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![Official portrait of Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000457_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
21 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
19 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
19 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
7 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
2 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
1 December 2017 · United States · United States Congress
29 November 2017 · United States · United States Congress
24 October 2017 · United States · United States Congress
24 October 2017 · United States · United States Congress
19 October 2017 · United States · United States Congress
17 October 2017 · United States · United States Congress
18 September 2017 · United States · United States Congress
7 September 2017 · United States · United States Congress
3 August 2017 · United States · United States Congress
27 July 2017 · United States · United States Congress
27 July 2017 · United States · United States Congress
25 July 2017 · United States · United States Congress
15 June 2017 · United States · United States Congress
5 June 2017 · United States · United States Congress
4 May 2017 · United States · United States Congress
3 May 2017 · United States · United States Congress
3 May 2017 · United States · United States Congress
3 April 2017 · United States · United States Congress
30 March 2017 · United States · United States Congress
Showing the 24 most recent votes of 335. Browse the full list
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 2017
Pension Priority Act This bill amends the federal bankruptcy code to add a new category of unsecured priority claims in bankruptcy proceedings. Specifically, it gives eighth priority to certain claims related to an employer pension plan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2017
Access to Birth Control Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require pharmacies to comply with certain rules related to ensuring access to contraceptives. Among other requirements, pharmacies must provide a customer a contraceptive or related medication without delay if it is in stock. If the contraceptive is not in stock, the pharmacy must immediately inform the customer and either transfer the prescription to a pharmacy that has it in stock or order it. Civil penalties and a private cause of action are established for violations of this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2017
Recognizes that international education and exchange programs enhance national security, further U.S. foreign policy goals and economic competitiveness, and promote mutual understanding and cooperation among nations. Encourages such programs to ensure that the United States maintains a broad international knowledge base. Supports such programs as a means of strengthening foreign language skills and fostering a better understanding of the world by U.S. citizens. Commends American and international education and exchange participants, volunteers, educators, program alumni, host families, high schools, colleges, universities, and host communities for their involvement in such programs. Celebrates the integral role such programs play for the United States and its people.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2017
National Biomedical Research Act This bill establishes and makes deposits into the Biomedical Innovation Fund for initiatives at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration for advancing medical innovation, including by supporting (1) research for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment; (2) research for diseases that disproportionally account for federal health care spending; (3) the development, review, and post-market surveillance of medical products; and (4) other innovative research.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2017
Recognizes the 69th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the celebration of Human Rights Day. Supports the ideals of human rights and reaffirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Encourages all nations to continue working towards freedom, peace, and security which can be achieved through democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 2017
Restoring Overtime Pay Act of 2017 This bill requires the Department of Labor to update the salary threshold applicable to bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees for purposes of determining eligibility for overtime pay. The bill adopts rulemaking promulgated by Labor in 2016 that established the threshold for exempting such employees from overtime requirements at the 40th percentile of earnings for full-time salaried employees in the lowest-wage census region. The bill also requires updates to the threshold amount every three years.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 2017
Medical Innovation Act of 2017 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require certain drug manufacturers to make payments to fund research supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A drug manufacturer with over $1 billion in net income in a fiscal year that has entered into a settlement agreement in the previous five years with a federal agency regarding specified violations must pay 0.75%-1.5% of its net income to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for each of its covered blockbuster drugs. A covered blockbuster drug is a drug that has at least $1 billion in net sales in a year and was developed, in whole or in part, through federal investments in medical research, including a drug for which a patent contains information that relates to, or is based upon, federally funded research. Each fiscal year, HHS must publish a list of manufacturers that make payments, each manufacturer's covered blockbuster drugs, and payment amounts. Payments are divided between the FDA and the NIH in proportion to the discretionary funding of those agencies, excluding FDA user fees. Payments are not disbursed if appropriations for the FDA or the NIH are lower than in the prior fiscal year. The FDA's priority use for payments must include advancing regulatory science for medical products. The NIH's priority use for payments must include supporting: (1) research that fosters radical innovation, (2) research that advances fundamental knowledge and technology, (3) research related to diseases that disproportionately account for federal health care spending, and (4) early career scientists. A covered blockbuster drug for which a manufacturer has not made a required payment is considered misbranded and may not be sold until payment is made.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Urban Indian Health Parity Act This bill applies a Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., the federal matching rate under Medicaid) of 100% with respect to amounts expended as medical assistance for services received through an Urban Indian organization under a grant or contract with the Indian Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
No Ban on Refugees Act This bill prohibits any U.S. government agency from preventing a refugee from entering the United States based on the refugee's country of origin.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Butch Lewis Act of 2017 This bill establishes the Pension Rehabilitation Administration within the Department of the Treasury and a related trust fund to make loans to certain multiemployer defined benefit pension plans. To receive a loan, a plan must be either in critical and declining status (including any plan with respect to which a suspension of benefits has been approved) or insolvent, if the plan became insolvent after December 16, 2014, and has not been terminated. Treasury must issue bonds to fund the loan program and transfer amounts equal to the proceeds to the trust fund established by this bill. The Pension Rehabilitation Administration may use the funds, without a further appropriation, to make loans, pay principal and interest on the bonds, or for administrative and operating expenses. The bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to allow the sponsor of a multiemployer pension plan that is applying for a loan under this bill to also apply to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for financial assistance if, after receiving the loan, the plan will still become (or remain) insolvent within the 30-year period beginning on the date of the loan. The bill also appropriates to the PBGC the funds that are necessary to provide the financial assistance required by this bill.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2017 This bill authorizes: (1) a Domestic Terrorism Unit within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which shall be responsible for monitoring and analyzing domestic terrorism activity; (2) a Domestic Terrorism Office in the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), which shall be responsible for investigating and prosecuting incidents of domestic terrorism; and (3) a Domestic Terrorism Section within the Counterterrorism Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which shall be responsible for investigating domestic terrorism activity. Such offices shall focus on the most significant domestic terrorism threats, as determined by the number of domestic terrorism related incidents in the preceding year. DHS, DOJ, and the FBI shall annually submit to Congress a joint report authored by such offices, which shall include: an assessment of the domestic terrorism threat posed by White supremacists; an analysis of incidents or attempted incidents of domestic terrorism that have occurred in the United States since April 19, 1995, for the first report, and during the preceding year, for each subsequent report; and a quantitative analysis of domestic terrorism for the preceding year. The bill also authorizes a Domestic Terrorism Executive Committee, which shall coordinate with key public safety officials to promote information sharing and ensure an effective joint effort to combat domestic terrorism. The State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program, funded by DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance, shall include training and resources to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers in understanding, detecting, deterring, and investigating acts of domestic terrorism. The joint terrorism task forces of the FBI and state, local, and regional fusion centers shall each, in coordination with the committee and such offices: (1) share intelligence to address domestic terrorism activities; (2) conduct an annual, intelligence-based assessment of domestic terrorism activities in their jurisdictions; and (3) formulate and execute a plan to address and combat such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Military Justice Improvement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to grant independent military prosecutors the authority to decide whether to convene courts-martial for sexual assault cases and other serious crimes punishable by confinement of more than one year (currently, this authority lies within the chain of command). The bill allows the chain of command to retain authority to decide whether to prosecute serious crimes uniquely military in nature and all crimes punishable by less than one year of confinement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Workplace Action for a Growing Economy Act or the WAGE Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to award back pay and additional damages to any employee whose rights under the NLRA have been violated by an employer; impose penalties upon an employer for failing to post a notice of the rights of their employees under the NLRA; impose penalties upon an employer whose violations of the NLRA result in the discharge of an employee or other serious economic harm to the employee; provide civil remedies, including restraining orders, and a private right of action for violations of the NLRA; require the NLRB to issue an order requiring collective bargaining when a majority of valid ballots have been cast in favor of union representation; prevent the classification of employees as supervisors for the purpose of denying such employees the protections of the NLRA; and expedite the establishment of initial collection bargaining agreements. The bill empowers the NLRB to enforce its own orders without petitioning a court for enforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 2017
Drug-Price Transparency in Communications Act This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to impose a civil penalty on any person who disseminates a direct-to-consumer drug advertisement that does not include the wholesale acquisition cost (the manufacturer's list price to wholesalers or direct purchasers) for a 30-day supply of the drug. The bill requires any representative of a drug manufacturer who communicates with a health care practitioner about a drug manufactured by the drug manufacturer to disclose the wholesale acquisition cost for a 30-day supply of the drug.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017
Military Domestic Violence Reporting Enhancement Act This bill establishes a punitive article in the Uniform Code of Military Justice on domestic violence and aggravated domestic violence against an intimate partner. "Aggravated domestic violence" involves the use of a weapon, or force in a manner likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm. Military departments must submit to the Department of Justice the identity of each member of the Armed Forces who has been convicted of a domestic violence offense for inclusion in the national instant criminal background check system.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 2017
Family Coverage Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the requirements for determining the affordability of employer-sponsored minimum essential health coverage that is required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). (Under current law, the coverage is unaffordable, and an employee may be eligible for premium assistance tax credits, if the employee's required contribution for an individual plan exceeds 9.5% of household income, adjusted for inflation after 2014.) The bill specifies that, with respect to an employee's family members who are eligible to enroll in the plan, affordability must be determined using the cost of family coverage rather than individual coverage to expand the eligibility of families for premium assistance tax credits. This bill also expresses the sense of Congress that the Departments of Health and Human Service and the Treasury have the administrative authority, within their respective jurisdictions, to apply the affordability provision of PPACA so as to expand access to affordable health insurance coverage for working families without further legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017
Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to intentionally and willfully conceal knowledge of a security breach that results in economic harm of at least $1,000 to any individual. It imposes criminal penalties on a violator and authorizes the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate offenses. The bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file a civil action: (1) to prevent ongoing conduct that damages 100 or more protected computers (e.g., government computers); and (2) to prevent the disposition of unlawfully obtained property. The bill also adds to the list of money laundering predicate offenses financial transactions that involve proceeds of unlawful manufacturing, distribution, possession, and advertising of wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepting devices. Finally, the bill requires certain commercial entities to implement a comprehensive consumer privacy and data security program. Following the discovery of a security breach of sensitive personally identifiable information (PII), a commercial entity must notify an affected U.S. resident and provide identify theft prevention and mitigation services. Sensitive PII is information that identifies a particular person, including electronic or digital forms of personal, financial, health, and biometric data, geographic location, and password-protected photographs and videos. It establishes civil penalties for violations and authorizes DOJ, the Federal Trade Commission, and states to enforce compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 2017
Supporting Working Moms Act of 2017 This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to extend the requirement that certain employers provide reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child to bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity employees or outside salesmen who are exempt from federal labor laws that limit the number of hours in a workweek.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Military and Veterans Education Protection Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise a requirement, commonly known as the 90/10 rule, which directs proprietary (for profit) institutions of higher education to derive at least 10% of their revenue from nonfederal financial aid sources, or risk becoming ineligible for title IV funding. Currently the rule allows federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans to count toward the 10%. This bill defines federal educational assistance to include federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans. Thus, the bill prohibits proprietary institutions from counting federal educational assistance for military personnel and veterans as nonfederal funding sources.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 2017
Merrill's Marauders Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly known as Merrill's Marauders, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma (now Myanmar) during World War II. Following its award, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it will be displayed and made available for research. It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and events associated with Merrill's Marauders.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Assault Weapons Ban of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD). The prohibition does not apply to a firearm that is: (1) manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action; (2) permanently inoperable; (3) an antique; or (4) a rifle or shotgun specifically identified by make and model. Additionally, the bill does not prohibit, with respect to a SAW or LCAFD: importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession related to certain law enforcement efforts, or authorized tests or experiments; importation, sale, transfer, or possession related to securing nuclear materials; and possession by a retired law enforcement officer. The bill permits continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW, which must be securely stored. A licensed gun dealer must conduct a background check prior to the sale or transfer of a grandfathered SAW between private parties. The bill permits continued possession of, but prohibits sale or transfer of, a grandfathered LCAFD. Newly manufactured LCAFDs must display serial number identification. Newly manufactured SAWs and LCAFDs must display the date of manufacture. The bill also amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow a state or local government to use Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program funds to compensate individuals who surrender a SAW or LCAFD under a buy-back program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 2017
Tobacco to 21 Act This bill prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 21. The Department of Health and Human Services must enforce this prohibition by taking necessary actions including, as appropriate, conducting undercover compliance checks, performing retailer inspections, initiating enforcement actions for noncompliance, and establishing requirements that retailers check identification.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 2017
LGBT Elder Americans Act of 2017 This bill amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to include the specific needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals among the "greatest social needs" served under that Act. An LGBT individual shall be considered a "minority" for purposes of services provided under the Act. The bill authorizes the Administration of Aging to designate within it a person with responsibility for addressing issues affecting LGBT older individuals. In addition, the administration shall conduct studies and collect data to determine the services needed by LGBT older individuals. The administration shall establish and operate the National Resource Center on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Aging to provide national, state, and local organizations with the information and technical assistance needed by those organizations to effectively serve LGBT older individuals. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman of each state shall, as a condition of receiving certain federal funding under the Act, collect and analyze data related to discrimination against LGBT older individuals in long-term care settings.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 2017
Protecting Workers' Freedom to Organize Act This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to modify the definitions of "employee" and "supervisor" under that Act to prevent the misclassification of employees as independent contractors in order to deny them collective bargaining rights. An individual performing any services is deemed to be an employee and not an independent contractor unless such individual is free from control and direction in the performance of such services, the services are performed outside the usual course of the employer's business, and the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established business.
Showing the 24 most recent records of 1,869. Browse the full list