistance for health-related activities penalizing or discriminating against a health care provider based on the provider's refusal to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortion. Health care providers include health care professionals, health care facilities, social services providers, health care professional training programs, and health insurers. The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ), must investigate complaints alleging discrimination based on an individual's religious belief, moral conviction, or refusal to be involved in an abortion. DOJ or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may obtain equitable or legal relief in a civil action. Administrative remedies do not need to be sought or exhausted prior to commencing an action or granting relief. Such an action may be brought against a governmental entity.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2017
Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require Senate candidates to file designations, statements, and reports directly with the Federal Election Commission, instead of with the Senate as currently required.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Support for Rapid Innovation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support the research, development, testing, evaluation, and transition of cybersecurity technologies. Such research and development shall: advance the development and accelerate the deployment of more secure information systems; improve and create technologies for detecting and preventing attacks or intrusions; improve and create mitigation and recovery methodologies and development of resilient networks and information systems; support the review of source code that underpins critical infrastructure information systems; and assist the development, support, or deployment of technologies for industrial control systems, cyber forensics, attack attribution capabilities, full information lifecycle security technologies, information security measures and perimeter-based protections, detection of improper information access by authorized users, cryptography, assurance that software is free from vulnerabilities and functioning as intended, automatic updates of software and firmware, and identification of unidentified or future threats. The Under Secretary shall: support projects carried out under this bill through their full life cycle; identify mature technologies that address existing or imminent cybersecurity gaps in public or private information systems and networks, protect sensitive information within and outside networks, identify and support necessary improvements, and introduce new cybersecurity technologies throughout the homeland security enterprise through partnerships and commercialization; and target federally funded cybersecurity research that demonstrates a high probability of successful transition to the commercial market within two years and that is expected to have a notable impact on information systems and networks. The bill: (1) extends the authority of the DHS to carry out a research and development projects pilot program until September 30, 2021; (2) requires a DHS component to obtain the DHS Secretary's approval before utilizing authority for such a project by providing a proposal that includes the rationale, funds to be spent, and expected outcome for the project; and (3) requires DHS's annual report on such program to include the extent of cost-sharing for projects among federal and nonfederal sources and the extent to which utilization of project authority has addressed a homeland security capability gap or threat to the homeland. DHS must develop training for acquisitions staff on the utilization of DHS's authority to enter into transactions (other than contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants) for research and development projects to ensure accountability and effective management of projects consistent with the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Federal Courts of Appeals Modernization Act This bill establishes a Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals to: (1) study the present division of the U.S. courts of appeals, with particular references to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and (2) submit to the President and Congress recommendations for changes in circuit boundaries or structure for the expeditious and effective disposition of the caseload of such courts. The commission shall be composed of five members appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Circuit Court of Appeals Restructuring and Modernization Act This bill divides the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit into: (1) a new Ninth Circuit, to be composed of California, Guam, Hawaii, and Northern Mariana Islands; and (2) a newly established Twelfth Circuit, to be composed of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The President must appoint five additional judges for the new Ninth Circuit and two additional temporary judges for the former Ninth Circuit. The bill designates the locations where the new circuits are to hold regular sessions. The Circuit Executive and the Clerk of the Court of the Twelfth Circuit shall be located in Phoenix, Arizona. The bill distributes active circuit judges of the former Ninth Circuit to the new circuits. Senior circuit judges of the former Ninth Circuit may elect their circuit assignment. The bill authorizes the temporary assignment of circuit and district judges of the former Ninth Circuit between the new circuits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exempt traditional large and premium cigars from regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and from user fees assessed on tobacco products by the FDA.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Regulatory Predictability for Business Growth Act of 2017 This bill adds the definitions of "longstanding interpretative rule" and "revise" to the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). A longstanding interpretative rule is distinguished from an "interpretative rule" if it has been in effect for at least one year. If a rule is a longstanding interpretative rule, it remains subject to the general notice of proposed rulemaking and comment and publication provisions of the APA.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2017
Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend through FY2022 the authorization for deposit and use of lease revenues under the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Such funds shall be available to the Department of the Interior for FY2017 and afterwards to implement both the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970. Interior shall establish priority areas on covered land (i.e., public land administered by Interior and not excluded under law from the development of geothermal, solar, or wind energy) for geothermal, solar, and wind energy projects. Variance areas shall also be considered for the development of renewable energy projects under this bill, consistent with the principles of multiple use (as defined under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976). The bill defines "variance area" as covered land that is neither an exclusion area (not suitable for development of renewable energy projects) nor a priority area. Interior shall establish a program to improve federal permit coordination with respect to renewable energy projects carried out on covered land. The bill establishes the Renewable Energy Resource Conservation Fund to make funds available to federal, state, and tribal agencies for distribution in regions in which renewable energy projects are located on federal land for: (1) restoring and protecting fish and wildlife habitat and corridors for affected species and water resources in areas affected by wind, geothermal, or solar energy development; and (2) preserving and improving recreational access to federal land and water in an affected region.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2017
Anwar Sadat Centennial Celebration Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Anwar Sadat in recognition of his achievements and heroic actions to attain comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2017
Greater Sage Grouse Protection and Recovery Act of 201 7 This bill addresses the October 2, 2015, finding of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that the greater sage grouse is not an endangered or threatened species. Until September 30, 2027, the USFWS may not modify or invalidate the finding. Additionally, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) are prohibited from amending any federal resource management plans that affect the greater sage grouse in a state in which the governor has notified Interior or USDA that a state management plan is in place.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2017
Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to terminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). Under PPACA, the IPAB is tasked with developing proposals to reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2017
This joint resolution initiates the process to terminate the Independent Medicare Advisory Board, which issues annual recommendations for reducing growth in Medicare expenditures. Under current law, the enactment of a such a joint resolution is required in order to terminate the board.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Protect Funding for Women's Health Care Act This bill prohibits federal funding of Planned Parenthood Federation of America or its affiliates, subsidiaries, successors, or clinics.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of certain alcoholic beverages, to: 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 and distilled spirits; modify the small wine producer tax credit to increase the amount of the credit, expand the producers that are covered, and specify an adjustment for hard cider; modify the alcohol content limitations that apply to certain wines for tax purposes; specify definitions for "mead" and "low alcohol by volume wine;" modify requirements for records, statements, and returns for certain breweries; and permit the transfer of beer between bonded facilities without payment of tax. The Department of the Treasury must amend applicable regulations with respect to the use of wholesome products suitable for human consumption in the production of fermented beverages.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on December 12, 2016, relating to the resource management planning process of the BLM under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the “Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 ” rule finalized by the Social Security Administration on December 19, 2016. The rule implements a plan to provide to the National Instant Criminal History Background Check System the name of an individual who meets certain criteria, including that benefit payments are made through a representative payee because the individual is determined to be mentally incapable of managing them. (Current law prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and purchase or possession by a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Health and Human Services rule regarding subrecipients of family planning grants. (Under the rule, grant recipients may prohibit an entity from receiving a subaward only for reasons related to the entity's ability to provide family planning services.)
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management titled "Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation." The rule published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2016, addresses waste generated during oil and gas production.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
This joint resolution nullifies the Stream Protection Rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on December 20, 2016. The rule addresses the impacts of surface coal mining operations on surface water, groundwater, and the productivity of mining operation sites.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2017
Recognizes January 28, 2017, as National Data Privacy Day. Encourages governments, individuals, and relevant organizations to protect the privacy of individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act of 2017 This bill requires the federal government to allow unrestricted manufacturing, distribution, prescribing, and dispensing of experimental drugs, biological products, and medical devices that are: (1) intended to treat a patient who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and (2) authorized by state law. The federal government must allow unrestricted possession and use of such treatments by patients certified by a physician as having exhausted all other treatment options. A manufacturer, distributor, prescriber, dispenser, possessor, or user of such a treatment has no liability regarding the treatment. The outcome of manufacture, distribution, prescribing, dispensing, possession, or use of such a treatment may not be used by a federal agency to adversely impact review or approval of the treatment. The treatment must: (1) have successfully completed a phase 1 (initial, small scale) clinical trial; (2) remain under investigation in a clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration; and (3) not be approved, licensed, or cleared for sale under the Federal Food, Drug, or Cosmetic Act or the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Providing Veterans Overdue Care Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out major medical facility leases in specified amounts for: outpatient clinics in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Daytona Beach, Gainesville, and Ocala, Florida; Hampton Roads, Virginia; Missoula, Montana; Northern Colorado, Colorado; Oxnard and Santa Rosa, California; Pike County, Georgia; Portland, Maine; and Raleigh, North Carolina; an outpatient mental health clinic and an outpatient specialty clinic in Birmingham, Alabama; research space in Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; and Mission Bay, California; Chief Business Office Purchased Care office space in Denver, Colorado; and replacement outpatient clinics in Corpus Christi, Texas; Jacksonville and Tampa, Florida; Pontiac, Michigan; Rochester, New York (phase II); and Terre Haute, Indiana.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Small Business Broadband Deployment Act 2017 This bill exempts for five years any small business broadband Internet access service provider with no more than 250,000 subscribers from the enhancements to the transparency rule of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under which any person engaged in the provision of broadband Internet access service must disclose publicly accurate information regarding the network management practices, performance, and commercial terms of its broadband Internet access services sufficient for: consumers to make informed choices regarding their use; and content, application, service, and device providers to develop, market, and maintain Internet offerings. The FCC shall report to specified congressional committees, within 180 days after enactment of this bill, its recommendations (together with supporting data) on whether: this exception should be made permanent, and the definition of "small business" for these purposes should be modified.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly transport a minor to another state to obtain an abortion without satisfying a parental involvement law in the minor's resident state. A parental involvement law requires parental consent or notification, or judicial authorization, for a minor to obtain an abortion. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to one year in prison, or both. The bill provides an exception for an abortion that is necessary to save the life of a minor whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, illness, or condition. This bill prohibits an individual who has committed incest with a minor from knowingly transporting the minor across a state line to receive an abortion. Additionally, this bill makes it a crime for a physician to knowingly perform or induce an abortion on an out-of-state minor without first complying with parental notification requirements, subject to specified exceptions. A physician violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, up to one year in prison, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Senior$afe Act of 2017 This bill extends immunity from liability to certain individuals who, in good faith and with reasonable care, disclose the suspected exploitation of a senior citizen to a regulatory or law-enforcement agency. Specifically, this immunity shall apply to certain credit-union, depository-institution, investment-adviser, broker-dealer, insurance-company, and insurance-agency employees who have received specified training related to identifying and reporting the suspected exploitation of a senior citizen. Similarly, the employing financial institution shall not be liable with respect to disclosures made by such employees.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act or the A PLUS Act This bill allows each state to receive federal elementary and secondary education funds on a consolidated basis and manage the funds to advance the educational policy of the state. A declaration of intent must be formulated by a combination of specified state officials or by referendum and must list the programs for which consolidated funding is requested. States may use such funds for any educational purpose permitted by state law, but must make certain assurances that they will use fiscal control and fund accounting procedures, abide by federal civil rights laws, advance educational opportunities for the disadvantaged, and use federal funds to supplement rather than supplant state funding. Each declaration state shall: (1) inform the public about its student achievement assessment system, (2) report annually on student progress toward the state's proficiency standards by specified student groups, and (3) provide for the equitable participation of private school children and teachers in the same manner as provided for under current law.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to require any health care practitioner who is present when a child is born alive following an abortion or attempted abortion to: (1) exercise the same degree of care as reasonably provided to any other child born alive at the same gestational age, and (2) ensure that such child is immediately admitted to a hospital. The term "born alive" means the complete expulsion or extraction from his or her mother, at any stage of development, who after such expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut. Also, a health care practitioner or other employee who has knowledge of a failure to comply with these requirements must immediately report such failure to an appropriate law enforcement agency. An individual who violates the provisions of this bill is subject to a criminal fine, up to five years in prison, or both. An individual who commits an overt act that kills a child born alive is subject to criminal prosecution for murder. The bill bars the criminal prosecution of a mother of a child born alive for conspiracy to violate these provisions, for being an accessory after the fact, or for concealment of felony. A woman who undergoes an abortion or attempted abortion may file a civil action for damages against an individual who violates this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Death Tax Repeal Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes, and (2) make permanent the maximum 35% gift tax rate and the lifetime gift tax exemption. The bill also provides for an inflation adjustment to such exemption amount.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Social Security Beneficiary 2nd Amendment Rights Protection Act This bill amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to specify that an OASDI or SSI benefit determination may not be considered, for purposes of restricting the possession or transfer of firearms, to be a determination that an individual has been adjudicated as a mental defective.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Designates the week of January 22-January 28, 2017, as National School Choice Week. Encourages all parents to learn more about the educational options available.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 2017
Declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge: (1) relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or (2) on any business for the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station broadcast over the air.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2017
No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 This bill makes permanent the prohibition on the use of federal funds, including funds in the budget of the District of Columbia, for abortion or health coverage that includes abortion. The prohibitions in this bill, and current prohibitions, do not apply to abortions in cases of rape or incest, or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. Abortions may not be provided in a federal health care facility or by a federal employee. This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to prohibit qualified health plans from including coverage for abortions. (Qualified health plans are sold on health insurance exchanges, are the only plans eligible for premium subsidies and small employer health insurance tax credits, and fulfill an individual's requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.) Currently, qualified health plans may cover abortion, but the portion of the premium attributable to abortion coverage is not eligible for subsidies.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 2017
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the President should immediately reapply and consider improving the Mexico City Policy (requires foreign nongovernmental organizations receiving certain types of U.S. assistance to certify that they will not perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning), and (2) Congress should expeditiously consider statutory changes that permanently codify such policy.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2017
VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to remove or demote a VA employee based on performance or misconduct. The VA may remove such individual from the civil service or demote the individual through a reduction in grade or annual pay rate. A demoted individual shall not be placed on administrative leave or any other category of paid leave during the appeals period and can receive pay only if he or she reports for duty. The bill: (1) establishes an expedited appeals process by the Merit Systems Protection Board, (2) amends the disability benefits appeals process, (3) prescribes restrictions on the VA's authority to remove or demote an employee, and (4) establishes whistleblower protections. The VA shall reduce the federal annuity of an individual removed from the VA Senior Executive Service (SES) who is convicted of a felony that influenced his or her performance while employed in such position. The VA may reduce the federal annuity of an individual who was convicted of such a felony and was subject to removal or transfer from the SES but who left the VA before final action was taken. The VA may recoup an award, a bonus, or relocation expenses paid to a VA employee under specified circumstances. The VA may suspend, reprimand or admonish an SES employee for misconduct or performance that does not merit removal. Appeals may be made to the Senior Executive Disciplinary Appeals Board (as provided for by this bill). The bill amends the disability benefits appeals process. The bill prohibits payment of an award or bonus to any SES employee during each of FY2017-FY2021.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2017
Calls for honoring the 231st anniversary of the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on Religious Freedom Day, January 16, 2017. Affirms that: religious freedom includes the right of individuals of any faith and individuals of no faith to live, work, associate, and worship in accordance with their beliefs; all people of the United States can be unified in supporting religious freedom because it is a fundamental human right; and the American people will remain forever unshackled in matters of faith.
![Official portrait of Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000618_200.jpg)