This act designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 6000 South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, Florida, as the U.S. Marine Corporal Ronald R. Payne Jr. Post Office.
American Choice and Innovation Online Act This bill prohibits certain large online platforms from engaging in specified acts, including giving preference to their own products on the platform, excluding or disadvantaging competing products from another business on the platform, or discriminating among similarly situated users. Further, a platform may not materially restrict or impede the capacity of a competing business user to access or interoperate with the same platform, operating system, or hardware or software features. The bill also restricts the platform's use of nonpublic data obtained from or generated on the platform and prohibits the platform from restricting access to platform data generated by the activity of a competing business user. The bill also provides additional restrictions related to installing or uninstalling software, search or ranking functionality, and retaliation for contact with law enforcement regarding actual or potential violations of law. The bill establishes affirmative defenses for the prohibited conduct. The Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice must designate whether an entity is a platform covered by the bill, and both must carry out enforcement activities. The bill also provides for civil penalties, injunctions, conflicts of interest, a private right of action, and the forfeit of profits for repeat offenders.
Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2021 This act prohibits the exportation of Native American cultural items and archaeological resources that were illegally obtained; provides for the return of such items, including voluntary returns; and establishes and increases related criminal penalties. Specifically, the act makes it a federal crime to export, attempt to export, or otherwise transport from the United States Native American cultural items and archaeological resources without obtaining an export certification. U.S. Customs and Border Protection must detain any item requiring an export certification that does not have one. The act requires the Department of the Interior and the Department of State to each designate a liaison to facilitate and hold trainings and workshops on the voluntary return of human remains and cultural items. Additionally, Interior must refer individuals and organizations to Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to facilitate the voluntary return of human remains and cultural items; convene an interagency working group; and convene a Native working group consisting of representatives of Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to provide advice on issues concerning the return of, and illegal trade in, human remains and cultural items. The act also increases the maximum criminal penalties for violating the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. In particular, the act increases from 5 years to 10 years the maximum prison term for an individual convicted of a second or subsequent violation of selling, purchasing, using for profit, or transporting for sale or profit human remains or cultural items that were illegally obtained.
This act directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, four Americans killed in the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (Stevens was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya at the time, Smith was an officer in the Foreign Service, and Doherty and Woods were both government contractors and former Navy SEALs.) After the medal has been awarded, it shall be given to the Central Intelligence Agency Museum.
Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act This act addresses research, education, and awareness concerning valvular heart disease and its treatment. This disease is caused by damage to or disease affecting any valve that controls blood flow in the heart. The National Institutes of Health may conduct or support research on the disease in consultation with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The NHLBI must also conduct a workshop on mitral valve prolapse, which occurs when the valve between the chambers of the left side of the heart seals improperly. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must develop best practices to treat valvular heart disease. HHS may also carry out other projects to increase education and awareness of the disease.
Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 This bill makes daylight savings time the new, permanent standard time. States with areas exempt from daylight savings time may choose the standard time for those areas.
This bill prohibits the expenditure of federal funds to negotiate or contribute to international agreements providing for loss and damage funds as a result of climate change.
Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2021 This bill addresses the conservation and sustainability of coral reef ecosystems. Among other things, the bill reauthorizes through FY2024 and revises the Coral Reef Conservation Program; directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide block grants to states to support state coral reef management and restoration; requires NOAA to establish standards for the formation of partnerships among government and community members for the stewardship of coral reefs; provides statutory authority for the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force to lead, coordinate, and strengthen federal government actions to preserve, conserve, and restore coral reef ecosystems; requires the Department of the Interior to provide grants upon the declaration of a coral reef emergency to implement emergency plans; authorizes Interior to provide scientific expertise, technical assistance, and financial assistance for the conservation and restoration of coral reefs; and establishes a National Coral Reef Management Fellowship Program.
This joint resolution nullifies the interim final rule issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) titled Reproductive Health Services and published on September 9, 2022. The rule authorizes the VA to provide certain abortion-related care to veterans. The rule also applies to such care provided to beneficiaries covered under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA).
First Responder Fair Return for Employees on Their Initial Retirement Earned Act or the First Responder Fair RETIRE Act This act allows disabled federal first responders (e.g., law enforcement officers, customs and border protection officers, and firefighters) to continue receiving federal retirement benefits in the same manner as though they had not been disabled. Under current law, federal first responders are subject to a mandatory retirement age of 57. To facilitate this earlier retirement, federal first responders are required to pay a greater percentage of their salary towards retirement. Additionally, their annuity amount is calculated at a higher rate than other federal employees. This act allows a federal first responder to remain in the accelerated retirement system if they are placed in another civil service position outside of that system after returning to work from a work-related injury or illness. Further, if such an employee is separated from service before they are entitled to receive an annuity, they may receive a refund of their accelerated contributions.
