United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2017
Protecting Consumers' Access to Credit Act of 2017 This bill amends the Revised Statutes, the Home Owners' Loan Act, the Federal Credit Union Act, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to state that bank loans that are valid when made as to their maximum rate of interest in accordance with federal law shall remain valid with respect to that rate regardless of whether a bank has subsequently sold or assigned the loan to a third party.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Fair Elections Now Act This bill establishes the Fair Elections Fund, which shall provide funding to Senate candidates who meet specified conditions and agree to abide by certain requirements, such as limits on types of campaign funding sources and a minimum number of appearances in public debates. The bill also (1) revises provisions related to broadcasts of Senate campaign advertisements, (2) provides a tax credit for individuals who make certain types of Senate campaign contributions, and (3) imposes a tax on certain U.S. government contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 2017
Recognizes the role of Latinos in protecting and preserving U.S. land, water, and wildlife. Supports the engagement of Latinos in environmental protection and conservation efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Rural Wireless Access Act of 2017 This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish a consistent methodology for its collection of coverage data about the available speed tiers and performance characteristics of commercial mobile and data service for the Universal Service program or any similar programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2017
Bob Dole 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 Bob Dole in recognition for his service to the nation as a soldier, legislator, and statesman.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Burial Rights for America's Veterans' Efforts Act of 2017 or the BRAVE Act of 2017 This bill increases the amounts payable through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for: (1) burial and funeral expenses of certain veterans, and (2) such expenses in connection with a veteran's death due to a service-connected disability. The VA shall increase such amounts each fiscal year by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 2017
Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 This bill revises education and related benefits provided to veterans, service members, dependents, and survivors. The bill amends the Post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program to: remove certain time restrictions on program use; increase assistance for reservists, guardsmen, dependents, and surviving spouses and dependents; provide full eligibility for Post-9/11 Purple Heart recipients and certain reservists and guardsmen; provide an extra academic years' worth of benefits for STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degree candidates; establish a five-year pilot program for high technology courses; restore eligibility for service members whose school closes in the middle of a semester; authorize funding to improve claims processing; permit assistance to be used at certain institutions that are not institutions of higher education; and pro-rate the housing stipend for reservists called to active duty. The bill authorizes the Edith Nurse Rogers STEM Scholarship to help veterans complete STEM degrees. The Yellow Ribbon program is extended to Fry Scholarship recipients (surviving dependents of service members who died on active duty) and certain Purple Heart recipients. (The Yellow Ribbon program helps veterans pay for higher education tuition and fee costs not covered by the Post-9/11 program.) The bill: (1) extends the Advisory Committee on Education, (2) increases survivors' and dependents' educational assistance, and (3) extends funding for state educational program approving agencies. The bill provides statutory authority for the veterans success of campus program which provides veterans with on-campus educational and vocational counseling. The Department of Veterans Affairs shall: (1) make a new determination regarding each denied veteran's claim for disability compensation in connection with full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite at specified locations during World War II, and (2) presume such exposure unless there is affirmative evidence otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
This bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to update at least once every seven years its environmental sensitivity index products for each coastal area of the Great Lakes. (An environmental sensitivity product is a map or similar tool that is utilized to identify sensitive shoreline, coastal or offshore, resources prior to an oil spill event.)
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend to all domestic corporations, including S corporations, provisions allowing deferral of tax on gain from the sale of employer securities to an S corporation-sponsored employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). The Department of the Treasury must establish the S Corporation Employee Ownership Assistance Office to foster increased employee ownership of S corporations. The bill also amends the Small Business Act to define "ESOP business concern" and allow such a concern to continue to qualify for loans, preferences, and other programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2017
Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2017 or the DISCLOSE Act of 2017 This bill amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to ban campaign contributions and expenditures by corporations that are controlled, influenced, or owned by foreign nationals. The bill redefines the term "independent expenditure" to include an expenditure that is the functional equivalent of express advocacy because it can be interpreted by a reasonable person only as advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. The bill expands the period during which certain communications are treated as electioneering communications. The bill prescribes disclosure requirements for campaign-related disbursements by corporations, labor organizations, and other entities, including a political committee with an account established for the purpose of accepting donations or contributions that do not comply with the contribution limits or source prohibitions under FECA.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 2017
President John F. Kennedy Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 500,000 $1 silver coins in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include a surcharge of $10 per coin, which shall be paid by Treasury to the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation to support the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Care And Readiness Enhancement for Reservists Act of 2017 or the CARE for Reservists Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide counseling without referral, which may include a comprehensive individual assessment, to any member of the reserve components of the Armed Forces who has a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma. Outpatient services shall also be available to such reservists. The VA shall evaluate current and future workloads to determine whether more Vet Centers, including mobile Vet Centers, are needed to handle an expansion of services resulting from such increased eligibility. If a Vet Center's workload treating members of the Armed Forces exceeds its workload treating veterans, the VA shall enter into discussions with the Department of Defense (DOD) to determine whether a reimbursable memorandum of understanding between the VA and DOD for the center's services is warranted. The VA may furnish mental health services to such reservists. Such reservists are included in the VA programs of: (1) comprehensive suicide prevention, and (2) mental health treatment for veterans who served in classified missions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Expresses solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners and their families for the lives, freedoms, and rights they lost for adhering to their beliefs and practices. Emphasizes to the government of China that freedom of religion includes the right of Falun Gong practitioners to practice freely in China. Condemns the practice of non-consenting organ harvesting in China. Calls upon: (1) the Communist Party of China (CPC) to cease its campaign to persecute Falun Gong practitioners and release all such practitioners who have been confined, detained, or imprisoned for pursuing their right to exercise their spiritual beliefs; (2) the government of China and the CPC to end the practice of organ harvesting from all prisoners of conscience; and (3) China to allow an independent and transparent investigation into organ transplant abuses.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Small Business Employee Ownership Promotion Enhancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to appoint a SCORE Employee Ownership Director, whose duties shall relate to the various forms of employee ownership. The director shall be responsible for: administering and disbursing materials that contain general information and technical assistance for the establishment of employee ownership structures; coordinating efforts for employee ownership with SCORE chapters located throughout the United States; providing technical assistance relating to a range of business forms and strategies that promote or facilitate employee ownership, including an employee stock ownership plan, a cooperative, and any other approach determined appropriate by the director; and providing the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Office of Entrepreneurial Development with statistics, including regional statistics from a SCORE chapter relating to services provided to small businesses potentially undertaking a form of employee ownership. The director may be an SBA employee on the date of his or her appointment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking Victims Act of 2017 This bill amends the federal criminal code to: state that the term "intimate partner" includes a dating partner and any other person subject to a protection order under state domestic or family violence law; and expand the term "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" to include the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, by a current or former intimate partner. The bill makes it a crime to knowingly sell or dispose of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of stalking. It also makes it a crime for such convicted stalker to receive or possess a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
States Achieve Medicaid Expansion Act of 2017 or the SAME Act of 2017 This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide the enhanced federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) to every state that expands Medicaid coverage for individuals who are newly eligible under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, regardless of when such expansion takes place. Under current law, the enhanced FMAP is equivalent to 100% in 2014 through 2016, 95% in 2017, 94% in 2018, 93% in 2019, and 90% thereafter. The bill retains this enhanced FMAP, but bases it on a term of years rather than on specific dates. The bill applies retroactively.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Growing Small Businesses Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for investments in a small business's first qualifying production facility. The credit is equal to 25% of the cost of property for an eligible employer's first qualifying production facility placed in service during the year. The credit applies to employers who: (1) have no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees, and (2) have not previously placed in service a dedicated facility for the production of goods for sale. A "qualifying production facility" must be used to produce any of the following products: tangible personal property, computer software, films and videotape, sound recordings, or food and beverages which are prepared by the taxpayer but not primarily for consumption at property owned by the taxpayer. Qualifying employers may elect to apply up to $250,000 of the credit against payroll taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Furthering carbon capture, Utilization, Technology, Underground storage, and Reduced Emissions Act or the FUTURE Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend and modify the tax credit for carbon dioxide sequestration. The bill modifies the credit to apply it to carbon oxide sequestration. (Carbon oxide refers to any of the three oxides of carbon: carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon suboxide.) The bill also: allows certain new industrial or direct air capture facilities to qualify for the credit if construction begins before January 1, 2024; allows qualified projects to claim the credit for 12 years, beginning on the date the equipment was originally placed in service; increases the separate credit amounts, with respect to projects placed in service upon or after the enactment of this bill, that apply to captured carbon oxide that is: (1) disposed of in secure geological storage, and (2) used as a tertiary injectant in an enhanced oil or natural gas recovery project and disposed of in secure geological storage; expands the purposes for which captured carbon oxide may be used; establishes separate carbon oxide capture thresholds for electricity generating facilities, direct air capture facilities, and facilities used for other purposes; specifies that the 75 million metric ton cap on the carbon dioxide that may qualify for the credit applies to carbon oxide and only to projects placed in service before the enactment of this bill; and allows the credit to be transferred from the entity that owns and uses the capture equipment to the entity that disposes of or uses the carbon oxide.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Helping Ensure Life- and Limb-Saving Access to Podiatric Physicians Act or the HELLPP Act This bill adds podiatrists as covered physicians under the Medicaid program. Documentation requirements related to Medicare coverage of therapeutic shoes for individuals with diabetes are revised. The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject payments made to a Medicaid provider or supplier to a continuing levy for federal taxes owed by the provider or supplier.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 2017
Veterans Access to Care Act of 2017 This bill authorizes and appropriates funds for: (1) Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, and (2) the veterans choice program. The VA shall conduct a program to increase by up to 1,500 the number of graduate medical education residency positions at covered facilities. The bill expands: (1) eligibility for the VA family caregiver program to include members of the Armed Forces or veterans who were seriously injured or became ill on active duty prior to September 11, 2001; and (2) services to caregivers of veterans under such program to include child care, financial planning, and legal services. The support program for caregivers of covered veterans is terminated on October 1, 2022, except that any caregiver activities carried out on September 30, 2022, shall be continued. The VA may carry out specified major medical facility leases in Alabama, Colorado, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. The VA may record as a U.S. government obligation amounts owed for hospital care or medical services furnished at non-VA facilities when a health care provider's payment claim is approved, rather than when the VA authorizes such care or services.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2017
Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017 This bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico mixed-use fisheries. The bill authorizes a regional fishery management council to use alternative fishery management measures in developing a fishery management plan for a recreational fishery or the recreational component of a mixed-use fishery. The bill establishes a temporary moratorium on any new limited access privilege programs (programs whereby limited access privileges to harvest a portion of the total allowable catch in a fishery are issued by federal permit) in mixed-use fisheries under the jurisdiction of the South Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils. Additionally, the bill establishes exemptions from annual catch limit requirements for certain fisheries. NOAA must follow certain guidelines before issuing a new exempted fishing permit. NOAA must develop a report on facilitating greater incorporation of data, analysis, stock assessments, and surveys from state agencies and nongovernmental sources into fisheries management decisions. NOAA must also establish partnerships with states and make grants to improve recreational fisheries data collection.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Designates June 19, 2017, as Juneteenth Independence Day. Recognizes the historical significance and supports the continued celebration of Juneteenth Independence Day, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than 50,000 $5 coins, 400,000 $1 coins, and 750,000 half-dollar coins emblematic of the game of basketball. The bill requires all sales of such coins to include specified surcharges, which shall be paid by Treasury to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to fund an endowment for increased operations and educational programming.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Recognizing the Environmental Gains In Overcoming Negligence Act or the REGION Act This bill prohibits funds made available for FY2018 from being used to close, consolidate, or eliminate any regional or program office of the Environmental Protection Agency.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Expresses support for the rights, freedoms, and equal treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Recognizes that LGBTQ rights are human rights and protected by the U.S. Constitution and international treaties. Encourages the celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month in June.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Wounded Warrior Workforce Enhancement Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to award grants to eligible institutions to: (1) establish a master's degree program in orthotics and prosthetics, or (2) expand upon an existing master's degree program in such area. The VA shall give grant priority to institutions that have entered into a partnership with a medical center administered by the VA or a facility administered by the Department of Defense. An "eligible institution" is an educational institution that is either accredited by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education or that demonstrates an ability to meet such accreditation requirements if it receives a grant. The bill requires the VA to award a grant to an institution with orthotic and prosthetic research and education experience to: (1) establish the Center of Excellence in Orthotic and Prosthetic Education; and (2) improve orthotic and prosthetic outcomes for veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and civilians by conducting orthotic and prosthetic research.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Small Business Cyber Training Act of 2017 This bill amends the Small Business Act to require the Small Business Administration to establish a program for certifying employees of small business development centers to provide cybersecurity planning assistance to small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Designates June 2017 as National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Month and June 27, 2017, as National Post-Traumatic Stress Awareness Day. Supports efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense, as well as the medical community, to educate members of the Armed Forces, veterans, their families, and the public about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of post-traumatic stress. Welcomes the efforts of the VA's National Center for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and local Vet Centers to assist veterans suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress. Encourages Armed Forces commanders to support appropriate treatment of Armed Forces personnel who suffer from post-traumatic stress.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2017
Expresses support for: (1) equal rights and protections for all people, regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; and (2) the designation of LGBT Equality Day on June 26 to commemorate Supreme Court decisions handed down on that day in 2003, 2013, and 2015. Acknowledges the need for further legislation to ensure that people in the United States are free from all forms of discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
United States Center for Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 This bill amends the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to include among the purposes of the U.S. Olympic Committee to promote a safe environment in sports that is free from abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, of any amateur athlete. The bill designates the United States Center for Safe Sport, which shall: serve as the independent national safe sport organization for the United States; exercise jurisdiction over the committee, each national governing body, and each paralympic sports organization with regard to safeguarding amateur athletes against abuse in sports; maintain an office for education and outreach that shall develop training, oversight practices, policies, and procedures to prevent the abuse of amateur athletes; ensure that such policies and procedures require that all such bodies and organizations follow the center's policies and procedures; maintain an office for response and resolution that shall establish mechanisms that allow for the reporting, investigation, and adjudication of alleged sexual abuse in violation of the center's policies and procedures; and ensure that such mechanisms provide fair notice and an opportunity to be heard and protect the privacy and safety of complainants. The center may utilize a neutral arbitration body and develop policies and procedures to resolve allegations of sexual abuse within its jurisdiction. The center shall: (1) develop training, oversight practices, policies, and procedures for implementation by such body or organization to prevent abuse of any amateur athlete; (2) keep correct and complete records of account; and (3) report annually to Congress. The center, and each national governing body and paralympic sports organization, shall not be liable for damages in any civil action for defamation, libel, slander, or damage to reputation arising from the execution of its responsibilities or functions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Coordinated Ocean Monitoring and Research Act This bill revises and reauthorizes through FY2021 the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009. The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) is a network of federal and regional entities that provide information about the nation's coasts and oceans, as well as the Great Lakes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must: (1) serve as the lead federal agency for the implementation of the IOOS, and (2) establish an IOOS Program Office to oversee daily operations and coordination of the IOOS. The bill outlines the requirements for NOAA as the lead agency. The bill establishes a process for regional associations to certify their regional coastal observing systems. The Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology of the National Science and Technology Council must: (1) conduct an Ocean Chemistry Coastal Community Vulnerability Assessment on ocean acidification within a year and every five years thereafter; and (2) develop a plan to deploy ocean acidification sensors prioritized by the threat to coastal economies and ecosystems, gaps in data on ocean acidification, and research needs. The National Science Foundation's research on ocean acidification must include research on: (1) impacts of multiple stressors on ecosystems exhibiting hypoxia (a dead zone that is depleted of oxygen), harmful algal blooms (rapid accumulation of algae), or sediment delivery; and (2) the effects of those impacts combined with changes in ocean chemistry.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 This bill amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow a representative official of an Indian tribe, with authorization from the governing body of the tribe, to request one or more polling places to be located on tribal lands. The state or political subdivision shall provide each requested polling place at no expense to the Indian tribe if certain criteria are met. A federal court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce constitutional voting guarantees, but also certain violations of the Act as well as of any federal prohibition against discrimination on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, for an appropriate period to prevent commencement of new devices to deny or abridge the right to vote. Any state (and all of its political subdivisions) shall be subject to certain requirements for a 10-year period if: 15 or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years; or 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least one of which was committed by the state itself (as opposed to a political subdivision within it). A state or political subdivision that obtains a declaratory judgment that it has not used a device to deny or abridge the right to vote shall be exempt from such requirements unless as specified. This bill prescribes transparency requirements regarding any changes to specified matters. Department of Justice authority to assign observers receives new extensions. Courts shall grant preliminary injunctive relief if a complainant raises a serious question whether the challenged covered practice violates the Act or the Constitution and, on balance, the hardship imposed upon the defendant by the relief will be less than the hardship on the plaintiff if the relief were not granted.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2017
Recognizes the increase in educational opportunities, including in sports, for women and girls since the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Encourages the Department of Education and Department of Justice to ensure that students have a safe learning environment by working to ensure schools prevent and respond to discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex including sexual assault, harassment, domestic and dating violence, pregnancy, sex-stereotyping, and actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Recognizes that progress remains to ensure that no educational institution that receives federal funding discriminates against any persons because of their sex. Recognizes the progress in education opportunities for women and girls since the passage of title IX of the Education Amendments. Expresses the need to ensure students have a safe learning environment through schools' prevention efforts and responses to forms of discrimination and harassment based on one's sex.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2017
Stop the Asian Carp Now Act of 2017 This bill directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release for public comment the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study - Brandon Road interim report that was scheduled for release on February 27, 2017. (The interim report is a feasibility study that assesses the viability of establishing a single point to control the upstream transfer of aquatic nuisance species from the Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes Basin in the vicinity of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 2017
Reaffirms: (1) the bipartisan commitment of the United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees; and (2) the goals of World Refugee Day. Recognizes: (1) individuals who have risked their lives to provide life-saving assistance and protection for people displaced by conflict, and (2) the importance of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program as a critical tool for U.S. global leadership. Calls upon the U.S. government to: continue providing robust funding for refugee protection overseas and resettlement in the United States, uphold its international leadership role in responding to displacement crises with humanitarian assistance and protection of the most vulnerable populations, and alleviate the burden on refugee host countries through humanitarian and development support while maintaining the tradition of resettling the most vulnerable refugees regardless of their country of origin or religious beliefs. Reiterates the U.S. commitment to seek to protect the millions of refugees who live without material, social, or legal protections.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
No Hearing, No Vote Act of 2017 This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit the Senate from considering any reconciliation bill or reconciliation resolution, unless: the legislation is either ordered reported to the Senate by the committee receiving reconciliation instructions or reported by the Senate Budget Committee after receiving recommendations from multiple committees receiving instructions, and each committee that ordered the legislation to be reported or ordered recommendations to be reported to the Senate Budget Committee held at least one hearing regarding any major provision of the legislation that is within the jurisdiction of the committee An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Senators, duly chosen and sworn, is required to either: (1) waive or suspend the requirements of this bill, or (2) sustain an appeal of the ruling of the chair on a point of order raised, with respect to the requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Working Families Tax Relief Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the earned income tax credit, to: (1) increase the credit and reduce the phaseout percentage for taxpayers with no qualifying children, (2) reduce from 25 to 21 the qualifying age for individuals with no children, (3) revise eligibility rules relating to married individuals living apart and qualifying children claimed by another family member, and (4) repeal the denial of such credit for taxpayers with excess investment income. This bill modifies the child tax credit to: (1) increase the amount of the credit and the portion of the credit that is refundable for taxpayers with children under the age of six, and (2) require the dollar amounts of the credit to be adjusted for inflation after 2017.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Restore Honor to Service Members Act This bill requires appropriate military record correction boards or discharge review boards to review the discharge characterization of any former members of the Armed Forces requesting a review who were discharged because of their sexual orientation. Such boards to change a characterization to honorable if such characterization is any characterization except honorable. The Department of Defense (DOD) shall ensure that any such changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across the military departments using specified criteria, including that: (1) the original discharge was based on the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell (as in effect before it was repealed pursuant to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010) or a similar earlier policy; and (2) the discharge characterization will be changed if, with respect to the original discharge, there were no aggravating circumstances that would have independently led to any discharge characterization except honorable. The bill prohibits "aggravating circumstances" from including: (1) an offense of sodomy committed by the member against a consenting person of the same sex; or (2) statements, consensual sexual conduct, or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation or identity, or the disclosure of such statements, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at the time of discharge but that became permitted after such discharge. Each military department shall ensure that oral historians of the department: (1) review discharges between World War II and September 2011 based on sexual orientation, and (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who personally experienced discrimination and discharge because of actual or perceived sexual orientation so that such testimony may serve as an official record of such discriminatory policies and their impact on American lives. Specified military personnel records and discharge forms must be reissued in a manner that shall not reflect the sexual orientation of the member.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2017
Recognizes: U.S. Capitol Police Special Agents David Bailey, Crystal Griner, and Henry Cabrera for responding to and ultimately ending the threat to Members of Congress, their staff, and others during the shooting at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 14, 2017; the Police Department, the Office of the Sheriff, and the Fire Department of Alexandria, Virginia, and the first responders who reported to the scene; victims Steve Scalise, Zachary Barth, and Matthew Mika, who survived the shooting; and the U.S. Capitol Police for their professionalism, vigilance, and self-sacrifice in protecting Members of Congress and congressional employees, visitors, and facilities. Recognizes that threats to Members of Congress also threaten the foundations of our representative democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 2017
Charities Helping Americans Regularly Throughout the Year Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify several tax provisions affecting charitable contributions and tax-exempt organizations. The Internal Revenue Service may determine the standard mileage rate for deducting the cost of using a passenger automobile for charitable purposes (currently set by statute at 14 cents per mile), and the rate may not be less than the rate for medical purposes (17 cents per mile for 2017). The bill modifies the substantiation requirements for charitable contributions to eliminate an exemption for contributions that are reported on a return filed by a tax-exempt organization. Tax-exempt organizations must file their returns in electronic form. The bill excludes from the gross income of an individual who is at least 70-1/2 years of age up to $100,000 in distributions from an individual retirement plan to a donor-advised fund (DAF). The bill also modifies disclosure requirements for DAFs. (A DAF is a fund or account that is separately identified by reference to contributions of a donor or donors. The account is owned and controlled by a sponsoring charitable organization, while the donor retains advisory privileges with respect to the distribution and investment of funds in the account.) The bill reduces from 2% to 1% the excise tax on the investment income of private foundations and eliminates a provision that reduces the rate to 1% if a foundation meets certain distribution requirements. The bill exempts certain philanthropic business holdings from the tax on excess business holdings of private foundations if a foundation meets requirements for exclusive ownership, donating all profits to charity, and independent operation.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Great Lakes Aquatic Connectivity and Infrastructure Program Act This bill establishes within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) the Great Lakes Aquatic Connectivity and Infrastructure Program to identify and implement voluntary measures that restore aquatic species to self-sustaining levels by reconnecting aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes basin while maintaining and modernizing needed infrastructure, particularly in locations where roads, tributaries, or dams intersect. The USFWS and the Department of Transportation must collaborate with federal, state, local, and tribal governments, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, signatories to the Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, and any other appropriate stakeholders to support: (1) sound approaches to addressing infrastructure and aquatic populations in the Great Lakes, and (2) ecosystem resiliency. The USFWS must: (1) finalize a strategic plan for the program to address aquatic connectivity in the Great Lakes basin, and (2) annually request proposals for funding that would be used to restore aquatic connectivity in the basin and support the strategic plan. The bill also establishes the Great Lakes Aquatic Connectivity and Infrastructure Committee to review the proposals and recommend to the USFWS proposals that should receive funding. Nothing in this bill conflicts with the authority of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to eradicate or minimize a sea lamprey population under the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries between the United States and Canada.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2017
Great Lakes Mass Marking Program Act This bill provides statutory authority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS's) Great Lakes Mass Marking Program, under which hatchery-produced fish are tagged and marked across the Great Lakes basin to be evaluated in terms of their performance in the wild or their effects on the ecosystem. The USFWS must make data collected under the program available to federal, state, and tribal fish management agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2017 This bill expands the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) authority to issue public safety and community policing grants to include funds for training of school resource officers in the prevention of human trafficking offenses. DOJ may bring a civil action in a federal court to enjoin persons from violating federal laws pertaining to the trafficking of persons and the sexual exploitation of children. The bill amends the purposes for which the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children may spend funds from grants issued by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Protection. The bill formally establishes in Immigration and Customs Enforcement the Office of Victim Assistance and delineates the functions of that office. DOJ's Office of Victims of Crimes may use not more than 1% of the amount to be distributed from the Crime Victims Fund to provide and improve direct assistance services for crime victims. DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Labor shall periodically implement improvements to the training programs on human trafficking for their employees. DOJ shall ensure that each human trafficking program operated by DOJ includes training on screening all adults and children suspected of engaging in commercial sex acts to determine whether individuals are victims of human trafficking. DOJ shall issue a screening protocol for use during all anti-trafficking law enforcement operations in which DOJ is involved.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Soo Locks Modernization Act This bill directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out the project authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 for the construction of a second lock adjacent to the existing lock at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, at a total project cost that is equal to the 2017 certified cost estimate, plus or minus such amounts as may be required by ordinary fluctuations in construction costs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2017
Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare coverage for medical nutrition therapy services to beneficiaries with pre-diabetes or risk factors for developing type-2 diabetes.
![Official portrait of Sen. Peters, Gary C. [D-MI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000595_200.jpg)