This resolution expresses that the Senate stands in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and with vulnerable groups, including women and children; religious and ethnic minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons; civil society actors; journalists; and other at-risk populations in Afghanistan; calls on the Taliban to uphold the protection of universal human rights, including the commitments set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Afghanistan is a party; calls for the international community to condemn human rights violations committed by the Taliban; and calls on the U.S. government to work closely with the international community and nongovernmental organizations, particularly such organizations based in Afghanistan, to support at-risk Afghan minority populations and other vulnerable communities.
This resolution supports the designation of February 2022 as Career and Technical Education Month to celebrate career and technical education across the United States.
SRES 516 designates the week of February 7-11, 2022, as "National School Counseling Week." The resolution encourages the public to observe this week with activities that raise awareness about school counselors' role in supporting students' academic, social, and emotional development. It does not create new laws or alter funding but highlights existing challenges like the high student-to-counselor ratio (424:1 nationally) and counselors' contributions to student well-being. The resolution applies broadly to all U.S. schools and communities, aiming to increase recognition of counseling professionals' work.
National Ocean Exploration Act This bill provides statutory authority for the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council and revises several programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that support ocean and coastal mapping, hydrographic surveys, and spatial data collection. The bill revises the national ocean exploration program to require NOAA to provide guidance to federal and state agencies, and others, on data standards, protocols for accepting data, and coordination of data collection, compilation, processing, archiving, and dissemination for data relating to ocean exploration and characterization. It also directs NOAA to conduct education and outreach efforts to disseminate information to the public on the discoveries made by the ocean exploration program and coordinate with the outreach strategies of other domestic or international ocean mapping, exploration, and characterization initiatives. Additionally, the bill repeals the undersea research program of NOAA. It also modifies NOAA's ocean and coastal mapping program to include ecosystem approaches in decision-making for natural resource and habitat restoration, emergency response, and coastal resilience and adaptation. NOAA must develop an integrated ocean and coastal mapping federal funding match opportunity to increase the coordinated acquisition, processing, stewardship, and archival of new ocean and coastal mapping data in U.S. waters. The bill also revises and reauthorizes through FY2026 the hydrographic services program of NOAA.
Red Hill Watershed and Aquifer Initiative Act or the Red Hill WAI Act This bill requires the Department of the Navy to discontinue all fuel operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii and permanently close the facility in accordance with relevant Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Among other responsibilities, the Navy must reimburse the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and the Hawaii State Departments of Health and Education for expenditures made in response to the threats posed by operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Schedules That Work Act This bill provides employees with the right to request changes to their work schedules related to the number of hours they are required to work or be on call, the location of the work, the amount of notification about work schedule assignments, and fluctuations in work hours. Employers must negotiate in good faith with employees who make such requests and comply with certain work schedule notice and split shift pay requirements for retail, food service, cleaning, hospitality, or warehouse employees.
Red Hill Watershed and Aquifer Initiative Act or the Red Hill WAI Act This bill requires the Department of the Navy to discontinue all fuel operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii and permanently close the facility in accordance with relevant Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Among other responsibilities, the Navy must reimburse the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and the Hawaii State Departments of Health and Education for expenditures made in response to the threats posed by operations at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.
Keep STEM Talent Act of 2022 This bill exempts certain aliens with advanced degrees in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field from direct limitations on the number of immigrant visas granted per year. Specifically, the alien must (1) have earned a master's level or higher degree in certain STEM fields while in the United States attending an accredited higher education institution, (2) be employed (or have a job offer) in a field related to the degree and earn at least the median wage for that occupation, and (3) meet certain labor certification requirements. The bill also allows an alien seeking a nonimmigrant F-1 (student) visa to obtain an advanced STEM degree to have dual intent. Specifically, such an alien may obtain the nonimmigrant visa or change nonimmigrant status even if the alien intends to seek lawful permanent resident status. (Generally, an alien may be denied a nonimmigrant visa if the alien actually intends to seek immigrant status, unless dual intent is allowed for that type of visa.)
Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 This bill modifies and reauthorizes through FY2027 programs and activities under the Violence Against Women Act that seek to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The bill also authorizes new programs, makes changes to federal criminal laws, and establishes new protections to promote housing stability and economic security for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2022 or the EARN IT Act of 2022 This bill revises the federal framework governing the prevention of online sexual exploitation of children. The bill establishes the National Commission on Online Child Sexual Exploitation Prevention. The commission must develop best practices for interactive computer services providers (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children. Additionally, the bill limits the liability protections of interactive computer service providers with respect to claims alleging violations of child sexual exploitation laws. The bill replaces various statutory references to child pornography and material that contains child pornography with child sexual abuse material . Finally, the bill makes changes to the reporting requirements for electronic communication service providers and remote computing service providers (providers) who report apparent instances of crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Among the changes, the bill requires providers to report facts and circumstances sufficient to identify and locate each minor and each involved individual. The bill also increases the amount of time that providers must preserve the contents of a report.
This resolution extends collective bargaining rights prescribed in the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 to employees of the House of Representatives.
This bill grants permanent residence status to Vichai Sae Tung (also known as Chai Chaowasaree) retroactively as of the bill's enactment date, upon payment of required visa fees. It directly affects only this individual, providing them with lawful permanent resident status under U.S. immigration law. The bill also requires the Secretary of State to reduce the annual immigrant visa quota for the person's country of birth by one after this grant. This is a case-specific immigration relief measure, not a broad policy change.
