United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 This bill imposes penalties on certain persons (individuals and entities) if the President determines that the Russian government or a person acting at Russia's direction is involved with (1) refusing to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine; (2) violating a negotiated peace agreement; (3) initiating another invasion of Ukraine; or (4) overthrowing, dismantling, or seeking to subvert the Ukrainian government. If the President makes such a determination, the bill requires certain actions including the President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on specified persons such as the Russian president, certain Russian military commanders, and any foreign person that knowingly provides defense items to the Russian armed forces; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported from Russia into the United States to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the President must increase the rate of duty on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products to at least 500% relative to the value of such goods and services; the Department of the Treasury must impose property-blocking sanctions on any financial institution organized under Russian law and owned wholly or partly by Russia, and any financial institution that engages in transactions with those entities; and the Department of Commerce must prohibit the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or in Russia of any U.S.-produced energy or energy product.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 2025
This resolution designates March 27, 2025, as National Women in Agriculture Day. It also recognizes the important role of women in agriculture as producers, educators, leaders, mentors, and more.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 2025
Feral Swine Eradication Act This bill reauthorizes the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program through FY2030 and removes the pilot program designation. This Department of Agriculture (USDA) program responds to the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, native ecosystems, and human and animal health. In addition, USDA must require the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to continue monitoring an area for reoccurrence of feral swine for one year after USDA determines that feral swine has been eradicated from an eligible area. The bill requires 60% of the funds provided for the program to be allocated to APHIS and 40% of the funds to be allocated to the NRCS. (Under current law, the funds are divided evenly between APHIS and the NRCS). Further, the bill includes new reporting requirements, which direct APHIS and the NRCS to submit a joint report to Congress on the program. This report must be publicly available on USDA's website.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2025
Opioid Overdose Data Collection Enhancement Act This bill allows grants under the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program to be used to implement overdose data collection programs. An overdose data collection program tracks the locations of suspected overdoses and the administration of opioid overdose reversal medication by first responders.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 2025
Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder Act of 2025 or the HELPER Act of 2025 This bill establishes a program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide mortgage assistance to law enforcement officers, elementary and secondary school teachers, firefighters, or other first responders. Specifically, these individuals may be eligible for a first-time mortgage on a primary family residence with no down payment. Instead, the mortgage is subject to a one-time, up-front mortgage insurance premium.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2025
Resident Education Deferred Interest Act or the REDI Act This bill allows borrowers in medical or dental internships or residency programs to defer student loan payments until the completion of their programs.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2025
Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act This bill expands the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) to include additional bicyclist and pedestrian safety measures and increases the federal cost share for certain safety projects. Specifically, the bill allows HSIP to fund projects (1) for the connection of two or more segments of existing bicyclist or pedestrian infrastructure, or (2) that are based on a state's plan to improve the safety of vulnerable road users (e.g., bicyclists or pedestrians) in areas identified as high-risk. In addition, the bill allows an increased federal cost share of up to 100% for these projects. The bill also allows an increased federal cost share of up to 100% for transportation projects that meet certain criteria, including (1) the project includes a Federal Highway Administration Proven Safety Countermeasure for bicyclists or pedestrians (e.g., bicycle lanes, walkways, and crosswalk visibility enhancements), or (2) the relevant state strategic highway safety plan includes an emphasis area that is related to vulnerable road users.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 2025
Justice for Murder Victims Act This bill allows a prosecution to be instituted for any federal homicide offense without regard to the time that elapsed between the act or omission that caused the death of the victim and the death of the victim.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 2025
Securing American Agriculture Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to assess, on an annual basis, U.S. dependency on critical agricultural products or inputs that could be exploited in the event that China weaponizes such a dependency. USDA must submit a report to Congress on the assessment, which must include recommendations to reduce U.S. dependency on China to supply critical agricultural products or inputs. Under the bill, critical inputs include all farm management, agronomic, and field-applied production inputs (e.g., agricultural equipment, fertilizers, veterinary drugs, and seed). The bill specifies that, in conducting the assessment, USDA may not require a private entity to provide information to USDA. Further, the bill requires USDA to comply with certain confidentiality requirements and restricts disclosures of the information.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 2025
Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act of 2025 This bill requires the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to report on one or more proposed programs for providing mental health care to public safety officers and related personnel. Under the bill, a proposed program must be administered by DOJ and must make treatment and preventative care available to public safety officers and public safety telecommunicators for job-related post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder. The bill requires the report to also include draft legislative language related to each proposed program, as well as the estimated cost for administering each proposed program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2025
Rural Veterans Transportation to Care Act This bill expands and makes permanent the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant program that provides transportation options to veterans for medical purposes. First, the bill expands the program to cover transportation for veterans in rural areas, in addition to veterans in highly rural areas (who are already eligible under the program). The bill also authorizes the VA to award such grants to county veterans service organizations and tribal organizations to assist veterans with transportation for medical care. Further, the bill increases the maximum grant amount to $60,000. However, if a grant recipient is required to purchase a vehicle to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, such grant amount may be increased to not more than $80,000. Finally, the bill defines rural and highly rural in the same manner as the terms are given under the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) coding system of the Department of Agriculture. RUCA uses population density and commuting patterns to assign designations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act This bill increases federal criminal penalties for providing or attempting to provide a cell phone to an individual who is incarcerated at a prison.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
Farm and Food Cybersecurity Act of 2025 This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to (1) assess cybersecurity threats in the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector, and (2) conduct annual crisis simulation exercises for food-related emergencies or disruptions. The agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector includes (1) any activity relating to the production, processing, distribution, storage, transportation, consumption, or disposal of agricultural or food products; and (2) any entity involved in any of these activities. Specifically, USDA, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, must conduct a risk assessment every two years on the cybersecurity threats to, and security vulnerabilities in, this sector. The risk assessment must include any recommendations for federal legislative or administrative actions to address related threats and vulnerabilities. USDA must also conduct an annual simulation exercise relating to a food-related emergency or disruption in coordination with DHS, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Among other things, the exercise must (1) involve a realistic and plausible scenario that simulates a food-related emergency or disruption that affects multiple sectors and jurisdictions, and (2) incorporate input from experts and stakeholders from various disciplines and sectors (e.g., agriculture, public health, emergency management, transportation, and energy). USDA, in consultation with DHS, HHS, and ODNI, must submit a report to Congress on each simulation exercise, including recommendations to enhance the cybersecurity and resilience of the agriculture and food critical infrastructure sector.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
Accelerating Kids’ Access to Care Act This bill requires states to establish a process through which qualifying out-of-state providers may temporarily treat children under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) without undergoing additional screening requirements. Specifically, states must establish a process through which qualifying out-of-state providers may enroll for five years as participating providers to treat individuals under the age of 21 without undergoing additional screening requirements. A qualifying out-of-state provider (1) must not have been excluded or terminated from participating in a federal health care program or state Medicaid program; and (2) must have been successfully enrolled in Medicare or a state Medicaid program based on a determination that the provider posed a limited risk of fraud, waste, or abuse. The bill’s changes take effect three years after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2025
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 2025
Helping Heroes Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the Veteran Family Resource Program to address social determinants of health challenges experienced in veterans’ family units and ensure veterans and their families have access to services and resources to support wellness within the family units. In implementing the program, the VA must (1) appoint at least one family coordinator in each Veterans Integrated Service Network (regional VA health care administrative areas), and (2) ensure adequate staffing and resources to ensure family coordinators are able to carry out their duties and functions. Under the bill, a family coordinator’s function is generally to serve at a VA medical center as a point person regarding VA and community resources for veterans, their families, and caregivers and survivors of veterans. The VA may expand the program to additional medical centers as appropriate. Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this bill, and not less frequently than once every five years after, the VA must survey disabled veterans and their families to identify and better understand their needs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
Critical Mineral Consistency Act of 2025 This bill modifies the Energy Act of 2020 to expand the definition of critical minerals used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to include critical materials designated by the Department of Energy (DOE). It also directs USGS to update its list within 45 days of DOE adding a mineral, element, substance, or material to its critical materials list. Thus, the bill requires the lists to be treated consistently and makes critical materials eligible for the same benefits (e.g., financing support or clean energy tax credits) provided to critical minerals. By way of background, DOE's critical materials list contains certain materials that are essential for energy, including those on the critical minerals list of the USGS. The USGS's list, which contains certain minerals that are essential to the nation's economic or national security, is currently not required to include the materials on DOE's list.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 2025
Ethan's Law This bill establishes a framework to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises at the federal, state, and tribal levels. At the federal level, the bill establishes statutory requirements for firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is likely to gain access without permission or if a resident is ineligible to possess a firearm. An individual who violates the requirements is subject to criminal penalties. A firearm stored in violation of the requirements is subject to seizure and forfeiture. At the state and tribal levels, the bill requires the Department of Justice to award grants to implement functionally identical requirements for the safe storage of firearms.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2025
Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2025 This bill modifies the appointment procedures and term of service for the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. Currently, the director is appointed by the Attorney General. This bill requires the director to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The bill also limits the director to a single term of 10 years.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2025
This resolution supports the designation of February 15-22, 2025, as National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Week. It also celebrates the 90th anniversary of New Farmers of America (NFA), which served Black vocational agriculture students in segregated public schools until NFA and FFA became one organization in 1965. The resolution also commemorates the 75th anniversary of the federal charter for the Future Farmers of America.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2025
Building Resources and Access for Veterans' Mental Health Engagement Act of 2025 or the BRAVE Act of 2025 This bill addresses mental health services and care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including matters related to personnel, Vet Center administration, care for women veterans, and access to care. The bill authorizes the VA to waive the licensure or certification requirement for individual licensed professional mental health counselor appointees for a reasonable period of time. The bill also extends the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program and increases the maximum annual grant amount. The VA must provide Vet Centers with guidance for assessing outreach activities and implement processes to periodically assess the extent to which (1) veterans and eligible members of the Armed Forces experience barriers to obtaining services at Vet Centers, and (2) Vet Center staff may encounter barriers to providing services. Among other requirements, the VA must also survey and host listening sessions with women veterans to gauge the effectiveness of the VA’s suicide prevention, lethal-means safety, and mental health resources and messaging campaigns; initiate efforts to modify the Recovery Engagement and Coordination for Health-Veterans Enhanced Treatment (REACH VET) program to incorporate risk factors weighted for women; annually offer a mental health consultation to veterans who are receiving compensation for a service-connected disability relating to a mental health diagnosis; and implement a pilot program to provide access to mental health residential treatment programs for veterans with a spinal cord injury or disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 2025
Overcoming Prevalent Inadequacies in Overdose Information Data Sets Act or the OPIOIDS Act This bill establishes and revises certain grants and resources to address opioid-related overdoses. Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to states, territories, and localities to improve data and surveillance related to opioid overdoses. Additionally, the bill directs DOJ to award grants to law enforcement agencies and forensic laboratories in communities with high rates of drug overdoses to (1) provide training to help officers better identify overdoses, (2) upgrade essential systems for drug tracing and processing samples in forensic laboratories, or (3) provide training to better trace criminals through the dark web. The bill requires the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers to provide training to state and local law enforcement agencies on how to best coordinate with state and federal partners for tracking drug-related activity. The bill allows funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program to be used to provide training and resources for equipment that protects first responders from secondary fentanyl exposure. Finally, the bill directs the Drug Enforcement Administration to (1) develop uniform reporting standards for information concerning drug control activities, and (2) budget for a program that analyzes fentanyl samples.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2025
Healthy Poultry Assistance and Indemnification Act of 2025 This bill expands the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) producer indemnity and compensation program to include compensation for all poultry growers and layers located in an APHIS-determined control area, which may include non-infected poultry. Currently, APHIS provides indemnity and compensation to producers to remove animals classified as affected, suspect, or exposed to diseases of concern, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). An APHIS-determined control area consists of both an infected zone and a buffer zone. Under the bill, APHIS must compensate all owners of poultry growing or laying facilities within a control area, which may include facilities that are located in the buffer zones and have non-infected poultry. Further, the bill establishes a new compensation payment formula that requires payments to be based on the owner’s average income from the five most recent flocks.
![Official portrait of Sen. Ossoff, Jon [D-GA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/o000174_200.jpg)