This resolution honors the life and legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Olin Graham from South Carolina. It formally acknowledges his extensive career in the military, state government, and Congress, noting his service as a Senator and his roles as Chairman of the Judiciary and Budget committees. The Senate expresses its sorrow over his death and requests that this tribute be shared with the House of Representatives and Graham's family.
This resolution expresses the House of Representatives' support for maintaining equity, diversity, and inclusion in federally funded health research to improve scientific quality and patient outcomes. It opposes proposed administrative rules that would allow political appointees to override peer reviews, restrict international collaborations, and ban funding for studies on diversity and health disparities. The text highlights historical data showing that excluding women and people of color from research has led to medical gaps, such as inaccurate diagnostic tools for Black patients and delayed diagnoses for women with heart disease. Ultimately, the bill urges the administration to preserve the current science-based peer review system and remove barriers that prevent underserved communities from benefiting from medical advancements.
This bill establishes a comprehensive sanctions framework targeting the Russian government and its affiliated entities in response to ongoing military actions. It authorizes the President to block assets, revoke visas, and prohibit financial transactions for Russian officials, military leaders, and foreign persons supporting Russia's defense industry or undermining Ukraine. The legislation also bans U.S. investments in Russian energy sectors, prohibits the purchase of Russian sovereign debt, and imposes high tariffs on Russian imports while restricting crude oil purchases by specific foreign nations. Additionally, the bill prevents Russian companies from listing on U.S. stock exchanges and includes mechanisms for terminating sanctions only if Russia signs a peace agreement accepted by Ukraine and ceases hostilities.
The Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act restricts federal funding for college programs that fail to meet specific standards regarding licensure preparation and student earnings. To qualify for federal aid, programs designed to prepare students for licensed professions must ensure graduates can take required exams and obtain certification in the state where they live, while also providing necessary internships or clinical placements. Additionally, the bill introduces a debt-to-earnings test that bars funding for programs where the average student's annual loan payments exceed 8% of their median earnings or where payments exceed 20% of their discretionary income. Institutions offering distance learning courses must also be legally authorized in every state where their students reside, unless participating in a mutual agreement between states.
The Disclosure of Tax Havens and Offshoring Act requires large multinational companies to publicly report their financial performance in every country where they operate. Specifically, it mandates that these firms submit detailed reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission showing revenues, profits, taxes paid, and employee counts for each jurisdiction. The law also requires this data to be provided in a machine-readable format and made available online for public access. Companies must follow specific rules for defining which entities and locations are included in these reports, with the Commission expected to issue final regulations within a year of the bill's enactment.
The HONOR Act prohibits U.S. taxpayers from claiming foreign tax credits for taxes paid to the Russian Federation for a specific period following the law's enactment. This restriction remains in effect until the United States resumes normal trade relations with Russia, at which point standard tariff rates will be restored. The provision explicitly overrides any conflicting international tax treaties to ensure the penalty applies regardless of existing agreements.
The Child Marriage Prevention Act of 2026 establishes a new federal commission within the Department of Health and Human Services to study child marriage across the United States and recommend strategies to eliminate it. The bill also creates a grant program to help states with lax marriage laws form task forces to examine local issues and develop policy solutions. To discourage child marriage, the legislation provides increased federal funding to states that have laws prohibiting marriage for anyone under 18 years of age. Additionally, the act restricts the use of federal property for marriages where either party is under 18 and modifies immigration laws to generally require both spouses to be at least 18 for visa petitions to be approved. The bill further mandates private interviews for immigration officers reviewing spousal or fiancé petitions involving minors and requires public education campaigns about the harms of child marriage and available support resources.
The Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act restricts federal funding for colleges that offer programs preparing students for licensed professions unless those programs guarantee licensure eligibility in the student's specific state and provide required clinical or internship placements. To prevent low-earning degrees, the bill mandates that programs must maintain a debt-to-earnings ratio below 8 percent and a discretionary debt-to-earnings ratio below 20 percent, with institutions barred from enrolling students in non-compliant programs for up to three years. Additionally, the legislation requires colleges to clearly warn students if a program does not meet the educational prerequisites for practicing a profession in the state where the student lives. Finally, the act enforces stricter rules on distance learning by requiring schools to be legally authorized in every state where their online students reside, unless covered by a specific reciprocity agreement between states.
The Welcome Back to the Health Care Workforce Act establishes a grant program to help internationally educated health care professionals integrate into the U.S. health care system. Under this bill, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would award funds to eligible groups, such as hospitals, universities, and government agencies, after consulting with the Labor and Education departments. Recipients must use at least 20 percent of the money for system-wide improvements like mentoring networks and employer education, while the remaining funds can support individual needs such as licensing fees, language training, and living expenses. Priority is given to projects that address workforce shortages in rural areas or communities with significant gaps in health care staffing. The act also requires annual reporting on the number of professionals supported and their employment outcomes, with funding authorized through fiscal year 2031.
Orlin's Law requires immigration officials to identify detained parents and prioritize family unity by limiting detention when possible. The bill mandates that parents be allowed to make free calls and visits with their children, participate in family court proceedings, and access necessary documents to care for their dependents. It also establishes a new office within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to coordinate these protections and provides for community-based alternatives to detention. Additionally, the law creates a presumption that parental rights remain intact even if a child is separated from a detained parent and outlines specific steps to facilitate reunification upon removal.
The Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act aims to break up the highly concentrated meatpacking industry by forcing major companies to divest assets and stop operating in multiple meat categories simultaneously. The Federal Trade Commission is authorized to order these divestitures if market concentration remains too high or if a single firm controls a large share of beef processing, with a specific goal of transferring assets to farmers' cooperatives and small businesses. Additionally, the bill mandates that foreign-owned meatpacking firms divest their U.S. operations and prohibits companies from acquiring new assets in lines of protein they do not already process. To support these changes, the legislation provides funding for new competitors and requires the FTC to actively enforce these rules against firms that fail to comply.
The TRUTH in Coverage Act of 2026 requires group health plans and health insurance issuers that cover gender-affirming procedures to also cover medical services intended to treat physical and psychological complications resulting from those procedures. This mandate applies regardless of whether the original gender-affirming treatment was covered by the plan and ensures that any required follow-up care faces the same cost-sharing rules and limitations as standard medical benefits. The bill defines "sex-rejecting procedures" broadly to include hormone therapy, surgeries, and puberty blockers, while explicitly excluding treatments for intersex conditions, life-threatening emergencies, and standard puberty suppression for early puberty. These provisions would take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, affecting individuals with access to employer-sponsored or individual health insurance.
