Taiwan Preclearance Act This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security to report to Congress on various issues, including (1) a plan for establishing a U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance facility in the Indo-Pacific region, (2) an analysis of the feasibility and advisability of establishing a preclearance facility in Taiwan, and (3) an assessment of the impact that a preclearance facility will have on trade and tourism between Taiwan and the United States. (Preclearance facilities are stations in designated foreign airports that inspect travelers prior to boarding U.S.-bound flights.)
Protect American Taxpayer Dollars from Illegal Immigration Act This bill prohibits expending federal funds for legal settlements to individuals who violated certain laws relating to the proper time and place to enter the United States, if the settlement pertains to claims based on the lawful detention of such an individual as part of a family unit after the individual's entry into the United States at the southern border after January 20, 2017.
Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act of 2021 This bill addresses unfair trade practices by making various changes to U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty law. Antidumping provides relief to U.S industries and workers that are materially injured or threatened with injury due to imports of like products sold in the U.S. market at less than fair value, while countervailing duty provides such relief from imports of products subsidized by a foreign government or public entity. Specifically, the bill establishes a process for successive antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Successive investigations may be concurrent (an ongoing investigation of the same product from different countries) or recently completed (not more than two years before the date of the initiation of the successive investigation). Further, the bill establishes a time line for the Department of Commerce to issue determinations in successive investigations. Among other provisions, the bill authorizes Commerce to apply countervailing duty law to subsidies provided by a foreign government or public entity to a company operating in a different country, use another method for calculating the cost of production in specific circumstances, and require importers to provide a certification that the imported merchandise is not subject to an antidumping or countervailing duty order. Additionally, the bill establishes procedures for Commerce to conduct circumvention inquiries, including by specifying the deadlines for preliminary and final determinations. The bill repeals the Softwood Lumber Act of 2008, which addresses the importation of softwood lumber and softwood lumber products.
Drug Price Transparency in Medicaid Act of 2021 This bill requires pass-through pricing models, and prohibits spread-pricing, for payment arrangements with pharmacy benefit managers under Medicaid. The bill also extends funding for retail pharmacy surveys and requires additional information with respect to price concessions, dispensing fees, and survey participation to be made publicly available.
Middle Class Mortgage Insurance Premium Act of 2021 This bill increases the adjusted gross income threshold for the phaseout of the mortgage insurance premium tax deduction and makes such deduction permanent.
Section 401 Certification Act The bill provides statutory authority for the rule published on July 13, 2020, by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entitled Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule . Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, an applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that may result in any discharge into navigable waters must also obtain a certification—or waiver of such certification—from a relevant state, intrastate agency, or Indian tribe that the proposed activity will not violate certain water quality requirements of the state or Indian tribe. The rule revised existing regulations, including by limiting the scope of the certification review process as well as the time frame for a state, interstate agency, or Indian tribe to issue a certification.
Veterans Health Flexibility Act This bill expands eligibility for veterans to receive care through the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP) by removing existing qualifying criteria. Under the bill, veterans may receive care through the VCCP if they notify the Department of Veterans Affairs that they want care through the program.
Strength in Diversity Act of 2021 This bill establishes a program through which the Department of Education may award planning and implementation grants to specified educational agencies (e.g., local educational agencies) to improve diversity and reduce or eliminate racial or socioeconomic isolation in publicly funded early childhood education programs, public elementary schools, or public secondary schools.
Conscience Protection Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for certain protections for health care providers that refuse to participate in abortions based on religious beliefs or other convictions. Health care providers include individual professionals, medical facilities, health insurance organizations, and social services providers that refer clients to health care services. The federal government and entities that receive federal funding for health-related activities, including state and local governments, may not discriminate against a health care provider that refuses to be involved in, or provide coverage for, abortions. Currently, similar requirements apply to various related activities, including certain employment or personnel decisions (the Church Amendments), abortion services training (the Coats-Snowe Amendment), qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges, and annual appropriations bills for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other federal agencies (the Weldon Amendment). The HHS Office for Civil Rights must investigate complaints of this kind of discrimination. Furthermore, HHS may terminate or reduce HHS funding for health-related activities if a person or entity fails to comply with nondiscrimination requirements. Additionally, the Department of Justice or any entity adversely affected by such discrimination may bring a civil action to obtain appropriate relief. A plaintiff does not need to seek or exhaust administrative remedies before bringing the action. A plaintiff may also bring an action, including one for money damages, against a governmental entity. In many cases, principles of sovereign immunity shield states and some localities from these kinds of actions.
HRES 815 is a symbolic resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on November 18, 2021. It expresses congressional support for National Rural Health Day, which recognizes the importance of rural health care and celebrates providers serving rural communities. The resolution highlights challenges like hospital closures and access barriers faced by rural health facilities but does not create new laws or funding. It simply affirms commitment to improving rural health care accessibility through policy, without specifying concrete changes. As a procedural resolution, it has no binding effect on legislation or funding.
This resolution encourages people around the world to work to achieve the goal of zero new HIV transmissions, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths, in order to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world by 2030. The resolution supports continued funding for prevention, care and treatment services, and research programs for communities impacted by HIV and people living with HIV in the United States and globally. The resolution supports continued leadership by the United States in domestic, bilateral, multilateral, and private sector efforts to fight HIV. Finally, the resolution urges other members of the international community to sustain and scale up their support for and financial contributions to efforts around the world to combat HIV.
Parents Bill of Rights Act This bill outlines various rights of parents and guardians regarding the elementary or secondary school education of their children. Among other requirements, the bill (1) directs local educational agencies to publicly post the curriculum for each elementary and secondary school grade level; and (2) requires schools to notify parents and guardians of their rights, including the right to review the school's curriculum and budget.
