United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2023
Preventing Underhanded and Nefarious Iranian Supported Homicides Act of 2023 or the PUNISH Act of 2023 This bill extends sanctions and national emergencies related to Iran established by specified executive orders and limits the authority of the President to waive sanctions related to Iran. The bill requires the Department of State to periodically report whether Iran or any foreign person has supported specified activities, including murder or politically motivated detention in Iran of a U.S. citizen.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2023
This resolution supports the designation of October 1 through October 7, 2023, as National 4–H Week and recognizes the important role of 4–H in youth development and education.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2023
This resolution calls on the Russian government to immediately release Evan Gershkovich. It urges all United States executive branch officials, in all interactions with the Russian government, to raise the case of Evan Gershkovich and press for his immediate release. The resolution further calls for the immediate release of Paul Whelan and expresses support for all American citizens and lawful permanent residents detained in Russia and abroad, including Marc Fogel and Vladimir Kara-Murza. The resolution also expresses sympathy and solidarity with the families of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and all other American citizens and lawful permanent residents wrongfully detained abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2023
Pregnant Students' Rights Act of 2023 This bill requires a public institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student-aid programs to provide information to admitted and enrolled students on the rights and resources for students who are pregnant or may become pregnant. These rights and resources must exclude abortion services. Additionally, the IHE must establish a protocol to meet with students who believe they were discriminated against based on pregnancy. The IHE must also provide pregnancy-related questions to enrolled students and annually submit compiled responses to the Department of Education.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2023
Intelligence Community Workforce Agility Protection Act of 2023 This bill allows a current tax deduction for the moving and traveling expenses of an employee or new appointee of the intelligence community who moves due to a change in assignment that requires relocation. It also allows a current tax exclusion for such employees or appointees for moving expense reimbursements. Under current law, the tax deduction and exclusion for the moving expenses of other taxpayers are suspended for the period beginning in 2018 through 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2023
This resolution supports the designation of September 21, 2023, as National Teach Ag Day and recognizes the important role of agricultural education and the National FFA Organization in developing the next generation of agricultural leaders.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2023
Senate Dress Code Resolution This resolution requires individuals on the floor of the Senate to wear business attire. For men, this includes a coat, tie, and slacks or other long pants. The resolution requires the Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate to enforce this requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 2023
Middle East Security Coordination Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of State to periodically report to Congress on the activities of the Office of the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (USSC). Specifically, the reports shall be on USSC security coordination and efforts to professionalize Palestinian security forces. The State Department shall also report to Congress on the viability of the inclusion of contributions from additional countries to the USSC, particularly countries party to the Abraham Accords or other Arab or Muslim-majority countries. The bill also reauthorizes U.S. support for the USSC for the first five fiscal years following enactment of the bill.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2023
This resolution expresses support for the goals and ideals of Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Month. Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that can lead to pain, anemia, infections, and stroke.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2023
Stop Campus Hazing Act This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents. Specifically, the bill requires each IHE to disclose hazing incidents that were reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies in its annual security report. The bill defines the term hazing to mean any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person against a student (regardless of that student's willingness to participate), that (1) is connected with an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, an organization (e.g., a club, athletic team, fraternity, or sorority); and (2) causes or is likely to contribute to a substantial risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the IHE or the organization, of physical injury, mental harm, or degradation. In addition, each IHE must develop and distribute as part of its annual security report a statement of policy regarding the following: (1) a comprehensive program to prevent hazing, which must include information on hazing awareness and hazing prevention; and (2) the IHE's current campus policies on hazing, which must include procedures that comply with specified collection and reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 2023
Science and Technology Agreement Enhanced Congressional Notification Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of State to notify Congress regarding science and technology agreements with China. Any existing agreement is revoked unless the State Department notifies Congress regarding the agreement no later than 60 days after enactment of this bill. The State Department must notify Congress 30 days prior to entering, renewing, or extending any science and technology agreement with China. A notification shall contain (1) the full text of the agreement, (2) a written justification for the agreement, (3) an assessment of the risks and potential effects of the agreement, (4) and a detailed justification for how the State Department intends to address human rights concerns arising from the agreement's scientific and technology collaboration.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2023
Air Traffic Controllers Hiring Act of 2023 This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to set the hiring target for new air traffic controllers as the maximum number of individuals who are able to be trained at the FAA Academy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 2023
Pay Our Military Act of 2023 This bill provides continuing appropriations for military pay for any period during which interim or full-year appropriations for FY2024 are not in effect (i.e., a government shutdown). Specifically, the bill provides FY2024 continuing appropriations for the pay and allowances of (1) members of the Armed Forces, including reserve components, who perform active service during the period; and (2) civilian personnel and contractors of the Department of Defense (and the Department of Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard) who are providing support to such members of the Armed Forces. If a government shutdown occurs, the bill provides the continuing appropriations until the earlier of (1) the enactment into law of specified appropriations legislation, or (2) January 1, 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2023
Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to Dustoff crews (helicopter air ambulance crews) of the Vietnam War in recognition of their heroic military service.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2023
Constitution education Is Valuable In Community Schools Act of 2023 or the CIVICS Act of 2023 This bill requires national activities supported by American History and Civics Education grants to include programs that educate students about the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2023
SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act This bill increases resource limits used to determine eligibility for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSI is a federal assistance program that provides monthly cash payments to aged, blind, or disabled individuals with limited income and resources. Specifically, the bill increases the resource limits from $2,000 to $10,000 for individuals and from $3,000 to $20,000 for married couples. The bill annually adjusts the limits for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2023
Belt and Road Oversight Act This bill establishes Country China Officers in U.S. embassies and diplomatic posts to monitor and report on certain Chinese activities, such as China's Belt and Road Initiative projects, in their countries of responsibility. The bill also requires the Department of State to prepare annual comprehensive reviews on such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 2023
Deterring Escalation Through Economic Retaliation Act of 2023 or DETER Act of 2023 This bill requires the President to apply certain duties to all products from China if any Chinese entities, including the People's Liberation Army, have engaged in an act that violated the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Taiwan during the past year. The President must certify annually whether such actions occurred. The President may waive the application of duties (subject to a congressional joint resolution of disapproval) for one year if the President determines that a waiver is in the U.S. national interest. The Department of Commerce must also assess and report to Congress on U.S. supply chain vulnerabilities and risk exposure to China.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the final rule submitted by the Department of Education titled Improving Income Driven Repayment for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and published on July 10, 2023. The rule creates a new income-driven repayment plan called the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 2023
Countering Adversarial and Malicious Partnerships at Universities and Schools Act of 2023 or CAMPUS Act This bill limits certain interactions with Chinese entities. Specifically, the bill requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to identify institutions of higher education in China providing support to the People's Liberation Army; prohibits the Department of Defense from providing research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) funds to entities that maintain contracts with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education; prohibits the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency from granting eligibility to host or store classified information to those entities with an active research partnership with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education; authorizes the Department of State to deny entry visas to students and employees of such identified Chinese institutions of higher education; prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from providing funds for K-12 education to an elementary or secondary school that maintains a contract with entities in China; prohibits federal RDT&E funds from being provided to an entity that maintains a contract with such identified Chinese institutions of higher education or a Chinese entity on the Entity List maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Department of Commerce; and lowers the minimum amount of foreign gifts or contracts benefiting an institution of higher education that must be reported to ED by the institution. The bill also authorizes ED to provide grants to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to support Mandarin language instruction and Chinese cultural programming provided by certain Taiwanese entities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
Reuse Excess Property Act This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to make publicly available on the internet the data contained in specified federal agency reports on excess personal property. (Personal property is any property except real property and includes vehicles, furniture, and office equipment.) The bill also requires federal agencies to make public their internal guidance on using excess personal property to meet agency needs. Such guidance must include certain topics, such as (1) a requirement to consider excess personal property before buying new, and (2) how to evaluate the suitability of excess personal property for use. Federal agencies must also provide this information to the GSA.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
This joint resolution nullifies the policy update issued by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) on May 5, 2022, related to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) deemed the policy update a rule on June 5, 2023, and therefore subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) requirement that a rule must be submitted to Congress and the GAO before it can take effect. The CRA also permits Congress to review and disapprove rules using specified procedures. In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the prohibition on sex discrimination in employment includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The FNS determined that the Bostock analysis also applies to certain FNS-enforced requirements under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 because the requirements are sufficiently similar to those in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The FNS rule concludes that the prohibitions against sex discrimination in the FNS-enforced statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The rule also directs state agencies and program operators to handle complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation as complaints of prohibited sex discrimination.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
Small Business Growth Act This bill increases from $1 million to $2.5 million the limitation on expensing of depreciable business assets. It also increases the asset threshold amount used to reduce the expensing limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2023
Fairness for Crime Victims Act of 2023 This bill establishes budget points of order in the House of Representatives and the Senate against considering provisions in appropriations legislation that contain changes in mandatory programs (CHIMPs) that would cause the amount available for obligation during the fiscal year from the Crime Victims Fund to be less than the annual average for the three previous fiscal years. A CHIMP is a provision that (1) would have been estimated as affecting direct spending or receipts if the provision were included in legislation other than an appropriations bill; and (2) results in a net decrease in budget authority in the current year or the budget year, but does not result in a net decrease in outlays over the period of the total of the current year, the budget year, and all fiscal years covered under the most recently adopted budget resolution. The points of order do not apply if the difference between the amount in the Crime Victims Fund as of September 30 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year to which the CHIMP relates and the amount available for obligation under the CHIMP is not more than $2 billion.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2023
Prevent Discrimination in Title X Act This bill prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from requiring recipients of Title X Family Planning Grants to provide abortion counseling or referrals.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2023
This resolution designates September 2023 as National Child Awareness Month to (1) promote awareness of youth-serving charities and organizations throughout the United States, (2) recognize the efforts made by those charities and organizations as critical contributions to the future of the United States, and (3) recognize the importance of meeting the needs of at-risk children and youth.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2023
Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2023 This bill extends the authorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security until July 27, 2025.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 2023
Equitable Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act This bill expands Medicare coverage to permanently include services provided by a pharmacist, including incidental services and supplies, related to testing, vaccines, and treatment for COVID-19, influenza, and certain other illnesses. Specifically, the bill provides for continued coverage of pharmacist services relating to evaluation and management of patients for testing and treatment for COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), or streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat), as well as vaccines for pneumococcal disease, COVID-19, influenza, or hepatitis B. It also generally provides for coverage of pharmacist services during a public health emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Security Act This bill directs certain agencies to report on and reduce the role of China in pharmaceutical supply chains. Specifically, the Food and Drug Administration must report on pharmaceutical products and ingredients for which China supplies more than 20% of the quantities available in the United States. In addition, the President must develop a strategy to address the role of China in the global pharmaceutical supply chain and related threats to national security. The United States International Development Finance Corporation must also support manufacturing projects that promote the security of pharmaceutical supply chains, reduce reliance on China, and foster cooperation with other countries.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Regional Integration and Normalization Act of 2023 or RINA This bill requires and authorizes actions to support the Abraham Accords and the Negev Forum. (The Abraham Accords are agreements to normalize or improve relations between Israel and four members of the Arab League: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The Negev Forum is a framework for cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa involving several countries including Israel, Egypt, Morocco, and the United States.) The bill establishes within the Department of State the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for the Abraham Accords, Negev Forum, and Related Integration and Normalization Fora and Agreements. The office's responsibilities include (1) leading diplomatic efforts to strengthen and expand the Negev Forum and the Abraham Accords, and (2) implementing U.S. policy to expand normalization within the Middle East and North Africa. The bill also authorizes activities related to the Abraham Accords and the Negev Forum, such as (1) expanding the participation of Negev Forum countries in the Middle East Desalination Research Center; (2) supporting interfaith dialogue between Abraham Accords countries, Negev Forum countries, and other relevant actors; (3) expanding educational and cultural exchange programs; and (4) authorizing grants for initiatives to facilitate scientific and industrial research cooperation between the relevant countries. Furthermore, the bill establishes within the State Department the Young Middle East Leaders Initiative to build the capacity of young leaders in Negev Forum countries to address issues such as energy diversification, education and coexistence, and regional security.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2023
Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning Act or the PELL Act This bill expands student eligibility for Pell Grants by establishing the Workforce Pell Grants Program. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award Workforce Pell Grants to students enrolled in eligible short-term programs. Eligible programs are those that provide 150 to 600 clock hours of instructional time over a period of 8 to 15 weeks and meet other eligibility criteria. An accrediting agency or association recognized by ED must determine a program's eligibility based on several criteria, including that the program provides education aligned with the requirements of in-demand industry sectors and occupations and meets specified completion and job placement rates. ED must annually collect and publish information on the College Scorecard regarding each eligible program, including job outcomes. The College Scorecard is a comparison tool for information on school sizes, settings, graduation rates, average costs, and salary ranges per field of study.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
This resolution affirms that Israel is not a racist or apartheid state. The resolution also (1) rejects all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia, and (2) affirms that the United States will always be a staunch partner of Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2023
Mapping America's Pharmaceutical Supply Act or the MAPS Act This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support efforts to map the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain and identify associated vulnerabilities. As part of these efforts, HHS must support the development of a database of certain essential medicines and the identification of information about their supply chain, including the location of manufacturing facilities. Qualifying essential medicines are those that are likely to be needed in the event of a public health emergency or chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threat or for which a shortage would pose a significant threat to the U.S. health care system or at-risk populations.
![Official portrait of Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000575_200.jpg)