END CRT Act This bill prohibits executive agencies from acting in contravention of certain provisions of Executive Order 13950, which prohibits programming that contains certain concepts relating to race and sex. It also prohibits federal agencies and recipients of federal funds from advancing certain ideas, such as that one race is inherently superior or inferior to another race.
Advancing FASD Research, Services, and Prevention Act or the FASD Respect Act This bill expands and establishes programs for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Specifically, it directs the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, and the Health Resources and Services Administration to carry out and coordinate research, surveillance, and related activities to diagnose, prevent, and treat FASD. Furthermore, the bill establishes various grant programs to support FASD coalitions and develop systems of care; provide services for individuals affected by FASD and other conditions related to prenatal substance exposure; identify and implement best practices for educating children with FASD; and establish centers for excellence to build relevant capacity for preventing, treating, and responding to the needs of individuals with FASD. The bill also directs the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to develop and disseminate trainings and best practices related to FASD in schools and correctional facilities, respectively.
Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity and River Restoration Act of 2021 This bill allows a new tax credit for maintaining and enhancing hydroelectric dams that is equal to 30% of the basis of any qualified dam safety, environmental, and grid resilience enhancement property placed in service in a taxable year. It also allows a 30% credit for qualified obsolete river obstruction removal expenditures for demolishing and removing certain nonpowered or hydroelectric dams.
Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program Enhancement Act This bill modifies the requirements for calculating taxable income to exclude from gross income payments under the federal veterinary medicine loan repayment program or any state loan repayment or forgiveness program that is intended to provide for increased access to veterinary services in such state.
Global Respect Act of 2021 This bill imposes visa-blocking sanctions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in violating the human rights of individuals due to actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics. The President shall report and periodically update a list of foreign persons responsible for such human rights violations and apply sanctions accordingly. The Department of State shall designate at least one senior officer who shall be responsible for tracking violence and discrimination against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in foreign countries.
Keeping Girls in School Act This bill authorizes the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to enter into agreements to address social, cultural, health, and other barriers that adolescent girls face in accessing quality secondary education. The USAID shall seek to ensure that such activities meet various requirements related to monitoring and evaluating outcomes, collecting data, and using specified indicators and methodologies for international basic education. The Department of State shall periodically update and report to Congress a publicly available U.S. global strategy to empower adolescent girls, and the USAID shall periodically report to Congress on the activities initiated under this bill and efforts to monitor and evaluate such activities.
Arctic Security Initiative Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct an assessment and implement a program related to national security interests in the Arctic region. Specifically, the Commander of the United States Northern Command of DOD must consult and coordinate with specified defense entities to conduct an independent assessment with respect to the activities and resources required for FY2023-FY2027 to achieve specified objectives related to national security interests in the Arctic region. The assessment must focus on the activities and resources required to achieve the following objectives: the implementation of the National Defense Strategy and military service-specific strategies with respect to the Arctic region; the maintenance or restoration of the comparative military advantage of the United States in response to great power competitors in the Arctic region; the reduction of the risk of executing operation and contingency plans of DOD; and to maximize execution of DOD operation and contingency plans, in the event deterrence fails. Additionally, DOD must establish the Arctic Security Initiative program to enhance security in the Arctic region, to be informed by the assessment required by this bill. DOD must annually submit an unclassified future years plan, which may include a classified annex, for the activities and resources of the program that includes specified elements (e.g., a detailed time line for achieving requirements). The plan must also be included in budget materials submitted by DOD in support of the budget of the President for FY2023.
Arctic Security Initiative Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to conduct an assessment and implement a program related to national security interests in the Arctic region. Specifically, the Commander of the United States Northern Command of DOD must consult and coordinate with specified defense entities to conduct an independent assessment with respect to the activities and resources required for FY2023-FY2027 to achieve specified objectives related to national security interests in the Arctic region. The assessment must focus on the activities and resources required to achieve the following objectives: the implementation of the National Defense Strategy and military service-specific strategies with respect to the Arctic region; the maintenance or restoration of the comparative military advantage of the United States in response to great power competitors in the Arctic region; the reduction of the risk of executing operation and contingency plans of DOD; and to maximize execution of DOD operation and contingency plans, in the event deterrence fails. Additionally, DOD must establish the Arctic Security Initiative program to enhance security in the Arctic region, to be informed by the assessment required by this bill. DOD must annually submit an unclassified future years plan, which may include a classified annex, for the activities and resources of the program that includes specified elements (e.g., a detailed time line for achieving requirements). The plan must also be included in budget materials submitted by DOD in support of the budget of the President for FY2023.
Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act of 2021 This bill revises the evidentiary standard for age discrimination by establishing an unlawful employment practice when the complaining party demonstrates that age or participation in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation related to an age discrimination claim was a motivating factor for an adverse practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice (thereby allowing what are commonly known as mixed motive claims). The bill (1) permits the complaining party to rely on any type or form of admissible evidence, which need only be sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to find that an unlawful practice occurred; and (2) declares that the complaining party shall not be required to demonstrate that age or retaliation was the sole cause of the employment practice (thereby rejecting the Supreme Court's decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. , which requires the complainant to prove that age was the but-for cause for the employer's decision). The bill applies this evidentiary standard to other employment discrimination and retaliation claims, including claims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In a claim in which age discrimination is shown, but where the employer demonstrates that it would have taken the same action absent the motivating factor of age, the bill authorizes courts to grant declaratory and injunctive relief, but prohibits the court from awarding damages or issuing an order requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, or payment. This limitation also applies to claims of discrimination based on disability. The bill also includes reporting requirements for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor.
Rural and Frontier Telehealth Expansion Act This bill increases the applicable Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (i.e., federal matching rate) under Medicaid for telehealth services in rural states or states that have limited broadband infrastructure and that provide consistent and widespread coverage for such services.
VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct clinical trials of the effects of medical-grade cannabis on the health outcomes of covered veterans diagnosed with chronic pain and those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Covered veterans are those who are enrolled in the VA health care system. The trials must include a control group and an experimental group that are of similar sizes and structures and represent the demographics of the veteran population. Data collected in the trials must be preserved to facilitate further research. Under the bill, participation in the clinical trials does not affect a covered veteran's eligibility or entitlement to other VA benefits.
Bolstering Long-term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries Act or the BLUE GLOBE Act This bill addresses data collection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. The bill increases domestic and international coordination to enhance data management and monitoring of the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts. It adds programs for the application and development of innovative technology to the list of technology programs used to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. It also modifies requirements related to the scientific workforce in areas of oceanic and atmospheric research and development to include investigating whether there is a workforce shortage, workforce diversity, actions the federal government can take to increase diversity in the scientific workforce, and actions it can take to shorten the hiring backlog for such workforce. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must (1) ensure that a goal of its cooperative institutes is to advance or apply emerging technologies, (2) create an ocean innovation prize to catalyze the rapid development and deployment of data collection and monitoring technology, and (3) seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to assess the potential for an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Oceans. The bill also reauthorizes through FY2024 various NOAA hydrographic programs, including nautical mapping and charting. Additionally, relevant federal agencies must measure the value and impact of industries related to the Great Lakes, oceans, bays, estuaries, and coasts on the U.S. economy.
