United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2020
Protecting Jessica Grubb's Legacy Act This bill more closely aligns the federal privacy standards applicable to substance-use disorder patient records with the relevant privacy and de-identification standards applicable to other records that contain personal health information for the purposes of (1) treatment, payment, and health care operations by health plans, providers, or clearinghouses; and (2) disclosures to public health authorities. The bill requires patients to give affirmative, written consent; once given, that consent applies to future disclosures. Such consent may be revoked by written request. The bill also (1) aligns criminal penalties for certain violations involving substance-use disorder patient records with the penalties that apply to violations involving other types of records containing personal health information; (2) expands the current prohibition against using substance-use disorder patient records in criminal proceedings to include any use in specified federal, state, and local criminal and civil actions; and (3) prohibits certain discrimination based on the release of such patient information with respect to access to treatment, employment, housing, and certain social services and benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 2020
State Justice Improvement Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 the State Justice Institute, a nonprofit corporation established by federal law, and authorizes the institute to award grants for the development and implementation of best policies and practices for the constitutional and equitable enforcement of fines, fees, and monetary bail. Specifically, the institute may award these grants to state and local courts, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and other specified entities. The policies and practices must incorporate guidance that courts should, among other things, prohibit the use of monetary bail schedules and consider alternatives to incarceration for defendants who are unable to pay fines and monetary bail.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2020
Clean Air Sharp Minds Act This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to jointly administer a school air filters demonstration program in public elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, ED and the EPA must select at least 175 schools to participate in the program, with priority given to schools located in areas with higher levels of air pollution. ED and the EPA must use program funds to (1) purchase and install commercial air filters in every classroom, office, and common area that students access in participating schools; (2) maintain such air filters for three years; and (3) provide technical support to participating schools.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2020
This resolution commends the work of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) to expand access to vaccines and immunizations in developing countries, affirms U.S. support for GAVI, and encourages continued collaboration with GAVI to introduce and sustain the use of new and underused vaccines in immunization programs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2020
This resolution recognizes Black History Month as an opportunity to reflect on U.S. history and to commemorate the contributions of African Americans. It calls for the United States to (1) honor the contribution of pioneers who helped to ensure its legacy; and (2) move forward as a nation "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2020
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2020 This bill requires the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) within the Administration for Children and Families to award grants to nonprofits, state agencies, and elementary and secondary schools for demonstration projects to train students, teachers, and school personnel how to better understand, recognize, prevent, and respond to human trafficking and the exploitation of children and youth. Such projects also must collect data about the number of human trafficking survivors served and develop procedures to coordinate with law enforcement and appropriate social service organizations. The OTIP must consult with appropriate agencies to determine and prioritize funding for geographic areas with the highest prevalence of human trafficking and largest underserved youth populations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
Human Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Training Act of 2020 This bill establishes a demonstration grant program within the Administration for Children and Families for nonprofits, local and state education agencies, and elementary and secondary schools to train students, school personnel, and parents to recognize and prevent human trafficking and child exploitation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
Making Investments in Curbing the Ruinous Output of Plastics Act of 2020 or the MICRO Plastics Act of 2020 This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a pilot program that tests the efficacy and cost effectiveness of tools, technologies, and techniques to (1) remove microplastics from the environment, and (2) prevent the release of microplastics into the environment.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
This resolution revises Senate procedures for impeachment trials, including to establish a process for obtaining testimony from witnesses and relevant documents in an impeachment trial of the President or the Vice President; make it out of order to consider a resolution or motion that would modify, supersede, waive, or be inconsistent with specified impeachment trial rules; and require the Presiding Officer to rule on any assertion of privilege or immunity in connection with the production of evidence in an impeachment trial of the President or the Vice President.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
This resolution supports the goals of and encourages people to observe the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, as designated by the World Health Organization. It also recognizes the contributions of nurses and midwives to the U.S. health care system.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act of 2020 or the MONARCH Act of 2020 This bill provides support for the conservation of western monarch butterflies (the monarch butterfly population that overwinters along the coast of California and breeds across California, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah). Specifically, the bill establishes the Western Monarch Butterfly Rescue Fund. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must use amounts in the fund to provide grants for the conservation of such butterflies. In addition, USDA must transfer amounts from the fund to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to implement the Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, which was prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2020
Ethical Use of Facial Recognition Act This bill prohibits any officer, employee, or contractor of a federal agency from engaging in specified activities with respect to facial recognition technology without a warrant until a congressional commission established by this bill recommends rules governing the use and limitations on both government and commercial use of such technology. Specifically, it prohibits any such individual from setting up a camera to be used in connection with facial recognition technology, accessing or using information obtained from such technology, or importing such technology to identify an individual in the United States until Congress enacts legislation implementing the guidelines established by the commission. The bill permits an aggrieved person to bring a civil action for injunctive or declaratory relief in the appropriate U.S. district court. No federal funds may be used by a state or local government to invest in facial recognition software, purchase facial recognition technology services, or acquire images for use in facial recognition technology systems.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2020
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that (1) it recognizes the many contributions that family farmers and ranchers, including historically underserved farmers and ranchers, have made to America's agricultural industry, local food production, food sovereignty, rich variety of the country's abundant food supply, and traditional and cultural agricultural practices; and (2) the federal government should encourage support for family farmers and ranchers, in rural communities and on indigenous lands, and ensure access to open and fair agricultural markets in the United States, by introducing the Farmers Bill of Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2020
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020 This bill sets forth requirements related to waste and recycling collection systems for a variety of products and materials, including plastics. The bill makes certain producers of products (e.g., packaging, paper, single-use products, beverage containers, or food service products) fiscally responsible for collecting, managing, and recycling or composting the products after consumer use. In addition, the bill establishes (1) minimum percentages of products that must be reused, recycled, or composted; and (2) an increasing percentage of recycled content that must be contained in beverage containers. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the bill phases out a variety of single-use products, such as plastic utensils. The bill also sets forth provisions to encourage the reduction of single-use products, including by establishing programs to refund consumers for returning beverage containers and by establishing a tax on carryout bags. The bill creates a temporary moratorium on new or expanded permits for facilities that manufacture plastics until regulations are updated to address pollution from the facilities. The Environmental Protection Agency must publish guidelines for a national standardized labeling system for recycling and composting receptacles. Producers must include labels on their products that are easy to read and indicate whether the products are recyclable, compostable, or reusable. Finally, the bill establishes limitations on the export of plastic waste to other countries.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2020
Nationwide Right To Unionize Act This bill provides authorization for labor agreements to require membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment regardless of state law (thus preempting state laws that prohibit such agreements).
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2020
Schedules That Work Act This bill provides employees with the right to request changes to their work schedules related to the number of hours they are required to work or be on call, the location of the work, the amount of notification about work schedule assignments, and fluctuations in work hours. Employers must negotiate in good faith with employees who make such requests and comply with certain work schedule notice and split shift pay requirements for retail, food service, cleaning, hospitality, or warehouse employees.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Fracking Ban Act This bill phases out hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation. The bill prohibits federal agencies from issuing permits for the expansion of fracking or fracked oil and natural gas infrastructure, including infrastructure intended to extract, transport, or burn natural gas or oil. In addition, the bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to complete a survey of all oil and natural gas wells to identify the wells where fracking is, or has been, used. The survey must include a variety of data, including data on the proximity of fracking operations to inhabited structures (e.g., homes or schools). Beginning on February 1, 2021, the bill revokes permits for wells where fracking is, or has been, used within 2,500 feet of inhabited structures. The bill bans all fracking on onshore and offshore land by 2025. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Labor to establish a Just Transition Committee to make recommendations on ensuring the health and safety of individuals residing in, and the prosperity of, natural gas- and oil-producing regions during the phaseout of fracking.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act of 2020 This bill imposes limitations on investigative powers provided under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), reauthorizes certain FISA programs, and makes related changes. Provisions include reauthorizing to December 15, 2023, FISA authority to obtain business records, but also repealing the power to use such authority to obtain records on an ongoing basis; excluding certain data, such as cell phone location, from FISA authority to access business records; establishing that nonpublic information collected under FISA authority may not be retained for more than three years unless the information includes foreign intelligence information; disallowing the use of FISA-collected business records for criminal, civil, or administrative proceedings except in certain instances, such as cases involving a specific cybersecurity threat from a foreign country; requiring a government entity to notify a targeted person that the entity intends to use in court business records collected under FISA; excluding cell site location and global positioning system information from FISA authority for using a pen register or trap and trace device to collect evidence; reauthorizing to December 15, 2023, the power to treat individual terrorists as foreign agents; expanding the powers of FISA court amicus curiae (outside parties appointed to assist in a case), such as by authorizing the amicus to refer a FISA court decision to the FISA Court of Review; and repealing the government's authority to use National Security Letters to obtain financial or communications records without a court order.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Federal Adjustment of Income Rates Act of 2020 or the FAIR Act This bill increases by 3.5% in FY2021 the rates of basic pay for federal employees under the statutory pay systems (i.e., the General Schedule, the Foreign Service Schedule, and various schedules related to the Veterans Health Administration) and for prevailing rate employees.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Prevent Future American Sickness Act of 2020 This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate all perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, as hazardous substances within one year of enactment of this bill. PFAS are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. A variety of products contain the compounds, such as nonstick cookware or weatherproof clothing. The bill authorizes states to provide grants to owners of household water wells that have been contaminated by PFAS to purchase and install a household filtration system. Among other requirements, the EPA must establish pretreatment standards for PFAS introduced into publicly owned treatment works; implement various grant programs to assist with PFAS contamination, water infrastructure, and PFAS pretreatment standards; issue a final rule adding PFAS to the list of hazardous air pollutants and, within one year after issuing the rule, revise the list of air pollution sources to include categories and subcategories of major sources and area sources of PFAS; prohibit the disposal of firefighting foam (containing PFAS) by incineration; and identify additional wastes containing PFAS for which a prohibition on incineration may be necessary and prescribe such prohibitions. The bill bans the use of PFAS in food contact substances, which are substances intended for use as a component of materials in manufacturing, packing, packaging, transporting, or holding food, if such use is not intended to have a technical effect in such food. For criminal penalty purposes, wastes containing PFAS must be considered hazardous waste.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
This resolution reaffirms the United States' proud history of refugee resettlement, recognizes January 27, 2020, as the anniversary of the first refugee and Muslim ban, and calls on the United States to resettle a robust number of refugees to meet global needs in FY2020 and FY2021.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 2020
Protecting Community Television Act This bill revises the definition of a franchise fee that is paid by a cable operator or cable subscriber to encompass only a tax, fee, or other monetary assessment that is imposed by a franchising authority or other governmental entity.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2020
Accessible Voting Act of 2020 This bill increases voting accessibility for individuals with disabilities and older individuals, including by establishing an office of accessibility within the Election Assistance Commission, requiring states to expand access to absentee registration procedures and no-excuse mail-in absentee voting in federal elections, and permanently reauthorizing and expanding a grant program for increasing accessibility to polling places.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2020
This joint resolution directs the President to terminate the use of U.S. Armed Forces for hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a congressional declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2020
Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019 This bill revises requirements related to the safety, sale, and advertisement of tobacco products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems (e.g., e-cigarettes, e-hookah, e-cigars, and vape pens). Among other requirements, the bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement regulations to require color graphics on the labeling of cigarette packages, depicting the negative health consequences of smoking; requires the FDA to apply regulations on tobacco products to all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes; prohibits the retail online sale of tobacco products, including electronic nicotine delivery systems; prohibits flavors other than tobacco in a tobacco product; prohibits the use of flavored products in an electronic nicotine delivery system, except in specified circumstances; increases the user fees that the FDA collects from manufacturers and importers; directs the FDA to regulate products containing synthetic nicotine (not made or derived from tobacco); establishes a demonstration grant program to develop strategies for smoking cessation in medically underserved communities; increases civil penalties for certain violations of restrictions on the sale of tobacco products; and requires the Government Accountability Office to study e-cigarettes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2020
Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act or the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act This bill extends protections for a working mother who expresses breast milk for her nursing child to cover salaried employees and other types of workers not covered under existing law. The bill requires employers to pay a nursing mother who is paid on an hourly basis for time spent to express breast milk if she is also working.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2019 or the CROWN Act of 2019 This bill prohibits discrimination based on a person's hair texture or hairstyle if that style or texture is commonly associated with a particular race or national origin. Specifically, the bill prohibits this type of discrimination against those participating in federally assisted programs, housing programs, public accommodations, and employment. Persons shall not be deprived of equal rights under the law and shall not be subjected to prohibited practices based on their hair texture or style. The bill provides for enforcement procedures under the applicable laws.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
Remove the Stain Act This bill rescinds each Medal of Honor awarded for acts that occurred on December 29, 1890, at Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota. The bill requires the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard to remove the names of those award recipients from the Medal of Honor Roll.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
No War Against Iran Act This bill prohibits the obligation or expenditure of federal funds for any use of military force in or against Iran unless Congress has either declared war or enacted specific statutory authorization for such use. An exception is made for a presidential exercise of power to introduce Armed Forces into hostilities (or situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated) when there is a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States. The bill further states that no prior authorizations of military force (e.g., against Iraq) may be construed to authorize the use of military force against Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For Youth Act or the Diversify Act This bill raises the maximum amount for grants made under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program. The TEACH program awards grants to college students who plan to teach in low-income areas. The bill also exempts the TEACH program from sequestration, which is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
This joint resolution prohibits the interpretation of previous authorizations for use of military force, whether against Iraq or otherwise, as statutory authorization for the use of military force against Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
This resolution urges the President to de-escalate tensions with Iran rather than threaten acts of war and violations of international law. Specifically, the resolution condemns the President's threats to destroy important Iranian cultural sites and demands that the President refrain from violating the law of armed conflict. Further, it affirms that the destruction of cultural heritage is both morally wrong and a violation of international law and that no violation of the law of armed conflict or human-rights violation by Iran justifies similar violations by any other state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2020
This joint resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities against Iran unless explicitly authorized by a congressional declaration of war or a specific authorization for use of military force.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2019
This bill nullifies any collective bargaining agreement between federal employees and agencies that is effective on or after April 30, 2019, if the agreement was not mutually and voluntarily agreed to by all parties or ordered after the completion of binding arbitration. A prior agreement continues to apply until a new agreement that meets the bill's requirements takes effect.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2019
Extinction Prevention Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of the Interior to provide financial assistance for the conservation of butterflies and moths in North America; plant species in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands; freshwater mussels in the United States; and bony fish found in desert ecosystems in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah. Among other things, the bill establishes the North America Butterfly Conservation Fund, the Pacific Islands Plant Conservation Fund, the Freshwater Mussel Conservation Fund, and the Southwest Desert Fish Conservation Fund. In selecting projects for assistance, Interior must prioritize projects that conserve threatened and endangered species.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2019
This concurrent resolution expresses the sense of Congress that (1) it is the civic duty of the people of the United States to help ensure that the 2020 Census is as accurate as possible; (2) the federal government, state and local governments, civil society, businesses, religious institutions, libraries, and other national and local organizations should work together as partners to inform the public that the 2020 Census is safe, easy, and important; (3) individuals who want to help administer the 2020 Census should apply for a job at 2020census.gov/jobs; and (4) U.S. residents should plan to respond to the 2020 Census to ensure that all people living in a household in the United States are included.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2019
Community Broadband Mapping Act This bill authorizes the Rural Utilities Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, to make grants to government or telecommunications entities that serve a rural area (with less than 25,000 population) to foster data collection about where broadband infrastructure is located and which homes have non-satellite broadband service.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 2019
Broadband Speed Act This bill establishes a reporting requirement for all broadband internet service providers and a capacity requirement for providers that use federal funds to construct new broadband infrastructure. Specifically, the bill requires an internet service provider to report the actual speed of the broadband it provides consumers, and it establishes a fine for any provider that has willfully or knowingly provided false data about the speed it is capable of offering. Additionally, the bill requires any new broadband infrastructure built using federal funds to provide service of at least 100 megabits per second.
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 2019
Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act or the FRAC Act This bill revises requirements governing hydraulic fracturing operations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation. The bill repeals the exemption for such operations relating to oil and natural gas production activities under the act. The bill allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prescribe regulations that authorize a state to seek primary enforcement responsibility for hydraulic fracturing operations for oil and natural gas without seeking to assume primary enforcement responsibility for other types of underground injection control wells. The bill requires public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. The chemicals intended for use in underground injections must be disclosed before the operations commence. The chemicals actually used must be disclosed the end of the operations. In the event that the proprietary chemical formula of a chemical used in such hydraulic fracturing is necessary for medical diagnosis, treatment, or emergency response, hydraulic fracturing operations must disclose the formula or the specific chemical identity of a trade secret chemical to the state, the EPA, a first responder, or a health care practitioner upon request, regardless of the existence of a written statement of need or a confidentiality agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2019
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act This bill designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin, (2) Grand Staircase-Escalante, (3) Moab-La Sal Canyons, (4) Henry Mountains, (5) Glen Canyon, (6) San Juan-Anasazi, (7) Canyonlands Basin, (8) San Rafael Swell, and (9) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. The bill sets forth administrative requirements for (1) the exchange of state-owned lands within such areas, (2) federal reservation of water rights, (3) measurement of setbacks for roads with adjacent wilderness, (4) authorized livestock grazing, and (5) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act of 2019 This bill permanently reauthorizes, and expands, the Indian Reservation Drinking Water Program. Specifically, the bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to connect, expand, or repair existing public water systems that are on Indian reservations or off-reservation sites that serve tribes in the Columbia River Basin or its adjacent coastal river basins. Currently, only projects that are on Indian reservations in the Upper Missouri River Basin or the Upper Rio Grande Basin are eligible for the program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
Wastewater Efficiency and Treatment Act of 2019 This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a Water and Energy Efficiency Program. Under the program, DOE must award grants to certain small public wastewater treatment facilities that serve disadvantaged communities or populations that do not exceed 10,000. The facilities must use the grants to conduct energy efficiency audits of the facilities and update equipment based on the audits. In addition, DOE must provide loan guarantees to eligible municipalities and Indian tribes for (1) projects that convert waste in the treatment process of wastewater treatment facilities into renewable fuels, biosolids, or other byproducts; and (2) projects that will assist in transitioning facilities towards the use of energy-efficient technologies. In carrying out the program, DOE must establish a small-scale extension services program to provide assistance to rural communities through grants, outreach, training, and technical assistance regarding energy-efficient technologies at wastewater treatment facilities in eligible municipalities and tribes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
Unsolicited Loan Act of 2019 This bill prohibits a lender from providing an unsolicited loan check or similar instrument to a consumer. Additionally, a consumer is not liable for any debt incurred from such an instrument.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
This resolution honors the employees of the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The resolution calls on the State Department to afford the appropriate assistance and protections to its employees.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
This concurrent resolution recognizes the importance of equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities and that many government facilities remain inaccessible to such individuals due to architectural and other barriers. The concurrent resolution also pledges to make universal and inclusive design a guiding principle for all infrastructure bills and projects.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2019
Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach Act This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract with a state in order to carry out, coordinate, improve, or otherwise enhance health and wellness programs, comprehensive veteran suicide prevention programs, and outreach by the VA and the state. The VA is authorized to award a grant to a state to (1) carry out, coordinate, improve or otherwise enhance health and wellness programs, comprehensive veteran suicide prevention programs, outreach activities, or activities to assist with benefits claims for veterans; or (2) hire additional county veterans service officers.
![Official portrait of Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001176_200.jpg)