United States · United States Congress · 25 October 2017
Background Check Expansion Act This bill establishes new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties (i.e., unlicensed individuals). Specifically, it prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check. The prohibition does not apply to certain firearm transfers, such as a gift between spouses in good faith.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 2017
Suspends specified provisions of Rule IV of the Rules for the Regulation of the Senate Wing of the U.S. Capitol and Senate Office Buildings (prohibiting the taking of pictures in the Senate Chamber) to release a limited number of preexisting photographs of the Senate Chamber and to permit taking a limited number of pictures in such wing and office buildings until January 31, 2018. Authorizes the Majority and the Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to enter into a memorandum of understanding with an individual or entity seeking to take such photographs and make use of preexisting photographs for a book on the history of the Senate to formalize an agreement on conditions, locations, and times for taking photographs and the use of the photographs taken.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 2017
This bill prohibits any federal agency funds, resources, or fees from being used to implement or enforce Executive Order 13780 and the presidential proclamation of September 24, 2017. Among the order's major provisions are restrictions on the entry of nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen and additional limitations on refugee admissions to the United States. The proclamation revised such order to include entry restrictions on nationals from Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela, and remove such restrictions on nationals of Sudan. The proclamation additionally provides for enhanced U.S. vetting capacities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 2017
Condemns the attack at the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 1, 2017, and honors the memory of the victims killed. Expresses hope for the recovery of those injured, and applauds the efforts of law-enforcement and counterterrorism officials and emergency-medical and healthcare professionals in response to the attack.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2017
Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a trigger crank, a bump-fire device, or any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle but not convert the semiautomatic rifle into a machine gun. The bill does not prohibit, with respect to such firearm accessories, the importation or manufacture for, sale or transfer to, or possession by a federal, state, or local government. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to 10 years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2017
This bill directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration to complete the rulemaking process and publish a final rule regarding the advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued on March 10, 2016, entitled "Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Personnel for Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea."
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2017
Designates September 2017 as National Kinship Care Month. Honors the commitment and dedication of kinship caregivers and advocates. Encourages Congress to implement policies to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Public Good IRA Rollover Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the tax exclusion for distributions from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for charitable purposes to: (1) eliminate the $100,000 cap on such exclusion; (2) permit tax-free distributions from IRAs to a split-interest entity (i.e., a charitable remainder annuity or unitrust, a pooled income fund, and a charitable gift annuity); and (3) allow distributions to a split-interest entity to be made when the account beneficiary attains age 59-1/2 (otherwise, age 70-1/2 for IRA distributions to a charitable organization).
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Federal Perkins Loan Program Extension Act of 2017 This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the Federal Perkins Loans program through September 30, 2019.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2017
Child Care for Working Families Act This bill provides additional grant funding for child care and preschool programs. It also modifies various requirements for the programs, including policies regarding compensation and training for employees.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2017
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of Pete V. Domenici, former member of the U.S.Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns September 13, 2017, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Senator Domenici.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2017
This joint resolution condemns the racist violence and domestic terror attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, and rejects white nationalism, white supremacy, and neo-Nazism sentiments as antithetical to U.S. values. Congress offers condolences to the families of those who died in Charlottesville and sympathy and support for those injured, and expresses support to the Charlottesville community. Congress urges the President and the Administration to speak out against hate groups and use all available resources to address the growing prevalence of domestic hate groups.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 2017
Plum Island Conservation Act This bill amends the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 to repeal provisions requiring the sale of federal property and assets supporting the Department of Homeland Security's Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act of 201 7 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to change provisions that refer to married couples to make such provisions equally applicable to legally married same sex couples.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit or repeal certain tax benefits for major integrated oil companies (certain companies with annual gross receipts over $1 billion and an average daily worldwide production of crude oil of at least 500,000 barrels), including: (1) the foreign tax credit for companies that are dual capacity taxpayers; (2) the tax deduction for income attributable to the production, refining, processing, transportation, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or primary products thereof; (3) the tax deduction for intangible drilling and development costs; (4) the percentage depletion allowance for oil and gas wells; and (5) the tax deduction for qualified tertiary injectant expenses. The bill modifies the definition of "major integrated oil company" to include certain successors in interest that control more than 50% of the crude oil production or natural gas production of the company. The bill also amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to repeal royalty relief (suspension of royalties) for: (1) natural gas production from deep wells in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico; and (2) deep water oil and gas production in the Western and Central Planning Area of the Gulf (including the portion of the Eastern Planning Area encompassing whole lease blocks lying west of 87 degrees, 30 minutes west longitude). Any net savings that occur as a result of this bill must be used for reducing the federal budget deficit or the federal debt.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
John Stringer Rainey Memorial Safeguard American Food Exports Act or the SAFE Act This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem equine (horses and other members of the equidae family) parts to be an unsafe food additive or animal drug. The bill prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts for human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 2017
Authorizes: (1) current and former Members and employees of the Senate to testify and produce documents in the case of United States of America v. Robert Menendez, et al. , and related proceedings, except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted; and (2) the Senate Legal Counsel to represent such individuals in connection with such case.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017
Taylor Force Act This bill: (1) calls on the Palestinian Authority's (PA) to stop making payments to terrorists in Israeli prisons and to the families of deceased terrorists as an incentive to commit acts of terror, (2) calls on countries to cease providing direct budgetary assistance to the PA until it stops all such payments, (3) urges the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (U.N.) and the Department of State to highlight the issue and urge other nations to call for an end to such payments, and (4) expresses support for creation of a general welfare system for all Palestinian citizens. Certain assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 that directly benefits the PA may not be made available for the West Bank and Gaza unless the State Department certifies that the PA: is taking steps to end acts of violence against U.S. and Israeli citizens perpetrated by individuals under its jurisdictional control, such as the March 2016 attack that killed former Army officer Taylor Force; has terminated payments for acts of terrorism against U.S. and Israeli citizens to any individual who has been fairly tried and imprisoned for such acts, to any individual who died committing such acts, and to family members of such an individual; and has revoked any law, decree, or document authorizing or implementing a system of compensation for imprisoned individuals that uses the sentence or incarceration period to determine compensation. Certain assistance under such Act for the West Bank and Gaza may not be made available unless the State Department certifies, every 180 days, that the PA is taking verifiable steps to end acts of violence against Israeli and U.S. citizens by individuals under its jurisdictional control.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017
Empowering Medicare Seniors to Negotiate Drug Prices Act of 2017 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to: (1) negotiate drug prices under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and (2) institute a price structure for the reimbursement of drugs covered under the benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 2017
Authorizes the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to provide records of the subcommittee's investigation into Internet sex trafficking to law enforcement officials, regulatory agencies, and other entities or individuals duly authorized by federal or state governments.
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
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 · 20 July 2017
Dream Act of 2017 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to cancel removal and grant lawful permanent resident status on a conditional basis to an alien who is inadmissible or deportable or is in temporary protected status who: (1) has been continuously physically present in the United States for four years preceding this bill's enactment; (2) was younger than 18 years of age on the initial date of U.S. entry; (3) is not inadmissible on criminal, security, terrorism, or other grounds; (4) has not participated in persecution; (5) has not been convicted of specified federal or state offenses; and (6) has fulfilled specified educational requirements. DHS shall cancel the removal of, and adjust to the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence on a conditional basis, an alien who was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status unless the alien has engaged in conduct that would make the alien ineligible for DACA. DHS may not: (1) grant conditional permanent resident status without the submission of biometric and background data, and completion of background and medical checks; and (2) disclose or use information provided in applications filed under this bill or in DACA requests for immigration enforcement purposes. The bill prescribes the conditions under which DHS: (1) may terminate a person's conditional permanent resident status, and (2) shall adjust a person's conditional status to permanent resident status. The bill: (1) sets forth documentation requirements for establishing DACA eligibility, and (2) repeals the denial of an unlawful alien's eligibility for higher education benefits based on state residence.
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
LGBT Data Inclusion Act This bill requires federal agencies that collect information through a survey that includes demographic data (where subjects self-report information or a proxy provides information about the subject or responds for all persons in a household) to establish data standards that require: a determination of which existing data sets exclude information about sexual orientation and gender identity; an identification, and a use, of appropriate methods to include questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in surveys that facilitate categorization and voluntary participation and that preserve privacy and confidentiality; and a routine assessment of needed changes in survey methods related to asking such questions. When appropriate, agencies that publish reports relying on survey demographic data must include information on sexual orientation and gender identity. Individuals shall not be: (1) required by this bill to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity to an agency; or (2) subjected to fines or penalties for refusing to answer, or providing a false answer to, any survey question regarding gender identity or sexual orientation. Nothing in this bill shall be construed to permit the use of such collected information in a manner that would adversely affect an individual.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2017
Refund Equality Act of 2017 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt certain same-sex couples who were legally married under state law from the three-year time limitation for filing: (1) a claim for a credit or refund of an overpayment of any tax, or (2) an election to file jointly after having filed separate returns. Certain legally married same-sex couples who were first treated as married for federal tax purposes by the application of the holdings of Revenue Ruling 2013-17 may file amended returns for previous years until the due date for the return for the year in which this bill is enacted. The bill applies only to amended returns and claims for a credit or refund that relate to a change in the marital status of the spouses. (In Revenue Ruling 2013-17, the Internal Revenue Service adopted a general rule recognizing, for federal tax purposes, the validity of a same-sex marriage that was valid in the state where it was entered into, regardless of the married couple's place of domicile.)
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 2017
Anti-Voter Suppression Act This bill nullifies Executive Order 13799 (titled "Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity") and specifies that no funds shall be made available by any act of Congress to the commission described in the order or to any similar commission established for studying voter fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2017
Condemns the violence and persecution in Chechnya. Calls on: Chechen officials to cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating such abuses; the government of the Russian Federation to protect the human rights of all its citizens, condemn the violence and persecution, investigate such crimes in Chechnya, and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating such abuses; and the U.S. government to continue to condemn the violence and persecution in Chechnya, demand the release of individuals wrongfully detained, and identify those individuals whose involvement in such violence qualifies for the imposition of sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 or the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Affirms that the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression and freedom from extrajudicial detention and violence are universal human rights.
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
Smithsonian American Women's History Museum Act This bill establishes a comprehensive American women's history museum within the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, to provide for: (1) the collection, study, and establishment of programs related to women's contributions that have influenced the direction of the United States; (2) collaboration with other Smithsonian museums and facilities, outside museums, and educational institutions; and (3) the creation of exhibitions and programs that recognize diverse perspectives on women's history and contributions. The bill establishes a council within the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) make recommendations to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents for the construction of the museum; (2) advise and assist the board on the administration and preservation of the museum; (3) recommend annual operating budgets for the museum; and (4) report annually to the board on the acquisition, disposition, and display of objects related to women's art, history, and culture. The council shall have sole authority to: (1) acquire artifacts for the museum's collections, (2) dispose of any part of the collections but only if funds generated are used for additions to the collections, (3) specify criteria for the use of the museum's collections and resources, and (4) preserve and maintain the collections. The museum's director may carry out educational and liaison programs in support of its goals.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Lift Investment in Film, Television, and Theater Act or the LIFTT Act This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend provisions that allow taxpayers to elect to expense the costs of qualified film, television, and live theatrical productions. The bill also modifies the rules for electing to expense the costs. Under current law, an election to expense the costs of a film, television, or live theatrical production must be made by the due date for filing a tax return for the year in which the costs are first incurred. With respect to live theatrical productions, the bill modifies the rule to require an election to be made by the due date for filing a tax return for the taxable year in which the production holds its first public performance for a paying audience.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2017
Marketplace Certainty Act This bill expands eligibility for additional cost-sharing reductions that apply to certain enrollees of qualified health plans.
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
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
Schedules That Work Act This bill grants an employee the right to request that the employee's employer change the terms and conditions of employment relating to: the number of hours or times the employee is required to work or be on call; the location; the amount of notification the employee receives of work schedule assignments; and minimizing fluctuations in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The employer, if the request is made, shall engage in a timely, good faith interactive process with the employee that includes a discussion of potential schedule changes that would meet the employee's needs. The bill outlines the process for either granting or denying a change. The employer shall grant a request, unless there is a bona fide business reason for denying it, if the request is made because of the employee's serious health condition, the employee's responsibilities as a caregiver, or enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee requests such a change for a reason related to a second job. An employer, if an employee requests a change for any other reason, may deny it for any reason that is not unlawful. The employer shall give the employee the reason for the denial, including whether it was a bona fide business reason. The bill outlines employer requirements for paying reporting time and split shift pay and for giving advance notice of work schedules to retail, food service, or cleaning employees, or the Department of Labor's designated employees, except for those in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacities. The bill makes it unlawful for any employer or other person to: (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or the attempt to exercise any right of an employee specified in this bill; (2) retaliate against an employee for exercising the rights granted employees by this bill; or (3) interfere with proceedings or inquiries with respect to violation of an individual's rights under this bill. The bill sets forth administrative enforcement procedures and civil remedies for violation of these prohibitions. Labor must give information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning compliance with this bill. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census shall: (1) include in the Current Population Survey questions on, among other things, the amount of fluctuation in the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis; and (2) conduct at regular intervals the Contingent Worker Supplement, the Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplement, and other relevant supplements to the Current Population Survey. This bill is inapplicable to any employee covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement if its terms govern work scheduling practices.
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 · 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
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2017 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for qualifying hospitals, with an aggregate increase of 3,000 positions per fiscal year for five years. Of these positions, at least 1,500 per fiscal year must be for residents in a shortage specialty residency program (i.e., a program in a specialty in which baseline physician requirements projections exceed the projected supply of total active physicians, as identified by the Health Resources and Services Administration in a specified report).
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 2017
Declares that the Senate has heard with profound sorrow and deep regret the announcement of the death of the Honorable Jim Bunning, former member of the U.S. Senate. Declares that when the Senate adjourns on June 5, 2017, it stand adjourned as a further mark of respect to the memory of Senator Bunning.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2017 This bill states that: (1) the President may not prohibit or otherwise restrict travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of the transactions incident to such travel, including banking transactions; and (2) any law, regulation, or policy in effect on the date of enactment of this bill that prohibits or otherwise restricts such travel or transactions incident to such travel shall cease to have any force or effect. Nothing in this bill may be construed to limit the President's authority to restrict such travel or any transaction incident to such travel if the President determines that such restriction is necessary to protect: (1) U.S. national security, or (2) the health or safety of U.S. citizens or legal residents resulting from traveling to or from Cuba. Prior to restricting travel to Cuba, the President shall submit a written justification to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Washington, D.C. Admission Act This bill provides for admission into the United States of the state of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall be admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the other states. The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall issue a proclamation for the first elections to Congress of two Senators and one Representative of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth shall consist of all Washington, DC territory as of enactment of this bill, with specified exclusions for federal buildings and monuments. The Commonwealth may not impose taxes on federal property except as Congress permits. The bill applies current DC laws to the Commonwealth and continues pending judicial proceedings. The bill maintains: (1) DC as the seat of the federal government, and (2) the federal government's authority over military lands and specified other property. The bill provides for expedited consideration of a joint resolution repealing the Twenty-Third Amendment to the Constitution (which provides for the appointment of electors for President and Vice President).
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2017
Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Services Company in recognition of their service during World War II.
![Official portrait of Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000148_200.jpg)