Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez

Pride in Mental Health Act This bill expands programs that prevent and treat child abuse and neglect to address issues facing youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, or gender-variant members of indigenous communities (e.g., Two Spirit). Specifically, these programs include (1) research and reporting requirements, (2) providing technical assistance, (3) grants to states and local agencies to train child-welfare personnel, and (4) community-based prevention-service grants. The bill also establishes a grant program to provide mental and behavioral health resources for such youth, including trauma-informed care.

Historic Preservation Enhancement Act This bill provides increased funding for and makes permanent the Historic Preservation Fund. This fund supports grants for states, tribes, localities, and nonprofits to carry out historic preservation activities. Any amounts deposited in the fund shall be made available for expenditure without further congressional appropriation. The President shall submit to Congress program allocations made available from the fund as part of the President's annual budget.

This resolution expresses support for the goals and ideals of a National Move Over Law Day and urges national, state, and regional incident management organizations to spread awareness of, and promote the existence of, and adherence to, state move over laws. Move over laws generally require motorists to move at least one lane over when an emergency or rescue activity is taking place on the shoulder or side of the roadway, or, if unable to do so safely, to slow down and pass the scene with caution.

IHS Contract Support Cost Amendment Act This bill allows tribes to receive contract support costs for activities that would otherwise be carried out by the Department of the Interior or the Department of Health and Human Services for direct operation of a program, but for which the costs are not fully covered by the amount of funds required by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975.

Ensuring Lasting Smiles Act This bill requires private health insurance plans to cover diagnosis and treatment of congenital anomalies and birth defects, such as reconstructive services and items. Coverage must include services and items that functionally improve, repair, or restore any body part that is medically necessary for normal bodily functions or appearance, as determined by the treating physician. Coverage limits and cost-sharing requirements for such services and items may not be more restrictive than those applicable to all medical and surgical benefits under the plan.

Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act or the MORE Act This bill decriminalizes marijuana. Specifically, it removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. The bill also makes other changes, including the following: replaces statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis , requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees, establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs, imposes an excise tax on cannabis products produced in or imported into the United States and an occupational tax on cannabis production facilities and export warehouses, makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers, prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions, prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of a cannabis-related event (e.g., conduct or a conviction), establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses, directs the Government Accountability Office to study the societal impact of state legalization of recreational cannabis, directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to study methods for determining whether a driver is impaired by marijuana, directs the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to study the impact of state legalization of recreational cannabis on the workplace, and directs the Department of Education to study the impact of state legalization of recreational cannabis on schools and school-aged children.

Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access Program Inclusion Act or the PAVA Inclusion Act This bill authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to distribute Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access (PAVA) program grants to the protection and advocacy systems of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the American Indian consortium.

Veteran Deportation Prevention and Reform Act This bill provides protections from deportation for noncitizen veterans and contains other related provisions. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must identify each individual in removal proceedings who is a member of the Armed Forces, a veteran, or a noncitizen spouse or minor child of such an individual. That individual may not be removed until (1) ICE has transferred that individual's case files to an advisory committee created under this bill, and (2) that committee has provided recommendations as to the outcome of the case. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall create a system to share information across various agencies about noncitizen veterans who may be subject to removal to ensure that such a veteran's military service is taken into consideration in immigration-related cases. DHS shall also create a system for (1) identifying noncitizens who are or may be veterans, and (2) collecting data relating to such noncitizens who are in removal proceedings or may have been removed. DHS and the Department of Defense must jointly carry out a program to naturalize a noncitizen (and the noncitizen's spouse and minor children) who serves on active duty in the Armed Forces and is not otherwise ineligible for citizenship if that noncitizen submits an application. DHS shall also establish a program for eligible noncitizen veterans (generally those not convicted for certain serious crimes) to obtain permanent resident status. Similarly, the Department of Justice shall provide permanent resident status to such an eligible veteran in removal proceedings or subject to a final order of removal.

Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act of 2022 or the FAIR Act of 2022 This bill prohibits a predispute arbitration agreement from being valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute.

This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives declares its gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to the journalists and news staff who continue to put themselves in harm's way to report on the humanitarian crisis and ongoing war on the ground in Ukraine following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine; and honors the contributions of journalists and news staff reporting from the war in Ukraine as essential in the ongoing struggle for the rights of a free press and free speech internationally, pivotal in pushing back against false propaganda by tyrants, and crucial to informing Americans and the world of the horrors being wrought against the Ukrainian people.