Rep. Kweisi Mfume

This concurrent resolution objects to the slowdown in mail delivery instituted by the Postmaster General and urges that the decisions to slow down mail and increase postage rates be halted immediately pending further investigation and full substantiation by the Postmaster General to Congress.

Furthering Opioid Services, Training, and Education Resources Act or the FOSTER Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and expands the scope of grants available for states and Indian tribes to address the opioid crisis. Specifically, the bill allows the use of grant funds for workforce recruitment and training, health care services, and foster and adoptive parent recruitment and training to support opioid abuse prevention and treatment services for children and caregivers, kinship care families, and kinship caregivers.

Israel Relations Normalization Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of State to take certain actions promoting the normalization of relations between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. Specifically, the State Department must develop a strategy on expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords (the term used to refer collectively to agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain marking the public normalization of relations between the two Arab countries and Israel). The strategy must include a description of how the U.S. government will encourage further normalization of relations with Israel. In addition, the State Department must report on options for U.S. international efforts to promote the strengthening of ties between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant countries and regions. The State Department must also report on the status of the normalization of relations with Israel, including information on (1) laws that punish individuals for people-to-people relations with Israelis (i.e., anti-normalization laws), and (2) evidence of steps taken by Arab governments toward permitting or encouraging normalized relations between their citizens or residents and Israeli citizens.

Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021 or the EQUAL Act of 2021 This bill eliminates the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Currently, different threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine (e.g., 28 grams of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder cocaine) trigger the same statutory criminal penalties. This bill eliminates the lower quantity thresholds for crack cocaine offenses. Under the bill, the same threshold quantities of crack cocaine and powder cocaine trigger the same statutory criminal penalties. The change applies to future cases and cases pending on the date of enactment. With respect to past cases, the bill authorizes a sentencing court to impose a reduced sentence on a defendant who was convicted or sentenced for a specified crack cocaine offense before this bill's enactment. A defendant does not have to be present at the sentence reduction hearing. Finally, the bill prohibits the reduction of a sentence that was previously reduced.

This resolution condemns and denounces the actions of the Customs and Border Patrol agents who confronted Haitian migrants on horseback using their reins as lashes.

This bill increases federal government goals for procurement contracts awarded to certain small businesses (e.g., women-owned small businesses and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals).

Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants Act This bill establishes discretionary grants for removing, replacing, or retrofitting highways and freeways to improve connectivity in communities and for planning and capacity building to increase community involvement in transportation planning and related activities. The bill prioritizes grants that fund projects in economically disadvantaged communities or that meet other criteria. The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) must award the grants to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments and metropolitan planning organizations. For the planning and capacity-building grants, the FHA may award grants to nonprofits or institutions of higher education that partner with governments or metropolitan planning organizations.

This resolution expresses support for recognition of a National Latino Small Business Day.

Streamlining Nutrition Assistance Paperwork Act of 2021 or the SNAP Act of 2021 This bill provides statutory authority for a Department of Agriculture (USDA) waiver that allows states to use a written record to document telephonic signatures for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications. Under current law, states may allow individuals to sign their SNAP applications over the telephone, but states must preserve audio recordings of those telephonic signatures. During the COVID-19 emergency, USDA waived the requirement to preserve the audio recording and allowed states to document the telephonic signatures through written records.

John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 This bill establishes new criteria for determining which states and political subdivisions must obtain preclearance before changes to voting practices may take effect. Preclearance is the process of receiving preapproval from the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before making legal changes that would affect voting rights. A state and all of its political subdivisions shall be subject to preclearance of voting practice changes for a 10-year period if 15 or more voting rights violations occurred in the state during the previous 25 years; 10 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years, at least 1 of which was committed by the state itself; or 3 or more violations occurred during the previous 25 years and the state administers the elections. A political subdivision as a separate unit shall also be subject to preclearance for a 10-year period if three or more voting rights violations occurred there during the previous 25 years. States and political subdivisions that meet certain thresholds regarding minority groups must preclear covered practices before implementation, such as changes to methods of election and redistricting. Further, states and political subdivisions must notify the public of changes to voting practices. Next, the bill authorizes DOJ to require states or political subdivisions to provide certain documents or answers to questions for enforcing voting rights. The bill also outlines factors courts must consider when hearing challenges to voting practices, such as the extent of any history of official voting discrimination in the state or political subdivision.