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![Official portrait of Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000582_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
4,368 records where Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Expresses support for the designation of National Stress Awareness Month. Recognizes the efforts made by the Department of Health and Human Services to educate people about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of stress.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Supports the establishment with private funds of a Presidential Youth Council to: (1) advise the President and the administration on the perspectives of young people, (2) make public policy-related youth programs more efficient and effective, and (3) address issues that will affect the long-term future of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 2015
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) U.S. citizens and residents have the Constitutional right to record law enforcement officers in a public place and shall be required to give up possession of a recording device used to do so based only upon the individual's consent or a warrant based on probable cause; (2) law enforcement officers shall safeguard data stored on any recording device seized from an individual and the destruction of such data is a violation of federal law; and (3) no data stored on a recording device seized from an individual may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding unless collected pursuant to a warrant based on probable cause or where an exception to the warrant requirement applies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Veterans Conservation Corps Act of 2015 Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a veterans conservation corps to assist unemployed veterans in the transition from service in the Armed Forces to civilian life and to employ such veterans: (1) in conservation, resource management, firefighting, law enforcement, and historic preservation projects on public lands; (2) in maintenance and improvement projects for cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the National Cemetery Administration; and (3) as firefighters, law enforcement officers, and disaster relief personnel. Requires priority to be given to the employment of veterans who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001. Requires, as part of the veterans conservation corps: (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to award grants under the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to hire veterans as firefighters, (2) the Attorney General to award grants under the public safety and community policing grant program (COPS ON THE BEAT grant program) under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to hire veterans as law enforcement officers, and (3) the DHS Secretary to provide funds to increase participation by veterans in the Federal Emergency Management Agency Corps program. Authorizes the VA Secretary to transfer amounts to carry out the corps to the Attorney General, the Chief of Engineers, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, DHS, and the Interior. Directs the VA Secretary to establish a steering committee to establish selection criteria for, and provide advice to the VA Secretary on, the awarding of assistance under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Targeted Use of Sanctions for Killing Elephants and Rhinoceros Act of 2015 This bill amends the African Elephant Conservation Act to make it a policy to prevent additional African elephant ivory from entering global commerce, and to reduce demand for ivory that is driving elephant poaching by limiting natural resources-related trade with countries whose nationals are engaged in illegal ivory trade. The Department of Commerce shall issue a certification under the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 authorizing the President to prohibit the importation of any products from any country identified by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Standing Committee as a significant source or transit or destination point for illegal ivory trade. The President, acting through the Department of the Interior, shall enter into consultations with the offending country, within 30 days after receiving a certification, to obtain an agreement under which the country will immediately and significantly reduce, and will commit to terminating, all illegal ivory trade into, out of, or within that country. If such consultations are not concluded within 90 days or if the country refuses to enter into consultations, the President shall direct the Department of Commerce to prohibit the importation into the United States of wildlife, fish, and plant products from that country until the earlier of: the finalizing of the agreement, or the Department finds that the country is no longer a significant source or transit or destination point for illegal ivory trade. Directs the Secretary, within 180 days after the prohibition, to determine whether: the prohibition is sufficient to cause the offending country to immediately and significantly reduce, and commit to terminating, illegal ivory trade, and that country has retaliated against the United States as a result of that prohibition. The bill also amends the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act to make the same requirements for U.S. action against the illegal trade in rhinoceros horn.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2015 Requires the Supreme Court to promulgate a code of ethics for the Justices of the Supreme Court that shall include the five canons of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, with any amendments or modifications that the Supreme Court determines appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2015 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. Prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts in interstate or foreign commerce for purposes of human consumption.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2015 Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that provisions of such Act related to marihuana shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with state laws relating to the production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of marijuana.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Health Equity and Access under the Law for Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2015 or the HEAL Immigrant Women and Families Act of 2015 This bill amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to extend Medicaid and CHIP coverage to aliens lawfully present in the United States. Individuals granted deferred action are eligible for: (1) health insurance exchanges and reduced cost sharing under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (2) premium subsidies under the Internal Revenue Code, and (3) Medicaid and CHIP.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 2015
Climate Solutions Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 by directing the Department of Energy (DOE) to promulgate regulations that require the percentage of electric energy generated from renewable sources that is sold at the retail level to increase each year beginning in 2020 so that in 2050 and each subsequent year, the percentage is at least 80%. DOE must also promulgate regulations that set cumulative energy savings targets for retail electric energy and natural gas suppliers that require each supplier to secure annual savings that are achieved through end-use efficiency improvements at customer facilities. For electric energy suppliers, the targets must increase from .25% of sales in 2018 to 1.5% of sales in 2023 and each year thereafter through 2028. For natural gas suppliers, the target must increase from .25% of sales in 2018 to .5% of sales in 2023 and each year thereafter through 2028. DOE must allow suppliers to achieve the targets through a market-based trading system. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must promulgate annual emission reduction targets for each of 2030 through 2050 to ensure that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions: (1) in 2035 are at least 40% below those in 1990, and (2) in 2050 are at least 80% below those in 1990. The EPA must promulgate final regulations to implement those targets within 7 years and review them at least every 5 years thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Encourages North Korea to allow Korean Americans to meet with their family members from North Korea. Calls on North Korea to take steps to build goodwill that is conducive to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Hispanic Opportunity Program in Education and Science Act Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a program awarding competitive grants to Hispanic-serving institutions to: (1) enhance the quality of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) at those institutions; and (2) increase the retention and graduation rates of students of such institutions who pursue associate's or baccalaureate degrees in STEM.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Protect Our Public Lands Act This bill amends the Mineral Leasing Act to require a lease on public land for developing deposits of coal, petroleum, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons to prohibit a lessee from conducting hydraulic fracturing activity under the lease. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation. The bill excludes from hydraulic fracturing any enhanced secondary recovery, including water flooding, tertiary recovery, and other types of well stimulation operations. The bill is applicable only upon the renewal or adjustment of a lease.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 2015
Expresses support for efforts to: ensure that all students have access to debt-free higher education upon graduation from public institutions of higher education; provide support to states to make increased investments in higher education that will result in lower tuition and costs for students; increase financial aid to help students afford attending college without taking on debt; encourage innovation by states and institutions of higher education to cut costs for students and make college more affordable by increasing efficiency and enabling speedy and less-costly degree completion; and reduce the burden of existing student loan debt.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 2015
Calls on the people of the United States to not ignore veterans returning to the United States who are unable to maintain the proper health and living standards they fought to protect for others. Recognizes that: (1) finding every veteran a home is the right thing to do and a necessary step toward repaying the debt that U.S. citizens owe the men and women of the Armed Forces, and (2) that debt requires the realization of a decent home and a suitable living environment for veterans. Expresses a commitment to ending veteran homelessness.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill amends the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 to repeal provisions providing for 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 · 16 April 2015
Young Americans Financial Literacy Act Authorizes the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to make competitive grants to, and enter agreements with, eligible institutions to establish centers of excellence to support research, development and planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective programs in financial literacy education for young people and families ages 8-24 years old. Limits the aggregate amount of grants made under this Act during any fiscal year. Sunsets the grant program at the end of FY2018. Defines "eligible institution" as a partnership of two or more of the following: (1) an institution of higher education; (2) a local educational agency; (3) a nonprofit agency, organization, or association; or (4) a financial institution.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
This bill directs the President to: (1) develop a strategy to obtain observer status for Taiwan in the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and at other related activities, and (2) instruct INTERPOL Washington to request observer status for Taiwan in INTERPOL and urge INTERPOL members to support Taiwan's observer status and participation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out a three-year pilot program with community partners (private nonprofit organizations) to provide intensive community care coordination and supportive services to disabled veteran families who lack access to VA or other direct wellness services. Authorizes such services to include: care coordination and case management services; outreach services; assistance in obtaining VA benefits, including vocational and rehabilitation counseling, employment and training service, educational assistance, and health care services; assistance in obtaining and coordinating the provision of other public benefits provided in federal, state or local agencies or other community partners, including marriage counseling, services for children, suicide prevention, substance abuse awareness and treatment, mental health awareness and treatment, financial counseling, anger management counseling, domestic violence awareness and prevention, employment assistance, transportation services, child care, housing counseling, preparing and updating family care plans, development of strategies for living with a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, and accessing emergency financial assistance through philanthropic efforts; and providing direct services that are necessary to improve the well-being and address the needs of the disabled veteran families but are otherwise unavailable through existing public or private programs.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Ensuring Children’s Access to Specialty Care Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include pediatric subspecialties in primary health services for purposes of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Psychiatrists who are pediatric subspecialists are included in behavioral and mental health professionals. (These amendments make pediatric subspecialists, including psychiatrists, eligible for the NHSC fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the NHSC Scholarship Program, and the NHSC Loan Repayment Program.) “Health professional shortage area” can mean an underserved population of children and adolescents.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015 Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a trade or business that conducts marijuana sales in compliance with state law from the prohibition against allowing business-related tax credits or deductions for expenditures in connection with trafficking in controlled substances.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Equality for All Resolution of 2015 Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals are valuable, contributing members of society who deserve equal treatment under the law. Declares that: (1) discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a serious problem; (2) existing federal protections are inadequate to ensure nondiscrimination; and (3) Congress should pass legislation that prohibits such discrimination in areas including credit, employment, education, federally funded programs, housing, jury service, and public accommodations. Encourages states to prohibit such discrimination and to reject laws that undermine nondiscrimination protections.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the House should strive to create, debate, and adopt policy solutions to achieve a National Strategic Agenda with the goals of: creating 25 million new jobs over the next 10 years, balancing the federal budget by 2030, securing Medicare and Social Security for the next 75 years, and making the United States energy secure by 2024.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 2015
Supports the goals and ideals of the National Day of Silence (during which students vow to remain silent to bring attention to the harassment and discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in schools). Encourages each state, city, and local educational agency to adopt laws and policies to prohibit name-calling, bullying, harassment, and discrimination against students, teachers, and other school staff regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity or gender expression.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 2015
Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Requires not less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount or $10 million, whichever is greater, to be used for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Toxic Exposure Research Act of 2015 Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to select a VA medical center to serve as the national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the biological children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of individuals exposed to toxic substances while serving as members of the Armed Forces that are related to such exposure. Requires: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) or the head of a federal agency to make available to the VA for review records held by DOD, an Armed Force, or that federal agency that might assist the VA in making determinations regarding individuals and descendents afflicted with a health condition as a result of such exposure; (2) the VA and DOD or such agency head to jointly establish a mechanism for the availability and review of records by the VA; and (3) the national center to employ at least one licensed clinical social worker to coordinate access of individuals to appropriate social and health care programs and to handle case management. Establishes an Advisory Board to oversee and assess the national center and to advise the VA regarding the center's work. Directs DOD to declassify documents (other than documents that would materially and immediately threaten national security) related to any known incident in which at least 100 members of the Armed Forces were exposed to a toxic substance that resulted in at least one case of an associated disability. Directs the VA to conduct a national outreach and education campaign directed toward members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their family members to communicate information on: (1) incidents of exposure of members of the Armed Forces to toxic substances, health conditions resulting from such exposure, and the potential long-term effects; and (2) the national center. Requires DOD and the Department of Health and Human Services to assist the VA in implementing such campaign.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act of 2015 Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to reauthorize it through FY2020, generally at FY2009 levels. Modifies the Basic Center Grant (BCG) Program (for short-term emergency shelter and family reunification services to runaway and homeless youth) to require local centers to provide safe shelter and services, including trauma-informed services, for runaway and homeless youth, and (if appropriate) services for their families, including individuals they identify as family. Extends the maximum stay in a BCG shelter from 21 to 30 days, and requires a shelter to provide suicide prevention services. Allows shelter services to include: (1) trauma-informed and gender-responsive services for runaway or homeless youth, including victims of trafficking in persons or sexual exploitation; and (2) an assessment of family engagement in support and reunification (if appropriate), interventions, and services for parents or legal guardians of such youth, or individuals they identify as family. Revises plan applicant record keeping requirements. Requires plan applicants to: (1) provide age, gender, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services to the extent practicable to runaway youth; and (2) assist youth in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Revises the Transitional Living Grant (TLG) Program (for longer-term residential services, life skills, education, and employment support to older homeless youth) to require information and counseling services in basic life skills to be age, gender, and linguistically appropriate to the extent practicable.. Requires TLG plan applicants to provide suicide prevention services, counseling to homeless youth, and aftercare services. Requires a TLG plan to ensure proper referral of homeless youth to mental health services, including programs providing wrap-around services to victims of trafficking in persons or sexual exploitation. Requires plan applicants to provide age, gender, and culturally and linguistically appropriate services to the extent practicable that address the needs of homeless and street youth. Revises requirements for the coordination of activities among federal agencies, grants for technical assistance and training, and grants for research, evaluation, demonstration, and service projects. Revises the sexual abuse prevention program to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to public agencies (as well as nonprofit private agencies, as under current law) to provide street-based services to runaway and homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse, violence, trafficking in persons, or sexual exploitation. Prohibits any person in the United States, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, from being excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subject to discrimination under any program or activity funded in whole or in part under such Act. Makes an exception to this prohibition if sex segregation or sex-specific programming is necessary to the essential operation of a program. Amends the Missing Children's Assistance Act to require the annual grant of the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to be used to operate a cyber tipline to provide online users and electronic service providers an effective means of reporting Internet-related child sexual exploitation in the areas of child sex trafficking (currently, child prostitution). Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to: require a missing child report to include a recent photograph of the child, if available; reduce from 60 to 30 days after the original entry of such a report into the state law enforcement system and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer networks the deadline for the law enforcement agency that entered the report to verify and update the record with any additional information; require that law enforcement agency to maintain close liaison with state and local welfare systems; and require it also to grant permission to the NCIC Terminal Contractor for the state to update the missing person record in the NCIC computer networks with additional information learned during the investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Fund indefinitely and index appropriations to the medical care component of the consumer price index for urban consumers. Makes funding available for: a quality assurance program for services delivered by health care providers, the WTC Program annual report, WTC Health Program Steering Committees, and contracts with Clinical Centers of Excellence. Amends the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act to make individuals (or relatives of deceased individuals) who were injured or killed in the rescue and recovery efforts after the aircraft crashes of September 11, 2001, eligible for compensation under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Allows individuals to file claims for compensation under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 anytime after regulations are updated based on the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. Removes the cap on payments under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Adds the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and World Trade Center Health Program Fund to the list of accounts that are not subject to budget sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Stop Harming Our Kids Resolution of 2015 Expresses the sense of Congress that conversion therapy directed at minors is discredited and ineffective, has no legitimate therapeutic purpose, and is dangerous and harmful. Defines "conversion therapy" as any practice by a licensed mental health provider, health care provider, or counselor seeking or purporting to impose change of an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Excludes from such definition counseling that does not seek to change sexual orientation or gender identity or expression if such counseling provides: (1) acceptance, support, and understanding of a person; (2) facilitation for coping, social support, and identity exploration and development of a person; (3) developmentally appropriate counseling for a person undergoing gender transition; or (4) sexual orientation- and gender identity-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices. Encourages states to protect minors from efforts that promote or promise to change sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, based on the premise that being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or gender nonconforming is a mental illness or developmental disorder that can or should be cured.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 2015
Recognizes the significance of Equal Pay Day to illustrate the disparity between wages paid to men and women, and its impact on women, families, and the nation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2015
Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act Declares without force or effect Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Bulletin 2013-02 (Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act), published March 21, 2013. Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to direct the CFPB, when proposing and issuing guidance primarily related to indirect auto financing, to: provide for a public notice and comment period before issuing the guidance in final form; make publicly available all information relied on by the CFPB; redact any information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act; consult with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice; and study the costs and impacts of the guidance to consumers and women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2015
Fair Play Fair Pay Act of 2015 Amends federal copyright law to extend a sound recording copyright owner's rights to include the exclusive right to perform or authorize the performance of the recording publicly by means of any audio transmission, thereby requiring terrestrial AM/FM broadcast radio stations that play copyrighted sound recordings to pay royalties for the non-digital audio transmissions of the recordings. (Currently, sound recording copyright owners have a performance right that applies only to digital transmissions by cable, satellite, and Internet radio stations.) Requires the Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJs) to commence a proceeding to determine royalty rates and terms for nonsubscription broadcast transmissions. Directs the CRJs, in determining royalty rates for statutory licensing of such digital or non-digital transmissions, to: (1) distinguish among different types of services, and (2) include a minimum fee for each type of service. Allows differences to be based on the quantity and nature of the use of sound recordings and the degree to which use of the service may substitute for or promote consumer purchases of phonorecords. Requires the CRJs to establish rates that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and a willing seller. Directs the CRJs to base their decision on economic, competitive, and programming information presented by the parties, including: (1) the sound recording copyright owner's other streams of revenue from the recordings; and (2) the relative creative contribution, technological contribution, capital investment, cost, and risk of the copyright owner and the transmitting entity. Caps the annual royalty rate at: (1) $500 for small commercial broadcast stations with less than $1 million in revenues for the calendar year, and (2) $100 for public broadcasting stations. Exempts religious service broadcasts or incidental uses of music from royalty payment requirements. Requires proceeds for direct licenses of transmissions otherwise licensable under the statutory license to be distributed in the same manner as statutory license proceeds. Requires payment of 45% to featured artists, 2.5% to nonfeatured musicians, and 2.5% to nonfeatured vocalists. Makes such distribution the sole payments to which featured and nonfeatured artists are entitled under a direct license. Requires payment of performance royalties for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, in the same manner as royalties are paid for sound recordings fixed after such date. Requires a collective designated by the CRJs to implement a policy to accept instructions (referred to as a "letter of direction") from a sound recording copyright owner, or from a recording artist, to distribute a portion of performance royalty payments to a producer, mixer, or sound engineer who was part of the creative process behind the sound recording. Requires the collective to adopt special procedures for a producer, mixer, or sound engineer to receive a portion of royalties for recordings fixed before November 1, 1995, by certifying that a reasonable effort has been made to obtain a letter of direction from an artist who owns the right to receipts payable with respect to the sound recording.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2015
Occupational Therapy in Mental Health Act of 2015 This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to include occupational therapists as behavioral and mental health professionals for purposes of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), thereby making occupational therapists eligible for the NHSC fellowship program for the delivery of primary health services in health professional shortage areas, the NHSC Scholarship Program, and the NHSC Loan Repayment Program. This amendment applies only in fiscal years when funding for NHSC programs is greater than FY2015 funding.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2015
Executive Cyberspace Coordination Act of 2015 This bill establishes the National Office for Cyberspace within the Executive Office of the President, to be headed by a Director. The Office shall serve as the principal office for coordinating issues relating to cyberspace, including achieving an assured, reliable, secure, and survivable information infrastructure while promoting national economic interests, security, and civil liberties. The bill defines "information infrastructure" as the underlying framework that information systems and assets rely on to process, store, or transmit information electronically. The bill assigns new duties to the Director, including: (1) reviewing at least annually, and approving or disapproving, agency information security programs; (2) coordinating information security training for federal employees with the Office of Personnel Management; and (3) ensuring the adequacy of protections for privacy and civil liberties. The head of each agency must submit to the Director an annual budget relating to the protection of information infrastructure for the agency, which shall include a review of any threats to information technology for such agency and a plan to secure the information infrastructure for such agency based on threats to information technology.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2015
Keith Nolan Air Force Deaf Demonstration Act of 2015 Requires the Secretary of the Air Force to carry out a demonstration program to assess the feasibility and advisability of permitting individuals with auditory impairments (including deafness) access as officers of the Air Force. Authorizes between 15 and 20 individuals who are deaf or have a range of other auditory impairments, who otherwise meet all essential qualifications for accession as an officer of the Air Force, and who have not previously served as officers to participate in such program. Requires selected participants to undergo the Basic Officer Training course or the Commissioned Officer Training course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, at the election of the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to designate a special advisor to act as a resource for participants, as well as a liaison between participants and those providing the officer training.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2015
Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award competitive grants for: (1) comprehensive sex education for adolescents; (2) comprehensive sex education provided by institutions of higher education; and (3) training faculty and staff to teach comprehensive sex education to elementary and secondary school students. Grants cannot be used for health education programs that: deliberately withhold health-promoting or lifesaving information about sexuality-related topics, including HIV; are medically inaccurate or have been scientifically shown to be ineffective; promote gender stereotypes; are insensitive and unresponsive to the needs of survivors of sexual abuse or assault, sexually active youth, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth; or are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives of medicine and public health. This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to remove limitations on using AIDS prevention program funding for education or information that promotes sexual activity or intravenous substance abuse. This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow funding to be used for contraceptive distribution in schools.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2015
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to designate up to 20 graduate medical education residency positions for the study of optometry.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2015
Recognizes the accomplishments and example of Cesar Estrada Chavez, pledges to promote his legacy, and encourages the people of the United States to commemorate his legacy and to always remember his rallying cry, "Si, se puede!" ("Si, se puede!" is Spanish for "Yes, we can!")
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 2015
Recognizes the significance of women in education, acknowledges their contributions to advancing women's rights, and recognizes their significance to dismantling barriers to ethnic, racial, and gender equality in the United States. Recognizes that the ethnic, racial, and gender diversity enriches and strengthens the United States. Encourages all states to include the history and contributions of women in education in their year-round educational curriculum.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Paycheck Fairness Act Amends the portion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 known as the Equal Pay Act to revise remedies for, enforcement of, and exceptions to prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages. Revises the exception to the prohibition for a wage rate differential based on any other factor other than sex. Limits such factors to bona fide factors, such as education, training, or experience. States that the bona fide factor defense shall apply only if the employer demonstrates that such factor: (1) is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in compensation, (2) is job-related with respect to the position in question, (3) is consistent with business necessity, and (4) accounts for the entire deferential in compensation at issue. Makes such defense inapplicable where the employee demonstrates that: (1) an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential, and (2) the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice. Revises the prohibition against employer retaliation for employee complaints. Prohibits retaliation for inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee or another employee in response to a complaint or charge, or in furtherance of a sex discrimination investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, or an investigation conducted by the employer. Makes it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages. Makes employers who violate sex discrimination prohibitions liable in a civil action for either compensatory or (except for the federal government) punitive damages. States that any action brought to enforce the prohibition against sex discrimination may be maintained as a class action in which individuals may be joined as party plaintiffs without their written consent. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in a sex discrimination action. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities for negotiation skills training programs for girls and women. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Education to issue regulations or policy guidance to integrate such training into certain programs under their Departments. Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public regarding the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation data and other employment-related data (including hiring, termination, and promotion data) disaggregated by the sex, race, and national origin of employees for use in the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination. Directs: (1) the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to continue to collect data on woman workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey, (2) the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to use specified types of methods in investigating compensation discrimination and in enforcing pay equity, and (3) the Secretary to make accurate information on compensation discrimination readily available to the public. Directs the Secretary and the Commissioner [ sic ] of the EEOC jointly to develop technical assistance material to assist small businesses to comply with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and Public Health Service Act to include employers with 51 to 100 employees as large employers for purposes of health insurance markets. States have the option to treat these employers as small employers. Currently under PPACA, employers with 51 to 100 employees are small employers, but before January 1, 2016, states have the option to treat them as large employers. (Under PPACA, health insurance offered in the small group market must meet certain requirements that do not apply to the large group market, including the requirement to cover the essential health benefits.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Charlotte's Web Medical Access Act of 2015 Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to exclude cannabidiol and cannabidiol-rich plants: (1) from the definition of "marihuana," and (2) from treatment as a controlled substance under such Act. Defines: (1) "cannabidiol-rich plant" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis; and (2) "cannabidiol" to mean the substance cannabidiol, as derived from a cannabidiol-rich plant. Exempts cannabidiol or cannabidiol-rich plants from the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Declares that nothing in this Act shall restrict any activities related to the use, production, or distribution of marihuana in a state in which such activities are legal under state law. Terminates this Act three years after its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Lymphedema Treatment Act This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover certain lymphedema compression treatment items as durable medical equipment under Medicare. (Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling that is caused when the lymphatic system is damaged or blocked.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act This bill amends the definition of "spouse" for purposes of veterans' benefits to require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recognize a marriage based on the law of the state where the marriage occurred. When a marriage occurs outside a state, the VA shall recognize it if the marriage is lawful in the place where it occurs and could have been entered into under the laws of any state.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Patients' Access to Treatments Act of 2015 Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish cost-sharing limits for health plans that cover prescription drugs and use a formulary or other tiered cost-sharing structure. Prohibits such a health plan from imposing higher cost-sharing requirements, including co-payment and co-insurance, for specialty drugs than for other prescription drugs in a non-preferred brand drug tier. Applies the non-preferred brand drug tier for which beneficiary cost-sharing is lowest, if a formulary used by the health plan contains more than one non-preferred brand drug tier.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 2015
Biennial Budgeting and Enhanced Oversight Act of 2015 This bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Congressional Budget Impoundment and Control Act of 1974, and the Rules of the House of Representatives to change the process for the President's budget submission, congressional budget resolutions, appropriations bills, and government strategic and performance plans from the current annual process to a biennial process, in which a biennium is the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. The House Budget Committee must use the second session of each Congress to study issues with long-term budgetary and economic implications. The bill creates a point of order in the House and Senate against authorizations of appropriations that do not include specific authorizations covering at least each fiscal year in one or more bienniums.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2015
Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act Repeals certain provisions which require the offset of amounts paid in dependency and indemnity compensation from Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities for the surviving spouses of former military personnel who are entitled to military retired pay or who would be entitled to retired pay except for being under 60 years of age. Prohibits requiring repayment of certain amounts previously paid to SBP recipients in the form of a retired pay refund. Repeals the optional authority of (and instead requires) the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to a member's dependent children when there is no eligible surviving spouse. Directs the Secretary concerned to restore annuity eligibility to a surviving spouse who earlier agreed to transfer such eligibility to a surviving child or children of a member.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2015
Health Outcomes, Planning, and Education (HOPE) for Alzheimer's Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover comprehensive Alzheimer's disease care planning services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 2015
Veterans Education Tax Security Act of 2015 or the VETS Act of 2015 This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of a veteran with a service-connected disability rated as total, or from the gross income of a parent or cosigner of a deceased veteran, income imputed from the discharge of student loan amounts under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2015
Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States Act of 2015 or the CARERS Act of 2015 Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to provide that control and enforcement provisions of such Act relating to marihuana shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with state law relating to the production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, laboratory testing, or delivery of medical marihuana. Transfers marihuana from schedule I to schedule II of the CSA. Excludes "cannabidiol" from the definition of "marihuana" and defines it separately as the substance cannabidiol, as derived from marihuana or the synthetic formulation, that contains not greater than 0.3% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on a dry weight basis. Deems marihuana that is grown or possessed for purposes of making cannabidiol, in accordance with state law, to meet such concentration limitation unless the Attorney General determines that the state law is not reasonably calculated to comply with such definition. Prohibits a federal banking regulator from: (1) terminating or limiting the deposit insurance of a depository institution solely because it provides or has provided financial services to a marihuana-related legitimate business; or (2) prohibiting, penalizing, or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from providing financial services to a marihuana-related legitimate business. Prohibits a federal banking regulator from recommending, motivating, providing incentives, or encouraging a depository institution not to offer financial services to an individual, or to downgrade or cancel financial services offered to an individual, solely because: (1) the individual is a manufacturer of marihuana, (2) the individual is or later becomes an owner or operator of a marihuana-related legitimate business, or (3) the depository institution was not aware that the individual is the owner or operator of a marihuana-related legitimate business. Prohibits a federal banking regulator from taking any adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan to an owner or operator of: (1) a marihuana-related legitimate business soley because the owner or operator is such a business, or (2) real estate or equipment that is leased to a marihuana-related legitimate business solely because it is leased to such a business. Provides depository institutions that provide financial services to a marihuana-related legitimate business protection under federal law from federal criminal prosecution or investigation, criminal penalties, and forfeiture of legal interest in collateral solely for providing financial services to such a business. Directs: (1) the Department of Health and Human Services to terminate the Public Health Service interdisciplinary review process described in the guidance entitled "Guidance on Procedures for the Provision of marihuana for Medical Research" (issued on May 21, 1999), and (2) the Drug Enforcement Administration to issue at least three licenses under CSA registration requirements to manufacture marihuana and marihuana-derivatives for research approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to authorize VA health care providers to provide veterans with recommendations and opinions regarding participation in state marihuana programs.